Mark took in the devastation around himself, everything in the room looked as though it had been sandblasted into irregularity. The corpses of the Corrupted Hydra’s bearly resembled the creatures they had once been. Now closer to strips of frayed leather than titanic beasts. The walls held countless tiny pockmarks as though insects had burrowed into them. Anything not battened down had been sent fly and shredded to small bits. The bronze statue leaned to one side, struggling to remain standing.
The destruction that surrounded them was only softened by the tiny stars and cosmos that were fading from the space. Sam dropped where she stood, Mark just catching her before her head met the ground.
Nothing moved around them, but Mark didn't lower his guard until a ping from the system startled him.
The anchor for this Dungeon has been removed. Dungeon # 653 will drop back to tier 1. Please continue to clear it to lower the rank or maintain this level.
Party Reward: 4 x Silver rank mystery chest[Aura/Mana]
9 x Bronze rank mystery chest[Aura/Mana]
Distributing…
Congratulations you have received 1 x Silver rank mystery chest[Aura/Mana] as a Dungeon reward!
Mark could only figure this must have been the core for the tier two dungeon, further supporting his theory that the path downwards must be another dungeon entirely.
Tearing himself away from these thoughts Mark turned to assist Sam. The type of destruction she had just created was incredible, but overusing Mana to that extent always came with consequences.
The good news was that she was still conscious; the bad, she was barely responding to stimuli.
“Sam look at me, can you move?”
As harsh as it sounded, they were still in danger, getting them out of here was Mark’s main goal, but he barely had the Mana to lift himself, let alone two other people. Sam blinked and slowly nodded, attempting to put strength into her limbs.
Jonathan was making use of his one working arm to move, and Mark truly believed that with enough time this guy could probably drag himself up and out of here.
The thing was, Mark could hear the screams of distant Corrupted bouncing off the walls from beyond the room. It was almost as though they knew what had happened, and were coming to defend the core.
Exhaling sharply Mark got to his feet and pulled Sam up with him, her head lolled, but at least there was some strength in her limbs. Jonathan was next and he looped the guy's one working arm around his neck. With assistance, the guy managed to stand on two broken legs. Any damage he was doing would have to be healed, but that was a problem for if they survived.
Mark began to move towards the exit in the ceiling, almost arriving before something dropped from the ceiling. Mark got ready to hit the threat. But, when he made out the dull armor of Gibby moving towards them, he grunted in relief.
Without a word, the guy took Jonathan from him and they made their way up the hole in the ceiling. Mark had to use the very last of his Mana to get them up there, but they made it. The lesser construct he had left in place was long since gone. Destroyed by Sam’s spell, Mark realized Gibby must have retreated when it went off to avoid injury, but still come back.
Climbing up through the ceiling was not easy, even less so while supporting another body, but Mark found that if he relied on his physical limit release he could just about make it.
The light got brighter until Mark broke from the shaft and out into the morning light panting. As he turned to pull Sam out, Lisa reached down and helped extract her. The glance she gave him was filled with so many emotions, respect, jealousy, relief, and more, but he didn't have the bandwidth to process them right now.
Through sweat and ragged breaths, Mark glanced around. They were in what looked like an impound lot, surrounded by numerous vehicles arranged neatly in their rows. Everyone else had made it, the only irregularity was the large fissure they had just come through. Once more there were a couple of dead Corrupted on the ground nearby, but it looked like they had been easy to deal with.
The breeze brushing past was the first real change Mark noticed. The difference between the air quality up here was worlds apart from the stagnant filth down there. Not to mention the Corruption levels were stable. If he got near the fissure he could feel it venting out Corruption into the sky, but even that was slowing now. Everyone looked to be resting so Mark went over to Jonathan and Sam, taking a proper look at their situations. Jonathan was probably in large amounts of pain, but he would live, even without Mark's intervention.
However, it was Sam that Mark was worried about. [Prana pulse] was telling him she had over-stressed her mind and was falling into a coma to protect herself.
Even with ample Prana at his disposal, Mark could not do much for mental injuries. At most, he could speed up recovery. So that’s what he did now, setting a very weak [Regenerate] in place. He needed more time to help her and this might buy him that, or at least delay things.
Lisa didn’t give them long to rest before speaking.
“Alright, I’ve checked the maps and we are not far from Builder's Quarry, probably only a five-hour journey. If we move now we can be there before evening hits.”
Mark glanced at their injured, three of whom were almost entirely incapable of movement. Tyler was leaning against one of the vehicles catatonic, while Sam was not far off. Jonathan was awake but he was in no condition to fight.
“Hang on a moment, we have multiple injured, it would be better to bunker down for the night,” said Mark.
Lisa just shook her head and Mark could see a couple of others also wanted to keep moving.
“We don’t want to be out here when night falls. These areas are choked with Corrupted and too many unknowns.”
Mark wanted to snap that these people could not be moved, so Gibby stepped in.
“How about we take one or two of these rides? Then we can transport the injured and still progress towards the city.”
Mark could tell he wasn't thinking clearly and just nodded. It wasn’t the ideal solution, but it had proved to be effective before.
Lisa glanced at their fallen and nodded.
Both their strength and mobility had been severely affected by the injuries, so this was the best of the bad options.
Once they had gathered up, they selected the two most durable-looking trucks they could, and split up between them.
Mark made sure he was with the injured, and Gibby volunteered as their driver. Bonnie and Terry also came so they had some form of magical offense if needed.
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The sounds of the engines starting up were grating on Mark's ears, but he sat in the middle seat and tried to use [Meditation]. He needed to get a handle on what was going on inside himself.
Mark's whole body ached and sharp pains jolted through his core intermittently, making it hard to unclench his muscles.
With painstaking patience, he managed to sink into the skill. When he did, he got a view of the Corruption churning through his body. At the same time, the stuff stared back. Demanding he make use of it. It could help Sam if he only let it. She was struggling and it was his fault if she died, if any of them died.
Mark swallowed back his bile and mentally pushed back the Corruption. It mirrored him, shaking his resolve, in an attempt to get him to use it.
But Mark refused.
What he had done down there was riding a line. He had not directly manipulated the Corruption, instead, he had simply made use of the stuff's natural greed, and it had moved on its own.
Letting out a staggered breath Mark reinforced his mind before moving his focus to Sam. He couldn’t do a whole lot for his own situation right now, but he could help the others.
His Prana told him the same thing as earlier, Sam had severely overextended herself. The fact that she was semi-lucid right now was a mystery. Redirecting the flow of energy into Sam, Mark tried to lessen to burden on her mind.
The more he focused, the better image he got. Her mind was burnt out, or at least patches of it were.
The brain, unlike the rest of the body, was not a straightforward thing to heal; it required a delicate flow of energy to target the damaged areas. The problem Mark found was that this damage was not clustered in one place for an easy fix; instead, it was hundreds of millions of damaged neurons scattered throughout the brain.
Pouring Prana into the mind could work to a lesser extent, but focused healing was more effective because of how small the targets were. The thing was, there were so many neurons in the brain that it didn’t feel as though he were making a difference.
Ironically enough, to heal overuse, he’d need to speed up his own processing limit to contend with the damage at a reasonable rate, and right now that was not possible.
So, he began healing her mind at a manageable pace, and at the same time, Mark began to send Prana over to Jonathan.
Jonathan's issues were simpler, it was a problem of resources right now. Before they had left Mark had Gibby pop Jonathan's shoulder back into its socket. Luckily the guy seemed to have some first-aid under his belt, so he knew what he was doing. The swelling was already going down, but Mark focused on getting Jonathan's bones in the right positions.
Tyler was the easiest to deal with because the [Regenerate] from earlier was still working to keep him stable, Mark would just top it off every so often to keep it going but the guy woke soon enough; angry and looking for a fight.
While he worked, Mark took the time to see his gains from this last near-death experience.
623 x Corrupted humanoid cleansed{Dungeon bonus X2}(1246)
89 x Corrupted Ordinator cleansed{Dungeon bonus X2}(356)
71 x Corrupted Ghoul cleansed{Dungeon bonus X2}(426)
299 x Corrupted Ghast cleansed{Dungeon bonus X2}(1196)
36 x Corrupted Naga cleansed{Dungeon bonus X2}(360)
Partial exp awarded to (14 users - expand list)(3988)
Partial exp awarded to (Mark Young)(3988)
3782 System Points awarded
Rewards: 1 x Silver rank mystery chest[Aura/Mana]!
Roll: Yes/No
1936/1936
Level up!
+2 Prana, +2 Resistance
2025/2025
Level up!
+2 Prana, +2 Resistance
2116/2116
Level up!
+2 Prana, +2 Resistance
2209/2209
Level up!
+2 Prana, +2 Resistance
The consistent jump in levels was satisfying, and as such he dumped 30 points into Prana and 10 into Mana. Right now the immediate need for Prana was too great, at the same time Mark rolled the item he had gotten as a reward. This time though, a new screen popped up asking him to choose between either an Aura or Mana-based reward. The choice was easy for Mark.
Item acquired: Riftglimmer Waystone(Silver - Amulet)
Item lvl: 62
Resistance + 310
Mana + 55
Description: Upon activation, this item will perform a dimensional shift, transporting the user and up to four other entities to a pre-designated point in space.
This item also offers a Minor compatibility increase with spatial magic while wearing.
Requirements: 0/1000 Mana
Mark stared at the item for a while. Forgetting the attributes for a moment, the ability this thing offered was incredible. Having a built-in escape option offered them huge versatility. He planned to verify if the activation was instantaneous. But, for the moment, he donned the small silver chain—a miniature obelisk adorned with four distinct runes. He sensed a surge in his Mana core, recognizing a designated space within the item where Mana would accumulate as he charged it. Mark didn’t even mind the large Mana cost, as it would only take eight or so hours to fill. The only gripe Mark had was that he didn’t get it sooner.
Pulling up his attributes, he read through the changes.
Name: Mark Young (22 - M)
Level: 47
Next level: 786/2304
Stats:
Resistance
Aura
Mana
Prana
1526(+8) [1400]
0 [+25]
281 (+10)[+70]
639 (+8, +30)[+155]
Unspent stat points - 0
Corruption value: 91.03% [+50%] - 141.03%
System Points: 9998.0
Skills: Meditation, Limit release(Physical), Limit release(Mental), Joint casting.
Spells: Passive Regeneration(Self)[9], Force bolt[17], Prana Pulse[8], Regenerate[9], Draw Corruption[6], Corruption recovery[12], Sculpt Mana(Force)[8], Invigorate[9], Cleansing surge[9], Read Memory[2], Mind Spike[4], Earth Control[8], Light Control[6], Bestowal[7], Telekinesis[8], Benediction[3], Nature control[3], Telepathic link[4].
World inventory. Marketplace. Trade
About two hours into their journey they ran into their first hurdle. Mark had managed to get Jonathan’s legs back under him thanks to the injection of Prana, but his speed would be heavily restricted. Sam, on the other hand, had slipped into unconsciousness, she was healing slowly but Mark had been powerless to stop it. He decided that sleep was not the worst thing for her right now, so he did his best to keep her stable.
By now Mark had regenerated most of his Mana so a Construct was wrapped securely around the car, just in case, though it ended up never being needed.
The problem came in the form of vegetation. Smack dab in the middle of the city, a large expanse of thorny vines had grown from the concrete, some as thick as a man while others reaching upwards of a house in size. branches coiled through the cityscape with little to no difficulty, stretching into the sky a couple of stories high. Root systems pushed up and out of the tar, making the road almost impassable by the vehicles.