26 The lightning scale

"If you have come this far, you will already know that all energies are basically the same and that only their nature changes, and the energy of lightning is the most primary or malleable of them, but lightning only reflects its power when the energy is great. If you have learned how energies relate to each other, you have surpassed many, and if those who live between discharges did not defeat you, you can give thanks for your wisdom. In the end, you will have learned that, despite being the most malleable energy, it is one of the most destructive. Put your hands on the scales and let the element of lightning reward the weight of your shoulders."

I left the three gems on the scale and supported my hands. A ball of electricity the size of a watermelon formed, this time located on my back in the middle of my spine.

""Affinity with lightning mana created. 1/43100"

"Congratulations on completing the lightning main mana core."

"Congratulations on being the first to complete the hidden quest in the lightning room 4/4 completed"

"Congratulations on being the first player with eight cores of level 3 or higher in the tutorial"

Lightning Mana Core, Level 5. 1/70000

I threw a bolt of lightning towards the hallway, and I was surprised by the violence of it and the range. Smiling, I headed to the statue room... It stopped being a sensation, but the more cores I got, the more tests I passed, the easier the next ones became, or at least the more confident I was about passing them or at least escaping alive.

I didn't want to take any big risks so I meditated in the statue room to replenish my mana. I thought for a while about what my next step would be. The problem I saw was that, in order to overcome the corridor of death, I had few weapons. It is true that I had its opposite energy, life, but I did not know how to use it to attack or defend myself. Also, if there were living dead, he had neither light nor fire magic, and this was a handicap.

Maybe I should try the darkness; until now, my dim vision had been my great ally, my trap in the darkness of the dungeon. In the corridors, perhaps I had an advantage since I did not depend on light to defeat that corridor... And Once this was completed, I could more easily unlock the mana of light, and then the mana of death.

It is not difficult to guess that the color of the walls of the tunnel for the mana of darkness was black, coupled with the fact that once you left the radius of light of the statue room, you could not see any lit torches in the hallway. They were a bit sinister...

I projected my air mana to make a second mental image that complemented my dim vision; unlike the rest of the hallway, this one was not straight; it soon turned at an angle and then branched. I expanded my earth mana to the maximum, and what appeared in my mind was a labyrinth of twists, tunnels with no exit, crossroads that would take you back to the beginning...

I kept the map in my head and began to move forward. There was no danger in the labyrinth beyond the possibility of getting lost. With some light blades of air, I marked the wall, figuring out how to move forward...

Without seeing in the darkness and without light, traversing this would have been complicated. My senses became alert as I entered a side tunnel at one of the edges of the maze. The air told me that there were things moving on the ground ahead...

I could hear a subtle insect clacking up ahead; it seemed like I was far enough away that they hadn't detected me yet. I changed my mana to life. A crowd of centipedes larger than a meter was ahead of me. With The image of where they were located, I concentrated all the lightning mana I could and launched a "lightning strike.

A bright flash in the maze was followed by a smell of "fried shrimp." Yes, the centipedes didn't smell bad when they were cooked inside; they smelled like fried shrimp...

None survived...

"Congratulations to the player for creating the magic skill "lightning bolt," level 3: 1/1000

I advanced into the side tunnel. The sound of flapping wings came from the space in front of me; more than a hundred bats were running in my direction, attracted by the noise and sudden brightness.

I launched another bolt of lightning, but with their flying agility, they dodged the shot by descending to the ground. They were flying. When they were five meters away from me, I projected a vertical column of air that made everyone crash to the ground.

They were not especially large, twenty centimeters in body and 60 in distance between wings; once the flock was immobilized on the ground, it did not pose a major problem. It was just finishing them off with the spear as I went...

I didn't miss the opportunity and meditated a little in the middle of the carnage...

"Congratulations to the player for unlocking the secondary blood core during the tutorial."

Blood core*Secondary*1/1000

He had to think about how to use this new power, but there would be time for that...

I concentrated my "mana senses forward," expanding the different manas as much as I could... In front of me there were some type of scorpion the size of a motorcycle crawling on the ceiling, snakes as long as a hose, some kind of mole or rodent the size of a dining room chair, and at the bottom I could feel a small stone disc at the end of the tunnel.

"Congratulations to the player for creating the magic skill "mana senses," level 2: 1/1000.

I exterminated them all using different methods, but all safely and from afar...

I picked up the trophy for the scale and returned to the labyrinth. Thanks to the skill, which consumed much less mana than when I tried it before, it is as if I had a support map that warned me of anything ahead. This and my dim vision transformed the road into a quiet walk.

In addition to a main exit, there were four other side tunnels in different parts of the labyrinth.

One of them made my hair stand on end, my body tensed, and my instinct screamed at me to flee... I could describe what the tunnel gave off as pure evil... There was no other way to say it; something bad and dangerous struck me. I was waiting in there to see if he came in...

With my mind set on the next tunnels, I passed by that danger. When I reached the vicinity of the other side tunnel, I was surprised that light came out of it, not the glow of a torch; it was really clarity... With my mana senses, I could tell that it was a square room, about 12 meters wide by 50 meters long. There were walls and obstacles throughout the room without much sense. On the ceiling, I could detect some type of contraption, although without seeing it, I really couldn't get the idea. ...

As soon as I put my foot inside, an arrow shot out, crashing into my shield. I ran towards the first obstacle, a 1-meter-high wall, to take refuge behind while the device kept launching one arrow after another. I stood behind the wall, but my surprise was when an arrow shot out from the wall behind me. Crouching down, I couldn't dodge it in time, and it pierced my thigh. I fell sideways in the shadow made by the wall, in the open field. I tried to protect myself with the shield; in that position, I was sold, as he opened a dimensional door to escape, but nothing happened; there were no more arrows...

Any stop in a dramatic situation is good when you have been wounded. I pulled out the arrow and applied life magic to it to close the wound. Part of my arm remained in the area of light; an arrow was shot immediately, and I did not. He almost missed it... I tried again by taking one foot out of the shadow, and another arrow was fired, sticking where it had appeared for a moment.

I took refuge in the shadow. Looking around, several obstacles cast shadows in different directions, since the light source was above and in the center. I opened a rift and appeared in the next shadow further down the room.

When I had traveled ten meters, the light from the ceiling darkened, replaced by another light on the right wall. All the shadows changed, and the arrows began to fly... I managed to throw myself into the nearest shadow, but not without my shield. He was left with three arrows stuck to him.

Correction of plans: I activated my "bullet time" and opened a rift to the closest obstacle to the wall at the end of the room that I could. The light changed again, but now the arrows were going in slow motion. I ran directly to a shadow under the first contraption, which was a very bad mobile crossbow, but right in its shadow was the disc to take to the scale. I picked up the token and launched myself into a crevice that left me safely back in the hallway.

Although I didn't solve any puzzles, you could even say that I "cheated," but that's how hard the cheater's life was, so why try hard if there is an easier path within your reach?

My last stop before the scale room was the other side tunnel; this time it was a round room with a radius of about six meters. In the center, a humanoid was waiting for me...

When I turned the corner I saw him...