A few new side quests popped up:

Side quest: Find out what's happening in the Sanctuary

Reward: 1000 shards

Side quest: Help survivors

Reward: 1000 shards

Side quest: Find out the cause of high mana levels in the Valley

Reward: Mid-epic piece of equipment

Side quest: Reach the Bastion

Reward: Food and water supplies

Side quest: Reach level 250

Reward: Body strengthening

Congratulations, you have located the survivors! The moment you confirm, you will receive your rewards - food and water supplies.

Godamnit, the amount of side quests I'm getting is quite something. The rewards also seem unusually nice. The best one obviously is the body strengthening for reaching level 250. Gimme, right now.

Looking at my level, which is currently 217, and with a disciple to take care of, I would be surprised if I was able to reach it during this floor, especially since the leveling speed slowed down. But hey, it's nice to have something to work toward too.

So, the question now is, will I head towards the Valley and Bastion, or stay here and finish some side quests in the area while leveling my disciple and helping survivors? I mean, the time seems to be limited, with only 2 weeks remaining. Suspiciously limited, so I wonder if there are really only 2 weeks left.

I can’t really confirm or deny my doubts, I can only wait and see.

Another problem is that in games, you often can leave the quest for later and return to do it after killing the last boss. But this isn't a game. What if I go to the Valley and Bastion and the survivors and Sanctuary get destroyed in the meantime?

The quests clearly say to find out what's happening there, and I don't think the objective would be to locate where all the cute little kittens are coming from or who is stealing all the socks.

“Minion, I'm annoyed,” I complain.

“Are we going back to kill them then?”

“What!? No!”

“I'm sorry master, I thought these people annoyed you as well. Do you want to beat them up and leave them alive?”

Isn't this little half-demon a bit scary? I mean, she is cute, so I can forgive her for saying that, but she doesn’t seem to be joking.

“Disciple,” I start seriously, “you can't kill people for being annoying. Even if you could, there wouldn’t be anyone left.” As I share my wisdom, she looks at me, eyes wide open, and listens to my words like they're gospel.

“Even if they’re rude? Don't all strong people kill because of that?”

I hesitate for a moment, and she seems to notice that, but I quickly answer before she says something silly, “On a scale from 1 to 10, with 10 being super rude, they were only around a 2.”

“Really?”

“Yes, didn’t you think they were cute when they got scared or seemed like they wanted to fight?” I really mean it. I sensed no real threat from them, and they meant us no harm. They just wanted to protect themselves and their friends.

All as I hid my full power with my skillful application of mana. Damn, I’m still proud of that.

“I don’t know…” Vega says carefully.

“It’s fine to not know, you will learn. In the end, their primary objective wasn’t to hurt us or trick us; they just wanted to protect themselves. You shouldn’t trust them, but you can't really fault anyone for that as long as they don't hurt you or your friends.”

“I think I understand now, master!”

“Good! As expected of my minion!”

“I’m Vega, not minion.”

“Anyway, you are getting distracted and your detection slipped up four times during our conversation. Move your mana…”

Vega falls asleep, barely able to stand at this point. She is bleeding from her nose, her muscles are sore, and there’s barely any mana left in her body.

Another round of harsh training is behind us.

It’s getting harder for me to force her through such harsh training, but every time I push those feelings away.

My disciple, like me, seems to understand the price of getting stronger and the value of hard work. She pushes herself to the point of injury. However, I'm here, intervening by either disrupting her mana or infusing her with my own to strengthen her.

I’m doing it even now.The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

Lately, I have also started experimenting with changing my mana to match hers. It’s all thanks to my Mana Wavelength Irises and [Resonance]. I know there are dozens of different, more destructive ways I could use [Resonance], but lately, I’ve found myself experimenting with changing mana frequencies.

So, I did that with my own mana and tried to match it to Vega’s before I infused her body with it in an effort to alleviate her pain and keep her strengthened for quicker healing. It’s more difficult than expected, and I think I’m still missing something even with my eyes, but it is a step forward.

Using [Resonance] this way feels weirdly rewarding and comfortable, and I think it's similar to Sophie's situation.

Sophie has a skill called [Manipulation], and it’s clearly one of the most powerful skills in group 4. It should allow her to manipulate mana, fire, water, stone, heck, maybe even manipulate time or Primordial energies at a higher level. Yet, Sophie herself confirmed that she feels strongest when she’s using it to manipulate monsters or other beings, such as humans. She is still capable of manipulating other stuff, but that is not where her skill’s strength lies.

It’s the same case with me and [Resonance], or the twins with [Connection], it should do more than allow us to communicate through their link.

Once Vega recovers, I stop infusing her body and leave a few mana orbs and an anchor nearby, just in case someone attacks. Then I move a bit further so I won't kill her with a sudden burst of mana.

Once again, I create a small orb that I [Focus] and compress until it becomes pitch black, even darker than the surrounding night in the forest where we camp sheltered by trees.

As always, it fights against me, trying to dominate and absorb more of my mana, but I use inscriptions on my right arm to help me with the process and absorb it into my body. I control it, force it under my will, and activate the inscriptions. My trait activates, and I see that hidden and beautiful world full of mana. In combination with [Focus], the world has been reduced to shades of black and white enveloped in a deathly quiet, and the only color comes in vibrant shades of mana.

Then I create a dagger with [Regalia] and use black mana to make the dagger even stronger.

For a moment, the dagger in my hand starts to compress, changing, not into a blade of black mana that absorbs all other mana, no, this is something else.

The next moment, the dagger explodes.

My right arm is deeply gouged, as shards of the exploded dagger cut through flesh and bone. The explosion strips skin and flesh from my arm, mangling it, and nearly tearing it off.

As I look at the piece of flesh and bone that remains, I wonder what happened. Was it too strong? It shouldn't be, right? I already made an orb and other stuff made of only black mana, so using it to power [Regalia] shouldn't cause that, right? It should only create a stronger version of it.

I send my mana into my heart, and it starts beating louder, working as a medium and turning my mana into thermal energy. That activates my passive, and a warm feeling fills my arm, slowly restoring it.

It will take at least a few hours to restore it, unfortunately.

Soft steps sound behind me, and knowing about them, I warn my disciple, “Don't come too close, you will get hurt.”

The amount of thermal energy I'm releasing is enough to burn her alive at her level. Sure, I'm controlling it and trying to keep as much inside of my body as I can, but I'm not going to test it. The little half-demon nods and sits in place. Her eyes are on the mangled and bloodied remains of my right arm.

“Does it hurt?” she asks.

“Quite a bit,” I nod.

She then tests me, “Why are you doing it when it hurts?”

Cheeky little thing.

I still answer her honestly, “Both of us know why.”

“Master is as dumb as I am,” she nods profoundly.

“Look, there are better words for it, maybe determined.”

“Dumb.”

“Or decisive, and resolute.”

“Master is dumb. The same as me.”

Goddamnit.

“Listen here, you little jerk. Aren't you getting too cheeky lately?”

“I do it only because master prefers for me to be honest,” she says shamelessly. For a moment, I could swear I saw a smug smile cross her face.

She is not wrong, but why am I getting bullied here?

I activate [Redistribution] and grab hold of her, not allowing her to move. “You seem to have healed a bit, so strengthen your body and escape my hold, or try to fight against it.”

I don't use much mana in an effort to make it remotely possible for her, “You can apologize for calling me dumb, and I will let you go, you dumbass minion.”

She tries to say something, but she can’t because my skill won’t allow her to do so.

“Oh sorry, I didn’t realize that,” I tease her, “Just blink three times quickly in a row, and I will let you go.” Then I continue healing my arm while examining the thermal energy doing so.

Vega doesn’t blink three times in a row, and by the time morning comes, she strengthens her body enough to escape my skill. Due to the pressure I'm putting on her, she cracks a few bones and bruises her body, but even that doesn't stop her.

Noname (Hell, group 4) - My disciple is the coolest.

Izzy (Hell, group 4) - No! Seneca is the coolest!

Noname (Hell, group 4) - Nah, Vega would wipe the floor with your Seneca. She is cool as heck.

Knight (Hell, group 4) - My disciple is really good too! He’s from a royal family or something, so I have him teaching me some of the basic swordsmanship they drilled into him.

TheStrongestOne (Hell, group 4) - Noname, only one month left until the tournament! Are you excited too?

NotAaron (Hell, group 4) - Isn’t that a dumb question? I’m sure he’s already prepared to mess up Savant.

TheStrongestOne (Hell, group 4) - Oh, that's true. Savant and that other guy, Gareth, are probably super strong. But other than them, I will make sure to beat everyone! Well… maybe not Sset… and Grumpy…

Knight (Hell, group 4) - That's cheeky of you, boy. Are you sure you could even beat me? I got quite a bit stronger.

Maya starts teasing Min-Jae, and I already know it won't end well for the boy.

TheStrongestOne (Hell, group 4) - Ha! You have no chance! I can control my eye much better. I'm sorry, but you are going down.

NotDennis (Hell, group 4) - Damn, Knight, are you going to let him talk to you like that?

NotAaron (Hell, group 4) - Maybe she’s scared of him.

Both of the twins try to add fuel to the fire.

Knight (Hell, group 4) - And how would you defeat me, oh, TheStrongestOne? By staring at my cleavage when you think I'm not looking?

Min-Jae immediately stops responding.

Nice attack, Maya, calculating and knowing where it will hurt the shy boy the most.

Knight (Hell, group 4) - Next you will say something about community limit and leave.

TheStrongestOne (Hell, group 4) - I have to go, community limit!

The messages appear a split second apart.

Damn, that's brutal, I almost feel sorry for the boy.

NotDennis (Hell, group 4) - Brutal.

NotAaron (Hell, group 4) - Knight, please stop, he is already dead.

After that, no messages come from the young boy.

I turn off the Community and look at the massive pile of food and big leather bags filled with water. There is enough food and water to last a group of 10 people for months. It’s my reward for locating survivors.

With a sigh, I activate the transmitter, (Darren? Let's meet again, I have some stuff for you.)

It looks like I need to find out what's happening with the Sanctuary first.