[Sol Date: Unknown | Location: Avardum | Marcus, Elina]
Marcus was astonished when he came back to consciousness. Several things had happened. He was now a gem, or more accurately, a big fuck off gem. He was being fed a stream of data from the system and his AI-come-dungeon-guide about the local area. And the thing that surprised him most was the AI time-loss system was still functional. So, in a fraction of a second, an audio-video memory was implanted into his head. This memory covered everything that had happened while he was unconscious.
Marcus wanted to throttle Elina and Bellona. His wife and daughter were waiting for him! He began to go ballistic, and almost as quickly as the anger began to rise, Marcus took a proverbial breath and calmed himself. "Good morning, Elina, so this is my new home and my new body?"
The flood of data that poured from the world itself into him was astonishing. He knew things that he should have no right to know. For example, he knew he was in the Howling Plains. How did he know that? On the other end of the spectrum, he had almost no idea of anything else in the area.
"I can not stay long, Marcus." Elina said, smiling down at him, "Just know that I appreciate you, and I wish you strength. Look for quests from me as my primary way of communicating with you. Be strong, Legatus. The pain of nullmana will commence as soon as I leave."
Marcus braced himself, watching her begin to leave through the portal. Marcus decided he did not need his new patron goddess in any kind of mental turmoil. "Tell Mars to tell my wife and daughter that I love them. Tell them that I had to help someone else. And I forgive you, Elina. Now go, save what power you have."
The look that washed over Elina's face was priceless. Marcus got the impression that it was not often that mortals 'got one over' on the gods. She opened her mouth to speak, "How did you..." and was cut off by the portal closing.
Marcus screamed. The pain from the null mana was here, just as promised, and it was unlike anything he had ever experienced in his life. First, he would feel the nullmana rush into his body and be purified. Then when he expelled it, it was torn away and contaminated before he could fully release it from his control. Every second, it felt as if someone was crabbing small slivers of skin and rapidly peering them from his body, all while submerged in a bath of lemon juice.
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[Avardum: Day 001 | Location: Howling Plains | Marcus]
Marcus had been alone on the plains for about two hours and had not stopped screaming the entire time. Desperately, he was trying to do anything that would help, and it was all failing.
"What do I fucking do." He thought to himself as pain once more racked his core. "They said it was painful, but FUCK ME, di they understate it!"
Just then, a notice forced its way into his mind.
[https://bluebox.akmedrah.com/VV_Notification-002.png]
Through the pain, Marcus realized a few things. Firstly, even though he could not see his stats thanks to
Without even missing a beat, Marcus activated the active effect of
"Alright, Marcus, let's figure this out. How do we solve this issue?" Marcus knew he only had an hour to go before the pain returned. "I wonder why the winds that I can feel are not pushing this sphere around?"
His AI, or more accurately, his Dungeon Guide, in the form of his wife, supplied an answer to that, speaking clearly in his mind.
"All Dungeon Cores are capable, in any state, of creating and maintaining a mana anchor. It is simply a layer of mana that links the Core to the ground or material beneath it."
"Can I release this anchor?" Marcus asked.
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"Yes, I would not recommend it in this instance as you must be stationary to re-institute the anchor, and once the current anchor is removed, I do not foresee the winds in this area allowing you to stop."
"Thank you, Aurora," Marcus said out of reflex.
"Of course, Marcus." She responded.
Marcus froze internally. It had been decades since he uttered her name. Never before had he been able to bring himself to call her by the name of her original source. Marcus wondered what he would... Marcus stopped; he had limited time, and if the countdown in his mind was the remaining time he had to figure out his conundrum, he only had about forty minutes left. So, rather than bully himself for using his wife's name, he accepted it. He now knew, beyond any kind of doubt, that his wife and daughter were in a better place, and even though he had been co-opted, he would not worry for them anymore. "All right, Aurora, we have some work to do. Let's get a rundown of all my skills and any known abilities that I am able to use under the effects of Nullmana, as well as any that I can use while actively taking damage.
Aurora was silent for a long time. As he waited, the countdown ran down until he only had 25 min left. Finally, Aurora spoke. "The only ability that meets the requirements is the ability to put things into your inventory."
"I... What?" Marcus said, confused. Surely, he would not fail simply because he could not use the skills the Goddess had given him.
"The only ability or skill you have that can be used under your listed conditions is the innate dungeon ability to put things into your inventory. Though the ability does have other restrictions, of the two you listed, it is usable."
"Please tell me everything you can about this ability."
Aurora did something, and suddenly, Marcus knew everything he needed to about the ability. The biggest restriction was that he could only put things that were completely permeated in his mana into his inventory. Marcus was worried he might be doomed. He was thinking as fast as he could and had asked Aurora to analyze the situation. The countdown went ever downward. Until at five minutes remaining, Marcus had a thought. "Aurora, does Anything that is soaked in my mana count as an item that I can put into my inventory?"
"To the best of my knowledge, having never seen the ability at work, I believe so."
"Alright, well, three minutes left," Marcus said, watching the countdown with dread. "If what I am doing does not work, I need you to let me know as soon as the blessing is ready again."
"Understood."
Marcus watched as the countdown zeroed out and once again felt like he was being skinned alive. Gritting his mental teeth, Marcus focused on the dirt below himself and indeed felt that the dirt was soaked through with his mana. He pulled the dirt towards himself and felt his sphere drop an almost imperceptible amount. He checked his inventory and found a new item in the previously empty screen.
"Dirt, 175 grams." Marcus said to himself, and then he took a breath, trying to calm his perpetually ravaged mind, "Time for a long process."
Marcus began digging.
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[Avardum: Day 002 - 007 | Location: Howling Plains | Marcus]
The rest of the week was a slog in some of the most intense pain and focus Marcus had ever experienced. He learned several things. Firstly, he could use the
On the fifth day, a new notification popped into his mind.
[https://bluebox.akmedrah.com/VV_Notification-003.png]
So, Marcus did nothing but push Mana into the dirt for the next two days. He found that as he saturated the dirt more and more, he could shape it to his will. The greater the mana saturation, the greater the control he had. On day seven, he was still taking damage, albeit at a rate significantly reduced from the original rate. He could not figure out how to solve the issue, and finally, Aurora saved the day.
"Maybe we need to treat the Nullmana as we would vacuum. Mana is the atmosphere, and Nullmana is the vacuum. So create an entry barrier for the hole you have dug."
"That is not a bad idea," Marcus said, recalling the countless thousands of hours he had spent in interstellar travel. Every entry point had a physical door, as well as an atmo-shield. While he tried to think of how to make a door or an atmo-shield, he focused on compressing the dirt around the rim of the hole, creating a strange kind of high-density sandstone that was chock-full of his mana. In doing this, suddenly, a minuscule barrier of mana formed inside the ring of sandstone, and a new notice brought a sigh of relief to Marcus's mind.
[https://bluebox.akmedrah.com/VV_Notification-004.png]
"Marcus, all skills and abilities are back online. Recommend beginning to carve out the first floor of the dungeon and creating an entrance capable of allowing people in but not Nullmana." Aurora said, and Marcus took a breath, letting the feeling of not having pain wash through him.
"Understood," Marcus said, pulling up his Will-based