Shadow Chain

A week after the incident with the shadow monster..

"I can keep going." Alexander breathed heavily. He sat crossed legged after another training session with Nakamura. Their training had become fiercer and more destructive as Alexander striped to work harder.

"Your sense has become sharper, your strength has hardened, and your foot work is excellent. I can teach you nothing else. You have the foundations you need for combat." Nakamura sheathed his sword and sat down with him to speak. "You are, what my teacher would call, a genius talent. I don't know what assailed you that night, but I can see your need to become strong take over you."

"I just don't want to be as weeak as I was that night. I will not be killed, I have too much , too many depending on me. You understand, right?"

Nakamura was silent for a time, and then spoke. "I, too was obsessed with becoming stronger quickly. I was pronounced the genius of my time by my teachers. I wanted to surpass my brothers in all things, as the youngest I had little expectation to take my father's place. Soon I reached a plateau of my strength and could not overcome my own weakness. It was not until I faced myself that I realized my weakness. In some instances, your greatest advisory is yourself." They got up and made their way towards the estate from the training grounds while Alexander thought about Nakamuras words.

"I see, but I don't know how I would be able to face my self. As it stands, the trial is in three days and I have yet to make the break through to C rank.excusse me while I go see Max about some new invention he's happy about."

"I may have something to help you later, it could be dang, but if you are serious, I will help." They parted ways at the estate, Alexander stepped down to Max's workshop to find him.

"Braniac, I'm here. I see your weird gadgets but not you."

The room was a mess with devices and noisy contraptions that looked dangerous and extremely sharp, wires and tools hung on the walls and desks like a sea of metal. The space was large but the clutter of tubs and cables made it seem smaller than I was.

BANG! Cough! Cough

A head of brown, soot covered Hai appeared from behind a large liquid filled container. His white lab coat was ruined, his glasses hung of his soot covered face. "So the patient has finaly arrived. We'll, the testing device just hates me, but the prototype is ready. I call it Line. A communication device to keep us in touch during the trials. I won't bore you with the details but infuse it with mana and it'll transmit what your thinking for a set amount of time. It's nearly invisible goes on your temple, here, and lasts for a couple months."

The device attached to his head and he directed a strand of mana towards it and thought some words.

"That was unnecessary. Well yours work and now I just need to g8ve it to the rest. I'll see you tomorrow and make sure you take it off at night. Experiment 4 gave some strange results during their sleep cycle."

Alexander left the lab and went to the team room to focus on his core. After going through emense mana deficiency and near death from mana fatigue, he made a habit of coming as Lunaris checked his body.

'Everything is clear. No abnormalities detected.' Lunaris scanned his entire body multiple times.

"Well I guess now is a perfect time to use those rewards from defeating that thing. If you go into safety mode as you upgrade, I should be fine till the next day. Let's see,"

Alexander checked his stats first.

//Body:14->15

Magic: 10->12

Stamina:7->9

Resistance: Heat:(3%), Phy:(1%)

Skills:

Heart of the Sovereign

Shadow Chain

Undead:0

'I got these two skills I still haven't been able to use from scroll of Darkness. I gained levels and even became stronger in my skills. With this system I can get stronger, far easier than with just Lunaris. For every point I can feel like I have done three months of training in an instant. I don't exactly know what makes them increase, be it Lunaris devouring, or completing missions for I assumemis A'rathèl, I can over come my weakness quickly with this. I don't have much time so let's absorb those mana stones as quickly as I can.'

Alexander took the 10 mana stones from his inventory for Lunaris to absorb. The nanites swarmed the stones, which were bright yellow, and shaped like uncut crystals. While it would take some time to absorb, he turned his attention to the chaos within his core.

From the calm of his core before, a maelstrom of elemental energy collided within his core. Fire burned, water slashed and buffeted, and the other elements smashed against each other in no harmony that it previously had. When others accumulated magical power slowly, and over time tamed their mana like a well worked out muscle, Alexanders mana increased haphazardly like a spasm, leavingbhismin experienced core frantic to control them.

In the team room, he would constantly release the chaos within him and !bsorbing it, allowing him to gain more control each time.

//Passive skill gained: Mana Heart; beginner!!//

Mana heart was a natural skill one got wafted years of training their bodies to absorb and control mana within themselves. Though they could not see it, without a system, Alexander received it with his hightened senses and control over his mana. His chaotic core came under control, with the elemen ts finally harmonizing permanently.

'I did it, and received a skill for it. My mana is finally manageable now, even though it's still meager compared to a natural Hunter. Is this how Guardians became so strong? I can feel something strange, like a crack or hole in my core. I guess it did some damage to my core before I got it under control. Hopefully when Lunaris finishes upgrading, she can do something. For now, I should..'

Alexander took out something that elder Kelani left him after his rank nearly rose to (C). A book called Magic runes for beginners, a tome specifically taught to the Akami children at a young age. He studied the works for hours while using Accumulation, breathing in and out.

According to the book, mana and the world were one and the same, nothing could like or be without mana. When one breathed in, they breathed in all mana. To Alexander, this concept confused him.

'How could mana be together but separate in my core? What's the difference between me absorbing mana and storing it?'

The book was mostly basic runes to instruct them on tier 1 spells. The spell Kahawai shot him with was there, and many others he practiced and memorized. Knowing how useful spell would be in the trial.

Something concerned Alexander even more than his future as a hunter, or even his own health. The shadow creature he fought was dangerous, but lacked any combat ability. If there were more, stronger than that one, then how was it that he never heard of it before.

He thought back to how he felt, bringing up the fear of dying, and deathly otherworldy aura it exuded. A sense of danger rose once again as shadows and Darkness, reacted to his will as the demon in his mind lashed out in his meditative state. Instinctively his mind reacted to his will and from his shadow three chains made of shadow and smoke shot out towards the wall.

Huff Huff

The thick chains embedded intomthe wall and the mana in the room was absorbed at a high rate through the chains, flowing into Alexander.

"Alexander!?"