392 Just A Spark
The storm that preceded the view of the floating staves was before Skullius once again as his sockets flared with a mix of thinly veiled excitement and apprehension.
The possibilities were what drove him but the dangers and or hazards of what he was about to try attempted to park him at the side.
Still, in the name of risks, he had to at least see what would happen.
As the compounded gravity within this space littered by shorter stone pillars bore down on him, [Epiphany]’s passive effect kicked in.
The effect essentially made sure that for every magical effect Skullius was subjected to, little sprinkles of information, the bare minimum knowledge on said effect would be transmitted into his mind.
This sounded incredibly powerful, but no, it wasn’t.
Time as well as degree of exposure were two important factors that made the skill a patience generating phenomenon or simply an invitation to get oneself killed while trying to learn something.
So far, with Skullius’ experiences, from being shot by the Spatial Lightning to being slammed by the Distorted Gravity and suffering short term detainment in Stagnant Space, he was yet to get an inkling of what any of these concepts were.
When it came to [Epiphany] though, it had an active effect that essentially cut off the worst components of this passive effect. By paying a certain amount of Null Life Essence, Skullius could attain knowledge on high level concepts.
The only problem currently was that even for the weakest concept on this stout mountain, the amount of Null Life Essence points was vast and for the Penetrator, even if he maxed out his reserves of Null Life Essence and added even those of his Apostles, it still wouldn’t be enough.
His maximum capacity fell short.
But this didn’t discourage the Penetrator.
Skullius inched his way through the vicious and chaotic mana that raided every pocket of this place, lightning smashing into the stone pillars to displace them into disfigured forms.
‘I’m not sure if getting hit by that lightning is the best chance I have in speeding up the learning process but… to get that Stagnant Space concept needs me to willingly get zapped. This is definitely fleshed up,’ Skullius thought.
It was extremely risky.
Ferex walked beside Skullius in his larger form while wrestling the gravity, the excuse for his size being how he wisher to protect his master. The light within his sockets fondly showed his determination towards this goal.
With the spells he had attained from the Innate Holder wielded by Kotaman, he was sure he had augmented his arsenal quite a bit for that very purpose.
After proceeding for a few meters, Skullius’ body suddenly dropped and pounded into the ground, half of its bony entirety digging deep into mana-reinforced dirt!
…!
The Distorted Gravity!
Strangely, at the exact same time that Skullius sank deep, one of the pillars near him, its cold, grey and fractured mass sitting firmly on the bald ground suddenly shot up at a speed that made it look like a metallic blur!
BOOOM!
The sound of its movement was akin to thunder as rings of gusty air exploded from its launch!
Skullius’ four sockets flared!
‘This…!’ Skullius’ mind was immediately thawed of the surprise from falling into the dirt, his thoughts lighting with intrigue.
The density of the mana increased once again, which was why the effects of the concept was so much more pronounced but…
‘Ohhhh…. the mana here… it’s different. It’s not pure…’ Skullius thought as [Elevated Mana Manipulation] was used, his mind churning to discern a great many things.
His exterior control of mana was tested as the erratic and rebellious waves of mana around him smashed into him while others slipped his grasp with the skill.
This shit was hard!
It was like trying to contain a burst of steam with a steel spoon for hours!
The mana-focused grasp of Skullius was challenged once again as it wasn’t merely the problem of trying to capture and discern the mana but also distinguishing which stream held the properties he was looking for.
The property and form that induced Distorted Gravity!
To make his job a whole lot harder, a spark ignited in the air, along with a milky flash of light and then…
BZZZZZZZT!
Six thick bolts of lightning erupted in six different of directions with aggressive heat and power, one of these directions that they attacked just happening to be where the Penetrator was struggling to heavy lift himself out of the ground!
‘Damn it!’
Even before Skullius saw the lightning that gushed towards him, his profound mana sensing had already told him that this was different from the bolt that had attacked him before which simply transported him to Stagnant Space before slicing him in half!
This one had furiously destructive spatial energies on top of completely horrendous raw power that would probably blast him to pieces before anything else!
This power that caused the air to look as if it was reverently parting and displacing around the lightning!
The beam of blinding light produced in the process also…!
BOOOOM!
An eruption of force along with a powerful reverberation ran through the ground with a deafening noise that sublimely told of extreme damage numbers even though the ground was deceivingly more or less intact!
The light died down as heavy tufts of mana billowed around the scene.
The ground barely showed any semblance of damage, not just in this spot but also in those where the other five bolts had struck.
The ground was profoundly reinforced by mana to such a degree!
At the scene where Skullius had been however, an unexpected scene occurred.
The figure of the Penetrator unharmed emerged, his sockets fiercely roaring with flame as he looked entirely confused on what had happened.
A moment later…
THUD!
The large figure of Ferex appeared out of nowhere, slamming onto the ground on his feet but with a disfigured and profoundly charred body!
Its mass above the skeletal structure that was made of Unliving Thread could barely be seen and most parts of its body seemed to be… misaligned, disjointed or… switched.
Ferex’s head was attached to his rear instead, with his frontal body lacking a coordinating limb!
Over the dark matter that was burnt Unliving Thread on his body, glowing patches of heat along with an expansive blue array that flickered with mana for a few seconds before disappearing could be seen!
“Bro!” Skullius exclaimed as he used every bit of his strength to dig himself out of the ground and hunch his way towards the Apostle, emotion tugging at his bones.
Skullius was lost for words.
Ferex had undoubtedly acted before he could to shield him from the damage!
The result was ultimately…
Skullius rustled his hands over the Apostle, seeing the light in its socket luminously glow fervently.
Ferex was mostly alright.
Skullius slumped in relief.
The creature before him then opened its maw wide and devoured a light that immediately induced rejuvenation over its mass, bringing it back to its normal state in a few breaths!
‘Lively’ Unliving Thread covered the Apostle once more as it then reduced its size, evidently avoiding the gravitational consequences of a larger bulk.
Ferex seemed enthusiastic as he manifested ears, swaying them this way and that in unison while gazing at Skullius with… happy emotion.
“Bro, why are you excited? You almost died! Or I guess got erased. But still! I could have lost you!” Skullius said as he staggered and stood.
Ferex maintained his enthusiasm however and stood on his hind legs, from his mouth a tongue of Unliving Thread emerging with a rather lengthy mass.
One of his front legs rested on Skullius’ shoulders for a… pat.
“Is this encouragement?” Skullius said as he shook his head.
This bastard was trying to reassure him despite what had just happened!
“Fine. I wasn’t planning on giving up anyway. Thanks for covering my mistake. I should have used this first.”
[Silent Revelation of the Bright King] was cast as a thick storm cloud along with sparks of Silentburn Levin that constantly revolved around Skullius emerged.
“This should help for the next five minutes while you recover your cooldown,” Skullius said while trudging on.
Ferex followed also, in the Apostle’s mind an evaluation of the sole reason he was still nullalive right now occurring in his mind to determine how best to apply it.
Reinforcement Magic.
The two pushed on, Skullius only being able to cover a meter per every fifteen minutes as the force bearing down on him was immense including the mana sifting through the air which continued to grow profoundly thick.
The ride wasn’t smooth as in the next hour, Skullius was struck by two thick bolts that he and Ferex had tried to react to but ultimately ended up getting blast by and suffering atrocious damage.
Luckily, [Silent Revelation of the Bright King] had saved him after it went on cooldown and had to be cycled with Ferex’s [Lanterns of the Pure].
The constant risk was phenomenally dangerous, but with Skullius sensing through the mana continuously as he tried to learn its pattern along with him trying to withstand the gravity, a reward for the effort soon showed.
A teensy bit of a reward.
Skullius had advanced quite the bit of distance over four hours, unable to continue on ahead where bolts of lightning his body’s size raged while the weight on his body made it impossible for him to move.
With the mana now obscuring the view quite a bit while also gaining a slightly corrosive effect, Skullius finally felt it.
Just a spark of knowledge.
Of information.
Just enough to achieve a tiny bit of his goal.