58 – Mana Manipulation

The weather was good, and the food was delicious. A shame Alexandra was suffering from the curse of blandness. It was lunch time, and Sera had taken out two fully garnished plates from her spatial ring.

“So this is real?” Alexandra asked, rubbing her eyes as she looked between the ring on Sera’s finger and the plates. Red and green vegetables that she couldn’t name served as a cushion for half-a-dozen thin strips of meat.

“It’s called Shama. A specialty from home. It’s better fresh, though. Spatial storage weakens the taste.”

“I was talking about your ring.”

“Oh.” Sera handed her her plate. “Well, yeah. You won’t be able to afford one, though. Even the cheapest spatial storage items are usually reserved for the Ruby rank.”

Alexandra raised an eyebrow. “You have one. Aren’t you Platinum?”

She smiled. “Another perk of joining the Keepers of the Iron Ink.”

“I told you I would consider it.”

And with a spatial ring on the line, she might really do it.

“Erm… to be clear, I’m tasked with bringing you to the Magus. I don’t know if joining us for real is an option. It would have to wait until you reach platinum, too.”

That was right. She couldn’t let herself get corrupted by the prospect of obtaining a spatial ring. A fucking spatial ring, though.

Seeing Alexandra salivate, Sera invited her to try the dish. It tasted bland courtesy of the latest curse she’d obtained while training Dark Bolt. But it was fresh, and the vegetables were crunchy.

“I can’t tell you it tastes good, but I’m excited to try for real next time.”

“You can, if you come with me to Kator.”

“Please stop. You have to understand my position.”

Raymond’s invitation seemed genuine. After all, Sera was insistent, but she wasn’t forceful. Hell, she was helping Alexandra, apparently at some risk, since she wasn’t supposed to be in Baleria. She didn’t know what the consequences would be if she got caught, and she didn’t want to know.

The Katori woman was likable enough, and Alexandra knew that it would influence her decision to follow her or not.

Because while Sera was fine, the warning she’d gotten from Bamir was still present in her mind. Hakim had chosen not to help her, it was a fact.

Then there was Louis’ story. She had a hard time imagining that Lila could wipe out an entire village. Yet, why would he lie about that? And Bamir’s reluctance to say her name…

She curled up to her knees and grabbed her hair. So complicated.

“You good?”

Alexandra looked up. Sera was watching her, mouth half-full. She nodded.

“As I said, I’m not going to force you. But I hope you’ll come to see my sincerity.”

They finished their meal in silence. For someone who’d only slept a few hours outside, Alexandra was feeling great. “Do higher attributes make it so I won’t have to sleep at all? Eat? Drink?”

Sera shook her head. “You’ll still need to eat and drink. If anything, you’ll need more nutritious food to sustain your body. As for sleep, the need for it does decrease, but never completely goes away. Unless you ascend and become a goddess, allegedly.”

“What? I can become a goddess?”

“In theory. But that’s basically impossible. There would be more than seven gods and six demons if ascension was so simple.”

She frowned, then shook her head. All of this was too strange. Better focus on what’s ahead of me.

She summoned her journal.

Dark Bolt 6 -> 9

Life Curse 6 -> 9

She looked at those two lines for a long moment, a lump growing in her throat. She pushed it down.

Those levels cost her a lot of pain. But, for all its downsides, curse of empathy did help speed up her understanding of the skill. Feeling the effects of corrupted lifeforce directly in her guts was incomparable to mere observation.

Her gains were beginning to stall, however, as goblins were not enough to truly push herself.

Quest Journal

Daily Reset: 06:00 | Streak: 18 Days | 1% All Stats

Next Milestone: 25 Days

Daily Quests:

• Tie a knot with your mana (0/1)

“Any advice?” she asked the Katori woman.

“You know the basics. Now it’s a matter of being precise and delicate enough.”

“I do wonder, though, how my quests are generated.”

“The workings of the system are mysterious, even for the most illustrious followers of Tash. Trust that it will provide.”

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

Alexandra nodded and closed her eyes. She focused on her core and grabbed a thread of mana. She pulled it, looped it around itself, and tightened.

It snapped.

She tried again. Slower this time. The loop formed. She held it there, feeling it hang. She eased off. Let the tension settle.

She exhaled, forcing her mind to relax. Come on, you know how to move mana.

Then she drew the tail through.

It held.

Bit by bit, she tightened the knot. Until she felt a resistance.

She stopped. Opened her eyes, keeping a portion of her focus on the knot.

Tie a knot with your mana (1/1) -> Quest Completed: +10 exp, +1 INT, Skill Quest Unlocked: Mana Manipulation.

Daily Quest Streak: 18 -> 19

“That was easier than I thought.”

“You trained for hours and hours. A regular apprentice would start their journey doing exercises like this. With a much lower dexterity attribute than yours, I might add.”

“Ah? Dexterity affects mana?”

Sera tilted her head. “Why would it not?”

“Right… I also got the skill quest for Mana Manipulation. Should I work on it?”

“We’ve already been doing just that.”

“Really?” Alexandra flipped the pages of her journal.

Mana Manipulation: Cast an apprentice level spell (0/1).