Chapter 4 – Core-Breaker Brew

Jack woke up in a strange bed. He always hated this part of a one-night stand. He reached over and felt nothing... huh, wonder where she is, he thought to himself. Better leave before she shows back up. His eye was throbbing, and he felt sore all over. “What the hell happened last night?” he mumbled to himself. All he could remember was bits and pieces of a dream he had, something about a woman and bondage. Weird. He searched around for a lamp to no avail. It’s so dark in here, he thought, getting up from the bed and stumbling around the room.

He bumped into something, falling forward onto it, a desk maybe. His hands searched the desk, finding a pair of boots stacked neatly on top of what felt like clothing. That’s when Jack realized he was naked. These didn’t feel like his clothes, but they would do. He fumbled his way into the pants, pulling the shirt over his head, tucking the boots under his arm as he felt his way to a door. He found the handle and swung it open.

A man with long blonde hair, pointy ears, black leather armor, and pitch-black eyes was leaning against the wall, looking him up and down. Jack looked down. Only one leg had made it into the pants and his shirt was on backwards. Jack shut the door in the guy’s face and let his head hit the door with a thud. That’s right, space teleportation, skeletons, weird goth nerds. Not a dream, that all happened, he thought, recalling the previous day’s events. The man gave him a small moment of reprieve before he pushed in the door, knocking Jack back.

“If you’re awake, then hurry and put the rest of your clothes on.” The man said, walking into the room. “Why’s it still so dark in here?” Jack watched as some sort of energy shot out of the man’s hand, hitting several points on the surrounding walls. The room lit up. Great, another magician. It was… an economical room, fitted with a bed, a small desk and something that might have been a toilet was in the corner. Or maybe it was a sink.

“How’d you do that Mr. Copperfield?” Jack asked, correcting his pants and shirt and slipping on the boots. The clothes lacked his usual style. The pants were simple trousers that fit rather snug, the shirt was silk and hung loosely from his body. His combat boots replaced with a pair of square toed leather boots that went up to his calf. Unsurprisingly, everything was black.

“Just infuse the light stones with mana.” The man replied matter of fact.

“Oh, why didn’t I think of that?” Jack said with an eye-roll. Fucking magicians. “Listen, I really need to pee, so unless you want to watch, I suggest you give me a minute.”

“You’re going to pee in here?” the man asked, confused. “Where exactly?”

Jack pointed at the sink thing in the corner. It was no urinal, but it would do. The man gave him a disgusted look. Guess it’s not a toilet.

“That’s a washbasin, you savage. If you need to use the facilities it’s down the hall, I’ll escort you.”

“Dorm room style, I dig it. You can escort me, but you don’t get to watch. That’s for paying customers only. Who are you anyway?” Jack asked, changing the subject.

“Kamarie, a Summer Elf. I hail from the Midnight Sun tribe. I’m a High Acolyte within the Hall of the Black Centipede, and your keeper for the rest of your stay.” He said with a haughty tone. So, the pointy ear people are elves, Summer Elves to be exact. I wonder if they have any relation to the Keebler elves. Jack thought to himself, mentally adding them to the list of weird things that now existed in his life.

The bathrooms, curiously, were very earth like. Jack wondered exactly what was going on in the pants situation of all the other elves and gnomes and random humanoids he had met thus far. He’d never been one to shy away from the tough questions, he needed answers, but his new friend pointedly ignored all penis related queries. In fact, he ignored every question Jack asked.

The elf led him through what turned out to be a fairly large castle. The motif was gothic in nature, somewhere in between Dracula’s castle and a Viking church. Jack tried to break off and explore but Kamarie stopped him every time, adamant about getting him to some unknown destination.

Kamarie brought him to a large, mostly empty room. The wooden floors had a slight spring to them, marred with signs of heavy use. Jack was reminded of the sparring rooms he had grown up in. He shivered at the thought. Many a night they had used him as a personal training dummy, slamming him into the floors repeatedly as his supposed ‘Sensei’ drilled into him the finer points of killing someone with your bare hands. He suppressed another shiver. He hated training.

Jack looked around and then back to Kamarie. “I told you to show me the cafeteria. Do you even understand how hungry I am right now?”

Kamarie rolled his eyes, walking over to a suspiciously dark corner of the room and bowing deeply.

"Master Cumberlin, I apologize for my tardiness. He was very uncooperative, just as you said he would be.”

The shadows bled away, revealing the gnome that had punched him earlier. Not this asshole again.

“Do you understand now why this is a punishment?” he asked Kamarie.

“Yes master, he is quite the savage.”

Apparently, Kamarie was being punished for something. Wait Jack thought to himself. How is being my tour guide a punishment!?

“Very well. You’re dismissed for now.” Cumberlin said with a scowl.

Kamarie bowed deeply, and then faded into a shadow that sped out of the room and into the hallway, disappearing completely. Fucking magicians.

The shadows of the corner unraveled themselves further, transforming into a large black centipede the size of a horse. Jack stumbled back and into a wall as the centipede zigged and zagged across the floor. Cumberlin rode atop its head, bringing himself face to face with Jack. The gnome stared at him, a hard look on his face.

“I imagine you must have questions- “he began

“So many,” Jack said, interrupting him. “It’s been really bugging me. Is your dick proportional to your body or are you rocking some kinda monster hog down there?”

For the second time Jack found himself on the receiving end of the gnome. It happened in a flash. A black tendril flew from the gnome’s shadow and ripped something out of his mouth. The gnome stared at him, a look of disdain, holding Jack's tooth.

“Damnit, use your WORDS man, that hurts!” Jack said, spitting out blood and rubbing his cheek.

“Good. So, now we’ve established that you can feel pain.” Cumberlin said, staring at him from his spot on the centipede’s head. “You will do well to remember that my only instructions are to not kill you.” He said, venom in his voice. “If you are going to act like a savage, then I will treat you as one. Starting with pulling out a tooth for every savage question you ask me. Understood?” he asked, cocking an eyebrow.

Jack nodded rapidly. This was starting to feel familiar. His old Sensei also was a fan of pain as a motivator. I have to get out of here Jack thought, knowing things were about to get worse for him.

“Excellent.” He said with a nod.

“Now, I suppose we should start with opening your mana core… then we can work on getting you a class assigned…” Cumberlin said, talking to himself more than Jack.

“I’ve already got the class thing.”

“I’m sure you do. Now, once we’ve activated your mana core, we’ll get you started on a training routine. After enough time, the system should recognize your ability and assign you a class. The problem is how fast can we do that…” he said, trailing off in thought, completely ignoring Jack.

“Dude, listen. The Tower gave me a hit- “Jack bit his tongue. He almost told someone he was a Hitman. “The tower gave me an Assassin class,” he lied.

Cumberlin squinted his eyes at Jack and took a threatening step forward.

“Woah woah woah, no need to yank another tooth out. I’m not lying!” he protested, hands raised in defense.

“Yes, you are. Assassin is an Epic class,” he said, as if that meant anything to Jack. “I can see you're confused. The mana on the first floor isn’t strong enough to sustain anything above the tier rank Rare. Therefore, the highest rank a person’s class can be on the first floor is Rare, not the Epic Assassin class.”

“Assassins are epic,” Jack said, clearly misunderstanding.

“No, you fool, the class tier is epic. It’s the Tower designated ranking for things ranging from your items, to your mana core, to quests and class specialization. It begins at Common–the lowest, moving up through Uncommon, Rare, Epic, Legendary, Ancient, ending with Celestial–the highest tier. God’s above, this is going to be more difficult than I thought,” he said, rubbing the temples of his head.

Jacks’ eyes had glassed over at the explanation. More nerd stuff.

“Pay attention!” Cumberlin snapped, bringing Jack back to attention. “You say you have a class? Tell me what it is. Don’t lie this time.”

“…itman…” Jack said, barely mumbling the word under his breath.

“What was that?”

“Hitman, damnit! Are you happy now? Go ahead and make fun of me. I know everyone else will.”

“That’s a good class,” Cumberlin said, squinting his eyes at Jack. "Why would I make fun of you for that?”

“I’m a professionally trained assassin. I wouldn’t expect you to understand the indignity of being referred to as a hitman.”

Cumberlin rolled his eyes at Jack and then resumed his pacing up and down the centipede's body, talking to himself. “Hmm. This changes things. I’ve never heard of anyone getting a class before they’ve awoken their core. Pull up your class and tell me exactly what it says.”

Jack pulled up his class.

Class: Hitman - Rare

A hired killer of the worst variety. Known for taking any job and doing whatever necessary to complete it. The hitman is a ruthless killer unbound by any code of ethics. Pray a Hitman never comes for you.

----------------------------------------

+1 Strength Per Level

+3 Dexterity Per Level

+2 Focus Per Level

----------------------------------------

+Dual Strike [Ability, Uncommon] [Novice-Low] [Error: No core detected]

+Dual wielding [Passive, Uncommon] [Novice-Low] [Error: No core detected]

+Sneak [Passive, Uncommon] [Novice-Low] [Error: No core detected]

Class upgrade unavailable: Max rarity achieved for this level.

“An error message… very interesting. Well, opening your core should fix that.” Cumberlin said, nodding his head in thought. “Tell me, how exactly did you receive this Class?”

Jack thought back to the first day’s events trying to remember. “I’m not sure, I think there was another one of those error messages. Something about not being able to leave the tutorial village without a class?” Jack offered.

“Hmm… and from there you used the points made available from that achievement you received to upgrade your class. I see…” Cumberlin said, putting the pieces together himself.

“Is it really such a big deal that I got my class first?”

“Yes… Well, maybe.” He corrected, “What you fail to understand is the impact that having a mana core has on your life. The type of core you awaken will shape the path you end up walking throughout the Tower. I can’t stress this enough how lucky you are, being a trained killer, getting a rare achievement for killing someone. Those events played an enormous part in your class selection. Don’t get me started on how fortuitous it was that you had enough achievement points to upgrade your class to max rarity. Most people lack the points to even upgrade it once upon receiving their first class. I hesitate to pay you a compliment, but it was a wise investment to spend your AP the way you did.”

This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

“Why would you hesitate to pay me a compliment? That’s so mean.”

“Do you always complain this much?” Cumberlin asked

“I’m just 'hangry'. You people seem to enjoy starving me.” Jack said, crossing his arms.

“Enough with that already. We’re going to feed you, but this next part is going to make you… sick…” he said, trying out the word “I figured we might as well get it over with before we wasted a proper meal on you.”

Jack found himself very concerned at this revelation.

“Sick as in I’ve got a cold or sick as in my insides are now my outsides?” he asked.

Cumberlin only stared at him. Jack swore there was a glint in his eye and slight smirk hidden under his enormous moustache.

“And if I do this, you’ll feed me?”

Cumberlin nodded.

“Alright,” Jack sighed “let’s get this over with.”

“Just like that?”

“I’m. Hungry.”

“All right then,” Cumberlin said, producing a brightly glowing blue vial from out of nowhere and quietly tossing it over to Jack, who missed it completely. The vial hit the floor and shattered, spilling out its contents everywhere.

“Uhm. Maybe a little warning next time?”

The gnome let out a long groan, rubbing slow deliberate circles into his temples. With a long exhale, he produced another similar vial, wrapping it in a black tendril that bled shadows and extended it towards Jack, who winced as he grabbed the potion, careful not to touch the gross tentacle.

“Go over there and drink the potion,” he said, pointing towards a washbasin that was like the one in his room. "When you start throwing up, try to get it into the basin. I don’t want you getting the floors dirty with your sick.”

"You sure I should be throwing up in that? Kamarie had some harsh words to say when I tried to pee in mine. “

“Wait till he finds out he has to clean this one up.”

Jack leveled his gaze at the gnome, a serious look on his face “I would like to be there when you tell him that.”

Jack walked over to the far wall where the wash basin was and sat down next to it, uncorking the vial and taking a whiff. He recalled an unfortunate event from his childhood involving a fork and an electrical socket - fire, smoke, the subtle tinge of electricity in the air, and salty tears. That’s what the potion smelled like. He gave it an inspection, unintentionally prompting a notification to fill his vision.

Core - Breaker Brew

Type: Elixir

Tier: Epic

Description:

This potion is designed to fill the user’s core with extremely purified mana, breaking it open. The potion then reshapes the core, strengthening it, pushing it to even greater heights.

For those in need of an extra push.

“What is this anyway?”

“It’s a Core-breaker potion. Its highly condensed mana infused with some other things you need not concern yourself with. Its primary purpose is to aid in upgrading your core to the next tier. Normally, someone would use this who is trying to push their core to the epic tier. I imagine this will push your core well past the rank of common and into the realm of uncommon, if not higher.”

“Huh. Why doesn’t everyone use one of these?”

“Two reasons. The first being it’s quite expensive,” Cumberlin said with a disheartened look at the broken vial spilled across the floor. “The second, well… You’re about to find out the second reason.”

Jack looked at the concoction with a bit of reservation. He’d done goldfish shots, swallowed the tequila worm, even chased the green fairy. What’s one more strange blue vial of mysterious liquid. Still, he eyed it warily… “Why do I need to do this again?”

“Because having access to mana is a prerequisite to surviving within the Tower. It’s a quintessential part of the universe. It will be a part of every single aspect of your life for as long as you live. Also, you won’t be able to use any abilities until you have a core.”

“Really?”

“What do you think those error messages mean? Abilities need a core to imprint upon. No core, no abilities. Last–as you upgrade your core, you will gain access to more ability slots- “

“Okay, okay that’s enough…” Jack said, interrupting the gnome with a wave. “I still don’t get why I can’t wait like everyone else? You said it should just open naturally as my body adjusts to the mana, and I assume that options pain free?”

“Did you already forget you’re on a timer? You have less than five days to clear the cursed dungeon. Waiting isn’t a luxury you can afford, and we have to cram months’ worth of training and knowledge into you over the next two days, leaving you barely enough time to beat the dungeon.”

Jack had forgotten he was on a timer. He pulled up the quest and checked the time limit.

Quest: The Cursed Dungeon of Andurian.

Quest Tier: Rare

Quest Sponsor: The Tower

Objective: Traverse the dungeon within the allotted time and lay claim to the cursed treasure within.

Time: 100hrs

Reward:

10,000AP

+1 Level

It’s only been twenty hours? Feels like more, Jack thought to himself.

“It doesn’t mention anything bad happening when the timer runs out. You sure we can’t just wait?”

“First piece of advice. Something bad always happens when a timer runs out.”

Jack had to acknowledge that point. Timers usually meant an explosion was about to happen in his line of work. Oh god, was he going to explode if the quest timer ran out?

“And this cursed dungeon? Is it so simple that I can beat it in a few days? What happens if I just stay here instead?”

“Mindalia has use for you on the first floor, so hiding out here for the rest of your days isn’t an option.”

“About that… Is anyone going to fill me in on exactly what her plans are for me? Is it something kinky? My safe word is Justin Bieber.”

Cumberlin scowled at him, “Drink the potion, survive, and maybe you’ll find out.”

Jack sighed, taking the potion in hand. “Bottoms up!” He tipped the potion to the gnome in mock-cheer, tapped it once against the floor and shot it back in one go. It tasted like a static tv channel, and Sprite. “Needs lime” he said breathing out heavily as the contents settled in his stomach.

Cumberlin looked at Jack with slight trepidation, like he might dart away at any moment.

“Don’t look at me like that. I’ve drunk a lot worse for a lot dumber reasons.”

The gnome cocked an eyebrow at him. Nothing happened. The two stared awkwardly at each other for a long moment.

“Soooo, what is mana anyway?” Jack asked, trying to fill the uncomfortable silence. “Is it that weird shadow shit you guys keep doing? I don’t want creepy tentacle powers.

“Well, you might get them. You might not. We won’t really know until your core awakens and we figure out your core type.”

“Core type? I thought it was a mana core?”

“It is. But mana has unique characteristics. For instance, I have a shadow attuned mana core, as do most of the members of the Black Centipede. It’s what we’re known for.”

“My guess would have been you're known for being creepy assholes.” Jack said.

“You should hope you get a shadow type as well; we are far more geared to support you if that’s the case.” Cumberlin said ignoring him.

“How many mana types are there?”

“Thousands,” said Cumberlin with a vague gesture. “Our scholars say it’s a wide combination of factors ranging from personality to ability to the weather conditions of the day that play into determining your core type. With any luck, being in the hall of the Black Centipede, within the vicinity of the most powerful shadow user in existence, will skew things in your favor.”

“Ahh, so the bondage lady is pretty strong-“ Jack stopped mid-sentence, a dull thud ringing out from his stomach.

“So, it begins…” Cumberlin said, taking notice of Jack’s panicked look, lifting himself up into the air on a dark black cloud of shadows.

The beating happened again. This time, it felt louder inside of him, creating a shock wave that rang out through his entire body. It felt like that pins and needles feeling you get when your arm or leg falls asleep, only it was everywhere.

“I can feel it in my entire body…” Jack said, clenching his teeth as another dull thud rang out from his stomach.

“That would be bits of mana escaping your core and running through your channels. Waking them up.”

“Channels?” Jack asked through a groan, trying to distract himself from the rapidly increasing spikes of pain running throughout his body.

“Channels carry the mana throughout your body. Think of it as a pathway that leads the mana where you want it to go.”

“Even…” Jack said through gritted teeth, a strained look on his face. “My dick?”. He started vomiting black blood all over the floor.

“Do it in the basin, you imbecile!”

Jack heaved again, missing the basin on purpose. The thought of that elf from earlier having to clean this up was a slight comfort to the pain that rampaged throughout his body. Thousands of tiny flaming spikes stabbed into his veins. He screamed, vomiting up more black blood.

“Don’t worry, it isn’t actually blood you’re throwing up.” Cumberlin said, now hovering over Jack on the cloud made of shadows. “The core-breaker potion we gave you was mixed with some of Mindalia’s shadow mana in hopes of skewing the results and awakening a shadow core. It appears though, your body is rejecting it…” he said, trailing off.

Jack dropped to the ground. His entire body had gone rigid, every muscle pulled taut. Shockwaves of pain rang out from his core, the thuds having gone from a steady beat to a rapid cacophony. Something wanted out, something was breaking out. He felt his fingers digging into the wood floors below. The beating in his core reached its climax. Something broke inside of him. His vision went white. He couldn’t hear anything past his own screaming.

White hot lightning ran through every inch of his body, burning him from the inside out. It was only for a moment, leaving as fast as it came. The static feeling from before slowly returned, running through his veins. He took deep breaths, assessing the state of his body, wiggling fingers and flexing toes. Everything seemed to be in working order. The burning had cooled further into a warm, relaxing heat that radiated throughout his entire body, small jolts of electricity running through his veins. He slowly opened his eyes. The gnome was floating above him, staring down at him with what looked like a smile.

“Congratulations. You survived.”

Jack let out a long groan, rolling over onto his side, slowly pushing himself up against the wall.

“How do you feel?” he asked, floating down into Jack’s line of sight.

“Like you owe me a steak…” he paused, he felt surprisingly fine for having just gone through hell. The warm energy running throughout his body had replaced the pain. “How is it that I’ve recovered so quickly?” Jack asked, confused.

“Mana.” Cumberlin simply said, an enormous smile painted across his face. “Quick, open up your statistics page and tell me what type of core you received.”

Jack obliged, recalling a notification he had received during his fit.

Mana Core Awakened

Core Type: Lightning Mana Core [Uncommon]

“A lightning core… hmm…”

“Is that bad?” Jack asked

“It’s not ideal.” Cumberlin ventured. “Things would have been easier had you awakened a shadow core…” he said furrowing his brows in thought.

“Well, it feels amazing,” Jack said, standing up, stretching a few times before jumping and running around. For having just gone through hell, he felt incredible. Cumberlin watched from the sidelines as Jack ran around throwing punches and doing the occasional flip. Jack then hit the ground with a thud and let out a long groan. The pain had returned.

“All done?” Cumberlin asked, walking up to the side of his head and staring down at him, a knowing look on his face.

“What just happened? I feel like shit again.”

“You ran out of mana.” Cumberlin said. “Here, sit up.”

Jack sat up. Cumberlin stood across from him, having shaped his shadows back into the centipede from before and standing atop its head.

“Mana is the multi-tool of the universe. Feeling tired and need a little extra stamina? Channel some mana through your body and you’ll be able to run longer. Need to lift something heavy with relative ease? Channel mana. Need your skills and abilities to be a little more potent? Pour some more mana into them. Put your body through hell and need a pick-me-up? Channel. Mana. Make sense?”

“You lost me at multi-tool.” Jack said, shaking his head.

“Mana is a force multiplier for every aspect of life. Anytime you find yourself wanting – channel some mana and see what happens.”

“Why didn’t you just say that? You said I ran out? How do I get more?” Jack asked rapid fire.

“That’s what I’m going to teach you.” He said, “First, close your eyes and imagine you are looking inside yourself.”

Jack groaned, closing his eyes. This was exactly like his Sensei, all that feel good one with nature shit.

“Am I supposed to be seeing something?” Jack asked.

“Just concentrate. Your core, while not physical, exists inside yourself, right around here.” Jack felt the gnome press on a spot right above his navel. It might have been his imagination, but the gnome was poking him harder than necessary “Look here.” He said, poking the spot several times. Yep, definitely harder.

To Jack's surprise, the image of a pale blue circle filled his mind, a dull light radiating off it.

"I see it, I think…”

“Good. That’s your core. I want you to hold that image firmly in your mind and slowly extend your reach out to the world around you.”

Jack reached out, grabbing the gnome.

“Don’t actually reach out with your hands you idiot.” Cumberlin said, slapping Jacks hands away.

"Focus on how you felt when you had mana inside of you. Reach out with your senses, try to pinpoint that feeling in the world around you.”

Jack refocused himself again, looking for that warm static feeling that ran through his body. Now that he knew what to look for, it was easier to find. He grabbed it. A pulling sensation came from his core, mana pouring inside. He watched as the dull blue circle grew brighter and brighter in intensity, filling up with mana until it was a white-hot crackling ball of energy.

Mastery Upgrade:

Willpower

Novice-low --> Novice-High

“Damnit,” Jack said, the notification breaking his concentration.

“What?”

“These damn notifications. How do I make them stop popping up?”

“What did it say?” Cumberlin asked, ignoring the latter half of the question.

“My willpower mastery increased.”

“Hmm… It’s still early days for you yet. You’ll be getting a lot of those in the beginning as your body naturally adjusts to the world. We’ll get to masteries later. For now, just know it means you have a talent for manipulating mana. This is a good thing, it will make your training in the days to come all the easier. We should let you recover and get some food in you; the next part of your training will be an entirely different degree of intense, I’m afraid.”

“Strange, I’m not hungry anymore.”

“Yes, you are. You’re channeling mana to your stomach right now. It will stave off hunger, but you still need to eat.” Said Cumberlin.

Jack was only half listening. He watched his core lose its luster as he pushed mana throughout his body, the warm static glow returning. He was losing mana at an impressive rate.

“How come my mana disappears so fast?” Jack asked.

“For starters, you don’t have a body cycling technique. There are far more efficient ways to channel mana throughout your body, but the Black Centipede lacks any that are compatible with a lightning core. I suggest you quit wasting your mana by sending it everywhere and just focus on individual body parts for now.”

Jack nodded, tentatively trying to adjust how much mana he pulled from his core and send it to specific parts of his body.

“Interesting… can you see where I’m channeling my mana?”

Cumberlin looked at him. “With a little focus, I can see how you manipulate your mana. Why do you ask?”

Jack focused on his new skill “How about now?” he asked, an ominous smile creeping onto his face.

Cumberlin squinted at him. Jack wiggled his eyebrows. The gnome punched him in the face again.