Master Of None

Chapter 3027. Comfortable Perfection

The deeper dark elemental plane was an unnerving place for those who relied purely on sight.

It wasn’t that just seeing could be called hard or impossible, but those without the affinity for dark mana might find themselves entirely captured. Feeling like they were caught in a world of just endless dark or dark walls keeping them from moving.

There was a suffocating feeling when Walker allowed the golem body to flee the environment and retract his mana senses.

Su has also done this to see what effects the mana would have on her. She was trying to see if she could increase her passive dark mana resistance only to find that her body was already working naturally to resist it.

Not just because she wore a dark affinity armor and shields now that she had entered here, it was because she had trained before allowing her body to have a high dark mana resistance as it was.

As the two allowed themselves to adjust while still moving, Walker expanded his mana senses again and felt that the disconnect between his golem body and physical real body was surprisingly not there.

He’d expected trouble with the bond or some sort of delay. Instead, he found it still feeling and flowing in the same way.

The methods of crafting and slew of new skills was perfectly at work and still improving. The differences he thought would and could be there were not. Instead, he felt he was growing more comfortable.

Even more shocking, Walker realized his main body and the golem bodies were all growing slightly.

He wasn’t gaining mana to grow in the same way as he would if he was there with his real body. That was just simply the fact of not actually being there.

It was his mind and soul being reset by the mana density.

He had to be more careful of his control over internal and external manas. Testing and educating himself so that he would not cause any adverse reactions. Additionally, he had to do this while also sharing mana and information through multiple bonds with the golem bodies.

As such, he felt the changes stacking on themselves and keeping a fluidity to his basic form of thought. Something that would be reflected in every action in the future.

”This area feels a little more dangerous now.” Su prepared her shields looking ahead of them.

They had both adjusted and her sense of danger was not weak.

That was another thing that everyone in the party understood but did not speak about as often. They all had a really good gut feeling for danger now, regardless of any real skill appearing, not that they did not have such skills at this point, but that was not the focus of their trust, they could trust their senses greatly.

”You are right, there’s a dark river ahead, it’s not water but decaying dark mana flowing through a substance called rot cursed earth.”

’Rot cursed earth

This soil was once a portion of the earth elemental plane, however, it was consumed by decay after being broken from a gargantuan earth tortoise in the elemental wars.

This section of earth lost all earth mana and became the same as other dark affinity lands. However, it has a lighter consistency similar to tilled soil. It is also steeped in the flow of the true decay river, a section of water elemental plane similarly lost in the elemental war and altered fundamentally to only have dark mana as what it is.

Due to them being so near the central area of the dark elemental plane, this soil holds the densest dark decaying mana capable of decaying larger areas if moved outside of this specific environment. Even some dark affinity herbs struggle to grow here along with dark affinity monsters due to this.

Some of the dark spirits attribute this area as a testament of the truth in dark mana and its clear essence of decay to return to origin...’

The pair thought about the appraisal for some time as they noted the qualities they could see of either earth and water here. If they could even properly call either that.

Gathering a little in to the multi dimensional storages, Walker saw benefits in them. He also felt a benefit in the mixed living storage he possessed, enough that he knew it was a deep puzzle piece to how such a space should flow naturally.

These benefits were just part of being here though. They were not part of anything that Walker could actively harvest or discover as a material or ingredient.

Then again, both he and Su were not just on edge because of the area they were in. Right this second they saw the danger they had sensed.

Just because not many beings could live here other than dark elemental spirits did not mean that other things didn’t live here.

’Dark elemental brute

This is an elemental monster similar to a golem. It condensed nearby dark elemental affinity materials to create a potent and dangerous dark elemental body.

Due to its highly condensing materials and manas, unique pure dark elemental stones, crystals, and metals form within its body.

It’s often incredibly violent since it sees any other being that may absorb dark mana as a foe. This is why it often has materials or body parts from other beings condensed within its body decaying or being compressed.

There are some that relate the dark elemental brute and the grave Walker brute from the undead family as the same being of different materials...’

Su walked forward since the dark elemental brute was already charging toward them. Its body appeared to be entirely made of a dark affinity ore, pure and condensed to the point that Walker wondered if it was even possible for a crafter to make it in to some sort of ingot or metal at all.

He also held back, he could tell Su saw this as her first challenge.

This was an elemental being that needed to be heated with strength and unyielding defensive might. Its attacks would be heavy and it would not let up until she damaged its body leaving the spirit responsible for building that body to rebuild it again over many more years.

That was the important aspect Walker focused on while he watched Su deflect the entire charge from the monster.

The body itself was not entirely what this elemental was. It was just what it built itself from. Its true consciousness if it could be called that, was able to build from any materials available.

Unless all of its body was destroyed and other manas were used, it would not be destroyed or cut off from the dark mana it needed to keep living.

In turn, that also meant that such an elemental monster could be used as a source of materials every so often over many years. A challenge for a warrior or growing individual along with a valuable asset.

Here, no one was waiting for it to grow. This was an expansive wilderness allowing Su to fight to her fullest.

The crack of a shield in dense ore only sounded because she’d sheared off a piece of its arm. The attack being fully enforced by her weight and also the incoming attack attempt from the brute.

As he watched he wondered how Su became so fluid. He knew that she could withdraw more of her scales and more of her dragon like features now that she had grown to understand her body. But seeing it was a whole other event within itself.

Su didn’t just use her armor to defend, she turned and whipped a scaled arm to slam down on the hand of the brute breaking more pieces from it. Every move didn’t have to waste a bit, it turned in to another defensive deflection or attack with a shield or her own body.

The scales on her body become denser as she channeled her innate physiology. Her control over it clearly an example of how well she now understood what she was and the path forward.

Then her shields on top of that were protected by more than mana and skill. Her will itself had seeped in to them, determining how brutal a strike was. How potent a defense could be. It was more of an art style than a fight in his eyes right now.

She wasn’t defined by her need to protect someone. Right now she defined her offensive and defensive dual shield style as her own individual method.

Purely her own.

When the body at its core shatters from a stab and twist of a pointed shield, Walker gathered the materials leaving no words to be said. He knew Su felt the victory and could sense his praise without needing to hear it.

All she needed was his silent support.

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Repent now and go here,

Drop those golden tickets!