Chapter 317: The cracked core

Chapter 317: The cracked core

1,050 shards, that's how much Ive gotten from selling the stuff from the research center. Obviously, I keep the best items and data. Even then, that leaves me with just over 27 thousand shards. At that point, I decided to buy another epic passive.

Sure, I could save my shards and advance my plan to build a repertoire of rare passives, and try to learn a thing or two, but with what's happening around me, that might not be such a good idea.

The Veil Guardians have been sniffing around, the Veil itself is acting weird, and my duplicate has been cooking something up. I mean, I have [Tether] too, but how the heck did he teleport a giant mana crystal from like that the bunker, and where did he send it?

Master, another one! Vega rushes closer and hands me a few small mana stones. After examining them, if they aren't useful, I sell them as well, getting a few more shards.

Good job, minion, did you keep any for yourself?

Ive done exactly as master said. Ive already started practicing.

Good, keep doing that. You can push yourself harder, I will step in if you lose control.

It's hard with all of the items the mister gave me and all this mana floating around, but I will try.

As she goes back to her training, I open the system shop and look at the passive Ive been eyeing.

Cognitive Fortress (Epic) - Bestows upon the user a remarkable capacity for sustained mental engagement. This passive bolsters the user's cognitive stamina to extraordinary levels, helping them endure prolonged periods of intense cognitive activity.

It's a bit expensive, just over 15 thousand shards. With epic passives starting at 8 thousand, this is probably one of the better ones. If there are hidden low, mid, and upper ratings like I think there are, then this one is probably in the upper tier, maybe high mid.

My current passives are as follows:

Mana-Fortified Resilience (rare)

Mana Reservoir (epic)

Arcane Resilience (epic)

Phoenix Embrace (epic)

Mana Overload Absorption (epic)

The rare passive isnt even worth speaking of at this point. Mana Reservoir is my current favorite.

Arcane Resilience says it reduces the physical toll of casting. Through testing, Ive learned that it refers to my tendency to overload my brain and eyes, though not so much as it protects my body from my ever-growing stat imbalance.

Then there is the beautiful passive skill known as Phoenix Embrace, granted this will surely lead to a lot of trash-talk from Lily and shell likely demand that I sell it.

I won't, I love it.

Mana Overload Absorption is like Arcane Resilience, though it works differently.

So, Cognitive Fortress should help me deal with the strain my eyes subject me to. My new trait is powerful and difficult to handle, even now. And that's good. The more dangerous it is to me, the more dangerous it should be to others.

Or something like that.

It should also help with my attempts to power [Focus] and my other skills with the black mana, even if it doesnt do as much as the other two.

Okay, let's buy it.

I sell Mana-Fortified Resilience and confirm, and watch with a touch of sadness as over 15 thousand shards disappear.

For the next few minutes, I focus on resisting the burning sensation that courses through me. It feels like someone has set my head ablaze from the inside, but I refuse to let it show as I continue observing Vegas training.

Then, as we are leaving, I even sell some tables that are basically enchanting tables. It doesn't get me that many shards, but after spending so much on my new passive, I intend to sell anything that isn't nailed down. Even if it is, I mean to remove it and sell it. I don't care if it's only worth 1 shard. Hell, I would sell the entire station if I could.

So, Minion, how was the week back in your village? I ask while waiting for the pain to abate.

It takes her a moment to refocus from the mana stone she was observing and look up at me with her ruby-like eyes.

I appeared at the same place I disappeared from. I then tracked and killed the monster that was hunting me before! Master, it was so weak I can't believe I was so scared back then, I even cried while running.

It's fine to be scared, minion. It helps us survive.

But master isn't scared. You even block your fear, she tilts her head.

Only a little and less of late. Sometimes I enjoy the feeling of fear, minion. It makes the fights more fun.

For a short time, all sound disappears, replaced by the impossibly loud beating of our hearts. I'm even able to differentiate whose heart is which.

Then it stops, and as we continue, the air starts to look misty.

All of the epic rods crack and wear off, only to be thrown away, and Nevan uses even more of his mana to strengthen the effect of his chestplate, reinforcing the barrier around us. At this point, I'm sure the piece he made is a mere step away from arcane. The most he could do in the time given to him.

We pass through holes that have been torn in the walls and melted doors, and eventually enter a large circular room. Yellow and purple colors become much more vibrant and a pillar radiates light in the otherwise dark room.

It's much simpler than expected and much smaller.

The bunker we left did have a mana crystal to hold mana, and that crystal was as tall as a smaller skyscraper. This room is the size of a small apartment, and as expected, there is a mana stone in the center.

It is a clear white color, and inside of it, yellow and purple mana swirls lazily, and just the sheer pressure makes my disciple pass out, and I strengthen the barrier around her even more, reaching into my reservoir to do so.

Looking at the mana stone, I'm once again reminded that it has been leaking mana for a hundred years already. It's hard to imagine the sheer force it had to have in the beginning. The mana stone itself looks like a transparent crystalline pillar with mana swirling inside. It is only as tall as me, yet even someone with my level of experience can see how amazing it is.

The mana crystal from the bunker, even though hundreds of times bigger, can't compare to this. Not even close.

But there is a problem with it.

Lodged inside the core is an ax, leaving a crack, through which, that immense mana can seep.

Holding the ax, there is a burned corpse, a skeleton with a bits of flesh hanging off of it. Half of the head is missing, the place where the heart would be is nothing but a big hole. Someone made sure the attacker was dead though they were too late, the damage had already been done.

A chuckle erupts out of nowhere, and I look at Nevan, who unbelievingly stares at the corpse.

Finally, more emotion appears on his face. The pain of finding the world in this state, the pain from seeing his dead wife and daughter. All of it surfaces as he weakens his concentration type skill.

The ax that destroyed the core was made by Champion Niall and I, he says as mana radiates from him, bits of metal floating into the air from his bags. And this man is my father, one of our youngest Champions. He was the only one on this planet with a body strong enough to endure the destruction of a core of this grade. Having even this little left shows how strong his body used to be, he smiles deprecatingly.

Then he points to burned marks on the floor, This is where the cores explosion burned Champion Nialls first disciple. I can feel alloy melted into the floor from the armor I made for her. He points at another spot, Champion candidate Igred, I made a bracelet for him, another spot, Champion candidate Norret, I made a brooch for her, she gave me a design to follow, made by her 5-year-old daughter, another spot, vice guild master of Black Hand Jeal asked me for a dagger and I still remember how drunk he got while celebrating and constantly thanking me. He points out more and more spots.

The emblems on his forearms activate and even in such intense mana radiation, he starts melting the pieces of metal floating around him, creating yet another alloy.

Then the armor on his chest also disconnects and starts melting under his emblem, the mana radiation immediately attacking the man.

At that moment, his face becomes clear. I had hoped that my father would be alive as you said there might be some Champions left. I hoped for something. But this? He gestures around. I have nothing left. Im tired after 20 years of losing my friends. I never wanted to hold my wifes or my daughters dead body. I never wanted to see my father like that, it doesnt matter if he was a traitor or if he tried to stop the ignition.

Half of the alloy he creates moves towards the crystal where it surrounds the crack, causing the ax to fall out and crumble alongside the body of his father.

Nevans body shows damage everywhere I look, even with as durable as he is. I wish you had never brought me out of here and allowed me to wake up, Nathaniel.

His metal surrounds the crack fully and the mana radiation weakens and continues to weaken even more. Though too late for Nevan.

But dont pity me; Ive been dying ever since I awoke. You just found out what happened, learn from our mistakes, and never repeat them. A big chunk of the alloy he made moves towards me and lands at my feet. And take this, its an alloy Ive created after my entire life of research.

You know you could just leave. You could join other survivors, I say to the dying man.

I could, but I have decided otherwise.

I can do nothing in the face of his determination. I will respect your decision then, Nevan. Can I do anything for you before you die?

Please burn my body with the Primordial energy you possess. You dont need to do anything else.

I will.

He smiles gratefully, and after a minute, he dies. Just a short moment without his equipment was enough. That and hundreds of years of lying down here in this radiation.

Maybe he could be saved; there are two healers on this floor, and even though they are of much lower level, they could help.

Yet, it was all his decision. To throw away his concentration type skill and allow his feelings to overtake him. The man was unwilling to live on alone.

I wish I could say I understand, but I do not.

In his place, I would hold on to my life and kill every single person who dared to hurt my dear ones before I would die. And I would not stop until their bodies lay at my feet.

My eyes activate and even though there is still so much mana in the air, the pressure remains manageable. I watch as the mana that until now continued to leak through the crack only seeps out slightly, the ring of multicolored mass blocking the crack caused by the axe.

Then there is the chunk of molten metal alloy he left to me along with the heavily damaged great ax that cracked the core. Theyre both pretty high grade, yet it all feels a bit sour.