5 Where Prayers Become Silent
An elevator?
Emmet sure had an odd imagination.
But it was not as far-fetched as anyone thought.
An elevator. Simply put it was a moving platform that helped a person to move vertically. That was the principle.
Emmet thought of one that would help him slowly reduce his speed as he descended down and thus a safe landing.
Unlike Air Step where the spellcaster's whole momentum was put on his feet abruptly, thus leading to the fool's predicament, an air elevator, theoretically speaking, would diminish the falling momentum bit by bit until it arrived at the destined vertical coordinate.
The problem was…
"It is easier said than done…"
And then…
"There was still the issue with the landing spot. Reconnaissance is inevitable."
Emmet grabbed the white stone from his bag.
"I only have one but it's the only way," Emmet sighed.
Emmet hugged the flash stone close to his chest. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes.
His focus was now on his body. He could feel his throbbing heart stilled down to a murmur. His blood flow steadied as he searched for the other vein.
His mana vein.
Though never once used after the incident, Emmet did not forget how to use it. He was once quite adept at using it and thus manipulating the atmospheric magicule.
'That is the most efficient way of using mana but at my current level it will be quite straining.'
His mana vein was little and brittle. It had not been trained yet on the ways of mana. On how it is supposed to behave.
'But this is enough,' Emmet thought with a smirk.
He focused on the sliver of the tiny blue flow of mana originating from his heart, guiding it up to his neck, then went down his shoulder, arm forearm and finally palm and fingertips that were grasping the flash stone.
The flow of blue light came out of his fingertips like threads, weaving around the stone, searching for the entrances. He could search for the acupoints of mana in the stone by spreading his mana thin and wide like this. An entrance would feel like another source of mana, coming from inside the stone.
In fact, it was.
The acupoints were the imperfections of the stone where its innate mana that would be used to activate its function could seep out into the atmosphere. A leak in the bucket if you will.
Higher grade stones had fewer acupoints and theoretically could be stored longer with larger mana capacity than those of lower grade.
But this imperfection was perfect for Emmet. With this many holes, it would not take long for Emmet to do his job and thus lessening the burden on his mana vein.
Many acupoints meant lesser resistance should he want to insert his mana into the stone since its innate mana had many ways to come out, hence less pressure per acupoint. That was also the reason why it took a large quantity of mana to work with higher grade stone.
Once Emmet found those acupoints he willed his mana to enter it.
'Amplify.'
His mana entered them smoothly with the least resistance, as he had expected.
'Shinggg!'
The stone started to emit light on its surface indicating the magic working.
[Notice: You had successfully learned Amplify]
'Amplify is working without a hitch. I should also prepare an Aerial Thrust for propulsion.
Emmet held his free right hand outstretched in front of him.
Since he could neither script magics nor spells, Emmet's only option was to manually recreate what a script did: manipulate the way mana behave. The way mana behaves will manipulate how magicules behaves. How magicules behave will directly reflect on nature itself.
So if one would debate between scriptless and scripted techniques, the answer of superiority would be obvious.
Normally, someone would learn the scripted version of any wonder before learning how to execute it scriptlessly.
Emmet was quite an oddball in this domain. Though the system announced that he had just learned the magic, Amplify, Emmet had once learned it in the past. His past glory before being forced to forget everything he ever accomplished.
Not that he cared. He still remembered everything that had happened. Even the things he should and wanted to forget.
Little tendrils of mana slithered out of his right hand. An intermediate spell required much more mana than a simple magic. Emmet instructed his mana to move slowly, revolving around his hand. As his mana got used to their new flow and shape, Emmet increased their spin speed slowly until atmospheric magicules took in their nature.
A small cluster of wind spun like a drill around Emmet's right hand. Not even a second later, the drill became faster and more robust.
[Notice: You have successfully learned Aerial Trust]
"Aeria Trust prepared. Amplify almost done seeing that it gave more resistance to my mana now."
Emmet put in as much mana as the stone could take. The stone shined blindingly like a little star on the verge of exploding.
"It is time…"
He brought his hand together. The stone was put in the wind drill, ready for launch-off.
"I hope it isn't what I thought it is…"
He gave one final push of mana into the stone. Its surface started to crack.
"Now, go forth my little star!"
He threw the wind drill containing the stone as hard as he could into the crater. Hopeful for a visual of what lies below.
Emmet's little project drew attention from the surrounding competitors.
Why?
Well, the same crazy guy they thought he was, was not that crazy after all.
He could even do scriptless magic and spell as he had openly demonstrated. Though that was not the main point. The main point still stood:
'Why would anybody do that,' they thought.
While most of them still could not comprehend what Emmet was trying to achieve, some of the smarter ones had started to realize the big implication of the descending little star.
'Is he trying to…' thought a raven-haired boy. But before he could finish his thought…
'Shinggggg!'
The mana stone finally took effect. The surplus mana Emmet had injected into it amply finally bore fruit.
What was once a little descending star now looked like a descending celestial, bringing light into the whole world.
The overclocked flash stone descent further down into the abyss. Darkness obscuring Emmet's vision scurried away, giving paths for the little star to bless the abyss with the gift of light. Thanks to Aerial Trust, the flash stone shot down with terrific speed. It did not even take a minute for the mana-induced light to illuminate the bottom of the abyss.
The bottom of the crater. By the looks of it, it was deeper than the base of the volcano's outside slope.
And so the whole challengers, Emmet included, could finally see what lay below.
As the flash stone descended deeper and deeper, the structure become clearer to them and Emmet thought;
'Shit…'
Spreading out from the center of the crater was a compound. Its building was made of jet-black stone that seemed to swallow even the faintest of natural light.
At the very center of this compound stood a lone giant structure, dwarfing every nearby building.
'Perfectly square, that symbolic triangle roof and that iconic circular four cardinal column.'
'Huh…' Emmet sighed.
"Why is that thing here?! Why must I be right at the terrible things?!" he shouted in frustration.
[Notice: You had found the Temple Shrouded in Darkness]
[Bonus score points: +500 pts]
Emmet wasn't too relieved when he heard that. Instead, he knew what will happen now.
[Notice to all Challangers:-]
The system's voice echoed throughout the whole island, realizing Emmet's fear.
[A player had revealed the next stage of the trial: Temple Shrouded in Darkness]
[The second trial will now commence…]
[Second trial: Retrieve the Forgotten Vows sealed inside Temple Shrouded in Darkness]
'Of course. Why not go inside the temple shrouded in darkness that calls itself, Temple Shrouded in Darkness?'
Now Emmet's objective has become clear. Nobody sane would want to land on the slope when they could land in the crater itself.
But that was not the problem.
The problem lies in the structure itself.
"HAHAHAHAHA!" Emmet guffawed, giving him looks from other challengers.
'He's at it again.'
But Emmet was truly preoccupied now to regard their look.
"Yeah, they really got me!" he shouted. "The Three Great Academies really did it!"
'What a generous bunch! They really brought in a temple!'
A temple. Historically known as a center for praying and miracles. They were once even a centripetal core of a server.
But now it was only known for one thing…
"A place where prayers become silent and miracles become forbidden!"
