She radiates absolute confidence as always, even while sitting in a cheap wooden chair in the middle of the small, simple room.

The moment I enter, her eyes land on me. I don't even feel her mana, yet I know I am being probed.

[You have defeated an Ironbeak - lvl 54]

A notification sounds in my mind, and I realize that she just killed the monster I left outside. Without a single move. Without any trace of mana from her.

"Are you satisfied with your growth?" she blatantly asks, and I immediately know that there is only one answer I can give her.

But why is she asking me that? I am growing nicely, improving my skills, and even gaining some levels. Actually, quite a few levels. I am safe, I have food, and even someone to talk to if I wish to do so. The view is goddamn amazing and there's even this silly dog I can bully and learn from. The bed is comfortable and I can take warm baths.

"I am not."

It sucks.

Even though I am safe, I feel like a prisoner, unable to get away from Ruby and she doesn't let me go far. My growth is slower and in the back of my mind, I start worrying about whether I will be strong enough to survive the end of this floor.

"Not at all."

The monsters here, even ones higher leveled than me, are easy to kill. There's no challenge, no risk. Nothing to make my blood flow. Nothing to push me hard enough.

"Good."

Her mana hits me like an avalanche and I feel her doing something to me, something I can't even track. It makes me curious and annoyed at the same time. She then turns to Ruby.

"Your gift," she says simply, and immediately the redheaded woman activates her skill, the one she used to teleport us through vast distances, making space in front of her shrink, and bend.

And then, I feel the gray-haired woman do something I didn't know was possible. She connects to Ruby's skill with an ease I can't fathom and she feeds it mana, she takes over it and supercharges it, making it much stronger than it should be. She also does something else that I can only explain as changing coordinates. Her immense mana that makes my body shiver engulfs the room and then I feel a push from behind my back.

Soft, almost gentle.

"It was annoying to watch you hunting here so safely," she says.

Watch me?

"Do your best to survive, little pup," the older woman's voice is uncharacteristically gentle and I enter the darkness, then the portal behind me disappears with a last pulse of mana.

The light disappears as it closes behind me and I'm left in the darkness. I look around, but I can't see anything. The darkness is absolute. The air feels cold and humid and when I reach out with my hand, I touch a wall that is slightly wet and rocky.

A tunnel?

I take a step and my shoulder hits the wall. The hallway or tunnel I'm in is really not that wide. My [Mana Perception] fires up, but I don't feel any mana and the skill doesn't help me to map my surroundings.

So, I use [Armament] to create armor around my body. Even my [Kinetic Redistribution] is ready as I start slowly walking through the darkness, carefully touching the wall with my fingers and stepping lightly.

My heart is beating faster than usual and my body feels warmer. My breathing isn't as calm as it usually is, but I still do not enter the [Focus]. I am enjoying this feeling as much as I can.

Getting an idea, I send out a few thin threads of mana ahead of me, using them to probe my surroundings, getting a signal from them when they touch the wall. It's all inspired by the sniper's traps who tried to kill me back then.

Perception continues to fire up more and more often as I'm trying to sense the mana that must be hiding somewhere. I finally enter [Focus] and continue to walk for what feels like minutes when what I expected finally happens.

An attack tears through my [Armament] and stabs deep inside my thigh. It's something extremely sharp and thin, like a needle, and there's almost no blood flowing out of the wound.

Immediately, I activate redistribution, trying to slow the attacker's escape while my hand, coated in wildly oscillating mana, swings down, trying to cut into whatever attacked me. I hit nothing and something stabs me again, in the same place. Perception doesn't sense anything, threads of mana don't touch anything, and redistribution isn't absorbing any energy.

So, I jump back, hitting the wall with the back of my head covered in ethereal armor, but no other attack comes. Only then do I realize a weird feeling of warmth that spreads through my leg.

A poison.

The poison doesn't seem to be dangerous, at least not in the usual way a poison is dangerous. Even after 30 minutes, I only have a minor fever. The problem is what it does to my mana. As time passes, it makes my mana less and less controllable. It just messes it up somehow and makes it difficult to control. My mana continues to flow freely, not being held at bay by my [Focus]. It's fascinating. It's dangerous.

There are already a few wounds all over my body, inside and out, from my mana clashing against it, but I continue to try to control it, using the full power of my [Dual Focus] and my [Mana Manipulation].

One thing is for sure.

I had no idea that I had so much mana. I underestimated it, and only now do I realize how much I held it back, my body unable to bear more of it so unconsciously I controlled the amount.

But now? It continues to clash against my body, tear through the mana circuit, and flow quickly thanks to my passive skill, Mana Flow. The monster didn't come back again, so I suspect that it's a hit-and-run tactic, probably waiting for me to die.

Just wait, you fucker, just wait.

Okay, my [Focus] and [Mana Manipulation] did level up as I just continue to use them, not even being able to use [Mana Perception] or [Armament]. But damn, I am super thankful for the Advanced Mana Manipulation upgrade. Without it, I would be screwed.

Well, it's not like I'm not in it right now.

I've already walked quite a distance and there's still only pitch-black darkness, not a single speck of light. It's cold, it's wet, and I'm careful with every step, continuously reaching out with my hand to avoid hitting the wall. I continue to force myself to breathe slowly and deeply to not panic. It's harder now that I can't use [Focus].

For the first time in a long time, I start feeling some fear.

But it's bearable. I've been through worse.

What the fuck! It's already been like ten hours?

No sign of the monster and my mana is getting worse and worse every time I get better at handling it.

[Focus - lvl 17 > Focus - lvl 18]

[Mana Manipulation - lvl 19 > Mana Manipulation - lvl 20]

I've leveled up my skills again, but it just doesn't stop. It's getting worse. Every level-up only increases the time I can hold on but is unable to stop the poison. Still, I did learn a lot and improved my control and my handling of mana. I can now more easily make it flow the way I want, hold it at bay, and direct it to places inside my body.

But can I level up fast enough to stop it or will I need to try something else?

Yep, I can't hold on.

Another 10 hours pass and I stop moving, putting my entire mind into handling my mana. Thankfully, the monster doesn't attack me but I still keep a small part of my mind ready to fight back when it happens. When it attacks again, I will tackle it and take hold of my mana for a second, strengthen my body, and quickly finish it. That will teach him.

The main problem now is my almost uncontrollable mana. For the first time, I feel a hint of fear from it, realizing how dangerous it is. There might even be some regret for not putting more points into constitution. But I won't give up.

It's MY mana.

It's MY body.

I will push through as I always have.

Okay, screw it. I don't think I can hold on much longer. Let's risk it.

Let's finally create a construct.