Sensing the glitter of essences through his Mana Detection was a spectacular show. With the glow of dozens of spherical lights, Murai found peace. Low-Grade 7 essences were just the cherry on top of his fight. Those weren't worth much, but they were better than Grade 8s for sure. Why would it be something else?
Grade 7s were already treasures worthy of some care and luck for any beginning mage. Unfortunately, his standards were different. He was a magical duck and his Artificial Core needed much more than this. It was an issue, which wasn't truly an issue. It was just a different approach to magic and his living, thus pricing things and their worth was somewhat away from the norm. His mind was always the same. It was just his demands that altered.
Magic was known to be about spirit, rather than the body, but both of those could fuse the mana to a special harmony. It should blend with the body because the body accommodated the mana. Not mana the body. Because of that, the Cores of Shapers were always the strongest, while the Handlers were weaker at most stages.
Where the mana essences came into play wasn't important. Getting them was, and any mage profited from them in their techniques or spells. They were giving some advantages, though it wasn't the cheat to ridiculous power unless one found an undiscovered mine, or pond full of harvestable natural essences. Natural limits of common sense weren't something they could solve.
Money wasn't about it. Too much sudden power could literary explode the limits and mages alike. Thus, mages did care for their priorities, while essences were just tools and resources to have. Be it as Handler or Shaper, mana was about the mana and spirit.
Having a cohesive plan and ideas was one of Murai's highest hopes, so he wasn't petty enough to ignore some hefty advantages. It was about the right mindset, and he was better at this thanks to his Cursed Living.
In this case, his knowledge mattered, and his experiences led to a clear advantage in his magic. Core Defying Fusion Technique will be helpful, but it can fail. And if it will, nothing will be left behind, thus no mistakes shall be made.
Shaping and control moved from out of his core and obeyed by his mind. Without any of that, he would be quite a pathetic Anatidae. It went in this direction, fortunately. His body wasn't conveying the rightful facts, similar to how he found himself limbless, and dull when he woke up as a pebble. His body gave him some limits, and what could change that? Time? His continuous tries to get some familiarity? The stubbornness that seeped into his soul? All of the above? All...
He had no choice but to flex and figure out the benefits of this body, rather than always complain. He knew it, but he still hadn't figured out the right mindset to think of his duck as an interesting life. Perhaps bad times can pass, so endurance it shall be.
Murai almost got excited after glaring at and counting all of those essences in his mind, but he refrained from that. He knew better than that. His current limits weren't about his lack of such commodities, and for such little shits as those undead to have high-grade essences to satisfy his demand, was a joke.
Detecting their quality provided some interest. Knowing a bit more about this world helped too, while Levels, and how it fused was another thing. He figured out some answers, yet how clear were they?
Facts about their Levels and drops were the following: Low-Grade 9s appeared from undead between Level 10 to 15, but he also noticed some Middle-Grade 9s around Level 15, so he had no clue how that worked. Low-Grade 8s went around 19, to 23, while High-Grade 8s were limited between Levels 30 and 35. He encountered no Low-Grade 7s up until now, so that posed some questions about how their drop-rate worked. They might rarely drop from the same enemies that dropped High-Grade 8s.
The chance to get Low-Grade 7s should be between levels 30 and 35, or they would show up more from stronger or special enemies. Something about the quality of the undead bodies, or their intellect, could also influence the dropped essences. That was his guess for now. An idea. Nothing else. Stemming from the way he saw this temple, undead, and this essence gathering, just how did they work in this temple? It was mysterious.
He didn't know much, even though Lisa or Lorry could answer this worry.
Well, I didn't fight those knights with the greatest care. Took it like a lesson. It was easy because of my tactics and long-range attacks of my arrows. I forced my limits and it strained my core and head for sure. Hail the Robust Spirit, I guess. The Artificial Core is fine, so that is great. It didn't unleash itself under my fight, nor did my little beast eat it up. Good. As expected of my literal shot to the dark. It works... Sometimes. My magic will only start getting better under my care. Hopefully, that is. Will of the Battleworld doesn't make it so, nor it will do its justice. I do. I will! Murai thought to himself. He appreciated all essences, regardless of his overly ambitious demands. They weren't realistic, and he acknowledged that.
Into his Artificial Core, they went, turning it sturdier, increasing its cycling speed, and improving its shape and stability. It also got better than his Beast Core in size, but it still felt lacking for some reason. Why it was that? His Beast Core was literary at the first stage, and he never went ahead to care about it. It was like a raging beast, and hard to tame, but it was still handling his mana enough to allow him to fight.
He didn't fool himself this time around. He knew the answer. His Artificial Core needed more time to properly take those essences, and proper use of stabilization under his Core Defining Fusion Technique helped with that. It required time, and also proper following of this technique. His Beast Core needed that too, but he had no idea how much time and effort it needed.
There were chapters about the Fusion Cycling Mantra under Core Defining Fusion Technique and it was clear in his head. He will take a look at it when he can, but not now. He created the Artificial Core out of Grade 8 essences, which were the lowest of the quality he thought was possible for this technique. Grade 9s were too poor, and Low-Grade 7s were many times better, but it was like calling a dagger a sword because one was a dwarf.
Artificial Core was like a small candy, with low tides of swirling mana around it like a mash of clouds or small waves around a sphere. It was on the brink of small qualitative change, but it needed a lot more than what Murai thought. It needed his care. Essences more.
After all, what he wanted was perfection, and not "something that is good enough". Grade 8s won't be enough. 7s won't do either. It wasn't even worth calling it a starting point, since his Beast Core will eat it up, and then what? It will work. Hopefully...
After Conjuring and absorbing, every essence, the Artificial Core turned a bit crispier. Murai got the equivalent of 2 Low-Grade 7 essences and some High-Grade 8s out of the rest. His Artificial Core ate them all, regardless of some grades. The 20 skeletons weren't much to begin with. The Undead Knights left out 2 Low-Grade 7s, while the other pair had High-Grade 8 each. The rest fused together to form more High-Grade 8s, but they weren't enough to become 3rd Low-Grade 7s.
Still, Low-Grade 7 was a good start, since they dropped out between levels 32 and 35. It was a steady understanding, and High-Grade 7s should be around levels 40, and 43 if he was lucky, or met right enemies. That meant that level was somewhat corresponding to the essences, but it wasn't the truth. Higher-level opponents were better for essences, and he was sure there were some concepts about better essences if the undead were special.
Level 30 was not equivalent to Low-Grade 7 for sure. High-Grade 8 essences were. Low-Grade 6 should be below level 50, if lucky, so one thing was clearer than before. Killing higher-level opponents gave higher grade essences, and the stronger the foe, the better.
Murai got back to his feet after sitting in a meditative stance. That meant sitting on the ground as a duck, feet tucked as wings, and neck resting in a carefree position like a crouching tiger. It was a bit laughable, and Lisa thought it was strange no matter how she perceived him.
She was looking at him from behind, perplexed and full of various thoughts. His actions and how he handled his essences were under her watch, and she found it disturbing and interesting. The fighting was another thing, but as she saw it all, she had no complaints to tell. She perceived what he was doing because of their connection, and some fog didn't matter to her, similar to Lorry.
She was also a being of mana but in a different version than a living one. Soul Render was a sub-species made of magic, while Sona was a mesmerizing and hopeful matter of energy.
In what way it worked?
Lisa knew her destructive path was worth fearing, and her excitement to follow it wasn't small. It wasn't like Anatidae, but she felt it wasn't too far away from them. Her current circumstances were the reasons for some wonders, while Murai was something else. Some things were more important than others, and her current living was like a cloud hovering about a much tougher, crazier, and ridiculous world. That was him, and she was an observer, among other things.
Lisa felt the disturbing effects of the Core Defining Fusion Technique, and how those essences did nothing immediate to his body. Typically, any mage could either store them in an essence-gathering construct—if they had one—or absorb them to their core—if they could.
Without either choice, essences became a waste. One can't store them without proper tools, and even a fragile Mana Core could refuse them. It was how talent discriminated poor bastards, from true shining gems. If Murai couldn't take these essences, they wouldn't float above the ground for eternity. They were a form of mana and without any purpose, they would dissipate away. Unnatural essences never lasted forever. A few minutes at most was his general idea.
Natural essences often didn't dissipate at all, but they needed proper physicality so one could take them out, or their Grade should be high. Those appeared like rocks, crystals, or more shiny and clear orbs. Those could be handled like a currency or a tool by anyone. Even normal people.
Thus, the essences and their worth were often different, and the grading scheme was there for a good reason. This world had plenty of such things, and Will of the Battleworld wasn't taking it under its rules. The culture and being of the planets did. It was common sense to have values determined by the market, and history made them happen. Having Order in many Paths was mandatory, and any kind of treasure was worth structuring into tight and fitting schemes. And this world was full of them, and calling it one large piece of blissful Order and Chaos was almost too poetic.
After enough time outside of any influence, mana essences in this temple would dissipate like any Conjured and Shaped mana. That was why it was important to know about their uses, and Lisa knew all about them.
She expected and hoped Murai would take them to his Beast Core, and improve the might of his magic. It was a part of her idea of coming here and something that was a genuine part of her actions. This idea and hope were shattered, but replaced by something else. A curious case was before her instead. It was irritating her mind as she was looking at Murai like a mischievous yet curious succubus.
He was creating and using something very weird and complex, and also insensible to her head. On one hand, he was handling essences like tools, but in a certain way that adhered together outside of his core. How did he do that? The way he absorbed them was savage, and a normal mage would explode already. Shaping? His Beast Core should've got those essences long ago, and eat them like a hungry dog. But he was restraining it so it wouldn't do that, and she didn't know why or what he was doing these unnecessary actions.
Lisa couldn't fathom it, but she wanted to know more about it and his secrets. She was willing to do that alone. Wait for her chance. For now.
Mana essences were of various elements, but their usage always remained stagnant, or extremely intoxicating. It was because of their truths, and how they formed. The essences in this temple weren't ordinary in their creation, but their worth was simple. They were an accumulation of mana from the residents of this temple. Murai saw only pure mana essences alone. No flame was within them, nor some poison, or water, let alone some Laws.
It was a lot more unique than regular farming methods, such as formation bases that would accumulate mana, and create unnatural essences. This temple was a bit close to that. Somehow, Levandis was using living beings as farming spots instead, while the temple was the reason for how, and why it was even happening. Though, the answers about how it was all in a good place, and how it worked were another thing. Even Lisa couldn't fathom them, and she tried to look for answers a lot in the past, but without any luck.
The second issue Lisa realized was simpler. Murai was creating shackles and as far as she could tell, in the shape of a second core. She noticed it, and bet all her ideas that Lorry understood it too, but he didn't speak about it. It was an interesting premise and something they both viewed in their own opinions.
Both of them remained silent, not willing to bother Murai in his significant time.
Murai couldn't possibly sit in a proper lotus position of interconnected legs like a human would. So he got up, stretching his neck and wings, and extended his legs. They each felt fine, while his body wasn't hurt in any way after this 1 on 24 fight. He got a better hang of his possibilities in the last hours. From his leg movement, ways to move quicker in retrospect to his lower stature, and so on. His magic also grew a little, but how he exploded against those last Knights was his body alone. He smacked both of those Knigh Apprentices with his beak, and it felt good.
Getting better was usually the aftermath when a lot of fighting went on for an extended period of time. He had all the time in this place to do that—even though Razmund was coming to get him and catch him like an animal.
That fact had yet to hit him because he had other things in mind. Pretending that nothing bothered him from the outside was his philosophy to move forward. It was perhaps his focused mind, Mindarch, or the fighting that got him this idea, even though it was questionable.
He fought with his magic the most, as it was his priority. Using his physical body had benefits that worked no worse than his magic. Of course, in most cases, his beak came in clutch as the final card against tougher enemies. It never disappointed him. He could live with it since his Beak's Peak had incredible pushing and piercing power—probably even stronger than any of his potentially shaped spells.
Though, if anything, his use of spear arrows was savage enough, and he shot them up from almost point-blank range. It was no wonder they did incredible damage and cracked the skulls if he aimed at the eyesocket.
The fight against those 4 knights was possible after a well-made plan, albeit it was a rather playful one. Most of it was deliberate, but some of it was also part of heat and momentum. He fought with his mind too, and what he considered a fitting choice of action.
“How were the essences? Good?” Lorry asked, floating a meter before him.
“They were decent, as you stated. Grade 7 dropped, but I wonder how... it happens. Is it you or the enemy that decides them?”
“Enemy.” Lisa and Lorry answered at the same time, leaving Murai confused they both answered it.
“Well, that answers a lot more than I wanted, but I went through a rather boring fight in terms of rewards.” Murai changed the subject. “Wasn't this a test to Mindarch's liking, though? What is up with those intentions, Guide?”
“Hehehe, Murai is right to think that. Lorry is a tester, as well as a guiding tool of Mindarch's intentions. Lorry has many rights over the interest of this place, so how about reaching the next Gate? Murai proved to be unhindered against a rather difficult wave, and following Gate 1 won't be worth it any longer. What does Murai have to tell to that?”
“Gate 2? If that is so, tell me about it. How to get to the next Gate?”
“Murai will have to prove Murai's power against the Guardian,” Lorry said, intentionally speaking slowly and in a deep voice.
“And that is who, or... where?” Murai asked, curious and subject to increased hopes for more essences in further gates. Guardian must be worth something for sure. Something better than a Low-Grade 7, or... perhaps the essence could be a High-Grade 7?
He bet he will get much better ones in lower grades, as he will improve himself, and kill more opponents with higher levels and talents. Lorry's confirmation provided enough answers. His highest advantage was his Core Defining Fusion Technique since it could fuse essences together, which no Core should be able to do on its own. Thus, farming many Low, or Middle-Grade essences wasn't that terrible. It was about efficiency.
He figured levels took the majority of interest in their determined values. For skeletons to have poor Grade 9s was normal. Around level 30 was High-Grade 8s. So if the Level 40s had High-Grade 7s, that would be an excellent way to get some Grade 6s. The problem will be hunting them... which Murai doubted he could endure with his current power.
He will farm and hunt them one way or another, even if it will mean shedding blood and splitting his head. Achieving at least a High-Grade 6 was the bare minimum under his Core Defining Technique, and if he was confident and lucky enough, trying for a Grade 5 was also possible. That, however, depended as much on this temple as on himself.
“Where is a Guadian, huh?” Lorry asked himself. “How impatient Murai is, but how fine too.” he sighed and flew towards the wall.
“Wait a damned second!” Lisa shouted and stopped him. “Guardian already? He already moved past the Mindarch's block and acknowledgment. Isn't it early? He needs to see something first, don't you think?”
“Acknowledgement?” Lorry uttered in a deep voice, turning and glaring at Lisa in deep waves in his Soul Flames. “Lorry said that Murai was under Mindarch's care, and Mindarch does what Murai wants. Mindarch does the job well. Rules are enough already, but if Lisa knows more, Lorry will tell it. Yes. Murai is worthy and already fought many whole waves and all of them are enough. Wasting more isn't fitting. That is why, Lorry plans to take Murai straight to the Guardian.” He finished and turned back to the wall, causing Lisa to accept his words. She had more to tell, however.
On the wall, under Lorry's power, another vortex of matter emerged when he bumped into it with his forehead. It wasn't a gate or tunnel. It will be a hole and a shortcut to the Guardian since Mindarch had every right to not waste more undead when nothing was working under the pretext of the Gate 1 challenges. It seemed there were rules to this Gate and as Lorry acted, Mindarch spread his voice to the whole corridor.
His voice spoke around his reasons, and Lisa and Murai jolted their heads and expected worthy news. Something that both of them wanted.
[Welll, well well, look who completed what was required?] Mindarch voiced in a playful manner, speaking in many confusing tunes, but a deep male voice prevailed. [Challenges have been completed by the way. Cheers, and worthy celebration to everyone.]
[Grade D wave has been vanquished, and certain Breach provided. Again... Amongst other things.]
[Archtouched and Godmark deliver their benefits according to the rulesets between the temple and the Skies, but mainly by the great me!] He enunciated himself more than usual, but spoke officially and straight to the point otherwise.
[Will of the Battleworld provided the limited shackle, Breach, and rise of many problems. They were annoyances that had to be retouched. Nuisances too... Bothersome as well.]
[Benefits have been recalculated and proved under my rule, and M has all reason to be happy, since... a lot of weird shit is shutting the rules. No clue why.]
[By my degree, I've recalculated it enough. M will gain 2 levels. Current level: 15, which is the base that I could grant.]
[Power Level reprocessed to level 35, though in a limited context and possible outcomes. It may be lower or higher than that, depending on the setting, strategies, and enemies. M is a tough nut to crack. And hard to read too.]
[Attributes are increased.]
[Vitality +5, Current Vitality: 53]
[Dexterity + 5, Current Dexterity: 43]
[Strenght +8, Current Strenght: 53]
[Will +5, Current Will: 39 ]
[Soul Power +5, Current Soul Power: 35]
[Magic has been a huge headache to figure out... So far, M's possibilities have been enchanted by adding 3 basic spells to make a statement. See how rich and generous am I? They will be prone to Boosts and other benefits according to M's efficiency, Shaping, and usage. Will of the Battleworld will also get their reading, and provide them with necessary care when outside of this temple.]
[Certain criteria within them have already been improved while Shaping and handling them under special cases is similar to the Mana Blade that M proved and used many times.]
[Mana Arrow has been created.]
[Variants are detected and prone under this Shaping Spell.]
[Grade F]
[Level 11]
[Mana Spear has been created.]
[Grade E]
[Level 10]
[Mana Dagger has been created.]
[Grade F]
[Level 8]
[Addition Magic Spells has been increased too, lest they fall behind too far, like M and his core.]
[Mana Detection +2 levels, Current level: 15]
[Mana Replenishment has been increased by 2 levels to level 10. Mana per minute is 26 points, and the benefit of Archtouched provides a small temporary Blessing]
[Minor Celestial's Blessing has been measured and shall be gifted.]
[Mana Replenishment has been increased based on the current Gate of the temple. Gate 1 determines a boost to your current Mana Rejuvenation to reach 40 points per minute]
[Mana Flow's output out of the mana core will be increased by 50%]
[There is a certain endangerment of the mage's Shaping and Core. There is a high probability of losing control. Overdrafts have 100% increased negative effects, and Shaping can get difficult.]
[M should better be careful and not eat more than M can chew.]
[Grade of the Blessing: D.]
[This blessing is limited to Levandis Temple alone.]
[Species' abilities are also increased after my careful touch and M's magnificent throws, stabs, and smacks. I rate them 10 out of 10. The body shouldn't fall behind, so improvements are due. How nice, isn't it?]
[Beak's Peak +3 levels, Current level: 7]
[Beak's Fury +5 levels, Current level: 11]
[Further Magic Spells have been increased.]
[Mana Shaping +4 levels, Current level: 18 ]
[Proper Mana Blade +8 levels, Current level: 16]
[Flame Shot +5 levels, Current level: 10]
[Secondly! I have been worried over nothing, but power over magic is weird under M's rules. Thus, I wanted to empower the Mana Flow but failed... What a bummer. Battlewill can fuck off! Right? Anyway, Flame Affinity has been improved from Grade F to E, but the rest hasn't. What is that Water even? I dunno.]
[Alas, the delivered challenges and waves of the Gate of Suffering end for now.]
[Guide provided enough incentive and supposed worthy Challenger wishes to get access to the Guardian?]
[How fitting. How fitting! Access is granted without a doubt. Let's get popcorn and... I can't eat... What a bummer. Access has been granted, go and slaughter that Guardian! I can't wait to Breach some more out of your depths. It is so funny how Sky is churning and Battlewill is screaming. Now, let's go. Go. Go!]
Mindarch ended his quick and neverending flow of words, and Murai had no chance to even utter a quack. The world turned to a standstill, and he watched how the corridor changed. Fog quivered, turned vivid, and dispersed. A massive rise of intangible waves washed into his body, coming from the wall, ceiling, or the fog itself. It was like a tidal wave, and Murai figured it was weirder than usual. It was perhaps Mindarch alone, and no Will of the Battleworld was behind it.
It was just a Boost of a different caliber, but it felt the same.
It was the same.
All of it gave exactly what Mindarch described, and it was under his watch and decision to make them into reality. Though, Will of the Battleworld acted also along with it, but not fully. It merely confirmed it and allowed Murai to get this Boost hosted from Mindarch's readings alone. They were due rewards, far from some imbalance, and who knew if Mindarch gifted them begrudgingly, or because he had no choice, or he enjoyed it far too much.
Murai doubted his voice and messages made more sense than the Battleworld's, but this surge of flaming power that rushed to his core felt real. Enchanted Flame affinity felt great, and he had to be quite careful about it, and not give his Artificial Core some care. It shouldn't slip into his Beast Core out of the blue, but what if his Beast Core slipped into the Artificial Core instead? That would be laughable, so he had to make sure both of them remained away from the other.
A stronger flame spread, becoming apparent in the waves of his Beast Core afterward.
Murai got not that shabby Boost. His abilities got stronger, but what about the new additional spells? Mana Spear, Arrow, and Dagger were all basic spells he was using from time to time with his basic Shaping over the last week. They finally reached the proper care of this world and acknowledgment, or they should've come at him much sooner, but Encoutner or his injuries disallowed it.
Still, it wasn't bad at all! It gave him a general gist of how Boost-driven and unofficial spell gathering worked. It wasn't complicated. Through Murai's self-indulged teaching, he already handled and created some spells, so what did it mean for them? They weren't Boost-related. They were his doing. All he heard were his accomplishments, which created letters and numbers towards them.
What went out of this idea were obscure things, such as attributes that he had trouble influencing, his evolution, or some abilities, which seemed half under his grasp, and half related to Boost. There was probably also his Will attribute, Soul Force, or Soul Power, while Wisdom might be the same. He wasn't sure.
Overall, he was having a good time.
Spell differences should be notable, but magic and mana can still be powerful even without some outside influence. Murai knew it, so he wondered if there would be noticeable changes with or without direct acknowledgments, or if those readings were the same thing. How to test it? By using them after the Boost was over. Some of its power did increase something, while some didn't because Murai had already accomplished those powers by himself.
Boost worked like that.
This world may be different from his common sense and it was worth researching.
Murai will finally get a chance to know what they could mean. He bet his magic could remain in a steady form under his care, with or without those influences. However, the Boosted official spells were stronger, and enhanced power was hard to ignore. It was normal and expected. It was still part of his power, yet he had other hunches about them. Did worrying about them matter? He had answers right there in his head, and they were soon coming to his demands.
These Boosts were benefiting him in one way or another. It didn't challenge his shame, nor improving at his own pace was good or bad. What if there were better choices to get stronger?
He would lie if he said he didn't like the simplicity and easiness of these Boosts.
Minor Celestial's Blessing moved next from the surroundings. It was a light that touched his forehead, coming from a sudden beam. A small mark appeared on his forehead, looking like a small dot that looked like an eye. It wasn't painful or weak. It felt like a small warm glow that was on his feathered skin.
Then, a surge of powerful waves increased by a large amount, and Murai felt the tension in his mana space turned frantic. His Beast Core became power-hungry, and his whole body tensed up. He gathered that the Mana Replenishment became too strong, while something else moved within his mana space. Those were various mana-based improvements, followed by new spells.
[Oh... this is peculiar...] Mindarch's voice echoed so weakly, that Murai didn't hear him. [I thought it was strange. I get it now... How it is.]
No one here was aware of what he meant.
Power spiked and overwhelmed Murai in quite a few ways, and he had to focus not to lose the touch of his both cores. His attributes gained some points, and some abilities increased quite a lot. Proper Mana Blade doubled in its levels. It must be because he used it so much since the Encounter started. He relied on it a lot, along with other abilities. He even grew a little from those attributes, which he didn't dislike.
Murai always felt great when he underwent these changes and improvements. He feared he wouldn't get them because of the Encounter. They were strong, like a wash of Laws over one's mind. It definitely felt similar to when he underwent his starting evolution.
From outside, it felt normal, but it turned his mind frantic. At least the mana pool didn't get intense, which was good, but his mana space was a full-blown storm. He had to cater to it more than he liked, so nothing worse happened. Too much power could become a problem, and any disturbance to his Artificial Core wouldn't end well. He needed to calm his both cores that seemed to take these surges of power for a candy.
Thus, he sat on the ground and focused on calming his messed up feelings and cores alike. As he did so, Lorry kept glaring at him, voiceless, and Soul Flames watching.
A portal emerged in the wall next to him, guiding the Challenger to the next source of troubles. A Guardian! There should've been a shortcut, and a tunnel instead, but Mindarch got him access to the portal instead. It was suspicious but welcomed. At least there won't be a waste of walking a couple of hours to the Guardian's location.
Murai got hold of himself after 5 minutes of calming his cores. Then he went over his mental state, and then the overview of his Boost. He was calm, not greedy for more, or less. Satisfaction was in his head, and that was a good sign.
“See? That didn't hurt.” Murai smugly said to Lorry, viewing himself and his feathers that seemed pristine, a bit fuller, and also larger. He got up and walked toward the portal.
But, as he did so, Lisa coughed. “With that said and done, I am glad you took it all, but you forgot about something very important, which is surprising to me more than I thought.” She said, pointing to a couple of things on the ground. Murai noticed them too, but not so much to be aware of it that well. His mind cared about other sights, so he forgot about them after those essences and Midnarch.
When reconsidering his choices, Murai figured these things wouldn't hurt to see. “What do we have here? Loot? Is it even worth it?” He said after pretending to not listen to Lisa and her reminder. He hopped to some treasures that knights dropped from their belts, and waists when they met their second End. One of them, in particular, was a pouch, but it almost blended into the ground in its dull appearance.
He went to the pouch first and picked it up with his beak.
It was somewhat old and dusty, so he smacked it with his feather and cleaned it up. It remained in good shape, unlike those he had seen in the past. There was even a leather strip on the top that remained locked. It still had some mana undulation, but it wasn't a lot. Murai opened it up with his beak and struggled, revealing a small light inside of it, along with the scripture of space spell runes. It was a spatial pouch of roughly 4 cubic meters according to his guess.
It was something that most knights would use for their primary equipment, and the number of cubic meters wasn't a lot. But they were sturdy. Murai also noted a haggard pouch that was no longer usable not far off. That one should've been bigger in volume for sure, while this one was better in its craft, but smaller in volume. That was why it lasted this long in an intact state, while the other had not.
“Not bad. It's usable. Hey, Lisa, help me with it.”
“What help?” she asked. “It is your loot and it doesn't appear to have any mental mark of any kind. It seems to be at Grade D or C at best in quality, but the volume is bad. Anything in single digits is terrible.” Lisa argued, flowing aside from him and glaring inside the pouch.
“I didn't ask for that. Will you carry it for me, or will you remain useless in your floating self?”
Hearing his harsh words, Lisa was a step away from unleashing her anger, but for some reason, she refrained from doing so. She swallowed her pride for the time being and flickered her hand in faked distress. Her Sona quivered, and her hand turned pristine in mass and physicality. She jolted the pouch from his beak. “What do you want with it?”
“You will become my official storage manager. Aren't you happy?” Murai asked in a mocking tone.
“Hmph! Fine.” Lisa unhappily grunted, looking around, but saw nothing interesting apart from swords, spears, and shields lying around. 4 cubic meters weren't a lot anyway and there was nothing else to it.
But she could still store the smallest weapons. They were long but they will fit into the space of this pouch. Murai also looked around as she did, and found some pages from one of the knights. They weren't in terrible condition like every other book or tome he had found, so he ended up surprised. unfortunately, it wasn't a Mana Tome, but a martial arts manual for some Path.
It was meant for humans, so Murai only dismissed it as being useless. He ordered Lisa to store it inside the pouch, right next to some shields and swords. He could sell it all, as far as he knew, and everything was prone to some value. Other than that, he also found some regular leather pouches with some intact gold coins and jewelry, but nothing magical, per se. They were worth some money, so into the pouch they went.
A few minutes later, Murai was over the loot, and except for the spatial pouch, there wasn't anything worthy of his interest. After walking toward the portal, he heard Mindarch voicing his loot and accomplishment.
[Oho!? I smell some loot! M found something usable, for once. Much to his lacking hands, it seems.]
[A piece of equipment has been gained.]
[Spatial Pouch of Grade E.]
[Volume: 4 Cubic Meters.]
[No disturbed runes inside have been detected.]
[Level of Equipment: Universal.]
[No other species' viable equipment is anywhere around. M had no luck, it seems. As expected of an Anatidae. No one would've had anything for them in this place anyway.]
[Too bad.]
It was brief and only that, but Murai stomped the ground and found Mindarch annoying. Before waiting for more, he went through the portal without waiting for Lisa and Lorry. But as he was a step away from disappearing into the portal, he heard a massive explosion and an outcry echoed throughout the corridors as if two armies clashed against one another. It shook the walls, smashed the fog far away, and almost shook him in his steps.
It almost seemed as if something crashed into the temple, but that wasn't that.
“Oh? Interesting. It seems we have another visitor to this Undead Wing. How peculiar.” Lorry said and glanced away in melancholy.
Murai glanced at him, and followed his line of vision, feeling a weird tension in his heart, but nothing else in particular. It was just a noise that disappeared in 3 seconds, along with dull tremors.
“A visitor?”
“Challenger, in fact,” Lorry added.
“It seems that I was too comfortable... Hunt for my life moved into this place from before. Is it that beast master? Or... someone else?” Murai asked himself, and before answering himself, or Lorry, or Lisa, he went through the portal. There was no time to waste, but a hunch and premonition of danger were alerting him in his mind. It wasn't some sort of life and death danger, but something in this gate was coming for his little life. He was feeling it like never before.
He disappeared, yet Lisa and Lorry stayed, glaring around the corridors, but also at one another. Lorry burst into a hilarious laugh. “A freaking storage manager! Lorry is dying of laughter for my Lady's sake. This is too good. Hilarious. What a day! Lorry is dying.”
“Shut up, idiot... Talk normally. Swallowing some pride is the least I can do at the moment,” she said rather begrudgingly.
“Yeah, you sure can do much more than that, storage manager Lisa.” He turned much louder this time, laughing like a crazed maniac.
Hearing his constant laugh irritated Lisa, but not like she could retort with more voice. Lorry had every right to be like that, so she remained silent and instead felt the surroundings.
“Is it a human knight? Someone with crazed eyes?” She asked.
“It is. A Falconer too, in fact.”
“So Razmund is here?”
“Who knows?” Lorry added and stopped laughing. “Lorry doesn't need specific names. Razmund is outside of Lorry's jurisdiction anyway, and this place is more than large to accommodate for a little duck, let alone some additional challenger that has some gears loose in his head.”
“You already answered it.” she reminded him.
“But not directly.” Lorry reasoned even though he was quite direct.
Lisa sighed and figured out what she feared happened way too quickly. “He is suspiciously fast... I don't like it.”
“That's a difference between being prepared, having a Path, and having power behind, Lisa,” Lorry said in a serious tone this time around.
“I can't say much to that, considering Murai and my circumstances. You noticed what is this about, am I right? Murai is unlike a regular to this temple, even though I took him here. It is a huge gamble, which works better than I ever thought. It is suspicious and right, but it isn't the first thing that comes to mind. And I don't mean this temple alone, got it?”
“Yea? What Lorry is supposed to tell about that then? Swallow it and hope for the best, Lorry suppose? Bah... forget it... Lorry thinks if Murai reaches the 3rd floor before this friend does, he will live. Well, it depends on what Lisa or Murai plans for...”
“Will the 3rd be sufficient though?”
“Lorry doesn't know, but Lorry knows how Lisa thinks. Lorry seek no purpose of knowing too much, but options to leave this temple are various.”
“Liar...” Lisa muttered at last while shooting an unpleasant look at him. “I bet someone is already waiting above, right before the temple. Regular fleeting out of this temple won't work. Portals could, but I hate taking my chances for luck. It never works.”
“Precisely. As expected, considering your seen-through body. Lisa sure thinks it through. How clever she is, huh?”
“Fuck you...” she grunted and glanced at the portal before getting closer. “Power progression is, for now, all I can give him. Agreed?” Lorry took her words with some surprise but he knew why she was like that. She went into the portal without further fuss.
“Huh... Lisa really hasn't changed. I wonder what the Overlords think, but not like Lorry is someone who can think for them. Yes. Yes. Lorry is a Guide. Not an Overlord.”
Lorry vanished to the portal.
***
Far away, at some unknown section of countless intersections and corridors of Gate 1.
The corridors resembled branches of a tree, with all kinds of paths that no one could really understand. It was a labyrinth, with long stretched corridors that were so long, it would take many hours to go through few alone.
Not even Razmund, who was wielding his claymore knew what to expect from the Gate 1.
He knew at least enough to get the most use out of his time, and what was before him wasn't terrible. He stood in the Undead Wing of the Gate of Suffering, and facing him was a literal army.
Was.
A hundred or so undead piles of bones were already dead on the ground, unable to continue or make it call a fight. Among them, a few distinct living things were there too, cut or smashed to a pile of flesh and gore. But strong undead prevailed over them, as this was Undead Wing. There were Undead Mages, Undead Captains, and even a single Undead General was there to take their command. All of them had shiny armor and weapons that were valuable, yet all of them were cleaved in half.
A clean slash destroyed their precious equipment without any regard.
“Was this how a Welcoming Party should be like, Lint?” Razmund asked, turning his claymore towards half skeleton who was floating above him.
“Well, it is just right to start with something bearable, so why not do so with a small undead battalion? Mindarch assumed it as fitting, you see? I can't argue with him about it.” Lint argued without care for any losses. It wasn't his job to be worried.
“But this? A battalion in Shara Formation? Those are clearly formations from the Sharadar Kingdom. Where did you get them?”
“Do you need to worry about that though? Past is lost in the past. I am sure there is all kind of other things that would be worthy of an answer. Some will be more than worthy of some measly kingdom that no longer exists, while others are unworthy of mere mention.” Lint said, unbothered by the killing intent Razmund sent against him.
“Will you answer honestly though?”
“No,” Lint said, as he looked at the cut undead in question. “Rules and this temple stands above all else.”
“Some things never change... Will I get a chance for a Portal?”
“Portal? Are you du.... No. No. It is a bit soon for that. You haven't even traveled through an intersection and you want to skip to the end? That isn't proper.”
Razmund snorted in displeasure and took something out of his pocket.
“I guess that time has come...” He mumbled and glanced at a dice with a hole going through the middle portion of it. A leather thread was within, which made it some kind of necklace if one wanted that. Albeit, none of it mattered to him. He acquired this thing through the harsh reality check from the Centralis Kingdom, and it wasn't anything nice.
A Destiny Dice. It was among rare cases of Celestial Artefacts of quite some value and something that a Tier A kingdom wouldn't take for granted. It wasn't his. Razmund paid a certain price just to take it into his hands. But the price was worth it, as it can find one's destiny. It was a kind of a tough thing to wield, but there was a reason he decided to keep and use it.
After all, he was on the ending line of his journey, and there was a first intersection not far before him, and the piles of bones. He won't know which side Murai went through this time around. The dust and debris before the Left or Right Wing determined the right answer. He noticed the duck's footprints there before the Undead Wing, which helped him to make his first choice.
There was a different problem here. He saw no footprints, and it went as he expected. That was why he got the hang of this Celestial Artefact, but something had to be taken care of first.
Looking around, Razmund retracted his claymore back into his pouch. Lint, similarly to Lorry, disintegrated every fallen bone or gore to dust and glowy mist, creating mana essences of quite a sharpness and glossiness. Unlike the kind that Murai viewed, these were of higher quality, since they were coming from higher-level opponents and noticeable quality.
Many even had mana cores in their chest, giving the essences much better growth out of their Ends.
The average was Low-Grade 6, which was a general threshold for the soldiers of this battalion, but it was not always true. Some poor undead even left High-Grade 7s, which was something Razmund saw with limited interest. There was a handful of them, however. Higher Grade essences were the most notable in their shineness and the highest came from Undead General of level 70. That one left High-Grade 6, very close to being Low-Grade 5. Perhaps if he killed 5 more, one of them would drop it.
Sometimes, because of age and power that was slowly diminishing, certain residents of this temple would leave lower quality essences than they should've been worth. But some could leave a much better one because their bodies were better. It was a matter of growth, talent, and how this temple and world wield their undead bodies. After all, even they had Boost behind them, and each was a member of Levandis's armies. This was her home after all.
Lower lower-than-average drop was the case with the 4 knights that Murai killed. Normally, all of them should've left Low-Grade 7 essences, but two of them dropped them, while others did not. They were above level 30, and such residents were to leave Low-Grade 7s.
Razmund turned his belt to reveal a section of the pouches. One was glamorous, made of high-quality material with spatial properties. It was glowing in light when he charged it with mana, and then, he opened it.
He put the pouch forth, and without pretending to care about it, he angled it from his belt and patted it thrice. He watched as hundreds of essences moved inside on their own, storing themselves inside, because he didn't need to fuse them to his core. This was an advantage of having a proper essence construct since he didn't want to waste his time and efforts on those essences.