The color of concepts (Planeswalker / Multicross)

[Elferio]

Chapter One- An unexpected if enthusiastic walk

A sudden sound followed by gust of wind was heard across the courtyard of an ancient shrine alerting a brown haired young woman in the garment of shrine maiden that somewhat was amiss, to her surprise she saw a black haired young man lying on the ground by the torii gate.

"Are you alright!? she said, running toward the figure laying on the ground.

"Uggg what was that place , where am I? I said as I heard something, trying to dispel the dizziness.

"Sir, can you stand? You are on the grounds of the Hakuba Shrine" said the girl trying to help me get up.

"Yes, thank you, just give me a moment so the world stops spinning, Hakuba Shrine you said? That sounds somewhat familiar" said the young man.

I took the girl's hand and stood up taking stock of my surroundings, as she said I was indeed in what looks like a rather ancient if well kept japanese shrine which was weird because the last thing I was at the airport in London on my way back home.

Feel a bout of nausea return as I got assaulted by a memory of loud noises, screams and falling concrete, then I don't know how to describe it reality just shatter around me like glass and there were overwhelming colors, lights, the conflicting sensations of hot and cold, far and near at the same time and the taste of…white at the end of it?.

I feel something calling to me, that I could grasp that something, I close my eyes and follow that feeling. In the stone, the buildings, it's all around me.

Suddenly I feel a warm energy suddenly fill my body as if I was bathed in warm sunlight dispelling the aches of my body and above all information, this place was indeed the Hakuba shrine, I feel if a pull harder I could feel know its history, I feel a pool of…white power? radiance? inside of it I can see symbols of different sizes floating around in the when I focus on the two bigger ones information flows into my mind one is the concept of sealing and the other is purification. Also I feel that something was sealed here, a pulsing massive mass of red and black power, mostly black thought. Something BIG and NASTY.

That nagging feeling of familiarity was back.

"Thank you for your assistance. My name is…Ferio, Ferio Vaglantiz, can you please tell me what time is it? I noticed that the moon has risen and last thing I remember it was noon" and is a rather prominent full moon but I remembered that just yesterday it was a crescent moon.

"Yes, my name is Hakuba Mina I am the daughter of the head priest of the temple, it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance" She give me a respectful bow and took a moment to search for something in her pockets, taking a smartphone with a horse keychain "Its 9:48 pm sir, in about five minutes first solar eclipse of the 21th century it's going to take place" said the girl rather excited.

"Solar eclipse?" Ahh that feeling that I forgot something important from before came back with vengeance sending a chilling feeling running down my spine. Lets try asking something.

"Say Miss Mina, you won't happen to have a silver haired friend would you?"

"You mean Soma-kun? Did he say something rude to you?" said the girl, giving a rather tired sigh as if this was a common occurrence.

"N..No… he did not" I try my level best to suppress the rising panic attack, even if I put all the clues together it can be real that I somehow got Isakaied to Castlevania specifically at the beginning of Aria of Sorrow.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, looking up and I see that the eclipse is commencing signaling the beginning of the game, I feel conflicted should I run? Whatever power this isekai trip granted me it's really worth it to thrown myself into the FUCKING CASTLEVANIA even with out Dracula there monsters and that madman Graham, on the other hand danger and opportunities goes hand in hand. Loot, and more importantly connections, this is a modern world I can not live casually without proper documentation, ids and other things,

If I help in some capacity maybe I can request assistance from whatever agency Alucard works for, but it can't be that bad if he is involved with them.

Unaware of my inner turmoil, Mina looked to the side and smiled as she calls to a silver haired guy in his late teens wearing a white trench coat over a black shirt and jeans as he was crossing the Torii.

"Soma-kun"

"Mina" He answered warmly at the girl, then his eyes landed on me, sending me a rather cold unfriendly look "Who are you?"

"Calm down kid I just a lost traveler, your cute girlfriend here was helping me get my bearings, I quite lost at the moment you see"

"It's not like that we are just childhood friends" said the girl blushing while sending "discrete" looks that obviously went over the head of the guy like a proper MC that he was.

"Hmmp" was his reply, truly this guy is a font of sunshine.

"Kids" I said, looking toward the almost complete eclipse and with a sight I Iook at both of them.

"Roll for initiative"

"Wha.."

And then everything went white.

---

These awakening on unknown ground after a blacking out episodes are becoming a rather disturbing trend that I can do without in my life. As I was coming through I looked at Soma resting his head on Mina lap, lucky bastard. We were laying on an entryway paved with white stone and statues of knights dotted the way towards castle doors. Ornate things of fine dark oak covered in carving of the denizens of the night, not the most welcomed sight but amazing nonetheless . To our back a closed portcullis of thick wood and iron.

"Where am I...? WHOA! What... happened?? I heard Soma beside me.

"So you've decided to join us... Did you have a pleasant nap? said a rather handsome man in an immaculate black suit with a red shirt.

"Not at all good sir, the floor is quite hard. I have to extend my complaints to the castle management" I pause to look at the kids. "Not all of us have the luxury of a lap pillow after all" I said point at the withs while laughing.

I can only laugh at the sputtering denials at my back as I look towards the man.

I admit in my heart of hearts that I had to resist the urge to squeal like a fangirl. I mean that is Adrian "THE ALUCARD" Fahrenheit Tepes immortal warrior mage and one of my childhood heroes.

"Huh? Who the hell are you?" said Soma. "It's OK, Soma. His name is Genya Arikado…" responded Mina trying to calm her friend.

"Skip the introductions. I have a few questions, and I need answers now."

"Go... go ahead…" Said the teen trying to stand up

"Why have you come here?" Question the dhampir

Why? Well, Mina and I... Hang on, where are we?

"We are in Castlevania or more colloquially known as the castle of Dracula aka the penetrator" I said rather cheekily.

"It's the impaler, and how do you know that?" said the man "Semantics and I just happen to be a fan of the Belmonts" it's my only response.

"Huh? Dracula's Castle? Are you telling me we are in Europe?"

"No. We are inside the solar eclipse." said the Alucard "Inside the eclipse?! You're insane! Do you think I'm a fool?!"

"Soma-kun! Listen to him, he's telling you the truth!" Yes Soma listen to the centuries old warrior that grew up here.

Since I know what 's to happen, I try to feel that pool power that I feel back at the temple, it's there but feel rather…distant for lack of a better word. It looked like a small white star in my mind's eye.
Thankfully it looks like it answers my call for it. I concentrate on it looking for the symbols that I saw before, the concepts of sealing and purification that I felt before. I take a look at the purification concept since it looks more immediately useful in combat.

"What the heck are you talking about? Give me an explanation!" exclaims a rather agitated Soma.

"Well, it's like this... Huh?! An enemy!" The dhampir tried to explain when right on queue a bunch of wild skeletons suddenly appeared, some were winged spearmen, others armored swordsmen. But the more amazing thing is that they got the drop on us….somehow. Alucard-sama I know it's part of the plot and all but how in the blazes they sneaked upon you.

"Damn! Protect the girl!. SOUL STEAL!"As Alucard cast his iconic spell I could help but notice things about it , things that I somehow know are the concepts of SOUL, ABSORPTION and DEATH, as well a swirl of black energy I felt as a bunch of data got imprinted in my brain making my mind reel.

The spell destroys most enemies but most it's not all as few skeletons survive and attack us.

Call in upon the power purification. I picture it like white wave of destructive energy coming from my hand like a shotgun.

"Get rekt assholes" The power reacts to my desire to protect the kids pulling from the pool of white to the concept of purification to myself and finally to my hand. I like to say that my first spell was all badass and annihilated all the enemies in a torrent of LIGTH but one of the flying bastards manage to dodge at the last moment. And worse it went for Mina.

"Hyaaa!, go back to where you came from!'' Screamed Soma as he swung his pocket knife cutting through the ribs of the flying monstrosity. Must be some knife because not only he cut through bone but the mofo practically disintegrated.

From the crumbling remains of the skeleton a red orb of light comes out and slams into Soma's chest.

"So it has awakened." said Alucard in an even tone "What? What was that?" asked Soma, still reeling from the experience, really the boy is handling his first mortal combat experience like a champ "The spirit of the creature you killed has just entered your body. You have the power to absorb the abilities of the monsters you kill."

"Wh... why... why would I have that power...?" Because yer a wizard Soma thats why. "You have gained the power. Now you must go to the Master's chamber." said Alucard as a matter of fact.

"For what reason?" said Soma, worry and mistrust clear in his eyes. Alucard looked at him straight into his eyes "Do you not wish to return with your friend to your own world?"

"Of course I want to go back.". Alucard then pointed in the direction of the highest tower in the castle "Go to the Master's chamber. Then, you will understand everything"

Looking towards us with worry Soma said, "But I can't just leave them here like this."Ohhh worrying about me too, what a nice kid, must be because I saved his friend. "No need to worry about them. I'll put up a protective barrier. But death will most certainly find those who stay here too long."

"Don't worry haa haa, Soma I got PO...haa..wer of my own so we will be fine" I said trying to reassure the kid. Thougth panting didn´t help much selling that idea "The... then I…"Yes. Only you can save her from a painful death." said the dhampir "And you, what will you do?" said soma with clear dislike dripping from his words.

"I, too, have things I must do within these castle walls. Go. Set forth! Both your own life and hers are at stake." With that said Alucard begin to walk towards us, his steps measured and composed "Come over here I will cast a barrier that will keep you safe"

Soma lookend in our direction, well Mina direction one last time then he closed his eyes and took a deep breath to firm his resolve. "Be careful Soma-kun" Mina said, worry evident in her voice. Truly a good girl. He nodded at her and started walking towards the giant doors of the castle.

As Alucard prepares to cast the barrier I notice something glimmering in the place where I destroyed those skeletons. I took a closer look and saw some motes of light.

Focusing on them my sight suddenly change I could SEE, colors of power, tiny pieces motes are shards of concepts similar to the ones I felt back at the temple but infinitely smaller and boy there were many, BONE, ARMOR, IRON, SPEAR, DEATH, among others there were also wisps of a black energy, probably demon power or something. As I extend my hand towards these fragments all the shards flew towards me in a manner not dissimilar to what Soma experienced before.

Wherever I put my eyes I could see the concepts of everything like they were labels, how they interact with each other, giving power, taking it , changing it in a rhythm I could not comprehend. I could see a lot of black and red power being very prevalent around the area but I see some wisps of green coming from what at a distance looks like some form of garden. Looking down I got the same feeling I got at the temple but its the opposite, its black, I still try to reach towards it and pull. Instantly I felt something pull back and I pull once more harder this time. This back and forth continued for some time until I felt something give and I connected towards the source. That being the castle entrance I felt an awareness towards the place but is tenuous at best.

The coppery smell reached me, the wet and warm in my face. I wipe it with my hand, noticing the deep red of blood . Suddenly I feel a pressure building in my head and a familiar sense of dizziness assaults me once more. It seems I over extended myself. I close my eyes and feel my awareness pull back and then everything is back to normal.Well as a normal being in what could be considered a dominic world.

"Vaglantiz-san are you alright? Asked Mina with a worried tone "I will be fine. I didn't take gaining superpowers as well as Soma did"

"I will cast the barrier now, don't move" Alucard began to make gestures and a circle of white light began to appear around us. Even without the sight I could see some of it I got the feeling of PROTECTION and VEILING tied together with a string of white power similar but different to the one at temple.

"It's done, you should be safe for now. Mina, wait for that young man. He should return later. If you excuse me as I said before I have matters to attend to in the castle" said Alucard turning towards the door without waiting for an answer.

"What a day" I said as I sat on the ground nursing. I close my eyes and steady my breath. "Ok Ferio let's figure out these powers" I mutter to myself.

What are my clues? I look at my memories starting with the whole isekai trip, the nothingness, that vast infinity, then my meeting Mina. Now that I think about it, everyone should be talking in japanese but while I know some moonspeak it is not to a conversational level and everyone is understanding me when I speak.

What else?, I got that power from the temple that looks like a pool of white, the concepts, what's else,I can somehow understand Alucard SOUL STEAL, the entrance of the castle that looked black to my new senses. And there is How All of these feels strangely familiar, like when I get the clues that this is Castlevania.

How is isekai, that place, colors, places of power and seeing magic tie together…
A memory resurface "I tap 3 islands to summon Jace…" ehhh, could it be?

I suddenly stood up saying "Miss Mina can you help with something". Mina looked at me startled at my sudden move. "Sorry, I just want to try something".

"Ano…, what should I do? Said the young miko in a confused tone. "The ability I gained allow me to saw the concepts that forms things, I want to see how that differs to a living person, don´t worry this it is a perception power an observation if you will"

Focusing on Mina I can see some concepts such as WOMAN and PRIESTESS but some of them are too little to observe so I try to open the sight more gently this time. I think I succeeded this time. My vision changed from 720p to to 4k with all the settings in ultra. I can now see more than the concepts themselves. I can see the framework of how they aggregate to form the existence of Mina.

I feel a small star appearing in my consciousness, focusing on it. I get the information for a Untrained young adult japanese shrine maiden. I just got a pattern, I bonded to a land and cast a spell…kinda.

I grin as a realized that not only I isekaied I also a planeswalker. This is gonna be fun.

---

Hello folks Elferio here

Where to begin, I have been a lurker for some years now, been trying to make some stories here and then but I was never quite satisfied with how they turned out and not posting anything. A friend told me to just write and look for feedback and reactions of the readers and go from there. I was binging on anime (Frieren and Mushoku Tensei) when I got hit by the muse and like it the idea of journey to gather magic spells but I wanted more than just a world or a single system I always liked stories like A Nascent Kaleidoscope or Multidimensional Merchant, traveling, interacting with various setting, figuring out how power work from the perspective of a different setting.

So I settled on a Planeswalker character, I always liked the power set and of course the freedom to come and go to different planes making it ideal for a progression/exploration story. With these I wanted to make a character that can become competent moderately fast but not instantly op.

I chose Aria of Sorrow as the first world because one I have been avid Metroidvania fan, 2 the setting can provide a good initial conflict, if "average kid" with a isekai mc power manage to conquer the castle in arguably a single night a planeswalker even a newly awakened one surely can as well…hopefully.

I will be grateful for all the feedback and advice that you guys can give.

 

[Elferio]

"Thanks for the help Mina, I was able to prove some hypothesis about the nature of these powers" I said, still feeling elated about the whole being a planeswalker thing. Now I have options, since if I haven't figured out how to walk yet…no I can´t walk away and leave the kids behind.

"Now I need to figure out how to actually make a proper "spell ". Last time I got lucky with that burst of purification. It would be great if I can improve it into something less energy intensive like a magic missile or a grenade, the last battle used like half the pool in a single effect.

"Let's check the pool of power" I let my instinct guide me and close my eyes and let my consciousness submerge back into that field of stars that represents my power. " Let's call it the inner cosmos" . The first thing I noticed is a sphere of ever changing colors at the center of this "space" I feel a strong connection to it

"That must be my spark but it looks exhausted after the first jump, there also are more stars now" Most of them are very tiny, barely specks of light compared to the little suns that represent the Hakuba Shrine and the gate of the castle.

Looking into the Shrine star I see the pool of white mana refilling at an appreciable rate. The pool it's a bit more than three quarters or so of maximum capacity. "This is probably how the whole tapping and untapping of lands must look like". Moving my focus towards the inside of the pool I look for the PURIFICATION symbol.

Comparing this symbol to the ones I got from the monsters tell me the little shards must be part of greater whole like this symbol in front of me the shards are like a pinch of powdered clay, you need to gather more of it to make bricks, then gather more to make walls and so on until you get a building.

I shake my head, no need to go down the rabbit hole now. What I need now is to figure out how to make an offensive spell preferably a ranged one. During the fight it came out like light instead of the wave a picture in my mind. My gut tells me that I need something to shape it further.

I tried to focus more on the symbol in front of me l. Looking deeper until I felt something click. Images of people in robes like the ones Mina is wearing flowed into my mind. If I venture a guess they probably are past generations of Hakuba priests. While their robes seemed vary a little, all of them have that silvery horse somewhere in their persons.

These men and women look like they are performing exorcisms on monsters, objects, even the land itself , some of them chant and pray, while others do battle with swords, bow and arrow and the occasional spear.

I started to get how they do that, it's all in the flow of mana as it chains together the concept of PURIFICATION through their skills in order to achieve a result.

The more I submerge into the concept the more I feel something crystalize in my mind. I pull away from the symbol and look around at the other shards I have collected.

"Let's see if I can combine it with another concept to make and spell something like ARROW or BULLET" I said as I looked among the shards that I had gathered.

"PROJECTILE huh" This one must have come among the bunch I got when Soma gained his first soul, it allows him to throw spears at his enemy. "Lets see what can you do"

As if reacting to my thoughts but the concept of PURIFICATION and PROJECTILE flow in front of me. "Good now let's add a bit of mana". Concentrating on the Shrine star I pull a small string of power and move it to the small PURIFICATION shard and then towards the PROJECTILE shard.

Suddenly the end of the string that went through the bullet shard circle around and connected with the PURIFICATION shard severing it from the pool of white power. I see power leave both concepts leaving them brightless. Said powers started to spin around and getting closer to each other until a loud BAAM sound signaled the collision of both merging together.

I pull my focus toward the new stars, at first sight it looks bigger and brighter than the other stars. It looks that the PURIFICATION concept merged with and changed PROJECTILE concept while the latter give it function thus forming the PURIFICATION PROJECTILE spell"

Once more I dive deeper into the star, this time there aren't really memories per se but I can see the function of the spell. It shoots a small comet of PURIFICATION at a moderate speed, I can further shape on the fly the PROJECTILE aspect to give additional effects like piercing or explosion effects but it I have to do se manually, unlike the instant casting of the basic effect it doesn't even need a chant.

It's different when I try casting directly from the concept in the Shrine star, it's more powerful but I can't control it well. It's not really mine, it belongs to the land. I can use it but it's inefficient to say the least, I need to understand the concept first.

Looking at the concepts I use to make the spell I notice that the PROJECTILE shards is gone consumed to make the spell but the PURIFICATION one did not, why?

Let's try again to make another spell. Since I already made one of white , I will try to make one of black. Realistically speaking I am not in great shape, years behind a computer did not prepare me for trials ahead so I need something to keep me going since I am not a videogame character with endless stamina. The themes of black include things like opportunism, murder, life draining among others. I am particularly interested in the latter one so I can replenish my stamina and heal my wounds.While I can also heal with white I don't currently have a shard related to healing, I guess I can do it in a pinch with raw mana but my gut tells me that seems dangerous.

"Lets see, I have DEATH,SOUL, and ABSORPTION, with these I can probably imitate Alucard Soul Steal to some degree". After all I only have very tiny concepts shards rather than the huge solid symbols of centuries of practice.

I pull a bit of black mana from the black star that represents the gate of the castle. I immediately notice the difference with white mana, it's more eager to go to the concepts reacting to my desire to grow stronger.

The same process occurs and a new star containing the 3 concepts emerge and a name it LESSER SOUL STEAL reflecting its capabilities and out of respect for the original spell.

Once more the concepts shards disappeared, I need to look later into this.


Slowly I retracted my consciousness from the Inner Cosmos and opened my eyes returning to the real world. When I opened my eyes I saw Mina looking at me in amazement.

"Are you alright? Did something happen?" I was puzzled by the looks she was giving me.

"You are amazing Ferio-san, even in this situation you're so calm. You can even meditate for an hour. Is this the power of adults" She says with stars in his eyes.

Now I feel bad. In my excitement over my new shiny powers I ignored the distressed girl and lost track of the world, even with the barrier I should be more vigilant. It worked out in the end but I cannot be careless in the future. I can defeat thousands of enemies but I can only die once after all. Let's try to keep the morale up.

"You are not doing so bad yourself, you know. You said you were the daughter of the head priest, are you the successor" I said, trying to keep Mina distracted.

"That would be Shintarou-oniisama, he is supposed to become the next head priest next year" Mina said calmly. "And what about you? Any plans for the future, college, work?

"Yes I wish to go to college to become a healer?" "A healer not a doctor, jou-chan?"

"Yes I have the ability to heal wounds and aliments, I been helping people from the supernatural world like the members of Arikado-san when they got wounded"

"Now that's amazing, can I see it?, how do you do it? Do you cast a spell or call upon the gods?" I said excited, now an example of spellcasting that I can observe without being in the middle of combat. How could I let an opportunity like this pass me by.

She shakes her head "It's not a proper spell with formula and rituals, but an innate ability I can call upon" I got some scratches on the back of my hand from the last scuffle, it's not much but I can use them to observe the effects of this ability first hand. "Here use my hand".

She nodded and took my hand between hers and a gently white glow started to envelop them. It looks that she is using a different use of the PURIFICATION concept treating wounds and I image sickness as impurities to be purged. In hindsight it should be obvious since she is from the Hakuba bloodline. In all its very instructive concepts can be approached from different directions and intentions. I wonder what will happen if I do different mana/concepts combinations. Something for later.

A loud noise coming from the doors leading to the castle. It sounds like someone it's dragging something heavy along the floor. Without hesitation I charge a Purification Projectile and start charging it while pointing it towards the door.

"Mina get behind me" a startled yes was her response as she rapidly got behind me. The noise becomes closer until I see a black bald man wearing military fatigues dragging a big crate through the castle entrance . Could he be Hammer coming here to set up his shop?

"Who are you, identify yourself?" I shouted towards the figure who reacted by pulling a gun and pointing in our direction

I could feel my heart thundering in my chest. A bullet could one shot me but I don't waver. I could really use a defensive spell.

After a moment the man lowered his gun and said "Name's Hammer. I'm with the U.S. Military, here to investigate this Dracula castle mess. But that's too dicey for folks without super powers. I got my bacon saved by that Soma fella. So I decide to open a shop"

I don't think I can reabsorb the spell back into mana so I let it dissipate slowly into motes of light.
"Soma-kun!! Is he alright?" I heard Mina asking from behind me "More than that, he's got the whole monster slayin' down to a T." He then holstered his gun and continued pulling his crate.

"He doesn't seem like a bad person, but please stay inside the barrier I going to help him" "Yes Ferio-san"

Walking closer I see that the crate it's full of weapons and items "That quite the selection of items" and full of shards I thought to myself as I walked toward the back of the crate absorbing some shards all the while "Let me help you push the crate".

"Alright, thanks man"

Once we pushed the crate inside the barrier he pulled a tarp and began to put out all sorts of items from rings and books to weapons atop of it like some bazaar stall.

"You're really going to open a shop here" I know is part of the plot but I can't help myself as I saw Hammer put down his items with the confidence of an old merchant."Of course, that Soma fella told me he already found some gold coins inside the castle, how 'bout you?"

"Me, I am already planning to explore the castle but I can't leave the young lady behind, since you are going to be here, would you mind keeping an eye on her?" I looked him in the eyes as I asked. He grinned at me and said "Quite a popular young lady, ain't she? That Soma kid asked me the same thing. Don't you fret, as long as old Hammer is here, nothing bad will happen to the lady"

As I gathered some of the shards from the items I found a bottle about the size of a can of soda full of a red liquid, and more importantly full of concepts like HEALING, LIFE, MENDING and so on.

"Ohhh it's that healing potion" I said as I open my mage sight trying to get not only the shards but the pattern as well. "That is indeed an honest to god health potion, son. It'll heal your wounds and boost your vitality, 50 gold coins"

"Gold? What happened to the almighty dollar?" I said, raising an eyebrow.

"Sorry son but the monster ain't carrying bills you know, tell you what since you help me out setting the shop I let you have it, I even throw you this staff I found since you like one those magic types for free if you promise to come back and do business." said Hammer not missing an opportunity to make money in the future"

"You got yourself a deal" I responded to him while taking the items. Since I already checked out the potion I focus on the staff. At first glance it looked more like a long branch someone cut from a random tree than a manufactured product, but one look at its concepts told me that tis the real deal FOCUS, CHANNEL, MANA, among others.

While its not at optimal load out I feel more confident about exploring the castle

I walk towards Mina " I will now go to the castle, that old man name is Hammer. He told me met Soma in the castle, he saved him from monsters ""Really!?"

"Yes, he is a soldier so he would take care of any monster that appears,also Soma and Arikado should be back to check on you so wait here ok?



In the game the first room is a dilapidated hall full of zombies with the purpose to ease the player into the combat aspect of the games. Unlike the games however the place was not well lit at all. With only the moonlight streaming from the holes in the walls and few scattered candlesticks making the shadows seem larger.

I see some shambling forms around the room like in the game, a most excellent target for experimentation.

I call the white mana and connected towards my spell then I pointed at the nearest zombie located roughly at the half the length of the room. A bolt of white mana erupted from my fingertip traveling faster than an arrow leaving a trail of sparkling little motes. It hit the zombie square in the chest and leaving a hole about the size of fist through it like it was made of wet paper also it catches fire

"White fire mmm, must be reacting to the undead concept of the zombie those, zombies and demons take badly to purification after all." I mused as the zombie crumbled into dust leaving behind shards like the monsters in the courtyard. I looked at my mana reserve from the temple and noted that the spell barely consumed anything.

"Lets try the staff now"

Picking another zombie one more to the right I repeat the process this time channeling through the staff rather than my hand. The spell not only flies faster, it also leaves a far smaller trail than when I use my hand. Also impacted the zombie harder leaving a bigger hole and the fire consumed it faster.

"Now let's try LESSER SOUL STEAL" I said as I pointed my staff toward the burning zombie. I felt something coming out of the zombie struggling as If trying to pull away. I increase my pull and a small ball black energy flies towards my chest. It reaches me and I feel an invigorating sensation spreading through my body like I just downed a redbull and espresso at same time.

"Damn this is what Soma feels when he gets a soul no wonder he went to his knees back in the courtyard". Really souls are one hell of drug

Now I want to get the pattern of the zombie. As I walked towards the end of the hall when I heard a wet noise behind my back. Looking back I saw some puddles of blood forming in the ground, moments later zombies started to crawl from those puddles.

"Monster spawning is a thing" I said as I took varios seconds to charge the power for the Purification spell but this time I tried to make a wide cutting wave. The results are mostly what I wanted but I did not get all the zombies two got away

I shot a bullet toward one zombie and I cast Lesser Soul Steal on the other. The first one died as expected but the other one resisted my spell." I guess I needed to weaken them before using the spell" I sigh and use mage sight on the remaining zombie to try to get the pattern. I tried to get the zombie data but I heard a moan uncomfortably close to my back.
"Fuck" I said as i turn to see a zombie scant steps lunging behind me. I felt the air being driven from my lungs as the monster tackled me to the ground, in my panic I dropped my staff. I panicked as I saw the rotten face of the zombie full of yellowed teeth and milky white eyes. I tried to push it away but it's stronger than it looked.

In my desperation I managed to call the power of purification through my body like an aura but it was too weak to destroy the zombie, but it managed to make it back off me. I immediately rolled and extended my hand and cast PURIFICATION PROJECTILE killing it. I looked for the other zombie, but somehow it didn't move in the confrontation. I scan my surroundings with my mage sight and don't see other zombies, I give a sigh of relief. Iit was a stupid mistake. I can´t let my guard down even for the weakest monster in the game.

I pick my staff and with my back at the wall I continue getting the pattern of the zombie. Once it was done I hit with a PURIFICATION and SOUL STEAL. I fill once more the rush of power as I absorb the power in the zombie soul and feel the aches of my body disappear.

This time however I keep my mage sight on and look at my body. I can see bits and pieces of the zombie power fusing with my body enhancing it. It's very minuscule however since I don't feel particularly stronger beyond the surge of energy. Another thing to consider.

I gather the shards that the zombies leave behind, I notice that the zombies that I killed with LESSER SOUL STEAL didn't leave shards behind. It seems it consumes everything. It becomes a matter of loot vs xp or gains as I don't think I am going to have a level up mechanic.

"One last thing" I said to myself as I stand at the end of the hall ready to enter the next room. I call upon the pattern of the zombie and examine it. I see concepts like CORPSE, DECAY AND UNDEAD among others.

Currently it probably will cost me about a third of my pool of black mana. I wanna try to summon it without the DECAY concept to see if I can get a more agile zombie. I pause to look at the room. I don't want a repeat of what happened before. Satisfied that I find none, I try to take the concept.

Turns I can but the cost increased considerably from roughly a third to more than half my pool but it's possible.

"Welp lets call it an investment" I call the pattern I fill it with mana. I feel something get pulled from my spark providing a "frame" for the pattern. I wonder if this is Ether. It took a few seconds for the patter to become completely filled with mana then a few more for the zombie to materialize.

Looking at the zombie I can see it is none of the rot the others have. It has the body of a muscular man with vacant misty white eyes.

"Excellent I name you Lord Zombiton the very first of hopefully many soldiers, now let's go and gather more comrades"

"One last thing" I said as I took aim and shot toward two of the candles affixed to the walls, as expected it got destroyed but provided neither hearts nor coins.

"Tchh lest hope that at least Wall Chickens are a thing" I muttered as I step towards the exit of the next room.

​

 

[Elferio]

"I need to make some notes''. I loved and played a lot of Aria of Sorrow, well Castlevanias in general , so I remember a lot of facts about it. While I don't have a near perfect recall of every room, every piece of loot and drops, and so on, I remember quite a lot especially the general layout of the map due my multiple runs of the game, and my parents thought that playing video games was a waste of time.

While the castle changes appearances through every entry in the series, certain similarities are kept, particularly at the beginning of the games such as the long hallway followed by a big room sometimes with water at the bottom. Aria of sorrows thankfully follows this pattern and has that fountain with merman, the interesting thing is the water. It's flowing from the deeper levels into the Underground Reservoir stage, I am willing to bet that I could find a source of blue mana there. The study is also another source but it's on the other side of the castle and the Reservoir connects to the Arena so maybe I can get a red land there.

"Down it is, Zombiton hit that wall" . A guttural rumbling is the only response I got from my undead servant as he hit them all rather hard and to my continuous disappointment no Wall Chicken, so we continued our way down the stairs. It was relieving and disappointing at the same time that the castle layout is not a parkour theme park but rather something intended to be used by humans or well human shaped beings.

I paused for a moment. I can't see any monsters but there should be mermans in the pit below the fountain.

"Let's see if I can cheat a little" I said as I activated my mage sight.

I focused on the water below seeing concepts of WATER, MUD, STONE… ah there it is. I see a conglomeration of concepts particularly FISH, MONSTER, and FIRE? What a weird concept for a water monster. I count 1..2..3..4…5 in total. It looks like the little bastards noticed us and are gathering toward the end of the pit in what I it's clearly the preparation of an ambush.

They don't seem in a rush and are patiently waiting to make their ambush so help myself to a merman pattern. Once I got it I decided to make a basic zombie to spring the trap and begin charging for a wide area shot. The newly minted zombie started to shamble towards the edge of the pit…and nothing happens either this fuckers are smart or they do not recognize the zombie as prey.

"Well they are still grouped together, how nice of them" I said as I used a scatter shot over the area they are costing me about a third of my pool of white. And off they beams of light go hitting the water with a loud splash, sadly I got four of them but only two died.

Quite rude of them but nothing a Soul Steal can't solve. This time I got the remaining merman and the last one jumped from the water as I gathered the souls of the dead.Lucky for us Zombie A was there to receive the brunt of the attack. Poor Zombie A got burned to ashes as the merman spat a fireball at him. Ahh so that's why they have a FIRE concept.

"Zombitron, I chose you" I said, channeling as much mana and Ash Ketchum as possible.

Zombitron was proving to be the superior zombie than poor A. I see as he grapples with the merman enduring one claw attack after another. He took them like a champ with nary a grunt of pain. He finally manages to get a hold of the merman and proceeds to slam it into the ground with a wet crunching sound. Puny merman.

"Move Zombitron"

I make careful aim so as not to hit my poke..minion with a purifying shot. To my surprise the shot managed to hit the fallen merman but it did not manage to penetrate his scales nor did it catch fire. While it indeed does damage it's far less than it did to Zombitron lesser brethren. Perhaps it's not the correct "element" it's a monster so the purification damaged it but not to the extent of a zombie or perhaps a demon.

"Fantastic I need another attack spell" The arsenal of a mage it's never complete, you always need a new spell for something.

"It can't be helped" I said as I cast LESSER SOUL STEAL to kill and gather his soul.

After finishing the fight I looked at Zombitron covered in gashes from the claws of the merman. Gotta take care of him but how. Healing with PURIFICATION power will kill him. Maybe I can use black mana to boost his UNDEAD concept.

I locate the concept symbol in his head so I put my hand on his head and call upon a trickle of black mana and channeling towards the concept. It went better than expected the concept started to suck the black mana like a black hole and I can see the wounds in Zombitron closing. Not only that, his body is growing larger until I saw the UNDEAD symbol transform into a bigger and more complex version of itself.

"Damn you drink deep that was nearly all my black mana" Zombitron was about my size before his transformation, now I barely reach his shoulders which were wider as well.

"Come lets see if there is a Save Room on the other side of the room"

"Grrrrooaaan"

I sigh in relief after checking the pit one more time. I don't see any more concepts signaling more mermen. I continue my walk to the other side of the room seeing a flight of stairs going up and a large wooden door.

"If I remember correctly this should be the first save room"

With a groaning noise I open the door leading to what looks like a storage room, no broken coffin or glowy statue, just a room with some boxes.

"My disappointment is immeasurable and my day is ruined". I said with a heavy sigh. Really can I have some game mechanics please. I proceeded to search the room, finding a small chest with some gold coins which improved my mood somewhat. I get the pattern and continue searching until I confirm that the room is void of enemies.

"Zombitron guard me as I absorb the souls"

"Yeeessssss"

"Thanks buddy"

This time I activate Mage Sight to look at the changes happening to me as I absorb 1 soul. I watch as the soul breaks into smaller motes of light and they enter my chest, specifically my heart. From that point the motes of light began to circulate through my veins. Some of the power seems to escape though. And through them the motes go to my bones, muscles, nerves, organs, I can sense the symbols that make their concepts grow bigger, more defined. I close my eyes and breathe as I ride the same sense of euphoria that I felt when I absorbed the zombies souls.

I make some standing jumps to gauge any changes in my physical capabilities. I indeed feel a little lighter but I don't think I can make anime bullshit just yet. Will I have another 4 souls to go, let's try something different.

Since the power gets distributed through my circulatory system let's see if I can enhance just that, having an improved heart and veins surely will be beneficial. I concentrate my sight in my chest and boy there are a lot of concepts there some come and go like BLOOD, LIFE or AIR. Others like NERVE, VEIN or MUSCLE, form the structure of the organ alongside their physical counterparts. I also see not so nice concepts like ENTROPY and DECAY. All of this is connected to a bigger symbol that represents the whole organ.

Once I locate the concept symbol I focus on it as I call the soul to begin transforming into power.I struggle as the soul energy tries to get out of my grasp and want to go everywhere. I somehow managed to stay in my heart and began to absorb it there.

I see how the heart symbol literally devours the energy and star glowing stronger, at the beginning I don't particularly feel much, just a tickling sensation that rapidly starts to become more painful as time goes on so I try to circulate the rest of the power toward my veins to relieve the pressure. It helps somewhat but my heart pulls back the energy so I focus again on the heart and I see a battle.

The heart is using the soul energy to destroy the DECAY and ENTROPY symbols located there, but it's like trying to dislodge a barbed arrow; it makes a wound worse when you pull it out. I see the smaller symbols get destroyed and turn into concept shards but some are absorbed back by the bigger symbols.

I wonder if I can absorb the shards into my inner cosmos like the other shards "Uggg no time to wonder let's do it" I try to absorb the loose shards like the others but I only partially succeed, the pull from the bigger symbols is greater but luckily it seems they can only focus on either on me or the heart symbol. I began to work in tandem with the heart symbol sending as many shards as I can to the inner cosmos where they become inert.

As the flow of soul power runs out the agitation of the symbols diminishes. I lay on my knees grasping my chest as I feel a strong sense of nausea, something is rising from my stomach to my throat.

I vomit a large blackish foul smelling ball of phlegm. It smells disgusting like rotten meat and tastes even worse, yuck.

THUM!! THUM!! THUM!!. Suddenly my heart symbol start pulsating faster and faster growing into a more complex pattern

BAAAM. With a thunderous sound it stops as if breaking through a wall or something. I lay a few seconds on the ground trying to regain my breath.
"How the fuck cultivators do this shit, body tempering fucking hurts" I should have chosen something less dangerous like bones but at least didn´t went for the brain I probably would have died. Better stick to general enhancement to the point my body can handle the strain.

I got back to my feet and took slow breaths until the pain receded and I checked the condition of my heart. The symbol of the heart really becomes bigger and a bit more complex not by much but enough to be noticeable but the problem is that I see a lot of small wounds. I am not a doctor but that can't be a good thing.

I searched my pocket for the potion Hammer gave me and took a big gulp. It tastes sweet with a refreshing after taste kinda fruity. I see the wound in my heart healing slowly.

"So its healing over time and not instant like in the games" I monitored the effects of the potion noting how the concept of LIFE slowly seeped into the wound helping the healing for a few minutes for until it ran out of power, sadly some of the wound remain partially healed. I took a another mouthful and it had almost no effect.

" Le sigh it seems I can't binge on potions"

"Ok let's try again to absorb the souls now, they seem rather restless" I said, feeling my hands trembling as I brace for the pain. It didn't come as I absorbed the first soul. I don't even feel that rush of euphoria is diminished. Less than a drug trip and more like a warm relaxing bath giving me a nice buzz.

The absorption goes even faster as my heart breaks down and transports the soul power through my body, my veins seem sort of thicker letting less power escape. So it seems that I was right in enhancing the circulatory system. The process got faster and more efficient. Sadly it seems that it has barely had an effect on the wounds.

It took a few more minutes to absorb the remaining souls. I feel great but the wounds in my heart continue to worry me.

"What to do?" I said out loud trying to think of another solution since the potion is not effective anymore. I felt something in my Inner Cosmo. Ahh it's the pattern I took from Mina, it's pulsing like trying to get my attention.

"Of course, If I can't do it I can subcontract the skill" I checked the pattern and boy it's expensive it cost more than twice Zombitron original cost. It's more than what I single land can give so it's kinda like the card game . Even if I put all the white mana I have I still need about 40% of the black mana.

Well you need money to make money so it kinda makes sense. I start to pour white mana first into the pattern and then black mana hoping they won't clash. It goes surprisingly smoothly so thanks for small mercies I guess.

In a small light show a young girl wearing the Hakuba shrine robes about Mina's age appears but she has long black hair. Her face is reminiscent of Mina like a cousin. Also she is shorter than Mina.

"Let's call you Miko for now"

"Yes master" She replies in a calm if slightly emotionless tone.

I didn't need to give her orders, as a summoned creature they can sense what I want them to do. She stood in front of me then put her right hand over heart. A warm energy began to fill my chest. I took a quick look at the wounds and I could tell that they were healing. After a minute she stopped.

"It's done master" she said in the same tone as before.

"Good let's go then, that blue land it's not going to get itself."


We traced our way back to the fountain and took the door at the other end of the room. Unsurprisingly instead of the fancy white marble hallway that connects one area of the castle with another simple hallway of the same undecorated stone that makes the previous room. Really it makes my inner fan cry and I have yet to see a Wall Chicken. But hope has yet to die in my chest.

"Mmmm the air seems more humid. Hopefully we are going in the right direction" I activate Mage Sight and indeed I can see tendrils of blue mana rising like tendrils of vapor coming from below the door.

"Indeed master"

"Grooaaan"

In the next room we found a rather big staircase going downstairs. Torches littered the walls though they little toward the damp chill of the place. Thankfully the place was devoid of enemies so we made it to a two way hallway at bottom without much drama.

I try to get a feel for the land but it is still rather distant. I have to go deeper. if I remember correctly the Arena should be connected to the Reservoir at the lower levels.How does that work make sense to put the Arena in the courtyard or inside the castle like in Symphony of the Night I don't know. I chalk it to the castle's chaotic nature.

Rather than take the door to the next room I opted to go the other way as my completionist instinct told me to leave no room unchecked for loot. It didn't take too long to reach the end of the hallway. It was another storage room full of shelves and boxes on the walls filled with old construction tools, pick axes, shovels, hammers and the like. At the center was a rather sturdy table with a folded piece of paper and a small box.

I use mage sight on the room to check for traps, finding none. I focused on the box at the table, I didn't look for concepts for traps such POISON or KNIVES, I even checked for CURSE and such but to my surprise I found FORTUNE.

I opened the box and found some coins and a silver pendant with a blue gem that glowed with blue mana. It was also the source of FORTUNE. In the game the pendant is an accessory that gives +1 to the LUCK attribute.

While putting the pendant I turn my gaze towards the folded paper under the box. It was about the size of a big book and yellow with age. I unfolded twice until it was about the size of the table.Ii looked like some sort of map full in black and with splotches of blue with some notes scrawled denoting some point of interest. I guess these are some sort of plans for the Reservoir since I can see some rooms with a lot of water and one note that says WATERFALL and SLUICE GATE. Truly a lucky find.

Sadly I don't find anything else of value but I decide to take a hammer and give it to Zombitron.

"Here big guy, may you bash some brains with it"

"Thhaaann uuuu" Huh it's me or Zombitron it's getting smarter.

Without anything of interest left in the room we backtrack to the hallway and continue or way deeper into the reservoir. We continue for some time until we get to a room with multiple arches transporting water to a large waterway with a small pier with a boat tied to. I checked on the map and found a note that said AQUEDUCT A. From here it connects to a room with a sluice gate and then to the cave main shaft.

If I remember correctly the path to the Arena should be at the bottom of the shaft so at least we are going the right way.

"All aboard to the SS Totally not a trap" I said in jest to mask my growing nervousness as we climbed the rickety little boat.

Since Zombitron don't have a particularly high dex score and the priestess have little dainty arms it fell to me to do the rowing. I checked the water with mage sight and found several fish swimming lazily in the waters. It would be much of a problem if those were not for the murder fish about the size of my torso. T

Thankfully they did nothing more than swim menacingly around the boat. Thanks to the multiple braziers embedded in the walls I can see well into the distance. Near the end I say a platform to the right with a flight of stairs going up.

Mmmmm if I remember correctly there should be some robes in that room upstairs, and probably full of monsters. The greedy part of me wants the loot because loot and pragmatism supports this since magic items would increase my chances of surviving the night.

"Let´s do this" I said as we disembark the boat and commanded Zombitron to bring out of the water since there is no place to tied it down.

We climb the stairs as silently as possible. I could hear a scratching sound against the stone. Clawed feet probably merman. When we neared the top of the stairs I concentrated on my mage sight to gauge the sort of enemies and numbers we were about to face.

Pack? School? Of 10 mermen. Quite the number so perhaps I could summon a pair of regular zombies to serve as meat shields. "Miko, can you use offensive spells". She nodded, taking a stack of small papers. "I can use these ofuda to attack the monster from afar".

"Good" I said as I summoned a pair of zombies to protect us. "I will charge an area attack to damage and disorient the enemies after that Zombitron will rush into melee then Miko and I will do ranged support while the zombies will be our meatshields, ok everyone." I said while knowing that is not necessary but the act of explaining the plan has a calming effect on my nerves.

"C'mon Ferio just like in D&D nights"
I began to charge my shot pouring as much mana I can into the spell to make a scatter shot pattern once more. I entertained the idea of an explosion but I don't know if the attack will affect Zombitron or damage the walls and cause the ceiling to crumble or something.

"Ready, go" I said as I let go of the spell. A rain of purifying power falls atop of our enemies and they start screeching in pain, but as before I see that the purifying power is not effective as it was with the zombies. Only 4 mermen were dead and the rest got some injuries but nothing that will take them out of the fight.

Once the spell was finished Zombitron starts rushing, raising his hammer towards the group of mermen. The zombies went forward a few meters in front of us. So far so good.

Zombitron crashed into them like a fist of an angry god, his hammer catching one of the mermen in the head, a loud wet crunching sound resounding as bone and brain matter scattered in the ground. One of them jumped on him but barely did anything to Zombitron's massive size. He just grabbed the merman and threw it at his feet and then stomped on its head splattering blood and viscera everywhere.

Miko and I shot spells all the while to keep the enemies separated so they don't overwhelm Zombitron. Everything was well until they started shooting fireballs at the zombies killing them rather quickly. Sensing an opening two mermen separated from the rest attacking zombitron.

"Fuck" I said as we star trowing spells and them but they were relentless. We managed to make one drop from its injuries while the other jumped at me knocking me on the ground. I felt the heavy weight of the monster crash into me knocking the air out my lungs. I barely manga to interpose my staff to fend the massive fanged maw of the piranha headed monster.

"Some help would…arg be appreciated Miko" I said in desperation feeling the claws of the merman sinking into my shoulder while trying to fend off the bite can't do much about the claws let alone cast. Then see some white light near us so Miko should be doing something.

One moment the monster was screaming in a savage glee, one moment trying to bite a chunk of me then screeching in pain as something burned it. Jumping away from me I can see or rather smell the sizzling aroma of roasted fish. I greet my teeth as I fight through the pain while pointing my staff toward the creature while casting a basic purifying shot.

This time I got the motherfucker hitting him in the chest caving it from the impact. Fuck that was close, I can feel the wetness running trough my shirt reminding me of my injuries so I soul steal this mofo
to heal my injuries. It's not enough.

I try to stand but a wave of dizziness from the awful combination of pain, blood loss makes it a trial. Trying to catch my breath I can see that Zombitron is making short work of the remaining mermen. I signal Miko to approach me so she can heal me. A wave of relief hit me as she began to work her spell on me. Once I feel well enough

I walked to the end of the room and saw a cloak of vivid green and blue hanging in a wall contrasting heavily with the dreary atmosphere full of blood and fish gut.

I can help but smile. I mean c'mon I KNOW that combat is horrible but this is the first piece of loot that I earned in this adventure. I chanced upon the pendant. But I wade through the blood of my enemies to get it.

I inspected the cloak and it looked like it was made of some sort of silk. I can see words stitched in silver across its length and it looks like a poem about a hero of an agile mind and body like the wind. With mage sight I don't see any negative concept in cloak. I draped across my shoulders and I begin to feel lighter and my mind began accelerating without any effort on my part.

"I need spells to run interference and support my summons"

I looked at the carnage and began to cast Soul Steal on the dead mermen. As I gathered the souls I felt a jolt in my mind like the feeling of a phone vibrating in my pocket.

I checked my Inner Cosmos and found the black land calling me to focus on it and then not the land but the black mana "spoke" to me. At the top of the pool mana a black shield and more muscular version of me emerged.

When I looked at the shield I saw images of me casting a ghostly barrier that drained the power of whatever attacks or touch me then I saw an image of me getting swole and living untouched by time for some years.A moment later the mana to send me the idea of a lesson and a deal.

"A lesson and a deal?" More information flows into my mind. The maxim of black is power is everything. Power dictates who succeeds and who fails; who commands and who submits; who lives and who dies. But with itself, and to those it wants to help, Black speaks the naked truth without distorting or hiding anything, good or evil don't matter, one own will do. This adherence to truth is key for its success. Black is oriented on obtaining power at any cost but a cost must be paid. Wherever the one who pays is you or others.

"So a lesson in mana, its cost, a sacrifice of the resources I gathered for power to further my ambitions" I felt a pleased feeling from the star. Ok first the defensive spell would help raise my chances of survival a lot, the second offer a power up and a longer lifespan. Short term vs long term.

"I chose the spell, the extra years while nice are useless if I don't live through the night" I said making my choice.

I feel a rumbling sound and I see the souls flying into the shield and the pool consuming them as per our bargain. The rumbling continues to intensify until the pool of mana suddenly expands roughly to twice its size and a new star forms in my Inner Cosmo.

Tendrils of black mana emerge from the pool and they fly towards the star at the center of this universe, this star represents my soul. Whitin I can see a core of ever shifting colors, of eternity. This without a doubt it's my planeswalker spark.

I see my spark eagerly drink the mana like it's dying of thirst and then ironically everything went black.

 

[Elferio]

"Ahh third time I passed out today this should be a record" I said as I woke up laying face down in a room full of fish guts and blood.

"Uuugghh what is this nasty taste"

I spitted a black substance that has horrible fishy rotten taste just like when I have the brilliant idea to augment my heart directly. I looked around and found myself in a big puddle of the stuff, more than back then.

"Damn this shits it everywhere"

It would seem that I vomited all the impurities or whatever that black shit is and fell into it when I passed out. I took out the cape and my shirt to assess the damage.

The shirt is a loss, stained to hell and back and that's without taking the god awful smell into account but I am more concerned about the cape but it seems clean, the sludge running down on it without staining, it must have a self cleaning enchantment or something.

Going shirtless is not really my style so let's get some practice on pattern using. I first focus on the ruined shirt getting a read of the concepts forming the patter in my mind while avoiding the black stuff that by the look of its concepts are mostly dead cells full of things related to dead and decay.

After a while I got the pattern of the shirt and felt style down in my Inner cosmos. I check on it and it's really cheap, well it's just a long sleeved shirt not even silk or anything fancy.

I was about to cast the pattern when an idea occurred to me, why not mod the pattern a bit like what I did with Zombitron.

I wonder what concepts I should use. I have concepts like ARMOR or IRON for extra defense, maybe STRENGTH or JUMP for utility. I also have the healing spell that I get from Mina.

I already got the new spell and the cape for defense so I don't really need more on that front. JUMP would be better for my pants or my shoes. I think the healing spell would be better if I can make it passive.

I try to combine the pattern of the spell into the shirt but it won't stick to the shirt. The spell is metaphorically "too big" to fit into the pattern of the shirt. Let's try to tone it down a bit but sadly it wasn't enough until I downgraded to about a fifth of the spell capacity.

The results are not too powerful but passive healing it's really useful and it barely consumes any mana until it's actually healing something but even then it won't outpace my white mana regen.

I put STRENGTH into my belt, JUMP on my pants and lastly ARMOR on my shoes. The latter mostly so I don't break my feet while jumping or if I step on something like a sharp rock.

"It's not Armani but it will do" I said admiring my work. Even with my meager skills I know this is very crude work but beggars can't be choosers. I have to invest more time developing this enchanting skill when things calm down.

Now let's check my body to see what black did to my body. Using image sight it's becoming a second nature to me like I have been using it all my life and not for a few hours.

My observations reveal that it's my bones, especially my spine got their impurities sucked out of them. They look more solid and kinda glossy like polish stone but the best part was my marrow. The blood produced by it it's brighter and I can see a greater amount of OXYGEN symbols.

I gave a deep breath and I can see the process of transferring the oxygen from my lungs to my blood. It's a little more efficient.

Looking back at the battlefield I realize that I need to get going so I want to try one thing before I go. I close my eyes and enter the Inner Cosmos and look at the white land. I try to project my thoughts to it like a did to the black land.

The response that I got was not what I was expecting.

I got a sensation of disappointment, jealousy and a bit of…sulking I think. One look in black direction told me that land is radiating SMUG.

So white got jealous of black because I made a deal with black. Can my lands be really this cute?

So you wanted to make a deal too?

I got a strong feeling of negation

" Ok ok not a deal, then what?"

This time I got a TEST/ORDEAL/CHALLENGE sort of a feeling. "Ok what should I do?"

A vision of a cavern fills my mind. I can see droplets of water sparkling in the light emitted from blue crystals embedded in every surface as they fall from stalactites in the ceiling. The vision then focuses on a couple standing in the middle of the cave. One is a man dressed in a fine suit of immaculate white, a scarf of blue patterns is draped around his shoulders. The other a beautiful young woman of blonde hair dressed in a tight red dress accentuated by black things.

I then see them part ways only for the man to turn suddenly and stab the blonde lady in the back. The lady falls clutching her wound in pain as bright red blood spills in the ground. The man laughs sadistically, kicking a potion from the young woman's hands. He then disappears as life spills from the woman.

"FUCK" Those are Graham Jones and Yoko Belnades, where the fuck is Soma and Alucard he should be stumbling upon them as Graham stabs Yoko.

I looked at the land and asked if it wanted to save Yoko and how much time I have. This time I received a firm YES and SOON.

Fuck that a tall order but I only need to scape with Yoko.

"Let's Go". I said with urgency

We got downstairs as quickly as possible and then put the boat back on the water to cross the waterway. All those upgrades to my strength really make the difference as the rowing got notably easier than before.

When we get to the other side I tie the boat to a small pier and we disembark I looked at Zombitron noticing his injuries, my loyal minion could use a little pick me up so I pour some black mana into him to "heal" his injuries, I don't stop the flow mana hoping to enhance him like before.

This time Zombitron did not get taller, in fact he shrunk a little, but what little mass he lost he seemed to become more dense, his muscles more defined. He doesn't even stumble anymore. I think he is becoming a different sort of undead. All that matters is that good old Zombitron is growing stronger.

I looked at Miko and noticed her reserved all at half capacity so I shared a bit of white mana with her to top her off.

Once team maintenance it's done I pull the map from my pocket, the path goes down a spiral staircase but it's flooded. In the game you need a special soul that gives you the ability to move underwater to pass through here but this place it's more grounded in reality odd enough for a dark fantasy demon castle but here we are. So there is a lever to open or close a sluice gate to control the flow of water.

I try to pull it but the damn thing is stuck due to rust. So I ask Zombitron to pull the lever and damn he make it look so fucking easy like the damn thing was greased well maintained, those upgrades really did come in handy.

As a loud groaning sound signaled the opening of the sluice gate and the water level started to go down revealing the rest of the stairs. After a few minutes the water went completely down.

As we went down I heard a wet, meaty slapping sound. It turned out that some of those killer fish got caught in the flow and got trapped when the water got drained. So I got the pattern and killed the fish, getting some nice pattern and concept shards you never know when you will need a killer fish.

There was also a glowing coming from the other side of the room, so I went to check on it. The vision of Yoko dying weighs on my mind but I cannot resist the call of loot. At the end of the room was a sword glowing in a cold light. I checked with mage sight seeing SWORD, MAGIC and ICE as the main components of the sword. At the very least it's not cursed so I took the sword and its pattern with it. A new star of blue mana appears in my mind. This should come in handy in the battle to come.

As we backtrack to the room with the sluice gateI gave Zombitron the ice sword and walked next to stairs that took us down. Next to it lies another set that go up, probably the way since the sluice gate leads to the yawning chasm of the main shaft of the cavern.

As we got up to the end of the stairs I could feel the saturation of blue mana increasing. I could probably bond to the land in the main shaft then I have to go down.

The entrance to the main shaft is marked by the abrupt end of man(castle?) made architecture and the beginning of a "naturally" formed cavern. I stop to make a feel for the land. My summons automatically take points as I concentrate on bonding with the land.

This time I reach the land sending on my curiosity, my desire to know, my joy as I research and create new spells. The land seems to accept my offering and I feeling as if rust falls from my mind, the gears spin faster and faster and i suddenly KNOW, I see the wasted opportunities to make new magics, new paths to improve whAT LITTLE I KNOW, LIKE THE WAY TO MY MEMORIES OF THIS PLACE ARE DRAGGED FROM THE DEPTH OF MY MEMORIES and just like that the hyper awareness recedes, My mind reeling from the little taste of omniscience.

"Truly mana it's one hell of a drug" I said as I leaned against a wall.

I have been focusing too much on the concepts that I have been ignoring mana itself, mana manipulation it's the most primal and basic form of magic. That any magic style is built from it. Even my concepts are but a mixture of ether and mana. Something for later now I have a mission now and I got all the tools I needed.



As we went down we got ambushed by a tall winged demon with a trident. I think he was following the old adage of always killing the healer first as he went straight for Miko probably thinking that a young lady would be flustered and therefore be an easy target.

Instead he got a facefull of ofuda sealing his movements and a linebacker worth of weight pinning him to the floor with a magic sword. I calmly took his pattern and soul stealed the fuck out of him.

His name is Cagnazzo, a flying warrior and a curse user from Dante Alighieri Divine Comedy, however I tend to remember his Final Fantasy water fiend incarnation more. A debuffer will be useful in hindering my enemies, talk about a lucky find. I immediately summoned a copy. It's the most expensive summon to date, almost half my new black mana pool and half my blue pool. But it's worth it we practically went down unopposed.

At the bottom of the shaft lies a hole and path to the right. Thanks to the blue mana dragging details that I have forgotten about the game I know that the right paths continue some distance and then go down one level and return back here. So I can go down to the bottom of the hole and pierce through it to go down to the required level. And the kicker I get access to the best potion in the game along the way.

So down the hole we go until I see a narrow little tunnel that I could barely crawl into. But now with blue mana at my side I CAST MY SENSES and I see a group of concepts MANA, POTION, POTENTIAL at the end of the little tunnel and then I PULL it back to me. It's a crude way to use mana but for now beggars can't be choosers.

I proceeded to gather enough mana to drill a hole in one go, since the layer of rock separating the levels wasn't that thick I made a hole big enough for all of us to pass easily. I grab Miko and use mana to MAKE US DESCEND SLOWLY.

As if to decry my pussy ass way of descending Zombitron simply jumps and crashes into the ground with a textbook superhero landing.

I am totally not jealous, that would be silly.

I think Zombitron is not only developing his power but his mind as well. Cagnazzo slows his descent with his wings.

Once we gather we continue in the direction I remember from the game and the pull I got from the white mana.

Suddenly we heard a woman scream echoing not far from where we were. "Fuck, Yoko". Thankfully we weren't far so we arrived to see Graham kicking the potion just like in the vision.

Without hesitation I start shooting purifying shots forcing him to back away from Yoko. "What, who are you?" shout the mofo as Cagnazzo and Zombitron charge at him well. I ignore him as I move towards Yoko with Miko behind me.

Once I got there I could see it looked bad, blood leaving the injury at an alarming place. I rapidly pull out the remaining health potion put it her lips

"Thank you... for rescuing me".

"Don't worry Miss Belnades you are going to be alright please drink this potion and we cast some healing spells"

"Miko heal and guard her"

"Yes master"

"Be ca-cautious of him... H-he is a dange…rous.. .man"

The combination of the potion and Miko healing power stops the bleeding but Yoko passes out from the shock then I gently grab her and move her behind a boulder next to the entrance of the area.

"After stealing my servants you think you're allowed to leave, thief" Shouted Graham in an irate tone. Even though he is being pressured by my summons he still manages to throw a big fireball at us. Not on my watch fucker.

"Shut the fuck up you pretender, you are not Dracula if anything you are the thief, Whoaa Ghostly Rampart" I shout back as I call black mana for the defensive spell I got from the deal.

Misty Walls resembling those of a medieval castle formed in front of us. Instead of the loud crashing I was expecting only silence occurred as the ball of dark fire touched the rampart. It slowed down, dismissing in size and heat as it passed until only embers remained.

"How dare you?" I once more ignored him in favor of dragging Yoko to cover. Once that was done I jumped back into the fray once more.

I call this bastard a pretender but that doesn't mean he is weak. Cagnazzo and Zombitron looked like they went through a blender. I started to cast barriers and shoot at him coordinating mentally with my summons so we don't get in each other's way.

The bastard responded with balls of flame and blades made of a dark almost black red energy.

"Uggg" I grunt as I one his spell blades pierce through my ramparts and hits me, knocking me to the ground a painful scorching sensation fills my chest in agony.

Damn if it wasn't for my layered defenses and the healing that attack would have knocked me out of the fight.

An idea came to me. The Ghostly Ramparts are not only a defensive spell but also an area of effect debuff, anything that touch those walls get their power sucked out of them

"Time to kick it up notch boys"

This time I cast the walls in the direction Graham is evading my summons attacks to sap him of power and protect my minions of retaliation. Occasionally I hit him with a Purifying shot, but I only glancing if painful looking hits.

Well well demon lord wannabe got a weakness for purification power who could have thought that.

I mentally command Cagnazzo and Zombitron to make pincer attacks to further unbalance Graham, that for all his power he is not a warrior.

We soon reached a battle of attrition, he was too powerful for us to defeat but through my support, Cagnazzo curses and Zombitron unrelenting savagery augmented by the ice sword we kept him on his toes without giving him time to cast powerful spells.

But we are not winning. I am pinning my hope that my mana regeneration will outpace his reserves.

"What Yoko-san are you alright?" I heard the frantic voice of Soma call in the distance. About fucking time.

"This not over thief" Said the fucker unleashing a torrent of flames and teleporting away. After he went away I dropped to my knees exhausted by the ordeal.

"Hey Soma, fancy meeting you here" I said trying to sound casual, dammit I always meet this kid exhausted and laying on the ground.

"Oi Ferio what happened?, why is Yoko injured and who is that girl and those monsters?"

"Geez slow down kid let me answer a question before you ask the second"

"I would like to know as well" said a late guy number 2 in the distance.

"You guys need to work on your timing, if you were 10 minutes earlier we would have caught that bastard , and Yoko is fine. We already administered emergency treatment but she passed out due to shock. We need to move her to castle entrance, she be safe there"

"Ok but what's going on with the monsters? '' said Soma, pressing for answers.

"I got my own power. I can make copies of things if I get enough data on what I wish to copy, well they are more like magic robots, those are monsters I defeated and the girl is based on Mina data"

"What!!" asked Soma, shocked. "Soma there are all sorts of folk with weird abilities out there, you can absorb the soul of monsters, Mina can heal, this is peanuts compared to that" I said trying to calm the kid.

"Now, Soma I need you to go to the throne after that bastard Graham" I said in a serious tone

"You can't be serious, Yoko is still injured" said Soma

"I am dead serious , look at yourself you are not injured and your clothes look barely ruffled". I said gesturing at him then I did the same to my party.

"Now look at us we are injured and dirty, this is what happen when a bunch of NPC travel the castle"

"Graham went to the throne. What's there? What are you guys hiding from me?!" said Soma in an increasingly agitated tone

"Ok Soma you want the truth here isl, Graham is absorbing the power of the castle. If he manages to take control of the castle then Mina, Yoko, you, me, fuck it everybody dies, and tat is just the beginning" I said with as much gravity as I can muster.

Soma could only stand there rooted in shock, finally realizing the stakes, I walked in front of him and put my hand on his shoulder "I'm sorry Soma, it should be us adults dealing with that shit, I fought with everything I got I can only force a stalemate at best. As it stands you are the only one with the power to kick that bastard ass" I said looking him in the eye.

"Also a bit of advice use the power of the flame demon, giant bat and succubus soul went you confront Graham"

"How d you know that" He responded warily

"Because I am wizard, its my business to know how magical shit goes"

Soma closes his eyes taking some deep breaths then he opens them with eyes full of resolve.

"Go, don't worry about Miss Belnades, Arikado and I will see to her safety"

He only responded with a nod then turn around running towards the caves

Once Soma was out of the room Alucard finally speaks
"You and I still need to talk"

Obviously I wast able to fool the hundreds year old dhampir.

"Aye aye sir, let's get Miss Yoko and talk on the way shall we?, I think there should be a teleporter gate near here?

 

[Elferio]

Episode 5


Have you ever been sent to the principal office or hell any other stern faced authority figure in your life?. That they know you did something and are determined to get to the bottom of it.

That's what's happening to me right now, except instead of a principal I got an immortal half vampire warrior sorcerer (with that many traits he is almost a Mary Sue) standing protectively in front of a fallen Yoko Belnades.

Did I mention that he can murder me quite easily and unlike Graham he is as mentioned before and actually a competent warrior with centuries of experience. Weird magic or not I am not gonna beat him in combat.

Then again Alucard is also a level headed and has actual morals thanks to Mama Tepes.

He

So let's take a leap of faith and see where it takes me.

"What do you want to know, Mr. Tepes?"

His real name must be quite the secret since the question caught him off guard. Well to must people he did not react at all, but I can see the concepts surrounding him become a beehive of activity. He must have some mystical defenses since I can't see his concepts very clearly like if they were covered by a thin layer of mist.

"Who are you and why do you know so much? He asks in a tense and unfriendly tone.

"What did you know about the multiverse?

"I don't have the time to waste on fantasies. I won't ask again, who are you? He asked me in an emotionless and quite scary tone now.

"Don't look at me like that, it's actually relevant. First, even though I am human, I have a special existence known as a planeswalker. Essentially it's a type of mage that can travel to a different universe".

I started speaking fast because the concepts are aligning in a formation that while I don't know what it means it's giving me the chills.

"That's how I know about you guys, it's the echoes" I said, inventing a concept on the spot. Bullshit as its finest ladies and gents.
"Echoes?" Said the dhampir in a singly puzzled tone.

"It's when different realities touch each other in myriads of ways, well touching is a strong word it's more or less like shadows in a wall"

"Fictional media" I said as I made air quotes. "Such as movies,novels, music, even dreams are prime examples of this, of course it's not a 1 on 1 thing especially since stories usually have to go through a creative process in the author's mind or get into the muddy waters of capitalism. After all it's not unusual for stories to be revised to make a "better" product no."

Any fan of Cowboy bebop and the Witcher knows it well.

"In my home universe Castlevania" I pause gesturing around me. "Is an old video game franchise that depicts the struggle of the Belmont clan against Dracula over the centuries from Leon to Trevor to Simon to Richter…well until he got killed by Lucius and made it stick. Am I right so far?"

He didn't answer but at least he is not projecting that scary feeling anymore so I continue.

"You said a planeswalker can travel to other universes, what else can you do?"

"Many things like the magic construct thing" I said pointing towards my summons. "And we are innate magicians, I have awakened recently so I am still exploring my powers. Out of three of us I am sadly the weakest"

"Three of you?" Said the puzzled dhampir.

"Well Soma, me and Graham. That guy was a cult leader so I guessed he has some background in occult matters, Soma and I are basically civilians but Soma has home field advantage being Dracula reincarnation"

"You know about that"

"Yeah its the "plot twist" of the game, Graham is a pretender, his mother pop him out at a lucky or unlucky moment depending how you see it"

"And yet you fought Graham who you claim to be the stronger than you"

"I went mano a mano in a 3 on 1 match with magical equipment and I could only fight him to a draw, for glorified speed bump the dude is a beast" I said gesturing at my and Zombitron equipment.

"Speedbump? What made you say that?"

"He is not the final boss of the game, Chaos is"



" As for my goals, I wish to learn magic and develop my style so I need to live through the night, for that I am stacking the deck so to speak" I said looking him in the eye.

"You could wait with Mina and survive there" said Alucard as matter of fact.

"I could yes, but I am not cute enough for the damsel in distress role Mina already cornered that market anyway . Besides opportunities and risk goes hand in hand, this place is the most dangerous place on the world therefore the best place to get stronger" I said channeling as much inner shonentard as possible with a dash of dnd murderhobo for good measure.

"One more thing, under no circumstances anything bad should happen to Mina, if she dies is Dark Lord Soma bad ending, probably with a new reincarnation cycle. So chief, what's verdict, do I get to live? I said trying to sound more confident than I sound.

"You said there is a portal gate nearby isn't, make yourself useful and let's go" He said while pointing at a comatose Yoko.


"Right away chief" I said as I put Yoko into my back as gently as possible. Even with magic, that stab wound looks painful. Also I don't think Yoko would appreciate woking up in the arms of a zombie or a demon

"Don't call me that"

"Sure thing boss" I responded as cheeky as possible.

"..."



I flinch a bit as I step into the Arena, feeling the abrupt change of environment. Unlike the way the gradual and "natural" way the aqueducts gave way to the cavern, the transition from the Reservoir to the Arena is sudden like a collage both visually and magically, going from the natural grayish blue stone of the cavern to yellow stonework and metal.

What is more yarring is the clash of blue and red mana in the point where the change of decor occurs is like two raging rivers clash head on.

"Is there something wrong?

"Don't you feel the change in the flow of magic?"

He only raises an eyebrow.

"It's like stepping from a freezer into the sun at summer, it's a bit unsettling, I just need a moment"

"I see"

I close my eyes and follow the path to the core of the land. Immediately I feel the presence of RED wash over me like an affectionate overly large dog, the kind that bowls you over in excitement and just happy to see you.

I just accept the feeling and let the land bond itself to me. The feeling of clashing energies diminishes but does not go away. Well color gonna be colors I guess.

"Where you looking for me?" I ask to the new star.

I receive an excited YES in response followed by photo-like images of my going through the Reservoir, the curious part is all the pictures look like selfies taken by a smirking blue haired girl.

Da fuq?. Shitposting on social media.

This is not how I imagine the color, first WHITE and BLACK now this.

Whatever, this is a problem for future me.

"Do you know where the warp gate is?"

A sudden feeling of vertigo assaulted me, it's like I just hop into a roller coaster full of spins and sharp turns until I see an enormous portal of purple marble adorned with jewels and intricate arcane patterns, lastly it was framed by two statues of winged skeletons of the same material as the portal.

I shook my head and went back to the real world.

When I came back Alucard was looking at me rather strangely.

"The magic flow changed, it's more stable, what did you do?"

"I am sensitive to mana so I looked and around and noticed the clash between the magic flow from the cavern and the arena, so I try to smooth the disturbance between the two and I kinda succeed, I mean the disturbance it's still there but is more muted"

"While looking at the disturbance I also got the direction where the gate room is" I said pointing up.

Soon we arrived at a spacious circular room illuminated by bronze braziers. From the look of it like some sort of storage area for weapons and armor they use for the arena "games". All the equipment looks combat worthy but nothing special The sole exception being a gigantic axe and sword suspended in the air by sturdy looking chains. So I help myself to a few patterns and concept shards, You never know when they will come in handy.

I would like to say the rest of the journey back to the surface was as exciting as the descent but not really, Alucard practically killed everything with contemptuous ease. Soon we arrived at the teleport room.

"So Alucard-sensei, how do you use these portals?" I asked my companion since I don't think they are going to be as user friendly as in the games.

As we neared the gate the jewels in the left side of the portal started glowing .

"Each jewel of represent the gates through the castle, once you visit a gate it will attune to you and light a jewel in the panel, since you have not visited another gate I will open the path"

I originally thought the gates were nothing more than a quality of life feature from the game. How wrong I was. This is art and power brought together. I can see SPACE, CONNECTION, ATTUNEMENT, MEMORY and many other concepts working together not to create a teleportation effect like I originally thought but a stable wormhole to bridge both locations.

I must have spent a long time staring at the beautiful marvel of magic engineering until a cough broke me out of my reverie.

"Sorry sensei I lost myself analyzing the gate, it's amazing"

" It is. But now it's not the time, lets go"

"Yes of course" I said as I followed him through the gate into a misty corridor until we came out in an identical room to the one we came from.

Outside of the room was a hallway with a rather big hole in the ground and a set of stairs going upward.

"The hallway connecting to the entrance is down there, can you get Miss Belnades down there?" said Alucard, looking at me standing next to the hole.

"Yes I can levitate us down there"

"Very well, wait while I clear the hallway"

"I don't think the other would appreciate a monster coming with us so wait here guys" I look at my summons send mentally some orders.

Once that's done I call upon blue mana to levitate us down like I did back in the cavern. Once on the ground I hear a moan of pain coming from Yoko, damn I hope that Mina can help her. Miko abilities are more of a generic priestess rather than a dedicated healer.

It did not take long to get to the entrance of the castle. I can see Hammer business has been good, he now has crates of stuff and his bazaar tarp is full of new items. Soma is one busy boy.

"Yoko-neechan!!" Screamed Mina as she runned towards us as she realized the state of Yoko.

"What happen son" said Hammer in worry.

"That bastard Graham backstabbed Yoko, I barely made it in time to drive him off. We managed to stabilize Miss Yoko to move her but she needs dedicated medical care."

I walked towards an open area and conjured a clean folded tarp to use as a makeshift futon for Yoko to rest. Damn her wounds reopen. But how? I make sure to close them.

"What, you can make stuff now"

"No the time Hammer marvel at my abilities later"

"Mina can you help her?, I did the best I can but I not a healer I also give her a healing potion"

"Yes leave it to me, I will save" said the girl with determination as she began to work as gentle golden light enveloped her hands. Now that I remember the lore said Yoko is like an older sister to Mina since she visits the temple regularly probably to check the seal alongside Alucard.

I looked at Mina as sweat started to pour from her forehead.

"What's wrong?"

"I can't fully heal her, something is inside of her that is preventing me from fully heal her. I don't have the power to help her" she said as worry and desperation gnawed at her heart.

I looked inward and asked WHITE "Can you help her?"

In turn I received a TRIAL INCOMPLETE. I was afraid of this. Healing her is part of the trial. Dammit Graham you are an ass even when you are not here.

How the hell he sneaked a curse. I know it was the heat of battle but neither Alucard nor me detected something. A parasite like curse maybe or a slow acting one. It doesn't matter, we need to get rid of it.

Then I remembered the potion I found in the Reservoir. According to BLUE it has two effects one is to replenish mana and the other is that it permanently enhances the inner magic of the imbiber.

"Power, hmmmm" I said as I rummaged through my pockets, looking for the potion.

"Here use this"

"T-that's a Mana Prism potion, where d-do you find that?, they are super rare" Mina stared in open shock at the crimson potion.

"Oh this, I found it in a vending machine in the castle for 300 yen, I swear those things are everywhere"

"P-please don't joke like that it take a grandmaster years to make one b-but even with the power up I won't have enough magical power to fully restore her"

"Look Mina I pick magic fast but even then I don't have the experience nor the aptitude you have so don't worry I give you my mana so you can concentrate on heal her and let me worry about the rest ok"

Just from what little I have seen, I can tell that this girl has some real talent. She could become one of the greatest healers of this world.

"O-ok" said Mina as she closed her eyes and took a calming breath, then she opened the bottle and drank all of it then she grabbed her chest in pain. But the girl is a trooper and fought through pain and got to work.

After a few moments I kneel behind her and put a hand on her back and gently start to channel white mana while I analyze the wound.

I think I see something, then in my inner cosmos the concept of CONNECTION and ATTUNEMENT began to vibrate, signaling a black string coming out from a tiny black shard of metal in the wound.

That's why we didn't detect anything wrong with Yoko. The shard is from the knife, Graham is using it to channel his power into the wound and since he is getting power from the castle Mina would burn out first.

First I grab the string and send a strong pulse of purification power to it. I hope you like purification, asshole.

"Mina there is a tiny shard of metal in the wound, take it out, that bastard Graham is using it to channel his power to prevent the healing"

I tried to block the flow of demonic power with my white mana but it was too strong.

Once more one of my concepts emerged to help me, this time it was SEAL from the Hakuba Shrine. It sent me the idea to use it to block the flow and since Graham was sending industrial amounts of power through the link a sudden obstruction will create a backlash right back into him since the power has nowhere to go.

I grin as I almost could hear the grunts of pain from the bastard

"I got the fragment out Ferio-san" Once the tiny piece of metal was out of the wound the channel broke.

"Good now let's close the wound for real this time"

"Hai"

It took us what it felt like eternity to close the wound but probably was only a few minutes. Color returned to Yoko's face and her breath returned to an easy even pattern.

"Mmmmhhh" Yoko moans a bit as she slowly opens her eyes,

"Onee-chan!!!, I am so glad you are alright" said Mina as she hugs her surrogate sister, tears of relief spilling from her eyes.

"M-Mina, is that y-you? What happened? Asked a tired Yoko

"That bastard Graham stabbed you remember, He took advantage of a shard of the broke from the knife and was cursing you"

"Hai, Ferio-san and I teamed up to save you, Onee-chan," said Mina, still hugging Yoko.

"Thank you both of you-u sniff sniff Mina why you reek of impurities?"

You know in the whole heat of the moment I wasn't really paying attention but yeah I get a whiff of the rotten fishy smell from Mina, must have been the potion and purification power drawing the impurities out of her body.

"EEHHHH" In her worry she didn't notice the smell, mind you it is not as bad as mine. Probably the purification power present in her body.

"Probably the Mana Prism potion" I said as I conjured a new one from my pocket, pattern summoning for the win.

"F-ferio-s-san h-ow you have a second one" said mina while shaking her finger at me in disbelief.

"I told you I found a vending machine that sold the at 300 yen, I thought they were basic potions since they were so cheap"

"Y-you could buy an luxury apartment in downtown tokyo with the production cost alone"

"Is that so?"I said nonchalantly. That's impressive , I heard once that the cost of such an apartment starts around 10 million USD.

"So want one?" I said as I pulled another one from my pocket. Welp there goes all my blue mana.

Forgive me father for I have simped. The lengths I go for trolling people.

"But but" I think I broke her

"Don't worry as I say before I gotten them for cheap"

Still in a state of disbelief she took the potion from me and held it like the holy grail itself, well for a spell caster it probably was.

"Drink well, I'm going to need your help for a little project" I said, chuckling a little.

"Whatever you need I help Ferio-san" asked

"Good because we are going to blackma-cough I mean beseech the heavens for help"

"WHAT!!!"