CREAK
The sewer gates creaked as Daniela pushed it aside, straining herself.
"Uugh, this thing is so heavy," Daniela continued pushing it. "Even after using mana to reinforce my body this thing is heavy."
THUMP
The gate finally moved. She was able to push it enough to make a small gap for her to pass through.
"At least..." Daniela paused, her voice echoing through the long sewer tunnel. At least it's not stinky here.
"Aurelios Burst," Daniela chanted, a small sphere of light lit up above her extended palm, lighting up the dark tunnel.
This was the path the original Daniela always used, but she always got down with Wyge, wait how do I go back up?
The light atop her palm began flickering, Is it because I'm panicking?
After walking straight for some time, she reached yet another gate, a grilled one, but unlike the other gate this couldn't be opened without a key.
"Wyge had the key, and since Daniela always took Wyge with her wherever she went it was easy for her."
She stood in front of it. Daniela kept a distance of a few meters between herself and the gate as she prepared.
"Alright, time to put my talent to use," Daniela began chanting, "Mana, flow and move, coalesce and amalgamate. Basic Spell: Mana Bullet,"
The bullet launched at the gate and blasted it into smaller pieces, sending a loud crashing sound across the tunnel as the shrapnel of the broken gate scattered everywhere.
Daniela gasped, the sound echoing through the tunnel, "The spell was that powerful?"
She continued walking through the tunnel, occasionally looking around. She knew the pathways from Daniela's memories, but it was not complicated because she only had to walk straight.
"I'm almost there."
After more walking, she finally reached another steel gate, but behind this one, light illuminated. It was the final gate.
"Magic bullet," Daniela cast the spell, blasting the steel gate into smithereens.
She crouched down as she got off the tunnel through the half broken gate. Cold wind brushed against her skin, along with the bright moonlight that illuminated.
The exit point of the sewer was beneath the palace, out into a plain dried up brick basin that seemed to go somewhere.
This was one of the older sewers, but after some renovations to the city and expansion of the land, new sewers were built. The old sewers weren't closed off in case and we're kept as backup in case of emergencies.
"Finally," Daniela said as she stretched exaggeratedly. "I'm coming, Rubinos."
_________________________
If I'm right, I should gather the yin energy and the negative energy around me and from within me, and let the two flow into my Dan Tian and wait for the result.
Usually a specific pill has to be consumed to kickstart the process. The result is usually mana of another wavelength being born, which fuses with the already present internal energy to form the Netherane.
Finn sat at the center of the room in a meditative position, completely focusing on his task at hand.
But the boy knew another method, the result of his memories of the previous life, one where the yin energy was gathered at one point, along with the residual energy dropouts of negative thoughts and emotions and let them mix.
Once the energy feels cold, mix it with mana, and let it infiltrate the body.
His brows furrowed as the energies formed and mixed inside his body, a drop of sweat trickling down, yet he remained concentrated, his resolve unwavering.
I can feel it, it's working, Finn's face lightened, as he stopped straining.
Finn sprang up, "I did it, huh?" But his happiness was short-lived when he noticed something strange within his body, "What's happening now?"
He fell back to the floor, his breath coming out ragged.
Huff huff
Unstable? No. It's just some of the energy flowing up? Where is it going? Finn strained as he struggled to catch his breath.
The mana is going into my... heart?
"No!" Finn gasped in surprise, his eyes bulging out at the revelation. His body started going numb. Finn felt the sensation of losing control over limbs.
Through thousands of years of evolution, the human body had adapted to the foreign energy called mana. But for someone who had only started cultivation, the flow of mana into the heart would spell certain doom.
This is why during the first stages of core forming and laying the foundation for the first star, all three classes; mages, manakai and martial artists alike only let the mana gather in the Dan Tian.
But now that his mana was going to the heart on its own, Finn felt helpless, unable to stop its advances. He couldn't control its flow.
"What do... I do? Is this how I... die, after a—" The old man's manual, it has that heart technique.
He crawled over to the table where had placed Jack's manual earlier. He mustered enough strength in his hands and legs, pushing and kicking himself towards the table.
The table was only a few feet away from where he was, but it felt miles apart under the strain.
After crawling for what felt like another eternity, Finn gathered enough energy to push himself to stand up and grabbed the manual.
He rushed through the pages, trying to find the mana heart technique he had seen the day before. He flipped past it but returned to the page after noticing the diagram.
Wait, these breathing techniques seem usable.
Cyclic Quadrature Resonance and Tetra Resonant Harmonics, these are both great but not for the situation at hand, there must be something else in here.
Finn continued, reading each line with utmost precision.
Breath and focus... stop the flow for a few more seconds.
After reading a few more sentences, his eyes barely held open, "This is it, RFE... this can do it, along with energy sublimation."
Finn dropped the manual and started controlling the flow, taking in breaths in a specific sequence of inhalation through each nose, letting the flow become natural, like breathing.
It's almost done, with this...
THUMP
Finn fell back on the ground, sweating profusely. Having finally saved himself from instant death, his face relaxed.
He could feel the mana go back to his Dan Tian, the mana stopping its advances into his heart.
"Ha...ha, I'm never doing anything that crazy without supervision," Finn sighed in relief.
I was able to gain some experience, but what's up with my core, it's feeling kind of fuzzy. Finn thought as he placed his palms atop his abdomen.
He closed his eyes and tried focusing on his core.
Huh, that's strange, why does my core have two distinct energies in it.
A small sphere of black mass surrounded by a cold white energy, that was the image that formed in his mind.
"The core developed two properties? How is that possible?"
Properties are like oil and water, they don't mix, unless the energies find harmony, but such cases are very rare.
If it is what I think it is, then I should be able to do it.
Finn places his index fingers between his forehead and begins chanting, "In me and in shadow dwells darkness."
Finn's shadow expanded, spreading around him before going back to its original size.
"Haha, this is a miracle, I'm able to use my original talent, but without losing the talent I received this time," Finn mumbled, his voice a low growl. "Shadow and Ice, it's because of that technique, RFE; Resonant Frequency Entrainment."
"I should thank him, his manual saved my life. I can't believe I almost passed because of stupidity. That would have been embarrassing."
Maybe I should have followed the techniques my grandpa gave me... but now I can practice both of them, both grandpa's and the old man's.
"If that were the old me, I would have died almost instantly. Good thing I remember my death, although it would be better if I could remember everything else too."
Finn stood up yawning, looking outside the window, "I think I should sleep."
_________________________
A figure in black cloak trudged through the busy streets of Rubinos, her frame covered by the cloak.
The streets of Rubinos were as beautiful as ever. The name Rubinos came from the Ruberis tree, known for its deep crimson leaves. The tree also has a specially sweet fruit, the Verdamyn known for its special property of increasing blood circulation.
However the Verdamyn fruit was green in colour unlike the tree itself. The green was a result of the tree's chlorophyll pigment dropout in the fruit rather than the leaves.
This was one of the life forms that was influenced by mana, a simple apple tree, evolving to something new.
She continued traversing through the busy streets, the moonlight resonating with the crimson leaves giving the trees an ethereal glow.
But the areas touched by the golden lights weren't as illuminating compared to where the moonlight kissed. While the counterpart to the Ruberis tree maintained its beauty under the unnatural lamp light, the Pita tree.
The Pita tree had similar origins to the Ruberis tree, but the fruit grown on these trees, the verdasour were rather sour and did not have any particular effects like the verdamyn.
But the golden leaves were always a breathtaking spectacle during the daytime, which left everyone in awe.
The large quantity of the Ruberis tree in the city was what led to its name, Rubinos.
The girl stopped under a particularly small Ruberis tree, in a park. Wooden benches were laid across the stone pathway, neatly arranged with a meter distance between each bench.
The girl in the robes, diligently walked towards one of the benches and sat at its far edges.
She sat there silently, the wind howling as leaves fell all around her, the stone path covered in a carpet of crimson leaves.
The sound of footsteps grew closer. A woman, no older than thirty with bright orange hair walked towards the bench. Her attire was casual.
She sits down at the far end of it, and positions herself cross legged.
"How are you, Wyge?" the cross legged girl asked, her voice that of a young girl's, stark contrast to her mature face.
"Did you find it?" the girl in the cloak asked, as she pulled down her cloak. It was Wyge, her face revealed under the dimly lit street light.
"Of course, who do you think I am?"
"All of it?"
"Yes."
"How were you able to gather all of the information this fast?" Wyge asked, her eyes narrowing.
"Well, not all of it," the girl replied sheepishly. "Some of the things you asked for are not even known, I'll get it soon enough."
"What did you get?"
"The Thorne's weren't part of the lords that took down your family, but the first son sure is involved in a lot of, hmm, what do you say?"
"What," Wyge asked.
"Well, let's just say he is in somethings, the good, and, the nasty," the girl replied.
"What about the other things?"
"About that..."
_________________________
"Woah, the streets are beautiful," Daniele walked around, her eyes scanning ever inch of the street.
This place is rather busy, what do I do now?
Daniela felt a massive hand on her shoulder. She turned back to look at who it was.
He had a strong, rugged face and piercing eyes that seemed to see right her cloak.
"What do you need mister?" Daniela asked politely.
His thick, bushy moustache was perfectly maintained, adding a touch of sophistication to his rather rough features.
What did I do to see this gangster guy here? she screamed internally.
His brown hair was styled back, with a few stray strands falling across his left eye. He wore a bright red shirt tucked into white pants. A golden chain necklace shone bright.
"You seem rather lost, Miss?" the man spoke, his voice hard.
_________________________