Bro, I'm not an Undead!

In Skullius’ mind, a bit of information that wasn’t there prior, one that wasn’t gathered from his restlessness in using [Elevated Mana Manipulation] to a more refined level which resulted in its increased levelling speed, spawned in his mind.

Shockingly, this information wasn’t about what he thought would be the most likely candidate, Spatial Lightning, which had intimately kissed him to near oblivion a couple of times.

Instead, it was about Distorted Gravity.

What appeared wasn’t its origin or the intricacies behind what it was or the exact conditions that spurned it.

It was merely a slightly hazy pattern, like a mix between a terribly played field of tetris with innumerable holes and a jigsaw puzzle…. in another distant reality of course.

It seemed random to Skullius at first but then…

‘Hmmm…. The mana here keeps getting fiercer and more concentrated but for the most part, I can recognise that there are patterns… though I can’t tell which is which. Could this belong to…’

Like that… Skullius and his mind had matched a portion of the pattern to one that seemed to belong to Distorted Gravity.

How could Skullius tell?

While [Elevated Mana Manipulation] on its own clearly wasn’t enough to allow him to blitz through this like a genius, it did allow Skullius to recognise two things.

The form mana took as well as its arrangement.

For instance, mana could be pure which seemed to have specific connotations and effects attached to it, or it could be muddled with certain ‘spices’ that allowed it to produce different effects when it followed a certain flow.

In the current situation, whenever the weight bearing down on Skullius increased, he noted that a certain flow increased along with it around him but with the endless sparks of lightning that were everywhere, he hadn’t been able to distinguish if the high level concepts in this place shared this flow and their form or if they were just so complicatedly woven that it was hard to tell.

It was annoying.

This was why trying to distinguish which flow and form of mana was which became such a painfully intricate process that required Skullius digging into the foundation of the mana itself.

Ah…

Such a thing had regurgitated the memory of Skullius having to draw bits of mana from the mana gems mined in Deadmanland, the origin story for this now evolved skill of his.

Such growth.

Such continued relevance.

It was too profound!

Having reached this stage, Skullius while being washed by the mana on his bones steadily digested this bit of information.

‘Alright. Now at least I can trace the mana for Distorted Gravity. Argh… this only gets more complicated from here…’

With the storm cloud above and Ferex fervently waiting to intercept any lightning bolts, Skullius let all his worries about the potential harm fade away as he wholly focused on tracing the flow and form of the mana that induced Distorted Gravity.

***

Below, in the depths of the water within the world atop the Elimparidis Stone Staff, way beyond the organised bulbous living quarters that had belonged to the Bulk Terrors, a certain figure could be seen practically buried in the dark waters that touched upon the very floor of the ocean.

It was a golden figure.

One with a lengthy cape, the rising flakes which it produced providing a very dim lighting that barely managed to illuminate the hundreds of eggs that were arranged before him.

The darkness of the waters was an effect of mana being so highly concentrated that it added to the darkness resulting from the depth, preventing light from escaping. Normal light at least.

If a regular human was to be placed within these waters, they would not be able to move a muscle.

Heck, even if an average individual in the Foundation Stage were to be placed here, they would be locked in place from the sheer density possessed by these waters!

The profound effect of mana was uncontested.

The golden figure seated here was obviously Red Rage.

He had requested Skullius to not kill the eggs left behind by the Bulk Terrors that time and now, he had moved every single one which he had found here.

Unlike what Skullius thought, this wasn’t the Apostle reacting the flaw he had which restricted him from killing innocents. In fact, his killing of Cluster beasts could be considered a violent act against the guiltless as the creatures within Clusters could be argued to be ‘innocent’. But that was not the kind of strict criteria the flaw he had used.

Killing unborn creatures himself would be a violation of what that however, and yet that wasn’t Red Rage’s purpose in keeping the little things alive.

From the Pelvis-Boar-Man’s chest, the ‘U’ and ‘T’ shaped symbol lit up with a bright light then unleashed a vibrant beam of energy over the eggs!

Each egg which was touched by the light attained a faint glow, becoming a partially luminous lantern for a few seconds.

The light only vanished after a full five second run, the eggs losing the glossy shine thereafter as they returned to normal.

This wasn’t the first time that Red Rage had done this over the past few days.

This was actually the 102nd time!

Red Rage used every opportunity to beam up the eggs with a skill he had once attempted to use on Tomin during the expedition to solve the mass Cluster incident.

The skill [Foolmaker].

It didn’t go by this name anymore though, as with continued use, it had evolved even as it was merely part of a larger skill.

Red Rage looked over the eggs with care before nodding his head.

He rose from his seated position and shifted his focus to a facet of his no-nonsense training.

The Apostle was determined to make the most out of the retreat he had requested from Skullius.

This time spent away from his master must be paid off with extremely promising results. This was his sentiment.

The harshly thick mana around him was drawn in droves, its mass and concentration causing Red Rage to buckle down but ultimately withstand it.

“I… can…take it!” a manly voice leaked out of Red Rage.

He was determined!

The amount of progress he had made so far was already shocking but that was not enough.

He could feel his master’s efforts even from the distance.

He was doing his best and so should he, using everything at his disposal.

As the first Apostle, he had to remain relevant!

Yes.

He had to.

As the Pelvis-Boar-Man nurtured his resolve, a slight crack was heard from one of the eggs!

The gaze of the Null Lifeform immediately turned, his focus shifting once more!

It was beginning!

The birth of his little beauties was beginning!

And just like him, this first one just had to have significance!

“Wait for me O, Emissary of neither Death nor Life. When I, your prodigy returns to your side, I will come bearing the strength of a thousand Null Badubs!”