Chapter 392 - Surprisingly human (Patreon)

Champion Niall looks surprisingly healthy. Lissandra said she has a few years until in one of her seizures her mana kills everyone in the Workshop. All caused by a damaged mana heart.

There is no sign of that at all. Her steps are energetic, her voice is strong, and her mind is sharp.

I do not use my senses too much as I do not know if it would insult her. She is a Champion even though weakened because of her condition.

What I wonder about is how much is she weakened? Is it just a tiny bit or does it weaken her by half? My theory is that because of her damaged heart, she has to constantly control her mana. For someone of her level, it should be easy enough, but I don't know all of it. It won't be that simple, I'm sure.

Another thing is that my theory about levels is almost confirmed. 450-600 is most likely where Champions start.

As for Absolutes, I didn't see any question marks over Lissandra on the second floor, so I guess it's impossible to see anything. The question is if there are another 150 levels between Absolutes and Champions or if Absolutes are somewhere 600-750 level.

“She called you little pup, is that some sort of sexual play you guys have?” Niall asks right away.

What?

Seeing my expression, she giggles, “That bitc… that woman, I bet she is that type.”

“I might get killed if I react to this.”

“You are no fun,” Niall sighs. “But I can't blame you. Even I have trouble reading her. I think I would be able to splat her against the wall, but something very strongly warns me not to do it. The last time I felt that way was before Tassian became Absolute. That little shit was scary even as a Champion. Did you know I used to bully him when he was much younger? Who knew that little jerk would grow up that much.”

Niall is very talkative as she spews anything that comes to her mind.

“I met someone called Nevan not that long ago.” I interrupt her, thinking she might know him.

As expected, she doesn't seem to mind it that much and swaps the subject, “Oh, the Alloysmith. So you found Veil Ignition Station nr. 4. Did he survive?”

“I knew him only for a bit; he died because of mana radiation.”

Her eyes stay on me for a moment and then she continues walking and I follow her.

“It's good you are not lying. I kind of liked the guy and if you were the one who killed him, I would get mad.” Just for a faint moment, I can sense her mana and it is unsettling.

Well, it's not to the level of the end of the world scary, but even wounded she is surely capable of great things.

“You are at the second stage of mana Potency upgrade?” I ask.

That makes her pause just for a moment, “You cheeky little thing. Do you even know how rude it is to ask something like that?”

“I do not know.”

“That scary bitc… your companion didn't teach you anything?”

I look around just to be sure and then lower my voice, “Her image of teaching is throwing me into tunnels full of monsters and miles below the surface.”

“You know you don't have to whisper. Even though I can't see through her, I'm quite sure I'm stronger than her. Probably. Maybe. Who knows. For real, I fucking miss Tassian, he was always the smarter one.”

“How come he…” I shut my mouth.

The air around us changes, heavy with her mana, which feels extremely threatening.

Niall smiles when I stop mid-question. Her mana that was about to tear me apart slowly flows back inside of her body.

How come he got tricked and the Veil got overtaken by a trapped divine beast? That's what I wanted to ask.

As if nothing happened, Champion Niall takes another step and I follow her. My heart is beating wildly in my chest.

“I have promised to give you a short lesson.” She pauses. “Maybe I shouldn't call it a lesson. That woman asked me to stop just before it kills you. She said some wounds are fine.”

“Is there any value in that?” I ask.

“You, my careless young man with pretty eyes, are the type who learns best while experiencing things on your own skin. Your companion said that it's best to beat the knowledge and experience into you. I consider it extremely fascinating because you are clearly a mana user. I knew people who learned best that way, but most of them were brawler kind of guys. Fucking psychopaths.”

“Isn't it logical? You get a better feel for the skills and other stuff if you experience them directly.”

“Damn, you really are one of them. They used the same excuse and kept giggling while having their bodies mangled and limbs torn off,” she sighs.

I decide to ignore this kind of insult. This young-looking Champion is surprisingly chatty and… human? Is that the right word to use?

“What are you thinking of?” She notices me looking at her and asks.

It doesn't feel threatening so I answer, “You are a Champion so I expected you to be more… well, different.”

“Ah, am I the first Champion you are interacting with, is that it?”

“Yes.”

She pauses for a moment, stops walking, and stands surrounded by trees. As the light falls on her, she reflects.

“I think I would be different if you met me around 150 years ago. Back then I probably wouldn't even talk with you, but losing the war and having to cower like a rat in the tunnels changes a person a bit.”

To avoid saying anything that would trigger her, I stay quiet. Niall notices that.

“I take that back. I think I would talk to you. I can see that fire in your eyes. Even now it feels like you are looking down at me. Not directly, but as if everything I am, all my powers are nothing and you aim for more, much more. Did anyone tell you that you have a handsome but extremely punchable face?”

“I hear that a lot.”

Her mana seeps into the air just a little bit and I can hear her heart beating. The rhythm is uneven, feeling broken. Then I realize that her heart is destroyed. Dozens of pieces of it kept together by her will and probably by inscriptions or a different way I can't sense right now.

Even now she has to use a big part of her concentration to keep it working. At all times.

Why doesn't she come up with a different way? Lissandra is fine without a mana heart. How come she can't fix it? She is a Champion, her knowledge should be immense. Why doesn't she use the heart of someone else? Why is she not looking for a healer or other way to have it fixed?

Why…

“I know what you are thinking of. To say it simply, how come that bitch can't fix her own mana heart?”

She expects an answer, a reaction from me. An answer. And a slip-up can lead to my death. Even so, I also grab my mana. I let it seep into my body. My heart thumps wildly as I face her. Like a candle against a forest fire.

“Something like that,” I say.

In reaction to moving my mana, what she must have sensed rouses her mana up as well. Despite being wounded, hers is still the mana of a Champion.

“Let me show you then.”

Her mana surrounds me, creating a sphere within which her mana feels dense, almost tangible. Through that area I can sense her mana heart. Broken, yet still very powerful.

With each beat it sends more mana through the sphere, but still limited to not kill me. And I can sense the ever-changing frequency and rhythm of her heartbeat. Together with it, I can feel how difficult it is to keep it in one piece.

Then there is something else, a piece of something I can't identify. A piece of some metal, a tiny mana stone, or a projectile of a powerful weapon. From that piece, horrifying mana seeps out constantly in a clear attempt to kill the person it is lodged inside. The only thing keeping defense against that thing is the heart around it.

“You used your heart to trap that thing to stop it from killing you.”

“At least you aren't stupid.” Her mana disappears as if it was never here. “I don't know what kind of bullshit they used but the thing is clearly meant to be effective even against someone at the level of Absolute. The moment I try to move it out of my heart where I block it with my mana I will get killed before I realize it. Fucking great, isn't it?”

“Won't it lose its power? It's probably already over 100 years.”

“It's already weaker than before. At this point, it's about who can last longer, and in another ten to a hundred years it should weaken enough for me to remove it. The question is if I can hold on for that long. That creepy woman told me she could show me ways to fight against it. Would you believe that? The bitch with a level even lower than yours called me stupid for being unable to remove it and compared me to goddamn pets some court ladies used to have.”

I can totally imagine that.

“We are at the place?” I ask as Niall stops walking.

“Yes,” Niall lifts her hand and her mana floods into the air. Then it presses from the sky like a giant hand.

The trees, the smaller hill nearby, all the flowers and boulders. All of it crumples as the mana compresses it all to the ground. A cracking of snapped trees and shattering boulders fills the air. Niall pushes even further and her mana oscillates a bit until the area the size of a street is cleared of everything. A perfect circle is created where the ground itself seems like polished stone.

She doesn't stop there and her mana oscillates again, carving into the surface, creating a circle with more inscriptions inside.

“This is something we used to do for our warriors. A rite of passage is something you can call it. I'm sure it's something other planets have as well. We did it for the people for whom there was a chance they would face a Champion or Absolute.”

Not even for a moment do I stop examining what she does, and even though I feel that annoying feeling of nervousness, I am also fascinated by the work. The way this woman moves her mana is so different from Lissandra, yet she is also powerful and clearly extremely skilled.

“Did it help them to face Champions or Absolutes?”

“Not really, and if it was up to me, I would probably replace it with something more modern. But the traditionalists loved it. You know the types: 'When I was a young lad, we did this and that.' It's not that bad, but terribly barbaric.”

“What's the intention behind it?”

“To make it so you don't piss your pants the moment you enter an Absolute's domain and by having you experience something distantly similar. But the one I'm making is modified in a way that woman asked. At first, I didn't understand what she wanted me to do and she had to simplify it.” There Niall pauses and shakes her head before she continues, “You chose mana Amplification as your upgrade, right?”

“Yes, 1st stage, Vast Mana currently.”

“Your companion and I are Mana Potency. Both have advantages and disadvantages. One of the biggest disadvantages for Amplifiers is that their mana is of lower quality if you want to call it that way. That means it's easier for your enemy to control or disrupt it, even without the skills. I sense you did something that makes it difficult for people to grasp mana inside your body but it doesn't affect mana outside of it.”

Great, another thing to work on fixing. It's something I have planned to do anyway, but of course, the cockroach noticed it right away. Well, I better try hard to not let these opportunities go to waste. It's like she is offering them to me on a golden platter.

“That makes a lot of sense. So is there a common way to stop it from happening?” I ask.

“Not really. Most of the time Amplifiers brute force it through higher level skills or some other ways. But you have a few interesting skills that could help you, according to that woman, so I will make you experience it. The rest will be up to you.”

***

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