Chapter 219: Blood And Mana

Chapter 219: Blood And Mana

I slumped back with a satisfied hiss, feeling a tingle in my scales; an electric jolt akin to a great many [Sting]s, only without any pain slithering alongside it. A surge of glee that set my mind afire, fighting the sluggish haze that came with overuse of mana-water. It wasnt so bad now, with [Mana Restoration] helping me recover much of what I needed, but I still felt the strain. The stretch, like the coils of my mind were being tugged violently from each ending, forcing it to reach further than it should have been able. A pain that found its nest within my head-scales, pounding again and again.

Even so, I couldnt help but be happy. It had taken some time, entire days wasted upon the shoreline of the mana-water lake, but I was getting stronger. Not just in my abilities, or my understanding, but in other ways as well.

Specifically, the core of mana contained within me, obtained from one of my first Titles so long ago. The recent days of strain and overuse hadnt damaged it, even if I was in pain; instead, they had grown it. Made it better. Denser, able to hold more mana within.

Not by much, but by enough to take note, if only barely. Enough to start trying to improve it intentionally. Even if it took a long time, or was barely noticeable, any improvement was worth searching for - especially one as important as to my mana. The abilities that mana gave me were easily among my strongest, beaten only by the rare few that I gained from devouring Dungeon Cores.

And even beyond the tiny improvements to my mana capacity, the other forms of progress that I had made would have been more than enough to satisfy me. The minor changes within my mana core were just a source of extra excitement.

Lesser Core Skill: [Death - Venom IV] Increased.

[Death - Venom VII] Acquired.

Lesser Core Skill: [Death - Enervating Bite I] Increased.

[Death - Enervating Bite X] Acquired.

Lesser Core Skill: [Death - Wither V] Increased.

[Death - Wither X] Acquired.Findd new stories at novelhall.com

Lesser Core Skill: [Death - Weakness I] Increased.

[Death - Weakness X] Acquired.

Lesser Core Skill: [Life - Invigorating Bite XI] Increased.

[Life - Invigorating Bite XIV] Acquired.

Lesser Core Skill: [Life - Vitality XI] Increased.

[Life - Vitality XV] Acquired.

Lesser Core Skill: [Life - Vigor III] Increased.

[Life - Vigor X] Acquired.

I set to work, commanding a few of the spore-puppets to haul groups of bad-things out of the water one by one - and then in entire groups when my improved [Death - Wither] proved more than enough to handle it.

The thought-light flickered again and again, a delightful notice of each and every victory, easy as they might have been. It took a while, but eventually I saw what I was waiting for.

Experience Gained!

Level up!

1 Trait Point Gained.

Level 60 Reached

Analyzing Potential Reward Choices

Only One May Be Selected.

The Great Cores rewards appeared before me again, and I quickly found the one that I wanted. Something like [Guardian Link] might have been nice to let me save mana by having a [Little Guardians Focus] heal me instead of life essence, but it required me to be biting my tail to work; I couldnt heal and move at the same time. It might have been manageable, but it wasnt perfect. Meanwhile, [The Golems Echo] was powerful, and I might have picked it in any other situation, but I worried that the fragile Core at its center would immediately crumble when faced with the Death Cores aura. And [Size] had already proven fairly useless against that same aura.

Most of all, my last two rewards both focused on mana in some way. It only felt right to pick one that continued with that.

The thought-light flickered, confirming my choice.

Mana Blood: Your blood, already a storage for toxins, has become a storage place for mana as well. Greatly increases capacity to store mana. (Provided by: [Venomous Retribution], [Minor Mana Core])

Reward Chosen: Mana Blood.

[Mana Blood] Acquired.

The pounding in my head-scales, formed by my recent use of mana-water to keep myself going, amplified. Raised itself into a deafening climax. I couldnt hear the click-clacks of my spore-puppets many, many legs. I didnt notice the rush of the river, or the crash as it fell into the lake below. The world fell away, bit by bit, all of my focus pulled towards my head-scales. Somewhere underneath the likeness of the Great Core that rested there was the place where my mana lay - the place where my mana formed and accumulated and renewed and restored, the place where death essence and life essence was formed.

My mana core.

All at once, its walls burst. The contents spilled out, life essence and death essence and mana carving their way through suddenly-there channels within my flesh. I pushed past the surprise and flexed my will, [Life Essence Manipulation], [Death Essence Manipulation], and [Mana Manipulation] all working together to keep the process going. Mana quickly wrapped itself around life and death in shell-like droplets, keeping the two essences from touching each other and touching flesh. Keeping them - and myself - safe as they fell down newly-created channels and mixed with the blood that had been mutated to contain them. The broken mana core remained; less shattered, and more changed. A place that I instinctively realized, as a drop of mana formed within its now-empty shell, still had a purpose. Still served as a place for my mana to renew and grow and be stored - but no longer as the sole place where it could be kept safe.

My blood hissed with newfound strength, and I pulled myself away from the feeling. Turned inwards, finding my way to my tail. Bit down.

And felt that strength grow even further.