Speed essence seeps into my body, filling every cell, infusing me with quickness. This is a dangerous technique, one that requires giving oneself mana toxicity and so is unusable more than a few times by those without the required immunity.
It has taken me dozens of minutes of concentration, but now I am ready. In an instant, I blitz across Chyzu's dojo, the world becoming a blur, and then everything suddenly stops; pain shoots up my arm as I feel my shoulder pop out of place and something in my wrist crack. I let out a small scream and fall to kneel on the floor as I cradle my broken arm, then, immediately start healing myself, feeling my arm pop back into place and the fracture in my wrist heal. I shake out my arm to make sure everything is healed right before looking at my notifications.
Ting! Graceful Movements has met the requirements for a breakthrough and will continue leveling past level 90!
8th Breakthrough: You've entered a state of focus; this will help improve all other breakthroughs.
9th Breakthrough: You've learned to infuse mana into your body to have a burst of speed; this will help you move incredible distances in short bursts.
Ting! Graceful Movements has obtained levels 76-87!
Ting! Pain Tolerance has met the requirements for a breakthrough and will continue leveling past level 40!
4th Breakthrough: You've managed to break your bones; this will help you tolerate such pain.
Ting! Pain Tolerance has obtained levels 21-23!
"Are you alright?!" Chyzu rushes to my aid, helping me to my feet.
"Yeah,” I answer, somewhat sheepishly, “I severely underestimated the amount of speed I had."
"You shouldn't do this if it's going to be so dangerous," Chyzu chastises me.
"It's fine. I'll just use less speed essence next time" I wave her off.
"Use a lot less speed, and don't try to break your neck!" Chyzu huffs.
I continue practicing, using much less speed than before to a manageable point, trying to increase my accuracy and timing. Without a supportive mental skill, I won't be able to judge how far I will go nor how quickly, so I just have to do it over and over again to get a trained feel for it. But neither that nor the bruises and scrapes I am healing away are even the worst aspect of filling my body with so much speed essence; no, the worst is my mana hearing and smell.
It's like being in a room with a thousand alarm clocks going off at the same time, with the air choked with incense. Although the smells and sounds aren't unpleasant on their own, it's just way too much, almost overwhelming. Is it going to be like this every time I get mana toxicity?
As I practice my [Graceful Movements] over the week, I try to maintain my [Persistent State] even through sleep. This is quite difficult, as the mind holding it often breaks focus when sleeping. To be honest, this is another case of me being able to sort of cheat with multiple minds. Like how dreams can be influenced by stimulating the body’s senses, like the urge to relieve oneself, I influenced that mind with the help of two other minds, to hold focus even in sleep. Although, I must say that the dreams influenced by holding a state of focus are very weird, like seeing a wavy, distorted and constantly color-changing world when holding my [Sense Mana] state of focus.
Other than trying to use [Persistent State] in my sleep, I try to hold focus through everything I do, from sparring to playing with my sisters.
At the end of the week, I have accomplished my training goals.
Ting! Persistent State has met the requirements for a breakthrough and will continue leveling past level 60!
6th Breakthrough: You've held focus even through sleep; this will help you keep your state of focus perpetually.
Ting! Persistent State has obtained levels 41-62!
Ting! Graceful Movements has obtained levels 88-97!
I sit down at my desk in my room, writing out a training schedule for this new week. [Persistent State] is now reducing the focus needed to maintain my skills by sixty-two percent; this means that I should be able to have two active in one mind. For this next week, I should try to get the breakthrough I suspect exists for holding multiple breakthroughs at once. [Acting] could also use a few more levels and I have an idea for a breakthrough for it, but I don't like it. I can try to con people, fool them, scam them... but for moral reasons, I'm not keen on doing such things. Maybe if it's someone who deserves it, but I don't know anyone who does.
Even if it means holding back on my skills, I won't compromise my morality; it's one of the reasons why one of my [Acting] breakthroughs isn't capped yet. I have to use [Acting] to get out of punishment, and, well, I'm not going to do anything that will get me in trouble.
Moving on, I can probably cap out my [Musician] skill this week; I only have five levels to go. The rest of my skills are more resistance orientated or require combat or special circumstances to get more levels in. When comparing my skills to my [Sense Mana] and [Mana Manipulation], I can't help but wonder why I can't think of more breakthroughs in my other general skills, but I need to keep in mind that it's normal for skills to stall out after ten breakthroughs, sometimes less than that.
I guess this just means that instead of continually expanding the skills, instead of seeking number increases, I need to actually master the skills. Simply getting ten out of ten levels doesn't mean there's nothing to learn, nothing to master; I know there's more because enhancing the skills raises the level cap.
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I lean back in my chair, reconsidering my methods.
I've only been seeking the easy gains, the easy way, but now that I am at the end of all that, I need to shift my mentality.
It's hard coming to terms with the idea that getting breakthroughs and levels will be few and far between now; it's been my focus for my entire life.
I bury my face in my hands. I still have my Class skills. I just need to level my Bond up a bit more and then I can focus on them, but in the meantime, let's finish my general skill levels.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
"At first, I thought what we were doing was for good. I thought that I really was helping to uncover the lost arts of our ancestors, and in a way, we were. But that was not the only thing we uncovered; there's something of pure evil down there. We must not let it come out; we have to bury the ruins again and forget about them!"
Mara listens to the woman recount her story to the Convocation of the Elders. She had helped excavate some ruins nearby, but she thinks that they woke up evil shades or something of that sort.
The Convocation is, as per usual, held at one of the coliseums on Temple Island, the only place large and central enough for all the elders to meet. Mara notices a figure standing in the distance, listening in on the meeting.
You will get what's coming to you; it doesn't matter if you know ahead of time. I will personally throw you off the Nexus ring. Mara glares at the figure. Either it's Papuyo herself or a spy for her.
"We should have banished that priestess when we had the chance!" Mara shouts, making sure everyone can hear her.
"Indeed, she shows little regret in her actions. Not only that, but if this witness is telling the truth, then she risks uncovering something with the potential to be… bad, beyond what we know." Tusile says.
"It's no longer a question of if she's guilty or not, but rather of what her punishment should be." A third Elder declares.
As is usual in these cases, the discussion goes on for a few hours. More Elders have attended this convocation; the new ones are the primary proponents for a warning. Unlike last time though, they are the minority. Many who voted for a warning last time now advocate for exile, leading the vote for exile to a twenty-vote majority. Mara's own testimony of what happened in her village plays a pivotal role in showing that the priestess has not even considered stopping the actions that caused her first trial.
"Then we are in agreement. The Priestess, Papuyo, is to be banished from the Nexus." Kilonu, the oldest of the Elders, declares.
"Should have done it from the start!" Mara mutters, then stands up and walks to the front before calling out, loud enough for everyone to hear: "I will capture her; who else is with me?"
"That will not be necessary." With a soft voice that projects across the entire coliseum, Papuyo walks down to the arena. "This island is holy, not a place for a bunch of old heretics. I will give you this chance to leave peacefully and never return to Myrou's holy land."
"You still don't get it, do you?" Mara says, walking towards the delusional woman, "You betray our ways, you betray our customs and traditions, and most grievously, you betray Myrou. You have no place here; you shouldn't even call yourself Runalymo!"
Papuyo sighs, stopping a few meters away from Mara. "No, you are the ones who don't get it. You can't enforce your will here in Myrou's holy land. Your rules don't apply here."
Mara grits her teeth. The woman won't go easily, or cleanly... but Mara has to respect that at least, better to die fighting than to be exiled to probable death in the briny waters outside of the Nexus.
"Kill the heretics; they refuse to leave this holy island," Papuyo says, her voice carrying too far to be un-aided by a spell or enchantment.
Before Mara realizes what's going on, explosions and screams fill the coliseum. Whirling around, Mara witnesses slaughter; spells are being launched, arrows are raining down and dozens of armed warriors are cutting down the ill-prepared Elders.
"You traitor!" Mara screams and dashes at the Priestess, who calmly stands still. Just as Mara is about to cut her down, a blade meets her own. Appearing out of nowhere, Tato stands; her invisibility is dispelled, revealing her sword blocking the attack.
Mara grits her teeth. As much as she wants to slay these two, she knows she can't. Tato has recently gained a lot of levels from the dungeon, and there are more traitors around.
"This isn't the end!" Mara promises and, with a burst of wind, hurls herself back to join the fleeing Elders. The traitorous warriors and mages do not pursue, only watching the Elders run away.
"I hereby declare that no heretics are to enter Temple Island, Myrou's holiest of islands!" Papuyo’s voice is heard behind her.
* * * * * * * * *
Safyr watches the Elders flee, giving a small sigh. The peace will only be broken for a few months; it's not her place to interfere. This is something her pets need to sort out themselves. But there's a more pressing matter to be dealt with, and this one is her business.
Under normal circumstances, Safyr would punish the priestess... but in her complacency, she forgot in her recounting of history to the Runalymo to instruct them against ever uncovering the ruins. What's done is done; all she can do is hope that it's not too late.
The miasma present in the ruins is gathering from the recent disturbance, and Safyr has done what she can to rebury what was uncovered.
Safyr walks to the coliseum where the fighters are removing the bodies, towering over the troublesome pets. Some cower, other bows in respect, the weaker ones turn pale as mana toxicity visibly builds inside them.
"Give them a proper funeral," Safyr commands.
The priestess bows but questions her orders. "Why? They are not deserving of it; they are heretics!" Papuyo spits out the last word.
Safyr growls; the warriors immediately flee at her displeasure while Papuyo cowers with shaking legs.
"It's not a matter of deserving. Although the chance is low, they can rise as lesser cursed beings if not given a proper funeral according to your customs; you have already caused enough problems on that front!"
"W-w-w-what d-do you mean?" Papuyo can't keep the fear out of her voice.
"You should have noticed the miasma in the ruins. Apparitions, foreboding feelings, and more. It means that a cursed being is beginning to form from the condensing miasma. If you're lucky, it is not too late, but if it is, pray it's a mere wraith, and not something far worse. You are only alive now because I forgot to mention that fact to you last time!"
"I-I-I understand, I'll h-have it buried again immediately!" Papuyo stammers in fear.
"I already did so, and never dig up another ruin again!" Safyr growls.
Safyr returns to her resting place, the unpleasantries dealt with… hopefully.