"What is this? A cave?" Someone exclaimed at a distance.
In front of them was a humongous door made of stone, or something stone-like; it was weird and out of the place because since their arrival to the academy it was first time they had come across natural structures or nature in general.
Surrounded by tech at all times was exciting at first but since it also meant that there wasn't really much work they could do, it was boring, almost lifeless.
Now, they had came across a cave-like structure that had a massive door separating the academy's tech. Of course, according to the nature's way, the thick green roots protruded through the cave-like structure had marred the pristine tech, but for whatever reason, the academy hadn't intervened with that.
".... What, no, is there a reason this is left untainted?" Ivan asked S-23 while walking behind it with Zilla and Nu next to him.
[It is classified] S-23 stated indifferently as it continued to walk towards the door that had many runes engraved on them. Thanks to Ivan standing behind S-23, the strange glint in his gaze went unnoticed.
'There seems to be a natural but extremely strong magic exposure inside the door....' Ivan pondered as he gazed at the unseen; a dense fog-like magic power enveloping the whole cave-like structure, and,
"S-23, I'm curious, what kinds of crystals can be used as catalysts to employ mana?" Ivan suddenly asked S-23.
[There is only one kind of catalytic crystal that can help one channel his/hers magic power, and that is the [Mana Crystal]] S-23 stated indifferently.
'..... So that's the classified information.... Is there a mine underground? A [Mana Crystal Vein]?' Ivan connected both of the information and concluded, but wasn't really sure.
Though his informative foundation wasn't entirely solid enough to satisfy him, it was enough for a "human" to live his entire life normally, but for him, whose [To-do list] was yet to be checked off, the information Sir Velor revealed wasn't enough.
ZZZWOOOO.....SSSSSH-!
With a soft yet loud sound, reverberating throughout the hallway they walked, the runes which only Ivan, Zilla, and Nu could "understand" lit up on the door which glimmered in a sky blue light and dimmed entirely before the door slid open without anyone or anything affecting it, as if was merely meant to do what it was doing, opening the door for those that had never entered it before.
Suddenly,
[You can choose a skill from the stored sets or you can let the room choose one for you. If you are lucky enough and if you have high enough [Fate] value, then you can even get a [Job]] An indifferent voice resounded in Ivan's consciousness.
BA-THUMP-!
His heart skipped a beat and began to palpitate violently as his face contused with an unexplainable agony before his heart calmed down.
'....Nara...' Ivan muttered in his consciousness which was dyed her warmth and her echoes. The reason for her echoes to resurface in his consciousness so abruptly was because the indifferent voice he heard in his consciousness just now was his loveable wife's, Nara's voice.
[[MP] stat increased by 1]
[[MP] stat increased by 1]
While he was lamenting in her echoes, he felt his consciousness broadening by a minor margin, making him bring out his RC from his pocket and check his [Stats] to confirm if his wonderment.
:::::::|
Stats:
::|
[Strength]: 0.00012 [Allocate]
[Agility]: 0.00012 [Allocate]
[Dexterity]: 0.00012 [Allocate]
[Stamina]: 0.00012 [+0.25] [Allocate]
[Tenacity]: 0.00012 [+0.25] [Allocate]
[Intelligence]: 0.00012 [+0.25] [Allocate]
[Will Power]: 0.00012 [Allocate]
[Adaptation]: 0.00012 [Allocate]
::|
[Stat points] or [SP] – 0
::|
[HP – 0/0.00012] [Allocate]
[MP – 0/0.00012] [Allocate]
[Fate – ---]
[Experience points – 1001.28] [+10.0128]
[Ri] – 0
[Gold – 0]
[Silver – 0]
[Bronze – 0]
[Steel coins – 0]
:::::::|
And much to his surprise, his stats certainly had increased.
'.... My magic power is seeping through the gap much more fluently after a heart had been formed....' That thought certainly was true. Now, just like the reality of the world where [Mana Crystal] needed to act as a catalyst for magic power to be employed, his heart was acting as a catalyst to suck back his magic power that was sealed by the [System].
'... Then, doesn't that mean the more my heart beats the more magic power I'll regain?' Ivan pondered with a frown marring his face.
If that was true, then he needed to do nothing but wait and live enjoy his life till he regained enough strength to teleport his wife, children, and his tower where he was invincible.
As sweet as that thought sounded, that wasn't what he wanted! What he wanted was to live his life with his wife and kids even if it meant it was in [Hell]!
With such mentality, the thought of having to enjoy life without them in it, was something he couldn't and wouldn't do even if all hell broke lose in his life.
Now that there was a method to regain his strength for sure, he could speed up the process by actively working on it!
With that determination, he hastened his calm heart and made it palpitate,
BA-THUMP-!
BA-THUMP-!
.....
....
But,
Within a matter of seconds,
"!!!!" His closed eyes snapped wide open and his pupils dilated to the extremes! Due to his heart still palpitating strongly, he couldn't stop "it" before it acted up wholly, and now, he could only [Suppress] "it" before "it" busted out entirely!
BA-THUMP-!
BA-THUMP-!
BA-THUMP-!
BA-THUMP-!
.....
...
While his heart had yet to calm down, his anxiousness as to what would happen if he didn't calm his heartbeat dyed his consciousness, hastening his heartbeat instead of calming it.
SLAP-!
With a violent slap to his cheek,
'You are Ivan!' Ivan roared in his consciousness, dispersing all his negative thoughts with his [Will Power] and that slap of his snapped him out of that state of anxiety.
But, his palpitating heart had yet calm down entirely!
His sclera regained the tens of small irises coloured in; red, yellow, black, blue, gold, pink, and amethyst, with vertically dilated black pupils, which made Ivan blink his eyes hastily as he hoped to hide and get rid of them before "they" numbed his consciousness.
Of course, his loud self-slap garnered him all the attention from the crowd which was gazing at him strangely as he behaved as strangely as one could ever imagine a human behaving.
But, even though he was being gazed at like that, he didn't care, no, he couldn't care less about it. If, if and only if, he didn't or couldn't calm down, an unstoppable slaughter would begin.
Zilla too noticed his state and instantly casted [Confusion] on the crowd before casting [Veil] and [Disruption], manipulating and "helping" the crowd to forget what they saw in the last few seconds. But, she couldn't calm down because she didn't know what to do about the bots, who had recorded memory, as she knew nothing about them, but seconds later she sighed in relief upon noticing that they cared for nothing except for completing their tasks as they hadn't even turned to gaze at Ivan, without being called out to do so specifically.
Covered by Zilla's [Veil], Ivan managed to calm down after a few seconds and gasped for breath, hunching forward slightly.
"Your Majesty!! Are you alright!?" Nu asked in loud whisper. She had been calling out for him from the moment she noticed he was acting strange, but except for now, he hadn't heard any of her words.
".... I'm fine." Ivan replied calmly as he stood straight again as cold sweat trickled down his forehead which was dabbed off by Nu.
Ivan glanced at Zilla, who was gazing at him with an anxious and teary gaze; he brought his hands in front of his abdomen and began to make indescribable signs, noticing which Zilla's pupils dilated extremely.
'The [Sins] are acting up.....'