Chapter 45: Level 3

The Wellspring mana crystal went skittering off to the side as Zach slapped it out of Thomas’s hand.

“Ow!” Thomas said, dragging in deep breaths as he shook out his hand.

“My bad, bro,” Zach said, though he looked a little concerned. “You had a tight grip on that thing, and by the looks of it, it had a tight grip on you, too.”

Thomas waved it off. He had made the mistake of taking a larger dollop of Wellspring mana than usual. Predictably, his entire body had seized up, and he’d been incapable of movement, not even to breathe. As this wasn’t his first rodeo with that mana, he had told Zach to knock it out of his hand after 30 seconds or so.

“It’s useful stuff. Dangerous, though,” he said, then went over to collect the crystal.

Zach snorted. “I know how that can be.”

They had spent the last few minutes distributing the different mana crystals. As Thomas had promised, they tried to make it as even as possible with a 33/33/33 split, and they had all counted the crystals they had already absorbed.

It wasn’t that difficult to split everything fairly. Jo mostly wanted dibs on the level 3 Poison crystals. Though those would probably sell well to alchemists, Thomas had no personal need for them. He wanted any level 3 Healing crystals, of course. Zach got the few Air crystals they had managed to pick up, as he mixed that with his fire.

Then it was just a matter of sorting out the Water, Earth, and the couple of Mud crystals. Jo gave up her claim on most of the Water and Earth in exchange for the Muds, which were a combination of the two and, therefore, more potent. She had benefited the most out of this swamp dungeon.

Thomas and Zach split the rest of the Earth and Water crystals with the idea to sell them on the outside. At level 3, they should fetch great prices.

Zach fared the worst from the rewards, as he needed Fire to add to his core to get to level 3, but he took it with grace and said he would exchange his share of Earth for Fire on the outside. There weren’t many level 3 dungeons that Thomas was aware of, but Fire was a common element, so he had a good shot at it.

Of course, they split the three Adaptation crystals three ways, each deciding to absorb theirs immediately.

That little bit was what made Thomas think he could reach level 3 here and now. He had used a lot of mana to heal himself, Jo, and Zach, but level 3 mana still outleveled him, and he had a lot left. So he added a few more level 3 Healing crystals on top, then with a growing sense of anticipation, absorbed his Adaptation crystal. It sank into his body like it belonged there. There was still a little room left, so he decided to fill the rest up with Wellspring mana. Why not? It was even more potent stuff.

But he drank a little too deeply and felt overly full.

He glanced over at Jo, who was still busy absorbing a Mud crystal.

“You gonna make the leap?” Zach asked. “Level three?”

“Level three,” he confirmed. “Here I go.”

And he focused in on his core, willing it to condense all the mana in his body. He sank into a state of concentration… or was it meditation? He had never been one to really meditate before, so it was a little debatable exactly what he was doing.

He saw that the greatest mix was, of course, Healing mana, but pure white Wellspring mana swirled through it in eddies and currents. Somehow, it seemed to boost the healing. And of course, the adaptation mana made it all glitter like a sparkly vampire.

Well, whatever. It was the important third ingredient that had saved his butt in the mimic dungeon. He wanted that adaptability locked in, should he need it again.

With that in mind, he encouraged all the free-floating mana in his body to travel to his core, to stick there and fully absorb into himself.

It seemed that the mana was almost eager to do it, like it recognized his plan and agreed wholeheartedly. Or maybe he was just particularly suited to these types of mana. He remembered that his parents hadn’t been able to keep any of the mana they had absorbed, whereas any Healing he touched seemed to want to just stick to him.

His core seemed to balloon out, making him feel even more uncomfortably full. Then, just when the last motes left his body to his core, it hit a tipping point. The energy collapsed downward and inward. For a brief second, he saw his level 1 core, which was even smaller than he remembered, as if it too had been impacted. That just looked like glittery Healing mana; no Wellspring was involved.

Then all thought was washed away as the new mana he’d collected compacted into a permanent layer. Potent, adaptive healing washed out of him in a wave as he became level 3.

He had thought taking those Healing crystals had been intense. This was even more so. He felt strong and energetic, like he could run a 5K without getting winded.

Thomas opened his eyes.

“Wow,” he croaked.

Zach, who had been sitting nearby, passing the time by meditating, cracked a smile.

Jo stopped what she was doing and just stared at him. “I felt that. Was that you?”

“Level 3,” he confirmed.

“Congratulations. I have got to try that for myself.” And she quickly returned to absorbing Poison mana.

Meanwhile, Thomas looked at his stats. Because he was level 3, there seemed to be more details to his stats.

Oh, that was interesting. If he was reading this right, the second layer in his core had combined even better than his level one mana had. “Adaptive Wellspring of Healing” was a much cooler name than “Healing Mana with Adaptation sub-aspect.”

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Was that because he sort of knew what he was doing now, or had he chosen a particularly good mix?

No way to know immediately, but there was one more task he needed to complete. From his backpack, he withdrew the skill shard he’d gotten from Grimm.

He stared at it in his hand, asking himself if he truly wanted to do this. After all, he only got one skill slot per level.

It might be better to have a combat-oriented skill. He didn’t know what he was going to be facing in the future, but there would definitely be dungeon monsters involved. Or maybe he should choose something more healing-based, so he could channel his blooming empathy in a productive direction. That way, he wouldn’t have to excuse himself from the room if a sappy, Oscar-bait movie got too intense.

Okay, he wasn’t that bad yet. But if he didn’t get a handle on this, it could be.

The fact was, Thomas wasn’t entirely certain how far down the path of healing he wanted to go.

Did he want to be a healer?

He wasn’t exactly a germaphobe, but he didn’t like being around sick people. Plus, body fluids grossed him out, especially blood. He’d taken quick trips to the side of the lily pad to scoop up some water to wash the blood off him before the fish or tadpoles caught on. He’d never wanted to be a doctor; he just hadn’t wanted to die in a dungeon of gangrene or whatever.

But he did truly enjoy seeing people thrive and the act of restoring people to wellness. Zach had been grievously injured a couple of hours ago, and Thomas had been able to fix him so perfectly that he wouldn’t need to see a plastic surgeon. He’d helped Jo too, though anyone with first aid knowledge could have reset her shoulder. Not to mention what he’d done regrowing Derek’s entire hand. No doctor in the world could have done that.