Might as Well

The room shook, and as Sam’s fist connected with the slab of rock, he released the mana that he had pooled in it.

Instantly, he felt his entire body relax as the gathered mana evacuated his body rapidly. At the same time, a wave of relief passed through his body. Sam would have compared it to finally being able to breathe through a stuffy nose. His entire body felt much lighter.

But before he could revel in the feeling, the mana that left his body began to swirl around and another runic circle lit up around him with the stone slab in the middle.

Thankfully, Sam was perfectly aware of what the purpose of the runic circle was. It was for this very reason that one of the hidden achievements was not using active or not using skills with non-neutral mana. So he simply took a step back, closed his eyes, and relaxed.

Through his other senses, granted to him by the game, he could feel the mana swirling around the room, coming down from the ceiling and transforming into a mana tornado. He felt as the mana moved around him, sometimes a few strands entering into his body on one side and leaving on the other, carrying with it something intangible.

Even though his eyes were closed, he could still feel the runic circle begin to shine brighter and brighter with it as the cyclone of mana began to speed up.

Sam smiled.

The true purpose of this test was to let the player prove their mettle and then funnel the mana they shed and used during the Gauntlet into a giant runic ritual that then used said mana to refine the individual’s mana and body.

That’s why it was so important not to use mana with any kind of attribute. The attribute would then mix into the ritual and would hinder the purification process. Granted, there were times when you wanted it to happen, if you were going for certain builds or skills, but Sam’s goal was to build his foundation. He was planning long-term. And for that, an extremely well-made foundation was worth much more than any skill or ability.

When he felt that the cyclone of mana has reached top speed, Sam began to circulate his own mana, trying to match it to the ritual while wisps of mana began to enter and exit his body in increasing numbers.

He felt that every hit was on a different spot, seemingly the ritual trying to hit every spot on his body. He didn’t mind, as after every hit, he felt as if he was lighter.

As the effects began to permeate his body, he could only think of the mythical body cleansing scene in cultivation novels. Though, in this case, there was no black sludge emerging from his pores…

Finally, the small wisps of mana began to grow bigger and bigger, joining together until finally, he could feel one giant concentration of mana swirling around him like a shark circling its prey. Then with a swift movement, the mana clump flowed upwards, stopped for a second over his head, and then crashed down on Sam, drenching him in mana.

He felt as if the mana altered by the ritual circle surged through him, touching every part of his body, yet leaving his circulating mana intact.

Then the next second he was standing in the circular room, the runic circle nowhere to be seen, breathing harshly and still drenched in water, sweat, and everything that managed to get attached to his clothing and skin.

However, on the inside, he felt wholly different.

It was as if he had shed several stones off his body. He felt practically feather-light.

Sam hopped a little around, executing a few kicks and punches, and he grinned at the difference he felt.

“This is amazing!”

The moment he exclaimed, another grinding sound could be heard and on one of the walls a part shimmered a little, and a gate appeared. Based on how familiar they looked, they would lead him to the outside, proving that he was finished with the Gauntlet.

Instead of leaving, he simply plopped down on the ground, heedless of the dirt that covered it, and opened the notification screens with a grin. He wanted to know his gains right now!

[Congratulations, you have successfully completed the Gauntlet of Body!]

[The quest, ‘My body is my temple. Enlightenment is exhaustion.’ is completed!]

[Your time was: 03:42:72!]

[You completed the following bonuses:

1. Go through the Gauntlet of Body without any help. That means no pets, minions, summons, followers, or anything similar helping you.

3. Finish the Gauntlet of Body without taking any damage.]

[You completed the following hidden bonuses:

1. Only use neutral attributed mana skills.

2. Only use one weapon during the entire trial.

3. Complete the Gauntlet while under the influence of a Meditation type of skill!]

Sam nodded at that. He never aimed for the fastest time, instead, he wanted to get the most out of it.

[You broke through with a skill!]

[Advanced Mana Control reached Level 20!]

[You gained the skill, Mana Manipulation!]

[Mana Manipulation: Level 0/100 (0%) (Passive) You mastered basic mana control, you are no longer controlling it; you are manipulating it. Decreases the cost of mana skills by 20%, and increases the mana regenerated beyond what the Basic, Intermediate, and Advanced Mana Control skills grant you. Grants your spells resistance against being disturbed. (+(MAG/WIS) Mana Regeneration per skill level)]

[Mana Shield is now Level 41!]

[Mana Well is now Level 3!]

[Mana Body Enhancement is now Level 31!]

[Mana Influenced Body is now Level 4!]

[Thanks to participating in the Ritual of the Purity, you gained the skill, Tempered Body!]

[Thanks to your abilities with mana, your skill, Mana Body fused with Tempered Body!]

[You gained the skill, Mana Tempered Body!]

[Mana Tempered Body: Level 0/100 (0%) (Passive) You tempered your body with exercises and mana. Thus, the mana permeates your body as well as cleans it, and supports its purity. The better your control of your mana is, and the more mana you have, the bigger the effect is. For every 100 Mana points, it grants you 2 Base Health gain. For every skill level, it increases the Health Regeneration by 0,2. For every 10 skill levels it grants you +1 STR, AGI, VIT, END.]

[Your previous experience with the Mana Body skill has been transferred to the new skill!]

[Mana Tempered Body is now Level 5!]

Sam grabbed hold of his mana and did a quick rotation with it. It was simply a marvel how easy it had become.

“Now, that’s more like it!”

Not to mention the swell in his health and mana capacity. Sam could say with confidence that he doubted any mage had a higher mana capacity at his level.

Mana Tempered Body was a skill that everybody wanted but was rather hard to get if you hadn’t started the game at the moment of release, as - after the huge influx of players - the training halls and other institutions where it could be achieved changed to a more conveyor belt type of gauntlets. That is, one person went in, had an hour to do the test, then the next went in immediately. There was simply no time for elaborate gauntlets like the one he had done. And the guild only allowed those people to participate in their rituals who either proved their loyalty in some way or had an in with the leaders of the guild.

Having the skill later in the game was either a sign of great luck or more likely, deep pockets.

And now Sam had it.

He stretched a little and continued reading the rest of the notifications.

[Active Meditation is now Level 25!]

[You gained the sub-skill, Serene Movement!]

[Thanks to your usage of the skill during the Gauntlet, you gained the sub-skill, Battle Awareness!]

[Serene Movement: Level 0/5 (0%) (Passive) While moving during Active Meditation, your stance is more stable, and it is harder to break you out of the skill.]

[Battle Awareness: Level 0/5 (0%) You have an excellent awareness of your surroundings. During fights, time will slow down 10% for every skill level if a strike comes close to you that would gravely or mortally wound you.]

Sam stared at the Battle Awareness and let a quiet gasp. It was an amazing skill, especially later in the game where 50% of the time slow would be another ace in the hole for him. He expected something good, but this was beyond that.

[Shadow Footwork is now Level 32!]

[Freeform Defense is now Level 5!]

[Strong Grip is now Level 5!]

[Advanced Sword Mastery is now Level 3!]

[Intermediate Breathing Technique is now Level 10!]

[You gained the sub-skill, Mana Breathing!]

[You gained the skill, Advanced Breathing Technique!]

[Mana Breathing: Level 0/5 (0%) (Passive) Your excellent control over mana allows you to restore mana while simply breathing. Gain +1 Mana Regeneration for every skill level when not in a fight.]

[Advanced Breathing Technique: Level 0/10 (0%) (Passive) You breathe along with the world. The air is the same inside your lungs as it is in your surroundings. Further decreases stamina consumption during any activity and further increases stamina regeneration when not in a fight. Gain +1 Stamina Regeneration for every skill level.]

[Calm Heart is now Level 27!]

[Thanks to keeping calm and doing things beyond what was expected of you, you gained the sub-skill, Steady Heartbeat!]

[Steady Heartbeat: Level 0/5 (0%) (Passive) Your heart beats to your own rhythm. Anything that would disrupt this rhythm faces increased resistance.]

[Flow is now Level 21!]

[Thanks to your understanding of the flow of the battles, you gained the sub-skill, Focused Flow!]

[Focused Flow: Level 0/5 (0%) (Passive) When focusing intently on any enemy, your ability to read their flow becomes clearer and more precise.]

[Multitasking is now Level 51!]

[Efficiency is now Level 7!]

[Parallel Processing is now Level 1!]

Finished with the reading, he lay on the ground for a while, then with a heavy sigh, Sam heaved himself up and approached the doors leading outside.

Outside, he was met with a grinning giant wolf next to the old trainer who still had the stern look on him.

The moment he spotted Sam, he took one look at him and nodded.

“Good job, young one.”

“Thank you, sir!” he replied with good cheer. It was hard not to be happy after what he gained, even despite the bone-weary tiredness saturating his body. “Any advice?”

“Yes. Try to use your sword skills without mana. Currently, you use it as a crutch. For now, it works, but later, it will be your undoing.”

Sam listened, then nodded in understanding.

“Yes, sir.”

The man gave him another once over, then flexed once, twice, and three times.

“We are finished. You can’t learn more from our Training Hall. Go out and experience life!”

“That was the plan!” Sam replied cheerfully, then watched as the man began to turn around and called out. “Um, sir? Do you know perhaps where can I find Old Thomas?”

The old trainer glanced at him and then answered.

“Administration Building. Old wing. He keeps track of all old mine shafts.”

“Thank you!”

After getting licked almost clean by an excited Lucky, he watched as the old trainer, whose name he still didn’t know left and stared up at the mine shafts. The location of the treasure was etched onto the inherited memories, so it was really hard not to go straight up there and claim it.

The only thing stopping him was that he was dead tired and that the system would probably either punish him somewhat or worse.

With a quiet sigh, he clambered up onto Lucky’s back and pointed towards the city.

“Back to the headquarters, Lucky!”

The loyal wolf let out a huff that sounded as if he was laughing at Sam, then simply launched towards the forest with blinding speed.

After half an hour, they charged through the gates and arrived at the Headquarters of the company.

Sam stepped off the giant wolf’s back and, after a quiet thank you and pat on the head, sent him back to his shadow, then with slow movements entered the building where he realized that there still weren’t any elevators.

Letting out a giant sigh to signify his suffering, he began his crawl upwards under the amused gazes of the receptionists.

After returning to the game, waking in his new apartment, Sam played a little with Lucky, checked on the progress of other construction with Lucy’s secretary, then went out to get his damn treasure.

At this point, he had enough money to realize the plans, but the gamer in him wouldn’t let the treasure that was lying around alone.

‘I need mah shiny!’

Quickly navigating through the streets of Ironwood city, he arrived at the Administration Building and, with much aplomb, he entered. The winds were immediately taken out of his sails as he beheld the lines sneaking around the hall.

After standing in line for an unsurprisingly long time, he was finally before one of the ever-smiling officials of the Administration Building.

“How can I help you today, sir?” asked the smiling woman.

“I’m looking for a man named Old Thomas. He deals with---”

“… the old mine shafts. Yes, sir,” finished the woman for him. She rose a little over her seat and pointed down one of the corridors. “See that corridor? Go down until you can’t go further. Door 199.”

“Thank you!”

Wandering through the corridor was fascinating. The farther Sam went, the older and crummier the doors and walls got. Finally, after a dozen minutes, he reached the door marked with the number 199, seriously wondering why he hasn’t been attacked yet by feral dust bunnies.

He knocked softly and waited for an answer.

“Come in…” came the feeble answer.

Opening the door, he was met with a fascinating room. One entire wall was filled with a giant map of the mining areas around the city of Ironwood. The legends of the map were on a separate piece of paper that was on a stand in one corner. The entire thing was full of handwritten detail, and Sam suspected it was the most detailed map of the area.

Two other walls were filled with metal shelves packed to the gills with boxes and rolls of papers. And one wall contained a giant architect’s desk with even more paper on and around it. Before the desk sat an old, stooped-over man, with a long, white beard, sitting on a rolling chair.

And as Sam stepped into the room, the man slowly turned towards him, and Sam could see his old eyes, still clear but clouded over with some kind of feeling, take him in.

“Yes, young man?” the old man asked, his voice feeble.

“Hello, sir!” Sam bowed a little while, greeting the man. “I’m here because I recently visited the abandoned mine shaft area, and I had a few questions about them.”

Sam knew he was in the right place, as the moment the words ‘abandoned mine shafts’ left his lip the old man sat up straighter and his eyes began shining with excitement.

“Are you here to help Old Thomas?”

“Err..sure?”

“Excellent!” exclaimed the old man, then began waving at Sam. “Come, come closer young man!”

Sam stepped up next to the man at the desk and took the contents in. It was details of one of the mine shafts.

“How can I help you, sir?”

The old man grinned, then excitedly pointed at the shaft and began explaining rapidly. “See this? See this? A shaft, I think is the right one!”

“Right one for what, sir?”

“The treasure!”

“Uhm, what kind of treasure?”

The man’s eye grew bigger and turned to Sam.

“You don’t know?”

“No, sir.”

“My family’s treasure. My great-great-great grandpa hid our treasure in one of these shafts. I spent my youth searching for it, but found nothing. But I feel I’m closer! It’s one of these!”

“And you want me to help get it back?”

“Bah, no!” exclaimed the old man with a negligent wave of his hand. “The treasure is probably long gone. People have gone over those tunnels hundreds of times since my ancestor hid it. All I want is a symbol. My family’s symbol,” he rambled with unshed tears. “It’s an amulet, you see. Seemingly not worth anything, but it means everything to my family. My hope is that it was left behind by those who found the treasure, as it wasn’t deemed valuable enough.”

“So, you want me to check out the tunnels where you think it can be found?”

“Yes, young man! Are you up for it?”

Sam looked around and then back at the excited old man and nodded with a smile.

“Sure. Why not?”

“Thank you, young man! You won’t regret it! Old Thomas still has friends. Yes, he does!”

The old man began to ramble to himself and while listening with half an ear, Sam began to read the notification.

[New quest acquired!]

[Go without my axe!]

[Old Thomas has tasked you to seek out remnants of his family’s treasure. Find the amulet and return it to him. Or not. It is up to you!]

[Time limit: Old Thomas is rather old, so better hurry!]

[Penalty: If you don’t find the amulet, then nothing. If you find it and don’t give it back, then you will receive Old Thomas’ hatred.]

[Reward: Old Thomas’s recommendation letter to the Mining Guilds.]

The moment Sam returned his focus to the still-rambling old man, he stopped and began running around the room with renewed vigor.

“You’ll need this! And this too! Oh, don’t forget this one!”

Finally, breathing heavily, he stopped in front of Sam and handed over four things. Four maps precisely.

As Sam held them in his hands, the old man began to explain.

“That one is the map where I marked the three most likely shafts. The other three are the newest maps I could find of them.”

“Thank you, sir. These will be very useful!”

“You betcha! Old Thomas’ maps are the best! You better believe it!” exclaimed the old man.

After extracting himself from the old man who decided to regale Sam with tales of his old adventures while prospecting for moon silver after handing over the map, he found himself back in the dilapidated corridor.

Pocketing the maps, he turned towards the exit and began the long and arduous journey while keeping an eye out for mutant dust bunnies.

At the end of the corridor, however, he was met with a surprise. The lady who directed him towards Old Thomas was waiting there and with a small wave called him towards herself.

“Yes, ma’am?” he asked, wondering what this was about.

The lady, dressed sharply, bit her lip and looked around a little uncomfortable.

“Well, sir. When you were at my desk, I didn’t have the time to warn you, but I hope you weren’t taken in by the old man’s tales about grand treasures? He is a sweet old man, but everyone knows there is no treasure in the mine shafts. People looked. A lot.” She finished her little speech with a heavy emphasis on the word ‘lot’.

Sam simply smiled at her.

“Don’t worry, ma’am. I just wanted to know something about the old mine shafts and the old trainer at the Training Hall directed me towards Thomas.”

“Oh, Micheal, that old grouch?” The lady then smiled and nodded at him. “That’s good. Then I won’t bother you anymore. Good day, sir!”

And with that, she abruptly turned around and walked away with rapid clicks of her shoes. Sam spent a moment admiring the view as he began heading out.

He had a treasure to find.