Drake’s and Cortez’s fight ended after an alarming fifteen trolls were killed, and though the fight was far easier, Drake was bothered by how inefficient her own ability to kill the trolls had seemingly become.

  Yes two of her minions could kill their opponents in a single attack, but that left her wanting in a way that made her feel uninvolved.

  Her minions were not her, and though she did get to train with her blade during the skirmishes, the practice wasn’t nearly enough for her to make any kind of meaningful improvements.

  She thought while Cortez paced the roof’s edge, occasionally glancing in his direction to see him doing his best to lookout for incoming monsters, following the paths of the patrols below with his eyes. She hadn’t wanted to bother the young man, but her ever growing list of questions was beginning to plague her once more, so she pushed her worries aside and spoke up.

  “Hey Core, do you know anyway of sensing cores, or magical affinities?”

  Cortez looked over his shoulder at her, his raised eyebrow enough to make Drake chuckle.

  Maybe there is a little more apprehension to open up with him than I originally thought, or he also hates nicknames?

  “There are many ways, some are better than others.”

  “Care to elaborate, I think you are forgetting that I know nothing about magic, and just like my master you are probably assuming that I know more because you see me using skills, but that shit is as easy as a thought, but the more intricate the magic the more difficulty I seem to have…”

  Cortez nodded, still looking over the buildings edge.

  “If it weren’t for the questions you ask, and the uniqueness of their innocence I’d honestly believe you to be feigning ignorance.”

  Drake laughed, wishing that she truly was acting as if she knew less than she did.

  “Seriously, do I have to do some complicated shit like learn to move mana through my body or something, maybe push the energies in my body into my eyes to unlock X-ray magical visions?”

  “What in the bloody embers is, x-ray magical vision?”

  Drake shrugged.

  “Where I come from x-ray vision is a concept that would have allowed others to see through someones body, allowing for organs, bones, and even the muscle layers of the body to be seen through the skin, if it were possible to be used without machines that is, we were close to getting a pair of glasses that could do it, but for the most part it was impossible, but here I guarantee it is highly more feasible with the use of magic, I would like to figure it out to find the locations of cores, if I can even find a way to manage figuring it out that is.”

  “Hmm, this home of yours must be a scientific marvel, that is interesting, I’d also love to figure something like that out, would save me quite a lot of spiritual energy that way, not many of us can keep extra attribute points unassigned like you can.”

  Cortez looked back to see her giving him a blank stare and sighed after a moment of Drake’s continued silence.

  “You are unranked right?”

  Drake nodded.

  “And I assume that you aren’t spending your attribute points on your minions like a normal bone lover either?”

  Drake shook her head, not liking how the term bone lover made her feel when he said it.

  “No, I’m not leveling my minions either, haven’t seen the need to, they seem plenty strong so far, why?”

  Cortez scoffed, cursing underneath his breath something about unlimited bloodlines that Drake couldn’t make out.

  “Think of your gathered attribute points as a reservoir of magic you can tap into—“

  “Like a mana pool,” cut in Drake with another question. Cortez nodded.

  This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

  “Every time you level, you use that pool of power to become stronger, however how much access to the magic underneath your power becomes far more limited, dropping the frequency in which you can use your skills, abilities, and techniques, this isn’t common knowledge however so don’t spread this without a dire need, I honestly wouldn’t even had said a word if I didn’t believe you knowing this wouldn’t result in our increased survival chances.”

  “Why does the magic become less able to be used rather than more easily accessible?”

  Cortez sighed again.

  “Think of your spiritual energy like a muscle, the stronger your muscle the more easily you can lift something, but that doesn’t change how much energy it cost your body, so as the power of your skills increases, yes you are stronger, but so to rises the cost of spiritual energy, this is why those achievements you are hunting after are so crucial to your growth, the more attribute points you have or can gain while or before you start to level in your case, the better.”

  “Why didn’t my master tell me this, it would have been amazing to know that not leveling was beneficial and not some near suicidal tactic of a path she was allowing me to push myself down?”

  “She’s a part of a Legacy, she can’t share any of the things I just told you, not without immediately dying afterward, and since the art of phylacteries was long ago maid forbidden, I doubt that she Is willing to die for anyone, even you as someone who shares her bloodline.”

  Ha, stole it, but I get the point, something tells me that she wouldn’t sacrifice herself for Vanish either…

  “Well if she can’t tell me, then how can you?”

  “Perks of being a bastard, none of the laws and rituals done to the pure bloodline descendants were ever forced onto me, my father said it was a curse to anyone who couldn’t see the benefits it gave me.”

  “I can definitely see the perks, but before we get too far off topic, does any of this allow me to move mana more easily through my body, or is that even the way to achieve my goal as easily and as quickly as possible?”

  “To be honest with you, I have no idea, the understanding of mana, spiritual energies, void energies, Ki, chakras and all of that doesn’t normally begin for a cultivator until they are Adept, a rank I’ve only just gained, my understanding of them all is minimal.”

  “So what can you tell me to get me started down the right track at least?”

  Cortez took a deep breath and thought for a moment, Drake waiting patiently as he seemed to process his thoughts.

  “My father said once, that everything begins and ends with assimilation, assigning a sensation to the use of any one magical type, like fusing your every breath to make your mana rush through a specific pattern, or causing your Ki to flare up whenever you strike with a powerful blow, it doesn’t matter the type of energy being used, only that your mind knows the what for, and when to be used.”

  “So I can literally link energy usage of all kinds to my breathing?”

  “I suppose, after you know what the sensation of any type of energy is, you should be able to link the energy’s usage to whatever practiced action you take.”

  Drake smirked, knowing that she’d already tried to find out what the feeling of mana was like as it was used in her body to access her skills, but decided to meditate on the process, hoping that if she could sense something while triggering her minions to use magic, that things may become easier for her.

  First I need to make my body understand mana. Then I need to show my eyes to discern different types of energy. That doesn’t seem to bad, right?

  The task ended up being an incredible undertaking that made Drake’s head spin. The first hurdle was found when she realized that the sensation of mana being used in her body was only comparable to the movement of atoms, so indistinguishable in its presence at first that putting a finger on the feeling of mana moving at all seemed impossible.

  She had so much spiritual energy with her now near five hundred attribute points, that making her minions, move, transform and even use skills was such a slight nudging of her overall pool of power that it often went entirely unnoticed.

  She alongside Cortez and her giant minion, fought group after group of monsters atop the roof; Drake sitting in between every fight to meditate. This continued for what Drake assumed to be most of a day or more before she even began to sense the movement of her mana in the slightest.

  Come on you son of a bitch, I breathe, you move, I breathe, you move…

  Then finally after no progress was gained, she got an idea. An idea that made her ashamed of herself for not thinking of it sooner, but a great idea it was none the less.

  Focusing on all of her minions at once, she put them all into action simultaneously, forcing all her bonds into motion.

  Zen took Havoc from the grasps of its magical brethren, and began performing powerful strikes in the air beside Drake.. While her giant skeleton was forced to defend itself from both of her now flying magical minions.

  The amount of mana being used was still insignificant compared to what she had access to, but was now enough to be sensed like the touch of a slowly moving river brushing across her fingertips. She could feel the cool sensation spinning both out and into her solar plexus, making Drake wonder if she was one of the rare few that’s core was located in a spatial pocket, deciding to ignore where the energy was coming from, and instead to focus on what was happening and how to make the energy move by her own will.

  She took a deep breath and nudged the energy she felt rippling through her entire being with no effect at first, but the longer she focused on the singular task, the more control she felt herself gaining.

  The structured meditation was having multiple unseen effects on her body, as even more of the toxins within her were pushed out of her pores by the rippling force of mana thrumming throughout her entire being. Drake unaware that her clothes ate the toxic sludge, now hungrily eating away the unrefined waste from her body.

  Before She knew what happened, a lovely voice was speaking in her head and Drake knew she’d received an achievement.

  Oh sing it to me sweet sister!

  *Notification* Achievement Unlocked - Core Mastery One - Legendary

  Even before gaining your first true level within the realm of Cultivation, you have begun to form your core. This is a feat only done by a rare few. Not only does this increase the amount of spiritual energy you can handle drawing into your soul, it will also increase how many attribute points that will be gained, by each and every kill, and or magical relic created by you perpetually. This effect will be increased or lowered at a range of multiples determined by the feat completed.

  You are officially a Cultivator child of Omni, don’t look back, as only folly awaits those that idle in the past, push onward and achieve tasks never before seen in the realms of Cultivation and beyond!

  Core development determined by available attribute points, additional growth speed multiplier: 2x*

  “Fuck yeah baby, have no clue what any of that means but at least I know I’m headed in the right direction!”

  “Drake, we have an incoming issue!”

  Drake opened her eyes and jumped to her feet, all of her minions sheathing themselves. Her magical minions returning to Zen’s mantle and taking Havoc from its partner in a flutter of smooth movements, as her giant skeleton pulled its spear from the thrust it had just completed to stand at attention.

  Drake joined Cortez at the side of the rooftop, only for him to pull her back, raising a finger to his lips, before gesturing for her to look down.

  Drake peeked to see the last thing she wanted to see below them a couple dozen floors down. A giant mountain troll was leaning with one hand supporting itself on the twelfth floor of the building they were in, feasting on the bodies of its dead brethren left to rot in the courtyard below; picking up the bodies with its free hand one by one, as if eating its favorite snack.

  The massive body of the titanic troll was glowing faintly, the pulse of power emanating outward from the monster growing with every corpse it ate. Its dense musculature rippled, and Drake cursed aloud perplexed by what she saw.

  “Is that mother fucker growing?”

  Then the monster looked directly up at Cortez and her, and Drake felt her heart skip a beat.

  “I think it may be time to run…”

  a bonus chapter today and find out sooner! Entirely up to you, no pressure.