Master Of None

Chapter 2181  2181. What is Death?

With so many manas spread through these odd separated boundaries, Walker felt that it could overwhelm his senses. Yet, he found that they weren't more like the mana was welcoming him now. Even though they were chaotic in some instances, the manas that were denser and calmer were taming those more chaotic manas. It gave Walker a clear understanding of how the elemental panes may have formed over years and years of this. The dense manas might be chapotic and unbalanced outside of the elemental planes. Especially outside of the world where the bridges to the elemental planes were not. That was just their form when they lacked a balance and could only clash with one another. Nothing was stopping them from acting in this way. However, since the density and purity of the elemental planes was greater, they forced the manas to conform in a way. More like they had a weight which attracted the chaotic manas of like form to them and repelled their opposites. In places where those manas were unable to change from to match the plane, it became a boundary or a new elemental plane entirely. This meant that the more elemental planes overlapped, the more that they formed unique elemental planes instead of just a boundary. Iut made Walker understand that there could be a boundary that expanded in to a full elemental plane completely unique within itself. An interesting thought. What really got to him was that all this happened for thousands, if not hundreds of thousands or more years. This was just how everything appeared to exist. When that thought came to mind, there was a humming. Or maybe it was a buzzing. Walker wasn't sure, but he felt his entire self had just resonated with something he couldn't sense. Something that he was still unknowingly in contact with. That thought and feeling was fleeting, for the moment, Walker had to focus on the life mana which he had just sensed much better than what he had been feeling a split second ago. The life mana was what he needed so that he and the party could be safe. When he looked around them, he found that small strands, smaller than hairs of life mana had naturally flowed near them. This was because everyone within the party had a strong life mana within them due to their bonds, growth, and general fact that they wer younger than what many of their strength would be. Even Walker was sure that his strength and eclipsed that of what he had before he had regressed due to the skill he used against the demon lord. All because he had understood who he was and the race he had become. Mana itself was experience to him. The world had also returned to as it should have been. Making the actions he did become experience properly instead of requiring certain quests or whatnot. He could gain strength much more easily as a jack of all trades. The life mana moved around them and was easily pulled towards their bodies. But Walker noticed that it was just absorbing in to them without causing a single reaction. The focus of the group was resting a little while they waited for Walker to buff them properly against death elemental plane and death mana. When he grasped at these tiny threads of life mana, walker felt that they were coming toward their bodies because they had life mana, but also because they were in need of it due to the denser death mana nearby. Life moved in a way of balance. And since life was a large overarching concept just like death, it made sure to balance itself properly. As such, Walker felt that a theory related to life stopping death mana from killing them prematurely was somewhat correct. While not provable, he had a sense that life and death had their own rules and balances beyond his understanding. He had heard and learned that laws of manas might exist. Something that was a foreign concept to him. Right now though, he felt that this was very true. The connection to life mana allowed him a connection to the others in a new way though. He couldn't pull away at their life mana or anything exceptionally dangerous like that. But Walker was reminded of the feeling he had when he spurred his own life mana to act. He did the same right now. He channeled his own mana and life mana to become more active. He had learned this when he learned the life healing skill so it was faster using this newer method. In turn, everyone else gasped and opened their eyes feeling a new flow of energy. Midnight also saw that the scale she had given to the poison dragon had healed and a new scale had taken the place where the one she took was missing. Walker had managed to buff them so to speak. Given them a better healing and resistance. "I don't think I can maintain this constantly, but you should all feel enough to get you through. The immortal king should be ahead, we just ended to make sure that we are conscious of what we feel at all times. Anything that feels off, you retreat with or without everyone else. Is that understood?"

There was no going against what Walker said. They were heroes, yes, but dying while forcing themselves forward would leave their legacy as nothing but a foolish death where they did not take in to account their own well being. All the work they could do would be lost. Not to mention that they would not succeed in defeating the immortal king. As they all felt the higher energy within them, they did not hesitate to take positions to move forward. Su took her normal position at the font while Midnight and Remey took the sides. Onyx remained on Walker's shoulder with his head turned to watch their backs. Gil next to Walker to fight from range using his arrows. Walker would be their magic attacker along with also keeping his appraisals ready to give them the edge in battle. They had used this formation so many times that it was natural to them. It made them better in every single fight. That was how a well trained team could work. They trusted one another with their roles and their lives. The death elemental plane felt odd. Not warm, but not frigid as they thought it might be. There were strange whispers. More like unintelligible voices speaking from the depths of mist. Shapes formed out of manas before dissipating. Nothing real, but just like moving clouds.

Walking was odd as well. They were not on solid ground, but more so moving through the concept of solid ground. Or at least that was what Walker could describe it as. It was the best way to make sense of how they were walking through it. This elemental plane proved to be barren and very full at the same time. It was only a moment before they saw what could have been a tree, but the tree was changing. It was more like they had watched it turn from young to old and fade away before they reached it. "This entire place feels like an illusion, but we aren't actually hallucinating." Gil's feeling was spot on since he was so used to using his keen eyes to help the party spot different things here and there. "You say that, but what about the grass and other herbs at our feet? They are here but then they aren't. It's frustrating." Remey pointed at a shape of what could only be a small mushroom, but before she could reach down, it had turned to mana and disappeared. "They aren't illusions though. It's just that the entire death plane is unique. It's hard to grasp. Hard to understand." Walker had some more understanding than the others. So did midnight. The two reached down and grasped at what the others saw as nothing. But when Midnight moved her claw and Walker moved his hand, they had both grabbed gray grass leaves and shown them to Remey. "It's called wilting grass. It absorbs death mana causing everything enable it to die. But it can be used to clean an area of even the smallest living things. Basically, it will purify a cauldron in a way that you can't do normally. Especially if you aren't able to use heat to do it." Walker would record the information for Remey later. But he clearly understood now. The death elemental plane required you to understand it better to influence it. The herbs, the plants, and surely the beings here were complicated. They could not be interacted with unless they were understood. So while the manas shifted, Walker and Midnight would be the best guides there were when it came to the party.  .… Nôv(el)B\\jnn

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