47 Book 3 Chapter 43

The alliance only had a thousand or so top-grade ascenders. Of them, seven hundred had one rune, with the three hundred participating in the raid having two. There wasn't much difference in power between the two groups; it was only the lack of essence preventing more from having a second rune.

After the raid, there was now more than enough essence for everyone to create their second rune. Some could even form a third. Keep in mind the cost to build a rune doubled for each additional one. Not only that, but the upgrade cost also took into account the creation cost. It was a grim thought to consider how many lives would be needed to reach ten runes.

During the downtime, Peter installed the mana barrier modifications before running some tests to understand their functions. As expected, the shield mode greatly enhanced everyone's survivability, much to their delight. The mana barrier generated a semi-transparent shield which followed the contours of the body. Along with the energy mode, Peter could turn them on or off at will if he was in the haven.

Peter also placed the mana cannon halfway between the center of the haven and the east wall. Standing fifteen feet wide and ten stories high, the tower appeared sleek and smooth. You could even see your reflection in its shiny metallic exterior. The top of the tower took on the shape of a U, with a ball of condensed mana levitating in the center. A single test shot fully demonstrated its might. Indeed, if they had twenty or thirty of these babies, the next few blood moons would be a cinch.

Now there was only one thing left. Which of the two structures should Peter upgrade? The tower, or the mana barrier? Unfortunately, he wasn't able to see the changes beforehand, and only decided a few hours before the blood moon.

He would upgrade the mana barrier first. The reasoning was simple: it was better to rely on their strength than gamble if a tier two mana cannon could clinch victory.

"Please be worth it, please be worth it," Peter felt lightheaded as he stood in front of the mana barrier. He prayed the upgrade would justify the sacrifice of the seventy-two ascenders. Their deaths weighed heavily on his mind. After all, it was he who sent them to their deaths—his command.

Even with his superhuman body, he had a heart attack upon hearing the news yesterday. When he returned to his quarters that night, he kept repeating the names of the fallen men and women. He was only able to sleep after taking a potion.

A hand clasped the motionless Peter's shoulder. It was Jason. The two men's gazes locked as Jason said, "If you can't lead, step down."

Peter turned to face Jason and spoke slowly. "Will you do it?"

Jason's arms fell limp as he avoided Peter's gaze. "I, I can't."

The two men fell silent, and only after a minute of awkward silence, did Peter sigh, "Shenlong told me you don't have any will to live." Jason winced as Peter continued. "To be honest, I thought worse of you after that, but now, I think I understand."

Truthfully, Peter did have thoughts of resigning. However, after realizing that Jason was still fighting even now, how could he possibly give up? Jason's weight was a thousand times, no, a million times heavier than Peter's. The man was a shell of his former self, but he was still here.

At this moment, Peter's fractured resolve reformed, stronger than before. Taking a deep breath, he turned to the mana barrier and declared. "I will see this to the end."

Jason opened his mouth to say the same, yet no words came out. Instead, he stood silently beside Peter as Tank let out a squeak.

Peter squeezed the gem in his hand. It turned into light before penetrating the silver triangular structure before him. With a soft ding, the mana flowing throughout the contraption grew a shade thicker. At the same time, a notification popped up, informing Peter of the changes.

Tier 2 Mana Barrier

Mana stored: 10,000,000

Mana regenerated a second: 1,000

Modes installed: Shield Type, Energy Type

Prevents most demonic creatures from entering. Each point of damage blocked consumes .9 mana.

"Great!" Peter clenched his hands as relief washed over him. A single tier brought a tenfold increase in mana capacity and regeneration. Even the damage to mana ratio improved. Along with the shield mode, if they focused on dodging and blocking attacks, the mana might last them the whole night.

Not only that, the structure now generated 60,000 mana a minute, or 3,600,000 an hour. Factoring in the damage to mana ratio meant almost four million damage could be absorbed an hour. The numbers were hard to pin down. Thinking this, Peter asked Jason, "How much health do you have now?"

"Dunno, haven't checked in a while." Jason promptly shared his information.

Name: Jason

Title: Noble Slayer

Age: 30

Race: Human

Level: 192

Stat Points: 0

Health: 221,000/221,000

Health Regeneration: 860/s

Stamina: 238,000/238,000

Stamina Regeneration: 980/s

Battle Energy: 9,500/9,500

Battle Energy Regeneration: 50/s

Strength: 1,515

Vitality: 2,087

Agility: 1,456

Endurance: 2,149

Tenacity: 889

Fortitude: 1,790

Willpower: 6,214

"Your health is pretty high. I only have about 150,000." Peter commented as he read through the status top to bottom.

Jason rolled his eyes upon hearing that. "I'm always getting hit, so the m-serum has risen my Vitality and Fortitude every day."

"Makes sense." Peter rubbed his chin as he mused aloud. "I think the average person has health around mine. Mages a bit less."

The comparisons put into perspective how much damage the mana barrier could absorb. Although it wasn't entirely accurate, 3,600,000 mana could save twenty or so lives per hour, with each life being the health pool of a single ascender.

Just as Peter was about to turn away from Jason's status, he did a double-take. "What the hell? Why is your Willpower so high?!"

6,214. This was by far the highest stat an ascender possessed, hands down. Jason only shrugged in response. "I don't know. It goes up every hour."

Peter was about to continue questioning when he thought of something. He stopped what he was initially going to say and said, "Forget it. Willpower isn't that useful, anyway. Only a handful of skills use it."

Quickly changing the subject, Peter pulled out the last blueprint. "I wonder if the tier 3 mana barrier will be a tenfold increase as well?"

Tier 3 Mana Barrier

Mana stored: 50,000,000

Mana regenerated a second: 5,000

Modes installed: Shield Type, Energy Type

Prevents most demonic creatures from entering. Each point of damage blocked consumes .8 mana.

Remark 1: Requires 2 structure upgrades to reach tier 4. 0/2.

While not as much as Peter wanted, it was still a significant upgrade. Along with the mana cannon providing support, he was certain not a single ascender would be harmed during the blood moon tonight.