Looking at the orb in front of me, I found myself stuck on what to do. Firstly the System said if a monster was to devour it, they would gain benefits. Looking at the orb, I wondered how the hell any monster would be able to achieve it. While it wasn’t massive, it was still at least double the size of my head. Breaking it was a possibility, but there’s a chance that it could cause something to happen, whether good or bad it is something I didn’t want to chance.
“Are there any more of these orbs?” Looking over at the councilwoman, I see her shake her head.
“It’s the only one in Crater. I didn’t expect it to be corrupted. I suppose you’d want to devour it?”
Thinking of what she said, I had to wonder if I could or not. The System does say monster, which I am half of one. But again, how does one devour this without breaking it, or does it not matter if I broke it. I wondered if there was a way to fix it, which I doubted as it said it had been influenced by a God, purifying it wouldn’t be possible.
Staring at the red orb in silence, I finally sigh after a few minutes and look at the councilwoman.
“Either we break it or let some random monster eat it. The more we wait, the worse the situation outside gets.”
“You don’t want it?” Looking at me in what I can only assume to be surprised, I shake my head. I couldn’t devour that, it was too big…
No, devouring here might not mean just eating, but rather to consume. Could I perhaps consume the energy within it, bringing out the energy and into myself? Then again, I’ve been hesitating about devouring this thing, after all it did come from that red spirit.
Closing my eyes, I extend my senses towards the orb to sense the energy within it. It was a chaotic energy, powerful enough to make me wince. I could feel a deeper power to it within, calling out to me. I felt if I allowed it to, it would come to me.
Opening my eyes, I considered whether or not I should attempt to consume the energy within. The red spirit was undoubtedly powerful, I couldn’t move a muscle without injuring myself in front of it and it took two really powerful people to take it away from us. If it had somehow left some of its power behind, I’d absolutely want to absorb some of it.
The problem was if the energy is even safe to consume. Looking at the System information, it does state that the orb was corrupted by the God’s energy, would it in turn corrupt me? The description of the orb doesn’t mention anything about corrupting those who devour it however, just that it is beneficial. Absentmindedly biting down on my thumb, I went over the situation once again in my mind, before making a decision.
“I’m going to attempt to syphon off the energy within the orb. I’m hoping it’ll return the orb to how it was before, but at the moment it’s too risky to destroy it since it could do something terrible. Letting a monster consume it could be very bad news as well. So I’ll try and consume the energy corrupting the orb and see if that returns it to normal.” Saying this all at once, I close my eyes as I start mentally preparing myself.
“It’s better than just standing here. I’ll wait outside, let me know when you’re done.” Seeing her walk off, I had considered killing her in case she tried to take advantage of me if something were to happen. Deciding to leave her be, I reach out a hand as I begin drawing the energy towards myself.
When the energy first reached my hand, I didn’t feel anything happen. I could feel the energy being absorbed by me slowly, there’s just a lack of anything happening. That changed in the next moment.
A strong feeling surged within, madly devouring the energy entering me. Before I could comprehend what was happening, I was standing underneath a starry sky and in front of my eyes was a small moon. It was the size of my palm, floating directly in front of me. Looking down, I saw my mana pool with the stars in it.
Realising I was in my Mana Realm, I looked around and saw nothing out of the ordinary except for the floating moon. Suddenly it started pulsating with a faint silver light as the moon grew in size. Once the size of my palm it became long, before morphing into the shape of a person.
This person's shape changed into a young girl, with black hair and…silver blue eyes that had stars in them. It was the young girl from before, in the cave that had given me the bracelet.
Looking at me and smiling, she gave me a small wave. “We meet again, new Sister! And so soon too, I thought we’d meet in your dreams.”
Tilting my head in confusion, I asked her a question I had earlier. “Who are you?”
“Silly, I told you I can’t tell you that. Then again, it’ll be strange to not call me something if I’m here…in that case, call me Flannery!” As she says this, Flannery’s smile deepens as she giggles.
“Ah, ok…why are you here?”
“Oh, I left a part of my consciousness with you earlier. I figured I could converse with you in your dreams, but it seems something happened to awaken me way earlier. What happened to you?”
After hesitating for a moment, I decided to tell her the truth. Hearing my story, she nods and pats my shoulder.
“Don’t worry, big sister will help you. Though I’m not classified as a monster, I’ve helped my fair share absorb stranger things in the past!”
Just as I’m about to ask what she meant, she turns and looks up at the stars that represent my mana veins.
“Right now that energy is being absorbed by something deep within your body. A seed of sorts within your soul. You made a very wise and excellent choice of consuming the energy like this, a normal human wouldn’t be compatible with the energy you’re absorbing, but it’s perfect for a half monster like you.”
As she looks down at the lake, she smiles. “A mutated Lunar Mana lake. Very rare, I can see why you were able to evolve into a Lunar Mystic Fox.”
“Why is the energy from that orb perfect for me?”
Looking at me, she puts her hands behind her back and smiles before responding.
“Well, absorbing energy from a God would be beneficial to any lifeform. The God we took from here used to be a monster as well, though we have yet to identify what kind it is. I’ll teach you about Gods and all that later, it’s too soon for you to know about them.”
She sits down and pats her lap. “Come sit down, I’ll explain the rest of what's happening to you now.” Tilting my head again, I sit down in front of her as she giggles. “Well, that’s alright as well. Now then, about absorbing this energy.”
Taking a deep breath, she started talking. “The energy contained in the orb likely comes from that God’s domain. It reached the town you’re currently in, corrupting the orb that it used for protection against monsters. While the thing wasn’t directly a God, after all it’s just the spiritual remains of part of one, it still had a divinity to it.”
“The divinity isn’t within the energy you’re absorbing. If it was, you’d have exploded just sensing it. The energy is highly diluted by the Blessed Orb of Salus, it's mixed with it to produce energy that can be absorbed by you. As to what this type of energy is, I can not say. However this energy is on a much higher level than you’d be used to, and it’s currently feeding a seed that is deep within you.”
“I predict that after absorbing all of that energy, this seed will blossom. The energy types of both the orb and God are from the Domain branch of magic, and the seed that is absorbing it into your soul is your own Domain. Which means after you’ve absorbed all the energy, you yourself will have a Domain.”
Remembering the Domains of both the red spirit and the elderly lady, I sort of understood what she was talking about. “What is a Domain?” Seeking clarification I asked her as she pondered.
“Well…how do I put this? In a sense, it’s your own personal space, born from deep within your soul, that can influence an area around you. For you, it would be an area of about thirty metres around you. As to what the Domain becomes…it’s entirely up to you.”
“It’s not common for people to unlock it at such a low level like yourself, but it isn’t something you wouldn’t see. There are many ways to bring out someone's Domain, the way you’re doing it is extremely rare and likely one of the best methods there are. Your Domain will bring great benefits to you in battle and can hinder your opponent, but it can be overwhelming to use. It doesn’t use mana, but the duration is tied to your energy.”
“Based on your mutated Mana Realm and the fact you’re a fellow Sister, I’d say your Domain will be lunar based, like elder Sister and me. Though, I think yours would be rather incomplete Sister.”
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Tilting my head again, I take in everything she has said so far. I don’t really get a lot of it, but from what I understood this is a good thing for me. “Why would it be incomplete?”
“Well, it feels like you’re missing something. A magic perhaps. It’ll still be usable, but it’ll also be unstable. So be careful with using it, okay?”
Nodding, I lean back and look at the stars, my mana veins, in the sky. There I could see red lines of energy coming from the outside on one half, moving into the centre of the star field before disappearing. So this energy is going to some seed within my soul then?
Looking towards Flannery, I wondered who she was and why she was offering me such help. I knew even if I asked she’d go on about rules and such, even so I still wanted to know. So I decided to ask her questions about my current situation.
“Why did I get pulled into my Mana Realm?” She’d been looking at me the entire time, still gently smiling.
“Well, absorbing energy like you are can be overwhelming, especially when you’re new to it, so you instinctively entered your Mana Realm to avoid being overwhelmed. Oh, and something I forgot to mention, do try not to just absorb any energy you run across, you got lucky with this orb. Even if the System says it’s beneficial, sometimes it’ll bite you in the butt.”
“Then couldn’t I absorb mana like this if I needed it?”
“Mana and energy work differently. You can absorb mana but it’s slow, not something for combat. Unless you’re in a mana spring, I’d recommend just letting your mana naturally regenerate for you. There is always something better to do after combat, like eating snacks!”
“Energy can be absorbed rather quickly and used, like how you use Lunar energy for spells or skills. You should get used to the feeling of absorbing energy. You can’t absorb any type of energy though, some might conflict or others may just not be absorbable.”
Feeling my mind spin slightly from so much information, Flannery giggles. “You’ll get it with time. Are you excited about leaving Crater Hell?”
Hearing the unexpected question, I realised that since she had arrived here in person before, there was a way in and out. As I’m about to ask for the way out, she winks at me.
“You’ll find out soon enough about getting out. Come, let's just chat for a while.”
Still a bit unsure about everything she had told me, I started talking to her about some small general things, starting with my life in Crater.
***
“Oh, so you found a Shrine in a dungeon! How unusual, even though it’s an external labyrinth, it shouldn’t appear like that. Usually they’re found either in Temples or as part of a trial. Must be due to the uniqueness of Crater Hell.”
So far I had been telling her about my time outside of Crater Hell, and what led me to this point. As I was about to continue, I felt a tug on my mind.
“Aw, it seems like our time is at an end. I won’t be able to appear for a while, it takes quite a bit of energy to manifest like this. Make sure to take care of yourself, I’m so eager to know more about you.”
She reaches out and ruffles my hair, a first for me to experience. Not rejecting it, I was quite curious to know more about her. From what she said in the cave, she followed the Moon Goddess, which is connected to my Race.
As I’m about to thank her, I feel the pull turn into a yank as I find myself back outside with my eyes open. In front of me is the orb I am absorbing energy from, now a very dull golden red colour. As if waiting for me, the orb cracks as the last of the energy from it was drained.
Corrupted Orb of the Scorched Earth has been drained of energy by you.
Type of energy: Domain Energy.
Your Domain Seed has sprouted, allowing you to establish a Domain twenty metres around yourself.
Domain: Unleash a Domain in which you benefit from nighttime. Duration depends on conditions.
Resisting the temptation to test it out now, I checked the orb and saw there was no System information about it anymore. Taking this as a sign that it was damaged beyond repair, it dropped to the ground and smashed into pieces. Shrugging at this scene, I knew there was nothing I could’ve done about it, the humans would need to learn to adapt without it, it wasn’t my problem.
Turning and heading out of the door, I saw the councilwoman looking at me in concern. I simply told her the orb was broken from the energy being drained.
“Got greedy then? Well, it fits you as a monster, always taking from us humans.”
Raising an eyebrow to her comment and looking at her, as she backed up a step or two. Did she forget that I was level 20?
“W-well it doesn’t matter now, just go and protect my people.”
Wondering if there was something wrong with her way of thinking I just ignored her and left the room, heading back up the stairs. I had planned to help deal with the last of the monsters if they had stopped their aggression into the city, but now I just wanted to finish the last two things I wanted to do.
Firstly, head to the source of that Lunar energy in the city and collect it. It was something that was left for me after all, I’d ensure that I get it before leaving. The second thing to do is to head to the noble’s area and get some answers. Once that was done, I just wanted to go home and sleep.
Arriving outside the building, I looked around and found the monsters were no longer focused on moving towards the building, instead they were more focused on the humans. Seeing the humans around me injured, dead or trying their best to defend, I moved away as they watched me leave.
As I moved towards the location of the Lunar energy I’d been feeling this entire time, I came across more scenes of families being attacked by monsters. Taking some time to help them, even though I had thought of just leaving them earlier, I found the monsters were slightly weaker than before. Did the orb make them more fierce earlier?
Arriving at the source of the Lunar energy, I found myself before a rather simple water fountain that had been destroyed. The Lunar energy was coming from underneath the water, or what remained. Reaching a hand in, I pulled out a box that had a faint silver glow to it. Knowing this was a seal, I decided to just take the box with me for now and open it later. It was half the size of a human child, so it was awkward to carry around with me.
I considered helping these humans to defend their city, after all there were benefits to doing so, though I’d likely have to kill the council to begin enjoying said benefits. We did need someone who could build, someone who knew how to weave clothing and so on, but at the same time we could take our time to learn and teach other Hybrids these skills, instead of having others do it for us.
Looking to the moon, I wondered why I switched from wanting to help the humans to not caring if they all died. Was it thanks to the council woman's words? Or was it because the orb changed something about me? I doubted this, according to Flannery’s words, I’d just absorbed energy from it.
Perhaps it was because I just realised it’s something I couldn’t control, after all there were simply too many monsters wanting to come in, and that even if the city fell it wouldn’t have much of an effect on me. Shaking my head to rid myself of these thoughts, I’d still help if I saw them in trouble, but at the end of the day there was only so much I could do.
Hearing footsteps near me, I saw Sally walking towards me. Just as I greeted her, Olivia came from elsewhere. Catching them up on what happened, leaving out the conversation I had with Flannery, I told them what happened with the orb.
“So what should we do now? We can head home, we can’t just stay here protecting them, and the day is coming soon, meaning you’ll get weaker.” Looking at me as she asked us, Olivia checked her bow for any damage.
“Not yet, I want answers about the cave, let's head to the nobles section. We might be able to find someone who we can get answers out of.”
Seeing both of them nod, we start making our way towards the noble quarters while killing monsters who were attacking humans on the way. Looking back towards the wall, I could see less and less monsters appearing, perhaps they could protect this city themselves. Hopefully without relying on Hybrids.
We approach the next set of walls, leading down a path through farmland, and at the end of this pathway are the noble quarters. Wanting answers to everything, like the origin of breeding Hybrids and what was in the cave, we walked that path.
[Flannery’s PoV]
Gasping, I quickly get out of my bed and rush to the centre of my room, where a massive magic array sat, intended for meditation using Lunar energy.
“Reckless, the younger generation is simply too reckless!” Sitting down quickly, I activated the array as I checked my condition. Corruption ran deeply in my body, corruption from the energy that our new Sister had syphoned.
Gritting my teeth, I used the strongest purifying spell in my arsenal, Celestial Purifying Garden. A huge amount of mana coursed throughout my body as I kneeled in the centre of the array, forming a circle with my hands, offering a prayer to the Moon Goddess.
Feeling a hand rest on my shoulder, an energy deeper and stronger than mine coursed through my body. Elder Sister had arrived and started helping me with the purification. All around us the scenery changed as her Domain was invoked on top of my spell, a splendid garden laid out beneath the stars.
“Take it slow, guide the corruption out Sister, don’t let it consume you.”
With the energy of a Demigod entering my body, I used it to slowly seep the corruption out of my body. I could feel each and every strand slowly leaving my body as the Domain shook due to the power that was being used. As the corruption left me, I felt a strong power slowly purify it. After an hour, and nearly exhausting all of my mana, the last of the God’s corruption left me.
Panting heavily, I heard my Elder Sister also panting for breath. The process had not been easy on either of us, even if it was just the corruption of a God’s spiritual remains, it was far more potent than what a Demigod could handle. Thankfully the Moon Goddess had responded to our call.
“Elder Sister, it seems like our new Sister is rather energetic.” Explaining the situation to Elder Sister, I heard her sigh.
“I’ll overlook your shenanigans of planting a seed of your consciousness onto her since it did save her life. I’ll let the other Sisters know you’re okay, just remember the rules when you meet with new Sister again.”
Sighing deeply, I get up and head for the bath. Remembering my conversation with the little Lunar Mystic Fox, I was glad that I had been awake to respond to her recklessness. Even a sliver of that energy would’ve killed her, thinking this caused my back to be filled with a cold sweat. Next time I’ll knock some sense into my new Sister, hopefully I can nip that recklessness in the butt.