My eyes creaked open. I slowly sat up and cradled my head. I felt, weak, fatigued. Morning light filtered through curtains that surrounded the bed I was in. The sheets were clean and smelled pleasant. The shuffling and murmuring whispers of people who did not appreciate the early hours sounded on the other side of the curtains. They were little more than tarps set up on some type of frame.

I pulled off my covers and swung my feet off the bed. I stretched and struggled to focus my muddled thoughts. I wiped the remaining sleepiness from my eyes with my hands and froze. Hands, plural. I stared at my now returned arm and clenched my fist. It felt absolutely natural. I stood and pushed open a separation between tarps and stepped in the open.

Almost immediately, people stopped where they were doing and stared. Why does it feel like everyone freezes when they see me? Before I could manage even an awkward wave, someone shouted, "He's awake! Frank, Asha, Eliara! He's up!"

People shuffled around to let three figures rush towards me. I smiled at my friends, especially Eliara. I was relieved to see she was okay. Asha was the first to reach me, nearly bringing me to the floor with a flying tackle of a hug. I barely noticed a flash of... something in Eliara's gaze. Disappointment, maybe?

"My Lord! Thank the Gods you're finally awake." she cried, actual tears running down her face. This immediately grabbed my focus. She was acting strange.

"Woah, hey." I consoled gently. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you missed me."

She reluctantly released me with a soft scoff, "As if. It's just exhausting having to babysit these humans by myself. Eliara wasn't much help; I could hardly get her to leave your side."

The Half-Elf in question blushed slightly and retorted, "Oh? I seem to recall that a certain Vampire spent nearly every night wiping sweat from his forehead."

Frank cut off the bickering by smiling gently, "Glad to see ya', kid. How're ya' feelin'?"

"Oddly tired. Drained would be a better word for it, I guess?" I responded. I patted Asha's head and asked, "How long was I out?"

Unlike the other times I've done this, she didn't shove my hand away. Instead, she lowered her eyes and softly said, "Nearly a month."

I gaped at her, sure she had to be pulling my leg. However, I look around confirmed her words. "Shit. That's not good. Any issues?"

Frank tilted his head side to side, "Mostly been quiet. Your friends there made sure we were well and safe while you took your little nap. More people have been making progress with that fancy magic. A couple even have their core or whatever it's called made."

I beamed at that, "Well that's good news. Any other big-ticket items?"

Frank thought for a moment, "Well, we built a watch tower, and expanded our settlement a few streets. This gave us enough room to set up some gardens. Turns out, having a green thumb in this place is less metaphorical than on Earth. Some of the newer wizards are real geniuses with plant magic. We'll have our first harvest of veggies in just a couple more weeks. We already have wheat that's fit to gather."

"More and more good news." Just then, my stomach growled, and I smirked, "Sounds like my body just remembered that food exists. I'm starving."

Luanne broke from the crowd, a motherly smile on her face, "Well we can't have our hero starving, can we? Let's get y'all some grub."

I tilted my head, "Hero?"

Frank chuckled, "Surely, you haven't forgotten? It may have been a month for us, but I'll betcha anything it was a blink of an eye for you." His face grew serious, the smile never leaving his face, "Just about everyone saw you take down that big bug. They saw what you were willing to do, to sacrifice to keep us safe. You put your life on the line with no hesitation. Whatever even the harshest critics among us may think, we all know that you care more about us than your own life."

I scratched cheek awkwardly, not knowing what to say to that. "I don't really know how to respond to compliments," I stated bluntly. That got a good laugh from some and Frank clapped my shoulder.

He grinned, "C'mon kiddo, let's get your belly filled. We've got oatmeal and pancakes for breakfast." After a hearty meal, of which I devoured several helpings, much to Luanne's delight, I departed to the roof to get some fresh air and get a look at the settlement.

It had been a busy month for the others. Several streets were blocked off with concrete and wooden walls topped with more barbed wire. A completed watch tower that looked like a post-apocalyptic lifeguard tower stood overlooking the west gate. There were two more, one to the north and the other to the east under construction. A few roughshod gardens were at the center of a courtyard about the size of a city block.

Flourishing plants that had the barest hint of flower buds were being watered by small, localized clouds that were being created by three people that were dressed like farming hobbyists. They wore plaid shirts and overalls that were covered in dirt. One man even had a straw hat.

Asha stood next to where I sat on the edge of the roof, Eliara sitting to my right. I smiled, "I'm damn proud of everyone here. You two especially. I'm glad I rely on you two. Asha, even if you didn't like it, I knew I could count on you to follow through, but you Eliara. You had no reason to help out, yet you worked very hard for our settlement. I owe you."

A tinge of red highlighted the freckles on her cheeks, "I did no great service. I said I would help, and I hold myself to my word. Besides, I was told what you did for me when I was injured, it was only right."

I frowned in concern, "How are you? It was bad, last I saw."

She grimaced at the memory before pulling down her robe at the shoulder, just enough to show a faded, but large jagged scar where the mantis tore at her flesh. "I am no stranger to wounds. This one was worse than most I receive, but thanks to Asha and those she taught, it turned out nearly as well had I received aid at Mithra'Vheen."

"I'm glad to hear that. I was really worried. I'm glad you managed to avoid getting hurt, Asha. Without you, both of us likely wouldn't be here."

She shrugged and looked away; the tip of her pointed ear colored slightly. I thought in silence for a moment before stating, "Once I regain some strength, we'll go hunting so I can fill up my core. It's worryingly low, no wonder I'm feeling so weak. That regeneration handicap is no joke if I was asleep for a month and I'm only about twenty percent full; maybe fifteen."

Asha returned her gaze, "Yeah, after the majority of what you got from the mantis's and Eliara's body was reserved for regrowing your arm, any you gained passively was immediately spent to heal the rest of your injuries. If I had to guess based on what you said, I'd say you finished healing about a week ago and you just now got enough mana to wake from your healing coma."

"Healing coma?" I asked.

"What else could you call it? You were in a coma so you could heal, healing coma." she arched her brow.

"I suppose." I stood and stretched, feeling satisfaction as my back popped. "Well, no use burning daylight."

Eliara stood as well, more gracefully than I and said, "I know a good spot where burrow boar graze."

"Dunno what that is but lead the way. I could 'a used some bacon with those pancakes." I fell backwards of the roof headfirst, eliminating my momentum by turning to mist before reforming and standing normally. I wobbled, a bit dizzy from the slight expenditure of mana as Asha and Eliara landed next to me.

Asha rolled her eyes, "Now isn't the best time to show off."

"Worth it." We headed east and departed through the sliding gate. I eyed the gate seeing sheet metal with spikes welded onto it. "These are well put together. The walls too, are they strong enough to keep out monsters?"

"There's an engineer and several construction workers in our group. It's enough to keep out most threats. Most beasts that could break through are more likely to not bother, searching for an easier target. However, monsters are more aggressive as the mana their bodies are composed of can only grow by devouring mana rich victims," Asha replied.

"Huh, so that's the difference? Beasts are just nonmagical animals and monsters have mana?" I cocked my head.

"Close, but no," said Asha, "It's more complicated than that. All monsters have magic, but not every creature that has mana is a monster. Some beasts, through one way or another, manage to gain access to magic. If they're lucky, they'll pass that ability to their offspring and create a species of what's known as 'spirit beasts' though that is very rare. spirit beasts tend to have the intelligence near that of people and some can even speak."

Eliara continued for Asha, "Monsters on the other hand, are formed from mana itself. Either when mana saturation in an area reaches a critical point or from the ether itself, the ether is a primordial realm where all mana comes from, a monster is born. Once a monster is formed, it craves mana in order to grow more powerful."

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"Wait, mana comes from this ether place? I thought mana was something that was just... there."

The Half-Elf shook her head, her honey-colored hair bouncing, "Nope! The ether is a real or dimension that is superimposed on all of reality. No one has any idea what the ether looks like or how it behaves, though there are many theories. Mana leaks from the ether into our world through its dimensional membrane. I suppose that explains why your Earth had no magic. It must have had a remarkable resilient membrane for it to be isolated from the ether."

"I still can't tell if I should be disappointed, we didn't have magic or relieved that the world was so relatively safe. Whelp, ya' learn something new every day. So, where's this hunting spot we're looking for?"

Eliara pointed out, "About 45 minutes that way. Stumbled across it while I was exploring." We followed Eliara's lead until we broke through a copse of trees and underbrush and into groupings of a pink berried brambles. Large boars snuffled the ground. They had prehistoric looking tusks that had bony burrs sprouting along the lengths. The tusks splayed out slightly at the ends. They used these spade-like tusks to tear up tuber that formed from the roots of the brambles. Strangely, they didn't touch the tantalizing pink berries.

There were three boars in total. One had smaller tusks that ended in a sharp point as opposed to the flatter ends of the others. It was calmly observing the two as they squared up with each other. The two larger boars snuffled and squealed at the other while making false charges. Finally, they backed up and ran full force into one another. They interlocked their tusks and wrestled, kicking up dirt and grass.

It came to a head when the slightly larger boar slipped free of the grapple and gored the other with the thorns of its tusks. The loser of the bout fell to the ground, intestines spilling from the wound and squealed piteously. Tossing the loser from its mind, the victor rooted at the ground before pulling out a large tuber which seemed to be the catalyst for the fight. It plucked it from the root and brought it over to what I assumed is a female.

Upon spotting the vegetable, Eliara's eyes widened, and she raised her crossbow arm. With a near silent wumph, the magical bolt impacted in the temple of the beast, dropping it instantly. It spasmed as its neurons misfired. The female squealed in fear and turned to run before collapsing as a lance of ice pierced its hip. Its misery was ended swiftly as another one soon followed mimicking Eliara's strike.

I stood and said, "Good work, team and walked over to absorb the blood. I drew in the sweet liquid and sighed in relief as my core began to fill up. It only got to about halfway before the regeneration ended, but it was a good start. At least now I could do more than watch. I eyed Eliara who was holding the tuber reverently. "Guess you had a hankering for some mashed taters?"

"What? This is maven root. An aromatic tuber that has incredible cultivation properties once they reach a certain age. This one must be 200 years old!" she nearly squealed.

I approached her curiously and sniffed the root. It smelled like spicy ginger. She glanced at me imploringly and I chuckled at her puppy eyes, "You killed the boars, you can have the root." She grinned and stored her prize. I began to turn to our quarry to put them away when I froze.

Asha immediately went on guard, "Lord Sanguine?" I brought my finger to my lips. I sensed something, a tantalizing scent on the edge of my senses. Despite the deep craving I felt for this familiar energy I sensed; it also brought a cold shiver down my spine. It was an energy similar to the wetnurse monster.

Just then, one of the larger boars were dragged into the foliage in a flash. We were immediately on guard as we heard sickening crunching and tearing from the trees. It didn't take long to discover what stole our kill. A monster that reeked of rot and maleficence oozed from the tree line.

It was a mass of black sludge so dark it seemed to suck in all light. We could only tell it was a thick ooze based on how the outline flowed. From the top of the mound of sludge was a torso made of the same material. From the shoulders were two long thick arms. At the end of the stumpy protrusions were a set of skeletal claws. From its neck was the skull of a horse whose maw was filled with backward facing snake-like teeth. A pair of beady serpentine eyes with burning orange irises glared from the orbital cavities. Its lack of eyelids giving it a menacing deranged stare. A black slug of a tongue swept across its teeth leaving tar-like residue.

image [https://i.imgur.com/plRV8rf.jpg]

I cocked its head at us like a bird eyeing prey, a strange rhythmic hissing coming from its gullet. No one moved. It's eyes, full of dark promise were locked on me. Horror beyond comprehension lurked below the reflective blackness of its pupil. Many things happened at once. I was the first to break the tense standoff by summoning my armor. Despite the incredible speed at which I could don my Regalia, the monster was faster.

A stream of black goo shot from its arm, extending its reach and slamming into my chest. The black substance knocked me off my feet and slammed me into a tree behind me. I screamed as the tar burned like boiling acid. Gritting my teeth, I refused to be taken down again so easily. With a gauntlet covering my hand, I slammed claws into its arm and formed a spell.

Frost quickly covered the tar, flash freezing even the surrounding air as snow and mist began to form. The girls weren't idle as I was attacked. Asha formed a barbed whip out of ice that wrapped around the extended arm, freezing and biting deep as she pulled.

Unfortunately, the whip was simply pulled through after a hint of resistance. Eliara on the other hand shot at its skull using her crossbow. This proved about as effective as Asha's attempt as it casually brought its arm up and blocked the bolts. Deciding it didn't like that I was freezing its arm, it retracted it bringing me with it. It brought its fang filled maw down. So close to its mouth I realized the odd hissing was actually the monster whispering some type of mantra. It repeated, "Vacuolentia," over and over again putting reverent emphasis on each syllable.

A cold terror gripped my heart simply hearing the name, for it was a name, of that I had no doubt. It had a power in it that brought an image of a cold, seductive smile that promised endless torment and hunger. Several eyes belonging to the same eldritch being turned to me despite I could not see them. I heard a husky sweet voice, "Oh? How interesting." The attention itself was nearly enough to shatter my soul, her voice nearly doing the same to my sanity. The creature's voice did little to alleviate the bone deep chill of fear. Hundreds, if not thousands of voices made up the worshipping whispers. A choir of the deranged devout.

Deep in my soul, a twisting serpent quivered in rage at the intrusion. Its hunger would not be overtaken by Her's. Uroboros would not be denied succor. I broke free of the soul attack right before fishing hook teeth bit down on my head. Mimicking Eliara, I formed a spike of hardened blood with my hand and shoved it deep in the equine skull as it wept black tears and drool. I snarled in revulsion as I realized the thick black tongue had been tasting my cheek.

My wings burst out, the force enough to scatter the ooze holding me captive. While the spike was inside its skull, I shifted into a clawed hand that gripped tight and yanked. The skull was yanked out of the ooze along with a foot of spine before it tore from the rest of its skeleton. I threw the skull to the ground, stomping an armored boot on its eye filled with insanity. Before my foot made contact, the gaze cleared and focused. Something else gazed at me through the defeated monster's eye. Faint amusement filled the gaze for a moment before the snapping of shattering bone and the squelch of brains filled the clearing.

Unbidden, my devouring ability activated, and the ooze was absorbed into me, leaving an upper skeleton bare to the elements. Power, enough to refill my mana core and then some swelled within me. Instinctively, I began to compress my core, squeezing out the impurities before the color of the power within me shifted color completely from the last vestiges of copper to a nearly silver bronze. Any thought of celebrating my advancement was thrown out the window when I lurched over and vomited a fountain of substance similar to the tar of the monster.

I fell to my knees as my skin burned and itched as similar gunk oozed from my pores. Fear gripped my heart once again. Was coming into contact with the entity my undoing? Is it turning me into one of those creatures? Thankfully, that didn't seem to be the case. It wasn't as dark as the light defying tar of the monster, more of a matte black with grotesque spots of red and yellow. Instead of decay and the scent of madness, this stuff smelled of soured onion, boiled blood, and spoiled milk.

I wheezed, "What the fuck was that?"

Pinching her nose, her eyes watering, though I couldn't tell if it was because of the smell or due to her suppressed laughs, Asha revealed, "Looks like you finally got your first real dose of impurity expulsion. All that gunk you squeeze from your core has to go somewhere. It's expelled from your core and out of your body, dragging more impurities with it. Normally, you would have experienced this when you formed your core. However, thanks to your phylactery unleashing the power that formed your core in the first place, the vast majority of the energy that your body couldn't hold burned away the impurities. Now you don't have that advantage. We're going to step away while you clean yourself. Your robes will clean themselves in about an hour with a constant flow of mana. Burn the rest."

"Why wasn't it this bad when I formed my Foundation?" I wheezed, trying not to taste the foulness on my tongue.

"Because you had barely enough impurities that the Foundation stage could squeeze out thanks to your odd core formation. Look on the bright side, this means you're on the cusp of forming your first Pillar and breaking into Tin rank."

With that Asha followed Eliara who had immediately retreated to fresh air upon seeing I was fine. I was too overstimulated to make a snarky remark or yell at her for not warning me. I was experiencing a disorientating mix of being jittery with excess energy and exhausted from a bone deep weariness. My core felt sore, like a mix of a sunburn and a terrible muscle ache from over exercising.

I summoned a compressed stream of water to pressure wash my skin as the sticky residue was stubborn. I diverted my attention to my discarded robes and began their cleaning. The robes were clean before I was. After the hour and a half mark, I nearly said fuck it and set myself on fire. The pain and waste of mana to regenerate would almost be worth it. Then Eliara threw a bar of purple and gold soap. She shouted, "I found that in my bag. I nearly forgot about it because it's been so long for me. It's a strong herbal soap that is specially made to get rid of that residue." She had her normal hand covering her eyes for the sake of my modesty. Asha couldn't give two shits.

I picked up the soap and rubbed across my skin. It fizzed upon contact with the gunk similar to peroxide, the sensation pleasant. The scent was that of lavender and ginseng. "Eli, I could kiss you!" Her ears went bright red at the one-two punch of my words and the shorthand of her name.

She sharply turned around and replied too quickly, "You're welcome! And no chance in the abyss with that breath." Asha grinned and immediately began to tease her as I finished up.

As I cleaned I called out, "So, remind me about these ranks? Been a while since our lessons."

I could hear the eye roll in Asha's voice, "You have the memory of a goldfish with Alzheimer's. As you progress, your core gets more compressed and purified which both increases mana efficiency and reserves. The ranks mostly match with the color which go from Wood, Jade, Copper, Tin, Bronze, Iron, Steel, Silver, Gold, Platinum, and finally Mithril. You enter the Pillar stage with Copper and upon forming a Pillar you breakthrough your first bottleneck."

"Bottleneck? Is that what that weird feeling is?" After puking, I felt like there was a barrier in my cultivation.

"Yep, each stage ends in a bottleneck and only those worthy to progress on the path can break through. It's basically natural selection for cultivators."

Once clean and dry, I stored the skeleton and dressed myself once again. I walked up to the still blushing Eli and smirking Asha. "Y'all ready? Because we very much need to call a meeting." My tone was serious, and my gaze haunted.

They nodded and Asha asked, "You alright Victor?" Her concern overcoming her propriety.

I shook my head, "I'll tell you along with the others."