Chapter 5: The Way to Salvation (2/2)

//I monitored the topography of the dunes to your right.

//We only came across one pit during the whole evening.

//Necrarchs no longer roam unless they smell mortal flesh.

“I AM mortal flesh!”

//You do not feel like mortal flesh, Your Grace.

//Due to your pure black alignment, Necrachs will have significant difficulties in finding you.

//You now emit black mana through the breathing exercise.

//This further masks your presence to their senses.

“So they would need to be very close? Do necrarchs roam?”

//Necrarchs here are the remaining turned citizens after centuries of absorbing high density black mana.

//Black mana used to be even more concentrated than it is now.

//You would have died instantly two centuries ago.

//Local necrarchs are artificially bloated.

//Necrarchs are normally millenia-old and quite cunning.

//These necrarchs are intellectually stunted.

//They will not move unless something makes them move.

“Normal Necrarchs are even more dangerous than those?!”

//Correct, Your Grace.

//They are cunning and devious opponents with access to powerful black magic.

//This unit faced their kind before and slew two.

//This unit is a powerful servant to the heir, long may she live!

//Necrarchs had a danger rating of seven.

“How high is a danger rating of seven?”

//There is no danger rating of eight.

“Okay.”

//But there is a ‘disaster’ danger rating.

“Oh, goodie.”

//You need not concern yourself, Your Grace. Right now, a creature with a danger rating of 3 could kill you easily.

“Perfect. You can stop comforting me now.”

//I exist to serve, Your Grace.

They rounded the corner of the wall by late afternoon and she managed to walk a bit more before night came. The skinsuit and armor proved their worth. Her shoulders were not particularly sore, as the weight was well-balanced across her body.

She found a circle of dirt by the road and dug a small hole. The dust lacked any sort of resistance, so her task was quickly done and she deployed the tent so that it was hidden from the dunes, or at least less visible. The entrance faced the wall in the hope that she would get less dust in her face throughout the night. Solfis had insisted that she should not make efforts to carry it closer so she had left the core on its homemade sled and she now sat before it for dinner.

Dinner sucked. It was pemmican brick dipped in lukewarm water then munched slowly. She had to drink the water as well. It was not exactly vile, but it was getting old pretty fast.

//It appears that you can reliably activate your core, Your Grace.

“Yeah yeah, I suppose that six-year-old children can do it around these parts?”

//Only those destined for greatness, Your Grace.

//The youngest record is two years old, and may have been a fabrication.

//It is part of the legend of the archmage Arkal of Three Rings.

//There are no records of anyone achieving it in one day.

//Truly, you are destined to return the empire to life.

“Pretty sure that mana overload helps. Speaking of which…”

Current status:

Mana distribution:

Current attunement: 0.87%

“My mana distribution is 39% black. That’s pretty high, right?”

//Correct. Children are born with fully-formed mana distribution channels.

//This is the case for everyone.

//Although, most people only have enough attunement to cast the most simple of tricks

//Mana distributions over 50% in a single category are almost unheard of.

//Black mana distribution over 20% for a living person is almost impossible to achieve.

//By all accounts, you should be dead.

“...”

//Now, this unit will teach you the basics of mana expression.

//There is a sliding panel on my left side, around the middle, open it.

It took a bit of rummaging in the dying light of the day, but Viv eventually slid an almost perfectly smooth panel. Inside, she found some sort of metal cable with a crystal at the end. The cable itself weirdly reminded her of her shower hose.

//This is a manual energy input extension.

//Place three fingers against the cable, and your index and thumb against your crystal.

//There is no need to remove your grave-robbed skinsuit, Your Grace.

“Hey!”

//The mana can exude from your fleshy appendage into the perfect, unfailing form of the mana crystal.

Viv obtemperated. Solfis was merely trying to help her and the fever was only getting worse. It was high time to stop dicking around and do some actual magic.

She felt a connection form between her core and the crystal, using the same brand new immaterial organ sense she had worked on since lunch. It was like holding hands with someone else, if her arm were covered in seventeen layers of stockings and made of marshmallow. It was, frankly, almost itchy.

//Connection established.

//Now, push on your core.

//Do not worry about efficiency or technique.

//Focus on the sensation.

Viv did as she was told and almost dropped the crystal with a yelp. For the entire day, working on her core had felt like kneading dough. The mana in her conduits had deformed and moved a bit, but it had always been there. Now, she felt like she had opened the spout as the mana left her immaterial body through the crystal between her fingers. It was dragged there by an imbalance between herself and it. She was too full, and the item was too empty.

She knew instinctively that the exchange was inefficient. Her focus was all over the place. She was working with senses that she never knew she had, fumbling about like an awkward toddler with a new toy.

//Contact established. Receiving mana now.

“You can feed from black mana?” Viv exclaimed in surprise.

//This unit can feed from any kind of mana.

//The mana is absorbed by the crystal and converted into pure energy for my continued existence.

That made sense… but then why…

“Hold on. If you can absorb black mana and Harrak is saturated with the stuff, then why the fuck did you not pump it into your power source?”

//The inability to recharge ourselves is hard-wired into our systems.

//Only transfer from one golem to another is allowed, and only in case of emergency.

//This was a security measure designed to prevent golems from functioning independently of their engineers for too long.

“I…”

She stopped.

“They did not trust you?”

//This unit cannot infer the intent of its creator.

“I see. I’m sorry.”

//You dragged me out of this prison, Your Grace.

//You rewrote the directive to guard the city at all costs.

//You have nothing to apologize for.

“Alright. So, how long do I keep doing this for?”

//Until you are too tired and must rest.

“It’s really working right?

//...Lift your hand against the background of the wall, Your Grace.

“Huh?”

Viv did as told out of curiosity and inspected the crystal. The last of the light of day cast the barrier around Harran in the color of old bone, grey and decayed. Even then, the lighter color offered a sharp contrast to the phenomenon currently taking place.

The tip of her thumb and index were emitting a dark cloud that evaporated into the air. It was barely visible and sometimes it faded when she was less focused. But it was there.

Magic.

She was visibly manipulating mana.

“I’m a mother-fucking witch!”

You have gained the skill: Mana manipulation.

Skill assessment in progress.

Focus +1

//This unit is delighted to inform you that your chances of survival have been revised and improved.

“Oh so you will tell me the odds now?”

//No.