“You’ve begun without me,” I heard Shamash say as I was pulling out of the last orb. “Good. Tell me, what did you see?”
I started to get up, but he held out his hand, stopping me. “If you are comfortable, remain seated,” he said.
So I did and began to explain to him the difference in the flawed and unflawed orbs.
It was rather ominous having him, a lich, lean over me as he listened and responded, but I was starting to get used to his presence regardless.
“It is as you think. The flawed ones are less efficient and should be discarded, for now. There will come a time when you may purposely want to create flaws for a variety of reasons, but you must start at the beginning. You already know why I allowed the orc to explain Core Creation to you. Now let me tell you where he was wrong,” Shamash said, half cackling and half clearing his throat. “He was correct about the difficulty of creating orbs. Most beings cannot even hope to be able to create one without unlocking Blue Magic. There is an exception though. The higher a creature's Intelligence and Wisdom, the more control they have over their own mana and even the mana around them. At Mistress Nava’s level, it would be possible for her to create flawless orbs even without Blue Magic.”
If that was true, did that mean that it was possible for a creature of her level to cast any Blue Magic spell without even unlocking the corresponding school? I asked him as much.
“It is as you say, but that doesn’t make it easy or efficient. What mana veins really do is open up your body and mind to an individual school. You could even say it scars you with its type of magic, bringing you closer to it. It is more than that, of course. The mana is infused into your system and becomes a permanent part of you. For a creature to control a school of magic without having it infused would mean they either have to convert their mana to a different element or pull the element from an outside source. In other words, they would never be as efficient as a blue mage, even one at a fraction of their level. A form that might cost you 10,000 Mana Per Minute might cost them millions. Such is the nature of magic though. Mana has the innate desire to be controlled by a strong enough will. The highest level creatures are capable of just about anything they put their minds to. There are exceptions like mind control and time manipulation, but they are frightening existences nonetheless.”
Even though I was already sitting down I felt like I’d been knocked back. “Why not just focus on gaining the most mana possible then and not bother learning all the different schools?”
“First of all, it is very unlikely that you will survive long enough at your current level if you don’t learn multiple schools of magic as soon as you can. And even if you were to reach the Head Mistress’s level, your mana will never be limitless. If every spell you cast costs you 100 to 1,000 times that of your opponent’s, how long do you think you’ll survive? Do not underestimate talents and specializing. There are mages half Lilith’s level that are capable of things she wouldn’t bother trying because of the incredible mana cost.”
I really did have to get up after what he’d said and begin to pace. “Is that why Lord Darius dared to attack the Head Mistress? It’s been bothering me since before we even left her dungeon. How could he possibly think that he’d be able to beat her?”
Placing his arms behind his back, the lich spun to face me as I was pacing back and forth. “In the simplest terms, it was possible for him to win. Though he hadn’t even reached Mistress Nava’s level, his talent with Ice Magic was something to behold. Not all talents are created equal, and his dwarfed all other ice mages in my experience. He was defeating monsters many times his level as soon as he could walk, which added to his arrogance. His ego was earned, but against Lilith—you saw for yourself.”
I did and remembered it vividly. It was my first real experience with overwhelming power. You don’t forget something like that, especially not your first time seeing it. Shamash’s explanation made what Lilith did seem even more incredible. Darius had encased himself in a glacier of ice, and yet Lilith had used the weakest of ice spells, Ice Shard, to overwhelm him with a barrage of thousands upon thousands of them. In the end, they penetrated his defense and left him in tatters.
“Let’s use this experience as our starting point,” the lich said. “After the Head Mistress defeated Lord Darius, what did she do next? Do you remember?”
I thought back to it and immediately thought of her taking of Skyler, but I didn’t think that was what he was asking. What had she done? “I’m not certain, but she used something like Succubi’s Caress or Vampire’s Might and took power from him. His body was shredded, so I’m not sure what it was. The blood and flesh were left, though. Of that, I can be certain.”
“His orb. Head Mistress Lilith devoured his orb.”
Stopping in my tracks, I felt as if numerous things clicked into place all at once. Of course. A monster’s mana orb was the densest source of power they possessed. “Does that mean I can use Succubi’s Caress to devour orbs as well?”
“Yes, but Vampire’s Might not Succubi’s Caress. At what level is yours now?”
I scrambled to bring it up.
Vampire’s Might
Rank: Intermediate
Leve: 62
“It has been slow to level since I reached Intermediate. It usually takes draining new creatures for the first time to gain experience,” I explained.
“There’s very little you could have done to speed the process,” he replied. “Until now. At the Intermediate Rank, you aren’t able to absorb orbs of opposing schools of magic. You should be able to absorb Minor Light Magic Orbs though. Give it a try. Start with a flawed one. This is the best current use for it.”
Looking down at the orbs in my hand, I singled out one of the flawed ones and took the other two in my other hand. Vampire’s Might had never been a difficult spell to cast, though it could be rather gross since its main use was to convert a creature’s blood into stats.
Here goes nothing.
I cast Vampire’s Might while focusing on the flawed orb. Before my eyes I watched the orb shoot up to hover a foot above my hand. A thousand tiny strands of grainy milky light snaked from the top and bottom of the orb. Instead of pooling into a sphere of energy before entering my system, the strands weaved through the air toward my hand. Many of them reached me at the same time. Like a balloon being filled with air, I started to feel the pressure building inside me. My natural internal flow began to slow as my mana bulged. The process had only begun.
After my initial shock, I watched as the orb’s excess storage compartments above and below its spiral were slowly depleted. It was at least a minute before I reached the spiral itself, which was all that was left. Starting on the outer rings, I watched as it unraveled. I already felt bloated, but the mana I was receiving from the spiral was even richer than what I’d already taken. I started to shake.
“Don’t stop,” Shamash warned. “This won’t harm you. Your body needs to get used to what this feels like. The more you do it the more natural it will feel and the faster you’ll absorb them.”
I’d grown used to being filled with overwhelming power when Vampire’s Might converted a creature’s blood then filled me, but this was entirely different. It wasn’t exactly painful. It was as if the blood vessels in my body were going to explode.
Reaching the compressed center of the spiral, my legs began to lose strength and I had to widen my stance so as not to fall. It was another minute before the process was done. It had taken approximately three minutes to absorb the entire orb. I stared at my now empty hand.
“Now look at your stats. What has changed?” the lich said.
I brought up my stats that included my Master Mind Buff.
Character Sheet
Level: 870
Health Points: 352,216
Mana Points: 1,399,649 (+149,697)
Mana Per Minute: 100,560(1,676 Per Second)
Attributes
Strength: 3,416
Dexterity: 3,521
Intelligence: 6,839
Wisdom: 10,056
There was only one discernable difference. “It buffs my mana?”
“Exactly,” he replied.
“The buff is getting smaller by the second.” I calculated I was losing 3 MP a second from the buff.
“The loss will slow as the additional mana you’re carrying reaches a more manageable level and you’ll become better at it the more you do it. Once Vampire’s Might reaches the Advanced Rank, you’ll be able to hold the additional mana for days—at Master—indefinitely. Once used, though, your maximum mana will return to normal.”
“What do I do with it?”
“Create another orb. When you’re done, absorb the remaining flawed one and use its mana to create another orb as well. By then, you should be ready to absorb one of the unflawed orbs which possesses more mana. Come and get me when you do. Then we will begin the next step.”
“Step?”
The lich leaned forward, revealing to me his multicolored eyes. “In creating your mana core. The orc warned you that it was dangerous to create your own core and advised you to take your time to master orb creation first. He would be correct if you didn’t have me to guide you. There’s no need to wait. You will create it tonight, but first, you must prepare. Now, continue.”
I couldn’t help it. I felt like a young child that had just been told he’d be given a treat if he completed his lessons.
I dove in headfirst to create another orb. The bloated feeling was a bit of a distraction, but also a reward. As I used mana to create the new orb, I first had to use the excess mana, which alleviated the pressure. Before I held another Minor Light Orb in my hand, the pressure had gone.
Adding another unflawed orb to my collection, I took the remaining flawed one and sighed. With the pressure gone, I turned to a popup that I’d ignored after absorbing the first orb.
Vampire’s Might has leveled up!
Level 64
Not only had Vampire’s Might leveled up, but it had done so twice in a single cast! Was this what it had been missing all along? If it wasn’t for mana orbs being so rare before, I would’ve tried it in the past. Now that I could create my own…
Curse the discomfort… I had power leveling to do. With much more zeal than the first time, I cast Vampire’s Might again on the second flawed orb. I supplied the spell some extra mana to hopefully speed up the process. It worked, a little. Supplying extra mana normally just extended Vampire’s Might’s range. This time, threads from the orbs in my other hand started to form. I immediately cut the excess, horrified of how absorbing more than one orb might feel.
Thankfully, after my close call, the process went much smoother than the first time. It cost 400,000 MP to create an orb and absorbing one of the flawed ones gave me between 150,000 and 160,000 MP, so I wasn’t at maximum mana when I absorbed the second one. That meant there was no bloated feeling. It only helped me recover the mana I’d lost quicker. It was fascinating to watch the orb unravel. Even though I didn’t feel bloated, I cast Core Creation immediately to begin working on the creation of the next orb. It was done in a few minutes and I was happy to see that Core Creation had reached level 7 and Vampire’s Might had reached Level 65.
I took a few deep breaths to center myself before starting in on the unflawed orb. It should contain more mana than the flawed ones. I’d already created two new mana orbs, but because my mana was recovering at over 100,000 per minute, and absorbing and creating orbs took time, I was still close to my max.
There was no discernable difference in absorbing an unflawed orb except that there was more stored mana in its spiral. It gave me a buff of closer to 200,000 MP. When using a minor orb in a dungeon like Sanctuary, it was worth about 20,000 DP, which worked out to the same amount of MP I was able to take from it.
By the time I was done, I felt the bloated feeling again and had surpassed my maximum mana by close to 100,000 MP. I didn’t have to fetch Shamash as he had asked me to do. He must have sensed it, for he was already heading my way.
“Take a seat.,” he said as he approached. “For this next step, you’ll need full concentration at first. Release all of your forms.”
I did as he said and tried to get in as comfortable a position as possible. I scooted up against the wall once again to relax even more and placed the two remaining mana orbs in front of me close to where my legs were crossed.
Standing over me, the lich began, “Tell me, what is it that you see when you try to look inside yourself with Mana Sight?”
I didn’t even bother trying to look for I already knew the answer. “The mana is so dense that it looks like a wall of light.”
“And how are you to place a mana orb inside yourself if you can’t see?”
Shifting in my seat, I grew uncomfortable. “Surgery?”
“Some sects do that, yes, but there is a better way.”
Shaking my head, I had no answer.
“Blue Magic’s Mana Sight focuses on a single sense and enhances it. Other schools of magic enhance other senses to better understand the world, like Earth Magic which focuses on the sense of feel. They can extend this sense into the earth around them and feel anything on or in it within the immediate area. They also gain the ability to feel what’s going on inside themselves because of this enhancement. Now, short of learning the School of Earth Magic, there are other ways that you can learn to do the same thing. It won’t come as naturally to you, but it isn’t too difficult. It may be almost impossible for you to feel what is happening to the earth around you, but not what is going on inside your own body. That is our next step.”
“I’m ready. What do I do?”
“First, don’t use your eyes. As a Blue Mage, you’ve grown too reliant on sight as a way to view the world. It would’ve been easier if you hadn’t already reached Master in Light Magic. Your magic no longer just flows through your blood, but it has joined with every part of you. That makes it harder to feel the flow of mana inside you because it permeates everything, but your mana control has also improved which gives us other options. Now follow my instructions and do what I ask, when I ask it.”
I nodded.
“Close your eyes,” he said.
I did.
“Just as when you prepare to cast a spell, funnel mana into your head. Pass it through your mind and onto the surface of your scalp to the highest part of your body. Do not let mana escape. It must remain inside you.”
It felt as if a battery were about to overcharge as I held my mana in place where he said.
His instruction continued. “Now let this built-up mana flow through you like a wave as it passes down through your head and into your neck—then into your chest, back and shoulder. Don’t let it escape into your arms but continue flowing down into your lungs and heart. Feel your organs, blood vessels, and nerves. Don’t stop there. Let it flow into your stomach and kidneys, then into your legs and your feet. Then let it go. Like the waves of an ocean, you will feel your mana return to the rest of your body, but it will take some time to fully settle. Feel where your mana goes and where it is hindered. Use it to scan your body. Beyond feeling with the touch of skin against skin, you will feel the parts hidden to the eye. This is how you will learn to feel within. The movement of mana allows you to examine every inch of yourself. Now, continue this exercise until I return. Focus on your stomach and get a feel for where your organs are, the surrounding fat and where everything fits. Once you have a clear picture, then we can proceed.”
At first, I struggled to pinpoint any specific thing inside of me because the wave of mana hit so many things at once. Some things became clear sooner than others. My heart’s beating sent tremors through my mana, so it was the first thing I picked up. I grasped a hold of it before turning my focus to my stomach region as he’d requested. It took numerous waves, but I was able to feel more than just movement. Every vein and vessel slowly took shape with each pass until I was even able to grasp its s
ize and location. From there, I expanded my sense of feel out my lungs.
By gaining a clear feel for where my heart and lungs were, it became easier to understand what came next as I turned my focus to my lower torso where the lich had requested. It hadn’t been my original intention to fully catalog my internal organs, but I found it difficult to stop once I’d started. Even in my Ascended state, my human biology was still intact.
“It looks like you have finished,” Shamash said.
I opened my eyes, unsure how he could possibly know.
He must have seen the look on my face. “You stopped sending waves of mana through your body ten minutes ago. Now, the hard part is over. The last part is easy. Inside your gut are organs and fat. You need to create a Minor Light Orb in the space between organs. Doing it inside would be, inconvenient…”
“Where exactly?” I replied.
He directed me to the area a few inches below my navel and a few inches in. I didn’t have much visceral fat there, but there was a small amount between my organs like a protective barrier.
“And I simply cast the spell?” I said.
“Yes. As long as you start in the right place, your mana will create its own space and push everything else out of the way.”
He said it was the easiest part, but it was also the most intimidating. It was nice that I wasn’t going to have to cut myself open to place the orb inside, but that gave me little relief regarding what I was about to do. Looking up at him, I saw he was waiting.
Closing my eyes, I sent another wave of mana through me to get as clear a picture of the area as I could. I visualized the creation of an orb for a moment. Then, I cast it. I confirmed that my placement was good right at the beginning and didn’t let myself think of that again before I was finished. As the mana physically took form inside me, it made sense that everything would make room for what I was putting in there. What scared me the most was if I messed up the process and the blasted thing exploded inside me.
Though Mana Sight wouldn’t help in the process, I still had it activated at full power so that time slowed as much as possible to my senses. In this way, I made sure my spiral wasn’t just following the correct path but wound perfectly. I even supplied it with a little excess mana so that its threads were thicker and more refined. When I finished the spiral, and my excess mana began to fill its storage areas on top and bottom, I felt things shift inside me ever so slightly. And then, I was done.
Underworld - Vampire Gate: A LitRPG Series Page 13