Archaeologists in a Magic Cultivation World

Confinement Part 1 Trouble of the Mana Beast Variety

"Next one... I have a horrible feeling about this one." Removing Bone Marrow felt preferable to doing this. "Just got to learn to blend it in better.. doing it for survival. Yup... I am not a cannibal."

Convincing oneself was the first step to staying healthy. The likelihood of backfiring should not be that high.

Knowledge System: 93% Abundant Flesh Elixer. Safe for consumption. 3% chance of contracting Kuru. Recommend immediate Body Cleanse after.

"Such a disgusting mix..." William could have sworn he saw an eye move. Despite the grinding and blending of everything inside with the use of his Blood Mana at full effect to churn. "Eww.." He pulled a piece of hair out of his teeth. "I need an actual blender or something in the future."

His expended Mana started to recover quickly. The moment the spent energy reached its previous state, William felt a burning sensation that required his total concentration. The gathered amount pushed and throbbed inside, forcing him to a higher tier.

The Blood Pool turned denser and richer inside. If one was adding 1 + 1, they would get 2. However, in this case, it was turning into 1.5 in a way. The quantity only pushed up a little with more oompf. 

'Need to try to push this throughout my Body, need to improve my techniques and defintely push others to the forefront later.'

Focusing on the 36 Strikes, swords made from old wood in the Dungeon floated over. William played every bit of the observations of sword techniques inside his Mind with the video playback button.

'Have to burn all this energy up before I explode!' Even watered down, the Elixers were a few grades higher than what he was capable of dealing with. But the notification from his Computer stated he met the System Requirements. 'Pain, is not calculated in the programming! I need to think about that later though!'

With a swing of the swords, he Gathers more on swordwork and ways to use it. His Body switched to match the weapon and pushed his cross muscle development higher. Tissue stretching and reforming under fast development. If not for the elixirs, he may burn through longevity faster than was available.

As William pushed to survive and grow stronger, a pair of eyes watched from the shadows.

On top of the mound of stacked dried flesh that was unused, a rat observed the human with beady little eyes. The increase in Mana usage led the creature to the location. The smell of the Elixers in the bowls made it forget all about the danger of what humans bring.

Having escaped a much larger and more dangerous predator in the tunnels a few days ago, the Rat was looking for an exit before running into this development. Time was running out, however the little varmint thought.

*Squeak squeak!* A look back, and the Rat rather take its chance with a human. Hiding away in a small rack. Best to wait for a chance for the door to open. Or if the predator came, leaving the human to buy a few seconds for it to escape.

Far down the tunnels of the Dungeon, a fight picked up once more between a Cultivator and multiple Mana Beasts. Yet only a few small vibrations and screams made it to William. Who couldn't even pick it up with his current task taking his attention away.

Another Day passed as William continued to cultivate his Body and make improvements.

The continuous pressure on his Body finally reaches the Breakthrough point. All the energy Gathered by his Blood from the elixirs and training solidified. Inside himself, A dark Red Pillar formed.

Knowledge System: The upgrade to the Body Pillar Realm Rank I. Overall increase in Blood Energy. Storage Capacity increased by 1 Terrabyte. Transmitting energy and data from one area to another increases. 

"Excellent!" William reached his hand out trying to create a sword. "I can do it.. just need to push!" His understanding of the sword was high already thanks to watching so many others go at its practice as well as the constant sparring he had. Not to mention the blood flow allows him to think clearer. "With my knowledge.. I can not fail!"

*Schlick!* As the sword formed out of blood energy his palms cut open as Blood went out combining with he sword.

Knowledge System: Successfully went from Sword Intent (Pillar) Rank XII to Sword Manifestation  (Realization) Rank I. Increase to Blood Energy. Increase to Mental Energy. Increase to Soul Energy.

A price needed to be paid for doing this. 

"Kuh!" William spat up black Blood shaking a little. He pushed himself to hard and received a terrible backlash. The Black Blood burn into mist on the spot, with the mist getting pulled away into the darkness of the Dungeon. "Ok.. so there is something going on back that way."

His swordwork was way above that of his Body, Mind, and Soul. A good edge for dealing with the enemy now but also something to shock people. It was not unheard of for people to gifted pers se in the ways of weapons, but William was still a recovering Mental Wreck.

Countless cuts passed through his Body out of control. A fight to control the sword energy and bring it under his control was the key to surviving as well as making it easy to take others out. If he had this before when fighting against the other Teachers before in the Life or Death Arena, the damage done to them would be at least 3x as much.

"Pillar Rank I in the Body. Sword Realization Rank I..." Grasping for his life, William couldn't enjoy the power increase due to his senses going haywire. A bit of paranoia from blood loss and maybe a possible fever developing. ".. I can't lose consciousness.. not now!"

Knowledge System: Overheating of CPU, entering Sleep Mode...

A safety feature in his laptop to prevent data loss was now working against him. William felt his Mind become fuzzy and eyesight dim. His lungs expanded within his chest cavity. With a deep breath and a loss of breath, it was over.

The Rat moved about, thinking the human was dead due to the lack of breath scurried about. He was biting a piece of his flesh before moving to one of the bowls and consuming a small remnant of the elixer.

*Squeak!* The Rat was not as lucky despite being a Mana Beast. It overheated and passed out within moments of consumption. 

Sometime later as the two were dead to the surroundings, A creature skulked through dragging chains about that formerly restrained it. Sniffing the air and nudging against the mound of dried flesh in disgust.

The bodies toppled down, burying both William and the Rat. Another scent caught the free Mana Beast nose. However, the flesh masked it enough that it became disgusted when it searched the hand of William that stuck out.

"Grooo.." Disgusted, the Mana Beast moved to the door and pushed against it. With a repelling force, it was sent back flying into the darkness it came from. "...Arrrooooo!" 

It's pained howl from the Sealing Glyph echoed in the Dungeon scaring other inhabitants on the different floors. Which worked in William's favor as the Mana Beasts fighting against Adjudicator's Hareem turned away from him.

"What's this?" Grateful for the chance to catch his breath once more, the military man did not pursue when they took off in a feverish hunt. "To be pushed this far... what a disgrace."

Quantity had beaten him down over the days. Not to mention the lack of resources left to allow him to push onward. 

One thing that kept the Abjudicator doing below was the fact he found evidence that the Akademy had secrets that the Kingdom was looking for. Ties to the Royal Family and a Crypt that housed a "Pyramid" deep within.

'I need to head out and speak with my sister at once, she cannot risk her position undercover in the slightest.' Recuperating enough to run, the last of his resources were consumed to allow ample body movement. "Haaa..."

Exhaling a breath of turbid air, a wave of green Mana wrapped around the feet and back of the Adjudicator. With a speed that defines the movement of a normal man, he shot through the tunnels leading to the entrance located in haste.

Sonic booms caused the tunnels that needed maintenance to cave in. Both good and bad in some places. The Dungeon shook causing the Faculty to pay a little more attention to the place and a very foolish Warden on duty to act.

*Crash!* A wall collapsed only a few 1000 feet from William. Trapping the freed Mana Beast and the creatures it was now fighting in the same room as him. Injured, both parties attacked with abandon as the place came down around them.

"Ughh..." William woke up sometime later and the Rat as well. "..need water.. like really bad." Pushing the dried carcass away and a few pieces of stone was easy. "Shit.. a cave in? Or... something else?"

Confused, he looked around but felt sluggish still. Close to a computer restarting for the first time in months. Senses were sluggish, and neuroreceptors were misfiring as he stumbled.

"No.. no.. no.. this is not right.." William was able to confirm his Body responded faster than before. The thought of moving a finger or taking a step happens just fast enough to cause a problem. "My Mind can't keep up with my Body! What kind of nonsense is this!?"

The only way he could think of to boost his Mind was to train it further. Which meant more backlash but to his mentality instead. Mental exercises were hard to do without water, and he had to keep a lookout for any possible future collapses in the place.

'Try a little more to get intuned with myself, then I search for some type of water. Can't push my Body anymore since it will make me sweat. That and Blood is not a good substitute.' Thinking of the formula discovered, it was a bit odd it was here even though he only found it because of the Scanner in his Eyes. 'I doubt someone is trying to help me by sending me here... it just wouldn't fit with everything going on.'

*Woom! Woom!* A wave of purple mana eeked in the surroundings more than before. Slight traces of laughter could be heard all over, but it still did nothing to William besides forcing him to think further on the situation.

The Dungeon was meant to break him down but the person who arranged it messed up. William didn't become depressed due to having the chance to do Archeological Studies.

His Senses were honed due to years of focusing on hard work and even improved from training in the military further in these types of conditions. Not as many bodies mind you, since they tended to move pass those quickly.

The lack of food was troublesome, but he didn't lose out with the... remains to boost his strength and the few herbs he had in his storage.

*Squeak! Squeak!* The Rat fussed about sensing a Mana Beast coming towards the location it hid. Running out of its hole, it moved further back and closer to the door. The brief pass by William caused a reaction.

"Hmm?" One eye opened as William saw the mana beasts. They were bleeding heavily with deep wounds all over. "Not clotted yet.. that can't be good." The cuts were not from fallen debris and looked like heavy marks against the flesh from a blunt item. "Just needed a few hours to get there if I pushed hard!"

With no escape, William would have to fight with a confused body that responded out of synch with his thoughts. Hopefully, they would faint from blood loss first. But luck was not that good at all.

A few more eyes could be seen moving in the back. William felt fear creeping up on him but it was shook off to keep from dying. His eyes darted about not finding a single place to get out of jump range.

Not even a collapsed wall that left an opening to slip into. What a shitty collapse of a place.