Chapter 359: Abundant Resources

Kai swept his eyes across the small chamber.

It wasn’t empty—there was a small pile of mana ores to the left, a few stacks of null gems, and also a few items lying on the ground. He had moved the important resources to this chamber, which was important for his growth.

Before anything, Kai went to a small pile of mana ores.

Even though he had seen these resources during his first visit, he had no time to inspect them.

Back then, he was too paranoid that the academy somehow managed to track down this place, and hewas waiting to see whether someone would come visit. He realized that this might be a trap too late, right after he had already checked this place.

It was the reason why he rushed out and left Ixos without forgetting to cover the entrance.

He stayed low ever since, only visiting after a few weeks had passed.

Even then, he was still reluctant to stay for too long.

All Kai did during the second visit was confirm what Professor Hera left behind before he left again. Since the academy hadn’t made a move for so long, he deemed that it was completely safe.

Many would think that he was being too careful, but he was not.

Professor Hera was caught having ties with the Fallen Faction.

Such a crime meant the Lower Olympus would be involved, so Kai had to be really careful.

Getting in the Lower Olympus’ crosshairs would mean great trouble—or perhaps even certain death. At least Bree warned that it would be the death of him, so there was no reason for him to be reckless.

Kai took one mana ore from the small pile.

It was the same size as any other mana ore, but there was something in it.

A core that glowed with a brighter blue light.

Back when he saw this small pile for the first time, Kai thought that it was simply a strangely-looking mana ore. Once he tried finding information in the library, he realized that this was a level two mana ore.

He learned that the mana ores he mined from the cultivated clouds were level one mana ores.

And these were level two mana ores marked by the unmistakable core inside them.

Level two mana ores could only be found in cultivated clouds within the Second Sky.

From the classes in the last few months, Kai knew that cultivated clouds are simply clouds— that gathered enough mana to create their own ecosystem. Since mana was the world’s counter to the corrupted energy from the Blue Void—the concentration of mana grew the higher one went.

It was inverted for Demons who worked underground.

For them, the mana concentration grew the lower one went.

Regardless, it made sense for level two mana ores to only be present in the Second Sky.

And somehow, Professor Hera was able to get her hands on them.

"Based on the book I read, a level two mana ore is three to five times more potent than a level one mana ore depending on its purity. I wonder how good these ones are." Kai shrugged and tossed the level two mana ore in his hand back to the small pile.

He then stood up and looked to the other side.

Looked at the stack of null gems.

Professor Hera had been watching him throughout the Blood Rite—so he wasn’t surprised to see these null gems. She must’ve seen him devour Awakened Monsters, so she thought he had a method to grow stronger by absorbing things, including null gems.

"I quite need these since my usable exp is running low." Kai thought aloud.

Battling the Ending of Impersonation and healing his Nightborns drilled a hole in his pocket.

Moreover, the null gems he got from the taxes were mostly converted into null crystals to help Abigail and Bryan reach the Aspirant Supernal rank, so he couldn’t replenish his usable exp. But this should be more than enough.

At a glance, he believed there were more than a hundred null gems.

It should be plenty enough.

Kai then fixed his eyes on the other items.

One was an intricate silver ring with veins of shimmering blue—another was a leather pouch filled with many vials, and the last one was a stack of pellets. Kai went to check the silver ring first as it looked to be the best item out of the three.

[Hostile Mana Ring: A grade-one ring—that grants the wearer a twenty percent mana output bonus.]

"Simple enough, but incredibly useful." Kai nodded his head and immediately wore it.

He put the ring on his index finger and instantly felt a surge of mana flowing through him.

Now—while wearing this ring, his Legacy Skill and Imprints would gain twenty percent more power, which was a welcome effect. And then, he shifted his focus to the pouch of vials that he wasn’t really interested in.

But he was dead wrong to think that the vials inside were all normal vials.

Among the healing and mana vials, there were more sophisticated vials.

One of them was a berserk vial used to boost strength temporarily with a severe drawback—another was a potion vial that had no scent and could poison someone through direct skin contact.

It caused severe fever and then gradual failure of the heart and lungs.

As if knowing that Kai might accidentally get it on himself, there was also an antidote.

"Professor Hera... What are you giving me?" Kai smiled wryly as it felt like he was an assassin who was rummaging through the belongings of his master. "Why do I need poison for? Sigh... I’ll keep it."

Finally, Kai shifted his attention to the last item.

It was a small black case with nine sockets that held a pellet each.

Kai wasn’t certain what they were, but when he got closer, the system recognized these pellets as Grade-1 enchanted items, and a description panel materialized before his eyes. The pellets were separated into three groups of three.

The first row held Smokescreen Pellets with a wind affinity, expanding their area of effect.

Below them sat three Anti-Energy Pellets, designed to disrupt energy upon impact.

And the final row contained three Steel Pellets with an earth affinity, enhancing their hardness.

Kai touched the black case, and it suddenly hummed.

A small portion of his mana was drawn into it before it returned to normal. Based on what he read in the description, the black case needed to be marked first before it could be used. Now, Kai’s mana had already marked it.

Only he could open the black case.

But that wasn’t the only advantage of marking the black case.

Kai picked up a Steel Pellet, half the size of his thumb. He glanced at the wall to his right, then flicked it with his thumb. The pellet shot forward like a bullet and buried itself several inches into the rock.

And then, with a flicker of mana from his hand, the steel pellet shot back into his hand.

"Professor Hera... I’m really not an assassin." Kai whispered wryly.

It was true that he was acting like one on the Blood Rite—but that was because it was the only way for him to win without suffering too much damage. Regardless, he was going to keep the pellets in case he needed them.

Once he finished inspecting what he got, he stood back up again.

Since there were abundant resources, Kai could start opening his third Primordial Lock.

A surefire way for him to grow stronger before the tournament.

But recalling that it took quite some time to create his second Primordial Lock, he was afraid that he might not have time to do that. Growing the third Primordial Lock would certainly be far harder than the second, as the third would be made further from the main Primordial Lock.

So, he decided to focus on something else.

Kai’s eyes fixed on the unrolled scroll pinned to the wall.

"Body and Mana Synchrony Manual." He muttered silently.

It was the item that he was most curious about, so he had already opened it on the second visit.

Back when he’d fought the seniors in the Second Sky, he’d noticed something odd—he noticed roots extending from their main Divine Lock. Those roots, he now understood, were the sole reason the seniors possessed physical prowess far beyond that of new Angels.

Kai had tried to mimic these roots without guidance, and he somewhat succeeded.

It was one of the reasons he managed to prevail over Chester.

Now, he got his hands on the real guidance—the Body and Mana Synchrony Manual.

A Supernal’s innate strength generally came from the blood running through their veins. And once a Supernal reached the Aspirant Supernal rank, their Awakened Blood Vessels allowed them to harness more divine power from their blood.

Mana wasn’t generally in the mix until they activated their Legacy Skills or Imprints.

But with the Body and Mana Synchrony, a Supernal could bolster their physicality more using mana. As long as they have mana in their reserves, their bodies would be stronger, which was extremely useful as it didn’t require one to use a Legacy Skill or Imprint.

It was especially useful for those who had no enhancement Legacy Skill or Imprint.

Kai was one of them.

And with this, his combat prowess would be significantly increased.

Perhaps he wouldn’t need to be scared of a grade-zero or one enchanted weapon anymore.

More importantly, creating these roots was easier to do than creating a Primordial Lock.

"Okay, let’s go with this."

Kai nodded and read through the manual silently, understanding how to properly form these roots. Once he read the entire manual and fully grasped the process, he let out a long sigh as he realized the roots—the manual described as a Connective Cluster—he crudely made could not even be counted as a Connective Cluster.

Not even the slightest.

In order to create a proper Connective Cluster, one would need to create the main mana path, the mana hairs, and then the connective mana roots. Only then would a Connective Cluster be made.

And the Connective Cluster would need to be made for each limb, core, and head.

Kai has none of those.

All he did was spread his mana forcefully to encompass as much area as he could.

Based on the manual, a mistake on each layer would mean a pitiful effect.

In Kai’s case, the effect was less than pitiful, as he failed on each described layer.

But then again, a thought came to Kai’s mind.

"My connective Cluster was crudely made—even downright pitiful. And yet my right arm is already far stronger than my left." Kai looked down at his right arm and drew a cold breath. "How strong would I be if I completed the Connective Cluster properly?"