Kayn chewed up the mana core in his mouth and then swallowed it as soon as he could. As much as it was necessary, he really didn't like eating mana cores. Not for the fact that they used to belong to a living breathing intelligent being, though that didn't help, it was because the more it began dissolving in his mouth, the stronger the taste became.
So far, every mana core he had eaten tasted as if he was licking the battery acid gunk off of a car's battery terminal. Each element then had its own extra flavor as well, such as the dark and fire core he had just eaten having a bit of a spicy tar taste to it. He had to work hard to actually swallow down the horrible taste, but that wasn't even the worst part.
As soon as the chewed-up core entered into his stomach, nausea immediately hit him. It felt as if something was trying to explode out of his stomach and fire was burning up through his throat at the same time.
These feelings slowly dispersed as Kayn drew the mana from the core he had just swallowed, moving it to his own where it was being broken down and remade to enhance his strength.
As this was the first 6th stage core he was devouring, he wasn't sure how long the process was going to take, so he proceeded to split a part of his thought process towards drawing out the insights within his soul that he could use for the upcoming battles.
Up to this point, Kayn had really only dipped his foot into the ocean of knowledge that was ingrained into his soul. If he truly wanted to understand it so he could make it his own strength, he either needed to slowly digest it into his own body and mind, or force minor insights through battle.
His first focus was on any of the dark elemental insights he received including those from Chaos. If he could utilize the dark element better, more specifically the void and shadow elements, his stealth abilities would shoot through the roof.
The shadow element was one of the first that he really put a lot of practice into, and then as he became more powerful, he found less and less uses for it until he stopped using it altogether. While none of the gods that he had gained from on Earth were of the shadow element, their dark elemental expertise proved to him just how stupid he had been in ignoring what could become a powerful weapon.
With his mind made up on which elements to start with, he began the slow process of drawing the insights from his soul into his mind for processing. All the while, he was increasing the Void Star technique to its maximum threshold.
The mana from the core he had eaten was slowly being drawn into his quasar black hole while the dense ambient mana in the room was swirling around him in a colorful tornado before being drawn into the black hole as well.
The only time Kayn awoke from his meditative trance was when he noticed the effects of the first core he ate diminishing, which was much quicker than he expected. The first one he ate was a trash core from one of the Black Hand mages who had just reached the 6th stage, but Kayn at least hoped it would do more than it had.
Sighing, he threw in the second Black Hand assassin's core and resumed his feast. He laughed inwardly because he didn't have Gluttony yet, but it felt like he did. He was devouring knowledge, cores, and ambient mana at the same time, if that wasn't gluttonous, he didn't know what was.
A month later and right as Kayn was about to toss in the third 6th stage core he had, knocking interrupted his concentration, so he opened his eyes while directing them towards the door. He had his Mana Sense active the entire time and he could tell that there was someone else next to the Emperor, but he didn't recognize them.
Of course, Kayn could guess what was happening so he decided to help Talaro out. While it was difficult to do, Kayn had actually prepared for this situation during the last month. He drew one formation symbol in the air before shoving it down into the ground near his feet.
A brilliant light shown throughout the room with the formation's activation, but now the dense mana was gone and it even felt like there was an absence of mana in this room. Indeed, what Kayn had done was create an array that could very temporarily suppress the effects of the mana gathering formation.
However, it wouldn't last more than an hour before being overpowered and becoming absorbed into the mana gathering formation, which would end up giving it a temporary boost due to the influx of mana.
Once the stage was set, Kayn stood up and walked over to the door. After opening it, he looked directly at the Emperor without even glancing at the person with him.
"Emperor Talaro, I was just about to come looking for you. It would seem that the mana in this room has actually become worse than even the outdoors. The mana I'm absorbing even seems to be causing me issues, what games are you playing?"
Talaro was confused at first, but saw a subtle gesture from Kayn and caught onto the situation quickly. This kid was truly terrifying to have read and understood the situation before he even opened the door.
However, the person with them didn't catch on to their little play and immediately became angry with Kayn. "I told you we shouldn't trust him Your Highness! He was plotting to destroy us from the inside this entire time! I bet he messed with the formation in the room himself!"
"Oh? Do you have any proof Duke DeMarco?" Talaro asked.
At the mention of this person's name being DeMarco, Kayn instantly became interested. Unfortunately, he knew that this wasn't the Marco DeMarco that he needed to hunt for the Sin. He felt nothing like a Sin or Virtue coming from the man, but maybe he could learn more about what happened to Marco through this man.
"Not right now, but give me an hour, no 30 minutes! 30 minutes and I'll be able to see if the formation was messed with. I'm no array or formation master, but I know a thing or two about them. Enough to know if one has been tainted!" Duke DeMarco boldly claimed.
"You have an hour, I will watch our guest as we wait."
Duke DeMarco found the Emperor's nonchalant attitude a bit strange, but still nodded his head before he started scrambling around the room, looking like he was trying to examine the formation by casting spells every once in a while.
As Kayn and Talaro stood next to each other, Kayn subtly created a small noise concealment array around them without Duke DeMarco realizing it before Kayn asked a question.
"Your traitor suspect I assume?"
"Indeed, he's the only one I narrowed it down to after an entire month, but Kayn…what happened to the mana gathering formation? It feels so bland down here now." The worry on Talaro's face showed that he truly suspected something had happened even after Kayn solved the issue in front of his eye the first time.
"Oh that? Don't worry about it, it'll go back to normal in an hour or two. This was just to see the worm's reaction when he realized the spot he corrupted was fixed. Gotta trick them into having confidence their plan worked somehow." Kayn spoke as he shrugged his shoulders.
"I see, you're a bit too devious for how old you are, you know that? What about your progress, how is that coming along?"
"Not as good as I was hoping, at this rate, it will take me and entire year and I still won't be ready for what I want to do. I'll be able to get you all out of here, but I'll need to escape immediately after as well. We will see, I still have a few tricks up my sleeve to try out before we alter the plans."
Talaro only sighed, he couldn't believe he was putting so much on the back of someone so young, but oddly, he felt that trusting him was the correct choice. "Well, keep me updated and let me know if there is anything I can do to help."
"Actually, there is one thing. Do you happen to have anyone capable of scouting without being detected? If they could get me the normal attack rotations for the 6th stage enemies as well as where they are staying, that would help."
Talaro thought in silence for a moment, "Hmmmm, we do have one exceptional scout, but he's only at the start of the 5th stage and his stealth capabilities are nowhere near as strong as yours. However, I can supply you with the information we've gathered over the years on each of the enemies' strongest forces as well as their attack pattern on the dome over the last year and more recently this last month."
"That will work. On a related note, am I able to leave this dome freely, or do I need you to open it for me every time? And how obvious to the enemy is it when it is opened?" Kayn continued his questions as he was trying to form a new plan based on his experience this past month.
His progress was just too slow. Even with all of the mana he was sucking in and the two 6th stage cores he had eaten, even if they were poor quality, he was still only able to push his advancement to just over the halfway point from 3rd to 4th stage.
Anyone else would faint from anger if they heard that Kayn wasn't happy about progressing that fast, but Kayn knew that if he wanted to get to the point where he was actually strong enough to stand his on his on before so many enemies, 5th stage was the minimum.
He hoped that the better-quality mana cores he had obtained from the others would help boost his level more, but he wasn't optimistic. However, if he could continuously consume 6th stage cores while he was inside of the formation, he may just be able to make it to the 5th stage. However, this meant that he would need to leave the safety of the dome for a few assassination missions every once in a while.
"You can't leave of your own will, no. I will need to be the one to let you out and back in. As far as the enemy spotting it, if it was anywhere above ground, then yes, they would know of it. Especially since they have a scout that keeps his senses directed at the dome at all times 24/7. He never sleeps or rests because he is undead, and the meager amount of mana he uses, he simply restores through consumption." Talaro spoke, but before he continued speaking, it was his turn to be interrupted.
"So, that plan is a no go then huh?" Kayn shook his head in disappointment.
"I didn't say that, you didn't let me finish. It seems we both have that problem." Talaro smirked as Kayn rolled his eyes. "What I was trying to say is that there is one spot, deep underground that is covered by a concealment formation that we can use to leave. The only issue is the exit from that tunnel system is right in the path of their scout and he would definitely notice. If it's you though, you could probably get in and out without being detected."
"Here," Talaro then tossed a small tiger head insignia at Kayn. "Use that to contact me when you're wanting to leave or if you ever need anything.
"Thank you Emperor." Kayn gave a small bow, but Talaro just wave him off.
"I thought I told you my friends call me Talo?"
"Are we friends?"
"I'd like to think so at the very least."
"Alright you old cat." Kayn grinned, but before Talaro could retort, Kayn spoke again. "Ooh, looks like it's about to get good, let's watch.
Just as Kayn said, Duke DeMarco had slowly made his way over to where the corrupting symbol used to be placed. Kayn knew that he wasn't actually casting any spells this entire time, and he was getting a good laugh at the man's resistance to go straight to the corruption point.
The show was about to get even better.