Cultivating Talents [LitRPG Mana-cultivation]

"I can't believe you just did that." Lincoln stepped over, stopped short of the beast, and rested his spear on one shoulder. His eyes found Hector's. "You're crazy, you know that? What if that fireball had hit you? You'd be toast right now."

"I'm just glad Jodie timed it so well."

Jodie shrugged and let out an exasperated sigh that spoke volumes about how close it had actually been. Her body shivered as she shook her head. "I'm just glad you were as fast as you were. If you were any slower, you would've been taken out."

Hector nodded. If he'd been too fast, the force from the fireball would've been completely useless. She'd timed it perfectly. [Volt Runner] was still on cooldown—that would've added another variable to consider. Perhaps if he'd had that ability available, the fight would've ended sooner.

But things had worked out. That's what mattered.

Hector leapt off the creature's back and landed on the grass with a soft crunch. He turned to examine the now-dead Indigo properly. Its body lay flat, splayed out like a spider that had just died—not the most creative comparison, but accurate. Wings pressed flat against its body, weak and lifeless. A pool of green blood continued forming from the gaping wounds.

"So. I guess we have to get its mana crystal." Jodie's nails began extending, forming thick wolf claws that glowed red. "I can do it if you'd like."

Hector shook his head. "I can help. You don't need to do it alone." He glanced at the flame wall that formed their makeshift arena. "But I think we should at least take a break first."

The wall would last a little longer. He wanted to use that time. Rest while they could. No telling if those smaller indigos would rally and return.

As Lincoln stepped closer, the creature's body began shaking.

Hector's eyes widened. Was the Indigo not dead? But before panic could fully set in, mana started drifting from the creature's body—yellow motes of light rising into the air, coalescing into the shape of a crystal.

Hector blinked at it.

This had never happened before. Definitely not a mana core. Mana cores were spherical. This crystal was diamond-shaped, elongated at the bottom.

"Have you seen this before?" Hector turned to Jodie.

She blinked back at him and shook her head. Biting her lower lip as confusion clouded her blue eyes, Jodie stepped forward and craned her neck up at the floating crystal. "I don't think I have."

"Me neither," Lincoln added. "What do you think it is?"

"It's definitely not a mana core." Hector sighed, waiting a moment. When nothing exploded, he became more certain; it wouldn't blow up and kill them. That had been his first thought, though if the creature had possessed an attack like that, it probably would've used it during the actual fight.

Leaping into the air, he landed again on the creature's abdomen. His hand trembled as he reached toward the crystal—he couldn't help that nervous response—and pressed his skin against it.

Cool to the touch. Thrumming with energy that vibrated up into his arm.

His bracelet shook. A screen projected from the small bead.

Congratulations. You have found a challenger's key. You have received a spot in the Ascension tournament. Well done.

Hector blinked at the words glowing before him.

Ascension tournament. What the hell was an Ascension tournament?

—- —- —- —-

Stone crunched beneath Mirae's sandals as she walked in the middle of their single-file formation. One puppet led the way out front as usual. Pippa followed behind it, then Harry. Nyx trailed behind Mirae, and Mrs Strongmail brought up the rear with two puppets a few steps further back.

"Are we any closer?" Mirae asked Pippa, trying not to let her growing boredom bleed through. Pippa's excitement had been obvious, and Mirae didn't want to dampen that, no matter how bland the scenery insisted on being.

Pippa glanced over her shoulder, her hair shifting. "We should be, though I can't exactly tell you where 'should' is."

Pippa frowned and turned back to the front, muttering to herself. Then she spoke up. "But if it's anything like the previous path we took, we should arrive shortly."

Mirae nodded. She couldn't ask Pippa for more information. The girl didn't have a compass. Mirae just hoped her friend would know more, especially after receiving that partial inheritance, as Pippa called it. The inheritance wasn't complete—not really. It gave her no knowledge, just a sense of direction, as if guiding her somewhere.

"So," Mirae said, glancing at Nyx, "where were you going before you got knocked off that cliff?"

Nyx turned to her, her lips dropping to a frown. The expression wasn't unusual. After all, she wasn't a big talker, and Mirae supposed being asked about a topic so fresh and sensitive was probably annoying the girl.

"Drion," Nyx started.

"Emela's brother?" Mirae raised a brow.

Nyx nodded, fiddling with her fingers before sliding them into her pocket. "Yes. Her oldest brother and future patriarch of the Frostkeep family. He'd gotten word of a tower, said to be perhaps a key to this location. Something that could be the next step in the quest he'd undertaken."

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"Oh?" Mirae frowned. She curled a strand of white hair behind her ear as their footsteps continued to echo off the walls of the narrow passage. "He has a quest?"

"Yes, it's like most of these bigger quests—broken up into several parts. He challenged a temple, and once he cleared it, the challenge brought him here."

Mira nodded. Nyx had already gone over that part, and it didn't differ from what they'd discussed before. Mirae and the others hadn't waged a practical war against hundreds of wolves, but there had still been a challenge to reach this point.

"Anyway," Nyx continued, "this tower, whatever it is, seems important. He got word that there was a challenge at the end."

"The Guardian," Harry spoke up. He had been shooting glances at them since the start of the conversation. The interest in his eyes was palpable. Not that he had anything else to occupy his attention. Mirae even spotted the faint glint of intrigue in Mrs Strongmail's eyes as she spared a glance behind her.

"Yes, the Guardian." Nyx continued. "It's possibly the strongest thing in this place we've found ourselves in. Or at least, that's what the scouts said. It's certainly stronger than the ice wolves we were fighting outside the temple."

"And you objected to Emela fighting this? Fighting it alone?"

Nyx frowned and nodded. "Drion is the strongest in all the family, aside from the elders and the patriarch himself. It's fair to say he's the strongest below the core formation realm. He should be the one dealing with something so tough."

She stilled her speech. Her gaze lingered on Mirae, as if questioning whether she should speak the words just on the tip of her tongue. Mirae supposed her hesitation made sense. After all, Nyx was a maid to the family, and criticising your master was hardly something a maid should do.

Nyx fell silent.

"No matter. I just worried about Emela's safety, and I shared that with her. The wrong person overheard, and Drion dealt punishment accordingly."

"By throwing you off a cliff?" Harry let out an exasperated sigh. "Nobles, man. They really love taking things to the extreme. How is that even necessary?"

"I suppose criticising their lord is seen as quite an offence," Mrs Strongmail said.

A silent agreement passed between all of them. Though Harry scowled as if he still didn't understand the logic. Though having grown up in the slums with a lax hierarchy amongst normal people. He probably couldn't see the sense in it.

A few moments passed, and they all shuffled to a stop before a door. Pippa beamed as she saw the inscriptions on its surface. "Another puzzle."

She dropped to her knees immediately and began searching the floor. She picked up small rocks, raised them to her eye, frowned at them, and then placed them back on the ground.

Mirae turned to Nyx and scrutinised the girl for a moment. Nyx's black hair shifted subtly as she glanced around the space, blue eyes tracking the puppet's movements. Mirae thought of reassuring her again that they would soon find Emela, but no words came to mind.

"Let me help with that," Harry said. He stepped past Mirae, and the two began searching the ground.

Moments later, they stood, both smiling, at a crystal held between Pippa's fingers.

"I take it that's it," Mrs Strongmail said from the back.

They'd seen at least three crystals so far on their journey. Mirae was sure Pippa was gathering them and making a small collection. She probably thought they looked nice and wanted to save them to remember her time here. Not that she had anywhere to place them once they made it back to Middlec. The underground wasn't exactly a great location for decorating.

"It is," Pippa said.

She moved over to one of Mirae's puppets. She grabbed its wrist and led it toward the door, positioning it in front and raising the crystal. The light shaft formed. Small motes of dust flickered past it as she guided the beam through the etchings on the door.

A moment later, the cave rumbled slightly. The door slid back, and then with a low, grumbling thunk, it fell into the ground.

Nyx looked to the spot where the door had fallen, then glanced over her shoulder. Her eyes saw something Mirae couldn't. She was probably looking back to where they'd entered through that thick wall of blackness. After all, the same thing had happened when they first entered the caves, and she was probably putting two and two together, realising a pattern.

They all made their way into the room. Footsteps echoed across the walls as a musty smell slithered through the air. As they laid eyes on the room's contents, they paused. An uneasy sense of discomfort crawled up Mirae's neck. This place didn't seem right.

The room, even though it held the same musty smell of decay it ought to have over time, was remarkably well-preserved. The floor—stone, grey, and smooth, almost too smooth—glimmered a little as the light from the puppets hit it.

A large table dominated the corner of the room, with a chair tucked neatly underneath. On the table, there were scrolls stacked in a small pile. Books sat wedged together at the table's corner. And in the middle of the table sat a small booklet. Its leather-bound surface etched with glowing white light.

"What is that?" Harry asked. He stepped over to the table, his footfalls bouncing around the sizable space.

Bookshelves lingered on the far wall, chock-full of various titles that Mirae struggled to make out as she followed behind Harry. Two puppets took up watch on either side of the door. A third tailed Mirae, its head shifting from side to side, as it watched the space.

"This is incredible," Pippa said. She moved over to the opposite wall. Then slowly, she traced her hand along the smooth surface, paused, and then clicked something.

Light erupted across the room in an instant. Everything became clear—no longer the murky low light from the puppets, but a bright white that made everything visible.

Pippa made her way to the desk where Harry had taken up a book. He'd rested himself on the edge of the table, flipping through it.

"This is actually some interesting stuff," he said. "This is talking about mana flows and how it predates records of something called the Colonial Empire."

"Stories?" Mrs Strongmail asked. She frowned as she stepped over to Harry and peeked over his shoulder, her eyes scanning the words on the page.

Nyx stood off to the side, her blue eyes analysing the space. Whatever she was thinking, she kept tight-lipped about it.

Mirae paid the black-haired girl no mind. Instead, she moved to the leather-bound book, slipped a hand underneath it and brought it up. The white words on its surface proved particularly mystifying.

"Journal of Marin Kar."

Mirae raised a brow at Pippa, who stepped over, smiling hesitantly. "That has a weird power within it. I think it's what's been calling to me."

"This?" Mirae asked, holding the book up.

Pippa nodded enthusiastically, as if she were being offered a sweet.

Mirae handed it to her. Part of her wanted to see if something would happen when the girl touched it. However, nothing happened. Instead, Pippa took the book, wet her finger, and peeled it open. Her eyes marvelled as she began skimming the pages.

Mirae stepped away. It was better to give her friend some time to read over what she'd found. After all, this was Pippa's trial and quest to complete, not Mirae's. She was just here for moral support and security.

Glancing over at the bookshelf, Mirae plodded over, her sandals squeaking across the clean floor. She stopped, reached for a random book, and slid it out. Over the next few minutes, she read its contents. The material was interesting stuff—talking about a conflict between two empires Mirae was sure she'd never heard of, in a time probably long forgotten, older than even Middlec itself.

A few minutes later, Pippa looked up from her book with a self-satisfied smile. "I think I have some idea of what's going on now."