Broken Anomaly

Choose a reward: Skill points/Experience points

“Finally,” Eric said as he finished the dungeon. He chose skill points and grabbed the sword which he used exclusively during this run and exited the dungeon.

Once outside he opened his status and checked his skill points.

Skill points 10

“Ten skill points for one run,” Eric said, whistling, surprised by what he saw. He took a moment to think about how his titles interacted with each other and what exactly the total boost was. “It’s either a ten times total boost or a 900% total boost. Is it the same? Either way, it seems wrong or broken, or both,” he said, unsure of his words. “Should really ask Alex to do the math.”

Now he had a new problem. Up until now all his skill points had a purpose, but with so many now available to him and the possibility of many more, he didn’t actually know what to do with them.

“Can’t buy skills anymore, so what else can I do with them?” As he said that, an idea popped into his head, and he opened his skill list.

Mental focus level 5

Pain tolerance level 3

Mana Insight level 2

Once the list was brought up and he read his skills. He concentrated on Mental focus. After his ordeal with his core, he had a better idea as to what the skill did. It basically separated his mind in two, solving whatever he tasked it with in the back of his head. It wasn’t like the skill Parallel processing, that was also in the skill list, that would allow him to think on two things while conscious of both, Mental focus did it subconsciously. The skill couldn’t figure out something that he himself wouldn’t be able to. The skill level ups mostly increased the skill’s efficiency, and he hadn’t noticed any other effect. After concentrating on the skill, a new window popped up.

Mental focus level 5

- 0 +

Eric thought for a second and then added a total of five skill points.

Mental focus has reached level 10

“It worked.” Eric said lifting both eyebrows in surprise.

Eric invested his skill points into Mental focus for two reasons, the first was because he liked the skill and wanted to do it. The second reason was because he wanted to know the level at which skills evolved. He now had to make a choice, level up his other skills or invest them into Mental focus. He decided that he already had a good head start and could afford to spend his skill points on his other skills.

Pain tolerance has reached level 5

Mana Insight has reached level 5

The reason why he leveled those two skills was simple: he was about to do the same thing that earned him the title of Breaker and that had caused him so much pain, that he could still feel some of it, especially in his energy nodes. He still wanted to obtain a weapon mastery, but if he was honest with himself, none of the weapons he had used felt right.

Who knows, maybe the axe will be my weapon or maybe I just need to try a real spear, he thought as he proceeded to open his status, checking his level and experience out of habit.

Level 9

Experience 8/2500

Eric was about to enter the dungeon when a voice stopped him.

“Wait!” It was Marcus who arrived carrying a barghest corpse.

“Why?” Eric asked as he pointed at the corpse.

“Stella wants to see if we can sell it. Where’s the crystal?” Marcus said as he looked around.

“Lemme see,” Eric said as he grabbed the corpse and opened up the hub window.

Eric had learned that he could open up the hub window as long as he was within a certain distance. He opened up the shop and to his surprise, there was a sell option available. Within the sell option, everything currently within his possession had appeared. All his clothes could be sold for zero credits, his weapons for two hundred and the corpse for five. Eric explained everything he saw to Marcus and sold the corpse.

“We’re going back later for the rest,” Eric said, excitement present in his voice.

“Got it. Were you about to run the dungeon? Can I join?”

“Sure, though it might take a while.”

“No problem, I have stuff to do.” Marcus said as he lifted and shook his bag.

Once they were inside the dungeon, Marcus swung his bag over his shoulder and walked upstairs.

“I’ll be working upstairs,” Marcus said as he left.

Eric nodded in response as he grabbed a water bottle. He cleared the same area he had used in previous occasions and sat down once more. He crossed his legs, still not knowing if it was better or not, and then he closed his eyes. He started to move Mana insight around his body, trying to focus on the lingering pain he felt from each node.

He first confirmed the location of the two nodes he already knew the location of. Strength which was on his upper right chest and perception which was behind his eyes. Having confirmed both of their locations, he opened his status window to see how many stat points he currently had.

Stat points 9

“Good, if all goes well, I’ll have one more than I actually need.”

He first focused on the faint amount of pain he felt somewhere in the middle of his head. He got as close as he could before he didn’t know where to go anymore, he then spent a point on intelligence. He sensed the small amount of energy rushing to the node, but he didn’t find its destination.

So much for left over points, Eric thought.

He spent two more points until he found the intelligence node. Next Eric focused on the pain he felt somewhere near his heart. He did the same procedure until he found the node, this time only spending two stat points to find it.

This could be the last one, which one should I focus on? Eric asked himself.

Eric had gone into this with a plan already worked out. He already knew where strength and perception were, both being essential to survival. Next, he needed intelligence to be better at making decisions and not forgetting crucial stuff, like different uses for skill points. Once that was taken care of, he needed vitality in case he suffered any major wound, and maybe regrow his eye. He now had to decide on what he needed next.

With endurance I can be active for longer and with constitution I can tank more hits…. Hmm…. Vitality can cover some of the need for constitution. Ok. He thought, having come to a decision.

He started to scan the remaining nodes and decided to focus on one that was in the middle of his chest, above were his core was located. He once again got as close as he could and spent three points to find the node.

Well, that’s that. He thought as he prepared for what was next.

Eric moved his Mana insight away from him and spread it thinly in front of him, sensing the mana around him. He found strands of mana like the one he had used the first time around, he had to stop himself from pulling it toward his core. He looked at the other strands that were around and ultimately decided for the one that seemed to be the weakest. He pulled it towards his core with much more ease than he had the last time, he guessed it was because of his higher skill level and because it was weaker. Once the strand touched his core, it was sucked completely sucked into it.

Before the mana had touched his core, he gritted his teeth ready for whatever came next. However, he was not ready for the pain that followed. The pain was less than before but it was still a pain so great that it paralyzed him entirely. This time he still had enough control over himself to move his Mana insight toward his core. Once his core was covered by his skill, he could sense it heating up and shaking violently. This only lasted for a brief moment, but to Eric it felt far too long. The core stopped shaking as violently as it had been, and the pain subsided.

Eric had his back against the wall, as he tried to stabilize his breathing. He had expected the pain, it was why he used skill points to level up his Pain tolerance skill. He knew that the pain came from the fact that he was absorbing mana in an incorrect manner. He had guessed that leveling was ultimately a way of cultivation aided by the system. In the stories he had read, cultivation was the act of using the energy that was present in the world and using it to enhance one’s body and power their skills. And if he followed the logic of cultivation, he was currently missing two important aspects to do it correctly. A cultivation and breathing technique. The breathing technique would allow one to extract the energy of the world that was contained in each breath they took, and the cultivation technique was the way in which one moved the energy through their body.

I’m guessing that the System does both things when you level normally. Then what makes me a Breaker if I still get most of the benefits? What is a Breaker? Eric thought to himself as he felt the questions starting to gather. He shook his head, letting the unrelated questions dissipate.

The key point here is that I don’t know how to cultivate and I’m just brute forcing it. Not even the hub store had anything related to cultivation. Maybe at a higher level.

He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, as he once again moved Mana insight toward his core. This time he wanted to see if was possible to move the energy within his core toward a node of his choosing. After a few minutes of manipulating his skill, he came to the conclusion that it was currently impossible for him. He could now sense the energy that was within the core, but it was impossible to manipulate it how he wished, in fact, it was impossible to manipulate it, period. The exterior of the core completely isolated it from any influence.

“Guess there’s only one way to do this then,” Eric said to himself.

“I need to resist as much as possible.”

He closed his eyes again, hopefully for the last time, and started to sense the mana around him. He chose one similar to the one he had used earlier and brought it toward his core. The pain this time around was lesser, but it still made him recoil. He could feel the pain from his core increase, as if to signal its capacity was nearing its limit. But he knew it wasn’t anywhere near full. The two strands he had just used didn’t contain even half the mana of the first strand he used. He was about to repeat the process but when he looked for a similar mana strand, he couldn’t find one and chose one that was the second lightest hue. This time the pain was more than enough to break his concentration, but he held on as strongly as he could, barely keeping his skills active.

Warning. Your core contains too much energy.

He glanced at the new window and opened his status.

Level 9

Experience 6268/2500

“I don’t remember how much I had last time, but it feels like it was a similar amount. It’s not enough yet. One more.”

He went through the entire process once more and this time, he let the intrusive thoughts win.

“Fuck it.”

He reached for the mana strand with the darkest hue and pulled it toward his core. He didn’t even realize that it was darker than the one he used his first time. Also, unlike the first time he did this, he didn’t get a chance to feel pain, as the initial shock was so intense that it knocked him out instantly.

Warning. Your core contains too much energy.