24

That clump of mana was incredibly difficult to keep together as the natural flow of the beast's mana tried to rip it free of my control. I just added more mana to the clump until I was nearly out, and let the massive clump loose. I new it wasn't enough, but it was a process I planned to repeat over, and over until the beast died or was weak enough I could kill it with my blades. Heart attacks killed people all the time. There had to be a similar mana related version of a heart attack. 

My heart pounded in my chest as my adrenaline rose. I was finally getting to the real fun. Death could happen the moment I gave myself away. This gentle nudge of harm was far less harm then I wished to cause to this monster, but it was the best I could do. I would chink away at this things health until it died. 

I could accelerate my mana regeneration by cycling ambient mana into my mana cycle bit by bit. It wasn't much, but the foreign mana could be turned to my own rather quickly. It didn't enhance my mana regeneration by much, but I could feel a strain if I took in too much natural mana. I still hadn't managed to draw from the dragon egg's magic again. It seemed as if it was a once in a long while kind of thing. 

She would only step in if I was about to die. Our bond if you could call it that was weak at best. I could barely sense a connection between the two of us, and all I got from it was those weird dragon dreams. While all the other dragons in the field, and on the cliffs surrounding that valley were largely blurry whenever I turned my attention to them. There was something different about the ice dragon. 

I had always thought of fire, and similar destruction when I thought of dragons, but ice was the opposite of what I'd ever imagined my dragon might be like. She was cold, crisp, clear, and very distant towards me. Her scales were a bright powerful glacial blue that turned clear towards the tips. Her horns were jagged, and sharp like melting icicles. Her breath smelled like freshly fallen snow. 

She was so angular, and sharp. Almost like a living ice sculpture. Yet I still thought she was beautiful. She was an incredible creature, and I wanted her out of my dreams, and in my arms as soon as possible. Yet a part of me knew that I was still too weak for her to properly acknowledge me. 

I frowned to myself as I tried to gather mana within myself a little faster. If I took in the ambient mana too fast then I would start to feel sick, and my mana veins would start to burst. Once a mana vein was burst it would lose mana in a way similar to a bleeding cut. Causing me to lose mana constantly until I forcibly patched the would in my mana veins or it healed naturally. Letting it heal naturally seemed to take anywhere from a few hours to a few days according to the system. 

I was getting tired of figuring all of this out on my own, but the system wasn't going to suddenly change it's mind, and start giving me all the information I needed. At this point that kind of help would feel almost like cheating. I probably wouldn't complain if I did end up with some voice from beyond helping me, but it would still be cheating. If I was being completely honest I wasn't exactly the type to stay away from cheating when I was playing a game by myself. I'd done it multiple times when playing solitaire with physical playing cards, and not on my computer. 

It was a slow, and arduous process. I didn't see any change in the beast as I continued to attempt, and clog up the beast's mana veins with my own mana. Nothing I did seemed to make the slightest bit of difference, and yet I still wasn't willing to give my position away to the beast. I knew with every fiber of my being that I would die the moment I revealed myself. I kept on alternating between pouring mana into it's veins, and opening up more of my own mana veins. 

It felt as if days had passed in this little hollow protected from the world by only my grip on the blade in front of me, and sheer luck. Was this monster slowing down or was I imagining it? I would ask myself here, and there. Dehydration, and hunger were both slowly creeping in on me. Making me tired, and irritable. 

Not that I could sleep either one of those nuisances away. I needed something to eat, and drink fairly soon or my body was going to start giving out. I was pretty sure the only reason I was able to hold on now was from the monumental danger of the situation. I dug the blade in a little deeper. Hoping that by some miracle the blade would strike a vein. 

Sure the blood was poisonous to me, but it had still help to abate some of my dehydration, and hunger. Desperation could make a person do some crazy things. Luck seemed to be on my side as a thin stream of blood started to flow from the wound. To a beast of this size it was no more then a pin prick, but to me it was my only way to survive this hell I'd trapped myself in. I'd exit the dungeon after this level, and start from the beginning again. 

I knew that meant I'd have to face the other floors again since the dungeon would reset once I left, but I was barely surviving now. The next level would be well beyond my ability. I was pretty sure the rewards would be less since I'd already cleared the levels once, but my goal wasn't these big flashy rewards. My goal was combat experience, and power. I wanted enough of both to make that little bastard pay for touching me, and threatening my boys.