The Empires Rise

With some of the pressure letting up, I continue the circulating mana towards Zul'Zara. Her body receives with a gluttonous zeal.

My face is getting more pale by the minute as I channel until I can't feel the flow of mana coming out of my body anymore. I collapse, breathing heavily with pain wracking my body from my Mana Veins developing. I look and see that there are two more prompts in my vision.

"Mana Vein's progress is 40% complete.

Mana Vein's progress is 45% complete."

I look at my status menu and see that health and mana are almost bottomed out.

Health: 2/5

Mana: 2/24

With that, I look towards Zul'Zara to find she is still meditating, asking Strauvana. "What was happening? I could feel that I was helping something along. I don't know what exactly it was."

"She is picking what sort of beast she will choose as her first transformation. I didn't think it was possible. Since there is a completely different system in place here compared to my home planet. I have seen this process several times before but with the additional mana. It should allow her to receive a stronger form than if Zul'Zara was alone. It would have been weak due to the low mana she contains." She replies.

We wait for a bit more time as nothing is happening. Figuring that I might be able to get further along with my Mana Veins, I start to circulate my mana again though this time a bit more slowly to not cause so much pain.

Following the path that is in my mind, I feel the flow stop at the ends of where my veins are located. I can feel it throughout my body, though not as much in my arms as in my legs and head.

I start focusing on finishing my arms first. They will be the easier option as I push the mana through the veins in my right arm. The feeling of a dagger running across my veins appears, but it doesn't have as much bite since I am doing one side at a time.

Another hour lapsed before I finished my right arm. I feel the flow of mana through the veins isn't blocked anymore. Starting work on my left arm, I am nudged by Uxa as he points over to Zul'Zara. She is surrounded but a white light.

We can see her turning into a boar. One that is much larger than any I have seen on Culhara. Standing tall Zul'Zara lets out a snort of approval before she changes back into her original form.

"I be thanking you for the assist Drake." She offers with a kind smile. "I be taking a Dire Boar form instead of just a lowly boar in a forest proper."

I smile back at her. "I am glad I was able to help you. I followed my instincts, and they haven't led me wrong yet. Honestly speaking Zul'Zara, helping you helped me in turn. I found that through my Mana Circulation skill, I could extend my Mana Veins faster than letting them develop slowly over time."

"Yes, Drake, you can do that but know that you should have someone with you just in case you need help." Strauvana interrupts. "We should get going. I am sure it will be late soon."

Agreeing, we gather up and head toward Laxreal. With Ritotorous flying above us, he spots one more treasure chest. We gather it before making it back to the tower.

Once we arrive at the tower, I see the door has been opened. I enter the first floor and see rows of bookshelves. Hearing cackling in the distance, I head deeper inside.

After passing several rows of shelves, I find Laxreal sitting in a chair reading a book. I call out. "Laxreal, the group is going to head to the settlement."

With a sigh, he sets down his book and looks in my direction. "I have found something quite interesting if we have a moment to spare."

Nodding my head, he guides me to the center of the floor, where a spherical object is located.

"If you put your hand on this device, it will let you browse the floor for spell tomes that your affinity." He instructs me with a wave of his hand.

Reaching my hand towards the orb, I soon feel its cold stone texture. There is a bright light as it flashes between green and gold.

"Well, well." Laxreal says, "This is the first time I have seen that someone has both the affinity to nature and healing magics in a long time."

"Nature and healing?" I ask quizically.

"Yes, people associated with healing magic can only cast spells that can heal someone's life signature. While those associated with green, or nature magic, can only raise plant life or more druidic spells. Just like our friend Zul'Zara is starting to show."

"What this could mean is anyone's guess. This is a new world and a new system of magic. However, when I tested my affinity, it revealed I had a death affinity. Which is not that much of a shock."

Nodding along to his two prompts appears up in front of me.

- Affinity has been unlocked on the status screen. -

- Would you like to receive your starting spell tomes for your affinities? Yes/No -

I mentally click yes and receive four spell tomes. Looking at them closely, I can see that two are for nature. The other two are for healing, and no other information is provided. I hear a ding in my head as one of my quests updates.

"Wow, you received four spell tomes. When I got mine, I only received three spell tomes. I wasn't able to read them yet. I was able to have them sent back to the settlement though."

Nodding along, I see that Ritotorous has also come up and pressed his beak against the Affinity Testing Orb, as I am now calling it. There is a flash of black, and in front of him is a single spell tome.

Seeing my gaze land on him, Ritotorous says to me. "I received knowledge that I have an affinity towards darkness. And the spell I got was a small support spell." With a flash, the tome is gone.

Looking over at Laxreal, I can see that he is packing up a couple of books and getting ready to head out.

I head over to the doors to leave and jokingly ask aloud. "I would like to claim this building."

Surprisingly, I get a prompt.

- The settlement level is too low to claim this structure. Please Level up to at least the town level of Small Town Level 5. -

I looked back at Laxreal walking up to me. "Looks like these special buildings can be claimed later down the line. We have to level up the settlement more until we become a small town."

"And at what point do we reach that level?"

Casting my gaze to Ritotorous, he answers Laxreal's question for me to relay. "There are a total of 13 settlement levels. I will spare you the details of the higher tiers, but to get to a Small Town level, you have to get through several levels. First is Roadside Hovel, which we are at currently, then a Hamlet. Following that is a Village, then finally a Small Town."

Repeating that to Laxreal, he gives me a nod of understanding. He gestures to the door, showing he is ready to leave the tower. We head outside to find the rest of the party.

When everyone is together, I look around and ask. "Did anyone see the exit of this area?"

"No." This is the all-around answer from the group. Thinking of trying what I did in the tower again, I call out. "We are ready to leave." And I get a prompt.

- If you are ready to leave, please select "Yes". If you want to keep exploring, please select "No." Special note. If all of your party members are not within a 10-meter area from you they will be forever lost to the world. -

Looking around and telling everyone to get close so we don't lose them, I select yes.