Chapter 305 - No preparations, no surprise attacks (Patreon)

Clonthaniel is skilled, very much so. I watch the way he moves his mana through his body. He uses [Regalia] to create a core exactly in the middle of his chest behind the ribs.

Together we compress it, and it's easy. It's so damn easy. Unlike when I'm doing it alone and the orb threatens to turn into a shining orb about to explode or into a black mana orb, we can push it further.

He notices it as well, and without saying anything, he scratches the initial plan, and we create a bigger orb than planned and compress it even more.

The sheer amount of mana we gradually compress is enough to evaporate a city block or a smaller mountain, and we continue even beyond that. Both of us using our all to make it happen. He relies on me, and I rely on him, and both of us know that if something screws up we will disappear in a cool, but deadly explosion.

Then while I hold the orb stable, he starts working on pathways. He creates connections to his heart, redirects some circuits, and adds new ones. Our biggest inspirations for this construct are Mana Reservoir, the passive that stores three times my mana, Mana Cycling, a technique learned from the cockroach-like Absolute, and lastly, my experience with creating Thermokinetic Mana Heart.

So this new one better be juicy.

I let him know that I need help, and for a moment, he stops etching inside of his body and helps me keep the orb under control. Instead, I send my senses and, examining what he has done, I continue his work, connecting the pathways to the core, surrounding it with dozens of them that lead there from the heart.

Then I get a new idea and create a tiny orb in his chest where I inscribe the idea.

Understanding what I'm doing, he looks at the plans inscribed into the tiny orb, and he nods.

I let the orb with plans dissolve and use even that mana to create another web around the orb. This one will work similarly to Mana Overload Absorption passive. In case the orb overloads, it will take some of the energy from it and disperse it through the body instead of it exploding.

Carefully, we then connect it all to the Regulator.

Then we spend close to ten hours going through it all, over and over again. We make some small changes, we add some twists.

We notice a small mistake that would blow him away in our estimation a minute after activating the construct.

Such little things.

But what excites me most are all the possibilities. If this all works the way it should, it will open up so many options for the future, and this will end up being a tiny first step.

One mind not being enough, we then carefully awaken the construct, and when the mana fills all the pathways, I finally let go. It takes me a minute to calm down, not even realizing how much this took fromme.

Clonthaniel then turns around, “So far everything is fine.”

“Description?” I ask.

“You will see when you get it.”

“What a dick.”

“Yup.”

“Fuck, I want to punch you,” I tell him.

“Yes, yes,” he then stands up, and from the back, he takes two pieces of clean cloth.

Don't tell me he is…

He puts two pieces of cloth in front of him and me and some food to the sides.

“So while we rest before your construct, will you eat with me, Nathaniel?” Clonthaniel lowers his [Focus], and a creepy smile crawls on his face.

I appreciate the lame joke, but somehow this makes me want to punch him even more than if he said it without much emotion.

***

Another ten or so hours later, we finish creating a construct for my body, and I let the mana flow through until it activates.

A notification pops up.

Congratulations, you have created your fifth Construct. The name will be kept as such and will be shown in the status under active skills and over passive skills. Well done!

Vortex Core (construct)

The Vortex Core is useful for energy conservation, swirling Primordial Kinetic and Thermal energies within its confines. Ready to unleash these forces at the user's will. It remains dormant until needed, ensuring that the user has access to stored energies.

“Is it good?” I ask Clonthaniel, who is already practicing inscribing. He is on a bit of a time limit, so he is extremely motivated.

“Fucking good,” he says simply and then ignores me.

Well, I should have expected such an answer. I redirect part of my mana to my Thermokinetic heart and pick thermal energy that I start generating. The Thermokinetic heart, using the heart as a medium, transforms my mana into it. Then I easily store the bits of energy into the Vortex Core.

Even now, I think Mana Reservoir is my strongest passive. So, what would be better than something similar for my Primordial energies?

The Vortex Core will store them, and the vortex part of the name will swirl them inside, partially compressing them. The swirling itself also works similarly to Mana Cycling allowing it to store more or stop it from leaking. With some upgrades, it could be possible to make swirling more prominent and compress them more or even combine kinetic and thermal energy.

Later, I may even be able to add mana to the mix. I could do it even now, but I already rarely use all of my mana, so Primordial energies in larger quantities will be more useful. It will also skip the part where I keep having to sacrifice part of my [Focus] on keeping a thermal or kinetic orb nearby.

The question is, how much energy will the core be able to store? I don't expect it to be as strong as my epic passive and store an amount similar to three times my mana.

But damn, even half of that would be crazy good.

So there I sit, constantly sending thermal energy into the core. After some time, I change the setting on the regulator, and more of my mana starts working on it. I also generate kinetic energy, both of them sent in. There, kinetic and thermal energies swirl, but they do not mix. A golden color of thermal and a translucent color of kinetic one.

It stores the amount of energies I would expect and be extremely happy with. But then it continues. The orb we compressed and made bigger and of higher “quality” allowing it to do so.

When the failsafe we created activates and cuts off the energies flowing into the core, I examine the amount. Damn, isn't that enough to blow away a few buildings with ease?

Should I maybe try hunting the sleeping noodle? With so much…

“Yeah, sleeping noodle is a bad idea,” the clone says.

When I look at him, he continues, “I thought of it as well the moment I saw the amount of energy stored, and if you think about it, I'm currently 10 or so hours older when it comes to the new construct. So I have more experience. Maybe I should call you minion.”

“Maybe I should call you an asshole.”

“Anyway, I thought of it, and the snake is probably somewhere between 330-400. So, a bad idea. You just need to remember how the Guardian with a level under 300 fucked you up.”

“Us.”

“You. I'm barely 1 day old. A minor. So, grandpa Nathaniel, you should help me. I thought of it. Creating a perfect personality imprint is impossible. Both of us know how difficult it is as we could only leave that trash behind on the 4th floor. But maybe we will find something in this bunker. Later we can even try to check the Veil. But first, check the system shop to see if…”

“It's there, I already checked.”

“And?”

“You will see when you get it,” I repeat what he said when he got the construct and refused to tell me the description.

He just looks at me without saying anything.

“Fuck, the way you look at me creeps me out,” I say.

“Yes, yes, so?”

“There are arcane grade items and Passives.”

“Prices?”

“100,000 shards for an arcane item, 200,000 shards for an arcane passive.”

“Well, fuck, that's like 25 times the price of epic stuff. Epic items and passives are 20 times more than rare. So what? Rarity after arcane will be 30 times more than arcane? 3 million shards for items and 6 million for passives?”

“Most likely, but can you imagine an arcane Mana Reservoir?”

Clonthaniel closes his mouth, and I can see his gears spinning.

Yes, just how much mana would such a passive be able to store? It also makes me wonder if there is a limit to my epic Reservoir. Logically thinking, it shouldn't be able to go on forever, right? Tripling my mana, even if I'm of a much higher level than now, shouldn't be possible for a passive of a grade that will be maybe useless to me then.

“I will be going to deal with the Veil Guardian, and when I return back, we can either examine this place or go to the Bastion.”

“Sure,” he agrees too easily.

The same as me, he also remembers the Guardian, but the moment he became my duplicate, the moment he has a time limit before disappearing, his priorities changed. He currently wants different things than I do. I want to finish the quests, improve my skills, deal with some enemies while also working with him on some other stuff. His goals are to come up with a way to survive, and damn, I'm sure he hates me; I'm sure I would hate being in such a situation.

Given an opportunity, and if he could gain something from it, I'm sure he would kill me, and he will try to do so the moment he judges he can't survive. I'm also sure he is already working on his plans. But I'm the same.

As more time passes, the more different he will become from me. It's simple logic, really. Everyone changes according to their environment.

But at the same time, it feels comfortable. I do not need to hide anything as he knows everything about me, and I know about him. Both of us can lower our [Focus], and it doesn't even feel unnerving. It's a fascinating experience.

I give him one last look, him sitting in the dark room and working on some inscriptions with a mana stone.

Then I take the Voidsteel slicer and, boosting my body, exit the bunker, hiding the entrance behind me. I boost myself in the air and burn the flying enemies that attack me and fly out of the Valley.

The moment I pass through the mist-like barrier, the constant pressure on my mana disappears. It feels as if the weights from my body disappeared, and my mana moves quickly again. It's extremely refreshing.

Pushing myself high in the air, I reach into the core and use kinetic energy to move myself towards the city where I fought the guardian. Without Vega, the flight is much shorter; the country under me nearly blurs.

Holding the Voidsteel slicer in my hand and all that mana and energies inside my body, I land on the road between multiple skyscraper-like buildings.

Two javelins over my shoulders keep compressing and becoming heavier while I search for the monster.

It doesn't take long, barely an hour, and I locate the Veil Guardian. The monster is there, not noticing me yet. He moves, searching for something. His right arm is still missing, and not restored. His face is messed up, one eye blinded. Yet even with all these wounds, the monster moves confidently. Each step is that of a hunter, a predator.

I let my [Focus] weaken even further and let all those emotions flow inside me.

My hand holding the blade shakes, and my breaths are quick, panicked ones.

I feel fear.

I still remember the monster biting into my leg in an attempt to eat me alive similar to what it did to humans from before. I remember the quiet hours I lay there under the rubble, my body broken and bleeding out. Hoping the monster is gone, but scared to heal myself to not summon it back.

All of this is here, but there is also an anger that surfaces as well. A pride and deep hate at the monster that stepped on it. Even knowing that I should activate it again, I keep [Focus] down.

The longer I look at the monster, the more my plans change. Then, something inside me snaps, and I shoot the javelins. Not towards the guardian, but to the opposite side.

I let all mana I was collecting seep into the area, and all of the kinetic and thermal energy my core holds, I grab and release behind me.

A shockwave tears off pieces of the road, hits the buildings, destroying them, and sends them flying as if caught in a hurricane. After that, all the stored thermal energy explodes there as well, meeting the structures and road. The air heated up and flickering as golden flames blaze around.

The monster obviously notices that and turns to me. It doesn't rush as before, but the gaze in its single red eye is the same. Deep hatred and anger towards me.

With my stored mana and energies gone, there is only one thing remaining.

I redirect a thin thread of kinetic energy towards my face and explode it in front of my eye, blinding it.

The monster takes a step towards me, and I take a step towards it.

Then I put the blade into my left hand and cut off my right arm at the shoulder. I watch the blood spurt out and the cut-off limb fall on the ground. As it lies there in the middle of the road, I just chuckle. Somehow it feels funny.

A burst of kinetic energy explodes from me, turning my cut-off arm into nothing.

My next step is much more confident and lighter. A smile crawls onto my face.

It feels so right. No hiding behind the skill, no emotions pushed away. Just me and all the fear I feel overwritten by other emotions instead of being pushed to the back. There is me and the monster. No preparations, no surprise attacks, no stored mana or energies. The same amount of limbs, the same amount of eyes.

The Guardian opposite of me slows its steps, a hesitation in its movement until it stops.

I charge first, blood dripping from my destroyed eye and stumped arm. No mana leaves my body. Voidsteel blades meet, and I absorb the kinetic energy of the impact and don't get moved by it at all.

That energy flows into my body, strengthening me even further as I move to the blind side where the guardian is missing an eye. A small advantage because of all the senses besidessight, but even that little helps.

The guardian moves faster than me, and our blades meet multiple times, always me barely blocking it.

There is fear, filling me each time the monster moves, and as I feel gravity increasing my weight, trying to push me down.

Each attack is easier to block than the one from before, even though I'm getting slower and the monster moves quicker. I read its movements, I sync with its rhythm, and I absorb all the impact.

The swings of the guardian make a terrifying noise reverberate through the air while I move slower, accepting the hits with the blade I hold. There is blood on my hand as I'm squeezing the raw metal of where the handle should be.

As the fight draws longer, I get used to the attacks more and read the monster´s moves. Using kinetic energy in bursts to make my body quicker becomes easier, and I'm finally able to disrupt the gravity magic attempting to slow me down.

I become quicker, I dodge attacks, and I start pushing the guardian.

And with it comes disappointment. The monster is clearly weakened from before. Its body is wounded, and slower, and even its skills are weaker. A still terrifying enemy, yet lacking.

The swing of my blade cuts off one of the monster's legs, and I dodge to the side as its swing destroys the building behind me.

I want to fight more, I want to feel this fear and all these feelings. This rage and excitement. But this weakened monster in front of me isn't capable of satisfying that emotions.

My passives resist the pressure I put on my body, and I move quicker, the slash sending the guardian's head flying.

[You have defeated Veil Guardian - lvl 289]

[Lvl 222 > Lvl 224]

I disrupt the signal that is sent from the body and towards the Veil.

Not yet.

Then I look down at the corpse. I expected satisfying revenge, yet I found only a broken toy. But not all is lost. There is one enemy that will test me, that will get the best out of me before this floor ends. An opponent that I'm absolutely sure is much more terrifying than the one I just killed.

The one that is waiting for me in the bunker in the Valley.

After grabbing the monster's arm with the blade I lift off and, while flying, let my passive finally heal my wounds. [Focus] snaps back into place, and my head clears off when I reach the Valley.

I pass through the mist wall, and the immense pressure of mana welcomes me as before. Then I freeze.

The Gaiathra, a giant sleeping Calamity with a snake body and six legs, has moved. The calamity still sleeps, but now its body is shifted.

But the most impressive is the miles upon miles of the destroyed forest, obliterated, leveled to the ground without anything left standing. Even a few hills and the mountain nearby are gone.

Clonthaniel? What did you do while I was gone?

***

Next Chapter