Waking up appeared to be an unbearable task. The hazy mind couldn’t focus on his surroundings, even after pushing him to the limit just to half-open his eyes. Robert felt a heavy weight on his chest, which made it hard to breathe, but there was no response from his left arm at all. Mental command to push himself up failed and he for a moment stayed motionless, not knowing what to do. His head couldn’t turn because of an unknown obstacle. The very same that pressed him to the ground. He was blocked and could only see dark something, which looked like fabric from clothes.

Bad premonition quickly raised in his mind as he was trying to move. Only after a few minutes of almost spinning on his back, he managed to get his left arm free. The latter was completely insensitive and behaved like a boneless cord. It took more time to start feeling tingling in it and Robert finally could sigh with relief.

At least it isn’t broken… But what the crappy luck – it is the second time I am dumped with dead. Seems my ability to regenerate takes its time to restore from a lethal strike and I don’t differ much from a corpse during this time. Oh, well, now it is not that shocking…

When Robert managed to set himself free from the bottom of the pit, he didn’t feel good. The experience of unburying himself from around ten corpses wasn’t the nicest thing in life. Rob clearly knew that such things couldn’t happen without consequences in his mentality. It was already showing, as he wasn’t shaken by the fact of wading through the piles of dead. No, what struck him was the familiar face of a woman, who had cut his throat not long ago.

Here goes all that speech about vengeance, the burning world, and the trope of the classic villain, raised from the loss of beloved… No, the real world doesn’t give a fuck about your grand goals, ambitions, wishes… It doesn’t revolve around you… Mere unluckiness in one single event can cross out you from life…

Robert sighed, dropping to the ground and hugging his knees. He was on the edge of the same clearing, which now changed a lot. The tents and cart disappeared. The magic circle on the ground was destroyed. There were clear signs of another battle. Together with the corpses of unknown men, Rob could clearly see that the mages were attacked again. This time it was soldiers, which didn’t leave a chance for the untrained and wounded group. The magic wielders still somehow managed to take the lives of five before dying themselves. Maybe they were more cautious and started to cast from afar. Rob didn’t know, neither he wanted.

With my role of God's errand-killer-boy, and only if I survive this one, I am going to visit more worlds. Maybe even more dangerous than everything I have seen here so far. Therefore, I need not only to train more, but I need to push myself more. Could I kill these five mages without dying? Probably, if only I didn’t forget or didn’t underestimate that woman. She clearly had more suns than green-robed, but I just ignored such an obvious fact, pushing her from my mind. Was it because she was a woman? Because she hid in the tent? Whatever the reason, I needed more battle experience in different situations before the latter didn’t become death-threatening from a single mistake. It has to be engraved in my instincts how to act properly. Without a second thought. Without regrets. Without limitations. Only in this way, I can survive and maybe, I hope, maybe can find a time and place to enjoy my life with a hamburger in my mouth.

His self-encouragement ended with a wide smile. Robert understood that for outside observers, if any of them might be here, he looked like a mad person, grinning near the pit with the dead, from which he had crawled less than a minute ago. However, he didn’t care. Rob needed his inner core to be tough, robust, and hard not to crumble under the pressure and hits in this improvised hardening process of facing shitty reality in tough times of war. Therefore, he stood up and started to act. His gambeson was in a pity state, but it was better than nothing. Soldiers had looted everything valuable, including weapons. Robert still searched the dead and surroundings in an attempt to find something useful but didn’t avail. Simultaneously he was thinking about his next step.

It is not an option to hide somewhere. You can’t hide if the whole world soon is going to be fucked up. Moreover, if decide to grow my battle prowess, I can’t do it either. The best solution is to find a knight’s force to join them. Don’t think mages will meet me with open arms when they clearly think about non-mages as lesser beings. Solo survival is definitely a dumb idea that will lead me to death in no time. No, the first thing is to return to the army. Let’s start with the camp.

Creating himself a short-term task, Robert made only a few steps in that direction before suddenly stopping and deciding to check his status. He had a strange irritating feeling that he missed something crucial. But before he managed to focus on his invisible tattoo, it clicked. The blue-purple liquid and mana flower with the same color, which, using the mage’s words, “increased capabilities” together with God’s blessings. The latter was only focused on mana regeneration by using unfiltered mana from surroundings, but the former two might have another purpose.

Robert couldn’t miss the simple and familiar action to any gamer - drinking the mana potion. He hadn’t much experience in gaming, but such accustomed mechanics were well spread. It was logical to presume that mana flower was made to restore their energy. The very same leader of this group was drinking it just after casting meteor rain, thus confirming it. Therefore, it had some raw mana in it. However, the question was - what kind of mana? The description of God’s blessing talked about the uncontrolled, forced, and ever-increasing process of sucking ambient mana from the surroundings. The fact about “unfiltered” was clearly mentioned.

What if this flower can increase the density of ambient mana…? Then more mana with unknown properties is going to be pushed into every living being. I don’t know whose blessing it is, but it must be from the aggressor’s side. Without any doubt, the battle for the crown has already started, because I am here. I didn’t notice any strange events, except the war and the sudden increase in the mage’s capabilities. Therefore, it might be it. The main question is what properties are imprinting inside everyone… It could be anything from ordinary poison to untreatable illness. Wait! Untreatable – that woman mentioned it. So, in summary, the end of the world could be from magic-planted plague with infection from surroundings… Stop, if most of the population can’t use magic, thus no spending mana, thus this ambient mana is literally just excesses of mana, which must disperse in the air, returning to where it came from. The Soul Core wouldn’t fit more mana than it has the capacity for. The theory doesn’t fit ordinary people and will only target mana users. Or…

The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

Stopping for a moment to gather his thoughts, Robert summoned his status screen to see if there were any changes. And of course, the new addition appeared in it, immediately downing the mood of Rob.

Envoy of Wepwakor (candidate) – Tier 0

Strength 14 (380 pt.) – 42% of max potential

Agility 13 (345 pt.) – 51% of max potential

Endurance 17 (505 pt.) – 46% of max potential

Toughness 8 (214 pt.) – 51% of max potential

Vitality 10 (259 pt.) – 56% of max potential

Perception 10 (259 pt.) – 75% of max potential

Mind 40 (4’526 pt.) – 38% of max potential

Core 16 (459 pt.) – 100% of max potential

Mana regeneration (7): 1% in apr. 125 seconds

Abilities: Adaptive Growth

Traits: Remolded Brain, God’s Envoy, Spiritual Body, Soul Anchor, External Mana Imbuing, Soul Core Poisoning (temporary)

After seeing his stat number, Robert immediately wanted to break something. He almost missed it – the fact that his Core characteristic dropped by 2 points, while his potential had fallen even more, setting his current state to max possible. Reading the explanation of the new trait explained a lot to him – he was screwed.

Soul Core Poisoning (temporary from God’s actions) – the current surroundings are filled with poisoned ambient mana, which has the artificial property to cling and, in this way, to make additional layers on top of the soul, thus giving the entity more usable mana. On the other hand, natural layers adapted to entity mana are not only forming their capacity but also a protective barrier for the soul, which is shown in the Core stat. However, the pressure of new layers can start to break natural layers, decreasing natural capacity and potential for growth. The loss of the whole barrier can open the soul of the entity to harmful and unpredictable changes. Leaving the poisoned area can help to get rid of unnatural layers but can’t undo the damage that has been already done.

Now Robert knew how mages managed to raise their power so fast. More energy, both simultaneously through a bigger capacity and over time through increased regeneration, enhanced their capabilities by a good margin. Of course, the knights would also get their part, as they also used the very same mana for their skills, thus making already powerful elites even stronger. However, the fate of average Joey was doomed. With low Core stat, natives of this world didn’t have much time before they would be overcharged with mana. The limited knowledge of mana usage because of forceful restrictions to control lower classes would leave no solution for them.

Maybe I can warn everyone? Maybe we have time… Shit, who will believe me? Who am I for them? Random militia guy… More likely the knights will declare me a spy of mages… Fuck! And it can be already too late – the flower is already everywhere after blossoming. I don’t think it is possible to get rid of it at all by now. Moreover, if excesses of mana are working like an additional weight, creating pressure, then the bigger Core you have, the longer you can resist. I already lost 4 points and each next one will only shorten the time for the next drop. Wait, such excesses can’t dissipate, and it would be like a chain reaction. Not sure if I have the opportunity to worry about others…

At this point, Robert stopped himself as he was just finding excuses. Maybe this world was indeed fucked by class segregation, but ordinary people were not guilty of it. He couldn’t just turn off his empathy to others. He wasn’t a hero, but like most people, he would try to help in critical situations. He needed to try. Rob always could make up the story that he overheard the conversation between two mages about this effect before they noticed him, and he had to run away from them under the barrage of fireballs just to survive. Maybe knights would believe it, maybe not, but at least they would have such info when it would be needed. It was all that Robert could do.

He wasn’t going to fight the knights to get their forbidden knowledge to bring it to the masses. Neither he had strength, nor he had time for that. Not strangely, Rob wanted to live. Therefore, he had to spend mana actively to avoid energy overcharging. The problem was that his single ability was Adaptation, which could be triggered by pushing himself to the physical limits. Another, less ideal option was to get wounded, but not lethally, thus the mana’s excess would be used to heal him. He couldn’t lose consciousness as his latest waking up took enough time for the harmful effect to start its domino effect.

Can I even sleep? What is the speed of its accumulation?

Of course, he didn’t have answers for this. Robert hoped to find them, but right now his search was focused on other things – something sharp. Rummaging through the surroundings, he managed to find the metal hairpin of the dead woman, which was still on her. Sighing again, he tightened the grip before hitting his own thigh with all his strength. The sharp edge pierced the skin and muscles deep, almost hitting the bone. Using all willpower, Rob managed not to scream from the pain. However, he had no real choice right now as he had to get rid of some mana. He couldn’t feel it, but he knew it was there, pushing on his soul in an attempt to crash its defense.

Robert made a few similar wounds before he noticed the drop in regeneration speed. The result made him breathe out with relief. His thigh was still bleeding when he dropped to the ground and started to do push-ups. The pain made it hard to focus, but Rob believed that from now he had to be acquainted with pain if he wanted to live. The next half an hour was spent in exhausting training without any rest. Robert made squats, lunges, crunches for abs, and even tried pull-ups on the nearest tree – everything just to tire himself out and trigger his Adaptation ability. He pushed away the thought of corpses near him, not knowing where he could find another flat clearing for exercising.

Covered with sweat and blood stains, smelling like a mix of dead fish and wet dog, in ragged gambeson, Robert finally stopped when his status screen showed zero mana left. From his calculations, he had around three with a half hour before filling his capacity to fullness. From that point, he would try to make measurements to catch the time needed for excesses of mana to make an impact on his regeneration to find a safe interval between such workouts.

I am like a role model for a sport inspiration video with the personal slogan – “train as if your life depends on it”… because it literally does, fuck! No rest for the wicked… Damn, I want a vacation – sunny beach, cold beer, and girls around. Never had it but according to the movies – it is a great time spent. Obviously better than the cramped camp with hundreds of men. And, of course, right now I need to find the latter… Wait! Crap! I forgot to take out that fucking fragment, stuck in my buttock!