Mana corruption is a topic that has inspired many to a lifeti of study. To reduce it to the essential facts, we must make many simplifications. Mana occurs in different concentrations in nature. While a certain amount of it may be helpful to the body, and obviously enables us to cast Spells and activate Skills, too much can be harmful.
Your body’s tolerance to mana increases as you Level up and your own internal mana concentration increases. However, if you are exposed to mana densities that exceed your tolerance for an extended period of ti, it can damage the body in strange and unpredictable ways. The effect is much more significant when you also sustain a physical injury, as the damage to your body creates an opening for the foreign mana to enter, just as it does for physical disease vectors.
- Tercia Lazarova, Level 34 Weaver of Life, A Healer’s Prir
I attuned the first mod, then Inspected it, examining all the possible effects.
Item: Omni-Modification – Attuned
Level: 4
Effect – Armor: Fire Resistance – slightly increases your armor’s resistance to fire.
Type: Passive
Effect – Weapon: Fire Damage – adds a minimal amount of fire damage to your shots.
Type: Passive
I giggled for a mont at the thought of shooting flaming bread-tiles at Raylan, or better yet, Elin…
Seriously, this is a hard choice. I need to keep my infused barrel and choke mods unless I get a better version of the sa thing. And I also really like this new sight. I guess I should check the last mod first and decide that way.
Item: Omni-Modification – Attuned
Level: 4
Effect – Armor: Lightweight – slightly decreases the weight of your armor.
Type: Passive
Effect – Weapon: Ammunition Capacity – adds 1 round to your magazine capacity.
Type: Passive
Effect – Ammunition: Ammunition Capacity – adds 4 rounds to the capacity of your bandolier.
Type: Passive
Shit, I think that’s better than the first one. Expanding my bandolier is basically like adding to my mana capacity. Plus, I’ll have more flexibility to keep different types of ammo ready…
Making up my mind, I applied the ammunition capacity to my bandolier, replacing the sonic capacitor and watching as four new loops appeared for a total of eleven – wait, shouldn’t that be ten? I looked carefully at my gun, seeing that the magazine tube had extended again, and Inspecting it confird that I could now put six shells in the magazine plus one in the chamber. I get an extra shell every two Levels, it looks like.
Then I applied the first omnimod to my armor, hesitating for a mont on which mod to replace before deciding on the fast charge one. It was probably more useful than self-repair, but I decided it was worth the slight risk to keep the Level 3 mod so that I could give it to Elin later. I did not want to have to pay her off.
I took the torch from the ground and walked back to find my expended shell, then retrieved the box of slugs from my Inventory. I placed four of them into the new loops at the bottom of my bandolier, and the rest into my pouch, tossing the box away. Then I fully loaded my gun and filled the rest of my bandolier slots with standard ammo, feeling my mana drain away.
I stumbled and almost fell as my focus dropped close to zero briefly. Raylan grabbed my arm to steady .
he asked.
Nodding in understanding, he released my arm, and we resud our walk down the tunnel towards the junction the orcs had appeared from. I was surprised that the sound of my gun hadn’t drawn more of them to us. As we approached, we could see that the tunnel also continued in front of us, curving slightly to the right. To the left, the orc tunnel continued a short distance before it appeared to split off in two directions, the new intersection just barely visible in the flickering torchlight.
Zaire pulled out the paper and pen and quickly sketched the beginnings of a map as I considered which way to go. It seed that the ‘main’ tunnel we’d entered through was roughly following the shape of the cliff outside. I decided to follow that first, instead of heading into what I assud was orc territory.
Moving at a careful pace it didn’t take long to find the exit of the tunnel. We stopped just inside and looked out at an area that looked very similar to where we’d fought the running battle with the treants. The only difference was that this side of the dungeon was peaceful, without the smashed trees and shattered rocks we’d left behind.
Gesturing to the others to stay hidden, I crept towards the edge of the cliff. I could see the massive elder treant towering over the valley below, but it didn’t seem to react to my presence, even when I got close to the edge. Looking down, I could see we’d passed through the cliff behind the waterfall, and across the valley floor I could see the stairway of boulders we’d climbed to reach the opposite ledge.
The roar of the falling water easily reached my ears, and I wondered if it had been this loud before. I thought back to when we’d appeared in the dungeon, but it was hard to judge. I couldn’t see it thanks to the rock wall extending a bit out past the edge of the ledge.
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Shortly I was joined by all of my teammates, the others apparently not wanting to be left out. Well, we’re not the most disciplined group ever… starting with , if I’m being honest.
I asked.
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