Chapter 109 - Tier 2 Mana Core

With each second passing, Rynold's Mana Core was getting stronger.

Rynold, being unaware of it, was simply to focus on trying to survive. His breathing became ragged to the point of being dangerously scarce. It was safe to say that Rynold was at the point of losing all sense of consciousness.

Regardless, he persevered.

There was no way of telling whether or not he'd come out of this particular situation unscathed. But, he had to at least try.

Coincidentally, though, his Mana Core was getting used to the strain to his system. Second by second, Rynold's Mana Core was slowly getting stronger. It was only a matter of time until Rynold's Mana flow was back to normal.

Easing himself back to how he normally breathes, Rynold let out a lonely sigh. He was glad that it had turned out okay. It took some time for him to get used to the circumstances, but he knew full well that getting an inch closer to the source would put him in a coma.

At the very least, though, Rynold was able to go back to being relatively normal.

Under the influence of the source of the Anti-Mana, Rynold was now able to walk about normally. Granted, he still couldn't do any sort of excessive activity this close to the source. But, being able to move about without worrying about passing out was more than enough.

Rynold sat up.

His back was drenched in a cold sweat as he stared silently into the purple light that filled the cave.

He, however, doesn't seem to realize that his Mana Core had grown slightly stronger. Well, it was marginal in the grand scheme of things, but it was still beneficial nonetheless.

Rynold was simply glad about the fact that he didn't pass out. It took guts for him to admit that he still wasn't strong enough to deter the interference in his Mana flow and output. He could sit and stare at the purple light that was just a few feet before him.

At the very least, though, Rynold had a different room to stay in between his matches. Since there was a considerable amount of time between them, Rynold had often slept and not doing anything productive.

Looking up at the hole he had dug through with his drill, Rynold saw he was quite a few feet underground now. The light from the room above was barely visible in the first place. Now that he was underground, it was practically a speck in the distance.

'Hm...,' Rynold pondered while staring at the tunnel on top of him, 'The question now is: how the hell am I gonna cover this up?'

As ridiculous as it may seem, Rynold hadn't thought things through. Eager and excited to find the source, Rynold forgot that he would be leaving a massive hole in his wake.

Rynold thought about what he could do to fix it. In which case, he seemed to have thought of using some earth magic to seal the hole back up. Earth magic that he, unfortunately, didn't have.

With a deep sigh, Rynold decided to leave it be for a little while. After all, he was worried about the guards passing by, not really about them coming into his room.

For now, though, Rynold had the ability to sit back and relax for a little while. With now a little more wiggle room apart from the cage he has spent so many moons in, Rynold could stay in this damp, dark cave.

In hindsight, that wasn't any better.

Seeing as how it wasn't any different from his room a few meters above, Rynold decided to spend the night here, opting to go back up when the next day.

In the dark, empty cave that housed the source of the interference in the Mana Flow. Arguably, he could've stayed in his cage. However, just activating Formless Mana Defense multiple times drained both his Mana and Stamina reserves.

Rynold closed his eyes and rested. No matter how hard he tried, though, he couldn't seem to get some sleep. So, with that, Rynold decided to simply close his eyes and meditate.

He had discovered sometime before that meditation aided in Mana Recovery. It was during the time when he had expended huge amounts of Mana infusing his hammer.

While the increase in the rate of recovery was subpar at best, Rynold seemed to enjoy some time alone with his thoughts.

Calmly and quietly, Rynold found himself stuck inside a trance of circulating Mana within his body.

A few minutes in, Rynold finally noticed that the Anti-Mana source a few feet from him was actually improving his overall Mana. Unconsciously, Rynold had already managed to develop his Mana beforehand. But, now...

Seeing as how Rynold could finally put this Anti-Mana source to good use, he fully committed himself to his meditation. To which, Rynold's focus seemed to last hours.

With time moving as it is, Rynold hasn't noticed that it was well past midnight. Because of how engrossed he was with the movement and flow of Mana inside his own body, Rynold's somewhat reckless decision to find the source seemed to have paid off.

However, Rynold didn't stop until he had gotten the most of what he could out of his newfound discovery. Realistically speaking, he knew he won't have another chance such as this one.

All of his efforts were soon to be rewarded.

[Mana Core Cultivation Complete!]

[Tier 2 Mana Core Acquired!]

Upon receiving the notification, Rynold's mind immediately became clearer. The feeling that he had was indescribable. It was as if he had gone through the entirety of the universe and back as he became more sensitive to the Mana around him.

Furthermore, the purity of his own Mana seemed to glisten even more. It was as if the impurities have successfully been filtered out due to the tempering that his Mana Core had gone through.

The best explanation that Rynold could have thought of for this phenomenon was in smithing terms. It was as if Rynold was the metal and the Anti-Mana Source was the hammer.

By being around the Anti-Mana Source, it was as if the metal had gone through the tempering process multiple times over. Like removing impurities with each strike of the hammer.

Opening his eyes, Rynold felt stronger. The leaps and bounds due to the cultivation of his Mana Core boosted his strength by some amount. As much as he wanted to test by how much, Rynold had no quantifiable measure in doing so.

Regardless, he felt refreshed.

Rynold stood back up after hours of sitting down and stretched. The influence of the Anti-Mana Source had on him was now practically nonexistent. Moving around in the cave didn't have any sort of negative effects on him now.

His very body feels refreshed as ever. Looking around the room, Rynold was able to feel the traces of Mana that were scattered around the cave.

However, his attention was caught by something else entirely. He walked forward and looked at the Anti-Mana Source in front of him, getting closer to the purple light.

Thanks to the development of his Mana Core, the pressure that the source emitted was no longer as unbearable as before. It was, to be more accurate, tolerable.

Having a closer look at the purple light, Rynold reached out his hand and tried to hold the source. But, his hand seemed to get deeper into the hole that the Anti-Mana Source was in.

Every inch his hand made as it tried to get closer the more uncomfortable Rynold felt. It was as if forcing the same poles of magnets were being put together.

Rynold continued to force his hand forward until he felt a burning sensation at his fingertips.

Immediately, Rynold pulled back and checked the damage in his hand. However, there weren't any visible scorch marks or signs of burning anywhere. He was sure that he felt something, though.

Circulating his Mana until the fingertips of his right hand, Rynold felt something amiss. The Mana wasn't reaching his fingertips at all. It was as if the Mana Channels on those particular fingertips were burnt off.

Clicking his tongue, Rynold tried to figure out some sort of solution to the problem. As much as possible, he wanted to actually grab the thing before leaving the cave. After all, it could be a useful tool for anybody who wanted to develop their Mana Core.

However, no matter how much he tried to use whatever creative solution he came up with, Rynold wasn't anywhere near getting the damned Anti-Mana Source.

Furthermore, there wasn't any sort of reference material that he could turn to for guidance either. If he had access to the Library back home, he was sure that he would be able to find something that would help.

Suddenly, something donned on Rynold. He scuffled through his inventory, trying to find something a lot more ancient than any other book that he had picked up.

[True Calling: Prominence Dawn]

It was the summoning tool for the Spirit of Fire.