Chapter 43: Vortex

The cracks began to fill up.

My mana reserves were being drained at an alarming rate. Within a minute, about seventy-five percent of my mana was already used.

I willed the mana in the room to refill my reserves. The mana kept entering my body, but…

It wasn’t enough.

Was requiring such insane amounts of mana—normal?!

It had to be noted that the mana control of an average Iron Core was almost negligible. The person could control the mana in his body up to a certain extent during fights or while cultivating, but absorbing the mana from the surroundings at the rate my body was currently undergoing—

It was impossible.

I was actively willing massive amounts of mana to enter my body. The mana wasn’t just being absorbed into my body; I was forcing it to merge with my body.

My mana reserves were being filled at faster rates, but so were they being used up.

And…

Huh?!

The cracks that should have been filled were beginning to expand again.

This…

Not only were the cracks expanding, but so was my mana core.

I had compressed it to the maximum extent, but now the mana from my reserves was entering the core again, along with being used for patching the cracks.

Why?

This shouldn’t have happened.

Did I mess up something during the compression stage?

No. As far as I remembered, I had followed each and every piece of advice that Arthur had given me to its maximum application!

Damn!

I couldn’t even call for help. That would be more dangerous than whatever was currently happening with me.

I couldn’t distract myself. I had to maintain my focus on the core—and the core only.

And even if I wanted to call for help—

I simply couldn’t.

Arthur had gone to the main base of Lonatu. Alfred had found something of value and wanted to conduct some experiments.

As for that other guy who was Arthur’s supposed right hand—

What was his name again?

Yeah—David Bruth. According to what Arthur had told me, this guy had ranked up to become a Diamond Core.

He could have advised me in Arthur’s place, but…

David, along with Julien, had left a few days ago to recruit another pillar for D.X.

Damn.

Does Lady Luck hate me?!

Haa.

Calm down. There had to be some solution to this.

Think… Think!!

Firstly, what could have made the core unstable again?

I was doing everything according to the rules, except—

Oh!

The mana essence.

I had increased my natural mana essence by absorbing it from the monsters that I had killed.

And what did that mean?

It was obvious.

My core would need more mana to be compressed than its former self. Not only had the quantity of my mana essence increased, but also the density of the essence.

But why was the core unstable right now?

I should have required more mana for compressing the core from the start. Why now?

Sigh.

I didn’t have time to think on a deeper scale.

Fuu.

I took a deep breath and used my mana control to the maximum possible level.

I might not have the full understanding of the situation, but I knew one thing for certain.

I had to stabilize my core—the faster, the better!

A vortex began forming around me as massive amounts of mana was being absorbed into my body.

At first, I was just willing more mana to enter my body, but the pace was average.

At least by my standards.

Now—

The pace of absorption was unlike anything before. The entire mana in the room began flowing toward me.

As I had said earlier, the room had a high density of mana. So when the entire mana in the room flowed in my direction, it created friction between individual mana particles.

As for the result of the friction—

It wasn’t the best.

Crk… Crzzk…

Sparks began to originate in several places.

But I didn’t stop.

Not that I could.

I willed more mana to enter my body.

My mana core had swelled to almost double its original size, and it continued to grow.

As for the cracks—

A spiderweb had formed on my entire core. At least that’s how it looked–felt. The cracks had enveloped the entire core, leaving no place unturned.

And they didn’t stop. The previous cracks had begun to deepen. It was like even the cracks were being enhanced with the mana my core was juicing out of me.

With each passing second, my mana reserves dwindled to the lowest and were immediately refilled by the mana in my body. And my body kept absorbing greater amounts of mana from the surroundings to compensate for its loss of mana.

Just when I thought the cycle would end—

It just got more wild.

Creeeak…

Crnnkkk…

The walls in the room began to break apart from the vacuum created by me.

Krrrkk…

How?

Around ninety percent of the mana in the room was absorbed into my core, with no signs of stopping.

And like a looming devil, the pace increased.

Boooom.

Rummmblee!

The walls fell apart with a deafening sound.

The structure around me had collapsed, but my core…

More… more…

It continued its dinner!

The sparks soon turned into fire. The entire place went ablaze.

The soldiers nearby began rushing toward the direction of the collapse.

Panicked shouts could be heard. More and more soldiers poured in, trying to extinguish the fire.

As if that was easy.

The fire had been caused by friction between mana particles. Normal water couldn’t stop it.

My mind had stopped registering the chaos that was unfolding around me.

I was in a state where the only thing my body responded to was the absorption of mana.

Nothing else!

Haa.

When would it end?

My brain was feeling numb from the exhaustion of repeatedly controlling such vast amounts of mana.

It was not the control that was affecting my brain, but the speed at which everything was taking place.

Before the cells in my brain could rest, more of my willpower, more of my focus was used to feed my mana core.

And just when I began to lose my focus, the absorption slowed down…

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