Chapter 27 Restraint

???

“Great queen, that ripple in the mana….” Inside the queen’s chamber, Eluvia's panicked face can be seen. A small mountain of melted plastic and electronics is discarded beside the throne. The queen’s mana was too potent to be used with human technology, no matter how much she suppresses it.

“......a few Divine Beasts have crossed over.” The red queen threw away another melted phone. “Those clowns are smart. Forcefully breaking my barrier would cost them too much, so they open small holes leading to pocket dimensions with divine beasts sealed inside.”

“If the beasts are awakened, the mana they produce will eventually overflow the pocket dimensions, producing monsters and exploding.” Eluvia can not help but admire the cunningness of those clowns. The reason they were able to operate for as long as they have, even destroying species more powerful than themselves, is not because they are an especially mighty species or have some unique powers, but because of their deviousness. “What should we do, great queen?”

“Nothing. The divine beasts will not come near us. Creatures of this world did not pledge their lives to me. They are not my responsibilities.” The queen picked up another phone and started playing with it. The conversation is over.

—--------------

Yuelian

“So the game will begin again, only in a different form. The game has limited influence compared to the past, which is why they tried to give out a quest to kill the queen instead of proceeding as usual. Now more powerful beings will cross over. I was wondering how they expected any humans to finish that mission, it was probably always impossible. However, with the powers of these Divine Beasts…..” Eluvia has informed me about the divine beasts crossing over. It's interesting that Divine Beast also releases mana in their bodies into the air, similar to the queen. They are like trees that produce oxygen. So the monster waves were just pocket dimensions that exploded from overflowing mana? “Do all the portals lead to a Divine Beast’s prison?”

“We have no way of knowing. The game has a scary amount of influence, even considering the number of portals that appeared in your world, those clowns may have this many Divine Beasts locked away.” Eluvia’s voice came from the forest as usual. The Mana Circulation practice has been going quite well. “If all the portals only contain Divine Beasts, that would be fortunate.”

“You are afraid of something else? Based on the ripple in the mana I felt yesterday, they might not be on the level of the queen, but the fact that they can be compared at all is a problem. Yet you say there is something worse?” Those beast’s mana that I felt was only a fraction of the queen’s power, but a fraction is already something humanity can not handle.

“Divine Beasts are similar to animals in your world. Have you ever seen a herd of wolves raiding your cities and hunting humans to eat intentionally?” I could hear the laughter in his voice. “Even if they are powerful, Divine Beasts are not destructive by nature. Demons are.”

“Demons? We have fought basic monsters before, are they much stronger? Demon in human legends are so powerful they were able to wage war against angels.” I thought about various religious depictions of demons in our world. “Is that the level of powers we are talking about?”

“Hahahahaha!” A bright laughter rang out in the forest. “I am looking at your legends now. Quite imaginative. Red skin, big horns, tails. This is similar to the Delian race. No, demons are not like this. They are……… grotesque. They are not powerful in the same way as the Divine Beasts. Demon’s true power comes from their power of corruption.”

“Great. They will have a feast on earth.” I couldn't even imagine how much damage humanity would receive from entities specialized in corruption.

“........ Why do you do that?” A beautiful, clear voice rang out in the forest. The queen was standing in front of me.

“....... Pardon me, my queen. I am not sure what you are referring to.” She has been paying attention to humans a lot recently.

“Why restrain yourself to that extent?” Her eyes shone with crimson fire. The great dragon peered into my soul for a moment before turning to leave.

“Dragon’s eyes can see the truth of the universe, the very essence of a being.” Eluvia stepped into the clearing and bowed his head low towards the leaving queen. “You…… are you restraining your mana?”

“I am only using half of my mana…” A question that I do not dare answer truthfully.

“So, your mana is about 40 points at full power? Not bad for a human.” The elf nodded his head like he approved.

I have been practicing this breathing technique with Eluvia for a few days. The exercise was supposed to help with mana control, get the body used to moving mana around, and even increase the mana capacity of the body. I wasn't sure what I expected but the effects are …… scary.

[Qin Yuelian]

LV.1

Title: Devourer

Mana: 28 + 80

Strength: 2

Agility: 2

Magic Power: 20 + 20

Nobility: 16

Skill: Devourer [Unique]

Regeneration

Telekinesis

Shadow control

Mana arrows

Enhancement

Shoot

Traits: Lord of Mana

Prime candidate [New]

Eighty points increase in mana, twenty in magic power. I wonder if my traits have influenced my growth.

“Eluvia, How much mana is considered strong in your opinion?” I didn't dare open my eyes as I spoke. For some reason, I felt embarrassed. “I am using the standards of the system.”

“Hm…. Just because someone has a lot of mana doesn't mean they are strong. Remember that.” I can feel the elf walking around me. “Those dwarves are considered a race that does not have talents with mana. Their average mana is about 8 by system standards. For the noble races like elves, the average mana is about 40. Stronger elf mages would be around 60 points in mana.”

“......” I could hear the pride in his voice.

“Not to brag, but I am one of the strongest elves you will ever meet. My mana is more than 90 points the last time I used the system.” I opened my eyes to see Eluvia looking up at the sky dramatically. I will keep my mouth shut.

—-------------

“Hey, human child! Give us the truck!” A gruff voice called to me as I walked back to the human camps for the day. A group of dwarves ambush me.

“We gave one to the queen. We can't just give out our people’s temporary residence.” I was waiting for these guys to approach me. They resisted much longer than I expected.

“Hm! We helped your people set up your base and this is how you repay us?!” The elder dwarf said unhappily. Do these guys think I am a pushover?

“You were paid for your services. Don't pretend you did that out of the kindness of your heart. How many phones, TVs, and computers have you received?” These dwarves are inventors and scientists by nature. Curiosity is almost like a primal need for them, not like the fleeting feelings of curiosity that we humans experience. It's one of the reasons the dragon queen forgave them even after they picked up her egg and brought it here. They could not go against their nature.

“We want the truck!” They ignored what I said.

“Fine, but we should trade.” I couldn't stop the smile from showing on my face. I need to fix that.

“....... What do you want? We have a few rune weapons and armor. Come take a look.” The group of dwarves turn around and walk towards their camps. It seems like they were expecting this. Despite their bumbling mannerism, they were still inventors and scientists. They are not stupid.

“No, I don't want your weapons. I want your runes.”

Finally, I can start my experiment.

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—------------

“Damned scammer…….”

“Cheap bastard….”

“This beer is pretty good. Look at this can, it's some type of metal. Why use this when other types of materials are available? The metallic taste has infected the beer. Humans are so mysterious.”

The dwarves finally left while grumbling and complaining. Fortunately, they have a way to transfer knowledge directly. I thought I would have to spend a few months learning the runes. The plan is going smoothly.

As I finally got back to the human camps, I saw a few round dwarven houses. Did the dwarves move here or something? The green knight stood in front of one of the round houses, the princess must be inside.

“Yue, I got a few dozen houses from the dwarves. Isn't it cute?” Miyong appeared with the princess, my parents, Jason, Jackie, and my uncle. She has two blocks of mana metal at her hips. What is she doing?

“Yue, how was training? Come inside and eat first.” My parents tried to push me inside the house.

“I am sorry, papa, mama. I still have work to do today. You eat first. I just need to talk to Miyong.” I hugged my parents and turned to Miyong. “Can we talk alone for a bit?”

“Ok” The princess jumped to my mother’s shoulder for some reason. Did she want to give us privacy? This baby is so smart. We enter one of the empty dwarven houses. “So? Did you just want to get me alone?” Miyong rested her head on my chest.

She must have felt lonely. I have been so busy recently with training, going through immigration applications, and setting up our people here. We have not had time for each other. I gently kissed her.

“Sorry for not making time for us. Things keep happening and we don't have much time before the outside world falls apart completely.” I hug her tighter to my chest.

“I know. So what is this talk about?” We sat on a cute-looking round chair. The dwarves seem to like round, cute things despite their rough appearance.

“I have selected a few people from the applicants to be accepted into the city. Please interview them and decide if they are acceptable. I trust your instinct.” We need those scientists, hopefully, they all pass.

“Why are you talking like you are going somewhere?” She grabbed my shirt collar roughly. Her eyes are scary.

“I am not going anywhere, however, I am going to start an experiment. It might take a few hours, a few days, or a few months. I am not sure.” I need to be stronger. Losing to the alien races is expected at this point, but we can not stay that way.

“Is there a need to do that? With the queen’s protection, who could harm us?” Miyong’s aggressive nature has disappeared ever since the queen cut off our connection to the game. It's more clear than ever that the game was influencing our nature, pushing us to be more aggressive, more instinctual, and less logical.

“Miyong, the queen and her servants might underestimate humans because they don't know, but we know humanity very well.” I am not sure if those clowns or the game understand what they have done, but humans might be the most dangerous creatures they have ever met. They still haven't realized it yet.

“Ok, so what do you want me to do while you are gone?”

“Train. Try to awaken as many of our people as possible. You need to learn how to fight. Go and learn from my uncle.” Miyong might have the strongest body of all humans on earth, but she doesn't know how to fight. Wildly swinging her fists around can only take her so far. Luckily, we have the best martial teacher with us.

“Your uncle? Isn't it fine to learn from the orcs?” Miyong looked unhappy. She doesn't know who my uncle is, but she will learn soon enough.

“Please.” I kiss her forehead and she finally nods. “Also if any doctors or scientists are accepted into the city, try to awaken them and ask them to work on mana-based medicine. The elves might be useful here. Any inventors/engineers should be sent to the dwarves, I am sure something interesting will happen with that exchange of knowledge.”

“This is a lot for me to do alone, you know.” Miyong looked annoyed. I had expected this.

“Uncle will help you and take the princess with you. She will be useful.”

—----------------

After giving a few orders to my uncle and Jason, I asked a couple of shadows to guard the dwarven house that I would be staying in. It would be very embarrassing if this experiment only lasted a few hours after all the preparation I had done.

The first time I saw those dwarven runes I had an idea to use that technique on human technology. Perhaps a barrier rune on a car could turn it into a tank. Then Eluvia taught me the Mana Circulation breathing technique, and another idea came to my mind.

The runes are carved on objects with mana, permanently engraving the function of the rune on that object as long as the mana is fed to the rune. Almost like a magical circuit. So it should be possible to do the same for living beings as well.

I tested the hypothesis by engraving a protection rune on the back of my hand. It was able to repel even mana bullets. So, It is possible to engrave a rune on living beings. The next experiment is my real goal.

Carving runes on my mana veins, bones, and organs.

—--------------------

????

“The first monster wave is supposed to happen tomorrow. How is weapon research?”

“Mana is incompatible with delicate weapon design. The energy is simply too intense or perhaps there are other factors at play.”

“But we do know that mana reacts to biological test subjects better than inorganic subjects. We are working on enhancing biological weapons with mana now, however, those projects are still a long way off.”

“Can't we just awaken the soldiers like those players?”

“We are not sure about the criteria but the results are too unpredictable.”

“What?”

“Some awakened are almost no different from extremely gifted athletes, and some are like superheroes from our fantasies.”

“What is your point doctor?”

“Trying to awaken and find a worthwhile subject to foster inside the military is not efficient. It's much easier to recruit a talented civilian with money or reward.”

“So we do that. Captain, get on it right now. We only have one day. Do whatever it takes to get as many bodies as we can.”

“Why does it sound like you are suggesting blackmailing civilians?”

“Keep your morals doctor, we are preventing the apocalypse. How many portals can we cover?”

At the back of the dark room, a giant man and a young woman lean against the wall.

“Leader…… we can't protect everything. I finally understood what Devourer was doing. He is building an ark for humanity.” The young woman whispers to the giant man.

“I know, but that's not good enough.” Germain intensely glared at the people in the room. These people are not trying to save humanity, they are trying to maintain their power. They are no heroes.

“Humanity is doomed…..” A hopeless voice. Germain looked down at the young girl next to him. She was an orphan that he picked up inside the city when the flood happened. They had not been together long, but she was like a daughter to him.

“Don't worry, I have a plan.” He rubs her head. She looked up at him in confusion. Germain might be one of the strongest humans on earth right now, but he was no strategist.

“Please don't tell me you plan to kill the dragon queen. I have to remind you, we won last time because the aliens did not make a move. Even Devourer himself did not fight seriously and he almost won. We can't win.” She shook her head.

“Right, they are very strong and they probably won't go out of their way to defend the world.” Germain smiles. “Unless we bring the fight to them.”