Instantly pain wracks my body, I try to force the mana back out but I am unable to, I can't even channel the overload to Ruby. I drop out of meditation and curl up in the fetal position as wave after wave of pain roars through me.
I can feel Ruby's hands on my back as she tries to figure out what is wrong with me. I am sure she is saying something but I can't hear anything over the pounding in my head.
⟨⟨-DING-⟩⟩.
— Congratulations! Skill Pain Resist has progressed to level 6!
√ Pain Resist
√ Level 6
— You feel 60% less pain.
— Physical damage reduced by 6%.
I think without that skill this would actually kill me, right now death would be a relief. I can't tell if it takes minutes or hours, it feels like forever before the pain finally starts to fade.
As my senses return the first thing I feel is that Ruby has wrapped herself around me as much as she can. Now I am glad I didn't die, being held by her feels wonderful.
Ruby says "Master? Can you hear me? Master!"
"Ugh! Yes, I can now."
Ruby says "What happened? Are you alright?"
"I accidentally grabbed some of the demon's mana, it didn't agree with me."
Ruby says "You really had me worried! For a minute your eyes were glowing red!"
"What? They were?"
"Like don't do that again stupid, it hurts."
Ruby laughs and says "So, you admit you are stupid?"
"I have my moments."
Ruby says "These moments seem to happen fairly frequently."
"Yeah, yeah. Can we get back to work now?"
Ruby says "I guess so, since you won't listen to me and rest anyway."
Before I can respond she disappears, and shortly I sense the connection open between us meaning she is holding my hand and ready to accept mana. I turn my attention to the block of ice, but before I can grab a chunk I see a problem. The two manas are now swirling more furiously and are much more intermixed.
I doubt I can grab a chunk without getting some of the demon's mana. Oh well, like I told Ruby it is just pain, so I grab a chunk of mana and pull it into myself. The demon's mana causes me some pain but not enough to break my concentration so I go back to working on my core.
— Core Upgrade Progress: 17%
Each time I grab a chunk of mana the demon's mana hurts me less, that is worrying me just a little. I can't really stop now though, if I leave it like this the demon will escape sometime soon.
If it isn't killed it will cause all sorts of chaos if anything I know about demons is true. Since I am the one weakening its prison, anything it does would be my fault, I have to kill it. So I keep grabbing and absorbing chunks of the mixed mana.
— Core Upgrade Progress: 20% MP +100
I'm happy to see the progress on my core, so I reach for another chunk, and that's when it all goes horribly wrong. Even in my meditation I hear the ice shatter and a thunderous roar, but that isn't what worries me the most.
All the remaining mana in the ice is rushing into me like water from a dam that just broke. It is way too much mana for me to handle and I know for a fact if I don't do something right now it is going to kill me.
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Don't forget to leave power stones for support.