Spikes of different elements, value, but quite intriguing effects, littered the walls along with a couple of Mana Crystals that were yet to become evolved. It seemed little at first, but the further down they went, the more light diminished, and more mana materials lightened the submerged caves.
Everything was glowing with light at their proximity, while the undulation of mana wasn't necessarily stronger in this space, but rich it was. Murai felt it quite passively, but the quality of the Celestial Pool was much better than on the surface, but that made sense. After all, the surface had fresh water that was yet becoming something else, and whatever it was, that turned this water into this, it was close to the bottom of these caves.
Other than them, there didn't seem to be anything else. Murai saw no treasures other than the mana materials. He hoped for something better. Something intriguing. This was still interesting, but a far cry from something that could make this Celestial Pool of this level. Those Spikes weren't enough, or perhaps the water and the volcano were why it was like this?
Flowing down, everything was kind of dull in feelings. His Mana Detection was harder to use with mana which was becoming thicker in the surrounding water. Could someone work with this Celestial Pool for their benefit? Murai wished he could since he thought of many ways this Celestial Pool could be used to his advantage, but for that, one thing was necessary. He shouldn't be a bloody clumsy duck, and not one at the beginning level, at least.
Considering the circumstances, Murai continued downwards, ignoring these things since he couldn't do anything with them. Feeling the mana around this cave system, a couple of dozen seconds in this environment can lead to mana poisoning or other nasty stuff. Was he worried? Not much, since he had the Diving Sphere which was protecting him quite well from the effects of this Celestial Pool. Even though the Wil of the Battelworld didn't state it had some defensive properties, it did create a barrier from water.
By this point, around 50 seconds passed, and the end of this cave came into view. It was around the corner of this long, stretchy, and curved cave.
“There is another one coming?!” Lisa said, expecting something good and interesting from the next one. Another sight around the corner may reveal the true treasures or other things.
Unfortunately, such a sight never came. The next cave was utterly black and dark the moment they disappeared into a 4-meter-wide hole at the bottom. There was no redeeming quality of the treasures inside, nor any mana materials, or light. It had some dim mana undulation in the water, but that was about it. It was pitch black and wide cave, making it clear that the mana wasn't that rich in this space, and even Murai's Night Vision wasn't working.
The only light was coming from the previous section of the cave, but that amounted to very little since the room ended up dozens of meters wide and deep. They couldn't even see the sides of the wall, so perhaps it was larger.
“What do we have here, or to be precise, what is not here?” Murai asked, looking left and right while descending. While he was at it, he Conjured strands of mana out of the Diving Sphere, Shaping a Mana Blade to glide through this space. It glowed a little thanks to the mana itself. The water was unnaturally dark and densely filthy. There was no clear water like before.
His mana of passable degree was not that bright. Forming it as a light source was more than enough though. The cave wall looked as normal as it could get, but soon enough there were also some wooden parts and bricks, making Lisa and Murai doubt themselves. They were a different kind of material from the rock, making this section of a cave to be a former building and not a natural cave.
As they descended, Murai reached the bottom of this cave. From his calculation, it should be around 20 meters wide and tall, and quite long and stretchy in one direction. It was not thin like the previous ones, stretching to the distance like some kind of hall with straight walls, albeit with quite a destruction around. The wooden pillars or old bricks were visible, which was enough to think of this as some ruins.
This made Lisa a bit nervous, and silently doubtful under Murai's Soul Read. For once, Murai didn't go down but moved forward, hoping to reach the exit from this hall since the currents moved slowly in this direction.
“Do you know some better light spell? I can't see anything with this clumsy blade.” Lisa complained, yet Murai rather ignored her. “This place seems strange. A building that ended up below the Morghalis? I wonder what this is.” Lisa said behind his head, accepting his silence with her style of talking.
“Shut up and no,” Muria quacked, turning his neck behind. “I tried some things before, but it is futile to do something better, so deal with my limited mana. Getting any kind of spark is a hard thing to do, and brightness or whatnot is nothing I can currently possess. I would need some practice or some sort of comprehension aid.” Murai explained himself for the lack of his own success.
He knew the limits and rules of mana more than anyone he had met in a long time. Any kind of mage, nor himself, could do everything from the start. Like wielding the Laws themselves, everything came with harsh requirements and steep talent. It was the same with his current body and the limited controllability of his own mana.
The fundamental way of the magic had some forever unchanging rules, forming around the fundamental of what the mana was, is, and always will be.
Mana in itself was a state of a higher stage of energy, yet wasn't. It was a complicated thing, with mysteries hiding behind the veils of where it even came from. It was different from states of elements such as cold, heat, and even electricity or nuclear power. Its source was following the path of extraterrestrial moves, involving things bigger than planets, or even planetary systems. It shouldn't come as a surprise to see some mysteries or whatnot within this sort of power that can change the matter and physical limits of many things.
Maybe some form of celestial energy or something deep within the universe can come close to that, but those were just speculations of many, including Murai himself.
When one's body was starting to absorb the mana, the biggest changes happened in days, while getting familiar with it wasn't something that could happen overnight, unless one's talent or knowledge of mana itself was in high compatibility with body and mind. In normal circumstances, the Mana Flow had to be done in a very fresh and clear way, making some breathing exercises, meditation, and stabilizing the mind along with the body that would be fusing with mana.
There should be no disturbance in anything since the user has yet to do any harm to it or use it in any way. That beginning was a peculiar thing, and it was known as the Initialization Stage in the Mana Core structure of Shapers. Murai was in a state of the beginning where the mana was yet to become something bigger, stronger, sturdier, and better according to his Will.
There was a change within the Mana Core when one followed the Innitializaing to the next step, improving the fundamental way the mana can form from, and be used according to one's Will. Mages in that way gained different kinds of powers by many possibilities of acquiring and changing the mana. Elemental affinity, Conjuration styles, and many others would become useful. But that is a norm in the minds of people since Spells were what made magic useful, everchanging, and complicated.
Murai found different ways to think about it. Using the Initialization itself, he can already form things out of his ridiculous Mana Pool, so he was outside of this rule, even though so little passed since he got the Beast Core itself. His Shaping was great since he had the mind and experience to handle many complications.
Outside of the knowledge, there was one particular thing that humans and even many intelligent humanoid species came with. It was the method and creation of Mana Tomes. They were techniques to make the mana within oneself into a better form with easier knowledge transfer. When Murai mentioned the hope of aid, it was those Tome, that may include many elemental insights, Shaping, or Conjuring styles, and even spells. It can be anything, really.
Usually, in the forms of books or scrolls, they were created from materials that were rich in mana, and written by mages. That was one thing, but making the intent, and the magical technique transferable wasn't as easy as one would think. The work of creating a tome involved many variables. From making sure one's technique would remain not lost in time, or a simple case of providing it to someone else in exchange for money. That was the normal pretext of any Tome.
The Mana Tomes created the base for treasures that any mage loved to discover in old ruins. It was making Mana Tomes with rare, or useful techniques into a special form of valuable currency, and any mage with talent and abilities could use them if they had an aptitude for it. No one can learn everything, of course. It's similar to how every affinity, or technique can't be used by a single person. Talent, variables, and body made the Tomes special and unique.
The mages could learn the techniques by channeling their mana into these Tomes, figuring and comprehending the technique in the simplest form without spending too much time comprehending the techniques themselves. It was the main advantage of Mana Tomes. No need for a long stretch of time-consuming training, experimenting, or research was required. But talent, among other things? That was more than needed to reach higher levels and prowess as a mage.
Murai was aware of the way of such rules and topics. Wielding the normal kind of mana was something he was master of and what being a mage meant was something he found sturdy as the ground below his feet. However, right now, he was neither. He was no master of his own Beast Core, nor was he in the stage of getting familiar with mana itself since it was unlike his usual experience.
Any kind of element comprehension shouldn't be that easy or fast for his current self, which made him a bit irritated.
Lisa heard his unwilling words, feeling that he was right but rather easy to give up. “Well... then use your mana Shaping to do something better than the blades. Mana in itself is glowing matter and your blade is so weak. You should manage something better than that.” Lisa argued, thinking she knew better than the former high-class Magus.
“I know what you mean, but leave that be. There is nothing notable here, so forget this hall and move on.” Murai said, turning his head back to the direction of the currents. It is still weird to him. This whole situation. Why there was such a dark atmosphere in this cave while the other ones were so special?
It was making him uncomfortable, since he didn't see those walls, nor he was sure how far they were. This lack of mana and light wasn't great.
Looking around, there was indeed nothing to determine about the Celestial Pool. It was as if the quality of the water disappeared, but the quality still somewhat remained. It was strange from the start, so Murai continued forward.
Looking down below, the floor of this hall was starting to change. To his surprise, there wasn't any kind of rough stone surface of a cave but a floor of some marbled rocks. Lisa noticed it right away, getting a sudden feeling of dread and surprise.
Alas, it was too late, and the Will of the Battleworld descended to inform Murai of a new message and undeniable entrance to a dangerous place that was hiding past this Celestial Pool.
[Somalis Dungeon's sub-dungeons have been entered]
[It is your first time entering one, so let a small overview be all to it. Dungeons are places of interest, challenge, and option to follow the Battleworld benefits, and future]
[That's it]
[Somalis Dungeon]
[Version: Acaman Tower: Towering Morghalis was once home to a powerful family of mages. They were kind, and powerful, making a name for themselves in the Battleworld for centuries]
[Alas, time is an asshole, and so is human life. Time wasn't something they could escape nor was something one could stop]
[When meeting their demise at the hands of war, and lack of time, their lineage along with their castle was destroyed, and so were their past and future. The perimeter of the castle around the Towering Morhaglis succumbed to the depths of the ground following the dreadful Divine War]
[What is before you is a Dungeon created and viewed by the Will of the Battleworld]
[Potent difficulty: Level 99 - adjustment will be applied to your current rough power level]
[A level of difficulty of less than 25 will be your case]
[Accomplish the following: There are two Trials of 2 particular paths, each with opportunities to seek and guardians to fight. Go to the end and the Battleworld will reward you for your efforts]
A dungeon? What is it? Some torture place? Murai heard it, following it with a glance at Lisa who was a bit flabbergasted.
“M-urai Hisagi...” Lisa grabbed the feathers on his back in agitation. “You just got yourself into another trouble! What sort of luck do you have? TELL me! Have you eaten some lucky fruit of God's or what?!” She shouted to his head without any speck of politeness.
“Heh. You wish. That was a good one!” Murai sneered, unbothered to answer that. Isn't this kind of strange thought? Level 99 with lowered difficulty? I battled Pouncing Devil around half of that level, so this reminds me of how playful this Battleworld is. How peculiar, and messed up thing to tell this to level 5. How does it make sense? Murai wondered, making Lisa drop her grip on his feathers.
“Are you dumb?” She asked, sure she was right. “It got balanced to your level, so quit your unreasonable words. You have your Evolution behind you, so your strength is better than that. Those were different circumstances and now are different. As for Somalis Dungeon...you know about it?” She asked, not trying to remember what she knew, but seeking what Murai would guess. “I know this kind of dungeon, but I never thought you would ever enter such a place so soon. How long do you have? Your breath won't last in this bubble until the end of this dungeon, so think about what you have. It can be dangerous.”
Lisa showered him with cold words, causing Murai to frown.
That is right. Dungeons are whatever. Never heard of them, nor care about them. I have a couple of minutes left, but I am moving all the same. Getting back isn't an option, but going forward isn't a fortune either. Considering the circumstances, it could be good if I am careful enough or if I will find some air. He said with his mind and turned his face back, glancing at Lisa. ”Lisa, are there some things I have to worry about in this Dungeon thing? You seem to know about these things while I don't. Tell me.”
“Obviously!” She shouted.
“Great. Will you tell me them and STOP wasting our time?!” Murai barked at her, jolting her from his back with his firm gaze returned.
“Hey... Don't be so mean! I will tell it.” Lisa succumbed to his powerful gaze, floating back to his back. “These dungeons are sort of games or trials of rewards set up by the Battleworld. They are in some strange places most of the time, in places of interest, or in places that used to be meaningful. I bet this castle or whatnot was once a good place, but here we are, being players for the sake of the Battleworld, or your LUCK! I swear...” she sighed.
“Seems it's nothing surprising. What about the rewards, treasures, or whatnot? Am I supposed to defeat the guardians? Is the Celestial Pool not part of this?”
“How am I supposed to know that? Reach the end and see what the Battleworld has to offer or tell. It is what it said. I can't see the rewards, nor can I guess it since I never heard of this place before. Acaman Tower of Somalis Dungeon? Such a part... even at the ending reach of the 99th level is beyond common sense. It is a sort of trial for max-level beings of this world. Ridiculous! You just stepped into this place, so we don't know what is there. There may be other things that Battleworld may send later. Variables, or additional rules. It's common to happen. For the start, the dungeons are one of the rare types of occurrences, so I am surprised this is here with the Celestial Pool as well. I have no idea what this is about, but you should move on. Probably... faster, rather than slower.” Lisa explained, but it wasn't much because she was nervous.
Murai continued forward, so he adjusted his Shaping and went forward into this hall cave that used to be a hall in the formal castle.
Gliding in his Diving Sphere, he moved without being able to observe the surroundings after he retrieved the blade back to the mana.
There, in the shrouds of the darkness, many eyes were already looking at the intruders from the moment they came to this dark place. They were watching, awaiting whatever it was that came to this place.
Floating away, Murai reached the end of this hallway while nothing in particular was wrong or right. It was a silent space, with water being everything in this place. His watchful eyes were enough to see a couple of meters around him thanks to his glowing Diving Sphere and the use of his Nigh Vision, but it wasn't great. Neither of them amounted to much.
Well... Lisa. Is this trial or whatnot starting? Should I move forward faster or wait for something?
“What do you mean?” she asked, watching the surroundings as well.
“There is something around us. Souls. Powerful and weak ones. Some are intelligent, but I have trouble discerning them. Does that mean the enemies are here?” Murai said, turning to the darkness above that was enveloping him all the same. No indication of anything spoke of some foe, nor he was able to see the eyes around him. Though, he saw the emotions and flickering notions of many souls. It was wild, like hearing music out of nowhere.
“Is it? I don't know.” Lis shrugged her shoulders, unwilling to admit she couldn't see much or feel things in reality.
I swear... Let's see what's the deal with this dungeon then.
Murai returned his glance forward, choosing to get into the next room. A couple of seconds later, the light from the Diving Sphere dimly lit a tighter space. It was some form of the gate, but it had no longer a ceiling above it. It was 2 meters wide, so Murai could see what was before him better.
To Murai's surprise, he moved through this door into a small stretch of the hallway that ended up in bright light. Following it, he entered a massive space of large proportions.
Vast brightness and light were coming from more than hundreds of Crystals and Spikes around the walls of a large tower. The mana here was also much more abundant here than at the Celestial Pool itself, which was strange, considering the Grading system made the previous Pool already great. Now, it was probably worth calling it Grade S Celestial Pool, which was something Lisa had seen only a couple of times.
This Acaman Tower was so much bigger, that it made the Celestial Pool tiny in comparison.
[You have entered the 1st Floor of the Somalis Dungeon - Version: Acaman Tower]
[The difficulty is set to around level 20 for this time, but the place isn't meant to be that low]
[Your luck was stupid, but it's part of fate]
[The following path of yours is to end or finish this dungeon's trial according to the maker of this place. There are a couple of things, rules, and considerations for the challenge]
[That is a limitation of time]
[The first stage is simple. You have 60 minutes to escape, swim, or simply get to the end of this tower]
[Right. It is above. Deal with it]
[Good luck]
The voice of the Battleworld told, making it seem they'd already started whatever trial it had to offer. Murai frowned as quickly as the message ended. A roar as well as a push of power appeared right afterward, coming from the dark hall behind him.
“Crap!” Murai moved his Diving Sphere above, escaping the jaw of some monster in a second.
What cleaved the waters wasn't any kind of monster, but a fish. Although it wasn't an ordinary one, it had all the resemblances of a fish. It had scales of glossy green color, dull yet ferocious eyes, but a rather massive jaw that was nothing that a fish could have.
[1st Wave of the 1st Trial started!]
[Guardian: Magic Carp of level 9: dump fish, but with magical aptitude thanks for falling to the Celestial Pool a couple of years ago]
[Class F]
[Notable Abilities]
[Whirlwind Breath: Attack with water, wind, and death element. It's quite strong in its area of effects, but not so much to tear anything apart]
[Grade D]
[Level 5]
[Defensive Scales: Scales of the Magic Carp are strengthened by mana]
[Grade D]
[Level 6]
[Specie's powers and specialties]
[Quick movement underwater thanks for their strengthened dexterity. Their jaw is like any other with sharp teeth that can tear many things apart. Especially the ducks]
A magic carp? What sort of a dumb name that is? Murai noted, seeing the fish before his eyes. It's at least thrice as big as himself, with well over a meter and a half in length. When he came to observe it, it indeed had some resemblances to the carp, but it all ended when he viewed the mouth that was like a lion's.
“Calm down!” Lisa smacked his head, floating above him to see it for herself. “This is a simpler enemy, because of your lower level. Thank the Gods... I thought you would meet a bigger disaster.” she sighed in relief.
“Am I supposed to kill it? This magic carp or whatnot?” Murai asked, excited about the incoming trial that he thought would be quite an entertaining and exciting source of this adventure.
“Don't... Your task is to get to the end of the tower in an hour. The Battleworld didn't tell you....”
[... adjustments had to be made. Task overlooked the basics of the trials]
[The new current task: Underway the 1st Trial while 60 minutes are ticking by to get to the top]
[Just so you won't get bored, kill 5 waves of enemies along the way]
Will of the Battleworld sent it right when Lisa wanted to speak some sense. It shut her up.
Now we are talking, you Shittyworld!
Murai grinned, preparing himself to get rid of the Magic Carp that was eyeing him with killing intent. Though Murai had no small amount of such intent himself.
The battle of deadly stares started.