Chapter 35: Gacha Spree (Rare) & Mana Awakening
William stood before fifty blue cards that appeared the instant he asked for five rare gachas. Like before, some cards gleamed brighter, at least in his eyes. Maybe it was the surge of luck guiding him out towards the better rewards.
He picked five cards from the lot and flopped back onto his bed. Rare gacha rewards could range from anything from uncommon to epic grade, while legendary was the same ’Exponentially rare’ of this draw. William was hoping for rares or epics, as in the common draw, there were no commons, so there shouldn’t be uncommons in this draw, right?
With just over a minute left before Lady Luck’s blessing pissed off, he didn’t waste a second and grabbed two cards from the top. Rollie chimed in with reward notifications and their description as he flipped them over.
[Congratulations! You’ve won: Essence Devouring Art (Earth)]
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Technique: Essence Devouring Art (Earth)
Effect: A demonic art that devours the life essence of fallen foes. Absorbed essence enhances flesh, strengthens bones and accumulates Demonic Qi. The increase is based on the foe’s strength and the technique’s proficiency.
Requirements: Demonic Qi above 50 or Qi Gathering. (Qi converts to Demonic Qi)
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[Congratulations! You’ve won: Illusion Affinity Stone (Rare)]
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Item: Illusion Affinity Stone (Rare)
Effect: Grants Illusion Affinity upon absorption.
Requirements: Compatible physique with no conflicting affinities and mana.
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Looking at the technique, William frowned. Sure, since landing in this hellhole, killing had become the second most common thing after breathing, but tossing out a reward that demands killing for strength was a bit alarming for him to know. He wanted to ask Rollie about it, but with time ticking down for the last minute, he just brushed it off and looked at the second item
The second item was another affinity stone. He already had fire, and he didn’t mind collecting another, or more; he’d just need to get the skills for them from the bunny merchant later. Neither of the pulls were epic. Praying, he snatched the next two and flipped them, hoping to get at least a couple in the last few.
[Congratulations! You’ve won: FrostBurn Oath Twin Sword (Epic)]
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Item: FrostBurn Oath Twin Sword (Uncommon)
Description: Forged from the remains of the legendary Frostvalke and Lavahat Serpents. It was originally wielded by the twin emperors of Grovax Star (GGY-2991). Bound by an oath before their deaths, the two individual swords were transformed into a pair of twin swords. Leaving their legacies in them.
Effect #1: +20 Mana, +15 Constitution, and +10 Strength, Agility, and Intelligence.
Effect #2: Channeling Ice and Fire elements into the swords inflicts both Frost and Burn status effects on targets. Effects can be stacked.
Effect #3: Frost Domain (Legacy); creates an area of extreme cold, slowing enemies and enhancing all ice-element abilities within its range.
Effect #4: Burn Domain (Legacy); engulfs the area in intense flames, causing fire damage that weakens the defense of enemies and enhances all fire-element abilities within its range.
Requirements: Ice and Fire affinities. For domains Aura Fighter/Adept Mage or Mana/Aura above 100. It can be wielded with only one affinity, but the other sword would be used as a regular sword.
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Illustration attached.
[Congratulations! You’ve won: Mana Nexcore (Epic)]
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Item: Mana Nexcore (Epic)
Effect #1: Once the Nexcore is fused with the tower core it continuously releases mana throughout the entire tower, establishing a stable mana environment. This allows all inhabitants to cultivate mana, with enough energy to progress up to the level of Archmage or Aura Commander. The mana’s potency can be further increased by infusing it with higher-grade Nexcores.
Effect #2: Generates a high-density mana zone within a 50-meter radius around the tower core, where mana absorption is doubled for anyone cultivating within this area.
Requirements: None.
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This time, both rewards were epic grade. The first was the duel blade. He was hoping to get a better weapon than his Venomedge Sword since the start of this gacha spree. Up till now, his luck with weapons has been shit; the only weapon he’d pulled was the Guqin, which he had no clue when he would be able to use.
With no restrictions on his physique, there was no way he’d just stick to a sword for life. If something caught his eye, he would learn and use it. He’d seen many anime with dual-wielding characters that were cool as hell, especially the one with a wild boar’s head mask. William was definitely switching to this.
The second reward was a Nexcore, a miracle stone that could turn a wasteland into a mana paradise. William was pissed when he thought that getting a fire affinity stone meant he’d get mana too. That night, he went through Rollie’s files for the complete guide to becoming a mage.
The summary of that was, first, an awakening potion to open mana channels, then a mana breathing technique to move the mana through the body, after that, affinities and skills, and Voilà, you are a mage.
And there were two ways to bump up mana stat: first, putting unassigned attribute points into it, at a 2:1 conversion rate for both mana and qi. Second, absorbing mana from mana stones or the environment. Mana stones worked faster, but Rollie said those were expensive; a single one cost 100TP.
At the start, no tower had its own Nexcore; everyone either had to use their unassigned attribute points or spend on mana stones, since nobody is rich enough at the start to buy even the lowest-grade Nexcore.
Reaching the end of his gacha spree. He whispered, ’Just one more push, lady luck.’ And with that he flipped the final card.
[Congratulations! You’ve won: Chronos Scale (Legendary)]
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Item: Chronos Scale (Legendary)
Effect: Scale of the Dragon of Time; Chronos, shed once every ten millennia. When activated, it reverses the state of a target to exactly ten seconds before. It can only be used on living targets; if there is only a beating heart left, it will even reverse its state by 10 seconds.
Warning: Cannot be used on the same person twice.
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Illustration attached.
"Huh?" William gawked at the description panel. It was a Legendary grade. A Fucking legendary. In the commons, he’d had to grind through two equal rounds just to get a low-chance grade, but here, five pulls and bam, jackpot. But it wasn’t just the rarity that turned him to stone, as Medusa herself had petrified him. It was the effect: time reversal. The ultimate lifesaver.
He just sat on the bed for the next few seconds, until Rollie popped up with a notification:
[Raise and Shine, dear. Duration of the effect has ended.]
That snapped him out of his daze. Suddenly, he felt it- not pain, just a weird emptiness, like something important had just bailed out of his body. He opened his status panel, which showed his luck stat back to its original zero.
He let out a long sigh. It was a hell of an experience while it lasted, and now he really understood just how much luck could screw you or save your ass. He made a mental note to ask Liola for the same Lolly; maybe, just maybe, she had it. Shaking off the lingering disappointment, he hopped off the bed and opened his inventory, eyeing the overall haul.
Of the 20 draws, including the trial ones, six were Qi-side rewards. Those would just stay in his inventory until he either unlocked Qi or he gets a new troop from the Qi side.
The rest were mana-side pulls, but his eyes locked onto one in particular. With a broad grin, he pulled it from his inventory. A tiny flask appeared in his hand, no bigger than his middle finger, swirling with thick royal blue liquid. Yes, it was the mana awakening potion.
"No more fucking waiting. Rollie, should I just gulp it down?" He said while his hand was already on the cap.
[Yes, you can take it straight, but I’d recommend finding somewhere cold first. You might feel a burning sensation while mana pathways open.]
William scoffed at Rollie’s warning and popped the cap. "How bad can the burning be? I’ve survived worse, remember the talent awakening? I was cooked alive in it." With that, he gulped down the whole flask in one go. It tasted minerally, as he’d just licked a freshly painted wall.
The next moment, a gentle warmth bloomed from his heart, spreading through his body. For a few seconds, it felt pleasant like he was on a beach, soaking up the sun. "Hah! This is what you call—" William was about to gloat, Rollie, but the words died in his throat as the warmth turned to blistering heat. His skin started to turn red as the heat increased.
He clenched his teeth. The burning pain was endurable, at first. Then, in the blink of an eye, the heat cranked up like molten lava was coursing under his skin. It was like he was shoved into a commercial microwave in some bread factory.
’Agrhhhh...’ He screamed, still trying to tough it out. His jaw was clamped so hard his teeth started to bleed, dark crimson droplets mixing with spit dropped on the floor. Every vein in his body bulged, lit up and burned under his skin, each one of them clearly visible, showing his anatomy.
He burned for a full minute, every second stretching like torture. Then, just as it started, the heat began tuning down, first back to heat, then to gentle warmth. William, still in pain but way better than before, collapsed onto the bed.
[Congrats, dear, you’ve successfully awakened your mana channels.]
