I couldn’t overlook the extra 100 to my mana multiplier, but my mana regeneration had just about increased by ten times what it was before. I was going to have to rethink everything. My buffs, my forms, even my approach to fighting was something that I’d have to reconsider.
The conflict between guilt and euphoric glee began to battle savagely inside of me. Feeling anything positive was like adding fuel to the bonfire of my shame, but a sliver of hope carved out a small abode in my downtrodden spirit. I’d completely eclipsed the enemies of my past. I’d even dared to hope that I’d one day be able to protect the others from the likes of Mistress Nava, but suddenly it became more than just some fleeting dream. Not only was it more likely for me to keep them safe, but it soon might be possible for me to tear the literal life from her body and beat her with it. That was a day I looked forward to even if I’d never be able to go through with it for fear of Lilith.
There were a few things I immediately ruled out. Even with my mana regen rate, it was still impossible for me to buff my Intelligence to 100,000 to get to the next bonus. I’d been using 10x Mind Buff for an extra 6,000 stats, but just to increase that to 10,000 the cost would skyrocket to 9,830,400 Mana Per Minute. For another 80,000 Intelligence, the cost would be astronomical. It seemed that until my Light Magic reached the Grandmaster Rank, that was still out of the question.
However, I’d almost reached the point where I could use 6x Primordial Cat Form with a bonus of +100% and +60,000 to my Strength and Dexterity indefinitely with more than 2,000,000 MPM to spare. Before I could only stay in 3x Primordial Cat indefinitely which gave me half the stat bonus and left me with a tenth of the MPM.
It was no longer quite as impressive, but I could also use 10x Crimson Incubus without ever running out of mana. It gave +100% and +20,000 to my Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution. Not to mention, I hadn’t even toyed with channeling to Vampire Form yet. It might give me the best Intelligence buff out of all my forms including Light Magic’s Mind Buff. My Dark Magic might even rival my Blue Magic Elements. Minotaur was also one I was interested in messing with.
It was what was now possible with my Ultimate Form, or the mixing of forms, that really had the most promise. I could cast my forms in layers like stacking armor and wouldn’t have to worry about running out of Mana Per Minute.
I suddenly remembered something I’d forgotten to do while wallowing in despair. Casting my perceptions, I quickly found Shamash and asked him, “Did I miss a big opportunity when I didn’t Drain Persepolis?”
He shook his head. “No. When a body is broken down to the point it is under Scorching Sun, nothing remains that is possible to Drain. Just as the spell devours all the Light Mana provided to it, everything it nears has the energy siphoned from it and it too is devoured. I would’ve insisted if there was a real opportunity. Now that you’ve gotten your Wisdom to 100,000, what are you thinking about doing with the rest of your stat points?”
“Well, to buff my Intelligence to 100,000 still isn’t possible, so I’m thinking of increasing that stat, or waiting until I’ve Grandmastered my Light Magic. I’m not sure.”
“Very good. Most advanced creatures in the Underworld all agree on where the pinnacle of power lies. But first, let me assure you that you will never be able to Drain enough stats in order to reach 100,000 in Intelligence. Even if you were to drain the entire Underworld. It’s believed that many eons ago there was a larger variety of living creatures and many of them were far more powerful than is common today. In that era, Draining 100,000 in every stat, even a mental stat, may have actually been possible. But today, that’s no longer the case.”
I wasn’t sure if it was an actual smile that slowly appeared on his face or a crazed smirk, but his enthusiasm rose with every word. “The goal the most powerful creatures dream of is getting 1,000,000 in their preferred stat. Level 100,000 is the practical limit of power for most creatures which only provides 500,000 stat points to spend. With a Drain-like ability from multiple disciplines like Vampire’s Might and Devour, at the most you can get maybe an extra 20,000 to 30,000 points in every stat. But for those ancient few who have long ago reached this apex, they seek the impossible ambition of unlimited power. There are many lost and forgotten disciplines and methods for gaining more power than is possible under normal circumstances. But what you need to know now is that if you survive long enough and join the ancient monsters like the Head Mistress at the apex, you will have the opportunity to join them in the search for these lost arts. This could make the decision you make next the most important decision of your life. If you join them in seeking different methods to raise your stats, increasing your Intelligence to 100,000 could be the difference between failure and the ultimate power. This is why the high noble vampire families consider the wasting of stats as one of the greatest of sins.”
He looked at my perception phantom and narrowed his eyes. “You just need to know that such a thing exists. As for what you should do, you have an option because of your Light Magic talent that few creatures have. You’re right to consider what you’ll be capable of once you’ve Grandmastered Light Magic. If you can place as few stat points into Intelligence as possible while still reaching the 100,000 bonus, you’ll be one step ahead of everyone else at your level and have an advantage that will never disappear. As an example, if there is some unknown entity out there that has 1,000,000 in Wisdom, but you also make it to their same level while also having 100,000 Intelligence, then you’d surpass what is currently considered ultimate power. Spend some time to think it over. With what you’ve been through recently, there’s no hurry.”
“On a final note,” he said, pointing at me. “There are many ways outside of spending your stat points to increase your maximum mana. Ranking up Core Creation is a huge one and your oversaturation buff from Vampire’s Might is still in its infancy stages. There is also your ability to premake mana orbs to drain so that you can quickly replenish your mana even faster which, with your new regeneration rate, will make it almost impossible for you to run out of mana even if you battle an entire army by yourself.”
My perceptions returned to me soon after our conversation had ended. My excitement waned and I was quick to return to thinking of the horrors from earlier in the day. I then thought of Jasmine and decided to check on her with my new perception ability so as not to disturb her.
What I found was not unexpected. Not only had she not fallen asleep, but she lay facing the wall so that no one could see her cry. It wasn’t just some minor whimpering either; her chest was heaving with every sob, yet somehow she remained completely silent. Then I saw the index finger of her hand lying by her cheek. It moved back and forth ever so slightly as she magically directed the tears that should have been falling down her cheeks to jump directly into the air from her tear ducts to float over the bed before slowly dissolving into the air. How many tears had she cried in her life to develop such a skill…?
I didn’t know whether I should run over and rebuke her for not letting herself cry out or scoop her up in my arms and hold her like a bawling child. Instead I returned to the entrance of the nook but didn’t approach her bed. If she needed me then she’d no doubt heard my approach, and if not, I’d give her space.
I still wasn’t in the right mind to do any serious power leveling, but I did begin to refine my mana once again and maxed out my oversaturation buff. For now, it would be enough.
Chapter 40 – Snuggles
We left long before Jasmine had enough time to get a full night’s rest. One reason was because of my Light Magic and the change I’d gone through in gaining my 100,000 bonus. If there were any vampires out looking it could’ve drawn them in our direction. But the main reason she didn’t get enough sleep was because—she couldn’t. It was only an hour before Shamash insisted we leave that she had finally succumbed to her drowsiness. Despite this, she didn’t complain. Whether it was the bed’s rest-enhancing properties or she was capable of going without much sleep, it was hard to tell.
I’d only refined half my mana before we left, which gave me just over 30,000,000 MP. It made me much more comfortable traveling. With my new level of mana regeneration, it was hard to be worried unless another Lord Soroush came around. Even then, the more I thought about what I’d was capable of, the more confident I became.
Before, my maximum mana had been incredibly important for my most powerful spells, but now, my mana regeneration had elevated the spells I could cast without tapping into my mana pool to a level I’d never imagined. My most costly spell, Magma, was now possible to cast without ceasing. Filling in the entire Belly wouldn’t be impossible. And that wasn’t using the first tier, but the second tier Andesitic Magma. I’d rarely used it since I’d almost killed myself by breathing in its fumes when escaping the Belly and because it was a colossal area of effect spell. The next time I found myself facing off against an army, Artificial Sun was no longer my only option.
Just imagine 100,000 Mana Per Second thrown into any number of spells. Flamethrower, Ice Orb, or even Wail of the Banshee could wreck vampire strongholds even if they might not be able to take out a full city. How could I even power level such things? One big spurt of mana was one thing, but I could have a 100,000 MPS Flamethrower going for hours, days, or even weeks at a time…
That didn’t even touch on what I could do with my Light and Dark Magic. It was possible that if I limited Artificial Sun to 100,000 MPS and let it constantly grow at that rate, it could grow to an enormous state. Whether it could reach the Scorching Sun tier again, I couldn’t be sure, but one day, as my Wisdom improved, it would no longer be out of my reach. To cast such a spell at will—no wonder the vampires feared Light Mages.
I didn’t return to a strict power leveling regimen, but, probably due to habit, I began making and repairing orbs. As I did, what I was now capable of became very real to me. Before, I’d been able to make one Master Orb at a time without many problems. Because of my habit of keeping most of my mana refined, I had to rely on my oversaturation buff from Vampire’s Might along with my Mana Per Minute. But now, without ever tapping into my mana pool at all, as long as I slowed down the speed of orb creation, I could easily create five orbs at a time. It was a slower overall process, but because I was making so many, I could churn them out like an assembly line.
Jasmine’s deadpan expression rarely left her face, but that didn’t stop her from systematically power leveling her abilities. Water, Earth, and Nature with her Dark Alignment meant her progress would be slow unless she focused on a single element. She chose to stick with Shamash’s recommendation to slowly build her foundation and level all of her elements at the same time. As she rode on my Embar’s back, she cast three spells consecutively. A slab of earth six by six feet would rise up from the ground in front of her and off to the side. As it rose, a dark vine would shoot out of its center to grow into a plant that looked like a four-foot-tall scorpion’s tail. Water would settle on top of the platform’s surface before forcibly being pressed into the rock. Half the time she succeeded in not destroying the rock slab and turned the slab into a mushy mud-like substance. And even more rarely, she would succeed without destroying her own plant.
The most fascinating thing about blending the two elements and one sub-element was that, if she were successful, the plant would continue living long after she’d left. Olivia’s Nature magic seemed to be limited in that sense. Though I knew she was capable of creating plant minions that were autonomous, most of them would quickly die out after she stopped supplying them with mana. If she did create one that lasted longer without her help, she’d have to till the earth and make sure it had everything it needed before she could leave it. Jasmine could do all of that in an instant.
We traveled all day, and our pace wasn’t as slow as the day before. It would probably take us a week to make it to the same Vampire Gate we’d used before. I wasn’t planning on attacking it this time. As a Trueblood, I’d walk right through it.
In the later half of the day, Shamash breached my self-inflicted silence and asked me to cast Vortex. I didn’t object and cast it while I was in my Vampire Form.
My Master Light Cores didn’t exist in my Vampire Form in the same way they did in my human one. Because of this, refining mana was only possible when I was in my original state. When Energy Vortex was cast, the suction force seemed to stem from my torso, so I’d have to test later if it would disrupt my mana circulation in my normal form. As a vampire, though, I didn’t have any such problems. It was also a vampire specific ability that only some Dark Magic talented Truebloods had.
When I first cast it, I had my Crimson Incubus wings cast as well and they didn’t seem to interfere with Vortex’s ability to gather mana. Watching through the mana realm, I saw mana particles of every Alignment, though mostly Dark because of our surroundings, slowly get caught up in the cyclone that reached out in about a ten-foot radius. When I’d first tested it, I hadn’t messed with it long enough to know how it would filter different types of mana. The spell itself said that its absorption ability was limited to one Alignment of mana at its beginning rank. As the mana particles started to reach me, I found out the answer to my question.
Some Fire, Earth, and Water particles were attracted along with the Dark Mana. As it reached me, I slowly started to feel pressure as if the Vortex were working harder. It was subtle at first, but within a minute the spell was almost ready to collapse. The Alignment it absorbed changed with my form, but because of its current limitations, any mana that was different from its preferred Alignment would stick to me and clogged my ability to absorb.
Shamash asked me to drop the spell, and I did.
“This is a very rich Dark Mana environment,” he said. “And yet you’ve seen the immediate drawback to using this spell at its current rank. Also, what did you notice about the mana cost to absorption ratio?”
I’d been watching mana as closely as the mana particles and how they’d reacted. I reported what I saw. “Even at its opening mana cost, its expensive—more than 10,000 Mana Per Second. As for the amount I was able to absorb, before it started to fail, the most it was gaining was less than 1,000 Mana Per Second.”
“That is why I told you to wait to focus on this spell. Until we are able to find a fairly safe Mana Vein, it is incredibly difficult to advance and worthless to use in a practical sense. Once you are able to advance it to being able to filter and absorb all Alignments, then it will become infinitely more useful. Even then though, it’s a very environment dependent ability. Just as Manu Shah used it to leech mana from the protective barriers in the arena, you’ll only be able to use it in mana-rich environments.”
I realized then that I’d already forgotten the people of Persepolis and immediately felt guilty, but I didn’t stop Shamash from continuing.
As we traveled, he had me cast here and there, but I mostly just listened. His words were a good distraction even if it was difficult for me to completely focus on what he was saying.
That night, we settled on a plateau that rested against a high hanging rock face. Shamash set up a barrier for me to finish my mana refinement, but also so that we could power level if we so desired.
I placed the bed close to the rock face, but not so close that any loose rocks would fall on Jasmine during the night. Shamash added another layer to his barrier which would take care of any falling debris. Though he wouldn’t actively use a barrier to save me in a fight, these kinds of practical things didn’t seem to be against our contract.
Once Jasmine was settled in bed, I sat down a good 50 feet away from her so as not to disturb her and began mindlessly making orbs while I refined my mana. I’d already nearly mastered the mana circulation for dual cores.
I continued to forcibly remember the faces of the people I’d killed. The lich had diverted my attention for a few hours as we traveled, but he left me alone after our basecamp was set up. He’d said he’d give me time to deal with what had happened and was mostly keeping to his word.
&nbs
p; I had a sudden sense of Jasmine, so I ejected my senses to check on her and found she’d gotten out of bed and was walking toward me. Her brow was creased as if disconcerted, but it was a change from the impassive way she’d been acting.
Rising to my feet, I turned to meet her.
She was standing little more than ten feet away still struggling to look me in the eye, but eventually hers met mine. She possessed a determination that hadn’t been there before.
Her hand had already slipped a strap off her left shoulder. One side of her dress hung loosely over her chest but not yet fully exposing her. Her eyes darted away from mine before meeting them again. Seeing that she held my attention, she moved to slip the remaining strap so that her dress might fall.
A thousand things seemed to rush through my mind at once. I was so emotionally drained I could hardly find the strength to care what was going on in front of me. I considered turning around and walking away, but even that would take too much effort. But I wasn’t completely dull spirited. Seeing her there with the intention of giving herself to me, how could something not awaken? She shared the same exotic beauty that Eshana had but with her own little unique qualities.
If I were in my right mind, the thought of Aeris would’ve been like a frozen smack across the face from an Ice Elemental. I wouldn’t be beyond temptation though, even then.
Being attracted to her was as simple as breathing and seeing how freely she was offering herself to me… But she still wasn’t free.
Before the second strap had slipped from her shoulder, I’d crossed the distance between us and grabbed her wrist with my human hand. Normally, despite the difference in Alignment, a dark elf and human touching wasn’t dangerous unless they released opposing auras. But since Jasmine was also a Vampire, touching her was much more dangerous—especially for me. If I’d never gone through my Ascension, it may have been different, but just a touch was like grabbing her with scolding hot tongs.
Underworld - Scorching Sun: A LitRPG Series Page 40