Chapter 70

Michael struggled to keep his aura under control, feeling its edges begin to flay and fracture after absorbing way too much mana from the air and the coins. He couldn’t do anything about it though, surrounded as he was by a raging inferno. The forest had caught fire all around him after Josh had carelessly lobbed fireballs everywhere, and the dry shrubs cooked by the summer heat were perfect kindling for the fire. It was spreading fast, sending plumes of dark smoke up in the air and turning the atmosphere poisonous.

Michael struggled to breathe. His eyes were full of tears and his lungs burned from all the smoke he was inhaling. He kept healing himself as he looked around, churning Qi to his [Healing Aura] skill that somehow managed to generate more of it even when his Dantian was empty. He wasn’t about to die just yet, but he was feeling powerless to stop the disaster from consuming the whole forest. He had no idea how to stop the fire, and unless he did something quickly then most of the forest in his property would be up in smoke before anyone could do anything about it.

It would be a disaster, not to speak of the setbacks and the unneeded attention it would bring to the dungeon.

Michael remembered about a skill stone called [Soothing Rain], and how useful it would be right now, and cursed himself for not absorbing it himself. It was too far away, back at the secure storage. Would it even help?

He wracked his brain. What could he do? The heat was rising, the smoke was almost solid and it choked him, and his aura was like a throbbing wound in his soul. What could he do?

He flicked through his status, his skills, looking around and considering options. His vision was awash in the red energy of the fire element, swirling and eating all the other elements with greedy voracity. Wood essence was turning to ash, air element was feeding the flames and water was almost nonexistent. He had a skill to summon water, but it was a simple bullet and it would be useless.

He had a skill to control fire, though. And…

I can control elemental energies!

It had never occurred to him before, but even though he was not in the dungeon the fire was still releasing huge amounts of elemental energy. What if, perhaps, he could starve it of it? Would the flames die down?

He immediately activated [Candle Light] and [Mana Manipulation], bending both skills towards manipulating the elemental energy of the fire. Normally, his manipulation skill would have a range and effectiveness limitation when trying to affect elemental energies that would make his attempt futile. However, the synergy with [Candle Light] meant that Fire element was a special case, and he could control it much better and from much farther away than any other element.

First he seized control of the fire in his immediate surroundings, condensing the energies towards him. He watched the flames lose their color and heat, and soon after they started dying as if starved of fuel.

He didn’t dare control the air element even though he knew it would starve them of oxygen. He wasn’t nearly skilled enough and he did not have the same synergies that would allow him to do the same feat he did with Fire.

Emboldened by the success, he pushed his skills to the extreme. It didn’t matter that his aura hurt more than ever. It didn’t matter that he had to heal burns that kept appearing on his body where the elemental energy of fire tried to devour his flesh. He kept vacuuming up all the fire element in the vicinity, watching the forest fire die down.

He struggled through gritted teeth, pulling everything into a tight ball. The forest was smoking, but no longer burning, but the fire was not gone. It was all condensed into a swirling tight ball that floated above Michael’s palm, compressed but threatening to explode once again as soon as his control slipped.

Sweat rolled down his nose only to be incinerated by the ball. Michael’s aura cracked even further. He didn’t care. All that existed in the world right now was the unruly ball of fire energy. He focused on it.

Then something clicked.

 

You have gained a Skill!

You focus is formidable, and your mental energy titanic. Mana bends to your will. You gain the uncommon skill [Mana Projection].

 

It wasn’t enough.

It isn’t enough!

He could project mana now, something he has struggled with a lot lately. But it wasn’t what he needed. It wasn’t enough. The ball of energy was not mana, it was elemental. Sure, he could shed some mana from his aura to lessen the burden, but the cracks were still there and they still hurt like bleeding wounds. It wasn’t enough!

He could use this new skill, though. He could make it do what he wanted it to do. He projected all of his mana into the world, shaping it into a tight net around the ball of fire. Then he willed it to act as a containment device. He demanded it do what he asked it to do. There was no room for negotiations.

 

Skill Upgrade!

Mind over mana. Mana over matter. [Mana Manipulation] absorbs [Mana Projection] and becomes Uncommon: you can now perform feats with mana unbound from spells or skills, using it as a conduit for your will.

 

Unity level up!

 

The net of mana solidified into crystal according to Michael’s will, the very same crystalline mana he had managed to squeeze out of his aura when experimenting in the dungeon a few days ago. The ball of fire element was still swirling inside of its cage, but its heat was diminished. It lashed out against its containment, but no matter how hard it tried, the crystal held true.

Michael would need to deal with it in the future, but for now the threat was contained.

Except, his aura was now a spiderweb of cracks. He was leaking mana like a sieve, and he could feel other energies leaking through as well. He was losing Qi, Intent, and even vitality itself seemed to escape his grasp. He felt himself grow weak and feeble, and his skills did not respond to him anymore.

He panicked. Was this it? Was this how it ended?

He refused to die here. He put everything he had into his aura. Qi. Intent. Everything. He pushed and compressed and tried to mend the cracks. He flooded the damaged areas with what little energy he still had, absorbing coins and pulling from the air itself.

It wasn’t enough.

Then his eyes settled on the ball of swirling fire.

He had a crazy idea. But it was all that he had left. Accessing the fire using his manipulation skill, which was somehow still working, he pulled it to himself.

A slew of messages followed.

 

Skill Upgrade!

Your proficiency grows beyond the bounds of a simple skill. [Mana Manipulation] becomes the Rare skill: [Magic Manipulation]. You can now control, store and project mana and elemental energies.

 

You have learned a new element: Fire.

 

He then felt his aura condense. It shrunk into itself, gaining solidity around his Skill Sanctum while absorbing copious amounts of Qi and Fire element before once again spreading outwards. The cracks were still there, but they were filled with the Qi and the Fire element like pulsing veins.

 

Aura Upgrade!

You have reached the next stage of magic. You aura has upgraded from Copper (Common) to Silver (Soulfire Silverweb)

 

Unity level up!

 

Michael slumped to the ground, spent. He had survived the tribulation, it seemed.

I need a vacation.

***

Michael sat under the shade of a large oak tree, taking in the fresh air of the Misty Valley—the new official name of his resting place on the second floor of the dungeon—and enjoyed the view. He had rushed to the second floor of the dungeon as soon as he felt healthy enough to go through the first floor to access his peaceful valley to take a few days to rest and recuperate.

As he took in the majestic view of the valley and its surrounding mountains, he thought about how lucky he was to have such a place all to himself. The valley was a safe sanctuary—if one didn’t mind going through at least one floor of the dungeon to get there—where he could spend as much time as he wanted thanks to the time dilation. No matter how long he stayed there, only ten minutes would pass in the outside world.

By the time he was out, Travis would be there after having spotted the smoke and fire, but not much would have happened in the real world. Michael could take it easy.

Or, much better, he could spend some time to train and consolidate his gains. He still hadn’t gotten used to the newly upgraded [Magic Manipulation], for instance.

First off: he checked his status.

 

 

He wasn’t yet superhuman, but he was getting there. Already he could bring to bear elite athlete-level of power in multiple aspects of his life at the same time. It wasn’t what was exciting about his gains, however. The skill was.

 

(Rare) Magic Manipulation 6

In the ether's embrace, the threads of mana dance; with deft manipulation, I weave the strands of magic, shaping reality with the gentle touch of a sorcerer's hand.   ·         You can control, store and project mana and known elemental energies (Fire) with a range of 50 meters. ·         You can control and store Qi with a range of 25 meters. ·         You gain the ability to force skills to act outside of their scope, bending them to your will. ·         You can use projected energies to directly influence the material world.

 

Activating the skill was as easy as breathing. The complex fractal—much more complex than it was two rarity evolutions ago—lit up in his Skill Sanctum in response to his will. Mana swirled, and with a small *pop* a rainbow colored lollipop appeared in his outstretched hand.

He smiled at the silly action that cost him a ludicrous amount of mana. Had he not been in the dungeon, it would have been a waste. Here? Here it simply contributed to making his mana pool larger. He didn’t even like lollipops. With a shrug, he summoned a spirit from the astral plane and flicked the lollipop at it. Unlike him, the spirits were gluttons, and they liked the sugary treats. The little spirit swirled in the air in a clear sugar high until its time was up, then vanished.

Michael’s smile slowly waned. Soon it would be time to leave. Before that, however, he had a couple more things he wanted to do.

He took a leisurely stroll towards the glacier situated at the top and heart of a nearby mountain. Thanks to his new aura, the cold was barely a bother and only if he allowed it to be, and not even the gale-force winds could do much more than tickle at his skin. Extending his aura outwards, it encompassed much more space than ever before, muting the sound of wind completely.

The best thing about it? It didn’t cost much mana at all to do it, only consuming a small amount of it whenever the aura actually interacted with something.

From the vantage point of the mountain, Michael could see beyond the edges of the valley and into the mists that surrounded it. He wondered what lied beyond the wall of fog, where not even his senses could penetrate. Many times had his walks brought him there, but he had never dared even touch the solid roiling fog, let alone enter it. It formed a solid wall, vertical and impenetrable, seemingly held at bay by some sort of shield around the valley. It was similar to how he could use his aura to prevent the wind from touching him, really, he thought.

Perhaps the valley itself had an aura that kept the fog out? Just another thing to investigate in the future. The fog did not seem too dangerous, and one day he would like to explore what lied beyond the edges of the valley, to find the true edges of the dungeon floor. Perhaps there were riches in the fog, waiting to be discovered.

He chuckled. He sure as hell was not going to step into the fog until he knew it was safe, no matter how much his gut told him it wasn’t going to harm him. So what if he was being a little bit cautious? Too many brushes with death lately had left him a bit uncomfortable about putting himself in danger again.

He reached the glacier and entered without problems. There was a platoon of soldiers standing guard at the entrance, and they let him through with a salute. Even with the valley pacified thanks to Drullkrin’s efforts, the mana and elemental energies sometimes led to new monsters being spawned, and soldiers were there to make sure these new monsters knew what the ground rules of this place were. Most monsters agreed without problems, others… well, that’s what soldiers were there for.

Michael thought about the other purpose of the soldiers as he made his way deeper into the glacier. Drullkrin had given him the latest haul from the monsters’ many runs through both the first and third floor of the dungeon, which they had been given access to after the boss had been defeated.

It was a veritable fortune in mana coins, magical stones, trinkets, ornamental knickknacks made of valuable but mundane materials, and a few skill stones as well. The skill stones would all go to Candle Light to deal with, of course, especially one called “Ghost Market,” which Michael couldn’t wait to see in use. Even though he wished to hoard all the skills for himself, he saw the merit in delegating and powering up his people. The Candle Light division needed the ability to deal with supernatural threats and opportunities on their own. Otherwise they would be left powerless whenever he wasn’t around to help them. Skill stones were one of the ways he could make sure they were properly equipped.

The rest of the loot would go to the other divisions of Unity Corporation.

It sure feels great to finally have a structure behind me to deal with these bothersome things.

Michael finally arrived at his destination, putting his musings on hold for the time being. Before him was the throne of the now deceased Ice King, filled to the brim with Ice elemental energy. It was time to see if he could gain another element, or if Fire was just a stroke of dumb luck.