Mark opened his eyes when the first light touched the horizon, Sam and Jonathan sat across from him using [Meditation] in sync with him, allowing their energies to match and grow with his.

Source: Mediation (+20 Prana, +40 exp points)

Mark had been using his construct to draw a lot of energy their way and at the same time, keep an eye on the other two.

The others had continued to argue last night, but it never came to blows, at least nothing too violent. When they'd finished they'd each made their way into separate cabins on the Ferris wheel, getting as far away from one another as possible.

Mark had secretly wrapped each of them in a lesser construct, but otherwise, he was happy they hadn't returned making noise.

He was just about to get up when a celebratory ringing echoed out in his ears. Mark was familiar enough with the system by now to recognize when it was trying to get his attention, so he opened his prompts

Congratulations [System penalty] has expired!

Returning full access, please be careful in the future!

Mark's eyes turned up at the edges as the others started moving about in the cabin. Unable to wait Mark pulled up his system and took a look at his stats.

57 x Corrupted humanoid cleansed(57)

67 x Corrupted Ordinator cleansed(134)

120 x Corrupted Ghasts cleansed(360)

5 x Corrupted Lavithan cleansed(50)

1 x Corrupted Huminod(Awakened) cleansed(100)

 

System Points awarded 256

Partial exp awarded to (4 users - expand list)(1982)

Partial exp awarded to (Mark Young)1982)

Name: Mark Young (22 - M)

Level: 60

Next level: 2824/3721

Stats:

Resistance

Aura

Mana

Prana

1552 [1400]

0 [+40]

331[+85]

1269 (+65)[+170]

Unspent stat points - 50

Corruption value: 100% [+0%] - 100/66.4%??

System Points: 35404.0

Skills: Meditation, Limit release(Physical), Limit release(Mental), Joint casting, Limit release(Spiritual).

Spells: Passive Regeneration(Self)[10], Force bolt[18], Prana Pulse[9], Regenerate[9], Draw Corruption[9], Corruption recovery[15], Engrave Mana(Force)[2], Invigorate[13], Cleansing surge[9], Read Memory[2], Mind Spike[4], Earth Control[10], Light Control[6], Bestowal[8], Telekinetic control[2], Benediction[4], Nature control[7], Telepathic link[7], Animated Mind[4], Breath of life[1].

World inventory. Marketplace. Trade.

Mark's relief was evident on his face, and when he sent his backpack into his storage just to prove to himself that he could. Sam glanced over with an ecstatic look on her face.

"System penalty up already?"

Mark nodded quietly to himself, he never knew how much he'd grown to rely on the system until it was gone, but as he looked over his prompts something caught his eye.

"Hmmm, it's strange, I wasn't the one to land the killing blow on that Corrupted woman, and yet the system gave me the single most experience I've ever seen for a single kill."

Sam looked thoughtful and made a hand motion in midair before staring off into space.

"Oh, it looks like I got the same amount of exp."

Mark frowned and looked at Jonathan who nodded, already expecting the question.

"Got her too"

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"Either she was a lot more important than we know, or the system really doesn't like them," Mark muttered to himself.

Jonathan nodded his head.

"I'm inclined to think it had something to do with the opening of the spire, because not even Grace offered us this much experience, and she almost killed all of us."

Mark's face soured as he thought back to that woman.

Sam dragged him out of it by slapping him on the back and pointing her thumb out into the brightening sky.

"Okay well got anything else you need to do or can we head out?"

Mark's furrowed brow faded and he glanced down at the system panel.

"Actually, yes. Give me a second, there's a couple of spells I want to evolve."

Mark had been sitting on two spells he'd been dying to level up but the system had refused to help him while the penalty was in effect.

So the first thing he did now was slot one of his staple spells. Mark had found so much use for this particular magic that it had leveled up faster than some of the spells he'd had for twice the amount of time. The system reached into Mark and he felt it take hold of the magic inside himself, after what felt like minutes, but could only have been a couple of seconds. The system dinged in his ears

Congratulations [Earth control] has evolved to [Earth Mastery].

The rank has been reset to 1!

 

Earth Mastery - rank 1:

Through Mana control and imagery, the user has become one with the earth around them, moving the earth around themselves as easily as breathing.

Mass correlates to the Mana expended and the strength of the Mana attribute.

Movement and shaping earth costs take minimal Mana.

Material density increases Mana cost.

Mana requirement during material creation correlates to half the density and complexity of the material created.

Changes made to earth are permanent or subject to the material used.

Mark let out a breath, but as he did so the spell came without him even needing to call on it. All at once the entire structure of the cart around them demanded his attention. Mark's awareness rippled out through the steel, traveling down the length of the structure and into its supports, but it didn't stop there. It reached down into the concrete, and then the stone, finally slowing as it got to the soil.

Mark teetered over, losing his balance as the new sense opened itself to him. Jonathan saw this and caught Mark as he tried to process the sensory overload. It felt like when he used his construct to pull in all the surrounding details, but there was no off switch. The spell didn't come with one, and as far as Mark could tell, this was how it was meant to function.

Suddenly a pair of hands were flicking in front of Mark's face as Sam tried to get his attention.

"Hey! Hey, Mark. Look at me. It was a bit overwhelming at first, I know, but you don't need to close it out, just restrict the flow, like you're closing your eyelids slightly."

Mark didn't know how the advice helped, but it did. It felt like he'd been focusing too much on one sense over the others, and the moment he refocused on the rest the flow of information was more manageable.

Mark got his legs under himself as he stared down at the point his feet touched the ground. It was distant now but he could feel every tremor rippling up through the earth, from the movement in the cabin, all the way down to the Corrupted in the basement of this building. It wasn't quite sight, more a vibration.

When he finally refocused into the cabin, Sam was grinning at him.

"You back? I'm guessing you evolved a magic to the 'Mastery' stage?"

Mark nodded absentmindedly as he cleared his throat.

"Yeah, Earth magic…" Mark said as he turned his head to look in the direction of a field mouse burrowing into the dirt. How did it survive out here this long?

"Yeah, okay we've lost you again. Do me a favor Mark and float." Sam said smiling.

Mark blinked at her in confusion but followed her request. The moment his feet broke contact with the metal floor, the sense snapped back and Mark took a breath as all the surrounding earth faded from his vision.

Mark sighed in relief.

"Okay, I'm here. Holy shit that's intense."

Sam smiled

"I know. Imagine my surprise when I got [Air Mastery]. Couldn't sleep until I figured out that I needed to isolate myself from the surrounding air to make it more manageable."

Mark nodded as he glanced down at the floor again, he thought he could feel it reaching out to him but the material never moved. At least not until he wanted it to.

Mark crossed his arms and legs in midair and stared at his prompts with a critical eye. He almost didn't want to evolve the next one. What if it did something weird again?

Mark looked up at Jonathan and Sam and he could see they were waiting patiently. Neither was rushing him but he could see Wesley making his way over to their cabin.

Taking a deep breath Mark slot the next spell. This one truly was the first spell he'd gotten and had taken a very long time and a lot of pain to get it to this stage. But when the system grabbed hold of it, it took longer than Mark had expected to let it settle back into his mind. When it did Mark felt his whole body silver as his skin became harder, along with his nails, teeth, and even hair. His whole body felt incredible as the system chimed

Congratulations [Passive Regeneration(Self)l] has evolved to [Regenerative Adaptation].

The rank has been reset to 1!

 

Regenerative Adaptation - Rank 1:

Through the extensive use of Prana, the user has rebuilt their body time and time again, reinforcing their natural regeneration and endurance. Minimal Prana will be used to maintain the body at its peak condition but any injury the user suffers will be repaired with the intention of nullifying the threat.

Current Resistance bonus: 501

The strength of this ability is based on the user's Prana and Resistance attributes.

Mark took a breath through his nose and tried to understand the implications of this spell. It was completely automatic so it wasn't like he could activate it but if he was right then any injury he sustained he would get stronger from? The more it happened the more his body would change to make it so his chances of survival increased.

It was as though he had unlocked his gene's natural evolution and turned it up to eleven. This particular spell had incredible implications but Mark wasn't sure that it couldn't be a double-edged sword. The sudden windfall of Resistance was a plus though and Mark could literally feel his body and mind becoming more substantial.

When he heard Wesley enter the cabin Mark turned his eyes from the system prompt to the room. Everyone was staring at him and Mark even saw Jason stepping into the space.

"I'm sorted are we ready to go?" Mark asked, still avoiding making contact with the ground.

Everyone seemed to be in some shape or another and when they were ready they all took to the air again. Mark mentioned the Corrupted in the building below them but they voted against engaging them as they were on a clock.

Mark recast [Light control] and even sealed in their energy so that if anything was tracking them they wouldn't be able to tell what direction they went after finding the place they'd spent the night.

The scenery became less and less urban and they moved toward state lines. They were lucky if they saw single-story houses at sparse intervals. As they moved the morning light burned into late afternoon and finally they neared their destination. The once-green landscapes were choked with browns and in some cases meteors of sludge, which blackened the land.

They had been following one of the main highways when something up ahead caught their attention. The roads were cleared of cars and they had been organized into a neat wall cutting straight through the highway, but then went on as though building a wall straight around what remained of a small settlement.

Mark hadn't been blocking their energy for miles so when he heard the tell-tail sign if a screaming arrow coming their way her reinforced his construct and braced for the impact. The wail of the arrowhead was suddenly cut off as it hit their group.

The shock wave was powerful as it rippled across the barrier, but not as great as the shock all of them were experiencing right now. Down below them, in what had to be a small surviving town was a group of survivors staring up at them.

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