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Sword Core - Born from Umbra
Chapter 2: Breathing is Fun.

Chapter 2: Breathing is Fun.

Divine Ordainment:

Breath of Life

As a form of inanimate life, you subsist upon mana, which is both your sustenance and air. To go without is to both starve and drown. To avoid this fate, you must regularly transpire mana into yourself. To complete this Quest, transpire 200 Mana, and fill your mana core to its limit.

Mana: 29/200

Reward: Pending

Having taken some time to recover from the information overload I suffered at Strawberry's hands, I've been keeping myself occupied.

Firstly, as per instructions, I've been breathing. I have no interest in slipping back into that awful void, so air is now my best friend. I love air, air is my bestie, and breathing is fun - that's my new mantra.

Secondly, I've been looking around. My eye's on a total swivel, so even though I can't move, I can stare at things quite well! That said, I've definitely been scammed. When I said I wanted to mix swordplay and magic, I didn't mean I wanted to be a magic sword! I'm a broken one, at that...

My new home seems to be an abandoned church, half buried in the depths of a cave. I can just barely make out what I think are more buildings, beyond the crumbling walls of my own, but my vision tapers off rather abruptly at the edges of my new home. As for myself, my new body is an old, ragged sword, just a handle with a cleanly snapped blade. My eye is in the handguard, in place of any decorative jewels.

As I breathe in, I see lines of light flow through the air, drawing closer to me with every breath. It's mana, I'm sure - the magic Strawberry used flowed in lines, too. I wonder why mana flows in lines? I suppose that question, for now, is irrelevant to me. Breathing doesn't give me much in the way of mana, so I'm hoping those lines are worth more.

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Eventually, one of those lines drifted close to me, and sort of just snapped into place, like a power cord. Judging from where it connected to me, I "breathe" through my blade. Maybe that's why I suffocated as soon as I reincarnated? Because I only have half my "lungs?" More importantly, though, is the mana line! Ever since it connected to me, I've been constantly gaining mana! I get a whole point every couple minutes! If that's the result of just one, I need to draw in the others I can see. I'll be finished with this quest in no time!

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Mana: 36/200

Two mana lines! Wooo!

Mana: 58/200

Three, and my mana's a quarter of the way there!

Mana: 85/200

I've got four lines now. I haven't seen any more since the fourth, so I guess I've just got to wait for the passive mana to tick up. It's boring, but idle gathering is definitely easier than doing it manually - and I'm getting more mana from it. Having all these lines is practically like breathing in without having to exhale.

As soon as I make the comparison, my train of thought makes an emergency stop. I really hope I'm not an idiot.

Mana: 152/200

"I'M SO STUPID!," I rattle my body, howling my self-loathing for the world to hear - I don't have lungs to overfill, nor gaseous waste to remove! Why was I even bothering to exhale!? All I need to do is inhale! This quest would've been done hours ago if I wasn't so stupid! Even now, the numbers tick up at an incomparable pace to before. Sometimes, I really, really hate myself.

I rescind my earlier statements: Breathing is not fun, and I hate my new life.

Mana: 200/200