Chapter 396 - Cinder (Patreon)

A day passes, and during that time no one said a word. The training didn’t stop even then.

I was forced to move under weaker Burden Enhancement Inscriptions. I fought the monsters attacking us on the way, the ever-strengthening Veil in the sky spewing more and more monsters around.

Veil Guardians are the norm at this point, something I even welcome as I can sell the voidsteel blades.

There is no rest for me, and instead of three hours of variety training, I fight more. My level grows once, slowly getting to that 250 level goal.

Mana shaping is something I do even during the fights.

All of this is a lot. Only a few days have passed since the start of my 14 days with my "master", but I already notice signs of exhaustion because of the lack of sleep and overtraining. I don’t mind it as it allows me to get my mind off useless stuff and gives me time to regain control over my emotions.

It’s also when I decide to use [Focus] for my emotions only rarely after this two weeks end. The overuse of the skill most likely being the reason for my subclass not leveling. Looking at it now, it’s so obvious.

Myrra gives me space to clear my mind, which I appreciate, and when we finally stop for a break, Lissandra stops in front of me.

“I expected you to attack me at least a few times, little pup. You know I promised to kill you only when you fail to follow the rules.”

“Well, you were wrong.”

She lowers her face, catching my gaze.

I return it.

Slow breath in. Breath out.

Good.

Now continue to calmly circulate your mana.

Good.

“Oh, so you plan to try it when you think you will have a better chance, little pup, you are…”

I open my mouth, and just as I had done a long ago with her descendant, an orb shoots from it right towards her eye.

Lissandra tilts her head in an amazing show of lightning-quick reflexes, and the orb grazes her cheek. Behind her, the orb explodes with kinetic energy and pushes her towards me.

I boost my movement with a lot of kinetic energy, and in my hand, a blade made of mana forms, while my other hand reaches towards the black dagger on her waist.

Then the world turns upside down. I feel a hit on my shoulder and in my belly and find myself down on my back.

An impulse to jump back and attack again is sent through my body, but I force it away and stay lying there.

Lissandra looks down at me, and I watch as she reaches her hand up, touching a wound on her cheek, a bit of blood staining the tips of her fingers.

“Little pup, your movements are terrible. Stand up and repeat after me.”

I do as I’m told, and she reactivates Burden Enhancement Inscriptions on me. It’s not at their full power, but enough to make it difficult for me to move. Then, slowly, she starts moving her body, slim muscles showing as she takes a stance and then slowly moves her hand in a punch.

Her body twists, feet burrowing into the ground as she does so.

The movement is short, and at its normal speed, it would be quick. It’s the kind of movement meant to sacrifice a bit of buildup in exchange for landing a quick attack. Something where you most likely add some skill to the mix. Moving kinetic energy through my body, I mimic that movement.

Even before I get to the end of it, I stop and start over again.

Lissandra steps closer, “Widen your feet a bit more. Focus more of your kinetic energy on your feet and send it from there through your entire body.”

Over and over again, I repeat that simple movement.

“The last part is the most important. A short punch during which you release all the buildup.”

And more.

“Again. Don’t consider it as learning this move to use it in combat. It’s to show you the ways you could move your body. We don’t have enough time for me to teach you proper martial arts.”

At some point, she increases the power of the inscriptions, and my movement slows even more and I’m forced to fight with my kinetic energy against them just to move.

The sweat makes my shirt stick to my skin, and it drips from my nose.

I catch myself gasping for air, and my mind focuses just on the next movement. The next burst of kinetic energy sent through my body to allow me to move.

When we stop, it’s dark outside.

Lissandra releases the inscriptions and leaves to the forest, where soon after and far in the distance, a huge piece of the nearby mountain disappears, and the stones start floating in the air. Mana envelops the area, and I recognize it right away. Veil Weaver, the monster with extreme mastery over telekinesis.

The Cockroach is probably somewhere around my level, I would say. The moment she used Hadwin’s arm to regrow, she had to start over, leveling up and all that stuff. Of course, she has the advantage of a shitload of knowledge, and at this point, I’m not sure if I want to know what level her skills are already.

Actually, I would love to know that.

That’s also why I don’t think Veil Weaver will be enough to end her.

Keeping part of my mind on the fight that ruins the landscape all around us, I think if I should use the option of my subclass and apply it to one of my skills.

Just like with the passive skill combination token, I hesitate. I think I will get more out of this training if I wait. I already have way too many things I need to work on, and experimenting with the effects of Pride on the skill would add to it even more.

One of the problems is obviously the system and its way of sharing information that is only revealed slowly, either over time or as I progress through the floors. 

As of now, I pretty much confirmed that the previous Initiate of Pride helped me with control over my mana, and that effect is stronger now.

I have a theory that it might even make it easier for me to gain certain skills like [Mana Crown] and [Mana Domain]. In addition, it might have influenced my primary class offers.

Or maybe it did not. The relationship between subclass and primary class is still unknown. The primary class offers more direct boosts like stats, passives, and even active skills—so far, the primary class is the only way to gain active skills other than learning them.

Subclass, on the other hand, is more indirect. It is something akin to a passive that influences all.

Looking at the new stuff it unlocked and my ability to now sense if someone is of Pride, I wonder if this part will allow more things in the future. What will happen when I reach Master of Pride? Will I have influence over people with the Pride subclass? Are Blights and Radiances separated like that into groups according to their subclasses and creating some sort of bonds?

More to think about and try to get out of Lissandra. Even though just thinking of her right now makes my blood boil. Yet it’s all useless. It’s too late for Niall, and me throwing yet another tantrum won’t help.

It’s so easy to forget that natives are just fakes, but at the same time, I might like it more that way. It makes all these floors feel more real, and it might be an intention of the system.

Soon after, Lissandra returns. The wounds she had as we left the Workshop are long gone, and in the fight with Veil Weaver, she didn’t get any new ones. If I remember correctly Hadwin used to have a weaker healing skill so that's most likely it.

“We will leave right away. The Veil will notice one of its stronger monsters missing.”

She seems to know a lot about it, either from Niall or from her own observations, and after exchanging a look with Myrra, we both follow her. The training continues even on the way, and it’s the two of us killing most of the monsters.

***

Three days later, my level went up by three. [Mana Manipulation] reached 49, and Crown leveled up once as well.

From the two weeks I can spend here and to fulfill Lissandra’s requirements, only eight days and a few hours remain.

In the past day, we went under the radar, avoiding any Veil monsters to not show our location by killing them, and the countryside we are passing by is void of them.

There are huge cities, empty and destroyed. Small rural villages as well, with massive craters nearby.

An extremely massive forest burned to ash, leaving a rocky plain behind.

Crushed mountains.

Rivers filling the craters that are the size of cities.

The destruction is all over, and some places are full of mana radiation. Places where Champions must have clashed, even hundreds of years later, signs of their skills and powers remain behind like scars.

We also pass by the place where an Absolute fought, something Lissandra points out and shows interest in.

There, inside one of the lakes, lies the skeleton of a monster. Something I fail to identify, only half of the skull and some rib-like bones pointing towards the sky.

Just these remains are as tall as the tallest skyscrapers on Earth. The bones are blindingly white, yet no flesh or organic material remains behind. There is no way something like that would happen just after 100 years. The flesh of powerful monsters is capable of lasting much longer. No, it looks like something ate that monster, either during the fight or after, leaving only bones behind.

The water in that lake is eerily still and impossibly clear, seemingly transparent. There are no monsters either.

We avoid that place as much as we can, making a huge half-circle around it. Lissandra orders us not to touch any water from that area.

A day later, we reach where we were headed. We pass over a hill with trees that have poisonous bark, something causing damage even to us, despite being over level 200.

“I never want to see that forest again,” Myrra hisses.

“Nice jinx.”

“Screw off, feral one.”

Looking down the hill, there is a huge cleared area, void of any trees and even boulders. It’s extremely smooth, the ground looking more like metal than dirt.

There is a single pyramid, and against its side rest the skeletal remains of a snake.

The problem is that the pyramid is huge, extremely huge, and the skeletal remains are as well. It’s difficult for me to even grasp the sheer size of these things.

“This is one of the Veil Ignition Stations. It worked as a converter, turning the power of the volcano underneath into mana. There was a Champion who made it possible with his trait and skill. He is long since dead, but the station still has impressive defensive mechanisms.”

Lissandra takes a step and heads down the hill towards the city.

“There are people,” I note.

“Yes, the defenses are set to attack any Veil creature that gets close, so people used to settle there, turning this device into a city.”

Device. Just that word almost makes me laugh. That thing is way too big to be called a simple device.

“From the information I got from that broken Champion, the city is lawless, full of gangs that fight with each other for the best spots and resources. Even now, they are still trying to break into some more important parts of the station.”

That piques my interest, and my inner loot goblin awakens. I’m quite good at inscriptions, am I not? I should be able get into some fancy places. Maybe I will be able to sell more interesting stuff. The Veil Ignition Station reselling arc 2.0 might be on the menu.

“And what do you want from there?” I ask Lissandra.

“You will see when we get there, little pup. And control your mana more, that orb over your shoulder is a disgrace considering how long you have been training with it already.”

I do as I’m told, and our steps continue to sound weirdly as we walk on the metal-like ground. They echo longer than they should, and the ground radiates a bit of heat.

As we get closer, the pyramid and the skeleton start looking even bigger. There is no one welcoming us, and when we are right in front of the pyramid, we stop for a moment.

“Veil Ignition Station no. 2, also called Cinder,” Lissandra says, and we head in.

***

Next Chapter