Chapter 184: [Mana sense]
Ding! Combat finished. Congratulations on reaching [Hollow essence Knight] level 98!
Name:
Arthur
Titles
[Dark prodigy]
Class:
[Hollow essence knight] LVL 98
Strength
1291
Constitution
1360
Dexterity
1292
Intelligence
476
Wisdom
860
Affinity
859
Free stat points
0
Skills:
Passive:
[Weak mana sense](N/A)
Tier 3 skill.
Awaken a sixth sense that can pick up large shifts in mana or dense areas of mana from a distance.
Increase dexterity to the next milestone to increase skill tier.
Tier 4 upgrades
[Mana sense]
A direct upgrade pf [Weak mana sense].
Gain the ability to roughly estimate the intensity and quantity of mana around you through a sixth sense.
[Mana sight]
Depending on the intensity and quantity, gathered mana becomes visible. Its colour changes depending on affinity.
[Precise mana touch]
Precisely estimate the intensity and quantity of mana at your fingertips.
Maintain previous skill effect.
I breathed a sigh of relief, finally encountering an easier skill choice. From the start, I had been looking for [Mana sense], the direct upgrade, and I was happy that the other two options didn't suit my fancy.
[Mana sight] had greater range and could make out affinities more easily, but couldn't warn me of a surprise attack or give me a general 'feel' for the mana around me. Secondly, I already had a vision skill, [Dark flow sight]. The two skill threatened to turn into essentially the same thing if I went down this path.
[Precise mana touch], on the other hand, was more suited to artificers and enchanters. I hardly ever had the opportunity to feel up my enemies before fighting them, after all. Why push mana sense back another tier for a skill effect that I wasn't interested in?
In the end, the decision was easy and I took [Mana sense]. After mentally reaffirming my choice, the effect of the skill became instantly noticeable.
My surroundings sprung to life in a certain way, as if everything around me played a role in its own way. It was hard to describe, to be honest... When before the tunnel had only seemed like any other stone and dirt covered passageway, now I could feel the mana that lazily floated through it, carried by the air current. The walls hid tiny specks of earth mana that remained stationary, as if waiting to be called on. Everything held mana... The world had come to life. No longer was I limited to large, lumbering masses of mana. Now, I could feel all of it as long as I focused enough.
Unfortunately, the skills precision and range left much to be desired. Both had increased, of course, but I still felt limited. As if I was looking at the world through foggy glass. Oh well, I could only hope the situation improved with the next skill evolution. For the moment, [Mana sense] more than sufficed.
Now, for that final garbador... Level 100 was just around the corner!
A day and a half later, however, I hadn't had much luck. I hadn't encountered even a single garbador! No mana, no rumble, no nest... Hells, I hadn't even come across any pile of dung! Anything would have sufficed, but there was no sign of my prey-to be. The blasted things were running away from me, I was sure of it!
I had come across a rather peculiar tunnel that went down at an angle until, eventually, it dropped straight down. On top of that, the stone of the tunnel walls had slowly turned darker and darker, until it became pitch black. Clearly, that was the way to the boss room, where a frightening garbador lay in wait, no doubt. I hadn't bothered exploring further, as I knew that that level of risk simply wasn't worth it. Not when there was easier prey to be found. Not that the normal garbador were easy opponents, of course. Another factor I had taken note of was that garbador were earth-affinity creatures. Therefore, the boss' loot would be of the same affinity, most likely, making it somewhat useless to me. Again, not worth the risk.
Now that I was two levels away from 100, however, no more monsters were showing up! I could hardly spend an entire week scouring the tunnels for another. If the dungeon was intent on forcing me to fight its boss for those final two levels, then I wasn't going to deny it the opportunity!
With my decision made, I made my way back to the dark pit and started down. I was going to get those final two levels, Helios be damned if I would let a single boss get in the way! As long as I had my flight, this oversized mob would be too slow to catch me anyway...