My mind is bathed in pain but I keep going as my body is constantly ripped apart and put together at high speed while I fight the Elementals. It’s a pure contest of determination and willpower. I try everything I can, every option, and find that combining my warhammers with Force Projection and Critical Strike while using Acceleration and Strength of the Clan gives me the most damage output. I trigger Fury of the Clan in rage again and again just trying to get some space, get my Stamina to dip, and give me some relief.
Eventually, over an hour of struggle and strain later, the entire corridor is littered with broken crystalline fragments. Every surface is pockmarked and gouged from the fighting even though Mana is working to rebuild and reinforce it. Occasionally the absurdly high AMLs coalesce and bring another Crystal Elemental to life out of the remnants of the previous ones, but I make short work of any new threats and pause. I need a bit of time to get my head screwed on straight after that. Nobody’s meant to experience that kind of mental and pain stimulation at such a high frequency for so long and even though the physical signs are gone, I feel the mental strain.
At least I have something to show for it.
Level Up! *2
You have reached Level 18 as a Human Sentinel
+8 Aura, +8 Mana
+130 free Attribute points to assign
You have 130 free Attribute points to assign
Would you like to allocate them now?
(Y/N)
You have 4 unallocated Class Skill points
Would you like to allocate them now?
(Y/N)
I contemplate where I should assign my free Attributes. Right now my Constitution seems high enough at 1055, way ahead of my other Attributes. I’ve spent a lot of time doubling down on that advantage and decide instead to bump my Luck up to an even 250, then split the other 128 free Attribute points evenly between Strength and Agility. After this battle I feel bloody good about bolstering those two Attributes, and about saving my Class Skill points until I reach Level 20 and get the next Tier of Skills. I need more powerful Skills and maybe an Evolution to take on threats like this without such a struggle, nevermind ones like Hvitserkur.
I open up my Status and shake my head at the massive regeneration rates. They’re truly insane and I’m feeling the strain of it, even now that combat has finished. I keep all my active Skills running and Gift of Gaia released, just to lessen the latent amount coursing through my body being converted to physical potential.
Status Overview
Name
Bronwic Cadimus
Class
Human Sentinel
Race
Human (male)
Level
18
Titles
Exterminator, Overachiever, Powerhouse, Explorer, Bane World Delver, Survivor, Bastion, SSA High Enforcer, Mark of Tenebris (Hidden)
Health
10550
Health Regeneration
258180 /min
Stamina
15825
Stamina Regeneration
258180 /min
Mana
2100
Mana Regeneration
304 /min
Status Conditions
None
Attributes
Strength
387
Perception
1550
Constitution
1055
Charisma
70
Agility
391
Luck
250
Aura
342
Mana
210
SMI Skills and Affinities
Danger Sense
70
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
Observe
56
Greater Affinity
Dimensional Manipulation
Survivor Damage Resistance
+20% when under 20% Health
Class Specific SMI Dynamics
Physical regen
Base + Base*AML
Mana regeneration
200%
Personal Weapon
Base damage: 819
Tech functionality
-25%
Mental Resistance
Invulnerable
All Resistances
80%
Damage Reduction
80%
Potion/Buff Penalty
-80% / -90%
Explorer Bonus
+20% XP
Penetration
1050%
Class Skills
Lesser Detection
1*
Power Strike
1*
Charge
1*
Instantaneous Inventory
1*
Clan Shield
1*
Force Projection
3*
Greatest Need
3*
Critical Strike
1*
Regeneration
Max*
Unbound
1*
Accelerate
1
Rise Again
1
Penetration
1
Greater Regeneration
Max
Imbue
1
Environmental Sense
1
Unbreakable
Evolved
Strength of the Clan
1
Wall of the Clan
1
Fury of the Clan
3*
Omnipresent
Evolved
Group Party Chat
1*
Gift of Gaia
Evolved (+30 AML)
Sword of the Sentinel
1
Know Thy Enemy
1
Wraithstrike
1
Elemental Aegis
1
Guilty as Charged
1
Spells
Minor Healing
1
Another huge door at the end of the corridor sits there, imposing and threatening. Or maybe that’s just me. This one has different runes to the previous ones and rather than solid metal, it appears to be made of black energy with bright blue points and streaks of light swirling around through it. I examine the runes carefully for information that might help me progress further. My Danger Sense presses on me from the direction of the door, discouraging me from entering, and my minimap shows a small cluster of red dots in a chamber on the other side. Beyond that, in what must be a huge underground cavern, the red dots are so thick as to be indistinguishable.
This time, my SMI is able to help me decipher the meaning in some of the runes, which appear to be warnings and labeling rather than magical in nature.
Taller’ovst Mana Research Facility Mana Sink Core Containment Unit
!! Danger !! !! Do Not Enter !!
Access permitted for Category Alpha Researchers Only
Influx World #38745 Experimental Installation
Classification: Maximum Security, Maximum Restriction
I’m well aware that I’m not an expert at all things. But… this does not sound good. Is this whole situation a serious Mana Influx experiment gone wrong? Something completely different? Are the incredibly high AMLs caused by some kind of experimentation, or by the Mana Sink Core? Has something down here been absorbing Mana since the very first Influx, and now it’s ready to blow? If that was true I don’t even know what the consequences would be. Would the Earth blow up? Would nothing bad happen at all?
I’ve got no answers and a lot of questions. My mind scans through people I know, wondering if any of them could help me understand what’s going on here and I come up short. Taiwo? There are only so many times I can play that card and draw on his expertise and network before our relationship gets back out of balance, but maybe this is one of those times.
I trigger Omnipresent, but I can’t search for Taiwo because he’s not a human so I do the next best thing and zero in on the MIS Hub in Calgary. It’s a struggle; the difficulty I’ve had using my Skills has only increased. Something, maybe the high Mana levels, is messing with the way they work and it’s almost like trying to listen to music while white noise is playing just as loud. I’m losing all the detail and ability to hone in on specifics. With a grunt, I flex my Affinity strongly and the noise fades to the background leaving me with a lock on the Calgary MIS hub near Carter’s place.
I’m just about to trigger the second part of Omnipresent to manifest the Portal when the door in front of me explodes out, hammering into me at high speed. The weight of it slams me so hard my Strength is completely insufficient to keep me in place and I’m blasted back along the corridor, tumbling through the Crystal Elemental fragments. Eventually I skid to a halt, disoriented, and I try on instinct to manifest the Portal I’ve been shaping, but the AMLs have climbed even further and even when I flex my Affinity, I can’t lock on my target. My Skill wavers and I have a hard time controlling it as it bucks and twists against my will. I grit my teeth and focus for a second before I realize I have even bigger problems.
My attention has been on Omnipresent and the increased AMLs, which are now causing me to vibrate to such an extent that I don’t really feel my Danger Sense warning me until it’s almost too late. I look up to see beings that look to be made of pure Mana alongside towering constructs made of obsidian stone with intricate, powerful looking runes carved into their surface. The golems move with ponderous, crushing power as the Mana beings flit amongst them and around them. They pour through the opening and dart toward me in a split second.
I surge to my feet in desperation and call my Swords to my hands. They flicker a bit, but hold.
Current Ambient Mana Level (AML): 112
Mana Warped Obsidian Golem (Level 288)
Health: 19900/19900
Mana: 3850/4400
Conditions: Earth Synergy, Defensive Reflection, Runes of Resilience, Crushing Blow, Legendary Inviolation, more…
Condensed Mana Construct (Level 318)
Health: 15600/15600
Mana: 24560/24680
Conditions: Ethereal, Tortured, Mana Touched, Unstable, Driven, more…
Cursing the world, cursing the Influx, cursing this situation, I let loose and re-engage Gift of Gaia to add another 30 AMLs to my regeneration rates. My body vibrates with the potential energy and I feel like it might tear me apart, but I feel like it’s my only chance to make it out of this battle alive. Can I heal and deal out damage faster than they can?
Health: 10550/10550 Stamina: 15635/15825 Constitution: 1055
Skill Modifier: 5.32 Current Ambient Mana Level (AML): 112 +30 (Gift of Gaia)
Physical regeneration rate: 802602 /min --> 13377 /sec
Less than a second to recover my entire Health pool and just barely longer for my Stamina. If something doesn’t kill me right away, it’s going to be an all-out slugfest unless the AMLs humming through my body kill me first.