8 Living Mana

Another mind crawls towards mine, feeble and fleeting. Jerking my hands back, I grip my palm that touched the mana. This thing was...alive.

The golem crashed through the field of mana before slamming his hands at me. I sidestep, bits of stone tapping my skin. I charge forward and smash a blow into his thigh boulder. A powder dusts from my fist, but no damage is done. The golem slams his fist into my shoulder.

I fly backwards, bruises forming as I land. The golem pulls boulders from its body, making its arms enormous. Like swinging whips, the earthen thrall slams fist after fist towards me. I dodge several strikes, but the attack never ceases. Two or three blows skim me before the golem turns a full circle.

Its arm drags behind it before colliding with me. A deafening echo ushers from my shoulder as I slid my feet from where I stood. I don't fall over. I stay standing after the blow, pieces of stone falling from my shoulder, face and hand.

"Is that all you've got?"

The golem rears back and lobs another heavy strike, but I dart forward. The golem's arm smashes the rock beneath us before I press my heels into the ground. I plant my feet. I clasp my hands, turning them into clubs. I torque in a circle and clobber my fist into the golem's side.

My bones bend, and my flesh sheers. I snap another blow into the monster before its arm crashes into the side of my face. Blood pours from my forehead, but I smile. I torque another blow into its side before it crashes another hit into my chest.

I slide back, my arms crossed from blocking the blow. "Come on Golem. We've just started."

I duck under a blow with my fist dragging behind me. With a whipping hook, I crush my fist into its side. A sharp, cracking boom resonated through the cavern. A set of bats flew away, terrified of the fight.

My body held on as we traded blows for minutes at a time. Agony burnt the creature's stone body, melting the rock to jelly. Scrapes on the boulders turned to cracks that turned to cleaved slabs as we fought. The massive health pool of the golem waned over time, mine did not.

In the last moments of the battle, I ducked under a slice of the stone and countered with a hook. Another blow missed me as I ducked, and I countered again. I weaved in counter after counter until chunks of its face fell apart. More like fighting a mountain than a monster, I tore it apart with my granite fists and agony's aura.

When the golem died, I almost felt sorry for the poor thing.

Enemy Slain. 22500*1.5*3 = 101250 exp gained. 2 levels gained.

I put both points into constitution before checking out my attribute screen closely.

Level 52 Attribute Totals

Strength - Increases carrying weight, maximum speed, and physical power 12.4

Constitution - Increases hardness, density, and weight of your body 33

Endurance - Increases regeneration of stamina, health, and their totals 48

Dexterity - Increases ease of movement, flexibility, and reflexes 4

Willpower - Increases internal motivation, mana regen, and Mental Res 26.4

Intelligence - Increases memory, critical thinking, and total mana pool 4

Charisma - Increases likeability, persuasion, and decreases prices at shops 4

Luck - Increases money found, odds in your favor, and chance of rare events 3

Perception - Increases comprehension, the five senses, and awareness 4

My attributes beefed up tremendously since investing into the perks. I checked out my character screen. The numbers amazed me.

Character Totals Regen Buffs/Debuffs

Health 944 101.12/min Agony - 430 Hp/min lost

Stamina 944 16.85/sec Elemental Res - 35.48%

Mana 100 4.74/min Plasma Res - 35.48%

Phys Dam Reduction - [33]*2.15 = 70.95% Rad Res - 35.48%

Phys Dam Bonus - [1.15*1.113] = 28% Damage Increase - 5% | CC reduction 75%

Compared with when I started, I'm over 40 times tougher. Agony burns down hp like nobody's business, and my stamina regen is effectively infinite. The willpower and constitution bonuses to agony made the skill a terror to deal with now. By level 55, I should be able to finish the determinator tree and get the last perk for constitution.

With my status checked, I moved back towards the golem's remains. Besides for rocks, a little core remained. The schema identified it.

Golem Core - Contains remnants of the mana required for summoning the golem. Can be used for many useful recipes or enchantments.

I pocketed the tiny, glowing orb before turning back towards the mana. I neared the wall of heavy air before placing my palm back onto the surface. The pieces of a mind shouted and wailed,

"Do not. Kill. Me. Beg. Stop."

With a piece of my will, I told the conscious to calm down. The little voice immediately silenced. A message appeared,

A cloud of mana has offered to inhabit a container of yours. You are given a choice: Absorb the cloud and gain a permanent increase to your mana pool, store the cloud in the golem's core, or allow it to live within your own mana. Warning: Co-inhabitation of mana may lead to corruption. You may absorb the cloud's mana from the core at any point.

Mana is worthless for me now, so I put the cloud of mana into the golem's core. Hopefully, it would become useful later. The pool of gray water dimmed until only my little blue sacks of cyan water kept the cave lit, though the water remained. After washing myself in the dark pool, I trekked back out into the cave.

The bats increased in volume, but I dispatched them with mechanical proficiency. I couldn't not kill them if I tried. I found myself daydreaming as I fought them, the motions of murder practiced till they required no effort. As I jogged forward, an hour passed of further monotony.

Another pool appeared with the living mana. Whenever I approached, water rose from the pool of gray. Ice formed in massive chunks, even larger than the last one. They came together, forming a moving glacier. The schema recognized it,

BloodIce Golem(lvl 95) - A golem made of crystalized mana and ice, bound with blood. Can use long range ice spears, a chilling debuff in melee range, and can freeze targets. A very powerful and dangerous foe.

I pounded my fists together before charging forward. Above the golem, water spiraled into spears. The golem lobbed them at me with large sweeps of its arms. They shot forward like glass bullets. I bent backwards, dodging the first, but another stabbed into my foot, then through my shin.

Like kicking a glass table, the pain shot through my leg, electric and vibrant. I rose my fist and smashed the ice spear. I grimaced before smashing the one through my foot. I ducked sideways, dodging another spear. I grit my teeth as I pulled my feet and shin from the ice spear. Blood poured from the wounds. Cracks and a sick sucking sounded from the wound as I did so.

The mana wall rippled, and I sensed a little fear from it.

Another spear shot forwards, I ducked below. Shutting down agony, I let my regeneration start.Another lance of ice came, and I dove onto the floor. A few seconds later, the snapping sound of ice forming started again. I glanced up as the golem torqued another javelin towards me.

I rolled sideways as the ice appeared beside me. The bones in my foot and in my shin had reformed already, letting me stand again. I limped behind a boulder before ice clashed against the rock. A cool mist of ice sprayed over me. Another deafening crack and another gust of icy mist.

The golem's stomps echoed through the cavern, their volume growing with each step. A few more seconds pass, and my legs skin wraps back around my leg. Not gonna lie, it's pretty gross. I glance up and make a plan. Roll forward and charge the damn thing.

I stomp my heel, testing it in case its still hurt. Nope, good as new. The steps stop, and the cracking resonates through the cavern. As it reaches its fever pitch, I dart from the rock as the boulder splits. A sharp explosion booms behind me as I charge the golem.

When I get within ten feet, a wave of cold chills me down to my bones. I press through the cold before ducking beneath a swing of the frozen thrall. I push up with my heels digging into the ground. My right arm drags behind me as I pull it close. My momentum builds up through my core, then shoulder, then into my hand.

With an earsplitting snap, the golem's chest cracks. Keeping my arms close to my sides, I turn like a tornado. I whip hook after hook with agony melting the ice. The cracks web outwards, appearing throughout the golem. It raises its arm towards me, slamming my chest.

I fling back a few feet before it raises its other hand towards me. I duck back, but the arm extends, smothering me in ice. The frost covers me in thick layer, freezing me in place. My eyes glance around, able to move in the prison of snow. The golem snaps off its arm before pulling more water from the pool. Ice grows above its head in layers.

The spear thickens until a spear the size of a car is above its head. I struggle against the ice. I writhe and squirm with all my strength as the spear grows. The golem rears its hand back, the spear following the movement. My twitching doubles in intensity, veins popping out of my neck. The golem steps forwards and pulls its body forward. My eyes grow bloodshot from effort. A nosebleed forms and fills my nostrils with blood.

As the spear comes forward, the ice around me shatters and I fall forward. The wind of the spear presses against my back. A second later, a thundering crash leaves my ears ringing. I pull myself up, unbounded as the golem falls onto its knees.

I stare at the faceless ice. A deep, dark hatred builds before I lash out at the face of the monster. Over and over, I pound and pulverize with my fists. They act as hammers as I crush the ice into a fine powder. When it falls apart, a notification sounds,

Enemy slain. 40,000 exp*3.3*1.5 = 199,400 exp gained. 3 level up!

I place three more points into constitution, and the difference is palpable. My body stiffens until I'm moving something like wood. Even with the strength bonus of titanic, I slow down by a bit. I hit the wall of what constitution could give me without suffering some cons for the durability. From this point on, I'm investing in strength.

That is, unless the next perk gives me something special. The perk menu opens up, showing the most perk options I've ever had.

[Willful(Willpower of at least 10) - Your willpower is good. Doubles mana regeneration.]

[Disciplined(Willpower of at least 20) - Your willpower is excellent. Willpower adds an extra 2% mana regen for every 1% missing max mana. Your mana can form a shield around you, blocking 2 damage for every 1 point in mana.

[Uncompromising(Willpower of at least 25) - Your willpower is incredible. Doubles mental resistance from willpower. Half of mental resistance from willpower added to elemental, plasma, and radiation resistances. 1/10th of willpower is added to intelligence.]

[Colossal(Constitution of at least 30) - Your constitution is without limit. Half's strength requirements for moving bodyweight and limbs. Adds another 1/10th of constitution to strength. Adds .2% damage reduction per level, extra weight, density, and height per level, and each point in constitution grants 5 health. Doubles stamina consumption.]

[Strong(Strength of 10 or more) - You are strong. Doubles physical damage bonus.]

[Fledgling(Reach level 5) - You've just started learning. +10% to experience.]

[Beginner(Reach level 10) - Now you know a little. You can step out of the tutorial zone now.]

At this point, I'm almost scared of picking colossal. The more damage reduction I have, the more like steel I become. Unfortunately, steel is very hard to move. Halving the strength requirement and bonus strength would help quite a bit though, so I pick the perk.

A rush of strength floods my limbs, and I become unbending. My body is so stiff, I can lift my arm out in front of me and relax, but the limb won't fall. As if attached to wires, it floats in the air without me having to move it. Even with the extra strength and lowered requirement, shifting quickly is now a chore.

At least the endurance will go to good use since I use so much stamina moving. I brush off bits of ice and take the golem's core. After pulling the mana into it, I run off to the next enemy. My footsteps are awkward and unweildy. If I stand still, it isn't a problem. When I move, the weight becomes apparent. Hopefully a perk or two into strength will let me move like normal. Otherwise I need a few points in dexterity.

I raced over towards the next pool while killing bats. Even if one of them slammed into me, I wouldn't be thrown off balance. I was like a wall now, and they couldn't fight me anymore. One slammed into my back, and literally splat. Blood shot everywhere. It was super gross.

Of course, some bats had started giving out less exp. If a creature was ten levels below me, I still got full experience. at 11, it would give 9/10ths. At 12, 8/10ths. So on and so forth. At 20 levels below, the critters no longer gave experience. With the dramatic increase in exp requirements as I leveled, anything less than full exp was near nothing.

Still, these bosses helped quite a bit. They gave at least a level a pop, and the mana cores were interesting to say the least. With that in mind, I pushed onwards as my steps thumped against the ground.

Bored of the bats, I trained random skills as I walked. I would juggle between some shadow boxing and trying to learn some acrobatics. I busted my ass at least a dozen times before I learned the skill. I'd sprint, jump, anything for fighting the boredom. I really missed having someone to talk to.

Micheal would help tremendously with that, but there were only two options. Either he died in this cave within seconds of leaving the pillar of light, or he starved to death in the pillar of light. I was lucky as shit to defeat the first bat. A stalactite stabbed through it before it ate me. I doubt that would happen for him.

Even then, I had to spend multiple days trying to get a skill, that kills me, strong enough to kill bats. I mean, the chances of him doing anything similar were non-existent. The sentinel even said it was impossible for me to be here doing this stuff. I'm guessing I was trapped here during some freak accident, and he spawned outside. I sure hoped so.

Agony wasn't workable with a team, unless someone was very long range. Agony worked by an area system. It covered about fifty feet from me now when cranked up. It left most bats squirming for mercy, killing them in less than two minutes. I couldn't imagine facing me at level one. Agony's aura would kill me in 6 seconds.

Facing Baldag-Ruhl wasn't that far off into the horizon anymore. I would probably get two more perks in strength, and finish my tree's with skill level ups before I tried killing him. Him being a cluster of enemies made Agony brutally effective.

With that in mind, I trained and trained and trained. I focused in on the task, and in a moment I reached the next pool.

BloodHollow Bear(Lvl 76) - An enormous, terrifying creature. Fight with caution as it's red aura and monstrous strength are very effective tools for dismembering adventurers.

This time there was no fear. Defeating this piece of shit wouldn't even take fifteen minutes. I ran towards him, my steps thumping on the ground. When I hit the bear, it flew back. When it him me, I barely felt pain. My fists sunk into the beasts soft body, like punching a pillow. Within a few minutes, I beat the thing to death.

I gained a level, and placed a point into strength. I gave the bear to Baldag-Ruhl, ran, found another pool with another bear, killed it. The cycle repeated three more times before I gained another level, another point in strength. I drilled relentlessly between trips, eager for skill levels.

That was when I reached a cyan pool. Filled with disappointment, I approached the glowing water before a screeching howl roared out. For the first time in weeks, it was a human voice. I shut off agony before running towards the source of the sound. A part of my filled with hope at seeing Micheal.

Micheal wasn't there. A short, brown haired girl was here, with a bow at her side. Leather armor, with a white aura and a bow on her back, she had dropped a cup of tea across a heated gem. The drink steamed while she held both her hands against her sides, shaking.

I glanced at her, wondering if agony really hurt that bad. I suppose it would, especially with a low health pool. As I neared her, she scrambled backwards while screaming. I frowned as I approached and said, "What the fucks your problem?"

She nocked an arrow and sent it flying towards my chest. The blade of it sunk at most an inch deep, so I pulled it out. Her face went pale. She shouted, "Get away from me, troll!"

I rolled my eyes while leaning against a nearby boulder. I said, "I'm not a troll, but you are dumbass."

Her chest stopped heaving and registered the insult. Terror turned to irritation as she said, "What are you, besides ugly?"

"I'm Daniel. What are you, besides weak?"

She frowned. She couldn't have been older than 20, but was definitely not young either. Another arrow spun from behind her, straight at my eye. I bent my head down, and the arrow hit my forehead, driving into the bone a half inch. With all my pain reduction, it hurt like smashing your hand in a doorway. In other words, pretty fucking bad.

I pulled the arrow out before cutting agony up to full. She howled in torment along with a new voice before I walked up. I picked her up and pulled her next to my face. I cut off agony and said, "If your friend ever so much as touches me again, I'll feed you your teeth through a hole in your throat."

I dropped her before pacing off towards the other voice. A spindly shit-stain of a man was on his knees, grabbing the sides of his head. I picked him up and said, "Why are you both firing arrows at me?"

He shouted, "You look like a monster?"

"Even I know you need a notification before recognizing monsters. The schema isn't recognizing you, so you aren't monsters. No fucking duh."

The girl answered for him, cradling her stomach, "I thought you were the dungeon boss. When you got near me, everything was pain. Doesn't that sound like a monster to you?"

I frowned before letting the guy down. That actually makes a lot of sense. I suppose walking around with agony cranked to full all the time wasn't very...prudent.

The short guy picked up his bow and arrow, giving me a stare of defiance. I said, "Alright, alright. We got off on the wrong foot. How about you guys introduce yourselves, and we start from there."

The two of them shared a glance. Not just any old ordinary glance, a glance that tells a conversation in a moment. It could only happen between two people who understood each other exceptionally well. Whatever they said, the girl glanced at me and said,

"I'm Stacy. He's David. We're here to explore our first dungeon since the schema started. We finished our tutorials about a week ago."

I nodded and said, "You already know my name. I spawned here when I first entered the schema. I've been here for weeks now."

Their jaws dropped as David said, "What the hell? How are you still alive?"

I frowned as I said, "What do you mean still alive?"

Stacy answered, "We've been trapped here since we entered. Even the weakest fodder here is strong as hell. There's no way we could ever beat a level 45."

I said, "What level are you then?"

"I'm level 17. David's level 15. What level are you?"

I laughed out loud before saying, "I'm level 57."

Disbelief turned to shock as David said, "That's thirty levels higher than anyone I've ever seen."

I rolled my eyes before saying, "You should have seen the sentinel. It's level was well over a thousand."

They stared at each other before Stacy chimed, "You can identify sentinels?"

I nodded before they said, "Uh, well...that's super weird."

"So is the schema. You guys seem like you need help getting out, and I need company. How about we party up?"

They frowned before I shrugged and said, "Suit yourself. Good luck getting past the bears. They're over level 75."

David spit out his answer, "Of course we want to party up. Like, damn. You took me as a real cool guy when we first met."

Stacy said, "You still look like a troll to me."

I frowned at her as I said, "And you're as pretty as a shit sandwich. So?"

She fumed before David said, "Where are you headed?"

"Towards more pools of water. I need to give the dungeon boss some bear meat or else he'll hunt me down. It's a tough life."

"Why the hell would you help the boss?"

"The same reason you would. To not die, and to get out of here."

He nodded as if I said something deep and profound. I glanced at Stacy. She glared back. I said, "You guys ready to go?"

David replied, "We can pack up and go in five minutes. We have some food if you want it."

My eyes locked with his, intense as living death. I said, "For the love of god, please."

As he pulled out a piece of bread and jerky, a bat swooped towards him from behind. I lunged towards him and swung over his head. My fist snapped against the bat's jaw, knocking it down. Before it could stand and charge again, I stomped it.

I stomped and stomped and stomped until nothing but a bloody mush was left. Blood had splattered onto my face, hands and feet. David and Stacy seemed shellshocked. I turned to them and said, "Come on. Let's go. I can eat while we talk."

Skill unlocked! Intimidation(lvl 1)