It is a strange feeling, to be glad to be back in the fourth ring again. Lucadon had us camping out in the second ring for the entire duration of our hunt. It took us a couple weeks to get to every monster on the list. In that time I managed to get enough sticks to build myself a full set of what I am secretly calling my “power armor.” Though Alice is refusing to refer to it as that after I explained my nerdy reasoning.
I was actually called crazy once again due to the slightly forgettable fact that I died in a nuclear apocalypse of all things back on earth. I however think it just makes my choice of name more fitting.
Now sitting in the log cabin with a pile of Class 1 and 2 cores at our feet, we finally get to learn how to “level up” once again. This time without The System and its assistance.
“My, my, my. Excellent work indeed! You managed to collect all the cores from monsters of a higher Class than you in such a short amount of time. Now we can begin the fun part.”
I can see the demon smiling with far more malice than the time it told us we would be going hunting, and I feel a shiver run up my spine.
Yeah, this is going to hurt…
“First things first you are going to practice with some Class 1 cores. Wouldn’t want your cores to explode on us for trying to thread something above your Class too early.”
Why is it that every word out of this demon's mouth always makes me want to run away in fear? I really need to get a passive or something that can increase my resistance to pain. I am not sure I will survive this “Demon Lord’s Academy” as Lucadon put it if I don’t.
Heeding the demon’s advice, Alice and I pick up the Class 1 cores in front of us and hold them to the backs of our necks. Placing the cores as close to our own as possible to reduce the difficulty of the process.
I can feel the coldness of the small green crystal between my two fingers as I place it against the vertebrae beneath my skull. Slowly, following the demon’s vague instructions, I dig into my own core with my mind. I can feel the pathways and flowing pool of mana filing my being. It is an incredible sight as I see the world that is my mana core expand around me. Like webs of galaxies strung together making up my connection to magic itself.
That connection though is what I am currently digging for. Reaching further and further inside myself I find that the flow of mana does not simply end at the center but is coming out of a small void. A hole in reality created due to the warping effect of my mana core.
Still hearing the distant voice of the demon instructing me, I follow the instructions to reach for that void. Searing pain runs through my whole body but I know that I can not stop. I force my way through the void and grasp a tiny sliver of what lies beyond. Panting with exhaustion, I feel like my nerves are on fire while I continue to unspool this thread of soul from my core.
Finally, after what feels like an eternity, I get the thread to reach the other core I am holding to my neck. I use my soul thread to wrap around the much smaller and decaying remains of the core's void.
My blurry white thread hooks into the core's remains and the left over soul that lingers inside. All of the energy seems to weave itself into a new thread as it comes into contact with my own. I find myself hearing screaming coming from somewhere before I realize that it is my own.
The sensation of my soul growing as the thread weaves the Class 1 core into my own is a pain I have never imagined before. I can feel the tears running down my face as I grit my teeth to hold back the screams.
Seconds turn to minutes, and minutes turn to hours. I have no idea how much time goes by as everything loses meaning under this crushing pain. And suddenly, without warning, the pain stops.
My soul thread is much longer now, I can sense the wispy white string flowing through the core and a great increase in the amount of power I could access before. I feel like I could do anything. Revenge on my parents is no longer out of my reach.
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As these thoughts rush through my head, somebody decides to dump an ocean of cold water all over my parade.
“Now, since this is your first time threading you will likely feel an overwhelming sense of euphoria. So, I will remind you that you are still Class 1 and a strong breeze could take you out in this forest.”
That instantly has me cooling down, trying to regain the logical portion of my brain and wrestle it free from the monkey part. I wonder if this is a monkey core? I can’t really tell them apart.
Shaking off my endlessly stupid thoughts, I focus on moving my strengthened soul thread back into my own core and through its void.
Once the thread is firmly back in the Spirit Plane as Lucadon calls it, I drop the core at my neck and proceed to collapse on the ground.
Looking over I can see Alice doing much the same with her tiny wooden body. We both stare at each other, grinning. Or at least I am, her mouth being more of a line on her face makes such expressions difficult. I can tell she is feeling the same way I am though. Some sort of bond between us that still exists even after we disconnected.
Clap, Clap, Clap.
“Well done! Very well done! Normally someone would find themselves in a vegetative state if they tried using this method and with a stronger core at that. I knew I saw promise in you two!”
Now that is something I can’t let slide!
“What do you mean people would normally end up in a vegetative state!?! I was expecting serious pain to be the primary thread, not something that extreme!”
[ Yeah! How could you not tell us that going in?! ]
Still smiling away the demon ignores the death glares we are giving it.
“Well, if I had told you then the fear of such a thing happening would have drastically increased the chances of a mistake on your part. It was safest this way.”
And while I am still quite pissed I can at least understand the logic. When dealing with magic where the mind affects reality, then believing that it comes with a high risk of death would make one far more likely to die.
Clapping a single time more, the instructor who would never be allowed within 500 feet of a school back on earth gives us more bad news.
“Now then, take a few minutes to rest and then you will be threading another core. Can’t let them decay more than they already have.”
Groaning at that I just close my eyes and try to let the energy settle in my body.
Five minutes pass and we are forced to sit up and thread another core. And another, and then another.
The entire day passes like that before we have threaded all the Class 1 cores that Lucadon had organized for us. We made it to the peak of Class 1 from what was previously around level 70 before I disconnected from The System. And we did it in a single day. This method was crazy, and crazy painful, but at least the pain started to decrease with each core.
“It looks like you both have reached the peak of Class 1. I think it is time for you both to ascend, you remember the requirements we discussed last time right?”
[ You need at least one passive spell for your magic, one active spell, a peak mana core, and a catalyst that matches your magic type. ]
“Correct, and you both have all but the catalyst right now. That is why you are going to make one!”
Pointing down at the pile of Class 2 cores the demon begins to ramble on about the process.
For Alice all she needs to do is flood the Class 2 core with her mana over the course of a few days to attune it to her magic. Once that is done it will instantly function as a high level catalyst. This is the most common way for people to get a catalyst as it is cheaper than most alternatives while providing the most benefit. Though most people are limited to using several peak Class 1 cores and trying to merge them together which provides lesser results.
Annoyingly for me the process is quite a bit different on the count that I have two magics and a Title.
For starters I have to separate my mana into both its aspects, flood two Class 2 cores with one type of magic each, and then merge the cores together without them interfering with each other. This is only step one though. Next, to account for my Title, I have to take a third core and align it with my soul. A process not dissimilar to what we were doing while threading the cores to level up.
However this will be even more painful as I am working with a core beyond my Class. I can already hear myself screaming from the not too distant future.
Finding myself sighing, a frequent occurrence these days, I get to work on separating my mana to aspect the cores in front of me.
I grab the pebble like light-blue cores, holding one in each hand. With as much care as possible I run my mana from my core, I can sense the harmonious blend of my mana aspects as I hold the vortex in my chest without releasing it. Taming the storm of magic I delicately separate the two magics, moving the threads of mana along both of my arms and into the cores. I continue to repeat these steps for nearly a week before I manage to fill both cores with my magic.
The not-so-easy, easy part is finally finished. Alice had already finished her catalyst a while ago but decided to wait for me to finish so we could ascend together.
Looking out at the light streaming through the plant based windows I can’t believe that in only a little over half a year that I am advancing to Class 2. Normally such a feat takes several years and many expensive resources to accomplish. I would say getting thrown into this forest was a blessing, but I still really fucking hate it here. I am constantly using a small barrier of microwaves to kill the bugs that fill the first and second ring. The fourth ring apparently has mana too thick for small insects so survive, not sure about the third.
All in all, it has been an exhausting few months since I died.
Reaching down for the third core I will be using, I hold the small blue stone up to my neck.
“Well, here goes nothing…”
And then the screaming starts.