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Pseudo Water Mana Core - SSS rank; Current rank: E rank - Void Affinity
Stolen Mana Core from a high ranker who was killed at the hands of The Herald of Chaos. A crystalline reservoir of untapped magic. The death of the high ranker is said to have led to the death of billions as the universe of Astollen was left without its protector.
Skill:
- Mana Core: Grants the user a Water aspect Mana core. The rank of the core starts at F rank and will grow with essence stones added. Can bond to 2 items at current rank using this core as the base. Mana reserve has been expanded.
Multiple E-grade stones were detected. Do you wish to use E-grades Essence stone to rank up Pseudo Water Mana Core to D rank?
Yes/No
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Reading over the status I notice the one-sentence difference. I sense my core and feel that it has quadrupled in size. I click yes again but get another screen
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1000 E-grade or 1 D-grade Essence stone/s needed for rank up to D-grade.
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According to Dante, He needed 100 F-grade stones to rank his artifact to E grade. I only needed one E-grade. Now I need a thousand E-grade stones to get to or one D-grade. I wonder if the trend continues for C-grade and higher.
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I pick a D-grade stone and use it. A vortex gets created near my Dantian as Mana from the room is sucked it. I hear a ding and look at the artifact description once again, noticing nothing has changed except for the number of Water affinity secondary artifacts I can bond to. I sense my water core and feel it has substantially grown in size. Way more than when it ranked up from F Grade just a moment ago. I wonder if the Mana Pathways have grown as well. I try to sense the once nearly imperceptible channels and feel they’ve also grown.
I pick up the two D-grade stones from the pouch and try to upgrade my artifact to see how many I need.
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100000 D-grade or 1 C-grade Essence stone/s needed for rank up to C-grade.
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Damn, that’s a lot. I bring out my metal box from my reserve and place both D-grade stones along with the silver coins into it before dropping it back there. I place the large pouch containing the E-grade stones into My duffel bag. I walk out and the room and release the floodgates holding my mana constricted. It flows incomparably faster and stronger through my Mana pathways than before. I use my Water Mana Manipulation skill to form a water sphere. I stop it when it becomes the size of a tennis ball. Although I took out a large chunk of Mana, my total capacity has barely diminished.
I reabsorb my Mana and follow the spiral staircase downstairs, giving my thanks to the shopkeeper once I reach the exit. I start walking toward the Association building.
I reach the building that contains the dungeon portals and notice my peers from the town’s school hugging their families.
I walk toward Esmar who’s talking with a boy with a white mask and a short blonde girl. Raven is actually tolerating other students. Insane. Is the world ending? I feel a hand clasp tightly on my shoulder and react instinctively, dropping my duffel. I twirl my body picking the person up by their arm and slamming them on the floor.
I look at the face of the assassin and see that it’s Dante. I cough into my hand while he picks himself up.
“Slam me harder next time, won’t you,” he says caustically while picking himself up from the floor.
“Are you ready to go? Where are your bags?” I changed the subject.
The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.
He points to 3 large golden suitcases behind me.
“Damn noble,” I murmur, feeling oddly embarrassed by my single duffel bag.
I walk toward Raven who’s moved to a secluded corner with the blonde girl.
“Raven,” I give him my shiniest and most mischievous smile while turning to speak to the girl beside him, “Who might you be?”
“Lana,” she says back.
I feel Raven kick me and flash him a dirty look. He’s never any damn fun. I give up on my plans of embarrassing him and introduce Dante. We all fall into a comfortable silence as we wait for the Caravan to reach the town. The town square in front of the Association building starts to fill up as more and more awakened from the town come out and wait for the Caravan. There should be around 30 people who are coming to the academy in total.
I continue to look around the town square when something important pops into my head. Ah, shit. We forgot to say goodbye to Old Man and tell him we’re leaving. I tap Raven and whisper ‘Old man’ which causes him to grunt.
The caravan arrives. Its arrival brings along ear-shattering footsteps of hooves from different beasts. It comes into the town proper and the crowd of awakened gets separated into two as it stops at the town square in front of the association building. The caravan consists of 3 large metal boxes with wheels carried by countless beasts each. What are those things?
The ground starts to shake again and a man with an average build and a forgettable face comes into view along with an earth platform that rises into the air.
“Hello, everybody. I’m the Caravan master in charge of bringing all of you to the Capital of the Kingdom. We’ll stop at many other towns and eventually join a larger caravan group. I need everyone here to split up into their respective archetypes. If you look to your left, you’ll see Esmar,” the Caravan Master says, pointing to Esmar who starts to rise on a smaller platform, “If you are a mage you’ll stand with him.”
He points at a large women wearing battle armour who start to rise as well, “If you’re a Warrior, then you’ll go to Charlotte. And finally, if you’re a scout, you’ll stay here with me. Your representative is currently busy so until he comes back you’ll be stuck with me.”
He finishes talking and a bit of a scramble occurs as all 30 awakened try to go to their respective places.
The four of us stick together as we’re all mages. We wait till everyone is done moving before we walk up to Esmar who is with only 1 other awakened. I guess the rate for being a mage is as abysmal as they say. As we near I hear the awakened ask Esmar what those Metal contraptions are.
“They call them buses. They’re more common in cities,” Esmar explains, “They aren’t the fastest mode of transportation, but can carry a large number of people quite easily. Now if you have luggage drop them at the front of the first bus and we’re going inside. Follow me,”
He walks to a door in the metal box and it opens for him allowing him to enter. The other awakened take a moment to drop their belongings at the side of the bus but I don’t bother doing so and walk in behind Esmar. I enter the bus and walk up a short flight of stairs to see countless rows of seats. Half of them are filled with teenagers my age, the majority of whom were looking outside the window at me. Their gazes fix on me as I step inside. Fricking weirdos staring at me. Look somewhere else.
“You can take a seat anywhere Elijah,” Esmar tells me before taking a seat at the front of the bus.
I follow his example and sit in the seat behind him. The other awakened from the town including Raven, Elijah and Lana start to enter as well. We all get seated and the bus starts to move.
“How many do you think can fit in this bus,” I turn and ask Dante.
“200 Easily,” He replies.
I feel Dante trying to look outside the window next to me.
“Want to trade seats?” I ask him.
He nods and we do so. The bus starts to go faster and I feel the road change from bumpy to smooth as we leave the town behind. I have a feeling this is going to be a long ride. Esmar shifts in his seat and stands up.
“You may get up and out of your seats now. Once we are near the next town you’ll be asked to sit once again.” He projects to all of us on the bus.
I summon a small ball of Water Mana and manipulate it to pass the time.
Dante stares at me with a confused face, “Where’d you get a D-grade water artifact from?”