Chapter 310 - So much to loot (Patreon)

I stare at the spot where the skyscraper-tall and bus-wide mana crystal used to be and then turn to my duplicate. “So it disappeared.”

“Yup,” he answers.

“It just disappeared while leaving behind traces as if someone used the skill called [Tether].”

“Yup,” he repeats.

Well, it looks like someone is cooking. Be it for our confrontation or something else. But it's not like I'm not doing the same, so I don't mind that much. No, actually I'm curious. Both of us think nearly the same, but as our environment affects us, we come up with different ways or think of different skills. Him being on a tight time limit also changes him in a way that is hard for me to imagine.

“Well, anyway, I want again to train with using black mana to power [Focus] and then activating the trait. It could help you too.” I say.

“We can do that for today. Tomorrow we should go to the bunker under Sleeping Noodle. My anchor is already weakening.”

“Yes. I need to deal with some stuff, but in one hour?”

“Okay.” He teleports, and I'm left alone looking at the empty spot.

With a snort, I teleport as well, appearing in one of the rooms that probably belonged to someone in a high position. The furniture is gone, and there is nothing interesting, but I like the colors and the way ornaments light the room when I send mana through.

“I want to pick my reward for the side quest,” I say.

Congratulations on completing the side quest! You can now pick one mid-epic item from the offered options.

Silentstep Tunic (Epic):

Crafted from the silk of a mythical spider, the tunic is as durable as it is light. It can easily be concealed under everyday clothing and offers protection against both physical and magical attacks. The tunic's unique fabric absorbs sound, making the wearer's movements silent and hard to detect.

Amulet of Whispering Winds (Epic):

This amulet holds a fragment of the eternal wind within its core. It allows the wearer to communicate with others across vast distances. By whispering into the amulet, the message is carried on the wind, reaching its intended recipient with a whisper only they can hear.

Mirage Bead (Epic):

This bead can be activated to cast an intricate illusion around the user, making them appear as someone else for a few hours. The illusion is complete with visual, auditory, and even tactile elements, making it incredibly difficult, yet possible to see through with enough skill. After use, the bead turns to sand.

Starfall Pebble (Epic):

A small, unassuming stone that holds a fragment of a fallen star's core. When thrown against a hard surface, it unleashes a devastating explosion of kinetic energy. The pebble is consumed in the process, making it a powerful but single-use weapon.

Heart of the Phoenix Emblem (Epic):

Directly over the heart, this emblem appears that can be unleashed to heal the wearer from the brink of death, engulfing them in flames that heal but do not burn. This power can be called upon three times, after which the emblem fades.

Titan's Backbone (Epic):

Inscribed along the spine, this tattoo grants the wearer the indomitable endurance of a titan, enabling them to withstand any attack without faltering. This titanic resilience is available three times.

There are some really nice options. I like the tunic, and it could increase my defenses, but who needs more defenses when I can kill my opponent quicker? Amulet of Whispering Winds? Why would I want to talk to people?

Mirage Bead is single-use, so the effect is probably really strong and capable of tricking even people of even higher level than me. Probably something the twins should be capable of in the future.

Pebble? I can make my own. Probably not as strong, but it's fine.

Then there is the emblem and tattoo, and I like both of them. Having the failsafe of the emblem that would heal my wounds from the brink of death would be reassuring. It could probably restore even bigger wounds and limbs.

But!

I like Titan's Backbone a bit more. It's simple. When activated, it should allow me to do whatever I want with black mana. Well, probably up to a limit. I still remember the black mana orb cracking an upper epic weapon on the 4th floor. But even that might be fine, as even though the tattoo is mid-epic, it has limited uses, so these uses might be stronger than the performance of an upper epic item.

It being mid-epic could be because of the limited amount of uses. Logically, right?

“I pick Titan's Backbone.”

Then I wait while I feel the burning sensation on my back. As always, when the system does something, I try to examine it, but as always, I'm not capable of doing so.

I can't feel any presence doing it. I can't sense where the mana doing it is coming from. It just happens. It's disturbing as always.

The timer says there are four days left until Vega comes back, and so far, she seems to be alive. There is no notification saying the opposite.

Stretching a bit and trying to examine the tattoo on my back, I stand up and head towards my duplicate. Mana compressed by [Focus] won't master itself on its own.

***

There are lines painted on mine and Clonthaniel's foreheads. A few more on our arms. We even made something we call a Focus crown.

It's more akin to wreaths, and one of each sits on our heads. The lovingly called Focus crown is made of thin, wire-like threads of conductive metals we melted and put multiple mana stones all over.

Being as ugly as it is, we don't mention it too often, but the inscriptions in there are something we put a lot of effort into, all of them designed to help deal with the aftereffects of using black mana to power [Focus]. Unfortunately, the "crowns" are upper rare at most, we are still unable to create epic items.

Our mana is topped up, Vortex Cores are full. The thermokinetic heart is strong and ready. I have a voidsteel slicer on my waist as well as a voidsteel rapier the Housekeeper gifted to me. Meanwhile, Clonthaniel has a voidsteel slicer only, such a loser.

None of us wear any armor. Something I didn't get used to even after I tried it and had opportunities to get good armors. I just don't like the feeling of restriction it puts on me, and it doesn't feel as versatile as my skills. That might be the reason why I get hurt so often, but that's for another day to think about.

No words are needed, and after my duplicate puts his hand on my shoulder, I let his [Tether] take us to the anchor while leaving multiple anchors behind.

We appear in darkness, but neither of us creates light. Instead defensive skills activate, and [Perception] scans the area.

There is no imminent danger, so both of us form a thermal orb that starts letting out gentle golden light that floats higher, lighting the cave we are in.

Holding weapons, we start walking towards the only way, a tunnel leading downward. As tends to be in such a place, it is extremely quiet, and only our steps resound. The air smells stale, and the walls are wet, with drops of water falling to the floor.

We do not rush, using a normal walking speed, and the tension I feel is something I enjoy.

As we go deeper, we pass through an iron door. The same type as the iron door leading to the bunker we are currently staying in. The door that was impossible for me to move or open. Yet there they are, mangled, crumpled, and torn apart at places. Thermal orbs light them, creating shadows that make them look even more ominous.

The tunnels we pass by become wider, the rock now replaced by walls made of smooth stone and iron. But even they are damaged. Craters made into the wall, melted pieces all around, missing chunks with extremely smooth edges. All sorts of types of damage are all over the place.

I change the setting on my Regulator and have more mana turned into strengthening my body through Reinforcement.

Soon, even the mana density starts increasing. The Valley is already full of extremely dense mana that we have to constantly defend against. Weaker people even die there just from that. Even so, it increases even more and forces me to strengthen my Mantle and put more of my attention to [Resonance] I'm using to deal with it.

The further we go, the more damaged the tunnels are. Fallen pieces of ceiling, torn off uneven chunks. An entire side of the wall melted and cooled down.

And the pressure increases even further.

Then we find a first corpse. It's extremely well-conserved. Either fresh or even more likely someone with a body powerful enough to look like that even after being dead for a hundred or so years.

We spend a bit of time examining it. We look at broken equipment, search pockets, and try to find a wound. But we don't find any. The man died just like that without any outer signs or inner ones we could find.

In the end, I touch it and send it through [Tether] back to the bunker.

A minute later, we find a group of other corpses. This time they all show signs of the passage of time, but their clothes seem like new. Each of the group of men and women are wearing beautiful robes and each of them with dozens of mana stones all over. Some of the mana stones are small like my pinkie fingernail, woven into clothes, creating some sort of defensive fields. Others are bigger in necklaces, bracelets, and earrings.

Every single one of the mana stones is densely inscribed and has some function, some of which I'm incapable of understanding.

One of the corpses, a woman, is wearing a bracelet with a big mana stone that seems to be something akin to a key. After a short discussion, we cut off the arm with the bracelet just in case the key needs DNA to activate, something akin to how the orbit base from the 4th floor listened to Myrra only.

Then we send all the corpses and items away through [Tether].

As the pressure keeps increasing, we are forced to combine our forces to create a field around us. We walk close to each other, Mana Wavelength Iris activating once in a while just for a fraction of a second. The ever-present mana makes the usage of eyes extremely painful even with our preparations.

The world I see with my trait is packed to the brim with mana that seems like mist with flowing waves all over that resonate and reflect from the wall. Tiny particles move all over, falling like snow and swirling at places like in a vortex.

Finally, more rooms start appearing, all of them with a door and most of them with markings that probably tell about their usage. Some of them even have panels that seem to be here for unlocking. We examine a few of them, and it takes us a while to find out how to use the key bracelet with the arm we cut off. The woman seemed to have a high position as it's able to unlock nearly all the doors.

Even after a hundred or so years, the doors move smoothly and quietly, and a hiss sounds as the air rushes in or out of the rooms.

There are facilities, most of them in a perfect state and still working. An enchanting facility that is better than what I saw until now. Full of tools and materials. Conductive metals like arcanadium, ingots of endurium, compressed pieces of voidsteel, and many more I don't even have an idea what they are for.

The enchanting facility is also full of half-finished items. Swords with imbued mana stones waiting to be inscribed. Spears made of endurium waiting to be sharpened in some mysterious process. Robes on tables with tens of mana stones ready to be connected into a working web of inscriptions. A crown from mysterious metal waiting for mana stones to be placed there.

Dozens of items, most of them of upper rare rarity even in such an unfinished state.

The system shop is willing to pay more for items we craft by ourselves. When you buy an item from the system shop and sell it back, you get 50%. If you get an item from the floor and sell it to the system, you get 10-20% of its value. But if you craft an item from materials you got on the floor, you get 50% of the item´s worth.

Looking at the sheer amount of items and materials, with some of them possibly to be made into epic-grade items, I can only imagine how many shards I should be capable of getting after using all of this. And this is only the start. The first better facility we found and there are probably many more, judging by the sheer size of the place.

So this is one of the bunkers of the Enchanter Guild, one of the places where the Veil was activated from, and with a core that used to be recharged by one of the Champions, even them willing to work for the Enchanter Guild.

We send some items and materials back to the bunker we came from and then place multiple anchors there.

Even after as short time we spent here, I feel my body's reserves dwindling, and I have already used some mana from the mana reservoir. It's shocking how much I need to use to defend against the pressure and how much mana it costs even with my stats.

“We have to return here as soon as possible,” my duplicate says.

And I can't help but agree as we teleport away to recharge our mana before we head there again.

There is so much to explore and gain.

***

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