"Well shit, that shouldn't have worked. I mean the armor is supposed to absorb mana, nothing else. But whatever you just did changed it."
"Is it okay or not?" The young man was ready to move on with the day. He didn't want to really listen to this guy any longer if he didn't explain anything.
"Yeah, yeah it's fine. Quickly now, the spear. Empower it with that dark mana that you made." The spirit said quickly, as if he was afraid of the new mana and wanted it gone.
Sticking the spear into the center of the room, the young man once again activated the hourglass shaped building. This time however, around 30 drops of that dark mana fell and flowed into the spear.
"Interesting, it seems that the spear is more accepting to that dark mana of yours. Was it the technique that made it? Or when it was made?"
"What are you blabbing on about now?" The young man asked the spirit now, bored out of his mind.
"Wait a minute, there is still some dark mana... hey Newt, try absorbing it back inside of your body."
The young man stood still for a couple seconds, and then reached out his arm to try and summon it back. The chaotic aspect reappeared as soon as it left the swirling whirlpool, only around ten percent of the giant source of mana was absorbed. The rest dissipated into the air
"Newt? Where did that come from?" The young man asked.
"Well, I'm tired of getting your attention without saying a name. Plus, if we meet any other beings down here who by chance don't want to kill you, it would be nice to have names to introduce us by."
"Alright then, do I have to come up for a name for you?"
"No no no... I already have a name, you may call me Azmo, head guard of Newhaven."
Nodding his head, he took his new spear from the center of the room. Now he had a long-ranged weapon, a closer melee weapon which could double as a throwable, and some armor to keep his insides inside.
"Alright, get that armor on. Let's get you used to the use of spirit weapons."
The young man, Newt, slowly put on the armor piece by piece. "Come on, chop chop." The spirit was very impatient, but Newt worked at his own pace.
Finally, the armor was put on. He tried to move but his arms and legs but the armor was too large.
"It doesn't fit."
"Yeah, you know that dark mana that you absorbed? Try and see if you can move it around inside of your body."
Closing his eyes, he focused back on his soul. Inside he could feel a thick liquid that had settled down in the bottom of his soul, near his feet. It was the energy that he had absorbed a moment ago.
He tried to will it upwards from his feet, but it only trembled slightly. Refusing to move up.
"Well?"
"It won't move. It is like a watery substance, I don't understand."
"Hmm, think of it like this. Your mana, or whatever that is inside of you, treat it like water. Your body is the vessel, or more like container for the mana." He drew a small little figurine and some waves inside of it.
"Your spirit is the thing that collects the mana from your vessel, and your mind is what gives your spirit the willpower to control and collect your power." He then drew a bowl which was half colored in.
"Too much power from your mind will cause your spirit to crack and leak, which will waste mana, but too little willpower will not be able to utilize your spirit." He drew another two bowls, one cracking fully colored in and another which was colorless on the ground.
"So, without balance, people can't operate their mana at full capacity?"
"Exactly, well there is some wiggle room, but usually that depends on the species or purity of mana that you use."
"So... what did you want me to do again?"
The spirit sighed dramatically, bored out of his mind now.
"Just try and pump the armor full of that black mana. It had an enchantment to change the size and shape of the armor depending on the mana provided. I have no idea if it works or not still."
Newt realized that, although he had tried to move the energy, he hadn't put any energy or thought into it.
SURGE
With one mental command, the energy rose up and pushed against his skin. It spread thin but covered everywhere that touched armor. He pushed it out of his skin and into the armor, but it dissipated before it could do anything.
"Woah, what did you just do? I felt like a wave of energy crash though me. Usually, the mana comes from the core and follows mana pathways out, but what the hell was that?"
"I don't know. I kind of just, pushed it out. I lost control of it once I tried to push it inside the armor."
"Alright, in a moment after your mana regenerates, try thinking of the armor as an extension of your body, like living armor... your mana does regenerate, right?"
"Yeah, I feel it slowly returning to what it was before. It isn't going any higher than that though."
Again, he commanded his mental facilities to move the mana like he did before.
SURGE
The dark mana pushed up from the soles of his feet. It spread against the edges of his skin and stopped there.
'Living armor, alright then.'
He began to feel heat as the armor was infused with his dark mana. The armor continued to get hotter and hotter.
"Good, does it fit better?"
"Yeah, it got really hot but it's starting to cool down now."
"Hot? Whatever, it should be fine. Maybe it just is a feature of your new mana."
The two stepped out of the hourglass building. In the huge ashen city it was one of three buildings that had enough solid structure to stand so tall, towering above the rest.
The barren city was finally tapped of it's usefulness. The next step was to go deeper into the caverns.
"So, Azmo, what will we find down below? More of those skeletal creatures?"
"Well for the most part around here we will probably find the burned, those skeletal creatures that you found and ran from. We may also meet some of the decrepit."
"These are all creatures who have died and returned from the dead, like spirits, but unlike spirits, they are mindless killers who hunger only for dead mana. So, while some look human or animal, they are all the same in the end, dead."
"Wait but then how do we kill them?"
"Let's find one and I'll show you how."
The gate was once again looming over them both. The bench that the spirit was relaxing on earlier was a couple feet away.
"You ready?"
"Nope, not even close."
"Perfect. Let's go."
...
"Bezkumm Huskk..."
Down inside a charred wooden house, a singular burnt corpse walked around. The burned, a type of undead, were like spirits, too stubborn to move on, but not enough willpower to stay in control.
The house had a sign hanging above the door. Possibly a pen, or a quill, a map shop perhaps?
Nonetheless the items inside would be very valuable.
"Bezkum Huu-uk-" Before the burned could continue moaning their speech, a spear that looked as if it was made out of dark aura pierced through their eyes. It tried to turn its body, but the spear wouldn't let it.
The ghouls body crumbled to the ground. It's flesh turning to dust as the spear was removed.
"Nice, that was pretty simple."
"Yup, once some air flow touches the brain, or even their bones, they crumble almost completely."
"Hmm, so I could have easily overtaken those ones that threw that purple goop at me?"
"Well let's not get ahead of ourselves, you would have died if you didn't run. There are some that are stronger, but there are these weaker ones in the ruins that have simple weaknesses."
"Oh..."
The two walked, well one floated, through the building. The building was full of papers and writing utensils.
"Stop here, let's pick up some supplies."
"Why do we need papers? I have a great memory so far."
"Bullshit, the only reason you can remember so much right now is because your first memory was the outer sector."
"I don't even know where that is."
"Exactly! Just pick up a journal or something. Something to keep notes or small maps."
"Fine, I'll look around."
A couple of desks and tables filled the room. Chairs strewn about were almost all broken. A couple books looked good enough to write in though.
"This one looks good enough, it has a pretty cool design too."
"There should also be a hunters journal, it should look like a map but should be sectioned into areas for different beasts and monsters."
Newt began to tear apart the room, looking for the journal that would make his life a hell of a lot easier. But there was nothing...
"Ugh, it doesn't exist. Can we just move on?"
"It's here, look harder. We need this in order to not wander into some ungodly creatures' home."
"The hell does that mean... wait a minute, there is a chest over behind that desk. Yoink."
Inside the chest was a large book bound in large hide of a creature newt didn't know.
"Good, it's still here. Take it and let's look around, we can find where we should head next. Our first stop should be another town up ahead. I doubt anyone will be left but it is still a better choice than wandering this horrid wasteland."
Newt was tired, but he did as he was told. This guy hadn't led him astray yet.
Inside the book was chaotic swirls and thick dark lines that blocked any useful information inside.
"Damn it, this keeps on happening to everything. Dark moving lines that corrupt any useful information."
Newt took his hand and placed it against the book.
CONSUME
With a thought, a pitch-black hole with teeth appeared on his hand. It pulled his hand towards the dark lines and broke them apart, swallowing them one by one.
And his dark mana rose.