I will not get angry at the Trial.

I will not get angry at the Trial.

I will focus on the amazing profession I earned.

I earned it, and I am amazing!

My Map told me I was under the main keep. The surrounding area was well-mapped. I now stealthed forward, cloaked in light. There was still no light here. The walls held scones where light crystals used to be. I moved carefully.

I found some storage rooms. I actually managed to see an Undead before he sensed me. I moved at Lightspeed and Shadowbane and Lightreaver sissered its head off. It is easier to sneak up on Infernal. I am just using Self-clean frequently to keep my smell to a minimum. The storage rooms didn’t have much, but I found some common swords, shields and armour pieces. I was very grateful for the Storage ability as the spatial bag would never have managed a quarter of this.

I used the map to work my way around the edge. I was only halfway when I came to the dungeon. The metal doors were buckled and torn from the hinges. There was a guard's room at the end, more doors, and then the cell that lined the corridor. There were two corridors and two rows of cells. All the doors were open and broken, and they were teeming with Ghouls and Zombie Guards. With the narrow walkway between the cells, I could limit the number coming at me, but they were at a higher level and harder to take down. I was very, very glad of the Purifying Dance. I wore them down slowly, and I was absolutely exhausted when I came to the end.

Then, I encountered the Revenant. The Revenant was large and quick and carried a sword. Its robes were largly rags, but they moved and entangled my sword, and it seemed to be able to become incorporeal briefly to bypass damage and restore damage that I had done.

My Mana and Stamina were low. It could match me in speed and sword skills. In the narrow corridors, there was little room to move, and this now hindered me, just as I had just appreciated it. I couldn’t dodge properly or use Light Speed.

With my Spectral Vision (See-thru) skill, the Revenant looked solid, but when it became incorporeal, I could still see it in the skill. It was different and translucent, with no solid parts, but it was clearly still there. I am hoping this skill will let me see the incorporeal creatures. I don’t know how I might hurt them, but seeing them is a start.

Channelling Burning Light on my sword seems to work better to hurt it, but it will go incorporeal and regenerate. I was taking damage and figuring out its dance move while becoming frustrated. I finally broke the dance pattern, Dashed backwards, and threw Shadowbane through the creature's centre of mass.

This caused it to go incorporeal to heal, and as soon as it reappeared, a bottle of greater Purification smashed against it. This caused it to smoke and sizzle, and I used Light Speed to move forward. With Lightreaver and my Haladie, we tore into it with Steel Serpent and Razor’s Edge.

Even then, I had to go beyond my limits, and when it finally died, I sank to the ground and drank a greater Health Potion and a Greater Stamina potion. I did not want to get ambushed by another of these and not be ready.

I moved through the cells, Harvesting and Looting. The Revenant gave me something called Shackle Cloth as loot. I hope a tailor can make something from this, but not for me, thanks. Two skill stones were dropped, one for Slash and one for Flash Strike, which was equivalent to my Quick Strike. I stored them away to sell. None of the cores gave me anything.

On the other end of the dungeon was an interrogation room. It had some health potions. I guess it was to keep their prisoners alive if the torture went too far. No purification potions, though. I was down to two, having used a full one on the Revenant.

On the other side of the interrogation room was a larger guard room, and then there were a couple more store rooms and stairs up. I sat, ate, and rested before exploring more. I was getting totally sick of this place. I didn’t know how to get out.

Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.

There must be some sort of trigger to exit. The only thing I could think of was that it wanted me in the keep; therefore, finishing the Monarch’s Raiment quest might trigger the exit. It is the only thing I could think of. I don’t want to do this quest. I want to run. I want to get out, but I can’t and I am getting frustrated and angry. I have no idea how long I have been here, and there just didn’t seem to be an end.

My Mana sensitivity was quite high now, and I was getting different feedback. I didn’t sense the Revenant, probably because of all the other undead in front of it. If I pay attention, I can sense what type of creature is in a room before coming close to it. I don’t always know how many there are, but I can tell the difference in the mana signature of Zombies, Ghouls, Imps, Infernal Cats, and Devils. It has helped me have an element of surprise, even against the undead.

I think there is a lot more to mana than I currently realise. I have used this to search out hidden potions, as I have drunk enough of them to learn their mana signature. I am thinking I can make this into something more useful. Mana is not blocked by wood or stone, and glass vials don’t stop me from sensing the mana of the potions. Enchantments and special materials can block mana, but these are expensive.

You can learn skills from training and repetition, not just by skill stones. I learned Acrobatics by doing forward rolls and cartwheels, Free Running by running and Riding by riding. I also learned Chop and Slash by just doing it repetitively.

Can I learn a skill that will help me seek out different mana signatures? I am doing it manually now, just like I was using Mana Sensitivly to learn the ward, and now I can see mana. I was doing it the hard way, and now the skill has been created, and I can do it much easier.

I am seeking out different mana signatures the hard way with Mana Sensitivly, so how can I turn that into a skill to do it more easily? It is not a sight skill. It is a seeking skill or a revealing skill.

The type of mana I know best is Light Mana. Can I use that as a benchmark to judge other mana from? I get out three different potions, making sure one of them is Purification Mana, as that is what I really need to find.

I reach out with Light Manipulation to the Mana around them. I can see the Mana, but I turn that off because I want this to be different from Mana Sight. I sense the mana using Mana Sensitivity. How does the Purification mana differ from the Healing or Stamina Mana? Using Light mana I… no. Using Light mana is wrong.

Just stick to Mana. As I get to know different mana types, I will identify what they are. What we want to do is get more detail of something being there, and then can I Identify it and how many are there of it, etc. If I use MicroMana Manipulation to create some mana threads for each of the potions. That is easy, as I know what is there, but what if I don’t? Can I create a net of mana to spread out in a direction that seeks out different mana signatures?

First, I try making a net of mana threads that will stay together. That is hard enough. Then I try “casting” it into the next room to sense what is there. It just broke apart.

I need to keep a link to it so I can sense it and keep it empowered. Casting it is the wrong image as I really need to let it out slowly as a lure or a sticky spider web, collecting the mana signatures in a room.

Up the stairs, I can sense the mana of infernal creatures, probably cats and a Devil, but I want to know how many.

I create the net or web slowly and then let it drift up the stairs. It falls apart before I get halfway, but I think I am onto something. I try it again. And again. I make the net wider, but there are not so many threads. I get further this time.

Then, a bit further. MicroMana Levels, as does Mana Strength. Mana Strength might be the key to keeping the net together.

Then I get it far enough to sense the first Lion. It breaks apart after that, but the Lion doesn’t sense the net. I am aware that I can sense the net with Mana Sensitivity and mana Sight, so others will be able to as well. I can break it with Mana Disruption so others can as well. I would judge not many people are this sensitive to mana. Some dedicated mages and crafters, mostly. This is primarily for sensing monsters and hidden mana-rich items.

I try again. I go a bit further and a bit longer each time.

Finally, it clicks. I have a new skill, Mana Sensing Web. It puts out a web of mana thread to sense other mana signatures. I can make it more sensitive by tightening the weave, but that takes more mana to use. The bigger it is, the more mana it uses. With the skill levels, I will be able to sense larger areas for less mana per second cost.

For now, I know there are three lions and a Lesser Devil up the stairs. I go back into the guard's room and the interrogation room to cast the web around to check that I didn’t miss anything.

I did miss something. There was a different mana sense in the corner under some rubble in the interrogation room. I moved the rubble, and I found a Skill stone. I appraised it, and it was the skill of Truth Sensing. That is worth a decent amount. I tried to learn it out of interest but couldn’t. I wasn’t an honest person. I knew that. It would have been strange if I could have learned it.