LEVEL UP LEGACY

Chapter 1413: Mana-Deprived World

As the comfort of sleep peeled off like a warm blanket, Diana began to open her eyes. Her eyes were still hazy as she tried to push the ground, only for her hands to sink into what seemed like muddy ground. She looked around, her face covered with mud and blood, looking for answers.

"We were… attacked," she muttered with a frown. "Many of them died on the spot… but what happened after that? I remember seeing a great light like the sun before my body stopped responding."

Diana looked around, seeing herself on the edge of a dark swamp. Her body was half-sinking into the muddy ground that lacked the support a normal one would provide. The edge was connected to a pool of dark water that absorbed all light.

"Light?" muttered Diana as she stared at the sky. Blood-colored clouds filled the sky above her, partially blocking a black sun. The colors in this world seemed reversed, as the sky looked to be ashen instead of blue. "Where am I? And where are the rest?"

Diana tried to rise, dragging her body out from the muddy ground and backing away from the edge. She tried looking behind her, only to find black sandy dunes. The lack of light and landscape prevented her from seeing beyond them.

An image appeared in her mind, like a flash of light. She remembered something emerging from the dark forest – a figure shrouded in darkness. He was in the center of the howling monsters, each touch bringing ruin.

"He did something else…" Diana muttered as she touched her forehead. "I remember how he grabbed one of the elves and began using her abilities."

It was a chilling sensation as the elf lost her abilities and had nothing to defend herself. The monsters tore her apart before the group could even react. They tried to fight him, but he fought like…

"He fought like Arthur does with his runes," Diana said with a sigh. "Did he steal all those abilities like he did with the elf?"

There was no answer to her question just by standing around and thinking about it. Diana sighed and began walking toward an unknown destination. As she tried to cut through the desert, she noted several observations.

"My abilities don't work in this place," she said while raising her hands. "Did he steal them, or is this place just a natural ability-blocker?"

After some more experiments, Diana understood the reason behind it. Mana did not exist in this place. It was a mana-deprived world where no abilities could be used. Unless an ability did not need mana, it would not activate.

Spiritual energy could be used in this place because it stemmed from Diana herself instead of outside sources. Although her body naturally had mana stored inside her mana-essence, it seemed like it would vanish the moment she tried to take it out.

"Mana is unreliable, just like how Arthur said it would be," Diana muttered to herself as she trudged over the sand. "How big is this place?"

The desert was gigantic and endless. Diana kept walking as she experimented with her spiritual energy. After being fed up, she began attempting something different. Spiritual energy was an extension of her soul, and she had more than enough to use it.

Her spiritual energy spread out in different directions. It was a crude exertion of her will, nothing more. Arthur had better control of his energy, but Diana never thought she would need it. Once again, he was right.

"This is fine for now," Diana said with a frown as she closed her eyes to focus on things touching her energy. The landscape appeared in her mind, like a real-time image. She felt everything her spiritual energy touched.

Diana felt the harsh grains of sand grating against each other, the still air resting atop the dunes, and the rising hills of the desert. She looked for something – anything – that would give her a clue about this place.

The first attempt yielded nothing, and Diana had to keep moving and do the same thing to expand her search. It was in her fourth attempt that she found something: a small hole hidden behind one of the dunes – a cave that could barely fit a person inside.

Diana made her way toward the cave and used her spiritual energy to look inside. It was small, barely allowing a person to go inside, and did not extend far. The walls seemed like hardened sand instead of rocks, which scared Diana that it would crumble.

"There is something inside," Diana muttered as she opened her eyes. A small item inside the cave seemed to react to her spiritual energy touching it. It absorbed her energy, making it impossible for Diana to understand what it was. She crawled inside to find it.

The small cave had nothing, like she had sensed with her spiritual energy. The darkness did not hinder her from reaching the end. Diana reached out toward the thing that absorbed her spiritual energy and felt its rough surface, telling her it was some sort of stone.

Diana took the item outside, allowing the dim light from the black sun to reveal what it was. As she studied it, she found that it was a small statue, arm-length, of an owl. Its eyes were not stone but green rubies.

"Did this statue absorb my spiritual energy?" Diana muttered as she placed her hand on its surface and began infusing it with her energy. It absorbed her energy like a sponge, but nothing happened. "Does it need more?"

Diana didn't hold back and used her spiritual energy to feed the statue. Although she doubted this would benefit her, she realized that it was better than aimlessly wandering around the desert.

Zngg!

The statue let out a soft hum as the green rubies began shining with green light. Diana let go of the statue, which rolled down on the ashen sand until it stopped. It kept vibrating while the green eyes began changing until they started to move.

Diana crouched to look at the statue after realizing that it didn't move even after the change. She looked at the eyes that wandered around. Then, she reached out and picked up the statue before letting it look at her.

"What are you?" Diana asked with a frown.

"Are you the person who fed me?" asked the owl, its green eyes examining her. "I am the Spirit of Knowledge. Who are you?"

"You can talk," Diana was surprised as she blinked at the statue. "My name is Dia, a demi-human. You said you were a spirit? You don't look like one," she said with doubt. "I've met spirits before."

"That's because I have been sealed in stone," the voice answered. It was feminine but old. The voice didn't have a physical aspect but a spiritual one. Diana heard it appear directly in her mind. "What are you doing here?"

"I was brought to this place against my will, and I have yet to find an exit," Diana said with a frown as she placed the statue on the sand and sat down in front of it. "Can you help me find an exit?"

"There is no exit from this place," the spirit said. "What brought you to this place?"

"A man shrouded in darkness and death," Diana answered with a frown. "What do you mean there is no exit?"

"This world was built by that man," the spirit answered. "He captured many spirits and brought us to this world. He used us for his experiments – a horror unimaginable to our kind."

"What did he do?" asked Diana with an uneasy frown.

"After capturing many of us, he began experimenting with how to… steal our essences," the voice answered in her mind. "I was another one of his subjects."

"Did you become a statue then?"

"A side effect of our essences being stolen," said the spirit. "But he could not steal everything. He stole our sigils but not our very existence, and we turned to stone. You must flee this place before he finds you."

"Is he looking for me?" asked Diana with a frown.

"This world is separate from yours and separate from the Spirit Realm," the Spirit of Knowledge said. "It exists between worlds, not adhering to the rules of others. You were dragged into this place against your will, but he could not decide where you would appear. Therefore, he must hunt you down and steal your essence. He leads an army of creatures that devour everything."

"Does that mean he is chasing the others now?" asked Diana with a frown. "How am I supposed to fight him with no mana?"

"Mana doesn't exist in this place. This world is not physical, but it's also not spiritual. You have spiritual energy, right? I can teach you how to use it before they arrive… but we must flee now."

"Why do we have to flee? We still have time before they find us," Diana asked with a frown. "We can hide in that cave for now."

"You don't understand," the statue said with an urgent voice. "You shone like a beacon in this desolate place when you used Spiritual Energy! You must leave this place, now!"

Diana began growing uneasy as a low rumble reached her ears. She snapped her neck to the side and looked at the blood-colored clouds. Something was coming from between them, far in the horizon.

"…his army is here."

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!