Chapter 389 - Dumb of you (Patreon)

“Again,” Lissandra says simply.

As before, I collect mana, and after concentrating, I send another burst through my arm. It takes even more damage than before, with tears appearing on it. This time, I feel my mind waver. Having to concentrate and expel so much mana is difficult.

Usually, when I do these kinds of things, I keep my body strengthened, lately even with black mana. My eyes help as well. Often, I don’t even care about the damage done to my body because of the heals I get afterward.

With a weakened body, the inscriptions making it even more difficult, it’s on another level.

“Little pup, want me to tell you what you did wrong?”

I'm already collecting mana for another burst and just nod.

“You were and you are too impatient. One of the worst things that happened to you was getting access to that black mana of yours. The problem isn’t being able to use it, the problem is that you cheated. You exploited the healing aura of that place and grasped how to create it.”

Another burst of mana I send through damages my hand even further, but I watch as the tears heal under the influence of my passive.

[Mana Manipulation - lvl 47 > Mana Manipulation - lvl 48]

“It’s dumb of you, very much so. Instead of honing your basics, you went ahead with your attempts to try to use what you call black mana. You even made sacrifices to do so, and I can see how hard you worked on it and modified your growth to allow you to use it.”

The fourth burst takes a bit of mana from my Mana Reservoir. The trees in front of me are non-existent, just a clearing devoid of any greenery, and huge chunks of the ground turned to dust.

“If you continue to grow that way, you will reach the rank of Champion, little pup. Just the sheer power of that mana will allow you to do so. You will even partially master it, and there won’t be a single mana user who wouldn’t be scared of you.”

I pause to give my body an opportunity to heal, especially my mind that feels as if someone put a red-hot metal rod in there.

“But?” I ask.

“But that’s it, little pup. Out of all of the Champions, you will become mid-pack. Extremely dangerous to some but weak against others. Some weaker Absolutes, barely deserving that title and going all in with mana, might even avoid fighting you, but for others, you will be an easy target. Why did you stop? Again.”

With a groan, I reach for more of my mana from the Reservoir. This time I even manage to damage bits of my body other than my arm as I move it. I put my mind into it, I grasp that mana, I mold it, I control it. The amount is higher than the entire mana of some people from Hell difficulty.

It roars through my arm, through my circuits there, and then explodes in a burst of oscillating mana, damaging the area even further.

I feel tired. It reminds me of a gym, an attempt at a one rep maximum lift, but instead of doing it once, I do it multiple times in a row, all while injuring myself.

“You said your goal is Absolute, maybe even the rank beyond. The probability of that is not something I will address again. But to even have a chance, you have to become a powerful Champion. The kind even Absolutes will think twice before messing with. Challenging you needs to be costly enough that even in the best scenario it is just not worth it.”

She doesn’t order it, but I collect my mana again. It’s so difficult; I don’t remember the last time I had so much trouble with it. The inscriptions she made are straight-up evil, requiring an insane amount of control and concentration from me.

It’s fun.

“Honestly, it’s annoying to watch, so I will beat these bad habits out of you.” She says.

“Lovely.” I reach to grab more of my mana.

“Stop,” she orders.

Something in me wants to do it anyway, but knowing her reaction, I just sigh and stop.

“Heal yourself. Your output and control are decent enough that you wouldn’t be considered a mana cripple, but your body is a disgrace. I understand your decision. I can’t say it isn’t stupid, but I understand.”

“It’s worked for me so far.”

“As you said, so far. But having to constantly strengthen your body or give attention to not have it torn apart takes away from the resources you could be using for your skills. That in the end makes your investment into mana useless. Honestly…”

Here we go again.

“...some court ladies used to have pets that were smarter than you.”

“Of course they did.”

“Tomorrow, I will give you something else. This time it will be something one of Keiron's disciples came up with. She called it the Restrictive Training Emblem. Out of all Champions, she did have one of the most powerful bodies while having one of the highest mana stats as well. It’s a shame she was such a musclehead.”

This sounds interesting. Training is fun, but eventually the time for variety training ends. Lissandra then activates the inscriptions she made before, and I fall to the ground on my belly, unable to move at all, forced to try to rely on kinetic energy.

Myrra stays nearby, working on her training while Lissandra goes wherever she goes when she leaves.

Unable to move, I can only attempt to act patiently and with all the grace I can muster endure Myrra's teasing.

As she pinches my butt and tickles me under the nose with her tail, I promise revenge in my mind.

She then, for the entire five hours, uses my back as a pillow under her head while keeping up her training as well.

***

The five hours of leveling ensue, and this time I'm also forced to deal with monsters. Lissandra tells me to use mana and mana projectiles only, and up to 20% of my total mana for the next five hours.

We meet many more monsters this time, hundreds of veilshriekers and even one Veil Guardian.

Each time a veil monster dies and sends a signal towards the Veil, Lissandra stops it. When I ask her what she thinks of the Veil, she tells me it’s decent.

That instantly makes me put the Veil at a higher level than I originally thought. Lissandra would call most of the Absolutes barely deserving the title and clueless beginners, so even this could be considered high praise.

I level up once as well, and [Resonance] gains one level.

So far, my body handles it well, and the lack of sleep and intense training aren’t showing that much. Even so, I'm sure it will get worse, much worse. My body might be strengthened, but I still require sleep, food, and water. I'm sure it’s something Lissandra wants to put me through. To push my body and mind to the limit.

Partially, I welcome it and take everything she teaches me like a sponge. I'm already thinking of ways to implement all of this in the future. The inscriptions she made, bits of knowledge she shares, and all the training methods.

I thought I might hate having someone teach me that way, and to be honest, if it was anyone else, I would probably protest much more.

Lissandra isn’t used to people rejecting her, and she never shows hesitation. Even when things do not go her way, she has trust in herself that she will turn it around.

Most of the time, she is quiet, doing her stuff, and when she interacts with me or Myrra, it feels like we are tiny snails she picks from the road and puts into the grass so cars do not hit them. In her long life, we are probably barely a blink, and I still remember the decisiveness she showed on the 2nd Floor. Killing everyone she knew without hesitation and then even turning her body into a construct, just out of pure spite towards the system and unwillingness to be used.

But even then, she planned ahead, an act of revenge and to survive.

Simply, she irritates me, but I clearly admire her and consider her someone I could learn from. Something I didn’t want to do for a long time and instead explored everything on my own.

“Can I ask you a question?” I ask her.

“Ask.”

Catching a breath after the fight and eating a piece of dried meat, I think of it seriously.

“Are you from the 1st Generation of your planet?”

“No, I was born years later, in the middle of our 1st Pairing. We were losing, and like everyone else, I’ve had to fight ever since I could hold a weapon and use mana.”

“Are there differences between the 1st Generation and later ones?”

“Obviously. The 1st Generation goes through the tutorial. They have access to the system shop and can be more intentional about their growth. They have tokens, they get offered more options to pick from to customize their growth. It’s not even comparable to people who didn't go through the tutorial.”

Even saying that she stands here. Not from the 1st Generation, but an Absolute of her planet for millennia. Partially it feels like a waste. Just how powerful would she be now if she was also of that generation?

She continues, likely knowing my next question, “The 1st Generation becomes protectors and teachers. First ones to awaken, future Champions, and among them, Absolute as well. They gain all this power earlier than anyone else to lead their planet through the changes that happen after its awakening.”

I partially expect the system to censor some of these words, but this amount of knowledge seems to be allowed to me at the moment. What Lissandra just said is mostly something we guessed already.

Getting used to her limits, I stop asking questions before she gets annoyed. There is still plenty of time left, enough to get more from her.

Seeing how she doesn’t mind answering these questions, I think she came to the decision the moment she said she wouldn’t kill me. That decision requires me to become stronger while she keeps a somewhat neutral relationship with me. She knows my personality and knows that if she does that, I won’t be able to just reject her in case she asks for something reasonable.

I don’t mind it; it seems like a win-win situation with neither side trusting the other too much but being useful to the other. What interests me is what she wants from me. She is probably getting help from some other Ruler, so how much can I help her?

There is also the option that she really is that bored, took a bit of a liking to me, and decided to teach me. As she said, she is very old and mentioned that beings like her often prefer experiencing interesting stuff over anything else, and I seem to have caught her interest.

Well, no complaining here. Cowardly Savant can screw off with Tristan; I’ve got an Absolute here giving me free lessons.

***

In the last remaining hour of my leveling-up phase of training, we move much faster. Lissandra allows more mana, and we run at a speed that makes the environment around us turn into a blur.

Even then, she requires me to use projectiles. It’s difficult to do, as I have to take into consideration my quick movement and the monsters who try to match it. I fail a lot, and my projectiles are way off, but closer to the end of that hour, I become much better at it.

We also reach a mountain, and even from as far away as we are, I can see the giant iron door covering the side of that mountain.

The road that leads there is damaged from explosions, full of craters, melted material, and broken-up stones and trees. It’s wide enough for multiple huge airplanes to pass side by side.

As we move closer, I realize how huge everything there is. The path, the door, and the mountain. Yet it all seems abandoned, not used for years. Covered in greenery and trees and plants growing in the places that used to be roads.

“They have a Champion inside. She’s hurt and weak.” That’s all Lissandra says as she starts heading there.

Even though her level is likely even lower than mine, she walks without any worry.

***

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