Infinite Mana - Chapter 199: A Spell That Wanted to Be Used (Patreon)

The moment Sieghart focused seriously on stopping Fury, the unnatural heat flooding his muscles began fading. There was no resistance from the spell, no struggle for control, and no lingering compulsion forcing him to continue fighting.

Within several seconds, the strange aggression disappeared completely. Sieghart released a long breath. Then every part of his body started hurting at once.

He grunted and nearly dropped the Guardian core when pain surged through both hands, shoulders, knees, ribs, and several joints he had completely forgotten were damaged during the fight.

“Ouch, that hurts like hell.”

His fists were the worst. Several knuckles had split open, both hands were swollen badly, and enough blood covered his fingers that grabbing anything tightly immediately reminded him why humans normally avoided punching metal.

The rest of his body had not escaped much better. His shoulders burned whenever he rotated them, both knees ached from repeated Impulse use, and several joints felt as though someone had spent the fight tightening them with tools.

Fury had not prevented injuries. It had made them feel irrelevant. That distinction suddenly seemed considerably more important now that the spell was inactive and Sieghart’s body had resumed reporting every terrible decision he had made during the battle.

He had fought like an experienced close-range combatant despite possessing nowhere near enough actual melee training to justify it. Fury improved aggression, physical output, and willingness to commit, but none of those things magically created proper technique. Sieghart had survived partly because the Guardian was predictable.

Against a skilled Aura user, charging forward and trading blows simply because pain stopped mattering would probably result in Sieghart discovering how difficult First Aid became after decapitation.

He carefully lowered himself onto a piece of collapsed mineral material before activating First Aid on his right hand. Warm White Mana spread through the swollen fingers and began repairing the most obvious damage.

Several bones had developed small fractures. That explained the cracking noises. Sieghart stared at the healing hand. He moved First Aid to the other fist afterward, closing torn skin and repairing internal damage before gradually working through his shoulders, ribs, and knees.

The healing took longer than he expected because there was far more accumulated strain than Fury had allowed him to notice. Nothing appeared permanently damaged, but several joints had been pushed significantly beyond what his current physical parameters comfortably supported.

That confirmed another problem. Fury made his body capable of demanding more from itself than it could safely provide. Muscle Reinforcement increased physical ability directly, and Protection reduced incoming damage, but neither prevented Sieghart from overusing muscles, joints, and bones during extended close combat.

If he intended to use Fury again, Endurance and Vitality became even more important. He finished repairing one knee before several System notifications appeared.

[Fury has reached Level 2.]

[Fury has reached Level 3.]

Sieghart stared.

More notifications followed.

[Fury has reached Level 4.]

[Fury has reached Level 5.]

[Sin Magic has reached Level 2.]

[Sin Magic has reached Level 3.]

For several seconds, Sieghart forgot about the pain completely. Then his expression slowly darkened.

“Five?”

He opened the relevant portion of his Status and confirmed the notifications had not been some delayed mistake produced by absorbing the Guardian. Fury had actually jumped from Level One to Level Five during a single fight. Sin Magic had reached Level Three as well. That should have been excellent news.

It was not.

Most of Sieghart’s main magical paths imposed inconvenient progression conditions. Black Magic wanted actual combat. White Magic wanted him protecting and strengthening others. Summoning preferred constructs fulfilling useful independent roles.

Sin Magic apparently had no such concern. He had activated Fury on himself. That was enough. Repeatedly using the spell while fighting had advanced both the spell and its parent path without requiring another person, special environment, corrupted target, or complicated behavioral condition.

Sieghart felt his stomach tighten slightly.

“That’s almost too convenient.”

Of course. Sieghart dismissed the notifications and stared at his repaired hands while considering the implication. Sin Magic made itself easy to train. That sounded less like a benefit the longer he thought about it.

Fury was already dangerous because using it made reckless behavior feel reasonable. If the spell also rewarded Sieghart rapidly every time he surrendered to that mentality, then the progression structure itself encouraged repeated exposure.

Use Fury.

Become stronger.

Feel less pain.

Fight more aggressively.

Gain levels quickly.

Use Fury again because it has become stronger.

That loop was obvious enough that Sieghart disliked it immediately.

“It almost wants me to get corrupted.”

Perhaps that interpretation was unfair. Magic did not need conscious intent to possess dangerous incentives. Still, comparing Sin Magic against his other paths made the difference impossible to ignore. White Magic forced cooperation. Summoning encouraged useful independence. Black Magic rewarded killing hostile targets.

Sin Magic apparently rewarded Sieghart for indulging the sin personally. Wrath grew when he embraced wrath. What would happen with Gluttony?

Would Magic Resistance become stronger simply because he kept exposing himself to magical attacks and allowing the spell to consume the effect? Would the path become easier whenever Sieghart accepted the mentality behind the branch? That possibility created another uncomfortable question. If Sin Magic reached higher levels, would the emotional influence become stronger too?

Fury had felt considerably more manageable than the original Orc King absorption, but Sieghart could not tell whether that was because the spell itself was safer or because he entered the fight expecting the anger.

At Level Five, the next activation might feel different.

Sieghart sighed. He had learned what he wanted. Unfortunately, the answer only created additional problems. Fury was useful. Very useful. It had allowed him to physically pressure a Guardian several times his size, exploit openings at close range, and continue fighting through impacts that would normally have forced him to retreat.

It also encouraged him to ignore pain, overuse his body, and solve every obstacle by hitting it harder until something broke.

The spell could remain available. That did not mean it deserved trust. Sieghart finished healing his left shoulder before looking toward the intact Guardian core resting beside him.

At least that problem seemed simpler.

The reconstructed Guardian had been noticeably smaller than the corrupted version Aldren’s group fought. Its movements were dangerous, but nowhere near as overwhelming, and it possessed no ability to summon endless reinforcements.

Its core reflected that difference. Sieghart lifted the amber sphere and inspected it again with Magic Vision. No corruption. No unusual coloration. Nothing resembling the dark-red principle carried by the previous Guardian.

He began absorbing it. The mana entered smoothly. No rage appeared. No hunger. No foreign thoughts.

[ Experience + 500]

Sieghart stared at the number.

Five hundred.

Half of what the shattered corrupted Guardian had provided. That confirmed his earlier impression. The previous Guardian had been significantly stronger. Corruption had not simply altered its behavior. It had increased its overall power enough that even the Experience contained within the core had doubled.

“That raises even more questions.”

Sieghart leaned backward and looked toward the chamber ceiling. Had the corruption strengthened the Guardian gradually? Did stronger corruption always mean more Experience? Was the increased golem production simply a side effect of additional power, or had whoever corrupted the Guardian deliberately given it the ability to accelerate reconstruction?

Most importantly, where had the corruption come from? The dungeon itself had rebuilt a clean Guardian after the previous one died.

That suggested the corrupted version was not the natural state. Something had changed it. Sieghart disliked mysteries that involved someone altering dungeon bosses without anyone noticing.

He looked toward the passage leading deeper. The obvious next decision was whether to continue. Part of him wanted to leave immediately. He had already learned Mana Barrier, tested Fury, reached another Personal Level recently, collected materials, confirmed the Guardian’s reconstruction, and gathered evidence that corruption had caused the abnormal golem population.

That was enough information to justify moving toward the next dungeon on his map. More importantly, Sieghart was getting bored.

Stone golem.

Mineral golem.

Bigger mineral golem.

Hit joints.

Take core.

Repeat.

There were only so many ways animated rocks could remain interesting. The world contained completely different dungeon ecosystems, monsters, magical principles, books, and potential spells.

Spending another week punching progressively shinier golems felt wasteful. Sieghart stood. Then stopped. The deeper passage remained directly ahead. His curiosity became irritating again.

Leaving now meant accepting that he did not know what existed below the first Guardian. There could be another corrupted construct. Another Guardian might reveal whether the first corruption had been isolated. The strange ore expansion became more common deeper inside.

Perhaps a core farther down would actually contain whatever principle allowed those mineral bodies to increase their size temporarily. Sieghart looked toward the exit. Then toward the deeper stairs.

He already knew which direction he would choose.

“That’s annoying.”

Curiosity had won.

Again.

He could leave later.

Moving deeper now would at least ensure that when he finally abandoned the dungeon, he would not spend the next several days wondering whether the answer he wanted had been only one floor below where he turned around.

Sieghart checked his healed hands. The swelling was gone. His knees felt considerably better. Fury remained inactive. He started toward the next descent while Magic Vision illuminated the mana currents moving through the surrounding stone.

This time, he would return to safer fighting methods. Probably. Sieghart looked down at his fists.

“Definitely no punching metal for a while.”

He continued deeper into the dungeon, leaving the collapsed Guardian behind while another unanswered question pulled him farther underground.