“A weak mana core means a weaker pressure and fewer risks. Phloria,
instead underwent such an agony because after resting in Baba Yaga‘s house she had recovered her mana.
“l am going to empty my core as much as I can while keeping my body in peak condition to increase its resistance.” After a while, even using cantrips almost made her faint due to mana abuse.
“Okay, phase one is complete. Let’s move on to phase two.” According to Quylla‘s original plan, Lith had to poison her core to weaken it further, degrading it to blue if not even cyan.
Yet now that Faluel knew about the tower and had mastered the Hands of Menadion, she would do a much better job due to her centuries of experience and superior breathing technique.
The Hydra placed her palm over Quylla‘s hips, sending several tendrils of pure mana straight into her core.
Quylla felt as if molten metal was being injected in her abdomen,
slowly spreading throughout her body and setting it ablaze. Yet she gritted her teeth and didn’t emit a single sound, knowing that it was the least she would have to endure.
‘Dammit! I knew that no painkiller or darkness fusion can mitigate the symptoms of mana poisoning, but l didn’t expect it to be so intense.‘
She thought as her core turned deep violet and bright blue streaks slowly appeared all over it.
By the time it became bright blue, Quylla was as pale as a ghost. At blue, she fainted and Faluel had to stop the process.
“How long was I out?”
“Less than ten minutes.” The Hydra replied.
“Has my core already started to recover?” Quylla asked.
“No, but there isn’t much time. Can you go on?” As soon as she nodded, Faluel resumed injecting the mana.
She was careful tainting solely the outer layers and letting her energy spread on its own through Quylla’s core, without compromising its inner and pure violet mana.
When her core turned deep blue, the pain was too much and Quylla started to scream, clenching Faluel’s hands just to not faint again. Her wails lasted until she was out of breath and resumed as soon as she filled her lungs with fresh air.
Then bright cyan streaks appeared over the bright blue core and Quylla started to cry as well. She banged her head against the stone floor, using the physical pain to attenuate that from mana poisoning even for one second.
“We’ve reached the bright cyan.” The Hydra said. “Now you need to strip.”
Quylla was in so much pain that modesty was the least of her worries.
She took off her clothes at once, uncaring for who and where people were looking.
“Fuck you, Mogar!” Quylla yelled as she stimulated the mana flow inside her body, guiding it to the source of that ungodly pain that her core was.
Her hands shook but her breathing rhythm remained steady as she self—Awakened.
It was a crucial step of her plan to not burden anyone with her new status. Lith wouldn’t have to take care of her for 100 years and even if Faluel didn’t want her, someone in the Council would.
Then, just like Lith or Athung, she would just have to endure her apprenticeship until her mentor deemed her a mature Awakened.
A burst of cyan light emerged from her body as the violet of her inner core tried and failed to burst out due to its weakened state. Solus kept surgical control over the energy of the tower and its mines,
leaving Lith and Faluel to take care solely of what she failed to handle.
The Hydra and the Tiamat also used their respective breathing techniques to break down every lump of impurities that refused to move before it could hurt Quylla’s body.
She excreted a black tar—like substance from all of her orifices, going quickly through the body refinement necessary to achieve a green core. Her past suffering while training true magic was now showing its results.
Her body was already used to an intense mana flow, her flesh and bones tempered by the strict training regime she had followed. Quylla would have Awakened perfectly and reached the deep cyan without a hitch if that was her true level.
Unfortunately for her, that wasn’t the case. Even after being thoroughly poisoned, her mana core was still bright cyan. With each wave of energy it unleashed, part of Faluel’s mana was cleansed and Quylla’s core regained part of its strength.
Lith, Faluel, and Solus worked in unison to focus the full power of the mana geyser below the tower against Quylla and put a halt to her refinement. She kept puking for a while until the last bit of impurities got out of her system.
“Why did we stop? I had almost gotten used to the pain.” She said while Lith destroyed the deep pool of tar—like substance that had formed under her feet and tainted her skin.
Despite her words, she was grateful for that brief respite from the puking and the awful smell that had almost made her faint. On top of that, the flow of impurities coming out of her body had been so intense that she had been barely able to breathe.
She could inhale only in—between gagging fits, like a woman swimming in open waters during a storm. She risked drowning every time she breathed at the wrong moment and a sudden wave buried her underwater.
Quylla appreciated the new energy that coursed through her being,
the fresh air that filled her lungs, and with it, her own breathing technique, Guiding Light. Being finally able to see her own core instead of just imagining it gave her goosebumps with euphoria.
A second later, however, the joy turned into fear as Quylla noticed that her core had almost reverted to deep blue and the sheer number of impurities still left inside her body.
“Because once you reach the cyan, each breakthrough will be much harder and your body can use a little break to heal.“ Lith replied. “Also,
Faluel needs to bring your core down a notch again.”
Quylla nodded and gritted her teeth as the Hydra placed her hands on Quylla’s smooth and exposed abdomen. The idea of how much pain she was about to go through made even the resurfacing shame from being naked become irrelevant again.
The moment the Hydra used Lifestrearn to locate Quylla’s core and get rid of the blue streaks that had appeared over its surface, Quylla felt her whole body scream in agony.
Awakening had reinforced her, but now the mana flow wasn’t restricted to her abdomen anymore. It flowed through every nook and cranny of her being and it carried the poison that she needed to ensure her survival.
The process lasted a few seconds but to her, it was more painful than the entire Awakening process until that moment. Yet not a single whimper escaped her lips.
“Good work gritting your teeth. Whatever happens, keep up like this.”
Solus said as she released the flow of world energy and the refining process started again.
At cyan, most of the impurities that could be carried away by the bloodstream had been removed. It reduced the resistance that the mama flow encountered enough to start attacking the impurities that over the years had become deeply etched in the Awakened’s body.
