Coming out the other side of the rubble, the distortions in the air almost blinded him. There was no fire, but the walls glowed orange in the heat and blackened bodies of animals and monsters dotted the floors.

Running through the corridors, guided by his [Call for Help] Skill, he tried planning what his course of action was.

Surprisingly, Wrath mana began to flow into him from the connection, and he held it within his Projection rather than sending it to the [Pandora's Box]. He noted that a red tint began to fill him as large quantities of Wrath diluted his Soul mana. He would need to figure out later what happened, as this was likely a Rule of Wrath at work.

Down the tunnels, he passed multiple creatures made of flame, iron, or blackened hide. The heat rose, distorting his vision further as rivers of magma began to flow down the walls around him, running deeper into the cave and following the same path as him.

It did not seem a coincidence that the call for help stemmed from the hottest portion of the tunnels, and he prepared for a boss fight. He slowly noticed that, as he moved downwards, he began to somehow feel the heat. It wasn't sweltering or hurtful yet, but if he could feel it while in the Spirit World, it had to be magical.

[You have entered the Convergence of Convection]

The moment the notification made itself known, he really started feeling it. Small particles of what he assumed was Convection mana entered him, non harmful at first. It began to flow around him in certain patterns, following each other as he began taking damage. Soul mana began to flake off of him and into the area as he ran, very glad he'd filled this body with more Soul mana than usual.

With his higher Physical stat, he was fast, but monsters began trailing behind him and devouring the Soul mana that flaked off. Slowly, a herd built up behind him, chasing the intangible wave of mana that passed by them like ships to a lighthouse. When one got too close, he would fire a small amount of Wrath mana to the side, and they would redirect.

The Convection mana continued to build, seeming to never bleed out of him like the other two manas. His body was slowly becoming an oven, cooking the natural defenses of his Projection.

Still, either from a sense of duty or madness, turning back never crossed his mind.

Down a particularly sharp turn, Dei sensed the signal in front of him. He spotted a humanoid looking thing, hopeful at first that an actual person needed help, but realized it was too bulky to be a human… the arm length claws gave it away too, and it was angrily tearing into the stone wall, a small crack widening under its hands. It was entirely composed of black glass, spikes covering its entire body in an angular nightmarish display. It wasn't incredibly tall, as he stood at around chest height on it, but it's barrel chest, thick arms, and clawed hands promised to tear him to pieces given the chance

From this crack in the wall, he sensed the desperate call for help.

He noticed small amounts of soul damage permeating it. Using his [Identify] Skill, he was just barely able to read through some of the cracks. While studying it, he sent forth the rest of his stored Wrath mana, causing the swarm of monsters behind him to surge forward into the glassy creature.

[Convection Shatterwarmer Obsidian Elemental (Anchor Beast) - Level 271]

While it wasn't a lot of information, that was a long fucking name! If he was right in that monsters' names gave them power, then this thing was strong.

It proved so seconds later when its head whipped towards him and the wave of monsters. He dodged to the side as their snapping jaws passed him by, not interested in seeing if any of them had the affinity to sense him. While they dogpiled onto the Obsidian Elemental, it struck out, shearing through every single one with ease. The quantity of monsters piling onto it though began to overwhelm it, and it was pushed back from the crack in the wall.

A wide scale brawl broke out, the high amounts of Wrath mana feeding into anger, Soul mana driving them nuts with greed as they tried to consume it all, and Convection mana that boosted all of their powers. He sensed them draw on the mana in the air, even with his infantile magic sense, and knew it was time to get the hell out of dodge. He flew over the crowd of enemies and towards the crack, peering in with his [Darkvision] and spotting a small black salamander with red glowing cracks along its skin, standing on its hind legs, and clutching a warm orange opal looking stone.

He wanted to smile at how cute it was, but they didn't have the time. Instead, he cast his newest Spell, [Meaningful]. Using a single piece of Kindness mana, he sent towards the salamander "run while it's distracted."

At the same time, he sent an [Identify] towards the salamander, expressing that he'd just given it an opportunity to escape, and hoped it would thank him by allowing him to learn about it.

It haphazardly considered the request before accepting it, taking off out of the crack in the wall and running up the path Dei had come from. He didn't follow immediately, letting more Soul mana saturate the air as it poured off him so the monsters wouldn't begin to follow again immediately.

[Infant Korgonda - Level 23

These clever little amphibians live their lives half on land, half in molten rock. Born with a natural wit and boldness, only the smartest and strongest survive. Mother Korgonda will host hundreds of eggs in their sac's, moving between various heated areas and releasing swarms of their young to fight their ways to the top of the food chain they find themselves in. Korgonda's endlessly grow in relation to the environment they live. When they outgrow the foodweb that sustains them, Korgonda will move downwards into the earth using a natural born Heat Sense (Greater) to seek out the next habitat to conquer.

Physical: 18 Mental:19 Spiritual: 13 Magical: 13]

The Obsidian Elemental let out a heinous, piercing screech as the Korgonda ran away, and he watched as its soul began to quickly unravel, allowing him to passively glean information. He focused on trying to figure out why it was unraveling, and what the whole deal was between the Elemental and the baby Korgonda

[Convection Shatterwarmer Obsidian Elemental (Anchor Beast) - Level 271

An Obsidian Elemental born near a Convection Anchor that chose to tie itself to the anchor. In doing so, it allowed the Anchor to become mobile while risking itself in the process. By tying itself to the Anchor, it began to passively generate EXP, gaining power. It dug tunnels to create an optimal system for the Convection mana to flow through, strengthening it further, then gave up its extra mobility in favor of boosted EXP gain. Not allowed to move the Anchor any longer for fear of weakening its connection to Convection, it instead guarded it from attacks on the Anchor, until a small thief stole it after a particularly difficult battle with one of the denizens within the cave system. Without the Anchor, it will begin to weaken and die at a rate relative to how far away the Anchor is from the Elemental

Physical: 95 Mental: 32 Spiritual: 101 Magical: 67]

As he looked at its name, he watched the level tick down again, the Elemental releasing another scream, and he decided that there was enough concentrated Soul mana in the air for him to leave.

[Convection Shatterwarmer Obsidian Elemental (Anchor Beast) - Level 260]

Taking off after the Korgonda, he could still sense the desperation it emitted. It was quickly fading though, as the lava lizard realized it actually escaped.

Back up the tunnels he went, following the abating feeling of desperation, when it surged once more.

He came upon the little Korgonda, surrounded by five of its kin. They hissed and yipped at it, squeaking in tune with one another, but the Korgonda held its gem closer to it.

He was practically a giant to them all, but still couldn't enter the physical realm, as the heat was too high. He didn't want to kill any of them anyway, as they were likely all smart, but he figured he'd put his bets on the one he'd saved for which Korgonda would be grateful to him.

Once they sensed a wave of Soul mana barreling towards them, the five other thieves whipped around to face him, and the gem-holder made a break for it.

They hesitated to chase after their kin carrying the Anchor for a moment, before deciding to scatter instead.

Dei followed the Korgonda up, eventually receiving a notification

[You have exited the Convergence of Convection]

And the mana stopped entering him. He quickly checked on his Soul Strength, having dropped a lot of it in his escape.

[Soul Strength 382/1000]

If this were his first expedition where he had only 450 soul strength, he would still technically be in good condition. This was not, however, his first expedition, and he was dying rapidly.

The Convection mana wasn't building any longer, but was exiting him slowly, escaping through the wounds across his body he'd built up from the bug bites and cracks from Convection damage.

On top of that, he noted that it began to escape through his mouth, and he realized he could actually make breathing motions to force it out of him, panting like a dog. After a few seconds of panicked hyperventilating though, he paused.

Could he use [Pandora's Box] to contain it? He tried, but the spell refused to accept it. The box was only intended for mana he produced himself and, unlike other limitations the System listed, this one was built-in to the Skill by Kindness itself.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Continuing with his breathing, he remembered more efficient ways of doing so. He first learned to enter a meditative mindset through breathing techniques, and he began utilizing it more actively now. The breathing techniques were never specifically about bringing in oxygen, but reaching an equilibrium in mind and body.

His current brain power was fragmented into a primary, secondary, and two tertiary minds. He merged them all together, then made a secondary mind that focused only on keeping up with the Korgonda. Using the rest of his mental faculties, he fell into a meditative stupor, bringing air in, holding it, and breathing it out.

As he went through the motions, falling into a pattern, he felt as the Convection mana built up around his lungs. When he held the breath within him, the mana was pulled in, before being slowly expelled through the nose. Each inhale brought fresh air that cooled him, and each exhale pushed massive quantities of heat that turned to fire.

The Korgonda he followed jumped as fire appeared out of nowhere behind it, but he didn't notice, too lost in balancing himself. His mind calmed, and the cracks along his body healed. He was gaining no Soul Strength, but he felt more stable somehow.

After five minutes of his body passively running after the Korgonda, his primary mind awoke, and he realized the Korgonda was finally flagging in its sprint. It had gone a long way for such a tiny creature, and the heat was now bearable to him in the Spirit realm, as he could no longer feel it. He watched the salamander-like creature squeeze into a small hole near the ground, just barely fitting the gemstone in behind him. Dei couldn't sense his desperation anymore, but he was getting better at picking out soul signatures. His Contract gave him a heightened sense for them, but it was hard to perceive them if he wasn't looking at them with his eyes.

Still, he felt that the Korgonda hadn't gone far into the crevice, and he could comfortably wait out here for a moment. He realized he had never actually identified the Anchor, so he bent down and looked into the crack, seeing the salamander nipping at the edges of the stone.

He fired off an [Identify] at the Anchor, but it failed, having no soul signature to read despite once being tied to an entity that did. Standing back up, he decided to go over the notifications he'd received after all the action.

It felt weird, but there were no kill notifications. It made sense, as he hadn't done any killing, it just felt wrong that he'd risked his life without gaining any Class experience. The Skill notifications were incredible though.

[Skill Leveled Up: Vigilance (55) -> (56)]

[Skill Leveled Up: Meaningful (1) -> (2)]

[Skill Leveled Up: High Mind (45) -> (46)]

[Skill Leveled Up: Meditation (25) -> (31)]

[Skill Leveled Up: Call for Help (9) -> (24)]

[Skill Gained: Homeostasis]

[Homeostasis - Level 1 - Health affinity - Passive

The world is in a constant state of flux, and the body adjusts itself to account for such changes. Pushed to the absolute brink, the body has forcibly adjusted itself to environmental factors despite taking potentially fatal damage. Through this struggle, it has found within it the strength to fight further

Allows the body to return to a state of Homeostasis

Heals 0.1 HP per level every hour Regenerates 0.1 MP per level every hour Rejuvenates 0.1 SP per level every hour

Body adjusts faster with each successive level]

[Skill Leveled Up: Homeostasis (1) -> (13)]

He'd learned a new Skill, one he thought would be quite useful long term. There were bound to be extreme environments all over the world, and getting an early head start on such a Skill could save his life if he ran into another. If the area was still filled with fire after the Anchor was removed, Dei might come back to train his new [Homeostasis]. Not only that, but passive healing from his [Growing Pains] Skill already showed its usefulness, yet the level-ups after hitting one hundred were coming to him titanically slow, as it had taken him a full month to gain a single level, despite the new training mode. With a newly minted healing Skill, he could increase his survivability quickly again by leveling it up. The MP and SP were just a cherry on top.

Sighing, he sat down in front of the crack in the wall, and re-activated the Secondary mind to camouflage him with his two tertiary minds to add more presence to the mix.

His Presence was becoming quite formidable, able to handle multiple Skills without strain. When he wasn't actively in danger, it helped power his [High Mind] too, giving his intensive uses more material to work with. While it didn't increase flexibility, it was like his mind didn't lag as much when pushed to the brink.

He hadn't realized that [Meditation] could be sectioned off with only ten percent brain power before, but now that he knew, his presence would skyrocket when he was back to safety. Instead of using fifty percent of his mind to meditate on a single link, he would use it to meditate on five.

Sitting there, Dei would occasionally peek into the mousehole that his, hopefully, new friend was hiding in. He watched as it slowly nibbled away at the stone, pieces flaking off under its gnawing. It looked like it was going to take a while, so he decided to use the time to send another gesture of [Meaningful] into the pink glow inside his Soul.

He'd gained a lot of Kindness mana from saving the Korgonda, so he decided to use concentrated affinity mana rather than the MP he normally used. Shaping five Kindness mana into this message, he made it longer, giving a rundown of life so far. He still didn't know if it reached her, but it made him feel better. The sight of the Love mana taking hold of his message, then glowing brighter afterwards comforted him.

"Hello Mom! It's me again. I still miss you, and I love you. I don't know if these messages will get through, but I hope so. I'm doing well, training where I can, and eating the rations you left me. I definitely wouldn't have survived if you hadn't done that, so thank you.

"I'm getting stronger too, a lot stronger. You'd be so surprised at how much I can do now! I'm also growing really fast. I think I'd be up to your waist now, but I'm not sure, it's been a long time since I saw you. Still, it's pretty scary how fast I'm growing. I think it's because of a Skill I learned after I ate the rations for the first time, it involves using a lot of the extra nutrients to help me grow."

A quick lie about [Growing Pains] made him feel a bit guilty, but it was necessary. It would be illogical if he grew too fast naturally, so a Skill was necessary, and the growth really did come from Growing Pains, even if he'd gained it much earlier than he said.

"Still, I feel like I'm not growing fast enough.

"Don't be mad at me please, but I've been leaving the cave you left me in. I felt like I was going crazy just sitting around, but don't worry! I'm being super careful, and trying to make some allies down here. I haven't made any yet, but I think I'm about to now. There was this monster that was in trouble, it was called a Korgonda, and I saved it. Now it's eating one of those Anchor things you told me about, and I'm pretty sure it's getting stronger from doing that. Once it's done, I'm gonna try to become friends with it. Its just a little baby, about the size of my finger, but one of my Skills tells me that they grow really big when they get older.

Oh! I never got the chance to tell you, but the Skill I learned when we were out in that red forest is called Identify, it tells me stuff about things.

Either way, I'm doing okay. Eating well, growing super fast, getting stronger, and soon to be friends with a Korgonda!

I hope you're doing okay too. Again, I love you and I'll try to send messages more often. Talk to you later!"

He finished, and sent it off.

It had taken him quite a while to make it. It was like writing a letter, but he could infuse tones and emotions into it. Once he was done, he sensed the Korgonda moving, and stepped back from the crack in the wall, standing several feet away.

He sent a message using [Meaningful], asking it to come out and telling it he was friendly. He materialized himself, and watched as it slowly peeked out at him.

'Lets hope this goes well' he thought, reviewing his Interface one more time.

[Name: Dei Grrata Race: Human (Gem Dweller Variant)

Class: Prodigal Detector (Level 69) Profession: Pondering Sage (Level 5)

Achievements: Void Walker, Soulspeak, Beyond Understanding, No Rulers Above All, Bearing the Burden, Slayer of Mountains III, Cruelty of the Slaughter II

Contracts: Soul of the (IIIIIIII),

Soul Strength: 253/253 MP: 92/92 SP: 92/92

Stats:

Physical: 46 Mental: 44 Spiritual: 39 Magical: 45

Affinities:

Kindness: Mid-Rare, 68% Wrath: Mid-Uncommon: 42% Soul: Low-Uncommon: 58%

Inner Skills:

Kindness: Pandora's Box (Contained) (50) (1075/2000), Call for Help (24), Good Samaritan (1), Meaningful (2) Wrath: Pandora's Box (Unleashed) (2), Growing Pains (101) Soul: Astral Projection (7), Connection (1)

Health: Homeostasis: (13) Mana: Meditation (31)

Confluence: Identify of the Stout Protector (52)

Outer Skills:

How About a Demonstration?, Fine-Tooth Comb (46), Vigilance (56), In Tune (1), Commune with the Universe (2), High Mind (46)]

[Pandora's Box:

473/2000 Wrath

387/2000 Kindness

215/2000 Soul]

* * *

POV: Fou Grrata

Moving around the house, humming a tune as she prepared for her husband to get back from teaching her kids more of the crystals in their village. Fou felt light, as ever since Dei started sending her the occasional message just telling her he was doing fine and that he loved her, a weight had lifted from her mind. Today in particular though, he'd sent an amazing, well-detailed description of his progress.

Before he'd gained a Skill to communicate with her, she'd been worried.. Worried that he'd forget her. Worried that when they found each other again, she wouldn't see her little boy light up with happiness. More than her own selfish desire, she was worried about his safety.

The messages… They were a gift from above. Dei's mind had clearly matured fast enough to understand his situation, and was making smart- albeit naive choices. He thought she'd be mad at him for leaving safety and growing stronger? She was worried he wouldn't! Monsters always found the weak eventually, no matter how well they hid. Desperate monsters needed easy meals. Becoming friends with a monster as well was a bit naive, as most knew that humans tended to be physically weaker alone, and thus easy meals- in this though, he'd lucked out. Korgonda were a known Race, and a very empathetic one at that despite usually being more isolated. If he'd saved it and asked for its help in turn, she knew her boy would get a valuable friend to help him in his time of need.

One of the things she'd worried about, something he mentioned in passing a few weeks ago, was how he promised to get strong enough to take down everyone, then return home.

'Silly boy… I hope you don't try, because one day you might be dangerous enough to kill more than a few.'

It was true. Fou already knew the exact process Dei was undergoing, where he would grow to maturity faster than naturally possible. She'd told her husband as well and, truthfully, they were both relieved. It would increase Dei's chances of survival, so it didn't matter whether he would look like a kid or a full grown man, she would be elated when they met again all the same. The phenomena was more than just physical growth though, there was power behind it: the Path of the Slaughterer, it was called.

Ever since… well, The Fall, Slaughterers had made a resurgence. Children left in the wilderness or otherwise impossibly lethal situations when they would be guaranteed to die, somehow finding ways to live. From what people could see, it was the work of affinities that allowed this to happen.

Affinities. They always watched, and they waited for the moment when you might bring yourself closer to their domains. If an affinity detected a child had become abandoned in a hopeless situation, it was well-documented that said affinity would rapidly begin to empower their mind and bodies, growing them to fit the situation. To live.

Some questioned why it was only after The Fall that Slaughterers surged in quantity. They'd existed before, of course, but only in absolutely miniscule quantities. Absurdly rare, despite many children losing their parents even in the previous age. There were a few varying theories, but one in particular was widely agreed upon to be close to the truth, the one Fou herself followed.

Affinities hated demons, and the birth of one on their world caused much focus to be placed on it cosmically. Its continued existence was a scourge, and affinities created more Slaughterers in an attempt to crush it.

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