Chapter 283 - My disciple is the coolest (Patreon)

A few new side quests popped up:

Side quest: Find out what's happening in the Sanctuary

Reward: 1000 shards

Side quest: Help survivors

Reward: 1000 shards

Side quest: Find out the cause of high mana levels in the Valley

Reward: Mid-epic piece of equipment

Side quest: Reach the Bastion

Reward: Food and water supplies

Side quest: Reach level 250

Reward: Body upgrade

Congratulations, you have located the survivors! The moment you confirm, you will get your rewards - food and water supplies.

Godamnit, the amount of side quests I'm getting is quite something. The rewards also seem somehow nice. The best one obviously being the body upgrade for reaching level 250. Gimme, right now.

Looking at my level, which is currently 217, and with a disciple to take care of, I would be surprised if I was able to reach it during this floor, especially since the leveling speed slowed down. But hey, it's nice to have something to work toward too.

So, the question now is, will I head towards the Valley and Bastion, or stay here and finish some side quests in the area while leveling my disciple and helping survivors? I mean, the time seems to be limited, with only 2 weeks remaining. Suspiciously limited, so I wonder if there are really only 2 weeks left.

Having nothing to confirm or deny it, I can only wait and see.

Another problem is that in games, you often can leave the quest for later and return to do it after killing the last boss. But this isn't a game. What if I go to the Valley and Bastion and the survivors and Sanctuary get destroyed in the meantime?

The quests clearly say to find out what's happening there, and I don't think the objective would be to locate where all the cute little kittens are coming from or who is stealing all the socks.

“Minion, I'm annoyed,” I complain.

“Are we going back and kill them then?”

“What!? No!”

“I'm sorry master, I thought you were also annoyed by these people. Do you want to beat them up but keep them alive?”

Isn't this little half-demon a bit scary? I mean, she is cute, so even saying such a thing can be forgiven, but she doesn’t seem to be joking.

“Disciple,” I start seriously, “you can't kill people only because they are a bit annoying. In such a case, you would end up killing everyone.” As I share my wisdom, she looks at me, eyes wide open, and listens to my words like they're gospel.

“Even if they are very rude? Don't all strong people kill because of that?”

I hesitate for a moment, and she seems to notice that, but I quickly answer before she says something silly, “On a scale from 1 to 10, with 10 being super rude, they were only around a 2.”

“Really?”

“Yes, didn’t you think they were cute when they got scared or seemed like they wanted to fight?” I really mean it. I sensed no real threat from them, and there were no ill intentions towards me or anything. They just wanted to protect themselves and their friends and family.

All while not knowing my full power because of my skillful hiding of my mana. Damn, I’m still proud of that.

“I don’t know…” Vega says carefully.

“It’s fine to not know, you will learn. In the end, their primary objective wasn’t to hurt us or trick us; they just wanted to protect themselves. Don't trust them, but you can't be really annoyed at people for that as long as they don't hurt you or someone close to you.”

“I think I understand now, master!”

“Good! As expected of my minion!”

“I’m Vega, not minion.”

“Anyway, you are getting distracted and your detection slipped up four times during our conversation. Move your mana…”

***

Vega falls asleep, barely able to stand anymore. She is bleeding from her nose, her muscles are sore, and there is barely any mana left inside of her body.

Another round of harsh training is behind us.

It’s getting harder for me to force her into such training, but every time I push these feelings away.

My disciple is really similar to me and seems to understand the price of getting stronger and the worth of hard work. She pushes herself to the point of serious injury. However, I'm here, intervening by either disrupting her mana or infusing her with my own to strengthen her.

I’m doing it even now.

Lately, I have also started experimenting with changing my mana to more closely resemble hers. It’s all thanks to my Mana Wavelength Irises and [Resonance]. I know there are dozens of different, more destructive ways I could use [Resonance] for, but lately, I found myself experimenting with changing mana frequencies.

So, I did that with my own mana and tried to match it with Vega’s before I infused her body with it to alleviate some pain and keep her strengthened for quicker healing. It’s more difficult than expected, and I think there is something I’m missing even with my eyes, but it is a step forward.

Using [Resonance] this way feels weirdly rewarding and comfortable, and I think it's similar to Sophie's situation.

Sophie has a skill called [Manipulation], and it’s clearly one of the most powerful skills from group 4. It should allow her to manipulate mana, fire, water, stone, heck, maybe even manipulate time or Primordial energies at a higher level. Yet, Sophie confirmed to me before that she feels strongest while using it to manipulate monsters or other beings, such as humans. She is still capable of manipulating other stuff, but that is not where her skill is inclined to.

The same case is with me and my [Resonance], or the twins with [Connection] that should allow much more than just for people to communicate through the link they create.

Seeing that Vega is already better, I stop infusing her body and leave a few mana orbs near her, as well as an anchor, all just in case someone attacks. Then I move a bit further so sudden bursts of my mana won't kill her.

Once again, I create a small orb that I [Focus] and compress until it becomes pitch black, something even darker than the surrounding night in the forest where we camp under a tree.

As always, it fights against me, trying to dominate and absorb more of my mana, but I use inscriptions on my right arm to help me with the process and absorb it into my body. I control it, force it under my will, and activate the inscriptions. My trait activates, and I see that hidden and beautiful world full of mana. Because of the combination with [Focus], the world is black and white and quiet, and only mana shines in vibrant colors.

Then I create a dagger made out of [Regalia] and use black mana to power the skill to make the dagger even stronger.

For a moment, the dagger I hold starts compressing, changing, not into a black mana dagger that absorbs all the mana, no, it's into something else.

The next moment, the dagger explodes.

My right arm receives deep gouges, and pieces of the exploded dagger cut through the flesh and bone. The explosion strips skin and flesh from my arm, mangling it, and nearly tearing it off.

As I look at the piece of flesh and bone that is left of it, I wonder what happened. Was it too strong? It shouldn't be, right? I already made an orb and other stuff made of only black mana, so using it to power [Regalia] shouldn't cause that, right? It should only create a stronger version of it.

I send my mana into my heart, and it starts beating louder, working as a medium and turning my mana into thermal energy. That activates my passive, and a warm feeling fills my arm, slowly restoring it.

It will take at least a few hours to restore it, unfortunately.

Soft steps sound behind me, and knowing about them, I warn my disciple, “Don't come too close, you will get hurt.”

The amount of thermal energy I'm releasing is enough to burn her alive because of her still low level. Sure, I'm controlling it and trying to keep as much inside of my body as I can, but I'm not going to test it. The little half-demon nods and sits on the ground where she stands. Her eyes are on my mangled and bloodied remains of the right arm.

“Does it hurt?” she asks.

“Quite a bit,” I nod.

She then tests me, “Why are you doing it when it hurts?”

Cheeky little thing.

I still answer her honestly, “Both of us know why.”

“Master is as dumb as I am,” she nods profoundly.

“Look, there are better words to call it, maybe determined.”

“Dumb.”

“Or decisive, resolute, such stuff.”

“Master is also dumb. The same as me.”

Godamnit.

“Listen here, you little jerk. Aren't you getting too cheeky lately?”

“I do it only because master prefers it when I'm honest,” she says shamelessly. For a moment, I could swear a smug smile appeared on her face.

She is not wrong, but why am I getting bullied here?

I activate [Redistribution] and grab hold of her, not allowing her to move. “You seem to have healed a bit, so strengthen your body and escape my hold, or try to fight against it differently.”

On purpose, I don't use that much mana to make it even possible for her, “You can apologize for calling me dumb, and I will let you go, you dumbass minion.”

She tries to say something, but she can’t because my skill doesn’t allow her to do so.

“Oh sorry, I didn’t realize that,” I tease her, “Just blink three times quickly in a row, and I will let you go.” Then I continue healing my arm while examining the thermal energy doing so.

Vega doesn’t blink three times in a row, and by the time morning comes, she strengthens her body enough to escape my skill. Due to the pressure I'm putting on her, she cracks a few bones and bruises appear on her body, but even that doesn't stop her.

***

Noname (Hell, group 4) - My disciple is the coolest.

Izzy (Hell, group 4) - No! Seneca is the coolest!

Noname (Hell, group 4) - Nah, Vega would wipe the floor with your Seneca. She is cool as heck.

Knight (Hell, group 4) - My disciple is also really good! He is from a royal family or something, so I even have him teaching me some basic swordsmanship they drilled into him.

TheStrongestOne (Hell, group 4) - Noname, only one month left until the tournament! Are you also excited?

NotAaron (Hell, group 4) - Isn’t that a dumb question? I’m sure he’s already prepared to mess up Savant.

TheStrongestOne (Hell, group 4) - Oh, that's true. Savant and that other guy, Gareth, are probably super strong. But other than them, I will make sure to beat everyone! Well… maybe except Sset… and Grumpy…

Knight (Hell, group 4) - That's cheeky of you, boy. Are you sure you could even beat me? I got quite a bit stronger.

Maya starts teasing Min-Jae, and I already know it won't end nicely for the boy.

TheStrongestOne (Hell, group 4) - Ha! You have no chance! I can control my eye much better. I'm sorry, but you are going down.

NotDennis (Hell, group 4) - Damn, Knight, will you let him talk to you like that?

NotAaron (Hell, group 4) - Maybe she is scared of him.

Both of the twins try to add wood to the fire.

Knight (Hell, group 4) - And how would you defeat me, oh, TheStrongestOne? By staring at my cleavage when you think I'm not looking?

Min-Jae immediately stops responding.

Nice attack, Maya, calculating and knowing where it will hurt the shy boy the most.

Knight (Hell, group 4) - Now you will say something about community limit and leave.

TheStrongestOne (Hell, group 4) - I have to go, community limit!

The both messages get shown at the same time, the difference being just a split second.

Damn, that's brutal, I almost feel sorry for the boy.

NotDennis (Hell, group 4) - Brutal.

NotAaron (Hell, group 4) - Knight, please stop, he is already dead.

After that, there is no message from the young boy.

I turn off the Community and look at the massive pile of food and big leather bags filled with water. There is enough food and water to last a group of 10 people for months. It´s the reward for locating survivors.

With a sigh, I activate the transmitter, (Darren? Let's meet again, I have some stuff for you.)

It looks like I will have to find out what's happening with the Sanctuary first.

***

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