-Asher Frostblade's point of view.
The boss of the Dungeon.
He's not a monster or anything like that.
In the past, during the dark ages, very few mages "too few" could barely create guardians.
But... what are guardians?
Beings created from the pure and refined power of mana, with intelligence, abilities, and a minimum strength comparable to that of an eighth circle mage.
However, their power diminishes every hundred years.
But.
There are guardians that were not created by Encrid, but by other wizards.
These guardians were less powerful. They were created from body parts of other monster races, such as demons, the second strongest race after dragons.
The guardians created from demon parts were discarded or eliminated.
Because they were useless.
Because their power was unpredictable and they could not be controlled.
They were discarded for not following the orders of their creators.
In short, the guardians were created to protect important things or places of the ancient families.
In today's era, it is possible to create guardians.
However, no one has the knowledge.
Because Encrid erased all information about the creation of guardians and the existence of guardians.
Encrid also erased the existence of the ancient families.
If guardians were created in the current era, they would be used for selfish purposes.
Therefore, Encrid eliminated everything related to them.
Of course, he did not have enough time to eliminate all the guardians who were still alive.
Because it would take too long to locate them, and the war was getting closer and closer.
Therefore, Encrid was unable to eliminate the living guardians.
The guardian of the Dungeon is one with demonic parts.
In short, he is a semi-demonic guardian.
"The guardian of this Dungeon is grade semi 7. It won't be hard to kill him, but your mana is very depleted."
"I understand, mana is the problem."
"It's impossible to recover all your mana in a short time, because you're third circle now, and recovering it is slower."
Asher nodded to himself.
Mana recovery.
The way to recover mana is simple.
Sit and meditate until the mana enters the body and slowly fills the magic circuit.
It is easy.
However, the process of recovering all the lost mana is slow.
If you use it until it is completely depleted, it will be even slower.
Encrid looked at Asher, thoughtfully.
At this rate it will be difficult to clear the Dungeon.
Unless he helps, but that's not his decision, not an option.
For if he helps, they will not gain the experience they must gain in this Dungeon.
A war is coming.
A war against the dimensional rift invaders.
Therefore, this is the time for everyone to gain combat experience as quickly as possible.
"You feel it, don't you?"
"Yes."
Asher felt the mana flowing.
The mana was circulating more coherently.
Being third circle now, things were somewhat different.
The senses were beginning to sharpen from this point, the mana was larger and denser.
Because of this, also the sensation of the mana was different, more intense.
"Your first stage of the affinity to darkness is absolute mastery of mana. That, in itself, is incredible, because no one can control mana absolutely."
Encrid spoke in an explanatory tone. It was time to teach Asher some lessons.
Encrid witnessed the moment when Asher unlocked the first stage of the affinity to darkness.
He noticed that Asher's mana mastery was absolute.
Absolute mana mastery means that his abilities can exceed their limits.
For example, if the fireball spell has a limit on its destruction and size, if that size is like that of a soccer, absolute mana mastery will cause that fireball to increase in destructive power and size.
In short, it is similar to the second stage of Encrid, which removes the limit of all skill.
Absolute control of mana also implies many other things that no one else can achieve. It's a long list of explanations.
"The second stage of affinity is unlocked by your experiences, your life, your strength, your intelligence. In fact, there is no way to know exactly which of the hundreds of ways unlocks the second stage of affinity."
Bottom line.
Asher doesn't know how or when he will unlock the second stage of the Darkness Affinity.
So, he spoke up:
"As you say, affinities have three stages, right?"
"Yes."
"No one knows when or how the stages of the affinities are unlocked, right?"
"Right, unless you can see into your future and figure out how you unlock the stages."
In a sense, it was like that.
There was no way to know how or when to unlock them.
Soon, Asher opened his eyes and took a deep breath, letting all the air out of his lungs.
He had finished meditating.
"I'll wait for you when you're done."
Asher looked up at the twilight sky that covered the Dungeon and then looked at the others, who were still sitting, meditating.
It was necessary to recover as much mana as possible.
"I've regained half my mana," he said to himself.
"I am confident that I will be able to kill the guardian."
It was not simple confidence.
If before, in the second circle, he was on par with a grade semi 7, he was stronger than that now.
However, not having all of his mana, he was currently equal to or slightly below a grade semi 7. That was where his confidence was coming from.
He looked around and stretched his body, moving to relax his muscles.
Meditating involved standing still.
That made the muscles tense, so he needed to stretch and warm up his body a bit.
When he finished, Asher checked on the others, watching them closely and assessing their new abilities now that they had reached the third circle.
"My eyes are clearer and I can see more detail."
"My senses are also better than before. My body is more flexible, stronger and faster."
Then, he began to move his mana through different parts of his body.
"The mana also moves faster inside me."
Even if Asher had absolute control over the mana, that didn't mean he could move it quickly inside his body.
Outside, yes he could handle it incredibly fast, but internally he could not.
The magic circuit limited him.
If he did not advance in the circles, the circuit would not expand or become stronger or more efficient.
Therefore, the user had to become stronger, and only then would the magic circuit become more efficient.
"My mana control is no longer a problem," Asher thought.
It was true that his mastery over mana was absurd, an unattainable control.
But it lacked other aspects.
"Haa..."
Asher sighed, finished warming up his muscles and looked at the others.
Soon, Gloriana, who was nearby, approached him.
"Are you recovered yet?"
"Not quite. I have half my strength at the moment."
Having half of the mana meant having half of his total power.
Mana was the source of everyone's power.
If you didn't have enough mana, you would be like an ordinary person.
Therefore, Asher, having only half of his mana, was counting on half of his power.
"I'll continue in a moment."
"I see..."
Gloriana seemed discouraged by his last words.
Asher, who noticed it, was curious.
For some time now, Gloriana had begun to behave differently towards him.
Her attitudes towards him were different, almost... emotional in a way.
Although Asher didn't know much about emotions, he slightly sensed the change in Gloriana's behavior.
Maybe there was something.
He was not sure.
Change in people is relatively normal at various times, so Asher wasn't entirely sure.
It was hard to see past the emotions.
"I'll go find Emilia."
Gloriana turned around and started walking towards Emilia, but....
"Uh..."
Asher grabbed her arm, stopping her.
He was curious.
Curious as to what was going on with the change in her attitude towards him.
He noticed that Gloriana spoke more naturally with others.
However, with him, her voice used to tremble or she avoided looking him in the eyes.
There was something, something that was changing in Gloriana towards him, and he wanted to know if something about him made her uncomfortable.
"This is weird, but... is there something that bothers you about me? You talk differently with me than you do with others, don't you?"
Gloriana, surprised by Asher's sudden behavior, didn't know what to say.
Her face flushed, and she tried to avoid looking at him, but....
"Won't you tell me anything?"
It wasn't impatience.
She was simply acting differently.
Asher sighed.
If she didn't want to say anything, that was fine.
"Sorry for the question."
"Uh... It's... fine."
It was quick, but Gloriana smiled as she felt Asher's touch holding her arm.
Somehow, that contact reassured her.
"I really like him," she thought to herself, acknowledging her true feelings.
Soon, Asher returned to the floor after resting for a few minutes, crossed his legs and sat in a meditative position. He closed his eyes and then... mana began to flow rapidly into his body.
But.
Gloriana looked at him from time to time, unnoticed, with a broad smile and a slightly flushed face....