As much as Ray would have liked to pretend that he was in full control of his Tower Nodes, that wasn’t really the case. There were limits to his use of them. As was proven shortly after he had pulled out the Origin Mana crystal when both Tower Nodes started shutting down. Moments later, they had blinked out of existence entirely.
Ray glared. “Really? Right when I was about to start imbuing new Mana into my Mana Core?”
He supposed it wasn’t surprising. There were limits to the other Tower Nodes too. After all, the Tower Nodes of the Fleshcrafter had used up a ton of his True Mana and then disappeared until he had regained enough to use them again.
Similarly, the Ingestor and Abstractor Tower Nodes had probably performed their quotas of ingestions and abstraction and were now recovering.
Ray could still sense them in the back of his head. They were still there, awaiting his summons for when they were done resting up. But when he tried to draw on their powers immediately, they refused to cooperate. All the Mana they had gathered were disappearing. Such a waste.
Not that Ray truly minded. The dispersion of the Molten Mana was quickly cooling down the area. He was not going to say not to air that wasn’t baking him alive.
Still. The temperamental Tower Nodes reminded him of old laptops whose fans had become clogged with dust and dirt. They heated up too easily, could only be used for a little while before they had to rest and cool down.
With nothing left to do just then, Ray sent a message to Kredevel.
Ray: Everything alright, buddy?
He was really hoping his friend hadn’t come to any harm. If Kredevel had suffered—or worse, died—and Ray had been out here fighting random monsters, then he knew the guilt was going to knife him in the back at every random moment. It reminded him of Randall, at the fact that he had been there and had still been able to do nothing to save his friend.
Of course, Kredevel couldn’t have died. The chat function wouldn’t even work if someone passed away. Ray had heard about it on the First Floor. If Kredevel was dead, he never would have been able to send a message at all.
Still. As the minutes ticked by without Ray receiving any replies, his heart definitely started quailing.
Ray jolted when the answer finally arrived.
Kredevel: Things are… certainly strange.
Ray: Kredevel! Are you okay? What’s going on?
Kredevel; I am alright. And by your exuberance, I will assume you are alright as well, especially since I really don’t have the mental bandwidth to worry.
Ray: Yeah, yeah, I’m fine. Don’t worry about me. What’s going on over there?
It took some time for Kredevel to fully explain what had happened since the last time they had spoken. The more Ray listened, the more his mouth gaped and his eyes widened.
Apparently, the information Ray had passed on to Cory had stirred up a little militia from the Everstead kingdom. They had gone to investigate the disturbance on Cliff Four, just as Ray had intimated, and had come face to face with a horde of angry Sylvans.
Of course, the first batch they had faced hadn’t been a whole lot. With their victory seemingly assured, they had attempted to eradicate the Sylvans entirely. And it was then that the trap had sprung. More Sylvans had appeared, and together, they had defeated and wiped out the people of Everstead kingdom who had come to apprehend them.
Kredevel didn’t say what he had told his brethren to make them kill the Everstead people as soon as they appeared. It wasn’t something Ray needed to know.
The point was that the Sylvans had fallen in line and acted just as Kredevel and Ray had hoped they would.
With the first force down, the Sylvans had wasted no time in pushing forward. They had rushed the spire and risen to Cliff Three with next to no problem. Kredevel had insisted that they needed to take the Everstead by surprise, and so, they had ranged out to attack their foes head-on.
They had left a couple of Sylvans behind to greet any newcomers into the area and send them to immediately reinforce the main force.
All of whom, led by Kredevel, were now conducting a guerrilla war on the Cliff Three. Since there were no major towns, and much of the Cliff was either farmland or blanketed with forests, the Sylvans had decided to hide there and lure in the Everstead kingdom.
Kredevel: Right now, we are locked in a deadly combat between their forces and ours.
Ray: But your main goal isn’t to fight, is it?
Kredevel: No. We wish to locate the Floor Lord, wherever she may be. I suppose you haven’t come across the exact location yet, have you?
Ray: If only.
There wasn’t much any of them could do. It was hard to believe that Kredevel had actually started some kind of guerilla war. Ray wondered what sort of combat Kredevel and the other Sylvans were getting drawn into, and what sort of actions they were taking against Everstead kingdom. How were they retaliating?
Answers to questions like that would take too long, though, so Ray didn’t bother. Instead, he just confirmed a couple of things.
Ray: What will you do, once you’ve found the Floor Lord?
Kredevel: We will receive new orders from the Floor Lord and will then proceed accordingly.
Ray: I might be able to get the Floor Lord’s exact location. If I’m lucky…
Kredevel: From Mary Felds?
Ray: That’s right. I doubt she’ll be willing to help, though.
Kredevel: That would be tremendously helpful, if you can manage it, although we are experiencing a bit of a reprieve.
Ray: A reprieve?
Kredevel: I am unsure why, but there seems to some issue distracting the Everstead for the time being. Their assault isn’t as ferocious as we expected.
Ray couldn’t fathom what had caused the Everstead to ease up. For now, he promised that he would act on it soon and ended his conversation with the Sylvan. Then he called up Mary. Unlike most times, she was quite responsive, offering a reply to Ray’s query only a minute after time had passed.
Ray: Did you find the Floor Lord?
Mary: It was you, wasn’t it? You have a hand in this.
Ra: Idk what you’re talking about.
Mary: You’re the one who tipped off the lord of Cliff Two. He’s the one who sent down an investigation and mobilized the rest of Cliff Three.
Ray: I can’t tell if you’re awed or if you’re annoyed.
Mary: I am not AWED. If anything, I’m incensed. I was this close to finding her. This close to confronting her.
The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
Ray tried to cajole the information about the Floor Lord’s location out of Mary but had little luck. She was wise to his tricks. He did manage to learn what she was intending to do next.
Ray: You want to stop the Sylvans. Why?
Mary: That is none of your business.
Ray: Let me guess. You’re still biased and angry after what the Sylvans did on the First Floor. You still want to make them pay. You think you can beat them.
Mary: None of your business.
Ray: Which one of your objectives are you fulfilling, Mary?
Mary: None of your business.
Ray: Do you mind at least hearing me out on why you shouldn’t be helping the Everstead?
Mary: None of your FUCKING business.
And that was the end of that. The chat window disappeared as Mary went dark, clearly unwilling the continue the conversation. If Ray had to guess, she was also not in the right state of mind.
Nevertheless, Ray informed Kredevel that he might have a wild Mary Felds come after him. Kredevel thanked him for the information.
Ray sighed as he sat back after the conversation ended. Everyone was busy with their own thing, while he was here. Fighting monsters, raising his level, growing in power… without using said power. Yet. That was the big qualifier. He didn’t need to use it yet.
But something told him that the need might arise before long.
Well, he had certainly enjoyed his growing power. No way would he have been able to deal with all those gangsters and all the monsters he had faced so far as easily as he had if he hadn’t been powerful. Ray couldn’t discount that. But still. There was some sort of… overarching threat that was missing.
Back on the First Floor, he’d always had it in the back of his head that he would end up fighting the Floor Lord. That wasn’t necessarily true here. Hell, the Floor Lord was missing entirely.
Then again, with the way things were going, Ray might have his work cut out for him. He had a feeling the Everstead kingdom would be more than an adequate challenge.
With a grimace, he remembered just how Primordial Gauge had failed against Cory. The lord of Cliff Two was strong. No doubt, there were others just as powerful all over the Everstead kingdom. With the way things were going, Ray might just end up standing at odds against his apparent hosts.
Which reminded him…
Ray: Hey, Ram, Bam, Lam. Hope you guys are doing well. Please let me know if you’re okay, or if you need any help. I heard some troubling things…
He didn’t receive a reply. Not in the next minute, not in the next half an hour, not even after he waited for over an hour.
Ray’s heart felt like it was slowing down. He could only hope the Holdstar trio were okay, though his mind kept conjuring terrible images, fuelled by what he had done to the gangsters. Stupid, overactive imagination.
He decided to distract himself by paying attention to his real goal in coming to the dungeon. Finally.
It was time to get a new variant of Mana.
Ray got to his feet and summoned his Tower Nodes again. It looked like they were ready. Although, it had only been a few hours since they had disappeared, so he wasn’t sure this was going to work. How much Mana would he even need to imbue his Mana Core with a new variant? Ray supposed he was about to find out.
The next step was pulling out the Origin Mana crystal from the little box he had received from the old temple-keeper.
It shone opalescent. Mostly white, but if Ray moved it around, the edges made light twist apart into iridescent hues. Pretty. He was actually glad that using the Abstractor Tower Node wasn’t going to consume the Mana crystal.
Ray focused. Activating both Tower Nodes recalled the same situation as the last time he had used them. Molten Mana swirled up from below, gathering faster and faster, deluging the area with oppressive heat. He began sweating, baking, quite glad his new robes appeared very heat resistant. In fact, he changed its resistance.
A moment of concentration made the sleeves turn from to silver molten orange as he imbued them with Molten Mana.
Immediately, Ray felt better. His new robes gaining the new resistance was protecting him against the heat. He had to wonder if it was going to safeguard him against fire, or even lava itself?
No time for idle thoughts. Ray was supposed to be focusing on his Mana Core.
The Tower Node of the Abstractor was performing its job admirably. More and more of Molten Mana that the other Tower Node gathered was being converted to Origin Mana.
Through Primordial-Gauge-fuelled eyes, Ray saw that his targeted Mana was the same kind as the crystal. Mostly shining white, but with hints of iridescence strewn throughout. Unlike Flight Mana, which had attempted to escape like it was some kind of uncontainable gas, Origin Mana turned out to be heavier, sinking and settling upon the ground.
Good. That made it easy for Ray to work with.
Primordial Gauge guided Ray on how he was supposed to go about condensing a new variant of Mana into his Mana Core. The act was simple. At first, at least. He just had to focus on the Mana being gathered and pull it into him.
The Origin Mana obeyed. All of the gathered mass began flowing towards him, entering his body and his spirit like he was some sort of Mana vacuum.
Ray’s spirit grew heavier. Rapidly. It became tangible weight, making his body feel like it had gained several hundreds of pounds in no time at all. The panic and fear caught him by surprise. Primordial Gauge assured him that this was the correct process. There was no other way to get his Mana Core a new variant.
So, Ray bore through it, ignoring the growing panic. He could handle this. He would.
But his spirit kept expanding. More and more Origin Mana entered his soul. Possibly his Mana Core too. Ray was just having a hard time to tell because his body had been dragged to the earth, where he now lay and was hyperventilating against.
It didn’t stop there. He was being dragged into the ground. The rocky island was cracking under his face, as were his cheekbones. Fuck.
As if the external pain wasn’t bad enough, the internal, spiritual pain joined it next. The Origin Mana he had taken in didn’t belong. Not yet. It was like replacing his flesh with little spiders that were then eating away the bits of him that hadn’t been converted into biting spiders.
Hold on. Hold on. It wasn’t enough just to remind his head. So, Ray did his best to vocalize through pain-gritted teeth.
“Hold on.”
“Hold on.”
“Hold on.”
At some point, Ray’s voice failed him. He realized he was putting a lot of faith in the guidance of nothing more than a spell. But he had a reason to keep going. A reassurance that this would indeed work.
The more he drew in the Origin Mana, the more something felt like it was sparking to life within him. A sensation of fleeting euphoria cut through the pain every time he felt like fainting.
It made Ray think of jump starting a car. Just a little more, and he’d be able to start his engine.
Just a little longer.
Although, how long he could keep it up was anyone’s guess. Ray was being crushed against the earth. For him, gravity appeared to have increased a hundredfold. Half his whole face felt like it had been broken, his nose pulped and his teeth slowly starting to follow the suit of his cheekbones. His ribs were shattering in his chest too. Basically, he was being squished.
There was a reason he couldn’t talk. Couldn’t even scream, despite desperately wanting to do so.
Just a little longer.
All that had kept him alive—and conscious—thus far was careful application of his Recovery. He could do this. For how long, he wasn’t sure, but he would.
Just a little longer.
And then it happened. All the Origin Mana he had taken in had finally found a home within his soul. All the pain he had gone through had been worth it.
Ray’s spirit suddenly shattered. That probably wasn’t the best way to describe it, but the sensation wasn’t describable in the first place. What mattered was the fact that his soul was reconstructing itself. His Mana Core was reforming, having finished reforging all the Mana conduits within him.
He could now control Origin Mana.
[New Personal Achievement—Core Specialist!]
You have attuned a second variant of Mana into your Mana Core! Your hunger for all the kinds of Mana that exist in the world will not stop here.
Reward
* Reputation: +50 Knowledgeable
* New Skill Evolution: Mana Imbuing >>> Origin Resonance
Knowledge to next Threshold: 1,371/1,500
Ray wasn’t sure how long he just lay there. Just enough Recovery to fix up his arm allowed him to pull out another of the tonics and place the bottle against his mouth. He let it do its job, after taking care of the worst of the pain with the fledgling remainder of his Recovery.
Distracting himself was easy. He had acquired… a new skill evolution? First time. He hadn’t even known skills could evolve, though that wasn’t surprising. Ray’s spells had technically been evolving ever since he had gotten access to them. He focused on it to see how exactly Mana Imbuing had been upgraded.
[Information Request—Origin Mana Skill]
Origin Resonance [Utility] [Tier 5]
An Origin Mana skill that allows the wielder to imbue any variant of Mana the wielder has access to into any part of the wielder, including spiritual extensions such as Mana-based abilities. Imbued Mana variants grant the wielder different capabilities, depending on the variant imbued. At Tier 5, this skill allows imbuing of up to 5 variants of Mana at a time and costs 100 Origin Mana.
Ray stared. He felt like Mana Imbuing used to have a lot more going on. Or maybe, the System was just reducing the description to what he needed to know. Fair enough.
He was excited. It was easy to see all the cool applications this had, especially considering he could perform Mana Imbuing—no, Origin Resonance—on his spells too. Ray couldn’t wait to be healed up enough to start testing.
More than the skill, though, it was the fact that Ray was starting to feel the Origin Mana swirling within him that made him feel better and better. It lent him a certain weight, a certain feeling of being more present in the world while also somehow being less stuck to it. Weird. But hey, he had a new Mana type under his control! How cool was that?
Ray didn’t heal up anytime soon. His body didn’t fix itself as fast as he would have liked. As such, he closed his eyes and decided he’d sleep. Rest.
And when he was back up the next day, he was in a perfect position to start testing.