Vol. 2 - Chapter 10  - Mana Core

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Not placing to heart the maddening whispers he was experiencing, coming from down the earth like black smoke, he kept a focused heart and continued his incantation in a solemn manner.

<The power who brought everything to stability. The one who watches everything and knows everything from the first moment of creation. I summon you!>

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<With my call I summon you, Chaos.>

<The power who brought everything to its end. The one who watches everything collapse and looks down on worlds since their creation. I summon you!>

New changes were brought around him where the whie-purple light from the Order morphed into a dark purple which was flowing from the caverns of the earth and when the white-purple that was surrounding the tunnel from the forest, a veil of darkness blocked that energy.

Those were changed Mathias wasn't aware from outside as he continued on with the incantation.

<Since the creation you have surrounded them all, passively watching them in their destruction and ordering. Hear me out and heed my call!!>

<By the power of order and chaos, I, this soul awaits your judgment!>

As he said that in the foreign language with great intensity, the atmosphere around the chamber he was residing in changed. Eight eyes opened from the end of the tunnel that glimmered with crimson light, slowly starting to move toward the intruder who invaded her home, but as she made some steps, the soft whispering of a woman entered the spider's ears which froze her.

"Don't disturb that little cubs ceremony. He has been tainted."

The Lurker Spider Queen lowered herself as in prostrating to the dark smoke that vanished from where she was, while in the dark throne room, the woman was massaging her temples doing an exhausted sigh.

"To think those annoying barriers would be so hard to bypass. Do I even have a choice? I lost the War along with Hanul and the others against those hypocrites."

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Back to Mathias whose body was covered in the dark-purple was expecting an agonizing pain, yet the pain he suffered was to an agreeable amount, making him grit his teeth.

'Focus, Mathias. Focus, everything will be alright.'

Saying that to himself, there was some white-purple light that made its way to the chamber he was seating, which entered his body that made him grit his teeth in pain. Unlike what he thought, the pain came like a monstrosity with no calm, both sides of Order and Chaos made their way inside his body, starting to balance the color of his arcane, into something between deep black-purple to a whiter purple.

"ARGHHHHHH!! WHAT IS GOING ON WITH MY BODY? I HAVE NOT EXPERIENCED SUCH PAIN IN MY LIFE!"

Screaming that, not caring about the monsters that could attack him, in that moment one could add he wanted to die and cut short the pain he was suffering, yet there was nothing, no spider, no rat.

Minutes and minutes that felt like an eternity to him, there was the familiar burning sensation in his chest, where a core that started to be drizzled in runes was forged by the order and chaos, the light slowly settled down in a balanced manner, but it was still darker than the original white-purple arcane light.

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<If you have deemed my soul just for wielding this power, then I will awaken from my slumbering sleep to be eternally basking in your presence!>

{YOUR VESSEL IS A STRONG ONE! THE CHAOS WILL BE WITH YOU!}

A voice unheard by Mathias after he said the last part of the incantation, yet the pain inside of him began intensifying even more, that even the process of dying felt like nothing. He instantly let out a primal scream just so he could drown his pain, something that even shook the underground tunnel slightly.

Blood flowed from his mouth and ears, in those moments Mathias's only desire was for this seeming eternal torture to end.

However, bit by bit with the pain he suffered soothing, his body that by now finished forming the mana core, released a burst of purple light, and the crack of glass resounded in the tunnel chamber along with a black notification window.

[AWARENESS! You awakened your Mana Core (Grade A)]

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[Mana Core]

Rating/Grade: Epic/(A)

A modified and enhanced mana core that was awakened with uncommon methods long forgotten in history

  *  Passively increase Intelligence by 15%

  *  Increase spell damage, spell hit rate by 15%, magic spell casting by 15%, magic critical chance increased by 4% and your focus by 25% of not failing your spells

  *  The mana increase will adjust to your level [500 MP bonus]

*  Special Passive 'Chaos Blessed'

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[Chaos Blessed]

Type: Special Passive

*When unique magic is casted by the user, there is a chance of giving off chaos magic, causing chaos attacks dealing 250% of your own magic spell power.

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*** LOCKED PASSIVES ***

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With the remaining mental strength, he had to keep awake in those moments, he only muttered one spell that he familiarized in the small arsenal of spells he learned.

"[Isolation]"

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[Isolation]

Rating: Rare

Among the first spells, apprentice arcanists are asked to learn in order to cancel the effects of magic and divine magic that would want to pry into your secrets. Blocks a space of your choosing out from the senses of other beings that would use their mana to pry into your secrets.

Mana Consumption: 700 MP (Will change according to the user Mana Core and resources)

Cooldown: 30 minutes

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Instantly from his body a veil of purple light appeared covering him, while he was breathing hard, and also shaking on the ground from the pain he suffered.

"I can't even describe this feeling. Not even getting kicked in the balls can describe it. No words, an absolutely sinister moment that I don't wish upon even my worst enemies. Hah, hah, I might have gotten some trauma after this."

For someone who just experienced excruciating pain, he even had the gall to talk around.

Nevertheless, it might be a strategy for him to diminish this sensation by allowing the stress in his body to scatter.

It took him about 30 minutes to get on his feet and check his environment, and he was still untouched by the spiders in the lair.

"I have no way out from this lair but fight the Lurker Spider Queen again. This will be a good chance to test around my 'Arcane Missile'. Wait, wait, first, let me take a look at the mana core."

Opening his skill window where the 'Mana Core' entered in a special section, he could see the beauty in all its splendor.

"I did it! Haha, my patience, perseverance, and foolishness proved to be worthed. Compared to the Beta where I had a C, being ranked as an A after I've done my homework sure is delightful. There's even a new passive to my core, it sounds good being able to trigger those "chaos" attacks, but 'Mana Hunger' was the real deal."

Sorting out his messy thoughts, he watched the deeper parts of the tunnel where he concentrated on the mana inside his body that he was guiding around his veins to reach his brain. The burning was there too, but it actually felt calming, and as it was gathering around his brain, on his forehead a purple-shaped eye appeared which instantly made his mind serene.

"[Arcane Intellect]"

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[Arcane Intellect]

Rating: Epic(Growth)

Infuses the user with brilliance, drawing into the potential of the arcanist, increasing intelligence by 20% and spell power by 15%

Skill Consumption: 500 MP (Will change according to the user Mana Core and resources)

Skill Buff Time: 30 minutes

Skill Cooldown: 60 minutes

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After he cast his buffing spell he saw the skill appear back to his list of skills as if they had never disappeared, with the only difference that the amount required to cast the spells increased.

"That warning isn't just for show, the amount required to cast the spells will really change according to my Mana Core and Resources. It seems a fair exchange since there's nothing perfect to the world. No way the developers would build a class that will be that broken, there must be a balancing aspect to it."

Mentioning that, Mathias whose concentration was enhanced by the spell, started to make a list of all the spells he learned and also execute them, in such a manner while in the darkness, there was constantly a purple light being emitted like a flickering star which might be prepared for a supernova.

"There is 'Arcane Barrier', 'Evocation', 'Arcane Missile' and 'Mana Devourer' that I learned from the Arcane Tome."

Doing his list, he was also starting to cast the spells he was accustomed to use whenever fighting against opponents of different levels, and starting with 'Arcane Barrier' Mathias started exhausting his mana in attempts of casting the spell.

"Tsk, three attempts and I am already out of mana. Don't tell me the spell consumes so much mana right now because I gained an A graded Mana Core?"

"It will require some adjustment time to synchronize my spell casting with the actual fighting motions. If it took me about one month to get used to the 'Arcane Missile' I wonder how long it would take me now with an advanced core."

Persevering in this environment, he could hear the movement of some beings getting closer and closer to him.

'I guess you have finally noticed me after all this commotion.'

Taking out Ragnius and holding it close to his body as the rustling sound stopped and his senses alerted him of an incoming attack.

'Raven's Movement'

Activating immediately his movement skill, he stepped back and could see about 10 small spiders that proved to be a pain in his first encounter with them, and not waiting for more to arrive and overwhelm him, he stepped forward and using 'Bloodfall' he blasted the small spiders into smithers which gave him about 10 EXP, compared to when he gained about 50 EXP when he was level 8.

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Gazing toward the other part of the tunnel, he could see some larger spiders that were elite monsters welding something akin to blunt swords in their spider legs like arms.

(Elite)[Lurking Spider Enforcer - Lv. 15] [8000 HP]

"Ohh, she didn't come herself, instead sent her soldiers to do the dirty work."

After the 'Enforcers' there were some smaller ones that were welding some primitive weapons but nevertheless looking dangerous.

(Normal)[Lurker Spider Soldier - Lv. 13] [4000 HP]

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From where he was, the number of spiders kept on rising and without even a chance of planning much, one of the Spider Enforcers started charging at Mathias while giving off some creepy sounds from his mouth.

Seeing this advancement of the spider monsters he remained calm, starting to channel his arcane energy in his palms which was gathering faster and with a stronger energy that could be said to resemble the one Fayrene could muster.

He didn't look at his hands as he focused himself on controlling the energy that was gushing from his Mana Core like a floating river, making his palms start getting to a dark-purple.

"[Arcane Missile]"

It was exactly in the moment the 'Spider Enforcer' arrived in the part of the chamber he was, cleaving with his sword at him, but what meet the spider monster was a large dark-purple missile which blasted his head knocking him down and pushing off the other spider soldiers away from the chamber Mathias was residing.

[Critical!]

[You have dealt 1424 damage to the target while the ones suffering from the impact have been hit by 460 damage.]

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[You have learned the spell 'Arcane Missile']

[You have unlocked the passive 'Arcane Mastery']

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Quickly taking a look at the spill so he could verify if the amount of mana required was the same as in the past, he could only sigh and start making new strategies of how to keep the fight.

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[Arcane Missile]

Rating: Epic(Growth)

The most ancient spell dating from the first world and loved by so many arcanists. After so many eons of enhancing this spell and reworking it from its basic form, under the mythical archmage who sundered fear in even Gods and Dragons, it reached its final version.

It boasts tremendous power but consumes a lot of resources.

It deals damage with a variety of chances but always being in the range of 1x -2x your current magic power to the target.

It also ignores the enemy's magic resistance, and once the magic missile wounds the target, it has a chance of 10% to proc Critical Strike DMG.

Resource Consumption: 300 Mana. (Will change according to the user Mana Core and resources)

Skill Casting Time: According to the user control (1 - 120 seconds)

Skill Cooldown Time: No Cooldowns..

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[Arcane Mastery]

Rating: Rare (Growth)

Increases magic power by 10%, reduces casting time by 10%, and increases the intelligence by 2%

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"At least the damage didn't change, but I only have 4 more shots with the 'Arcane Missiles' and those ones I should keep on hold when I have to get distance. Yes, just like in the past."

Saying that, he stepped forward while using Ragnius to pierce the 'Spider Soldiers' who managed to escape the impact, and with his attacks dealing damage in between [150] and [197], it made him believe he was on a good roll since he didn't hit the rock bottom of his physical damage.

Mathias, in those moments of the fight, where 15 monsters were on his tail, he approached the fight with a detached intellect that it was even scary, entering the process of calculating in his mind the benefits of allowing the monsters to connect with him.

[You have suffered 45 damage]

[You have suffered 78 damage]

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*SCREECH*

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"Hmph, stop screaming in my ears you monsters. My brain is quite sensitive in those moments." said Mathias as he looked at the 'Spider Soldiers' who were of about 12 at number approach him, to take advantage of the opening the other spiders created.

"[Sweep Thrust]"

Yet, just as he ended saying that Mathias did a spin allowing Ragnius the entire extent of his arm to have a maximum range, moving with the spiders that had their weapons stabbed in him, holding for dear life. Using his spin, everyone in his range got wounded, creating an unison reaction that echoed in the chamber, and with his thrust movement, he impaled 6 spiders before drawing the spear back.

[You have dealt 121 AoE damage to all surrounding targets.]

[Critical!]

[You have dealt 410 damage to all attacked targets.]

Still snowballing, Mathias after drawing Ragnius back from the impaled spiders who entered the 'Bleeding' debuff, started unleashing 'Piercing Rain' around himself, jabbing with the spear as if he was pulling the trigger on a machine gun. Nevertheless, this assault of his also had some drawbacks because his Stamina was chipped away.

'Resilient bastards, I only got you to 50% HP after so many hits? Good that I have AoE abilities otherwise I doubt I could have survived the way I am doing right now.'

Thinking that, he started stepping back in the face of the maddened 'Spider Soldiers', and before he knew the 'Spider Enforcers' also made their way pushing aside the soldiers and doing the attacking.

[You have blocked one attack.]

[You have suffered 178 damage.]

Another attack came that moved too fast for him to switch stances, but with the arcane energy that was building in his body, in an attempt to block the attack from the second 'Spider Enforcer' he used his defensive spell.

'[Arcane Barrier]'

The moment he envisioned in his mind the basic shape of the shield he got accustomed to, from his body the purple light morphed, expanding outward like a protective cocoon.

[You have learned the spell 'Arcane Barrier.]

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[Arcane Barrier]

Rating: Epic (Growth)

An ancient spell dating from times immemorial when life was still in its first evolutions. A spell that uses the mana inside of you to shield you from harm and also cause damage against your enemy.

Shields you for five minutes of 35% of all incoming damage with a 10% chance of reflecting the damage absorbed by the shield against the attacker. (There's a limit the barrier can handle before breaking)

Skill Consumption: 500 MP (Will change according to the user Mana Core and resources)

Skill Cooldown: 5 minutes

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[You have suffered 130 damage.]

[*Reflecting 70 damage to the attacking target.]

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Pushed by the strength of the attack, he rebounded against the spider monsters sending out one 'Arcane Missile' which blasted two of the Enforcers, before he stepped forward and attacked using all his mana on 'Piercing Rain' unleashing 6 skills creating a storm of spear attacks that was cutting into the flesh of the 'Spider Enforcers'.

Once he was done with his outburst, the spider monsters didn't care about their wounds and cleaved their swords with only one target in mind, Mathias.

Evading two strikes from the enforcers, one still managed to hit his barrier which pushed him constantly back to the start of the instance.

[You have suffered 97 damage.]

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[Health: 479/877 ] [Mana: 70/1560]

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With a fast look at his mana and health gauged he did two [Sweep Thrusts] trying to knockdown the spider enforcers and also push back the soldiers who were advancing, before unleashing his spear javelin-like throws solely focused on the 'Enforcers'

"Hah, hah, I can see the light to my tunnel. One chance to win this fight, and that managing to cast that spell."

Concentrating while stepping back from the monsters attacking him, he gazed at the ones wanting his demise, and with his eyes shining with a purple light, he murmured one cast.

"[Evocation]"

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[Evocation]

Rating: Legendary

Channeling the mana of the world for 20 seconds increases the mana regeneration by 850% while in combat.

Skill Consumption: 25 STA

Skill Cooldown: 60 minutes

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From his surroundings Mathias could see blue vapors move toward him and enter his body, starting the mana recovery process, which would assure him like a dying sun a lingering moment of shine.

[STAMINA: 38/100]

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He was still in the good margins of his stamina, not feeling constrained in any shape or form by the stamina system in this live version. His mana was also an important resource that couldn't be described as a constraining factor for his fighting style. From the moment he succeeded in casting 'Evocation' his mana recovery each second was equivalent to him drinking one mana potion, recovering 320 MP.

"HAHAHA, UNLIMITED POWER!"

Laughed Mathias feeling his mana core energized, before not long, he started to unleash all his arsenal of skills on the monsters in front of him, sending off two 'Arcane Missiles' which hit two of the 'Spider Enforcers' pushing them, aside and leaving only one enforcer and the remaining off the spider soldiers.

Creating some space for himself, Mathias started sending a 'Piercing Rain' attack on the soldiers trying to buy more seconds for his mana to recover, and with two seconds passing, and as the monsters kept approaching him, getting Mathias almost to the start of the instance, he jumped in the air using Ragnius and attacked with 'Bloodfall'

[You have dealt 386 AoE damage to the targets.]

Landing from his jumping attack, he started off with 'Treachery' doing three light fast jabs to the closest spider monster, before he stepped inside the encirclement using 'Raven's Movement' and began doing two spinning attacks which razed the spiders.

[You have suffered 25 damage.]

[You have suffered 42 damage.]

Stepping back immediately from inside the encirclement of spiders who were low on HP, avoiding the remaining attacks, he unleashed another missile that hit the 3rd 'Enforcer' right in his head, but that wasn't enough to kill them off.

The seconds of his 'Evocation' were running out, and the situation on the tunnel was favorable for Mathias who looked at the monster's health gauges being on the lowest possible percentage.

He unleashed another 'Sweep Thrust' which hit the monsters in an AoE attack before pinning off some grouped soldiers with the 'Thrust' sequence, and like with some basic attacks while keeping the 'Enforcers' at bay using his arcane spells, he took a deep breath, saying when hearing the notification of him killing the first 'Lurker Spider Soldier'.

[You have defeated a 'Lurker Spider Soldier' gaining the following rewards: 350 EXP, 20 silver coins, 1x Rare Quality Spider Silk Fabric, 1x Trophy]

"At last, they start dying."

Getting himself reinvigorated seeing them drop down, turning to gray light fragments, he pushed ahead, and one by one the twelve spider soldiers turned to nothing.

[You have defeated a 'Lurker Spider Soldier' gaining the following rewards: 350 EXP, 12 silver coins, 1x Rare Quality Spider Silk Fabric, 1x Trophy]

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[You have defeated a 'Lurker Spider Soldier']

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[You have defeated a 'Lurker Spider Soldier']

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*SCREECH*

The Enforcers released a pain-inducing scream, that pushed Mathias some steps back, but with the remaining 5 seconds off mana recovery, he concentrated on ending them too, gathering his mana for the missiles, waiting for the best opening to blast them.

'My 'Bloodfall' and 'Treachery' are on cooldown. I have to use the finish attack, I wonder if I can pull it off since I only did it so little.'

Thinking that while watching the three enforcers charge at him at the same time, with the intent of ending him, who was with only [235] HP. Just three attacks from them would suffice in killing him.

'Bad choice.'

Dropping Ragnius on the ground, stabbing the ground with his sharp blade, Mathias extended his arms forward, opening his palms toward two enforcers and with a calm voice, casting his prepared spells.

"[Arcane Missile]"

"[Arcane Missile]"

[You have defeated a 'Lurker Spider Enforcer' gaining the following rewards: 1000 EXP, 100 silver coins, Fang of the Enforcer, 1x Elite Trophy]

[You have defeated a 'Lurker Spider Enforcer' gaining the following rewards: 1000 EXP, 100 silver coins, 1x Epic Spider Silk Fabric, 1x Elite Trophy]

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[You leveled up!]

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Once he leveled up, not expecting for such event, he picked Ragnius back from the ground, and with his arms gnashing with dark smoke that dropped some raven's feathers, he dashed toward the last 'Spider Enforcer' and using more of the hiding effect of the 'Raven's Movement' it looked as if Mathias disappeared from where he was, only to said in a cold voice behind the monsters back.

"[Nephthys Lament]"

It was such a quick strike that it wasn't even sensed by the spider, who woke with the spear passing by its chest, shattering the heart.

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[Critical]

[You have dealt 2870 damage to the target.]

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[You have defeated a 'Lurker Spider Enforcer' gaining the following rewards: 1000 EXP, 100 silver coins, 1x Epic Spider Silk Fabric, 1x Elite Trophy,  Sleep of the Spider]

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"What a weirdly named item, an sleep?"

However, as he said that, from the darkness of the walls, the head of the 'Lurker Spider Queen' was revealed moving at light speed to bite Mathias who relaxed after killing off the spider monsters.

['Arcane Barrier' has been crashed]

"Wait? Something attacked me?" asked Mathias confused, quickly turning his head to see the head of the 'Lurker Spider Queen' up close which turned into a woman's head with silky jet-black hair and dark skin, with an elfish appearance to her.

[You have suffered catastrophic damage.]

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<HUMAN, THIS PLACE ISN'T FOR YOU TO DISTURB. DON'T YOU COME EVER AGAIN IF YOU DON'T WISH FOR THE HUMANS LIVING IN MY TERRITORY TO SUFFER PAIN AND AGONY.>

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"Argh, you know lady, sometimes I hate being threatened, but do I have another choice? I can't even lift a finger against you. But, remember, if anything happens to the village outside of the forest, there will come a day when I will hunt you down."

<AS LONG THEY DON'T DISTURB MY SLUMBER, I WILL NOT HURT ANYONE.>

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"You better, not." said Mathias looking with cold eyes that shined with dark-purple light at the woman's face.

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[You died]

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With Mathias turning into gray light fragments, the 'Lurker Spider Queen' moved back to her chamber where the statue of a large spider with beautiful patterns on her body was revealed.

<DARK MOTHER, I SENT THE HUMAN OUT OF THE CHAMBER.>

"Good girl, for this you will receive some blessings. Maybe with this, you will evolve to the next stage becoming a full-fledged Drow Priestess of mine. Once the evolution is successful you will have to return to Abyss for further training."

<YOUR WORDS ARE THE GOSPEL, DARK MOTHER.>

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[A/N: Would you look at that, the Mana Core is an A. He did his homework, but he is not a perfect person. Now, those who might be upset about Mathias not having an SS or SSS, don't, there's still Mana Devourer that is full of potential.  SSS would be equivalent to a Mythic class, which now when I say it, Fayrene who is with an SS core wouldn't she be equivalent to a Legendary Class?]

[Aside from this, we got some testing of the arcane spells, so he still got it in him, but not enough to fight against the Boss of the instance. Yet, and there's a big one, we got on our hands quite the mysterious lady. Who is she?]

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[If you want advanced chapters, check my p@treon. P.S: Once I get them, I will also immediately update that page ( Tiers have been reworked, if you wish to read ahead, and want to support me, the link is underneath this paragraph and also in the synopsis of the story]

[www..patréon.com/Morpheus146]