Chapter 11 Storm
Miyong
Yue woke up after a few hours of sleep. The sun was already setting on the horizon. I told him about my new traits and the change in my stats.
“Why are you making that face? Ain't you happy? I am pretty much invulnerable, right?” Puffing out my chest in an exaggerated show of cockiness. His eyes stole glances at my chest. It's an addicting feeling to dangle meat in front of a hungry dog. I am being careful not to go too far. We don't want to start something intense right now. It's not exactly easy to find contraceptives in this world.
“Ahem, please don't tempt me.” Yue averted his eyes and tried to focus on the topic. But if he acts like that, I just want to tease him more. “No, you are not invulnerable. Did you forget what kind of world we live in? There are many ways to kill someone without harming them physically.”
“What? How many people could stand up to us?” I press my body on his back.
“Please do not be reckless. I am serious! Manite can not be broken, but you can still be drowned, suffocated, melted, trapped, captured, etc. So many different things! If something happens to you-!” Yue turned around and scolded me. I sealed his mouth shut with my own. My arms coil around his neck. He looked surprised but didn't pull away. This is revenge for that sneak kiss on the roof.
After a few moments, I tried to pull away, that's enough fun for today. Suddenly, his arms wrapped around my waist and pulled me back in. Ah well, this dog couldn't control himself. We enjoy each other’s warmth for a long time. Then I felt his hands roaming my body. My instinct told me to push him away. I know it is a bad idea to do this while the situation is this unstable but my desires are erupting as well. This guy’s hands are aiming only for the good stuff.
“Excuse me!!!!!!” Both of us push away from each other in a panic. Someone else is here? As I adjusted my disheveled appearance, I couldn't sense anyone else nearby. Who just talked to us? “Ahem, I am sorry to interrupt, but please don't do that while I am awake. I could almost feel……see…….. everything………..”
“Mali?! How are you talking to us right now?” Yue realized who it was.
“If Echo could see everything, it means that I have a connection to all the mana under the control of the skill. I thought that I could even send my voice into the mana net created by Echo.” I realized I was not hearing her speak, she wasn't even talking to us. We are hearing her voice in the mana itself. She could see and communicate with everyone within the range of her skill. Isn't this girl becoming super powerful?
“Sorry!” Yue’s face is red. So cute. He waves his hands and some type of mana dome surrounds us.
“Wow! What is this? A private room? Why did you make this? Hmmmm?” I tiptoe around the dome and poke his chest.
“Ahem, I would love to continue but I don't think it's a good idea. This is a mana barrier. It's the same principle as how oil and water don't mix. A thin layer of concentrated mana that doesn't mix with the mana in the air. It's a counter to sensing abilities like Mali’s.” Yue took my hands and we started walking up the stairs. The mana dome is still covering us. This is kind of cool, our own private space.
“Aw, you ruined the mood.” I lean my head on his shoulder like usual. It's better this way. I couldn't even imagine what would happen if a child entered the picture in this situation.
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Yuelian
This vixen almost got us in trouble. The invasion is in six days and she tempted me like that? She should know better, I am a man at the end of the day. No matter how much of a gentleman I am, when someone you like behaves like that, it's impossible to not fall. Maybe I have to come up with a way to forcibly control myself in case we run into some type of mind manipulation powers in the future.
As we reached the ninth floor, it was already dark. Everyone else has retreated to their room. The entire floor was dark except for the bonfire in the common/kitchen area. A shadow moving along the floor slid towards me with extreme speed. It's kind of creepy to have someone constantly stuck to my shadow like this.
“Jason, I forbid you to stay inside my shadow unless there are dangers nearby.” I tried to control the shadow but I couldn't. It seems a human shadow can't be controlled with my skill. Perhaps because the rank of my skill is lower?
“Prince, I can't follow that command. In this world, you are always in danger.” Jason slowly emerges from the shadow. I am jealous of that power. My skill could not turn my body into a shadow like that. I don't understand the concept behind it.
“Hey! You moron! Are you trying to watch us all the time? What are you going to do if we want private time together? Are you a fucking pervert?” Miyong scolds him, but I want to scold her. What kind of girl talks about this in broad daylight? Jason’s face is red as a tomato. Huh? This guy is more innocent than I thought. I forgot that he was the same age as us because of the way he acted. We might be adults, but we are only barely adults at the end of the day.
“In any case, please respect my privacy.” I pat his shoulder. This guy might be awkward, but his royalty is real. He was on a secret mission to watch over me all this time. If this flood didn't happen, he would have spent his life watching me but we would have most likely never interacted at all. “If you need anything, please come to me. We might be the last surviving members of our family. For now, just make sure you are in top condition and gain as much strength as you can.”
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Jason looked at me and nodded. His eyes contain deep meaning. Our families are no strangers to this situation. If grandfather was here, he would tell us to survive no matter what. He finally bowed and disappeared into the shadows. I should trust him more, but trust must be earned.
“So? What's the plan for the next few days?” Miyong took a single rabbit out of the cold chest and prepared to cook it.
“Not much. We practice with our powers and learn to use them in different ways. That's how our powers evolve like Mali’s. We have to find new and creative uses for them.” I sat down on a chair nearby.
“We have been so busy that we haven't even had the time to relax. Did you even take a look at the market? There might be something you want in there.” She is happily humming while preparing the rabbit for grilling.
“The market! I almost forgot about it. I will take a look.”
I had taken a glance before but never had the time to carefully look through the entire stock. Magical furniture, cosmetic potions, food, toys, these are useless stuff. The list filtered itself while I was thinking that, now it only shows skills, stats, and enhancement potions. The skill category has more than ten thousand items. There are so many skills, and these are just the ones on the market. First I tried to search for the Devourer skill. No result. Perhaps the unique qualifier means that only one owner exists. Next, I tried to find other unique skills. There are 2 results.
[Destroyer]
[Summoner]
No skill descriptions. Of course not, that would be too easy. However the price for these skills. One million HC each. The next most expensive skill is only ten thousand HC. I am not sure if the strength of the skills correlates with its HC value, but it would make sense if it is. The difference between a unique skill and a normal rank skill is this much? I want it, but this goal seems to be very far off for now.
“You want some?” Miyong sat down on my lap with the grilled rabbits in her hands. This girl is letting loose. The way she is sitting is pretty dangerous. I took a bite of the rabbit when she offered it.
“Surprisingly good?” The taste took me by surprise. Slightly salty taste, and various types of seasoning. In the old world, this would probably be considered slightly better than jail food, but in this world, it's one of the best-tasting meals I have had. “You bought seasoning? I hope you didn't trade something precious.”
“Red rabbit claws and fangs are sold for 5 HC each. It's more than enough to buy all these seasonings.” She is happily biting away at the rabbit. One rabbit has six claws and two fangs. 40 HC for each rabbit. Perhaps we were supposed to hunt monsters and trade material for HC. It's something I have to keep in mind. “Hey, tell me about your traits too.
“Did I never tell you? It's called Lord of Mana.” I thought back to the explanation of my traits.
[Lord of Mana]
Authority is a privilege and burden of a lord.
“I don't understand what that means.” Miyong leans on my body after she finishes eating.
“To be honest, I don't know either.” I couldn't help but chuckle. “But I can see mana. It's how I was able to sever the connections and take control of that old man’s sword.”
“Hmmmm…..” She sounds like she is bored. Why did she even ask?
Outside the window, the jungle city is covered by gigantic plants and flowers that glow blue with mana light. Quite a beautiful sight. I wonder if anyone in my family managed to survive. So many things have happened since the flood that I didn't have the time to search for them. Where would I even begin?
I guess I could buy a compass from the market and start walking in that general direction, but we have no idea what kind of danger we would face. The weak monsters we fought so far are already dangerous enough. Normal mana users without specialized combat skills have zero chance against them. If we run into a monster like that giant eel, it's only a death sentence. And what happens if we run into people from another community? Would they be friendly? I think the chance of that is extremely low. We have all experienced it first hand, the emotions barely able to be contained. These powers have turned humans into dangerous animals, and we were already extremely dangerous before. There were so many cases of inhumane behavior during a natural disaster even in the old world where laws and orders were still relatively strong. In this lawless world? Humans are probably more dangerous than monsters. There is no telling how many people are as strong as that old man from before. If he had gotten the jump on me, I would probably be dead.
A soft breathing noise came from in front of me. She must have been tired. I embraced her from behind and covered us with a slightly warm mana. Instead of risking what I have to search for something I have lost, I choose to cherish the person still next to me. Someday, I will be strong enough to not have to fear the unknown. If they are still alive, I hope my family will endure until then.
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Five days later
“The invasion is tomorrow. How is the fortification of the building? Does anyone need help with anything? How many supplies do we have?” I could hear my voice shaking. I am more nervous than I thought. All twelve people are in the meeting room. The invasion will start in a few hours.
“Forty rabbits in the cold chest. We couldn't find any more in the surrounding area.” Miyong sat next to me as usual. With her new trait, she was able to hunt monsters even more proficiently without any risk to her own life. Kobold and red rabbits could not damage her body at all.
“Fortifications are complete! We set up a blockade on every level from the ground floor up to the eighth floor. Mana reinforced concrete mostly.” The group of freshmen girls made their report. A few of them had unlocked support skills related to either cooking or production. I guess that's what will happen if someone doesn't go into the field to fight. The system will start to fill up your skill slots with support skills.
“The surrounding area is clear.” Mali sat on some type of floating cushion. That seems useful. She is smart to buy something like that.
“Everything is ready. We just have to wait until midnight.” Jessica said as she stood by the window looking out into the jungle city.
Jessica wore light mail armor. Jason is covered in body-fitting black clothes. Jackie still wore his usual tracksuit, but a nasty-looking dagger was hanging from his hips. I heard the hunting party consisting of Jessica, Mali, Jason, and Jackie has been sweeping the surrounding area of monsters. I guess this is what they were doing that for. Our group is looking more and more like a typical RPG party.
Miyong and I have also bought new equipment for the invasion. I bought a ring that gives +1 magic power. Miyong bought boots that allowed her to walk in the air for a few steps. I have no idea how that works.
Mana, for all its fantastical properties, is essentially just an energy source. Most of the amazing powers that we are capable of using now can be explained in some way by modern science. However, sometimes a skill or item exists that could not be explained by any science we know today, and the only explanation I could think of is “magic”. Devourer has the potential to be the strongest skill that exists, but only if I can use it to its maximum potential. I need to learn what type of knowledge can be devoured and what are the requirements for unlocking more skills. I don't even know if there are other functions of this skill aside from devouring knowledge and powers. Mali for example improves and evolves her skills at a rapid pace. It's possible to do such a thing.
I realized how little I know about skills, the system, and mana in general. For all I know, mana can do anything as long as the user is capable of controlling or imagining it. Perhaps, a sufficiently powerful mana user could even revive the dead. Heck, maybe a resurrection skill already exists somewhere.
Five minutes until midnight.
Everyone is noticeably on edge. I couldn't stop my bad habit and started to pace around.
“Get ready everyone. Go to the restroom before it starts.” I said to everyone. A few laughs broke out.
“You are destroying the tension,” Miyong said.
“I am being realistic.”
One minute until the invasion.
A system message abruptly opens in front of everyone.
[Invasion begins]
Teleporting to the stage in 30 seconds.
“Oh fuck! We are getting teleported” I didn't consider that we would be the invaders.