Master Of None

Chapter 2292: 2292. Odd Dark Mana

With a little more information from Clara, Walker felt that he had made a few theories about what might be causing issues nearby the new ruins discovered.

He had originally believed it might be another bridge to the elemental planes opening up. It would make sense if the dark elemental plane was on the other side of it causing a disturbance with the dark mana. Or that a monster had already passed in to the world and had manipulated the dark mana because of its strong affinity for dark mana over others.

However, even if that was the case, then the odds that a strong enough monster which could take control of dark mana over Walker and Mordant and even Onyx, was very low. They would need the dark elemental mana from the dark elemental plane more than anyone else would so they could not survive within the world without losing mana, not taking it.

It was much more likely that a nearby area had been affected by a monster or general existence due to the expansion of the world. The very same wilderness areas were causing issues right now for those who had started to change trade routes.

It had been exceptionally lucky that the majority of basic trade routes had gone unaffected. Not that many of the merchants had ignored the changes. They had focused on security creating many more jobs than what most people would have expected.

All good things in a way, minus the fact that these areas were dangerous and the unknown monsters were dangerous too. The only bonus was that no randomly appearing randomly came to be. Not that a theory hadn't come up yet. But to be fair, the odds of that were so small that everyone was able to keep themselves realistic.

The changes in the mana which Walker, Onyx, and Mordant had felt were nothing compared to what had already been recorded though.

So many new areas and unknown wildernesses had been discovered with odd manas. Due to this, mages with the higher skills able to sense manas had been there keeping handles on what else might be learned. Many of these wilderness areas within traveling distance of mages had sent consistent information in this respect.

Meaning that what the three of them had sensed was out of the ordinary. And also why Mordant was waiting for Walker when he had just finished with Clara. Mordant wanted to find the answers.

He had never encountered a situation where he had lost the access to using dark mana fluidly. While he could still sense it and gather it, he had felt that his control over it was ambiguous. Since that was the case, he knew that this would greatly affect the other dragons.

The dark dragons that followed him would have a lot more trouble if they were to encounter this situation. Especially if the elder dragons were leading the other younger dragons or the dragonkin. Even the others like mages and elemental class users could be affected by the odd way that mana was acting. Making those who were using dark mana or had the affinity at a very weak position.

This was also to be said for monsters as well. Any monster with dark mana affinity would struggle to live and grow there. Especially since they might have it fight these monsters in a weakened state.

Not only would weakened and cornered monsters have the potential to be even more unpredictable, it could also adapt to this situation. Causing strange mutations in their growth over time. Or even worse, they could become extinct within the area causing massive imbalances within nature itself.

"I am ready. Onyx has chosen to begin a slower journey to the ruins with a larger group of explorers. They are transporting the ruins hunters who will remain resisting while they explain the ruins. I believe that they would have traveled there himself if Onyx had not made arrangements for them to safely travel there through other means."

This was the way that Mordant was able to praise Onyx. it wouldn't sound that way to everyone, but Walker had gotten to know Mordant fairly well. He could tell that this was just his way of saying that Onyx had taken the right priorities here. Made the right choice in how to handle this situation overall.

"That's a good thing. He should be making sure that the ruins hunters are resting. They have already started a major part of what Genesis needs to do right now. Even if we don't learn more about the past, ancient times, or the monsters there. It means we will have an understanding of ruins in general.

Without much else, Mordant pulled the dark mana around them.

It was quick to travel through the shadows in this way. Walker wanted to start to learn to use this and spatial mana more often as well. Especially since he had recently been able to learn more about this.

However, just sensing the way that Mordant moved the dark mana to meld in to the shadows and travel through it. Walker understood that this was entirely different from the feeling he had when using space mana.

The feeling wasn't necessarily uncomfortable, but for Mordant, this felt like he was becoming closer to himself and everything that he was. For Walker, it was like he had forced himself to adapt to a situation he was not always used to. Mostly because he was always allowing all forms of mana to flow in to his body and not one specific mana at a higher amount and purity. Not that this was impossible. Walker could easily focus entirely on one mana, but it didn't feel as natural for him as it was for Mordant. But that was just a basic difference between someone who was born with a singular affinity for mana versus a multitude of affinities for manas. Adding space mana to dark mana did feel slightly easier since he had been through the travels within shadows with Mordant. Because of this, Walker mentally recalled the feeling she had right this moment so that he could go over it again while in meditation. Unfortunately, he was sure that he would need to focus on the suddenly fading feelings of his control over dark

mana.

Since even his control over dark mana was suffering here, Walker knew that this would be more serious.

Mordant had immediately left the shadows and they rose in a familiar scenery. The jagged rocks and towering cliff sides proved that they were nearby the ruins which had been found by the ruin hunters. However, Walker could sense that the earth mana in the area was also somewhat unsettled. Like something was causing it to shift more than it should naturally.

Following the unsettling feeling, Walker quickly spotted an area where multiple taller jagged rocks had grown out of the ground as the mountains shifted over who knew how long. He could sense the dark mana was being pulled toward that area and that the broken jagged rock made a perfect path which led right to a large cave opening.

"Do you think this is the monster den or dungeons that were reported?" The question from Mordant was enough to make Walker wonder if they were going to be dealing with this issue here and now. If it was one such place, then it would be a larger issue to handle.

"I want to say yes, but it feels too unsettled. The manas within those wilderness areas where monster dens and odd ruins have been found is steady. It might even be dual or triple affinity manas mixing together in unique amounts. But this, it's just dark mana being made to become chaotic and for some reason. The earth mana is shifting since it usually has some relationship with dark mana, especially in a cave."

This was when Walker caught an even stronger feeling. Like the dark mana had just been pulled like it was attached to a strong. Something powerful had just pulled dark mana toward it and taken it in to control. But it stopped meaning that it couldn't do that constantly. "Something is in there and it is gathering dark mana in large amounts all at once. But it is not strong enough to have a constant flow of dark mana. It is not like me." The simple comment from Mordant showed Walker that the worry that there was another dark dragon was gone from Mordant's mind. A good thing.

"No, it's definitely not a dragon. But It might be something a little harder to deal with if we don't tread carefully." Walker swore he saw the shadows move and pull the dark mana from the cliff shadow and the rock shadows nearby the entrance of the cave. He could only hope his mind was playing tricks on him.

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