“So I know what happens when I fortify my core and my ranks revert from their skills and attributes. Any idea what happens when I lose an actual grade and my level cap reduces?” I asked, a little worried about that part of what had just happened.
“If we treat it similar to transcending, you likely have a week or so before the actual effects start to hit you. This may be entirely inaccurate, though, as transcendence further strengthens your core. In this case, you apparently cracked it open.” Elody’s answer did nothing to reassure of actually having that week.
“Alpha, go find l and bring him back here,” I said as I released the mallet from my storage. “Hopefully, he knows sothing. I’m debating whether I should go back to the simulator right now, or wait until I add the socket to Gamma.”
“I would think you should go back into the simulator right now and fortify your core again, then see if you can push even more of that fortified core energy into the next attempt. Imagine if you get a triple socket,” Karlinovo replied.
“Let’s wait for l. I don’t think it’s safe for Dave to fortify again until we examine his core. I’m worried the crack may have remained,” Elody cut in, putting a halt to my debate about making a simulation run while we waited for l. I’d rather avoid ripping a bigger crack in my core if the original still existed.
“Well, now we get the fun of debating what four mana orbs you want to add to your insane setup at least,” Karlinovo said. I had already realized that debate was coming, and when Pryte returned, we needed to discuss the death curse and potential ways to lift it as well.
“Ya did what?!” l yelled as he ca in through the back door, his color dark red. “Dave, I thought we were past ya doing near death shit!”
“Really, why?” I asked. Had I given that impression at so point?
“Well, maybe not done, but doing it without any kind of prep work at least!” he replied, his voice more a roar than it was words.
“Oh yeah, I guess. To be fair, this did seem like sothing I had done pretty safely multiple tis before. But to get to the point, any idea what it ans to crack your core, or for that matter, if mine is still cracked or not?” I asked, trying to derail his rage. I appreciated how much l cared about all of us, but we had issues to figure out at the mont.
“I ain’t ever heard of anyone cracking their core in any way that ant anything remotely good. There are so very powerful class builds that use it, but it’s basically suicide ta actually do it. It’ll give ya a huge quick boost ta yer power, but ya won’t survive it,” l explained, his color shifting as the tone of his voice turned from rage to concern.
“Okay, before we get ahead of ourselves, is my core actually still cracked? Because, as far as I can tell, it sealed itself again once it finished. I got a whole core fortification pop-up, and it just went backward instead,” I said, not sure that actually ant it was sealed.
“Hrm, well, yeah, ya don’t seem to be leaking core energy, so that’s good news. Not sure I like that this ans we are back in the experint with yer core phase of things again though,” l replied. I was pretty sure we had never stopped being in that phase, but I decided not to stress l out anymore than needed.
“Well, I guess that ans I’m off for a quick simulator run to see if I can get my core back to D, and then we can see what happens if I drop two core grades at once into Gamma,” I said with half a smile. I wasn’t thrilled at the idea of more experintation on myself, but as the problems continuously built, it did seem like getting stronger was one of the best ways to work towards their solution.
“Yer gonna have to run the simulations again imdiately after ya dump those core grades. I’m not sure it’s safe ta reduce yer level cap like that without a core pearl. How the hell this new skill of yers is gonna play with forming one of those, I have no clue,” l replied.
“I want to know what a core pearl is, and transcendence for that matter, not right this second. But that conversation is coming as soon as I have so ti for it. Now the question is, can I handle three core fortifications in a single day?” I asked, unsure.
With Corey acting as my second core, and an extre increase to my core mana production alongside the soul mana production, it seed possible. I quickly maxed out my new luck attribute just in case. I figured I’d need it anyway for my next attempt at an infusion.
“Yes, but the real question is, can you handle six? Since we don’t know how these negative fortifications work. The only way to find out is to try, I suppose.” Karlinovo shrugged as he spoke, and I was starting to realize I had sohow found soone less focused on personal safety than even I was.
I heard Elody say sothing in response, but my focus had shifted too much to catch the words. I had stood up and walked to the desk Pryte had added to the room. It likely needed to be moved to the dining hall, but for now, it housed the interface I needed. So while their conversation continued, trying to guess just what had happened to , I instead ran a dungeon simulation.
This novel's true ho is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.
It only took a single run at this point to push myself back up to the level cap needed for my fortification. While the drain on had been small, I knew from last ti that Corey had started to take a lot of it. I triggered the fortification, ran the simulation again to get my levels back where they needed to be before I opened my mouth to check on things.
“You doing alright, Corey? And did you three determine anything?” I asked, standing up from the chair and making my way back to the bench.
“I am fine so far,” Corey replied.
“Nothing,” Elody answered.
“Well, nothing of fact, but I do agree that this is probably one of the big secret things so of the powerful royals out there use ta keep their kids as powerhouses,” l answered.
“The only problem I see there is that I have to use a dungeon core to make this possible. How do they do it?” I asked, not that I disagreed with them. It made a lot of sense, but that ant there had to be another way.
“Who knows, could be so super specialized class,” Karlinovo answered. No one else seed to have a better answer, so I let it drop for now.
“Gamma, ready to join Beta?” I asked.
“Very much yes,” they replied, lowering their compass form onto the bench in front of .
Not wasting any ti, I imdiately went to work, the sa as I had on Beta. The only difference was that before I attempted the mana infusion, I put five ranks into Core Investnt. I was down to less than two hundred skill ranks available to spend. That was going to make unlocking much of the new mana orbs hard. I knew I’d hit that wall eventually, but I was sad to see it so soon.
This ti, when I triggered Mana Tinkering, I had a new option for Core Investnt. Selecting it, I was presented with a new screen.
Core InvestntNumber of Fortifications to Apply?
I attempted to select two, but was presented with an error ssage.
The current infusion point is not a high enough grade for that many Core Investnts.
Well damn, hadn’t expected that problem. I went back to the main crafting nu, and checked for a reinforced option for the compass, hoping I had one as I did the dancing mallet.
~\Crafting Blueprints\Dancing Mallet\Reinforced CompassRequirents: Dancing Compass, Mana Storage Matrix, Storage Space Linkage ExtenderThe Reinforced Compass utilizes the new components to create its own mana pool within the linked partner’s System storage. This will allow the socketed core to bolster mana-related actions perford from the tool itself.
So while I did have it, it had the sa requirents as the other newer tools did. That ant I could only empower Gamma as far as I had Beta. It was a mild disappointnt, but I suspected I could find a way to add more core fortified energy later. Moving back into the infusion nu, I applied the single fortification and kicked myself back down to an E grade again.
“Well, the good news is it worked again. The bad news is I need to strengthen the tools before I can invest more than a single reinforced core worth of energy,” I yelled, trying to overco the noise of Gamma’s celebration.
They had imdiately taken to the air, just as Beta did. Both of them were now flitting about the room, happily cheering each other on. It was sohow the most sane I had ever heard Beta. Their happiness was almost infectious, and it did a lot to lighten my worries about my new developnts.
“Still, just adding another four mana orbs to your setup is insane. That puts you at what? Ten?” Karlinovo asked.
“Eleven with Alpha,” I replied.
“What are you all doing in here? And why are Beta and Gamma singing?” Pryte asked as he entered the room. He wasn’t wrong to question the singing. Where the hell had they even managed to learn We Are the Champions?
“Oh, normal things. Just added even more mana sockets into my mana channels,” I replied, and watched Pryte’s eye go wide.
Chroniclers are, in theory, a public order, but that theory breaks down once you realize they have no offices, buildings, or even mailing addresses. There is no normal ans of communicating with them, and the only real public-facing acts they do are to appear and release a series of short, strange books every so often. Who they are, and what exactly they chronicle, seems to be a mystery. The few nas attached to the works have never been matched to known records of people within the Spiral. So are they hiding, or are they just operating as they normally would? I spent significant ti trying to track one such mber down just to learn that answer.
The woman I found called herself Belle. All she was willing to say on the topic of their group was that all things that exist only do so because they are observed. She vanished shortly after these words, leaving behind a note identifying herself as a Chronicler of the Unseen.
Orders, Both Secret and Public of the Spiral by Qquauqq
User Comments
0 comments from readers