Chapter 121: Hidden danger when increasing mana points.
I sat down in the center of the laboratory, crossing my legs atop the stone circle where I usually conducted my most dangerous experiments.
Just like the other times, I warned Jane beforehand.
I only told her that I was about to begin an important experiment and that, no matter what happened, no one was to interrupt my isolation.
She simply nodded.
She was already used to it.
In fact, everyone in the mansion was.
From time to time, I would simply disappear into the laboratory for days, or leave alone in the middle of the night without offering any explanation. After so many months, my servants no longer found those habits strange.
It wasn’t a matter of distrust.
Quite the opposite.
I trusted their loyalty.
The problem was something else.
If anything went wrong...
None of them would be strong enough to help me.
Beside me was a small table where dozens of carefully arranged vials rested.
Each one contained the modified version of the Plant Blood Mana Potion.
According to the Biochip’s calculations, this would most likely be the final sequence of potions capable of increasing my mana reserve before reaching its limit.
I picked up the first vial.
Slowly removed the cork.
The dark crimson liquid gave off a metallic scent, mixed with the strong fragrance of the Red Leaves.
Without hesitation...
I drank it all.
The liquid burned its way down my throat.
I grabbed another.
Then another.
And another.
There was no room for pauses.
My metabolism needed to absorb all that energy within an extremely short period.
I kept drinking.
When I finally stopped...
A small mountain of empty vials lay beside me.
That was when it began.
A burning sensation.
First in my stomach.
Then in my chest.
Then...
In my bones.
My breathing faltered.
It felt as though every bone in my body had been thrown into a blazing furnace.
The sensation was unbearable.
My skeleton felt as if it were made of red-hot iron.
Every joint burned.
Every vertebra blazed.
Even my teeth seemed to heat up.
The pain quickly spread through my muscles, nerves, and organs.
My entire body trembled.
And I still need to enter a state of deep meditation...
I clenched my fists.
I gritted my teeth so hard that I tasted blood.
Part of me wanted nothing more than to stand up.
Run.
Throw myself into the enormous tub of icy water in my suite.
But that would completely ruin the process.
I closed my eyes.
Breathed.
Once.
Again.
Again.
Because of the chaotic state of my body, it took me far longer than usual to reach the necessary calm.
The pain stubbornly kept disrupting my concentration.
But little by little...
My consciousness began to sink.
.
.
.
.
When I opened my eyes again...
I was no longer in the laboratory.
Or rather...
My consciousness wasn’t.
Around me stretched nothing but an endless white space.
There was no ground.
No ceiling.
No horizon.
Countless points of light floated through that emptiness like stars scattered across a completely white universe.
I slowly raised my gaze.
Above me...
Thousands of magical characters shone brilliantly.
The codes of the heart and mind, and the codes engraved within my bones.
They all revolved slowly around one another, forming enormous circles of living runes.
The codes of a Second-Level Acolyte still haven’t completely stabilized...
The Sea of Consciousness still needs further reinforcement...
Even after so many meditation sessions, this place still fascinated me.
It was like looking directly at the structure of my own soul.
My physical body simply didn’t exist here.
No arms.
No legs.
Only consciousness.
That only strengthened my hypothesis even further.
Mana...
Didn’t belong solely to the body.
It flowed directly through the soul.
As I reflected...
The Sea of Consciousness finally reacted.
A white mist began to emerge above the runes.
It slowly swirled.
Then...
Its color changed.
All that white gradually became dyed a deep crimson.
Like liquid blood.
So this is the true effect of the Plant Blood Potion...
Before I could even finish the thought...
All that crimson energy plummeted.
It fell directly onto my magical codes.
Like a raging torrent.
As if it intended to paint every symbol of my body.
BOOM!
The codes shook violently.
A golden radiance exploded outward.
They were rejecting that foreign energy.
The collision was so intense that I felt my entire consciousness tremble.
My vision darkened.
For a moment...
I thought I was about to lose consciousness even while inside my own mind.
—No!
I immediately concentrated my mana.
I began manually controlling my own codes.
Little by little...
The resistance weakened.
The first to yield were the codes of the mind.
Then the heart.
Finally...
The bones.
The crimson energy slowly spread through all of them.
Unknown symbols began to appear across their surfaces.
Codes I had never seen before.
It was as though the codes themselves were evolving.
Then...
They all merged.
BANG!
The thousands of tiny codes vanished.
In their place appeared a single gigantic symbol.
Complex.
Majestic.
A structure impossible to comprehend simply by looking at it.
At the same time...
My Sea of Consciousness became crystal clear.
Deeper, broader, and more solid.
As though my entire body had just received structural reinforcement.
Soon afterward...
All that crimson energy rose back upward and disappeared.
The enormous symbol shone brilliantly.
Before I could analyze it...
My consciousness was violently expelled from that place.
—What?
—What’s happening?
Everything disappeared.
Around me there was only darkness.
Not a single light existed.
No codes.
No mist.
I tried to move my consciousness through the vast emptiness.
I couldn’t.
In fact...
I realized that the very concept of walking no longer existed.
I simply...
Existed.
Without form or movement.
It was impossible to tell how long I remained there.
A single minute felt like decades.
The absolute silence crushed my mind.
A growing sense of anguish began to consume me.
Even my sense of identity seemed on the verge of disappearing.
Even my own voice no longer existed.
—I was only trying to increase my mana...
—Where am I?
—How much time has passed?
I remained trapped within that incomprehensible void.
For the first time since I was reborn...
I felt fear.
Genuine fear.
If this continued...
My sanity would break long before my body did.
That was when I thought of the only thing that could still save me.
—Biochip, help!
Almost immediately...
A blue screen appeared before my consciousness.
Although it was incapable of illuminating that infinite void...
Its mere presence brought me indescribable relief.
Like finding a familiar face in the middle of nowhere.
[Beep!]
[Anomaly detected.]
[Mana Status: Structural collapse during evolution.]
[Ascension process interrupted.]
[Total failure predicted in: 1 minute and 5 seconds.]
[Host mortality probability: 99.97%.]
[Use all available Mana to break the anomalous state?]
[YES]
[NO]
I didn’t hesitate.
—Yes!
Even though I couldn’t sense any mana within that strange space...
The Biochip was still able to access it.
That meant the connection between it and me remained intact. It had most likely fused with my soul.
[Executing emergency protocol.]
[Redirecting Mana.]
The very next instant...
The entire void began to tremble.
Cracks appeared all around me.
Like shattering glass.
A colossal force tore apart the space where I was trapped.
My consciousness was violently pulled away.
Everything spun.
Then...
I opened my eyes.
Gasping for breath.
I was still sitting in the exact center of the laboratory.
The empty vials were still scattered around me.
I realized that only a few minutes had passed since I had begun meditating.
So advancing to a Third-Level Acolyte isn’t just about combining the codes—it’s about surviving that vast space that comes afterward!
I ran a hand across my face, feeling cold sweat trickling between my fingers.
At that moment, I understood something that hardly any professor in the Tower would ever teach.
The true barrier between levels wasn’t merely economic.
It was a test of survival.
Now I understood why so many acolytes without masters or factions simply disappeared.
They didn’t fail while constructing the codes.
They failed afterward.
They failed when their consciousnesses were cast into that place where time ceased to exist.
Many probably went insane, while others died without ever understanding what had truly happened.
At that moment, the Biochip’s familiar voice echoed through my mind once more.
[Beep!]
[Changes detected in the host’s Mana.]
[Energy structure stabilized.]
[Evolution process complete.]
[Mana increasing...]
[Mana: 6.9]
[Mana: 7.0]
[Mana: 7.1]
[Mana: 7.2]
[Mana: 7.6]
...
The values continued rising rapidly.
It was like watching a reservoir being filled.
Until...
[Mana: 8.0]
The numbers finally stopped.
[Maximum capacity reached.]
A sharp pain shot through my head.
I immediately pressed a hand against my temples.
—Ah...
It felt as though something inside my skull was being compressed.
It lasted only a few seconds.
Soon afterward...
All that pressure disappeared.
A profound sense of relief washed over me.
My entire body relaxed.
I let myself fall onto my back against the cold laboratory floor.
I had reached the limit of what that potion was capable of providing.
Only three more points of Mana remained before I reached Level III.
...
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