World Filter

Normally, Mark had to be in contact with a person if he wanted to draw out their Corruption, but with his core now up and running, he was able to have his Prana pass into someone and take hold of the fetid energy in their bodies.

Granted, it was nowhere near as fast as physical contact, but he could draw it from a large number of people rapidly. And with everyone nearby, he could pull in dangerous amounts all too quickly.

Mark didn't waste any time and began sending the corruption through his resistance. Dead set on purifying as much Prana as he could handle.

Pain snuck into what would have otherwise been an incredibly joyous occasion, but Mark welcomed it because he knew that with each step, he got closer to solidifying his core.

The system was going berserk, but he forced its messages aside.

If all it was going to do was scream at him about things he already knew, then he didn't need the distractions.

Mark's chest burned, and even the freshly purified Corruption only slowed the growing desperation.

He needed to find a way to increase his energy or purify it more quickly.

Again, Mark could only fall back on their plans, as he extended a link to Jon and Sam.

They already knew what that meant, and he felt the couch depress on either side as they connected with him. All three of them began to use [Mediation]. Pulling in threads of Corruption and helping him convert it to raw energies.

The burden lessened right away, and Mark drew a staggered breath.

It was enough for now, but only just. Mark's lungs felt like there were hot bands of steel preventing them from expanding, even as he barely got enough energy to keep the process going. It felt like being waterboarded, just enough 'air' to survive, but far from pleasant. And as if that wasn't bad enough, he had the sinking feeling it was about to get worse.

Mark had already drawn in so much that it felt like his reserves were already well over their limits.

It spilled out of him freely, and during this process, Mark noticed something useful.

Prana, unlike the other two energy types, didn't affect the physical world directly—it touched life itself.

Everyone near their hiding spot felt it. Their bodies relaxed, their aches faded.

Mark wasn't actively healing anyone—he could barely spare the focus—but his Prana moved on its own, happily revitalizing whatever it brushed against.

The real surprise came when those touched by it began to emit just a bit more Prana themselves.

It wasn't much, but enough that each person added a little to the flow.

He didn't yet understand why, but he could work with it.

No sooner had he found a solution than his need for Prana rose, almost choking him.

Mark's desire to claw at his throat for 'air' was only just suppressed by his need for calm.

The pain of the Corruption helped to ground him, as did Sam and Jonathan sitting beside him, doing their best to pull in more energy for him.

His breathing was ragged, his thoughts a chaotic blur—but one thing was clear: he needed to reach more people.
Yet his newly formed core trembled under the strain.
Mark held the star together through sheer stubbornness and pushed it harder still.

Bit by bit, he gathered the energies within him, shaping one final construct with everything he had.

[Engrave Mana] had always been Mark's greatest weapon.
Where others wielded blades, he had relied on this spell time and time again to survive impossible odds.
And now, he was betting on it one last time.

He summoned it in his chest, then spread it outward to cover the three of them.
This version wasn't built for defense; if something attacked now, it couldn't stop a breeze.
Instead, it was built for reach.

The spell solidified, then burst outward in every direction.
It passed through walls, down into the streets—everywhere his Prana had already settled.
Out there, his energy rejoined the spell, feeding it, strengthening it, sending it even further.

Block by block, it surged outward—first one, then two, then three.
Mark linked the shell to their [Mediation] efforts, causing a swell of Prana to arrive. However, he kept the construct growing, feeding it with their growing efforts.

Prana arrived like a tide from all directions, and what he didn't consume was fed back into the construct.

A single freeing breath sent waves of euphoria down his spine.

Mark could feel a connection developing with each person under his spell. It had already reached tens of thousands as Mark felt his spell stutter at the edges of NAS's territory.

At this stage, with the Corruption and his construct working hand in hand. Mark was finally able to think for the first time since this all began.

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His will drifted through the space as he felt his awareness stretched to its limits.

But he wasn't alone, because he had been linked with Sam and Jonathan.

Mark's usual connection to those under his construct was fairly in-depth. He could understand their current condition and quickly asses how to proceed. However, what they felt right now was more than that. The connection was far more detailed than anything he had experienced before.

Each and every person under the spell glowed in their eyes like a strand of light. Mark recognized that familiar glow of the soul peaking from their chests. All in varying states of disarray. The more powerful Prana users seemed to show less of their light, which only made sense since they had built up their core further than others.

Mark had seen this before, and he now knew how easy it was to extinguish that light—and how fiercely it endured.

For Sam and Jonathan, this was their first time sensing a soul. They could only stare in awe at their warm radiance.

Below, the crowds from the celebration moved in like a canvas of stars—some bright with joy and excitement, others laced with curiosity or quiet devotion. A few shimmered with sorrow, buried deep but still present.

Where Mana would overload them with information, Prana only cared for those around them. Mark's energy effortlessly intermixed with others, and where it passed, the light in their chests seemed to strengthen. It was from here that more Prana bloomed.

Mark would have loved to spend all day like this. But he couldn't. His body and core were trembling under the strain of keeping this spell going.

He wasn't sure how big his construct had grown, but it was enough to cover an entire territory that took up a good portion of the city.

Prana was no longer an issue; in fact, it was the opposite, he had way too much.

He didn't need to purify the Corruption any longer, so he closed off his resistance, as the energy incoming was more than enough to make up for it.

His reserves were already full, so instead, Mark directed the enormous amount of energy to burn through his Corruption. Drawing more from those around him as he began to run out.

His effort wouldn't be able to undo all the CV within range, but it could certainly help those nearby.

By the time his core had drunk its fill, he had burned through his max Cv almost ten times.

But at this point, his core was thruming with a brilliant resonance. Mark even felt the exact moment his core solidified and became complete.

The shock of it had him losing control of his construct as it snapped like an over-stretched rubber band, releasing all the built-up Prana over the area.

Mark was so wrapped up in what was going on inside himself that he barely registered the backlash of his spell falling apart. There was an overwhelming strength spreading through his chest and to his extremities. Causing his Prana to undergo a qualitative shift. There was so much Prana coming in each second that he thought it was still left over from the spell, but no, it was his natural regeneration.

A resounding ring in his ears alerted him to the system's messages once more.

Mark's eyes widened at the rewards. Any one of those would have been an incredible reward, but all three?

Granted, he was not exactly sure what the ticket was, but it seemed fairly self-explanatory. It would merge two spells. Mark could already see multiple uses for that. As he was still reeling from his core, he felt Sam's excitement and Jonathan's amusement leak through the link.

He was brought back to reality when Sam just about tackled him into the couch cushions.

"Well done, Mark!" she said as she pulled him into a bear hug. Both Mark and Sam went tumbling backwards, but Jonathan caught them with a laugh.

"Congrats, man," he said with a challenging grin. "Looks like I'm going to have to catch up now."

Mark blinked rapidly. It hadn't even occurred to him that he'd be ahead of them in terms of attributes, but when you took into account the fact that he got twice the number of stats as everyone else. Plus, factored in that he dove into battle just as readily. It made sense that his core would be complete first.

Though if he were to guess, neither Jonathan nor Samantha could be far behind. Their level had to be far higher than his by now, so his advantage wasn't all that great.

Still, it was enough, and that meant they had a chance at getting the rewards if someone had not already gotten them.

"Did you guys see the rewards through the link. We have to get both of you there as quickly as possible."

Sam snorted as though she understood.

"We'll get there any day now. You're just a little ahead. For now, how about you celebrate your win?"

Mark rolled his eyes but let the subject drop.

He'd help when it came time for their core consolidations—he always would—but she was right.

For now, he'd made it. That was enough.

The rewards could wait. What he really wanted was to finally enjoy the celebration below.

Leaving the small room was easy. They stepped into the stairwell and made their way down to the street.

Outside, the festival was in full swing. People wandered from stall to stall, admiring the efforts of the Church and the many factions.

Most remained blissfully unaware that anything unusual had just happened. But not all.

A few glanced up at the second-story apartment, brows furrowed in mild confusion.

And as Mark and the others stepped into the crowd, more and more attention turned toward him.

At first, he thought it was just the sight of the three of them emerging from the scene of the crime.

But no—the looks kept coming. Quiet, searching stares followed him no matter where he moved.

Then he understood.

His new core had changed everything.

His Prana now floated freely around him, spilling into the air in slow, lazy spirals before curling back to him like drifting mist.

Anyone even slightly attuned to the energies could sense it.

Prana-users froze mid-step, staring in awe at the air above him.
Mana-users glanced around, chasing a sensation they'd never felt before.
Mark's Prana and Mana were now permanently intertwined—and the effect was unmistakable.

But rather than suspicion, they watched with quiet fascination.
The energy orbited him—graceful, strange, alive.

Prana wasn't meant to linger in open air, and yet the Mana carrying it seemed all too eager to deposit it wherever needed. It drifted like glowing vapor, slipping unnoticed into skin and breath.

Healers reached out instinctively, sensing something new yet deeply familiar. The threads of life wove between people, moving silently through the festival—seen only by the attuned.

Most of it never returned to Mark, being absorbed into the crowd around him.

But that didn't matter.

His core had become a fountain as Prana drifted off his skin.

He regenerated energy faster than he lost it— well over a point per second now—and the flow was constant.

Even the ambient Corruption in the air, so faint most wouldn't notice it, was quietly drawn in and cleansed.

The purification was slow and subtle but very real. Feeding back into his mutated core only to be purified as intended.

It left a dull ache in his bones—like stretching too far after a long rest—but he didn't stop it.

He could've shut the process off with a thought, but if he wanted to become resistant to Corruption, he had to let it move through him.

Let his body learn. Let his will shape itself around the ache.

So, he left the core untouched.

It worked tirelessly, effortlessly alive in a way no spell could ever be.

And best of all, it waited in his chest like a quiet nuclear reactor, pulsing with untapped power.