Dragon Master: The SSS-Ranked School Belle Asked Me To Contract Her

Veer lay on the sea grass, closing his eyes as his whole body reeked of sweat and blood. It had been more than twelve hours since he had begun to practice the Primordial Arcane Forge and he had taken his first break now.

It wasn't because he was exhausted, well he was exhausted but he didn't stop because of that. He had run out of his mana in the twelve hours, which was already a miracle as he didn't expect it to last this long.

As he laid there, he was processing the things he had done in the past twelve hours and going through his mistakes. He had actually managed to get by ten of the Eighteen Mana Veins, making him happy with his progress.

He guessed that it was mostly because of how his body had been constantly improving since the start of his Labyrinth adventure, and had already reached the bottleneck to Ascend to Advance Stage.

But his perseverance also played a huge role, as he had to endure horrible pain while keeping his focus intact.

It was he had guessed, every odd number Mana Vein of the eighteen Mana Veins gave him terrible heat, while every even Mana Vein tortured him with frost. And every next Mana Vein he unlocked, the worse his pain became.

'Maybe being bonded with El and Lily algo helped. They do represent the absolute of Flames and Ice after all.'

Whatever it was, he had survived through the hellish and torturous hours and managed to get my ten Mana Veins. Only eight were left and he would Ascend to the Advance Stage.

His head was aching bad, so he decided to give his mind some rest and asked the system, 'Can you wake me up in three hour? That should be enough for my body to replenish some of the mana.'

[Understood]

Then, he drifted into deep sleep.

...

[Host, three hour has passed.]

Veer sat up, his eyes burning with resolve and determination. One hour wasn't enough to ease the headache and pain, but it was fine. This would allow him to last longer.

Closing his eyes, he once again got into the work and let his mind come to a simple, calm state where he thought of nothing but his Mana Circulation Technique.

Then, he circulated the gaseous mana through the Mana Veins, as it easily flowed down the first nine veins and then slowed down. From there, Veer was careful but having practiced the same thing for hundreds of times.

The first wave of hotness attacked him, followed by the wave of coldness. It made him shiver slightly, but it wasn't enough for him to let out even a small yelp.

Then, the third wave, fourth wave...

Frost formed around his skin when he got into the tenth wave. It was the tenth Mana Vein and it's frost power was so strong that it was affecting even his surroundings.

Gritting his teeth, Veer circulated the mana to enter the eleventh Mana Vein, as a powerful outburst of heat waves pulverized all the sea grass around him. The frost tried to fight back, but it was rough.

'Not enough! This isn't enough! I need to become the strongest!'

Veer bit his tongue and clenched his fists. He hadn't realised how being weak despite being a leader had affected his mind. Every single one of his team members was a prodigy in one way or another and was strong enough to even fight him.

It was a good thing, but he didn't like it as a leader. He was the leader so he should be the strongest. But that didn't mean he was jealous of his friends. No! He was just feeling angry on himself for being weak.

So, he forced himself to go past his limits and endure the pain, despite it feeling as if he would die any moment.

'If dying is what will give me power, then so be it.'

Veer's screamed, and pushed his mana as it surged forward and blasted off the eleventh Mane Vein. Not stopping at just that, it forcibly opened the following Mana Veins, forcing them to adapt to it like a master ordering it.

Cracks appeared all over his body, blood seeping in the ground as his bones grinded against themselves. His body couldn't handle the torture, but his sheer willpower allowed him to last longer and he held on to his body.

Eleventh... twelfth... fifteenth...seventeenth.... Eighteenth Mana Mana Vein....

Veer's eyes snapped open, veins like pattern forming in his golden glowing eye orbs. Gasping for breath, he felt numb all over his body.

Not just the pain was gone, he also couldn't feel his body organs. It was as if he had lost everything.

But then, a warmth surged in his body, filling his every cell with a strange warmth that made him almost moan in bliss. It was such a good feeling.

Ignoring the discomfort and strange hallucinations his mind was making, Veer focused inside himself and saw the Mana surging around his body like a overflowing river.

It was gaseous, but denser than before. It was also more potent and larger in quantity. He could feel it. This was the thing he had wanted.

Veer smiled and let the mana do it's thing. This was one of benefits of practicing Primordial Arcane Forge. He just needed to endure the torture it brought and it would do everything for him.

Fortunately, handling the mana through the Eighteen Mana Veins also meant he had a great, precise Mana control. He could have formed the Mana Core by himself, but the technique would do for it.

It was good since solidifying the Mana Core would have taken much more time for him.

Slowly, the mana gathered in his Mana Core, and began to compress itself. It was like some outside force was putting pressure on it and forcibly compressing it.

Veer waited and paid close attention to the mana, as it gradually became solid and began to take the shape of an empty spherical ball.

His eyes widened and jaw almost dropped to the ground. He thought in bewilderment, 'No way this is real! What the hell?'

His solid Mana Core actually covered all the area of his Mana Core, meaning there would be no space for normal Mana storage and every Mana he absorbed from the atmosphere would be stored in his solid Mana Core.

'Goddamn! This is too OP! The pain was worth it!'

This meant he would have much more Mana at disposal and refined one at that. He could basically spam Spells and techniques without any worries now. Discover hidden stories at My Virtual Library Empire

Veer couldn't control his happiness and wanted to jump out of his barrier, but the second he tried to move, his body reminded him of the state he was in.

With a thud, he dropped face first forward as his adrenaline rush wore off. His eyelids became heavy, as fatigue of hours caught upto him.

Knowing that he had Seisha and the system on lookout, Veer let himself drift into sleep. One of the most important task was done, so he deserved a nice sleep atleast.

He only woke up when he felt much better. As he sat up while rubbing his eyes, he thought, 'Its much better now. I guess advancing stages now heals body too. Any clue system?'

[During the time of breakthrough, the body is often at it's best state and a special kind of Mana is formed during this stage which heals even major wounds. What you experienced was similar, especially since your Mana is also special. But the injuries need more healing.]

'Ah yeah! I know that much from the currents of pain I'm having,' Veer sighed, cracking his neck. 'Anyway, how long I slept?'

[Twenty hours.]

'Damn! The mental fatigue was really huge, huh,' Veer whistled in surprise and counted the time he had been inside the barrier. "It should be night outside so I guess I can use this time to stablize my core."

Thinking of that, he sat in the lotus position, even though half of his limbs felt numb while others were feeling as if they were experiencing lava pouring on them and being dipped in ice glacier simultaneously.

As his senses spread inside his body, he felt the mana flowing more easily, and rapidly. His control had also improved as he could control the mana as his second hand. It has also grown denser and more potent.

But the main changes were in the core, which was bigger than anything he had expected. It was like a giant tank that covered whole space and stored every single wisp of Mana.

Veer was worried that would limit the flow of mana in his body, as everything would be stored in the Mana Core and nothing would circulate. But he underestimated the technique he was Cultivating.

His Mana was passively drawing Mana at a much higher rate and majority of it was being circulated throughout his body, refreshing it like oxygen did from his blood.