Hell Difficulty Tuto Chapter 82: In the Darkness

Chapter 82: In the Darkness

She radiates absolute confidence as always, even while sitting in a cheap wooden chair in the middle of the small, simple room.

The mont I enter, her eyes land on . I don't even feel her mana, yet I know I am being probed.

[You have defeated an Ironbeak - lvl 54]

A notification sounds in my mind, and I realize that she just killed the monster I left outside. Without a single move. Without any trace of mana from her.

"Are you satisfied with your growth?" she blatantly asks, and I imdiately know that there is only one answer I can give her.

But why is she asking

that? I am growing nicely, improving my skills, and even gaining so levels. Actually, quite a few levels. I am safe, I have food, and even soone to talk to if I wish to do so. The view is goddamn amazing and there's even this silly dog I can bully and learn from. The bed is comfortable and I can take warm baths.

"I am not."

It sucks.

Even though I am safe, I feel like a prisoner, unable to get away from Ruby and she doesn't let

go far. My growth is slower and in the back of my mind, I start worrying about whether I will be strong enough to survive the end of this floor.

"Not at all."

The monsters here, even ones higher leveled than , are easy to kill. There's no challenge, no risk. Nothing to make my blood flow. Nothing to push

hard enough.

"Good."

Her mana hits

like an avalanche and I feel her doing sothing to , sothing I can't even track. It makes

curious and annoyed at the sa ti. She then turns to Ruby.

"Your gift," she says simply, and imdiately the redheaded woman activates her skill, the one she used to teleport us through vast distances, making space in front of her shrink, and bend.

And then, I feel the gray-haired woman do sothing I didn't know was possible. She connects to Ruby's skill with an ease I can't fathom and she feeds it mana, she takes over it and supercharges it, making it much stronger than it should be. She also does sothing else that I can only explain as changing coordinates. Her imnse mana that makes my body shiver engulfs the room and then I feel a push from behind my back.

Soft, almost gentle.

"It was annoying to watch you hunting here so safely," she says.

Watch ?

"Do your best to survive, little pup," the older woman's voice is uncharacteristically gentle and I enter the darkness, then the portal behind

disappears with a last pulse of mana.

The light disappears as it closes behind

and I'm left in the darkness. I look around, but I can't see anything. The darkness is absolute. The air feels cold and humid and when I reach out with my hand, I touch a wall that is slightly wet and rocky.

A tunnel?

I take a step and my shoulder hits the wall. The hallway or tunnel I'm in is really not that wide. My [Mana Perception] fires up, but I don't feel any mana and the skill doesn't help

to map my surroundings.

So, I use [Armant] to create armor around my body. Even my [Kinetic Redistribution] is ready as I start slowly walking through the darkness, carefully touching the wall with my fingers and stepping lightly.

My heart is beating faster than usual and my body feels warr. My breathing isn't as calm as it usually is, but I still do not enter the [Focus]. I am enjoying this feeling as much as I can.

Getting an idea, I send out a few thin threads of mana ahead of , using them to probe my surroundings, getting a signal from them when they touch the wall. It's all inspired by the sniper's traps who tried to kill

back then.

Perception continues to fire up more and more often as I'm trying to sense the mana that must be hiding sowhere. I finally enter [Focus] and continue to walk for what feels like minutes when what I expected finally happens.

An attack tears through my [Armant] and stabs deep inside my thigh. It's sothing extrely sharp and thin, like a needle, and there's almost no blood flowing out of the wound.

Imdiately, I activate redistribution, trying to slow the attacker's escape while my hand, coated in wildly oscillating mana, swings down, trying to cut into whatever attacked . I hit nothing and sothing stabs

again, in the sa place. Perception doesn't sense anything, threads of mana don't touch anything, and redistribution isn't absorbing any energy.

So, I jump back, hitting the wall with the back of my head covered in ethereal armor, but no other attack cos. Only then do I realize a weird feeling of warmth that spreads through my leg.

A poison.

The poison doesn't seem to be dangerous, at least not in the usual way a poison is dangerous. Even after 30 minutes, I only have a minor fever. The problem is what it does to my mana. As ti passes, it makes my mana less and less controllable. It just sses it up sohow and makes it difficult to control. My mana continues to flow freely, not being held at bay by my [Focus]. It's fascinating. It's dangerous.

There are already a few wounds all over my body, inside and out, from my mana clashing against it, but I continue to try to control it, using the full power of my [Dual Focus] and my [Mana Manipulation].

One thing is for sure.

I had no idea that I had so much mana. I underestimated it, and only now do I realize how much I held it back, my body unable to bear more of it so unconsciously I controlled the amount.

But now? It continues to clash against my body, tear through the mana circuit, and flow quickly thanks to my passive skill, Mana Flow. The monster didn't co back anymore, so I suspect that it's a hit-and-run tactic, probably waiting for

to die.

Just wait, you fucker, just wait.

Okay, my [Focus] and [Mana Manipulation] did level up as I just continue to use them, not even being able to use [Mana Perception]

or [Armant]. But damn, I am super thankful for the Advanced Mana Manipulation upgrade. Without it, I would be screwed.

Well, it's not like I'm not in it right now.

I've already walked quite a distance and there's still only pitch-black darkness, not a single speck of light. It's cold, it's wet, and I'm careful with every step, continuously reaching out with my hand to avoid hitting the wall. I continue to force myself to breathe slowly and deeply to not panic. It's harder now that I can't use [Focus].

For the first ti in a long ti, I start feeling so fear.

But it's bearable. I've been through worse.

What the fuck! It's already been like ten hours?

No sign of the monster and my mana is getting worse and worse every ti I get better at handling it.

[Focus - lvl 17 > Focus - lvl 18]

[Mana Manipulation - lvl 19 > Mana Manipulation - lvl 20]

I've leveled up my skills again, but it just doesn't stop. It's getting worse. Every level-up only increases the ti I can hold on but is unable to stop the poison. Still, I did learn a lot and improved my control and my handling of mana. I can now more easily make it flow the way I want, hold it at bay, and direct it to places inside my body.

But can I level up fast enough to stop it or will I need to try sothing else?

Yep, I can't hold on.

Another 10 hours pass and I stop moving, putting my entire mind into handling my mana. Thankfully, the monster doesn't attack

but I still keep a small part of my mind ready to fight back when it happens. When it attacks again, I will tackle it and take hold of my mana for a second, strengthen my body, and quickly finish it. That will teach him.

The main problem now is my almost uncontrollable mana. For the first ti, I feel a hint of fear from it, realizing how dangerous it is. There might even be so regret for not putting more points into constitution. But I won't give up.

It's MY mana.

It's MY body.

I will push through as I always have.

Okay, screw it. I don't think I can hold on much longer. Let's risk it.

Let's finally create a construct.