“M-Murai?” Lisa asked with half of her usual style, glancing more at him than the Mana Tome on the ground.
“Who is Rudolf the Great of this world? Does this name appear in some of your memories?” Murai asked, turning his face to Lisa above him. The glitter in his eyes was still apparent from this brief acquisition of this tome.
“Rudolf? I guess some kind of mage, but I can't think of every great mage there is, and ever was. I don't know him, nor it did remind me of anyone in particular.” Lisa shrugged her arms, dismissing the book's owner, or a writer. “Why? Are you curious, or do you know something about him? It's just a name. Why so serious? It could be a different Rudolf if you are asking about that name. As for the tome itself, it's probably some advanced Shaping of Flames or whatnot. It is nothing fancy, nor something is off about its mana fluctuation. It seems like an ordinary Grade-A treasured tome of a great mage.” Lisa deducted, floating closer to the front of the closed tome, which was bigger than herself.
The tome was about 25 centimeters tall and about 15 centimeters wide. As for the pages and how thick it was, Murai didn't know that, since the cover and rope around it prevented any eyes from discovering what should be underneath it. Though, it shouldn't be anything big. A few centimeters thick was the basic idea, but it was shrouded by the leather so it may be smaller than it was.
Outside of that, it had one major factor that Murai realized. It had a strange rope in a crisscrossed fashion around the leather cover, making it secured. Tight, and sturdy it was. The knit on the rope seemed it wouldn't open unless someone forced it, or ripped it apart.
Hehehe... No. I am not even sure why I asked that because I know it's him. It is HIM! It's about the mana of that old fool. I bet he died and got sent here too. Considering his luck, it would be... funny. Well, that should have been a long time ago, considering the state of this place, so what did he do here?
Murai wondered, watching the cover, and feeling the mana coming off of it. As with any mana object of this kind, it was created by a great mage with an abundance of resources and brilliance like many others.
In fact, Lisa couldn't tell much from the start. She didn't know why Murai was acting like that, since her own feeling about the mana was hers, and not Murai's. She held no recollection or memories like him, so it was no surprise. Murai discovered the familiarity with the name and the basic form of the word great, carried a special intent.
No one else but him would be brave enough to be called Rudolf and also have the great after his name. That was a one-of-a-kind circumstance, which may not be as unique to this world, but Murai was sure of his hunch. Worry about anything else no longer mattered to him, as this tome may be more than meets the eye.
He could only guess the meaning of this tome, but its owner and writer were obvious. No one else but someone from one of his past lives should have this sort of intent, idea, and feeling.
Rudolf was an old pal of Murai and one of the senior citizens of one of his more special lives. It was the 2nd or the 3rd life within the influence of the River of Manaflow, which allowed him to have a better understanding of the mana, albeit, not the greatest. Rudolf the Great was the first proper teacher of magic he ever had and one of the craziest people he ever met.
They became a good friend later on, and surprisingly, Murai never once felt bad or ashamed about their friendship. That even included the political aspect and rather strange Rudolf's personality. He was somewhat of a maniac for world domination, which made him rather domineering, unique, and chaotic.
However, it wasn't the case of him being a sadist or being too brutal, as the word domination had many implications. For once, he was never intending to kill all humans, mages, demons, or any kind of good or evil.
He was a simple man of simple belief. He wanted to be a clear winner at the apex of power, and he was also a person who influenced Murai the most in his earlier reincarnations. Those were simple times when he lived dozens of years under his influence and teachings. They furthered his horizon, enabling him to view mana differently.
What Murai felt from the tome wasn't the simple mana fluctuation that Lisa felt. It wasn't some kind of mana or series of regular spells, runes, and words. It was also weak and faint. It was a signature, as well as a clear indication of the Mana Intent. A greater-than-average mage made this book, and if Murai's hunch was correct, it may hold many secrets of utmost care.
Smirking, Murai picked the tome by the rope with his beak and began to walk toward the Gate of Wisdom. He will take this tome as his one-time reward from this Gate of Combat. He guessed he discovered this deep familiarity thanks to the improved Mana Detection, or perhaps he would feel this familiarity anyway.
He wasn't one to guess it, but he felt that each level of his abilities that World boosted him with, felt peculiar, making his prowess and mana better without spending many days doing so himself. It was like a gift or blessing. It was cheap and easy, happening by itself and giving his body quite a noticeable boost. It was also forming, improving, and shaping up the Beast Core itself, which was quite an interesting premise.
Hence, his improved understanding and usage of his mana could play a big part in uncovering this signature and Intent.
Behind him, Lisa looked at him, and then at the mess they left behind. All sorts of books were in shambles, and it was mostly Murai who wasn't really good at doing things in a tidy manner. He was a duck, after all, so he wasn't so gentle with them with his beak. “Well, I am cleaning this mess.” She shook her head and followed Murai to the World Essence Throve.
Murai wasn't interested in the weapon selection, or the many kinds of magical tools that were there. He was a duck, so it made sense. Staffs, knives, and all kinds of mana talismans that can help with conjuring or shaping the mana were there. Many even held some stored spells. None of them was something a duck would find appealing to use, so what was the point of them for him? Limited, if none.
Murai dropped the tome to the ground, feeling the clear message of the Wil of the Battleworld that his choice had been made.
As for the trove, Murai looked at the barrier, but he continued forward. The moment his beaks touched the surface, they didn't dissipate before his eyes, but he walked inside instead. He can take 2 things from here, as well as buy a couple of things from the 800 points he had.
It was kind of funny since Murai didn't view the points as valuable at first. Now, upon stepping into the barrier, Murai was hit with an incredible storming river of mana, seeping from the World Essence that no longer had a stopping force thanks to the barrier.
The barrier itself shook, becoming clustered and weak. It broke off to certain restrictions and spells, and all the encompassing mana behind or within the Everflower seeped forward. It hit like a wave, but Murai stood firmly on the ground unshaken as his Robust Spirit cleared his mind.
Expected, a tiny little flower... I won't take you, but I will take your other treasures.
Instead, it was Lisa, who struggled and the push of force pushed her to the distant wall across the whole room. It was like a hurricane of mana, enveloping everything, and forcing everything under tremendous pressure. Flabbergasted and waving in her physicality and Soul Form itself, she felt the massive amount of mana within the surroundings the moment the barrier was opened.
“What is that? This treasure? Isn't it a Celestial artifact? Is it directly involving the Gods under the Somalis, or is it something beyond?” she wondered, feeling the source of this mana to be anything she had seen before.
Alas, she was able to sense the source. It was a tiny flower, with two swirling vortexes on top of its tiny, intangible body. It had mesmerizing colors of countless stars, brightness, and not a bit of Chaos.
Murai eyed it with great intent, and greed and couldn't help but curse this flower since he couldn't pick it up.
He knew it... It wasn't possible since he would sooner die than get any kind of "something" from it.
“Well. I doubted myself... and I was stupid. It is here, so I may as well raid this place in the far future where the gods won't be a problem for me... Nice joke. I am already kidding myself so early.” Murai laughed at his own fate, but only for a moment.
No. No. That should work since it's not... wait. Trial? This Trial! What if someone powerful enough would purchase it from the trial with barely any waste of time and effort? Purchasing the Mana Essence for 10,000 points would become a possibility in that case. Wouldn't it be funny? Murai wondered, and as he did so, he began to pick his choices.
It didn't take that long, since all of the things here were enriched mana materials, treasures, and gifts that were undergoing quantitative changes thanks to World Essence's involvement and its close proximity. So much so, that Murai had trouble with decisions, while this pressure of the Everflower was just a minor inconvenience.
In fact, it wasn't even the true pressure of the Everflower itself.
Those would be stronger, forceful, and able to shake the mountains and change the flow of rivers.
His body felt fine amid the pressure and flow of this mana that was part of a huge array made of countless tightly manufactured runes inside of this room. They were preventing this World Essence from undulating too much force and affecting this world in itself, or the Everflower was restrained in some other way.
This may be the heart of this Dungeon, or something much bigger than that, but Murai couldn't care less about it. His soul underwent those currents, while his own premise of reincarnation was much bigger than this measly flower.
This was nothing, or so he wished to think amidst his greed and desires.
Murai step by step went over many things and chose 2 choices without Lisa's intervention. As for the purchased mana materials, he went with the most "basic" types of them. That included Vials and Dust treasures that were much better than any kind of it. Calling them mortal was also a bit away from the truth since their power, worth, and mana were unique and improved by the World Essence.
Murai got what he wanted, albeit the core of this place was much more interesting.
Instead of wanting the impossible, he dragged his choices from the barrier. When he stepped outside, the barrier emerged once again, making it impenetrable, with who knows how high of power. Level 70? 80? 100? Was this God's involvement as Lisa said? Was Pakutan the source?
No.
Upon walking out of this storm of mana, the room outside of this corner calmed down. The forceful mana was restrained inside of the barrier, where it will continue being a farm of worldly desires, or perhaps something beyond.
Lisa dropped from the wall, glad that she was finally freed from a couple of minutes of distress that she had no control over. Picking herself up, she floated back to Murai to see what he picked and if everything was alright.
What was before the Gate of Wisdom was more than a duck could even keep. This left her with some questions about what was he supposed to do to handle that. Frowning, and making circles around the objects of great value, Lisa faced Murai, who remained silent.
“What did you pick for your 2 choices? I can see a bunch of materials of good value, but nothing extraordinary from your 2 choices,” She said, not knowing it from the eyes and feeling of the mana.
1st choice was a dull stone, with a wide, and flat surface resembling a rock. It had a fiery undulating of warmth, with the appearance of a disc.
2nd was simpler and something she recognized after a few moments. It was an extremely rich mana material. A metallic element and right and shape sharpness. It should be some rare variant of Mana Crystal of almost 2 times the Murai's height with quite some toughness and unique sharpness that was hard to tame and guess. It should be useful for forging, crafting, runes, and machinery as far as she could guess.
“Unique Mana Crystal of Grade S with some... Affinity? Is that a Metal alone, or Sharpness? Why did you pick this one? Only great mages would use this sort of thing. You can't use it or sell it yourself otherwise, it could cause you a disaster.” Lisa said in worry. “And what is that disc? I can't tell what it does at all.”
“My picks... My choice, Lisa.” Murai said, unbothered by her question, but appreciating the calm minutes that he used to pique his stuff. “Anyway, what am I supposed to do with this? I could barely grab this Shard away, let alone travel with it out of the cave.” Murai assumed the obvious issue he had.
So far, he was unable to determine any kind of space magic or anything that could be useful to store things up. Lisa also didn't know what to do, but she thought about this problem, which had no solution.
In a few minutes of picking the treasures and worrying about them, the tremors echoed throughout the Somalis Dungeon. An opening emerged from the ceiling, where a series of stairs moved toward the ground. It was a way out of this dungeon, much to Murai's pleasure.
“Great. Am I supposed to keep these things then? How? What a waste...” he glanced at the pile of rewards that he didn't know how to take with him.
Alas, when fortune was met with misfortune, the Will of the Battleworld descended once again, informing him of a new message.
[The choices have been made, with additional rewards from the 1st Trial too]
[They amounted to a lot, forming steady rewards for a young duck such as yourself]
[Maybe it was more than you can chew, which shows the choices within your greediness, desires, and acknowledgment]
[How unexpected, yet foreseen]
As the words echoed on, an undulation of mana and shaking space revealed a crack in the air behind the stairs. From there, a few dozen pouches and vials fell into the big pile of Murai's rewards. These were the rewards from the 1st Trial, which amounted to 30 objects falling from that space crack.
“Great... More rewards. I think I am gonna break them apart or I will regret having them to begin with.” Murai complained, yet the Will of the Battleworld was yet to stop.
[The end of your Somalis Dungeons is beyond the stairs. Your stake in the Dungeon has been successful, so good luck with your upcoming fate]
[Reach the surface by the luck of these stairs, and travel safely to the surface]
[At last, there has been issued a specific, and unique message. Will you hear it? Not like you have a choice to ignore it, so proceeding....]
Murai frowned, and without a choice, as the machine voice told, a powerful, yet not Chaotic sounding voice penetrated his soul, reverberating it throughout, and almost making him choke in how sharp it felt.
It was another God, and it was no Pakutan this time around.
[Well then...]
[The little duckling became a duck. Expected, and welcome indeed. What a time to be alive as well. Anyway, you have accomplished the Somalis Dungeon and even got yourself a few treasures that seem more than you can chew. That's how I like things, and that's how this is supposed to look but... It may be indeed too much, considering the eventful flower...]
[No plotting or something eventful should be in your mind, but I doubt that is the case]
[This is the simplest thing in the Battleworld that I've made! Play with your desires, as long as you can be allowed to do so]
[What I am supposed to tell is a simple message from one of my wives while my words have been, whatever... She has been nagging me for a while, and she is a fan of yours... Whatever the case or reason for that is. It's complicated...]
[She made something for you. It's cute, or so she said in the strange context of her usual voice. I can't give a crap about it, but a calm wife means a calm life, so there goes my Divinity and purpose, I suppose]
[You have to reap what you sow]
Then, from the space crack from before, a piece of leather, or something resembling a leather pouch fell. It resembled a bag that fell into the big pile of rewards, traveled down the pile, and ended its journey before flabergasted Murai.