I make my way back over to the more peaceful, less ground-shaking side of the white-walled rectangular prison.
My training for today begins but ends shortly after.
I only manage to get 3 hours in. My bones are aching, my mouth is dry, and the muscle fatigue is becoming overwhelming. I have under a liter of water left. The only progress made today is thanks to my rise in levels.
In the last 3 hours, I’ve gained another 4, bringing me up to level 388. Over the last few weeks, I’ve managed to burn through just over 10 million MP. This is multiple times the amount most D or C-Class hunters will ever use in their entire lives…
The risk-to-reward ratio of training my mana control any further is not worth it. Before I entered this void prison, I didn’t even know refining one’s mana was possible. My attacks have become close to 5 times as dense, hence 5 times as deadly with the same MP output. My blade’s total holding capacity has grown almost 2 times. With the near-unlimited stores along with my sentient weapons, I’m able to charge and release attacks up to 6 times my full MP bar.
Taking all the factors into consideration, a full-strength attack within these walls is up to 30 times as effective as it was just a few weeks ago. My rising levels are continuously adding to that number as well.
I test out an ultimate attack to end the 11th day of this training cycle.
Focusing my mana and gripping my rattling blades, I unleash two magnificent attacks. The first is a thin shining black blade and the second is a transparent crescent of wind. The combined power of these strikes amounts to nearly 13,000 refined MP.
My energy collides with the white man barrier letting out a metallic twang, then ripping through my prison’s wall. A massive 10m high, 3m wide tear in space opens as the two crescents of expanding white wind and crimson flames continue to soar through the black void behind the wall.
I grin while dropping to my knees, preparing to sleep after my short yet effective day of training.
While my eyes shut, I activate my All-Seeing Eye to monitor the progress like usual.
I would typically gasp in shock at the astounding results, but my weary body and mind are too fatigued to muster a reaction. Drifting off to sleep, I witness the two powerful energy waves tearing through the outer wall of the apparently, not-so-endless black void. A small portion of my attack manages to break free from the confines of the Titan’s Domain, escaping into the outside world.
I’ve managed to find the outer edge.
I close my eyes, and sleep for hours, but am rudely awakened by the sensation of a vibrating floor and my MP bar nearing 0 again. Standing to my feet while plundering my mana points back to full without much issue, I check my status.
I’ve gained another 5 levels… I’m at 393 now…
With the rumbling floor below me glowing a faint tint of red, I look over to see how Ember is doing. My jaw nearly drops to the floor as I take in the sight before my eyes.
The crimson aura has doubled in size since I last examined it. I can barely make out an outline of the slumbering dragon. The walls around it look very distorted… Almost as if the white-walled barrier around us is being completely absorbed.
I gulp.
If this box collapses in on itself, the only logical explanation I have would be that we would be floating through that endless black void outside. The unpleasant memory of falling through nothingness flashes through my head for a moment before I snap back to reality.
Activating my All-Seeing Eye, I confirm my prior hypothesis to be correct almost immediately.
The white-walled barrier between us and the outside void is slowly beginning to dissolve. The area nearest to the Dragon is the weakest. It feels just like the tear in space that I create every time I release an ultimate attack.
Ember is creating millions of micro-tears as he absorbs more and more mana from the surrounding area. Over the last day or so, the rate of absorption has grown to become slightly higher than the rate of this barrier’s recovery. Slowly and steadily, these white walls will be torn away…. Then, we’ll have to face the void….
I shutter, staring down at my 500ml of water remaining. If I were to fly out into the endless void, what would happen? How long would it take for Ember to plunder every last drop of MP in this realm between realms? Would this be enough to sustain me?
I let out a sigh while deactivating my perception skill. It’s probably a better idea for me to think of a quicker way out than to sit and ponder questions I have no way of finding the answer to.
Gritting my teeth, and nodding with a motivated grunt. I’ve decided to attempt an ultimate strike with all of my available MP once per hour. My body is too weak to continue intense spurts of mana control training, the fastest and most efficient way for me to get stronger is to just sit in place and level up with the help of Ember’s exp link.
Every hour, for 4 more hours, I do exactly as I’ve planned.
I release waves of energy at the white wall and they cut through the empty void slicing the back wall each time. I’ve gained 5 more levels, bringing me to level 398, but the progress has slowed.
I’m able to penetrate the back wall of the black void, but the white walls heal completely before I have a chance to ever send a second attack through. The rise in levels has increased my MP output slightly as well, every little bit counts.
After these strikes, I’m thoroughly exhausted. My biggest fear has also come true. I’m completely out of food and water. Those last drops were necessary to continue my futile full-power-slashing attempts.
Ember’s aura has grown so wide, that even at the far side of the room, I’m partially engulfed in its red tint. The only way I’m able to see or sense the Dragon is by using my All-Seeing Eye. It’s completely covered in a blood-red veil of light. The area of white walls surrounding it is dissolving at an alarming rate, growing more transparent every second.
My head aches, my lips crack, and my joints cry out in pain as I collapse and fall asleep once again. I’ll have one more chance to find a way out when I wake up. If I fail tomorrow, then I’m as good as dead.
The rumbling floor, loud humming, and drifting red cloud of aura fade off into the back of my consciousness as I drift off to sleep.
Many hours go by again and I’m awoken by the dinging sound of “level up” notifications in my head. The floor beneath me is violently moving up and down, the metallic hum of mana fills my ears, and my vision is completely clouded by a murderous red tint.
Opening my status, I see I’ve gained 6 more levels while I was out. Level 404…
I activate My All-Seeing Eye, fearing what will show up in my vision.
For a moment, I don’t move a muscle….
Ember’s presence is nearby, but I can’t say the same for most of the walls in this room. I’m not sure I can even call it a room by definition anymore.
The only white barrier-like walls I can sense are on my backside, and in front of me for about 10 meters at most. The rest of this ominous floating prison has been completely dissolved and absorbed by the sleeping Dragon nearly 100 meters away.
If the thick red aura blocking my vision wasn’t present, I would be staring out into an endless black void. The Mp in my status is completely drained. I’m able to replenish it, but If I’m not constantly plundering MP it drops rather quickly.
“This… is… insane….”
I grip both of my weapons tight and prepare for the attack that I’ve been putting off until this very moment.
So far, all of my full power strikes have been aimed at the white wall on the far side of the room as far away from Ember as possible. I didn’t want to disrupt his rank-up process. Now, it’s a much different story. If I don’t do something drastic, it’ll be the end of me….
I aim my blades at the wide-open void in front of me. It’s all or nothing this time around. I’ll give one more strike every last bit of strength I have left in me.
Closing my eyes and taking a deep break, I grip my blades tightly and begin plundering MP all around me. Every drop of mana that enters my body is refined, condensed, and imbued into my two weapons.
After 15 seconds, I’ve already achieved a new record. In total, my blades have 14000MP stored between them, and I continue to push on. They glow with dark red and bright white light. The excess wind and fire magic around my two weapons rips away at the frail skin on my hands and arms.
Just 10 more seconds pass and I manage to squeeze in another 2000MP. The joints in my fingers and wrists threaten to snap as I hold on with all my willpower remaining.
Another 5 seconds go by, and I’m on my last leg. It feels like every cell in my body is screaming at me to stop as I continue to hold on and stand strong. A final 1000MP is stored in my blades, bringing the total to 17000MP.
With a final yell of agony, I swing both blades across my body to let a reality-tearing attack.
As each wave of energy emanates from my blades, my eyes roll back into my head, overwhelmed by instantaneous exhaustion and fatigue. Due to the repetitive tremendous strain on my body and mind, I lose consciousness and succumb to the depths of oblivion.
With no limiting barrier to greatly decrease my attack power, the two curved blades of pure element-imbued refined mana rip through the darkness of the endless void with terrifying speed.
In seconds, they collide with the outer wall of the Void Creeper’s realm slicing through it like a skilled surgeon’s scalpel. An enormous tear opens up in the back wall growing in size as the two crescents of energy detonate on impact. They collide with foreign mass outside of this realm, compounding their explosive power.
This destructive force shakes the walls of the entire Titan’s Domain as the tear in space grows exponentially larger.
The red aura of Ember’s rank-up seeps out deeper into the void, finding the path of least resistance. That path, being the only way back to the outside world….
The tear rapidly expands as the Dragon continues to absorb its surrounding. I float out into the empty void as the last remaining bits of the white walls disappear.
In a brilliant flash of light, as the tear stretches to the length of the entire backside of the void, Ember’s crimson aura continues to surge and expand. It overwhelms the near-infinite darkness, becoming the dominant energy in this realm between realms.
Hours later….
After lying unconscious on a hard surface I open my eyes to see a small black gem about the size of a coin laying on the dry ground peeking out from a patch of sun-bleached grass.
I release the death grip on my blades, putting them into my item storage and picking up the odd shiny stone.
Standing to my feet, I lick my dry lips and feel my caved-in stomach gurgle while taking in the beautiful view….
A black and red dragon soars high in the sky over an endless horizon of rising and falling hills.
A wide grin creeps across my face.
“I’ve made it back to The Great Plains.”