The Over-Break System

That wasn’t all; in contrast to his older brother, who couldn’t be near the explosion, Brance, was thriving. As he tumbled head over heels for dozens of kilometers in an uncontrolled spin, he noticed his MP steadily tick up.

This fact was a first for him, considering the only abundant Mana particles here in the Shadow Realm was that of the Dark Variant, meaning any other Mana type could not be replenished. 

To understand why this was important, one needed to examine the Shadow Realm and how it worked. From the moment Cynrik first stepped foot in the realm all those years ago, he had constantly been observing and taking notes of any differences he spotted at a glance. 

Four main factors separated the Shadow Realm from reality. 

The first and most prominent was the thin yet unbreakable barrier between them. The reason for this was simple; the Shadow Realm existed outside reality as a separate dimension.

Second was the gravitational force, which always seemed to be a static Zero-G, no matter where one traveled. Although Cynrik and the others hadn’t traveled far enough to claim the title of explorers of the realm, this seemed to be the case no matter where they landed. 

The third difference was in the terrain as a whole. Be it the strange and eerie grayscale location devoid of life and color, the areas Cynrik and MyrkLys had visited held an ancient feeling and always took the image of old ruins. 

For example, the area under Valor City, from what Cynrik had observed, was once an olden city of some type or Imperial Captial. There was even a massive castle under the Governor’s mansion. 

That brings us to the fourth and arguably most important factor that Cynrik would at some point be forced to explain to everyone he dragged into the Shadow Realm: the lack of naturally occurring Elemental Mana Particles. 

It didn’t take a genius to understand why this could become potentially fatal to anyone who entered, as one of the key Elemental Particles required for life was Wind Mana, which supplied a steady and constant stream of oxygen, allowing beings to breathe. 

Sure, once a being reached a certain level of power, they could essentially live solely off of Mana, but without it, the best they could do is hold their breath until they asphyxiate and die. 

Luckily, Cynrik and Brance had learned a fundamental skill when they were infants, which could allow them to breathe without Wind Mana, the skill [Mana Breathing]. 

Although it had evolved and gone relatively unused, this simple skill didn’t only grant them the ability to absorb Mana. It also allowed them to utilize Ambient Affinitiless Particles, thus, giving them a chance at breathing. 

Mind you, it wasn’t easy and took some practice. Once mastered, everyone in MyrkLys was no longer restrained by this potentially fatal afterthought, as they could substitute Affinitiless Mana instead of Wind. 

The only downside was that in doing so, they would end up in a situation similar to training at altitude, where the oxygen was thin. It wasn’t uncommon for one or more group members to end up lightheaded, dizzy, and incoherent if they stayed in the Shadow Realm for too long. 

This situation had played out when Cynrik brought down the Governor’s children. Fortunately, the eldest son had a Wind Affinity and could temporarily alleviate this problem for himself and his siblings long enough for them to reach the Pinhurst Mansion. 

There was another glaring issue, and it was the one that brought Brance to this topic in the first place, and that was due to the lack of Ambient Elemental Particles, there was no way to recharge any spent.

Sure, everyone could recover MP, but the problem was the conversion of Ambient Particles into Elemental ones, which wasn’t necessary for reality since it was practically autonomous. This meant that it was something none of them knew how to do. 

As such, Brance was surprised when he felt new Light particles surge into his Codex. From memory and the never-ending lectures Cynrik subjected to him, he knew there were several Mana particles found in the Shadow Realm, namely, Dark, Shadow, Umbra, and several different shades of black particles, which were left unidentified.

  However, one elementary particle floated around in abundance: Affinitiless Particles. 

While these thoughts bounced around his head, Brance eventually realized he could control his momentum and, after stabilizing himself, found he had been flung almost 20 kilometers from the blast site. Without hesitation, he propelled himself forward again with HolyFire until he closed the distance, and what he saw caused him to gulp loudly. 

Where once a relatively small crater rested was now an open chasm no different from above than a bottomless hole. 

[Whew, damn Brancie, I thought it was my job to almost blow himself up with reckless moves. I would never have thought you had the balls to do it.] Around the time that Brance arrived at the gaping hole in the ground, Cynrik glided over after depositing Geralt somewhere not far away. 

[I…I didn’t think the Positron Cannon would have such a devastating blast radius. Are you ok?] Wearing a sheepish smile and scratching the back of his head, Brance flew over and met up with his brother. 

[Meh, I’ve had worse, but I gotta say, fuck you, and fuck your Light Affinity bullshit.] Rolling his eyes and drawing his kodachis from their sheaths, Cynrik observed the massive, kilometer-wide hole in an attempt to spot Lithlen. 

[We didn’t get a kill notification, so that old fucker is alive, but where is he?] Cynrik stated as he descended into the large hole until he was forced to stop due to the turbulent storm of Light Mana Particles hovering in the vicinity.

Like his older brother, Brance too began scanning the surroundings for any sign of Lithlen, only, unlike Cynrik, he could descend deeper into the hole.  Soon enough, he spotted the old man floating two kilometers deep in the hole, unmoving and surrounded by what could only be described as the corpse of a once majestic Green Mana Wolf. 

[Got him, 2 klicks down, 250 WSW. His chest is rising, so he is still breathing, but it looks like that hit did a number on his HP and MP since both bars are well below 50% now.] Nodding his head in the direction of the injured old man, Brance glided toward Lithlen while Cynrik followed overhead. 

[Careful, cornered animal theory applies here, Brancie.] Narrowing his eyes and locating Lithlen, Cynrik reminded his brother that an animal is most dangerous when cornered before charging copious amounts of Mana into his blades.

---

Down below, floating in a semi-conscious state, Lithlen’s eyes struggled to stay open. He knew the brothers were dangerous, but he never imagined that he could be put in such a precarious situation, especially with his Bloodline abilities and manifestations on full display. 

To make matters worse, no matter how many Mana Potions he drank, Lithlen couldn’t seem to recharge his Mana; it was as if the world was utterly void of Wind Mana. 

Being an intelligent man, he realized that there was something significantly wrong with this realm he had been dragged into by Cynrik when after downing the first batch of Mana Potions, all he replenished was Affinitiless Mana. 

With a few twitching motions and facing downward, he flicked the air and brought up his Status profile for a damage report and was horrified to see that his HP had fallen so low. 

Not only that, but his body had been oversaturated by Light, Dark, and Fire Mana, which was causing the few Wind Particles in his Codex to revolt. 

’Fuck, had I not given everything on me to Leelan and not been dragged within an inch of life by Haylon, I wouldn’t be in this situation…I won’t fall like this….’ With that thought in mind, Lithlen spun around and noticed Brance and Cynrik not far away. 

However, even that slight movement in Zero-G was enough for hundreds of minor wounds to open on his body and begin gushing blood. 

Ignoring the surge of pain flooding his brain, Lithlen raised his hands and cast two large runic spell circles, which activated multiple different spells. 

Wind Blades, Bullets, Twisters, and several types of attacks Cynrik and Brance had never seen erupted from the spell circles sending the two brothers on high alert and causing them to make defensive maneuvers to avoid them. 

”Gah…you…fucking bastard children…” Watching how easily the two dodged his volley of spells, Lithlen coughed up a mouthful of blood with several chunks of flesh in the globs. 

Since the Shadow Realm was a Zero-G environment, the blood floated up around him as Lithlen struggled to continue his assault, unleashing every offensive spell in his toolbox one after another. 

”Is that all you’ve got, old man? I expected more from the mighty Patriarch of the Jetlensr Family. For you to fall to the shockwave of my attack and a direct hit from my brother’s Cannon, how pitiful you must feel.” Cynrik’s voice traveled to Lithlen’s ears, sending a chill down the old man’s spine as the young man effortlessly cut through one attack after another. 

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