"God damn you Interus!” He could have told me about the wind and cold before I stepped here! Tears fell and froze on my face. Every step I took was a struggle by itself in the beginning. However, every step was even harder with the wind getting stronger and colder.
Yeah, him telling me before wouldn’t have changed the cold or wind but at least I could mentally prepare myself! But since I already was here, going back wasn’t an option. After working my ass off against the wind for God knows how long, I reached and touched Wolf King’s Heart. At first, I didn’t notice I reached it when my hands touched it. My hands must have gone numb from the cold.
You may ask how I couldn’t see something that’s the size of a car. Well, I couldn’t see shit because of the cold wind making me tear up. Also, it gave enough light to confuse me.
(You are being afflicted with frostbite. You will lose your extremities unless you find a way to warm yourself.)
Thanks for the heads up! Except I can’t get away from here right now! I tried to focus but when you were shivering enough to make a vibrator jealous it was hard. Still, this wasn’t the first time I had to focus while I had things distracting me so I managed to get into a trance while grabbing the heart.
Shivering, cold, and pain slowly disappeared.
“Hmm. You were quick. Or I think you were. It is hard to tell the time here.” A familiar voice rang in my head. He sounded as rough and ear-scratching as I first heard him.
“I guess you really want power, huh?”
“Just shut up and tell me what I need to do. My balls are really going to fall off this time. Unlike you, I still need them.”
“Hah! As direct and blunt as ever! You just need to put all of your mana into it!”
“Okay. How do I do it?”
“Wait. You don’t know how to use mana?” He sounded shocked and… Slightly worried?
“No. If I knew why would I ask?” I shouted as I started to feel pain in my chest. It was a burning sensation.
“You conquered all of the floors without being able to use mana?”
“I got help. Now can you tell me what I need to d- Argh!”
A scream escaped my lips as the pain grew more and more.
“This is bad. Currently, my mana is entangled with yours. If you can’t push it back to my heart you will die.”
“You should have told me before, you dork!”
“If you weren’t this resistant to mana, you probably would have exploded when you came into contact with me. I can’t believe a manaless person managed to survive in my tomb! What my sons and grandson are doing?”
That damn dog! He sounded more worried about me conquering his dungeon than me dying!
“Yo! Focus! If I die you also lose your chance to have an heir!”
I felt myself sweating even though my body should be freezing.
“You think I can just teach you how to manipulate mana in seconds, Outsider?”
“Well, you can try!”
“Hmm. At least it was a good run. I guess I am not having that heir after all.”
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
He sounded too nonchalant with that!
“Fuck you then. I’ll do it myself.”
I activated Armor Collapsing Claw. It was the only skill I could use that used mana so maybe it could help me right now.
“It won’t work like that.”
Shut the fuck up! I can’t even spare the effort to answer you. I opened my eyes. I closed them back when I first started to focus but the only things I could see were endless snow and darkness like when I first met Wolf King. I couldn’t even see my own body so I couldn’t see that purple light covering my hands.
However, I could feel it. Grasp it. Not with my sight, hearing, touch, smell, or taste but with something else. It was weird. It wasn’t warm or cold. No, wait. I tried to calm myself. Did it get colder? I tried to get myself worked by getting angry at Wolf King. It got warmer this time. Not in a temperature sense but like the “vibe” it gave away?
I focused on it. Only after I really focused on it I realized how inefficient Armor Collapsing Claw was. Or maybe my version of it. That light escaped into the void surrounding me. Oh, it went out. I activated it again. Good thing it doesn’t have a cooldown.
I tried to move that light with my will. I failed. It wasn’t connected to my body. At least directly. But how could I control something that’s not connected to my body? Hmm. Maybe that way of thinking was wrong. Technically, my mind was also not connected to my body yet I had “some” control over it. How then? How am I supposed to control this mana thing?
Push. Wolf King told me to push it back to his heart. I focused on pushing. Not with my body. In this dark and cold place, the only thing I was feeling now was pain. Even the sensation of my body was slowly fading away. Because of that, pushing with my body wasn’t an option. That’s why I focused on the very concept of pushing. Sounded silly and actually doing it was sillier. Well, I had no other choice if I didn’t want to die, so I concentrated on it.
“Wait. How are you doing this?” Wolf King said something but I was too busy to hear it. Especially since I felt mana moving away from me. The pain was still here, but I could feel it lessen as I pushed mana further forward. Doing it felt like I was dying. It was like pushing a truck back while it tried to move forward. Just like how doing it with my mind would cause my body to start shattering, I could feel the same for my mind.
Eh, fuck it. It is not like I am pushing my mind and body to a breaking point anyway. Still, I wish I had some kind of watch to learn time. I was feeling like it’s been years since I first started this shit. My hair will go grey at this rate. Again.
I recoiled as I felt all the mana I had left leave my body. I was snapped back to reality and could see. See the immense amount of light coming out of the heart!
(You acquired the active skill Mana Erupt.)
(You acquired Mana Erupt, a skill that normally requires high-rank Mana Manipulation without not knowing Mana Manipulation. Some Stars are looking at you with curious eyes. One of them is shooing them away.)
It blinded me. I tried to shield my eyes with my arms, but it was futile. With the power rivaling thousands of suns, light penetrated my own being. Despite my vision being gone, I could feel something—someone in front of me. They were familiar. At least I felt like that. I stretched my arms forward and grabbed them.
They were small. Fluffy. Hairy. Wait. I opened my eyes as the light slowly faded away. I felt something like my face and my eyes met with two sapphire-like eyes.
“Bork!”
“What the fuck?”
He was small. A puppy. His fur was snow white. His ears, which were too big for him were down, like German Shepherd puppies, and moved as he tilted his head to the side. Even though I didn’t check his lower body, I knew he was male for some reason. He kept trying to lick my face and tried to push his tongue inside my mouth.
“Argh! No, not there!”
I read wolves usually licked each other’s mouth as a way to communicate but this is too much!
“Huh. You didn’t die.” Interus said. I looked back at him. He sounded and looked disappointed. Motherfucker. Did he try to kill me by bringing me here before I learned Mana Manipulation?
“Take care, Outsider. My heir is in your hands now.” I heard Wolf King’s voice. It was much weaker now. It even faded away at the end of his sentence.
“Hello, little brother. Won’t you greet your older brother?” Interus opened his arms as if waiting for a hug. The puppy in my arms showed his fangs and growled aggressively.
“You insolent…”
I looked back at the heart. Most of its color was gone and half of it was turned into dust.
“You should give him a name.” Interus said while showing his fangs and growling at the puppy.
“Grow up.”
I said as I turned around and pulled the puppy out of his view.
“You don’t know since you are human but it is unacceptable for younger pups to show fangs to their elders! Give him to me and I’ll discipline him!”
As soon as he said that, the puppy climbed on my shoulder and started to bark at him.
“Hey, you! Calm down!”
“Whimper!”
“Why are you whimpering for him and barking at me? You mongrel!”
Good, now I have to take care of two kids.