POV Aaron Dalton

Damn, why me? Why did I have to end up with these two psychos? Once again, I have to watch as Tess and Sophie stand against each other, their mana flaring ominously.

"It has nothing to do with logic. People don't think logically in situations like this. It's you and him that are not normal!” Sophie screams at Tess.

Their confrontation scares me. Tess is terrifyingly powerful, and Sophie is too. But maybe it's good if they talk this out like this?

“You don't need to worry. If he said he will protect her, he will do it," Tess answers calmly.

Sophie paces nervously, “Look, Tess, I know you understand him better than me. I realize that, but I just can't… She's my sister. She won't even join the community. How do I know she is fine? I only have his word.”

“Yes, but there's nothing you can do. So bursts of emotions like this won't help you much.”

I feel pressure on my mind as Sophie turns to Tess, her eyes deep as the ocean.

“If you try something on my mind, I'll… I'll react appropriately,” Tess smiles, remaining calm even under Sophie's disturbing glare. “We don't have to fight, Sophie. It won't help me, it won't help you, and it surely won't help your sister.”

Tess finally stands up and takes a few short steps towards the other young woman. Both of them stand against each other, their mana forcing me to take a few steps back and making the house creak.

“Think about this: let's say you're able to control me, what do you think he would do if you finally meet without me being there, or if he finds something in my mind?”

Tess steps even closer, her face almost touching Sophie's.

“You don't realize how lucky you are. I know what you did to him, to his mind back on the first floor. Sophie, you don't know how much he values his own mind, his freedom. At the moment, only your current or maybe future usefulness keeps you alive,” her voice drops to a whisper, “But don't worry, Nathaniel and I have a deal, we work together. So Sophie, work with me too, work with him. We don't have to fight.”

Finally, Sophie pushes the blonde away, and despite having a much higher physical stat, Tess allows herself to be pushed back.

“I like you, Sophie, I do. So I'll help you a bit and I'll put in a good word for you. So don't worry, okay? You and your sister will both be safe.”

Throughout this entire time, Tess seems like the one with the ability to manipulate others.

The most amazing fact is that Sophie knows it. She knows that Tess is saying the words she thinks Sophie needs to hear. Yet, even when Tess simply says what she thinks we want to hear, Sophie and I can't help but be moved by her words.

She's scary.

Do I have to put more stats into my constitution? The inferior stat that pales in comparison to glorious mana? Probably. It's the right thing to do, the smart thing to do. Yet all the stat points from the level up went into mana.

Must be a bug or something. I blame the system.

Anyway, I'll endure it. It hurts, it's risky, but I trust in myself and my decisions. To become stronger in the future, I will risk it now. I gave it some thought, and part of me is worried about what awaits us on the later floors, especially back on Earth.

If every other tutorial is the same as ours, it means that 4 tutorials have already ended and these people are most likely back on Earth. People who also went through Hell Difficulty.

I was given an opportunity and something that finally made me feel some sort of excitement and need, so I won't go through all of this only to find out that I didn't put enough effort into it and get stepped over by someone else from Hell difficulty tutorial.

Yet, I wonder, what made me think that mana is the way? Was it my fascination with it, this weird force that I can control with my mind? Was it the feeling of its strength flowing through my body and seeing what is possible with it?

Partially? There is also some logic I follow. Mana is used to activate and feed skills. It can be used to strengthen the body, burn things, manipulate people, or levitate things. Everything relies on mana.

So isn't having a lot of mana and skills the best combination?

Yes, I could go for a more physical stats-oriented build, and I'm sure I would excel there, as I'm talented when it comes to moving my body. Not the most talented, I never was, but I always went a step further than others, and always pushed harder. But, I hate to say it, it never made me as happy as I thought it would and right now, even in the terrible situations we are going through, I feel real.

I feel like everything I do matters.

Okay?

Okay.

Let's keep it up.

I stand up, continuously strengthening my body by transforming the kinetic energy of my heart into endurance. A few minutes ago, I made the mistake of stopping, and I almost lost consciousness.

Oh, and I also fell to the ground. It can't be the fault of my stats, right?

[Name: Nathaniel Gwyn]Difficulty: HellFloor: 3 - Saint's Eternal BastionTime left until forced return: 4y 270d 21h 03m 31sTraits (1/3): Mana Circuit (Passive)

Lvl 82Strength: 24Dexterity: 22Constitution: 72Mana: 251

[Primary Class: Mana Channeler][Sub-class: Unavailable]

Active skills:Focus (Dual Focus) - Lvl 29Mana Manipulation (Advanced Mana Manipulation) - Lvl 29Perception - Lvl 23Oscillation - Lvl 20Redistribution (Symbiotic Transference) - Lvl 19Armament - Lvl 23Mana Surge - Lvl 12Disruption - Lvl 13

Constructs:Reinforcement (Construct)Kinetic Mana Heart (Construct)Mana Regulator (Construct)

Passive skills:Mana Flow (rare)Cerebral Harmony (rare)

[Upgrade token: 1][Difficulty change token: 1]

Unsurprisingly, even my other stats grow even though I'm not investing stat points into them. A tiny bit, but it's something, right?

My constitution is growing because of all the pressure I put on it. Strength and dexterity, too, as they are trying to catch up to me almost permanently strengthening my body with mana. It's not significant, just a stat point here and there, but hey, it's free.

I let out a yawn and lean against the wall. All of us are currently in an underground room, and its walls are imbued with some weird material that blocks the perception of mana from wererats on the outside.

Even I wasn't able to find it. Only Cipher opening the door allowed me to find them and join them, along with Isabella.

As for the little girl, she's already asleep, sitting on the ground nearby. I'm jealous, I want to sleep too, but I can't because that would mean no strengthening of my body, which equals a lot of pain. So yup, looks like I'll have to stay awake for a few more days.

“What?” I ask Cipher, who just continues to look towards me the entire time we are in.

He and his group are sitting close to each other, and the opposite of them sits the family of natives from this floor. They seem to be calmer now, but still far from being friendly or trusting.

The room we are in is quite cold and underground, heated by the thermal energy that I release into the room deep under the ground.

“Why would you do that?” Cipher finally asks.

Oh, so that's what's bothering you. You don't like that you don't understand me properly, right? I can see that it pisses you off, no matter how hard you try to hide it from me. Even though I like to stay on my own, I'm pretty good at reading people's faces.

Something I had to learn as a kid or get beaten. Good old times, right?

I don't answer him and just close my eyes and filter them out while continuing to send heat into the room and keeping my body strengthened. My eyes land on the small body of a little girl sleeping and laying with her back against the cold wall.

Ha, little kids shouldn't go through this.

I change the way I release the heat to start releasing it only from one side and a bit further away from me, and move closer to Isabella, pulling her away from the wall and letting her lean against me.

I send some gentle heat towards her small body and notice that she relaxes in her sleep, not waking up at all during my actions. Only then do I remember that I had her guard me during the night while I slept. Her, a small 10-year-old girl. At that time, the thought of her age didn't even cross my mind.

Noname (Hell, group 4) - Isabella is sleeping. Don't worry, she is fine and I will take care of her.

I answer Sophie in the community and lean back with a sigh.

Being alone is simpler, isn't it?