Over the next two weeks, the only thing Dirk did was condense the mana within his mana hearts. And with the liquid mana in the room, this was made extremely easy for him.
It was both a gradual and quick process to strengthen his mana hearts. However, Dirk quickly encountered a roadblock. He had forgotten, but he couldn't control dark mana. Eldritch Primordial still didn't let him.
So this meant Dirk had to do battle. After spending time condensing his other mana hearts, Dirk attempted to cast his awareness into his soul. When he did this, he felt the dragon tattoo on his chest activate, and he was brought into the Mana Dimension.
Dirk viewed the ocean of mana around him. Looking down, he could still see Eldritch lingering there, its eyes on his soul. He never left.
Suddenly, Dirk smiled, approaching the edge of his domain. Eldritch narrowed its eyes.
Bringing up his hands, the elements began to swirl around Dirk.
"I'm ready for another meal, squid!"
Looks like eternal pain isn't enough to make you learn. I should curse you instead!
Suddenly, Eldritch shot out thousands of tentacles, each of them loaded with horrible power. Before the tentacles could curse Dirk's soul though, the tattoo lit up, and the Dark Dragon appeared around his soul.
{See me, you ugly squid! And accept your fate! Your Source Mana shall no longer be only yours to wield!}
With a roar, the tentacles were wiped out. Taking that chance, Dirk moved forward, intruding upon Eldritch's domain.
And with the power of his soul and the ocean of elements around him, Dirk captured more territory. He burned his energy and usurped the dark mana. Along the way, Eldritch constantly attacked, but the Dark Dragon defended Dirk's soul.
Like this, Dirk's initially 150 meter deep territory deepened. First it was 5 meters, then 10. Dirk fought to go deeper, closer to Eldritch.
But Eldritch put up a tough fight. Dirk had to burn tons of his energy when he received the slightest attack in order to keep his soul from being cursed. Not even Dirk's soul, the strongest soul in the world, could keep up with the energy expenditure.
And after a few hours of battle, Dirk retreated. The Dark Dragon stood at the edge of his domain, protecting his progress from Eldritch.
170 meters.
He had only deepened another 20 meters. Not only did the difficulty rise as he got deeper, but Eldritch was putting up a far greater resistance. If not for the Dark Dragon, Dirk wouldn't go anywhere, merely being lured in by Eldritch and consumed when he got too deep.
And it truly drained him to the core. When his consciousness returned to the real world, he directly passed out. Next thing he knew, he had woken up on the bed in the training room. Pandora sat beside his body.
"Oh, you're awake. You slept for 8 hours. Care to explain?"
She looked at him with a curious gaze. He sighed as he massaged his throbbing head.
"You know Eldritch Primordial?"
"The God of Darkness, and the enemy of the Dark Dragon Primordial."
"Yea. Well, that squid wants my soul, and he forever banished me from controlling the dark element. So if I want to increase the strength of my dark attribute, I need to fight Eldritch for possession over the dark element."
"...How do you do that?"
Pandora was about to mention how absurd that idea was, fighting a god for possession over an element. But Dirk was serious, so she could only ask for specifics.
"When the Dark Dragon emerged. You heard him talk about Eldritch being near my soul. He also said something about Source Mana. Well, the Dark Dragon is helping me fight Eldritch. In the Mana Dimension, I trespass into the domain of that ugly god and take it, making it my own. The deeper I go, the more dark mana I have control over."
"Oh... I see! That's actually amazing! So that's what the dragon meant... Dirk, do you know what Source Mana is?"
She suddenly asked with gleaming eyes. Dirk obviously shook his head.
"Source Mana is the source of all mana. People wonder, where does the endless mana in the atmosphere come from? No matter how many years pass or how much mana is consumed by the world's mages, it doesn't run out. The reason is due to Source Mana. Basically, Source Mana endlessly generates standard mana. This means that standard mana is unlimited. But Source Mana is not unlimited. There is a finite amount, and it is the most precious substance in the world. At the same time though, Source Mana cannot be consumed, and it is never destroyed.
"Anyway, the Dark Dragon wants you to take the Source Mana of Eldritch Primordial. In that way, you are fighting for control over the element itself. It's the only way for you to control the dark element since the god of the dark element doesn't wish for you to use it. While I'm not sure why the Dark Dragon wants you to gain such power, I don't believe it matters. You need to work on this..."
Pandora went deep into thought, and Dirk was a bit baffled. He didn't realize he was fighting for possession over such an important resource.
Yet, now he knew the reason why he could endlessly regenerate his pool of dark mana. When it came to his other elements, he had to intake mana from the atmosphere with his Mana Lungs and regenerate his pool. But he couldn't do that with the dark element. Instead, it was the Source Mana he owned that generated it for him.
As dots connected in his head, Pandora got excited. Suddenly, she dove at Dirk, tackling him on the bed.
*Click!*
As she got comfortable on his chest, she suddenly felt something hard press itself against her body. She snickered at his frowning face.
"Heh, not the hard object I was expecting."
"Get off."
"Not unless you don't want my help. What if I said I could fight with you to take that squid's domain?"
"..."
"Miss Record, you there?"
After Dirk went silent, she flicked her finger. The next moment, the golden book, the Record of Life, appeared beside them on the bed.
The Record spoke.
"Riddle me this. Upon his departure, the Dark Dragon said that he would call down Sovereign Divine, the god of the light element. Dirk is also fighting Eldritch Primordial, the god of the dark element. The Dark Dragon said I would need to prepare. Both of you want the same things from us, though in the end, I'm not sure what that is. Are you catching my drift?"
Over the next two weeks, the only thing Dirk did was condense the mana within his mana hearts. And with the liquid mana in the room, this was made extremely easy for him.
It was both a gradual and quick process to strengthen his mana hearts. However, Dirk quickly encountered a roadblock. He had forgotten, but he couldn't control dark mana. Eldritch Primordial still didn't let him.
So this meant Dirk had to do battle. After spending time condensing his other mana hearts, Dirk attempted to cast his awareness into his soul. When he did this, he felt the dragon tattoo on his chest activate, and he was brought into the Mana Dimension.
Dirk viewed the ocean of mana around him. Looking down, he could still see Eldritch lingering there, its eyes on his soul. He never left.
Suddenly, Dirk smiled, approaching the edge of his domain. Eldritch narrowed its eyes.
Bringing up his hands, the elements began to swirl around Dirk.
"I'm ready for another meal, squid!"
Looks like eternal pain isn't enough to make you learn. I should curse you instead!
Suddenly, Eldritch shot out thousands of tentacles, each of them loaded with horrible power. Before the tentacles could curse Dirk's soul though, the tattoo lit up, and the Dark Dragon appeared around his soul.
{See me, you ugly squid! And accept your fate! Your Source Mana shall no longer be only yours to wield!}
With a roar, the tentacles were wiped out. Taking that chance, Dirk moved forward, intruding upon Eldritch's domain.
And with the power of his soul and the ocean of elements around him, Dirk captured more territory. He burned his energy and usurped the dark mana. Along the way, Eldritch constantly attacked, but the Dark Dragon defended Dirk's soul.
Like this, Dirk's initially 150 meter deep territory deepened. First it was 5 meters, then 10. Dirk fought to go deeper, closer to Eldritch.
But Eldritch put up a tough fight. Dirk had to burn tons of his energy when he received the slightest attack in order to keep his soul from being cursed. Not even Dirk's soul, the strongest soul in the world, could keep up with the energy expenditure.
And after a few hours of battle, Dirk retreated. The Dark Dragon stood at the edge of his domain, protecting his progress from Eldritch.
170 meters.
He had only deepened another 20 meters. Not only did the difficulty rise as he got deeper, but Eldritch was putting up a far greater resistance. If not for the Dark Dragon, Dirk wouldn't go anywhere, merely being lured in by Eldritch and consumed when he got too deep.
And it truly drained him to the core. When his consciousness returned to the real world, he directly passed out. Next thing he knew, he had woken up on the bed in the training room. Pandora sat beside his body.
"Oh, you're awake. You slept for 8 hours. Care to explain?"
She looked at him with a curious gaze. He sighed as he massaged his throbbing head.
"You know Eldritch Primordial?"
"The God of Darkness, and the enemy of the Dark Dragon Primordial."
"Yea. Well, that squid wants my soul, and he forever banished me from controlling the dark element. So if I want to increase the strength of my dark attribute, I need to fight Eldritch for possession over the dark element."
"...How do you do that?"
Pandora was about to mention how absurd that idea was, fighting a god for possession over an element. But Dirk was serious, so she could only ask for specifics.
"When the Dark Dragon emerged. You heard him talk about Eldritch being near my soul. He also said something about Source Mana. Well, the Dark Dragon is helping me fight Eldritch. In the Mana Dimension, I trespass into the domain of that ugly god and take it, making it my own. The deeper I go, the more dark mana I have control over."
"Oh... I see! That's actually amazing! So that's what the dragon meant... Dirk, do you know what Source Mana is?"
She suddenly asked with gleaming eyes. Dirk obviously shook his head.
"Source Mana is the source of all mana. People wonder, where does the endless mana in the atmosphere come from? No matter how many years pass or how much mana is consumed by the world's mages, it doesn't run out. The reason is due to Source Mana. Basically, Source Mana endlessly generates standard mana. This means that standard mana is unlimited. But Source Mana is not unlimited. There is a finite amount, and it is the most precious substance in the world. At the same time though, Source Mana cannot be consumed, and it is never destroyed.
"Anyway, the Dark Dragon wants you to take the Source Mana of Eldritch Primordial. In that way, you are fighting for control over the element itself. It's the only way for you to control the dark element since the god of the dark element doesn't wish for you to use it. While I'm not sure why the Dark Dragon wants you to gain such power, I don't believe it matters. You need to work on this..."
Pandora went deep into thought, and Dirk was a bit baffled. He didn't realize he was fighting for possession over such an important resource.
Yet, now he knew the reason why he could endlessly regenerate his pool of dark mana. When it came to his other elements, he had to intake mana from the atmosphere with his Mana Lungs and regenerate his pool. But he couldn't do that with the dark element. Instead, it was the Source Mana he owned that generated it for him.
As dots connected in his head, Pandora got excited. Suddenly, she dove at Dirk, tackling him on the bed.
*Click!*
As she got comfortable on his chest, she suddenly felt something hard press itself against her body. She snickered at his frowning face.
"Heh, not the hard object I was expecting."
"Get off."
"Not unless you don't want my help. What if I said I could fight with you to take that squid's domain?"
"..."
"Miss Record, you there?"
After Dirk went silent, she flicked her finger. The next moment, the golden book, the Record of Life, appeared beside them on the bed.
The Record spoke.
"Riddle me this. Upon his departure, the Dark Dragon said that he would call down Sovereign Divine, the god of the light element. Dirk is also fighting Eldritch Primordial, the god of the dark element. The Dark Dragon said I would need to prepare. Both of you want the same things from us, though in the end, I'm not sure what that is. Are you catching my drift?"
