Chapter 78: It wants to steal him!
Generally, someone trying to advance to the next rank would only need to equip the Mana Mark of the rank above their own in the correct slot.
Whether the mark is of the Active type—which are direct spells like the Ice Goblin’s—or of the Passive type, with physical or sensory enhancements, or something similar to Clara’s support marks, or Attribute marks that change the nature of the user’s mana.
Example: Clara’s Marks. Her mana is of the ice element.
For each rank, there is an average number of Mana Marks a user can possess. This isn’t set in stone, but it’s generally the case.
Rank F is usually defined as having 1 to 2 Mana Marks. It’s rare to find anyone with 3 or 4 Mana Marks within Rank F. Although there are some, they are exceptions.
Examples of this include Clara and that guy who studies with Lucius in general classes.
That’s because their marks were very low-level and didn’t provide enough stimulation for the core to level up.
For Rank E, the minimum number is 3, and the maximum, according to data, is 5. That’s why obtaining the "Set of 5 Marks" is so important for a low-level mage.
Depending on how you choose those marks, it will determine whether you’ll advance to Rank D or whether you’ll have to waste slots by adding more unnecessary marks.
For Rank D, you’ll advance with an average of 6 to 10.
From 11 to 20 for Rank C.
From 21 to 30 for Rank B.
From 31 to 50 for Rank A.
50+ is already Rank S.
Blessed are those mages who manage to reach Rank S with fewer than 45 Mana Marks—a truly difficult challenge that only those with Top Ranker potential can achieve... And the former Lucius falls into that category.
With just 34 Mana Marks, he was already ranked #5 globally.
However, his current self has a problem.
His Core is Fractured; it doesn’t accept Mana Marks as efficiently or normally as the one he had before.
Naturally, you can’t add a Mana Mark to this Core because it won’t accept it; you have to force it. And when you force it, you get hurt or risk dying, just as happened on that day when he came back to life in this body.
Focusing not only on leveling up but also on all of that means that any mistake can quickly lead to his death.
That’s why it would be difficult this time.
But he was firm in his decision that this would only take five minutes.
From within, he began to absorb the Mana Mark, trying to contain any attempt by mana to escape his body, to avoid alerting the Medusa that he was in such a helpless position.
But he was suffering. His body began to sweat a few seconds later and turn red. Although it was working, it was difficult.
If the Mark were Rank F, there wouldn’t be too many problems. They don’t have much power to resist his control. But since it’s Rank E, these Marks deserve a bit of respect.
Besides, it’s an Echo Cricket.
The echo constantly emanating from that mark reverberated throughout its surroundings and made everything difficult. However, it eventually began to connect with the Core.
It was a slow process... At some point, Lucius felt desperate, as he had no way of knowing how much time had passed because his body was still receiving electric shocks.
.
Outside, the electric shocks stopped for a brief moment after a few continuous minutes.
When the electric shocks stopped, the mist began to thicken naturally.
Something was happening, and Lucius’s skin sensed the change, but his mind was so preoccupied that he couldn’t perceive it.
Suddenly, a strange shadow loomed over them, emerging from the depths of the mist and rising slowly like a mountain.
No one knew where the light that made that shadow possible came from, but it loomed over the two unconscious bodies beneath it.
Its shape was like that of a common jellyfish, with a crystalline, reddish color. It had several "legs" or arms—ten in total.
Three of them were thick but looked rough. Metal particles were constantly emerging from them.
The other seven were slender and had a strange "mouth" from which mist emerged.
A pair of thin, elongated eyes, like neon lights, fixed on the two living but motionless figures. After a moment, they focused on the man holding the sword.
That was their target.
The Medusa immediately began to descend. It was slow but steady. Its ten legs stretched like rubber and wrapped around the man’s arms and neck. Then it began to rise.
Lucius’s heavy body was suddenly pulled out of the ground, and he began to float...
.
The lull in the electrical discharges somehow brought Clara back to her senses.
’Those strange sparks drove the poison out of my body...’ Clara thought, surprised. ’I didn’t know Lucius had electric magic.’
She didn’t remember him ever using anything like that, but he was the only one there, so she was grateful.
She opened her eyes. Her blurry vision took in a strange scene.
Lucius’s body was floating.
’Am I dreaming?’
She sat up and rubbed her eyes. She seemed to have slept for a long time, though perhaps she was still in a dream.
Sitting with her legs tucked under her, she looked up again.
Lucius... was floating with a sword in his hand, his body fully extended and completely unconscious.
It must have been a dream.
However, she looked past Lucius, and for a brief moment, a pair of eyes as elongated as neon lights and a pair of blue eyes locked gazes.
"..."
"..."
Expressionless, the Medusa suddenly began floating upward faster, as if she wanted to flee. A drop of nonexistent sweat seemed to have appeared on its nonexistent forehead.
Clara jumped to her feet when she noticed something was off.
"You bastard, you’re not going to steal Lucius!" she shouted, and with a leap, she grabbed Lucius’s legs.
The sudden increase in weight caused the Medusa to lose control, and Clara was able to fall to the ground, clutching Lucius. However, the Medusa still tried to get away.
"You’re not going to steal him!" Clara roared again and began to pull hard.
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