BXBX NOVEL Chapter 39: Tug Of War 2
This wasn't a physical battle, neither was it a fully mental one like the first attempt, this one was something on a whole other plane of existence and whatever represented him on that plane was just not strong enough to channel his will.
"Wait what of my mana."
Immediately this thought came to mind Blake searched for that one existence that despite not being physically present in his body was at the same time present in it and when he found it he used it to grab onto his soul and pull back, laughing internally as he with a bit of effort began winning the tug of war,
"Ehh mistress" the Blue-haired girl to the side muttered as both she and Kate noticed the change.
'Use the dungeon core" Kate said.
"Ahh, but that is several years' worth of secret accumulation..."
"We will use just a bit of it and I should be able to recover it in a few years " Kate barked bitterness clearly in her tone but a minute later, when the floor they were on had become swamped with so much mana that it's faint present could be seen, fear appeared in the eyes of both women as they found Balke still resisting.
"System put all 10000 sin points to my mana."
All throughout, from his battle with Grommash to his short exchange with Kate, Blake had been holding out on using any of his sin points to quickly bolster his strength, and it was because of his instincts.
Blake could not point out why, but back when he had been fighting Grommash, several times he had felt like making a heavy investment in either his strength or agility, but the feeling that such an investment would be pointless would always ring throughout his being.
Blake would feel like there was more to Grommash, like he hadn't seen the full extent of the trolls' strength, and the same thing applied to Kate.
Though Blake didn't have any sure proof and would have probably ignored his fears and buffed up his body attributes had he and Kate fought a tad bit longer, seeing that him putting more points into his mana was actually able to have an effect on the mysterious battle that he was having for his soul, Blake felt relieved and glad he had been patient.
Blake had been fiercely pulling his soul back from whatever had been trying to take it and rising to his feet, moving towards breaking out of whatever ritual Kate had performed to keep him on his knees when suddenly the forces acting against him had strengthened and he found himself back to square one, both his knees back on the floor and his shoulders being pressed down
"Yeah right, add all remaining points to mana," Blake said but this time, rather than burst out in strength with the new mana that had been added to him, he let things be as they were, allowing Kate and her sidekick believe he was now totally oppressed.
"Blake, though you couldn't have foreseen all of this happening and despite warnings had still taken Kate's threat level lightly, you have this one chance to save yourself from all this and live to see the next day.
Remember what you are fighting for, Mom and Dad are waiting for you, all those promises you made them, those promises that the cruel fate of life stopped you from being able to fulfil, you have a chance for them now as sure as hell there is no way you will let two bitches stop you from fulfilling your goal."
While the world was lost to his senses and all he could feel was pain and some stupid constant voice telling him to succumb, Blake comfortably took some time to speak to himself, reminding himself of what was at stake and then strengthening his will and conviction.
"It's kind of worrying that I don't feel panicked despite my current situation, but oh well, here goes nothing."
"Mistress, I can already imagine how awesome you would be once you get his blessing.
You will be able to move under the..."
The excited blue-haired girl had been chirping away when Kate suddenly raised a finger and without incidence, the blue-haired girl quietened watching her master take several steps towards the ritual rune she had drawn, standing just a step away from it and looking at Blake with shock and disbelief.
"Mistress what is it, is there a mistake with the rune" the blue-haired girl tentatively asked
"He has no mana core."
"Huh"
"I am connected to the seal and can feel it about to completely pull out his soul, but the thing now is that he has no mana core, he isn't a ranker," Kate said hysterically, her mind getting panicked at the what she was observing, unable to believe her senses.
"Does that mean he's a knight," the blue-haired woman asked, and for the first time in a while, Kate was reminded of a fear and suspicion she had once had towards Blake.
"No way he isn't a knight, even now I can still sense the sun god's blessing in him"
The second Kate said these words, there was an explosion of mana from Blake, and though the mana quantities weren't particularly shocking, the tenacity and power with which it burst out of him had the dungeon tremble for some seconds in agony like it was being bent against its will, and then to the shock of the two women it imbued a paralysing fear in them, fear that for some seconds made them unable to move a muscle.
With dread, both women watched Blake rapidly rise to his feet, a sword whose blade was immediately set ablaze appearing in his hand, but then just as Blake Leg's bent, looking to give him the strength to propel himself forward towards his two enemies and most importantly out of the ritual seal that had tormented him for the past minutes, the ritual rune backup mechanism was activated by a quick to recover Kate, four bloody pop sounds rang out and he was stopped in his tracks
"Thalia now, use all the dungeon mana" Kate screamed as Blake froze while standing and the fear which had paralysed her completely disappeared.
It had taken the actual immediate sacrifice of 4 human souls to stop Blake who had no mana core, and though Kate didn't understand how Blake could not have a mana core, what she did know was that she had gone and toyed with some unreasonable existence and she feared being consumed by it, if it somehow got loose.
Unfortunately for Kate, seconds after the floor they were in was baptized in mana, the mana being so thick that its dark-red nature became visible, even hampering visibility, Blake also grasped at whatever ropes he could find.
"Armour of hell"