Razmund's words hit like a nail to a coffin, yet Lint wasn't finding them wrong or right to consider them.
He helplessly sighed, scratching his bony cheeks with his single hand. He still watched Razmund from a close distance, persisting through his threat, and uncaring about the tight grab around his neck.
He had no worries as a Guide and knew Razmund wouldn't dare to kill him at all. Mindarch wouldn't find it fitting, while the Depths of this temple would never allow it. He was a Guide after all. A tool that was responsible for Mindarch's maintenance, and Levandis's desires. He liked to play, however, and it showed a lot, so he wouldn't get bored out of his mind with this near-undying body.
“How boring... Boring you are, the subject of temple's interest, and tool of a few Surface-level problems. I wonder if others outside are anything like you, but the Welcoming Party will give them pleasant times for sure. You have your reasons... Interesting ones, as far as I know. What a bummer to meet such a Challenger.” Lint scoffed at him and forced himself free from his grip.
It was more correct to tell, that Razmund let him go.
Razmund didn't reply to his remark, and itched to truly try his power at this Guide. His time was finite, and he was on his hunt, so he swallowed his pride and allowed Lint to reclaim some face. Something like killing a Guide wouldn't end badly for him, but he had to go in as quickly as he could. That was his part. Catch or kill.
As if understanding the situation, Lint backed away and spoke his reason. “Anyway, allow me to give your due readings. Your visit here is finite on the 3rd attempt, so you must know how things will go in terms of spiked difficulty. Be prepared for the consequences of coming here again. The basis of Gates will get to you much worse, and enemies and interests will prevail in their power according to your premise. You successfully underwent Gate 5 on your 2nd attempt, but a few steps to the 6th almost killed you. You must've been glad that the 6th is unlike the rest and allowed you to stop your tries...”
“Shut up... I know that.” Razmund mumbled, remembering those times like the palm of his hand, which was still clutching the claymore.
“You may know it, but I have my required purpose, asshole,” Lint added before continuing. “You may have your own purpose of coming here and it is unlike the last time, but not like the temple has any issues with that. In fact, I am even wondering if you will be able to seek what you want since the 3rd time won't be as calming as others. Temple will rejoice, I fear. No. I hope. They hope! Yes. They do. You know the labyrinth of this place, don't you, Challenger number 4897.”
“Stop blabbering about useless stuff. I have my own ways to get what I want, and I don't want to hear any of this. Let the passage open already. It is just added difficulty. Level spike towards the 70s. You think I can't take it?”
“I don't question that. You know what you can do, which is good, but some folks may disagree. Mindarch will give you and me due orders, and many important reasons, and details, Blessed Challenger.” Lint said and turned to the skeleton wall. “I will be counting on this interest, and watch you behind, so shall we start?”
Upon noting or feeling some mental connection to Mindarch, he opened up the gate which closed after Murai went here some time ago. It wanted to swallow Razmund in the same manner as anyone in the past, yet it was no gate to the temple.
The stairs to the ground were dangerous in their aura, and Razmund couldn't help but get shivers down his spine. No matter what, this sort of thing was in no way weaker than the Origin-level Somalis Dungeon he traveled through.
No.
Perhaps this was much worse since this was a place of demonic interest, with unique powers, options, and history, hiding in its depths. This feeling was an aura of this place and it was fitting, as this place was worthy of a visit by only those who dared to step down the stairs.
He knew those rules. No matter what, be it any kind of visitor, everyone had to take these stairs.
The start was always the Gate of Suffering, Gate 1. The spike in difficulty will give him more enemies, and much more powerful than the last time. There may also be some unique chances and settings, but he didn't know what exactly Mindarach would give him.
It was fair since the limit of the years this temple had to offer was there for a reason. For it to be open all the time wouldn't make sense, as it created a demand and value for any Challengers and temple alike. Those were mana essences and countless things in the depths of the gates.
Few knew the true value of this place, but as with many things, getting them was harder than it looked, because this place was part of Hell Haven, and not some dungeon under the Divine Kingdoms or the world itself.
Razmund knew more than the average Joe since his 2nd time was quite a hectic time. He almost died here back then, yet he gained a lot as any successful Challenger would. Perhaps too much, since the deeper one went, the better gifts and chances one could get.
Any person who managed to get out of here in one piece would find the challenge worth it.
Glaring at the deep staircase that went to the unknown abyss, the shrieks, and deadly aura pushed to Razmund's face. He would usually grin at such a thing, but not now. He wore a serious face and gripped the handle of his claymore all so tightly.
He will get there, and accomplish what he had to. It wasn't this temple he feared. He feared his failure. It was still fresh, but something about the Encounter was much more precious to him than anything this temple could gift.
He stepped to the depths, while Lint followed him behind.
***
Down below, in the further twisting corridors of the Gate of Suffering.
Unlike many above, or in the past, Murai was enjoying his time in this gate with greater drive than anything ever before. Well, apart from his time in a cave, where he stuffed his belly for days. He still had the cursed Encounter behind his back, but it was only chewing on his spirit a little since this temple helped him a lot more than he knew. He had a different mentality. The Centralis Kingdom hunted him down like an animal, but so what? He cherished this chance, and as an essence hunter, he was happy and crazy to fight.
He had an unquestionable freedom of action. His heart and mind were the reason why. He didn't care about whatever went within the truths of this temple, or what kind of dangers would come his way. It was yet another mindful excuse to focus on the present, rather than think of the past or far future.
He excused himself and focused on his own essence hunting. Those were very simple things to do, and he had no trouble following them.
He was a hunter in a strange sense of that word, but that wasn't entirely correct. He still went forward like a proper Challenger and acted like one too. He fought undead waves and his time was relatively fine and simple.
Fighting and getting experience went hand in hand with this situation, and his mana was slowly getting better. His Mana Replenishment was somewhat enchanted, delivering more mana toward the core, but he didn't know why. His own Mana Pool was getting better in each passing fight, so that was great since he was spending some at each fight.
Murai deduced there were two aspects of magic under his belt.
He had abilities granted by Will of the Battleworld. Those weren't his own, but something the world and this Will of this Battleworld were giving him by meeting certain demands and figuring truths out of his Shaping. They were subject to Boosts regardless of his care, nor did he could stop them. Why would he do that, if he could?
If the world was giving treats with almost no shortcomings, it was a positive action without any negative afterthought behind it. Will of the Battleworld didn't ask for anything in return, gifting what a person was due to, water it came from the person's own knowledge, accomplishments, or external influences.
The second thing was his own stakes in magic, and learning anything was subject to mind, rather than Will of the Battleworld. Beast Core was a very important aspect of his options, and the body came close second. Some of them will always be a bit outside of the Will of the Battleworld's direct influence, but not entirely so. Will of the Battleworld can affect everything, however, including the Core, and Spells, but never in a negative way.
Everything was subject to some care and Murai was uncovering it gradually.
Nothing can stop the flow of mana from the universe, engulfing this planet in the continuous rush of the River of Manaflow. It was one thing that the Encounter could never stop, and Murai would be prone to that flow. Boosts just wouldn't come his way, which effectively halted this worldly care and Boosts from stuffing him with various upgrades.
Because of those limits, Murai would still improve his magic and mana in any way he could, even if Encounter shackled him with its effects. It wouldn't give him any attributes, official spells, or anything else prone to Boosts. One could simply handle their magic as if no system was put in place. In this sense, Murai would be able to progress on his own, which meant slowly. Another issue was the Encounter's premise, and hunt for his life. Its halted Boosts were one of the harshest affixes an Encounter can have.
Mana was its own thing. It was outside of this world, going through unfathomable distances across galaxies. The temple halted any kind of effort from the Encounter's rules, rendering those limits useless. Murai had nothing to halt him now, and some shackles disappeared. At least that was how it should be, but he hadn't heard much from Will of the Battleworld, even after a few fights.
In the sense of the Breached limits, Mana Replenishment was a passive effect from the world, fitted to his Core. It was prone to gulp up the mana from the world on its own. It was a lot like what cycling techniques were for, and Murai wasn't all that creative about it. He had none so far, nor used any from his mind.
With the Beast Core in the way, he still waited until his unfamiliarity disappeared completely and then he would focus on proper magical training.
For now, the Mana Replenishment was almost like a cycling technique. They acted the same way since Mana Replenishment was inflating his core with mana and helping him without negative effects or his own care. Speed and how helpful it was, became a secondary problem, but he wasn't complaining.
This whole system surrounding Will of the Battleworld was about a lot of worth, readings, and achievements. It affected everything by unclear rules, and why or how it all happened, were complications. It influenced everything with changes from normal, to even weird things. It gifted Murai unfathomable benefits of Robust Spirit, and he had no idea about it.
It was an incomprehensible idea how it all worked together without breaking the world apart. It had more than powerful implications, but social, and economical kinds of issues. How was it all possible when Gods were beyond this?
The limits, Breach of those limits, and gifts and Boosts that went from little to significant power-ups. He kept this worry for himself in silence. Lisa knew of them too but she didn't make any comment about it, even though she should. It was a fairly important aspect of this world, yet she didn't deem it worth explaining for some reason. Perhaps it was because of the temple or the current situation, or because she wasn't willing to talk to Murai because of some ideas in her head.
Meanwhile, Murai already moved through many annoying flies in the way, killing dozens of opponents in 5 additional waves. They weren't coming in every corridor, or part of the left or right choices. It was as if the walls themselves were the opponents that gifted him those enem... essences.
How peculiar... One can't be sure what to seek, but those enemies weren't the worst. Murai thought, walking through the fog and keeping his mind and mana sharp. However, there are some considerations about my Mana Detection and this place. It is getting weaker, and the fog is thicker. Mana itself is gushing and engulfing every wall, but it is of wild element.
This fog is getting on my nerves too. This whole temple is alive, almost breathing like one large magical construct. It is also filled with dreadfulness and death, but those may be aftereffects of old age and something that wasn't part of its creation. It isn't about that Sungod, but Levandis and her Hell Haven for sure. I wonder if there are some purposes hiding in this temple because of it. It seems fitting for the undead, so perhaps that is enough for the current owner?
He was wondering what this place's true purpose was. It was a questionable guess, but he wasn't one to run to quick conclusions. After all, the enemies weren't enough to make him unable to lift a feather, and he moved faster and stronger when he had a goal under his beak. He already fought with groups of skeleton knights, more undead beasts, and even a few necromances. They even dropped some loot, so he was excited!
It was how he imagined the undead area would work, and it wasn't disappointing, yet something problematic hit his mind and his hope was crushed. Loot was almost worthless. Everything was so old, that it may as well be unfit for the undead.
Some of those waves did pose some problems. Enemies ranged from level 15 to 34, with the toughest being a necromancer who was level 34. It was annoying, and he fought it, along with more undead for more than 10 minutes. Aftermatch was fine. The quality of the mana essences that Lorry extracted from their bones was gradually getting better, the stronger the opponent was at the peak of Grade 8s.
So far, no Grade 7s went to his core, but even 8s were fine since his Core Defining Fusion will cater to them and fuse them together.
Because of that, he wasn't afraid of any dangers, and he decided to be a bit more ruthless since the rewards outstripped the danger altogether.
Inside his mana space, close to his Beast Core, the surging mana became a bit firmer, creating a better-looking sphere. Artificial Core was a bit bigger than before, but not denser at all. After eating essences equivalent to a couple of High-Grade 8 essences in value, it was better only in structure.
There was one issue with forging an Artifical Core in his body. He couldn't use it for magic, since it was like planting a seed to be used later. That was how Core Defining Fusion worked, and that was a huge deal and a limited factor. He could use the Artifical Core as a source of mana, but it would be a waste. So he was using his Beast Core for everything while leaving Artifical Core alone.
Murai knew he couldn't do anything much with this, and decided to continue doing what he learned a long time ago. He needed more essences, and the future problems would be solved by future him.
He got a couple more Middle-Grade 8s out of stronger opponents, but their values weren't enough for his needs. He needed hundreds if not thousands of them, and he doubted such a large quantity of undead would come his way at this Gate.
Now, he understood and wondered what sort of enemies would be in the lower Gates. Could there be a way to get lawful essences there? Lower than Grade 5? It made his greed show, but only for a moment. He went back to normal, knowing it wasn't worth rushing things around or hoping for the heavens, before seeing a moon.
His found essences weren't that great, and it wasn't as if he could find high-grade essences on a whim. He needed to earn them. No. He had to. Kill everything! Butcher their bones! Swallow their cores! There was no choice.
Alas, his thoughts were even crazier than that, since his Core Defining Fusion was akin to an essence-gathering formation, and it was right in his mana space. Those would be quite desirable by any magic societies and upgrading low-grade essence deposits to better grades was a key to unfathomable wealth. They worked with natural and even unnatural essence depositories, so it was a big deal to have one. It represented how mages worked with essences in general. Fusing Low-Grade, Middle-Grade, and then High-Grade essences was a key to power.
But Murai was using his body as that, and in fact, he wasn't losing any efficiency in this process. If not heaven-defining, then most mages would kick his nuts and call him a God.
Fusing them was usually much tougher than finding a mana essence of a higher grade because they depicted already low-graded essences. Those naturally found in the world would take a longer time to create, depending on their grades. It could take days, to weeks, or many years, but no matter what, fusing essences was universal and usable, if successful. Time limits deepened on the uniqueness of the setting too, or if some external formation worked for their beneficial creation.
Mana essences were an accumulation of dense mana, filled with mysterious truths, assembling them into noticeably denser appearances by natural Laws. It was no wonder. It was a character of the universal laws that made them up since mana moved from the skies. But low grades were weak in those laws, while mana was following those principles and its own. Mages could affect them, handle them, and cherish their characters. That was how magic was created, and handling the essence was thus possible.
Murai was doing exactly that, and something even crazier. He was creating a secondary Core in his body, so it wasn't normal, and it was as dangerous as it sounded.
Sighting after many disappointments about the loot, Murai kept walking through the fog. It was rather uncomfortable for him since the fog was getting so dense, that it obscured all of his physical vision.
He tried dispersing it with his wings, beak, or mana, but it did nothing but shove it away temporarily. The fog returned to its previous appearance soon to smash at his face. The only thing that he could do in this situation was focus more on his Mana Detection, which worked at less than 30% effectiveness, but it was better than nothing.
The fog was obscuring his senses, and it was irritating him to no end. He was able to detect the undead to a reasonable degree, but not more than 10 meters before him in one direction.
Well, this Mana Detection is a gift from this world, and it wasn't a spell that I came up with. Evolution gifted it, and it is useful to my control. There are similar things such as this in regular magical paths. Things such as feeling the world with mind, and feeling the mana with one's touch, but not touching anything. This.... is similar to that but in comparison, better. It moves along my perception, and soul, instead of me caring about magic. It is a gift. A rather useful one. Robust Spirit must affect it too since it folds over my mana and perception of reality.
Murai figured it wasn't the wrong way to think about it, but something kept him at bay.
Mana Detection was still in the beginning stage. He was yet to reach a higher level in it to cause the evolution of its usefulness by Will of the Battleworl'ds rules. For that to occur, he will need more levels, use of mana, and not be shackled by his body. All 3 of these issues were currently not that bad because of the location, and by his focus, it was getting better and better because of the fog that was obscuring it, forcing his mind to improve and handle his power.
He was training by walking, sensing his surroundings, and even fighting. So he had high hopes for getting his abilities higher, and so far, he was trying to use everything under his repertoire.
Mana Detection was starting to show its power through the limits and interference that was pushing its limits. It was the perfect way to train, and the temple itself felt like one large enemy to his Mana Detection. This fog was pushing him over the edge of his mind. It was straining his perception, so he took this challenge head-on, because his view of mana was rather cloudy, giving his Detection more time to develop.
It was a strange situation, with even stranger reasoning. After all, the mana was a mysterious matter that no one perfectly understood. Not even Murai, and not even almighty gods that were hiding beyond the skies.
Walking for an unknown number of kilometers, Murai noticed another group of enemies emerging within his Mana Detection. They were like shimmering light emerging within the fog. Like phantoms of messiahs, he noted from the fog of the flames and smoke not long ago.
His enemies seemed like regular undead, but the number was much higher. He counted 4 large figures, depicting 4 Skeleton Knights, with sturdier bones, and a rich aura around them. They weren't alone this time around, nor were they making a duo. Surrounding them were 20 skeletons who wielded spears, and few had even circular shields.
Most of them also had armor that wasn't all too shabby, but bones were still visible, their aura was clear, and all of those bright empowerments allowed him to notice every one of them. His Mana Detection shined like never before.
Oh, are they going to war against me? How odd. Huh... I wonder if these skeletons will finally have some decent loot since nothing great came out of those from before. Disappointing... Disappointing! Murai cried in his head, remembering the failures that followed him for the past hours. He found some weapons, or usable armor on a couple of skeletons' knights, but none were even good for him. There were also some tattered Mana Tomes, but they were long destroyed through the layers of time or intentional destruction.
Nothing was infinite after all, and only something great will pass the passage of dozens or a couple of centuries. The same could be said about any kind of equipment, as corrosion and age could affect metal, making it useless.
Murai didn't care about them, since what use did an armor or metallic sword have for him? None, but what would? If he had a spatial pouch, he would store them there, and sell it later. That was at least his overview on this, but... NO pouches were anywhere. Only tattered clothes, and residues of fabric. Perhaps those used to be pouches, but now, they weren't even in tatters. They were a mess.
So, like many times before, Murai forgot his desires and sharpened his mind. He will fight against those undead hiding in the fog. It sabotaged one's vision, and fighting would be much harder, but it was more than clear in Murai's case. Mana was there instead of his eyes. It was a bit foggy, like the fog itself, but it was better than being blind.
As before, the enemy was also facing the same problem, albeit in a different way. For Murai, lack of sight wasn't a problem at all. It wasn't like his first fight, where the fog was still passable, but the further he walked through Gate 1, the tougher it was to fight.
Though, Murai's Mana Detection was more than capable of distinguishing a sword from a bone. He also had his hearing and common sense. Thus, he discerned the moving targets, while oftentimes, they moved first instead of him forcing him first.
Mana within and surrounding the bodies of the undead was similar to the surroundings, but as a proper former Grand Magus, he was able to work through this situation with what he had. They moved, and that helped to notice their movements, along with their aura.
In the past hours, he figured out more usages out of his current Shaping. That was, to Shape smaller principles out of his Shaping. One's imagination was the limit of any Shaper, and that was one of the truths he realized all the way from his very first life in the mana-centered world.
But it didn't end there. One should Shape and control mana at the same time. Then, the proper experience and expertise through Shaping will improve the mage's abilities and prowess. In this sense, it would be his own accomplishments, which would then be realized and recognized by Will of the Battleworld, or this temple.
Either of them will then gift him some Boosts in return, but nothing happened for now. Could they possibly add some spells too? That was at least how Murai figured many Breaches were working and how this world followed abilities, and a lot of Boosts. Iris talked about both a lot and annunciated it more than 3 times to his face. For the first two, Murai was in disbelief, but Iris's urges worked for the best of him. She wasn't wrong, as she lived here longer than him, and he accepted it.
Feeling the surroundings, and those 24 noticeable figures in the fog, Murai Shaped 4 thin-looking arrows. He didn't need to consider bows to be efficient, or needed under his Shaping.
His overall power over the mana enabled him to wield the Shaped object with quite some power. It was mental power, coming from his Shaping that was dependent on one's mind. It was the same situation when he wielded the blades mid-air through his Shaping and fought in the Welcoming Party. In a sense, it was a power of the Will, and soul alike, allowing him to Shape up spells to great effectiveness.
There was also his Cursed Living's advantage, and it often worked like no curse ever could.
Controlling the truths, and laws of the mana with one's mind, a mage can move mana with a thought. Murai was that kind of mage, but it was like having a large engine within one's grasp, yet not enough fuel to empower it to full capacity. That was his Beast Core's blunder, and his Shaping was much better than his mana. He may be a master Shaper, a full taker of its advantages, but there were still a whole lot of disadvantages left.
He shot 4 arrows toward the fog, creating waves within it, as they went in before they closed. Each destroyed at least a single skeleton wielding the spear, obliterating their skulls, which extinguished dots of their Soul Flames under his Mana Detection. Mana Arrows obliterated their skulls to smithereens, ending their lives.
A clutter of anger then spread through the fog. Thuds of spears hit the ground, and a cluster of bones smacked the other bones. It was an eerie mixture of sounds, and 4 Skeleton Knights were furious over the ambush. Another barrage of arrows smashed a few more weak skeletons, and like that, this wave of 24 undead lost 10 spear-wielding skeletons under a couple of breaths.
Now, there were only 14 of them, which was still a lot, considering the 4 rather large-looking knights.
Murai did well to attack from a distance, and the Shaping of his arrows went through his Grade D Sharpness. Arrow hadn't got a lot of damage, but the skeletons were weaker than he thought. Properly Shaped, heavy, and sharp arrows did enough damage to their exposed skulls.
They were asking for an ambush from their appearance and a simple march through the fog was useless. Murai had no remorse since the numbers were against him, so he took his time and distance, right around the limit of his Mana Detection.
Upon losing those 10 tools, the rest of the skeletons hid behind the Undead Knights. 2 of them held their shield, which endured the incoming 4 arrows, so others went behind them, taking shelter behind their shields.
3 arrow barrages went back to back, and some mana arrows were thicker than others, which caused the front-facing shield to waver, and the faster arrows hit the skulls behind them. A few arrows hit the skeletons, and their skulls cracked apart, but the Knights took them fine.
Murai found his success after additional barrages, after changing tactics, and angles. He ended the lives of more skeletons, which made further fights less problematic. All Knights remained, but only 4 skeletons were behind them.
It went like a flash of lighting, and before they could do a thing, the Undead Knights lost their most important advantage. Numbers.
They acted at last, and a pair of them went forward, standing side by side. They were wielding tower shields in one hand, a polearm in another, and their armor was burly and thick. The other knights had a pair of long swords each and appeared like proper knights with their full body armor. As they felt more arrows coming from the fog, the knights with shields went forward, defending the two sword-wielding knights.
They crouched down and smashed the shield's lower edge to the ground. Their shields stopped another 2 barrages of arrows without a problem. They were mana arrows, so they dissipated into the mana, after hitting way too thick and tough shields, that had much better stability in this position.
The 4 knights underwent a proper formation, albeit their numbers were too small, and it happened way too late.
Considering the width of corridors that remained unchanged, making a long stretch of battle formations seemed like a good idea. However, as if confident in their strength, and numbers, and aware of the weakness of their enemy, they didn't assume this formation when their numbers were high. Now, it bit them back, and they had only a few tools left behind them.
Away from them, around 10 meters into the fog, Murai was giggling in a good mood. He felt his accuracy was improving in rapid speed, but the degree of his arrows under his constant Shaping and Conjuring was quite low. If he made the arrows bigger, their speed and accuracy would become lower, so all he managed was to kill those skeletons.
The less mana went into the Shaping, the easier it was to wield. That was a common fact, and if one was too stressed or needed more accuracy, less mana was better. The more mana was within one's control, the more power Shaping required. It was impossible to tell which was better, as each of those truths had its advantages and disadvantages.
In this situation where accuracy was the key, being careful and precise was important. Slashing at the close opponent with the Mana Blade didn't require any consideration about the accuracy, so one could Conjure more mana if needed and Shape it in a wider manner.
That was where many differences in magical Paths came from, and some were better at something specific.
Accuracy was good for long-range spells such as arrows, while Mana Blade needed toughness and Sharpness. A swing of a sharp weapon was more than capable of going against a direct foe, after all. Sending mana away from the body needed a different kind of touch.
In this battle of attrition and distances, Murai used his favorite method of dealing with enemies. That was to kill them before they even saw or hit him back. He went undetected so far, or so he thought. He didn't know if they knew where he was hiding in the fog. Dealing with foes that didn't move in the fog was as easy as lifting a wing and enough for him to grin.
“Now... the garbage is almost gone, but those knights seem like a bigger problem. I fought a pair of those before, but I slammed on them with my beak and shattered their legs. Those are... better. Shields are thick. Armor too. They could become a pain in the ass with their wideness, thickness, and proper weight. I shook them before because they had no support from the ground. It seems like the perfect counter for my arrows. The previous knights didn't have this sort of equipment, so I guess the temple can consider some changes to meet my demands?” Murai mumbled out loud and lo and behold, he heard a shimmering voice in his head.