Black String of Fate

It looks like the number of chakra points one can use depends on the talent of the person. Well, let\'s see what the Celestial Mind can give me.\'

Xavier sat down and began to close off all his senses. He had to get in a meditative state for the mana breathing to begin. Once he felt closed off from the world, he focused on trying to sense mana. It wasn\'t that difficult, since it came naturally to him and he had done it once before in the cave of the Salazar Ruins.

The particles of mana, ubiquitous and ever-flowing, started gathering around Xavier. To him, it was a miraculous experience, it was the first time that something like mana, something that has been an ethereal concept to him since forever, moved at his will.

He was lost in this ethereal feeling, gathering mana to himself like a black hole. Vortexes of mana started to form around his chakra points, and the lights in the room, which were operated by glowing mana crystals, started to dim out.

It was only after a long time that Xavier opened his eyes, and the first thing that surprised him was the dark room that was only lit by the moonlight.

\'It\'s already midnight? I didn\'t even notice. I read that collecting mana was a mentally exhausting task, but I feel refreshed more than ever. Is this the \'tireless mind\' aspect of the Celestial Mind?\'

Xavier decided to check out the results of his 12-hour-long mana breathing session. He had high hopes since his mana foundation is something that is supposed to be the best.

He dove into his mental realm, a semi-imaginary spiritual space that allows magicians to look at the physical manifestation of their mana core. While Xavier had not formed a mana core, that space was still accessible to talented Uninitiates, allowing them to see an unbridled pool of the mana they had collected. Foundational Mages, or Acolytes as they\'re called, possess mana, but can\'t use it.

\'Woah, it looks like a lot…\'

Inside a dark space with nothing but ethereal mana floating around, Xavier saw a sea of dense, pure mana as far as the eyes went.

\'Looks like it\'s decent enough. I wonder if Seraphina also had this much at my stage… Probably not, she is much more talented in the way of magic, so she must have had a lot more than me.\'

Xavier dismissed his achievement and went to sleep. Even though he could not feel tiredness in his mind, it was still good for the body.

Little did he know, what he had collected was enough for anyone to deem him a monster. It wasn\'t something that even Seraphina\'s previous could compare to, since she too did not have the perfect foundation.

The perfect foundation, it is a name granted by Salazar, the greatest mage in history. When a Crafted Archon like him said \'perfect\', it meant the theoretical limit of the foundation a fleshly sentient creature could make, regardless of race. That means, even after considering gifted races like high elves and draconians, Xavier would be considered an anomaly.

\'Well, since I can\'t collect more, it looks like this is my final foundation. My warrior path\'s seven stars are primed, and now my mana foundation is created. Now, I should begin to look for a decent monster core.\'

Xavier slipped into his dreams, dreaming about eating a shiny core. It was supposed to be a good dream, but his mood became worse than ever the next morning…

"Welcome, what kind of quest do you want today?"

"D+. A single monster extermination would be preferred."

"...You sure? That rank will make you face peak rank 3 monsters. While it\'s pretty established that you are a genius, you can still die from a mistake."

Unlike other times when she joked around with Xavier, Susan was dead serious when warning him. She noticed that Xavier\'s mood was pretty bad today, so she was worried that he might take a wrong step because of his temporary emotions.

"I never take a quest expecting myself to surely come back alive. A danger of death is necessary to grow, I might lose my touch if I keep playing it safe."

Susan looked deep into the eyes of Xavier, now seeing a resolve that did not come from fleeting emotions. A few moments later, she sighed and handed him a quest.

"There, just come back alive."

"...I don\'t make such promises, people die from that. Rather wish for me to die, I have a knack for defying expectations."

Xavier walked off while reading the quest details.

\'Hmm… A hobgoblin chief. It has formed a hobgoblin colony, with more than 50 rank 2 hobgoblins reported. The party member is expected to cooperate with the rest of the…

Wait, party?\'

Xavier immediately stopped in his tracks and looked back at Susan, who was innocently smiling as if nothing happened.

He immediately stormed towards her, but she did not break her composure.

"What is this, Susan? A party? Are you kidding me?"

"Nope, you wanted a D+ mission. This is the only one available now."

"Who the fuck are you fooling? You know that I go solo every time, a party will just drag me down."

"Just meet them once. They are quite famous around these parts. Somehow, they have run into some trouble, and we can\'t afford to lose them. Your mission is to rescue them and exterminate the hobgoblins.

Anyway, the mission\'s already assigned, so you\'ve got no choice except to forfeit if you really don\'t want to do this."

Xavier looked at Susan with irritation easily visible in his eyes. In the end, he just sighed and went along with it.

"Fine, it is what it is… I\'ll just do my own thing if they\'re uncooperative."

Susan wanted to advise against doing that since it was an unspoken rule to be cooperative in random parties, but Xavier rushed out without giving her a chance to.

\'...Should I have not done that? But… He might really die otherwise.

Sigh, maybe I\'m overstepping my bounds. I hope things turn out fine.\'