“Oh god, why does everything hurt?!” I scread. Wait, had I managed to form actual words? My head was finally clearing, and while the pain was still there, it was no longer coming in new horrible waves. I thought that the pain might actually be decreasing slowly, but it already felt a little less intense than when I had scread out.
“Dave, you’re doing great. I think we’re through the worst part. Just hold on in there.” Was that Elody’s voice? I tried to respond, but it seed my scream of pain was the only thing I could manage at the mont. I was still thinking, though, and while my vision was blurry, there were shapes in front of it. I thought I could make out everyone, all still alive. Had we done it then?
I felt the new presence in my chest, where I had pushed the energy from my soul. We had done it, there was a new growing core there. It was hard to explain how I knew it, but this knowledge ca to intrinsically. The vague concept of a soul that had been growing within since I’d started gaining experience had turned into a burning inner world that pulsated with life as it exchanged energy with my core. The flow went in both directions. My core transford my native soul energy into the mana I would need to power my magic and other abilities. While most of it was sent out testing my newly developed mana channels, so of it was sent back to my soul, further reinforcing it.
This must have been how people were able to break through the level twenty barrier. It wasn’t just the new soul-mana reactor they created but the slow reinforcent of the existing soul itself. Both grew stronger together, pushing the person onward beyond what one alone could ever do. Was there a hard limit to how far even these two pieces could push , or was the sky the limit? I wasn’t sure that was the best taphor anymore, considering my circumstances, and I realized my brain was willing to judge my own train of thought again. That was a good sign for my long-term recovery.
Okay, I needed to stop musing about my own brain and focus more on the changes. I could feel my soul and my core and the energy going between them; that was great, but could I feel the new orb sockets? I tried to move one of my switches, and yes, there was sothing there. It felt empty, was that right? Weren’t the brothers supposed to be setting up my circuitry? As I started to run down the ideas of what had gone wrong, the simple, obvious answer hit . I needed to actually take the orbs into my sockets. They couldn’t force that without my soul agreeing. So right now, everyone was watching my body convulse in pain, hoping they would see the orbs disappear, and I needed to validate that hope.
I pushed my perception harder into the cold emptiness of the socket and grasped sothing sitting above. I felt a clicking sensation in the socket and I seed to register a feeling similar to a limb now in that socket. The socket now contained the unrealized potential of a Life orb, and I was sure of that much. I probed the sensations the orb was giving out and found pathways of growth within it. There were different ways that I could push it as it developed, and that would further unlock more branches and forked pathways, but while I could feel the map’s existence, I couldn’t see any of the destinations other than a single starting point with five pathways off of it. I focused harder on it, causing a ssage box to pop into my mind.
Mana Orb
Life
Tier
1
Orb Rank
Skill
Inner Vitality
Inner Vitality allows the host to understand the functions within themselves beyond what they are normally capable of. Further growth and developnt will allow for synergistic applications with the host’s senses to build a detailed understanding of everything within themselves.
Skill Rank
As much as I wanted to try to use the Life orb, I knew that rushing anything at the mont was the wrong move. I had five more of these orbs I needed to attempt to place into their sockets. I flipped the switch and the feeling of access to that socket vanished; glad that function was working as intended, I flipped on the next one and pulled the orb sitting above the socket into its new ho. I was greeted by another System ssage.
Mana Orb
Body-Enhancing
Tier
1
Orb Rank0SkillSoul-Core Bonding
Soul-Core Bonding reinforces and further strengthens the bond between the host's soul and core, allowing for future growth paths for all features of the host. Further ranks increase core energy regeneration speed.
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Skill Rank
That was interesting, and as much as I had already decided to focus on the Life orb, I was glad that I had more options now. I moved on to the next orb, only to realize it was another of the sa above. I wondered if similar mana skills would stack or not. This hadn’t been covered by the scant bits of information I had found about those with multiple sockets, as the users seed to prefer different types of orbs. Pushing those thoughts aside for later practice, and with both my second and third sockets filled by the body-enhancing orbs, I switched over to the fourth socket.
Mana Orb
Elental
Tier
1
Orb Rank
Skill
Fundantal Forces
From the small to the large, all manners of interaction are made from minute changes that grow into sothing well beyond themselves. Fundantal Forces allow a host to connect with these changes and understand how to direct them. Further growth creates a synergistic effect with ntal attributes for a more detailed understanding.
Skill Rank
There had been two of these elental orbs as well. Did Fundantal Forces an things like elentary particles and the forces that governed them, or was this a more magically intended aning for creating cold snaps and lightning storms? There was always more to learn. I toggled the switches again, moving to the final orb.
Mana Orb
Imbuing
Tier
1
Orb Rank
Skill
Core Projection
Through Core Projection, the host is able to direct their core energies into objects, giving them different effects as the host needs. Further growth allows for more core energy to be imbued.
Skill Rank
That confird my thoughts on how Cecile had been able to change his hoe. How far was I able to push sothing like that? So part of had considered the implications of further testing this in the future, and the idea of imbuing the parts of the circuits before I added them into the system seed like a good way to make it safer. That had mostly been a distant, idle thought. Once I returned to Earth and found a way to defeat the orcs, I wasn’t even sure I wanted to continue on any of this.
With the success of the core creation, other thoughts ca through the floodgates, things I had ignored as irrelevant unless I could even finish these steps. How long could Sanquar keep ti frozen? Would I return to a world even worse than I left it? Entirely subjugated to the orcs? I hoped I wouldn’t, but even then, what happened once the planet was free? There was no way everything would remain the sa.
I forced myself to put those worries on the backburner yet again. I still needed to examine my core. I could feel the energy flow into my body decreasing, and with my sockets now firmly in place and full, the core should be able to handle what little was left. What I wanted to know was the potential for an affinity. The brothers had gained one. Had I?
I focused my will on my newly created core, trying to get a read on it. Just as I hoped, a ssage box swam into my inner eye just as it had with the mana orbs.
CoreGradeFAffinityEngineeringRankS
Well, the core grade was terrible, but it had an S-ranked affinity. I didn’t even know that was sothing that was ranked. I would need to talk to the others about this. Considering the brothers’ core grades, I’d hoped for sothing a bit higher. Was it possibly, due to the way I had to create it that there just wasn’t enough energy for anything higher? It was possible, of course, to increase the grade of the core. I knew that much, but I also knew it was a long, arduous task, and the specifics seed to be different for every person. From what I had read, it boiled down to becoming a better you and pushing yourself as far as you can go.
I blinked my eyes open again. This ti, the room ca back into view. While things were still blurry, that was likely just an effect of not wearing my glasses. I should see about boosting my attributes to get past the need; then again I had been wearing them most of my life. Could I imbue them to make them more useful? The possibilities had beco endless. The ticking clock that I had felt ever since this ss started had grown sowhat distant, and a little joy was flooding in. For the first ti, I started to feel like it was possible to save my family and the planet.
How many levels could I gain in the ti we had left here? Were the brothers ready to help push myself even further?
Is there any mana orb more varied than the elental orb? Perhaps possibly the matter orb, but the rarity of those makes focusing on writing about them considerably difficult. The mana orb, from nearly the start, has six different possible focuses that grow even more unique as the ranks of the orb increase. The rumors of just what can be controlled at the highest levels should scare anyone facing off against such a host.
The Many Facets of Elental Mana Orbs by Henjen Klank
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