Niall continues her lecture as she completes the circle, “Soone with a Potency upgrade is always going to have an easier ti hardening their mana against external influence. You Amplifiers have to work harder for it. Looking at the modifications she told to make, you seem to have so skill, or trait, allowing you to change the frequency of your mana. So this experience on its own should be of so benefit to your growth.”
I can already sense more work ahead of . Each of these techniques alone is going to take years to grasp properly, and I can't focus on them currently because of the death sentence waiting for if I do.
Damn, Lissandra and her insistence that I raise five skills to level 50. She’s straight up crazy; three alone was too much.
“Let guess, as long as I’m in the do, my external mana will grow more difficult to manipulate as ti passes,” I say.
“It will, obviously. But past a certain level or when you find yourself faced with certain opponents, it's just sothing you’re going to have to deal with. There are classes, skills, and traits that will cause you a great deal of pain otherwise. Your first instinct might be to engage in lee at that point, but that's where they’re going to want you. And I'm sure you already know a few people you wouldn’t have a chance against in that scenario.”
Upon hearing her words, Tacita cos to mind. If I wasn't able to use my external mana, it could end up being… interesting.
“Can you declare a Champion candidate?” I ask.
That makes Niall falter, and just for the shortest mont, her mana wavers before she continues.
“Fuck, you are shaless. Are you always like that?”
“You seem to prefer the direct approach, so I may as well take the opportunity.”
“You’re not wrong, but damn. A few decades ago, I would have splattered you against a wall for even asking. As for declaring you a candidate, no. In the future, assuming soone doesn’t just kill you for being a pain in the ass, you will learn just how rude these questions are. Then you will finally appreciate the beautiful Champion Niall, who once had the pleasure of being courted by hundreds of the finest young n.”
“Well, I appreciate that even now,” I say, and I an it. I don't expect any of the Champions I et in the future to be anything like her.
It's better now, but at tis I still find myself wanting to dampen my emotions with [Focus], but that’s not on the table right now. Of course, I bla Cockroachsandra.
For now, I decide to silence myself. It’s been much the sa with most of the powerful people I’ve t. They don't tend to mind honest answers; they far prefer it over lying, fake behavior, or ass-kissing. But in the end, they are used to being in control, so asking too many questions or trying to lead the conversation will cause them to push back. It could co in the form of a slap, a burst of mana, or finding oneself splattered against the wall.
I'm quite proud of myself for this observation. For an extrovert class tutorial attendee like Tess or Gareth, it might be simple, but I, as with many things, tend to learn through suffering.
Niall pauses in her work and turns to , “I can still see that mischievous light in your eyes, and your mouth’s hanging open like a fish. I won't answer, but I'm curious, what questions would you ask if I were to allow it? Be honest; I promise not to punish you no matter what questions you ntion.”
I observe her for a mont, and she honestly seems to an it, so I decide to take her up on the invitation.
“What level are you? How old are you? How long did it take you to beco a Champion? What did you gain by becoming a Champion? What does being a Champion candidate entail? What traits do you have? How did you split your stats? What effect does the second stage of your attribute have? How high level is an Absolute? Why can’t there be more than one Absolute? How do you beco an Absolute? Being Absolute seems to be special, so what does it have to do with managing the planet? What does it an for a planet to awaken? Are you from the 1st Generation? What happened during your 1st Pairing and what does it an to win or lose a Pairing? Who referees the pairings? What happens to the losers of a Pairing? Why do planets have to fight if they're Pairing? Do they really have to fight? What have you learned about the Veil? Who caused your wound? At what levels do you get body strengthening? At what levels do you get primary class upgrades? What is your subclass? How do subclasses work? What are the differences between subclasses…”
“Enough, enough, enough.”
I shut my mouth imdiately.
“I know I said I would let it slide, but I really feel like…” she gestures, a swing with her arm. “Well, anyway, I'm done here. It's fairly simple; I’m going to activate the do, and it will stay up for five hours. I made it so it constantly disrupts the mana inside just like that woman wanted. It's not efficient, it’s more like we’re abusing the abundance of mana in our surroundings, so it should be easier for you to endure it.”
Well, now it makes sense that Lissandra couldn't do it. It uses too much mana on purpose, likely to mimic huge areas of effect, maybe even domains.
“There are three things the do will do. First, it disrupts mana like many domains. Second, it imitates the kind of pressure a weak Champion could generate. It's not concentrated pressure, and I weakened it a bit, but it should be enough to cause you so serious trouble. Lastly, and that's what that woman wanted, the longer you stay in there, the worse the disruption and pressure will beco. Five hours should be your limit after which it might be fatal.”
It looks like Niall misunderstood Lissandra. It's clear as day that this is a challenge for , to stay there as long as possible. The goal isn’t to escape within the next five hours like Niall seems to think.
“How do I get out?”
“You only need to touch the wall of the barrier, and it will disappear.”
“And that’s going to be easier to do at the start, before any pressure has a chance to build and it’s going to beco harder the longer I stay in?”
“Yes, the higher the pressure, the harder it is to reach the wall of the barrier. At so point, it becos quite deadly. Kind of fucked up, but you can guess whose idea it was.”
“Got it.”
“I’ll be back in five hours.” She waves, and then the do activates.
The do covers an area the size of a city block.
Before I have a chance to wonder why the domain had to be so big, sothing pushes at from all around. Creating a feeling of constant danger. My mana senses are gone, every bit of mana pours from my body, torn apart and reduced to the tiniest of particles. It even begins to affect the mana clinging to my skin, and weaving through my hair, leaving with what I have inside my body.
Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.
The pressure then starts increasing, along with the disrupting effects and the constant feeling of danger that’s begun to twist at my insides.
As a test, I channel mana into my surroundings, only for it to be destroyed all over again.
I walk for a bit and stop in the exact middle of the do. For now, I wait, observing the effects as my senses are distorted by the do.
I try to create a dagger while using [Resonance] to test different frequencies. The result looks terrible, and it's hard to maintain.
Niall said the field was ant to mimic the pressure generated by one of the weaker Champions. However, what she probably ant was the pressure of their unrestrained mana combined with so sort of domain.
She probably expected to react worse, but so far, it hasn’t been all that bad. It may have only been a mont, but it wasn’t long ago that I felt the pressure of Lissandra’s Avatar. And I still rember the 2nd floor quite vividly, even though it was almost a year ago.
So this is nothing. I have any number of ways of fighting its influence.
One hour passes.
The pressure increases, gradually approaching the levels Niall warned about.
I find it fascinating that they use sothing like this to train the warriors and mages before sending them off to face Champions and Absolutes. Just so they don’t panic when the ti cos.
Two hours pass, and I’m sitting in the middle of the do. Everything beyond the blue walls of mana is blurry, and the ground I’m sitting on is unnaturally smooth. Polished by Niall's mana to create a workable surface for her inscriptions. I examine them for a while, rembering so of the more interesting twists.
When I try to locate the power source, I fail to do so. For the next thirty minutes, I attempt to find it but to no avail. Even my eyes do not help.
[Resonance] levels up once as I struggle to keep the dagger from breaking down. At this point, it's just a short blade more reminiscent of a nail than any knife.
Another unrelated thought cos to my mind. Back then, I thought black mana was the second stage of the Potency mana upgrade. But as I’ve co to see Lissandra’s Avatar and sense Niall’s mana, I think I may have been wrong, perhaps my black mana is sothing else entirely.
Three hours pass, and my dagger flickers and finally disappears. At a high cost to my mana and concentration, I attempt to activate it again.
I repeat it over and over again.
A tiny bit of mana forms in the palm of my closed hand, which I open only to watch the resulting construct disintegrate.
But I refuse to stop.
Again.
And again.
[Resonance - lvl 47 > Resonance - lvl 48]
Then, a few minutes later, it becos impossible, and I feel that pressure amplifying around my body without reaching inside. Yet.
Six hours pass.
[Mana Domain - lvl 40 > Mana Domain - lvl 41]
[Mana Domain - lvl 41 > Mana Domain - lvl 42]
[Infusion - lvl 29 > Infusion - lvl 30]
[Perception - lvl 47 > Perception - lvl 48]
Seven hours pass
[Mana Domain - lvl 42 > Mana Domain - lvl 43]
Eight hours pass.
My domain is gone, and I'm unable to activate it at all, I can’t even push it a hair’s breadth from my skin. Not even with help from [Resonance]. The pressure at this point is strong enough that I'm sure if Niall hadn’t prevented it from being able to pass inside my body, it would be causing quite a bit of trouble.
I haven’t got a single wound to speak of, but I'm sure if I stay just a bit longer, sothing bad will happen.
I stand up and take a step, imdiately falling to my knees. When I push myself up, it happens again.
Amusingly enough, I catch myself being annoyed by my inability to find a cause. Is it another effect of the do? Any problem with the simulated domain? The strength of the mana disrupting effect? What? How? Why?
Finding myself unable to rise to my feet, I start crawling. Questions and frustrations flashing through my mind. It's funny.
It takes five minutes of crawling before I'm halfway to the do's wall and the pressure increases. The disrupting effect starts seeping through my skin, ignoring my Mantle.
Of course, it makes sense that soone at the level of Champion would be able to do that, but it once again reminds that there are still a lot of people more powerful than .
It’s only been a year since I started, so that’s no real surprise. I still have a long way to go.
But I will get there.
Thirty of crawling minutes later, I finally touch the wall, and in a blink, the do disappears. The sounds of nature around co rushing in, and I feel a soft wind on my skin. The pressure is gone, and I finally grab control of the mana raging inside my body.
I’m covered in dozens of wounds, small and large. Disrupting my control over the mana inside my body proved to be quite an effective attack. I have to constantly use Mana Cycling to keep it under control because of my stat imbalance. Having it run wild reminded of the good ol’ days.
Catching my breath, I lay on my back and send thermal energy from my core through my body.
I reach my hand towards the sky, and a drop of blood falls from a torn finger, landing on my cheek as I watch the wound close.
I hear a voice say, “You are one crazy motherfucker, aren’t you?” and recognize it as Niall, watching from her perch nearby.
“I dozed off in there; the pressure was too weak.”
“Cheeky little shit.” She snorts, sitting down on the grass next to .
“Did anyone tell you your language is kind of…”
“Many tis. They tried to beat it out of when I was younger. But it’s hard to do, and I still bla the five older brothers I grew up with.”
“Sounds like a good excuse. Can you give ten minutes? I should heal enough to walk by then.”
“Take half an hour.”
User Comments
0 comments from readers