Chapter 9 Part 1 of 3 (Patreon)

Rugrat felt the power in his mana veins, in his core rumbling. The mana around him was vibrating and shaking.

His domain now reached out two feet from his body. The lever on the wall had reached seventy percent while the boxes of cultivation supplies looked like they had been raided by a starved bear.

Rugrat’s veins stuck out on his skin, moving like snakes, lit up by the mana that was driving through his entire body. Each breath he drew created a vortex of mana that pulled into his body, with each exhale the light within his body increased.

His Journeyman level clothes had been torn to shreds, revealing his sweat soaked body as his ribs and abdomen expanded and then contracted.

The core at his center had gone from the size of a dice to the size of a softball.

Rugrat didn’t pay any attention to the outside world, his eyes closed as his focus lay solely on the happenings within his body.

Just a few more. Rugrat watched more drops form around his core, he felt the pressure of his core wanting to expand and the draw of the mana wanting to compress.

He pushed on, he was so close.

Drops rained one after another into the core, it grew wider, stretching the walls of his core.

Rugrat felt like he was being torn apart through his stomach.

You’re not going to give up now, hold on!

Rugrat made another push, the last drop reached his core. The fight for expansion and contraction had a winner.

The shimmering liquid core had always been rotating slowly, now it started to speed up, more drops were pulled in by the spinning sphere of liquid.

The liquid started to contract, pulling inwards.

Like a planet forming from the dust of space, Rugrat watched the core compress, from a softball, to a grapefruit, its speed increased visibly. His domain increased as it shrunk. Two feet, reached three feet, then four feet, then raced to ten feet.

Rugrat continued to draw in mana, compressing it through his domain, through his mana veins and fed his transforming mana core. The natural suction from the core removed the pressure that had been resting on Rugrat’s body.

His domain covered the entire room. With a thought mana congealed into a hand, increasing the mana density by five percent.

Rugrat’s domain shrank slightly and then quickly started to expand again, fighting against the increased mana pressure in the room. It now reached out two meters, or six feet in every direction.

The room looked peaceful as it fell under Rugrat’s complete control.

Rugrat inspected the changes in his body.

Well, that increased my mana density by a lot. My core will naturally draw in mana even if I wasn’t to do anything. My mana veins have become stronger though there are some tears. No, those aren’t tears, but new smaller veins that have spread through my body!

Rugrat’s new core looked like a shining purple gem with streaks of blue and white, red glitter seemed to flash deep in its depths. Mana drops entered the area around the mana core, falling like rain they nourished the core, becoming part of it.

I held back my cultivation too much. I don’t feel any bottlenecks yet. I could cultivate more easily. Once I nourish my solid mana core, then I can reach the Mana heart level. I have been in here for some time, I need to go out and check on everyone. Erik is cultivating as well.

Rugrat created a mana hand and decreased the density of mana in the room. As he did his domain expanded without the pressure.

“Da~” Rugrat devolved into coughing as his body cracked and ached as he collapsed backwards. He used healing spells and pulled out a high Journeyman stamina potion. He chugged it. Gasping afterwards.

“Shit, whole new level of dry mouth,” Rugrat moved on the ground, his body enjoying the movement as he used healing spells to rapidly recover.

He cracked his back and stood up.

“My domain is nearly ten times larger than before. Everything in twenty meters is in my range. Feels more solid too. Like I was using a hand made of mist before, now the mana feels like an extension of myself.” Rugrat reached out with his hand, using mana manipulation instantly and easily.

He created three flames at the same time. With a thought three  flames turned into five. Then they changed their appearances, from red to yellow to blue.

He set them spinning around him, dividing and creating more. He added in mana blades, spears and arrows. Chains made of the elements appeared. It looked like pure chaos. But none of the spells touched anything in the room, they never bounced into one another, it was a complicated and complex dance.

Rugrat raised his hand and everything froze.

He closed his hand, the spells disappeared and the box of supplies he had brought was presented to him. He stored it in his ring.

“Alright, I should do something about this,” Rugrat looked at his shredded clothes, his pants ripped, dropping Egbert’s head on the ground.

Rugrat winced, taking a sharp inhale as he looked at the skull with a half open eye.

He checked the skull, other than new runes nothing seemed to have changed.

“Looking good Egbert.”

A shower and a new change of clothes later Rugrat stepped out of the room.

“So, what happened while I was in there?” Rugrat asked the protection detail as he rested one hand on his new skull adornment.

Either blinded by the sight of Rugrat in his cowboy boots, backwards hat, stringer undershirt and oh so famous American short shorts complete with his duct-taped skull chain sash or having a mental break down; it took a few moments for the protection detail to throw their neurons back together as brain cells committed spontaneous suicide.

The leader of the protection detail passed Rugrat several information books. Rugrat opened them and took in all the information within.

“Hmm, that could be a problem with Mercy, though Elan is doing everything he can to cover for it. Erik’s still getting tempered, so been what, a week working on cultivation. Shit! Time just disappears when you’re focused on one thing.”

Rugrat tapped Egbert’s skull in thought.

Domonos and Blaze took Split Peak easily., Two other cities have fallen. The Willful Institute is starting to pull back and consolidate. Doomsday tore apart their ranks, but the power of the High Elders and the Head are in full force. Smart move to create combined units. There will be issues but they will act as watchdogs for one another. With time it will create more stability. Blaze has been sweet talking and deal making with the different people looking to hire the guild. Glosil has pushed attacks on the cities that the Willful Institute wants to hold. They have greater value, they aren’t prepared to retreat. So, if they pull back they won’t have everything that they want. Chonglu is to take command of Vuzgal in two weeks and Lord Salyn, the old ruler of Alva, should be arriving in the Beast Mountain Range shortly.

Rugrat frowned. Cai Bo’s people have been spotted in the area of Vuzgal, they are all looking at the Adventurer’s Association. Elan doesn’t think that it is linked to the Domonos leak. He thinks that they want to find out more about their enemy and strike back. Just how they’re going to do that remains to be seen. If they’re watching Vuzgal though, it seems that they want to do something in our city.

Overall, there isn’t anything that I can do, except show up to Chonglu’s ceremony and show my support. I should get out in the public eye. People are skittish, they need to see Erik and me. Reassure them, just like troops before a big fight.

“Well, I guess that I should go to school. I did promise that I would teach some people. Everything is running fine. Okay, so guess I need a new project to work on with smithing. Lets get going!”

***

“So, this is King’s Hill?”

Lord Knight Ikeda sat straight on his mount as they approached the gates to the city.

No, it is a random village I wanted to go sightseeing in! Lord Salyn bowed his head to the Lord Knight.

“Yes Lord Knight Ikeda.”

“Such a simple place gave you trouble.” The leader of the Red Falcon Knights snorted. Flicking his red cape as the other Red Falcon knights with him snickered. Sending derisive looks in Salyn’s direction.

When I was last here they had just one layer of defenses. They’ve doubled in size, adding a new wall that’s fifteen foot tall. Only the major cities in the Ikku Kingdom have such large walls.