The Absolute: Humanity's Second Chance

He had a feeling that if there was, he would be the one to find with it again.

The duo then kept going deeper a deeper into the valley in silence. And the deeper they went, the darker their soroundings became.

It was becoming so dark, one could barely make out their visage. Flint could barely see Damien besides him, and was forced to light up a fireball just in case.

And deeper, they went. This continued for an hour or two, until they suddenly saw light at the deepest point of the valley. "Hm? It seems like the rumors were true."

"..."

Flint did not speak, and just prepared himself for battle. This was the deciding moment. He continously hoped that there was no beast or guardian here.

After a few minutes, the duo finally arrived at the deepest point. And from up close, the light covered hundreds of miles of range. It was bright, and beautiful.

"Wow..." Flint was amazed at the beauty of gold and white he was presented with. The best part was that the lights were bright, yet not that bright. At equilibrium on the spectrum.

And the white crystals growing out of the floor and the walls brought out more beauty. Then speak less of the golden plated floor, that had sparkles from time to time.

But there was more. There were fist sized marbles spread out within this place, adding more beauty to it. Everything was just beautiful.

But the most attractive spot, would be the central most area, where the light originated from. There, one could see a purely golden prism suspended in the air.

It rotated constantly, pumping out pure Mana to the soroundings without stop. Flint looked up, and felt his heart freeze at the sight.

"A Mana Heart." Damien commented from the side in wonder as well. This was a treasure even he felt was rare. He had found less than five in his previous timeline.

And now, the first one was right before him. And its size... was quite enormous. Maybe even the Divine Core of a God King could not reach this thing in value.

"It's empty." Damien thought in surprise. The fact that he was able to find this resource point was amazing. But the fact that it had no Guardian was even more.

"Yeah." Flint agreed. His nerves also relaxed, as his sight fell upon the numerous Mana resources. They were beautiful. He thought.

Damien then went ahead and first carefully scouted the place. It could be an illusion. Or a trap. But even after an hour of careful scrutinizing, everything was normal.

And with that being the case, he immediately jumped in and began collecting resources without a care. "Take 50% of whatever is here." And told Flint while he was at it.

Flint was overjoyed, but knew that he had no right. He forcefully tagged along, and was not invited. And unlike the previous treasure trove, where he fought the Realm Guardian, here, he had no reason to collect even a single crystal.

"No. It's alright. They are yours. You found them." Flint said modestly, with a smile. Damien did not say anything, and continously kept collecting resources.

His Void Keeper Unique artifact had a 10.000*10.000 square mile area. It was quite vast. Hence he could store everything here into it.

"..."

He continously kept collecting and once he reached 50%, he said, "There'll be more work for you in the future. Some without a pay. Hence if I were you, I'd take the chance to collect future due debt at every given moment."

After he said that, his speed increased and he collected whatever he found even faster. Flint was first shocked as he did not quite understand the statement.

But moments later, he realized that not every trouble they would come across, would have a reward like the Realm Guardian and the New Born Realm.

Hence at times like these, he should just collect whatever he could, so that in the future, he knew that he was not working for nothing.

Unfortunately by the time he came to that conclusion, only 40% of the resources were left. 'Holy shit, I gotta move. I gotta move as fast as I can.' He thought in dismay.

And using his full speed, he transformed into a fiery red light that traversed across the region. Damien also transformed into a grayish black light and did not show any humility.

Thus in mere seconds, Flint collected 27% of the overall resources, and Damien collected 73% of it all. And from his null expression, he did not seem one bit ashamed.

"I guess that is all." He said, now facing the tall and prism-like shining crystal at the center. The Mana Heart. And the source of all these resources they collected.

Flint also looked up and thought that, if he got his hands on this thing, he would not feel that bad from this overall deal. Unfortunately, Damien had other plans.

"Relinquish your right to fight for this thing, and I'll give your race a treasure of equivalent value in return. One suitable for your entire race." He said while staring at the Mana Heart.

Flint paused and thought about it. First, he was touched that Damien even had the thought that he had any rights to such a high treasure.

No, the fact that Damien even gave him anything at all, warmed his heart. Plus, he knew that Damien was knowledgeable about treasures. And thus he agreed. "...Deal."

Damien nodded, then faced the Mana Heart. Unlike the other treasures, this thing had a will. And it could protect itself, whereby not even gods could properly claim to be beyond it.

Hence he doubted whether he had any luck with it. Battling was out of the case. But then, he had no other solutions to solving this thing.

'But the fact that you let us take your resources, means you mean us no harm. Or am I wrong, little Heart?' He thought, and no responsive thoughts were reflected back at him.

「...」

The Mana Hrart just shone in intensity, then slowly, moved towards Damien. To be precise, it flew towards his heart.

The place that had Mana reserves billions of times higher than average Apprentices. The place were the Unique Breathing technique was mainly circulated from.

The deepest connection that bound him and Juliette through their 'marriage' contract. And who was Juliette? She was a prodigy of Mana.

And this bond between her am Damien, shared just a hint of that talent in Mana that she had. And that was enough to entice the Mana Heart into moving.

Another aspect was that, Damien was being followed around by someone breaking one of the important Universal Rules of Reality. Thus him having Infinite Mana.

All these were more than enough. Yet Damien was unaware. But he had his guesses as to why. 'This lass... bringing me surprise upon surprise. Can I consider this your dowry?'

He teased as he saw the Mana Heart shrink into a smaller size, then... sunk into his chest, like a knife cutting into butter. Simple and fluid.

Flint watched everything take place in amazement, as he could not believe his eyes. This actually happened? And who was Damien exactly?

Meanwhile, notifications upon notifications fell upon Damien's eyes, alerting him of a bond even gods would envy for a lifetime.

[ TING!!! ]

[ Congratulations!! You are the first to find a Realistic Grade Treasure. You have been awarded 1,000 units of Life Essence ]

[ You have bonded with the Realistic Treasure, "Mana Heart", and your innate Mana levels have expanded by a thousand times. Your Mana Veins are now purified to the highest degree, and can transmit endless Mana ]

[ NOTE: This might take time. And as time goes by, your Mana Reserves will expand, and your Mana Veins will be purified. Calculated time for completion may take up to 12 days from now ]

[ Due to owning such a rare treasure, you have innately grasped the natural AFFINITY of Mana. If strong enough (godly), can comprehend the illusory Universal Rule of ––– ]

[ Once bonding is complete, you can innately create Mana Essence, that carry the Reality Altering powers of turning/converting things into Mana related resources; Can generate 1 Mana Essence per day at your Rank. Or can convert a Trillion units of Mana into 1 Mana Essence ]

[ You have learned the "Philosophical Mana-Kinesis" Unique Technique ]

"..."

Damien was speechless. He was genuinely speechless once again. He now had three Unique Grade Techniques, that even Gods would probably lust over.

But that aside, how vast would his Mana Reserves reach after twelve days, when now, they were elevated by a thousand times? How pure would his Mana Veins be?

But most importantly, he could create Mana Essence? Like as in a type of Essence as well? Because as far as he knew, not even gods were privy at how to manipulate these Essences.

And he could mysteriously control Mana Essence? The very Essence that make up a large portion of Reality? The very Essence that could alter said Reality?

The type of Essence that transcended Energy principles? Where it cannot be created nor destroyed, but transformed from one form to another. That type of Essence?

He could not help but smile. A Daring smile that slightly charmed the staring Flint. 'Really... even if I did not have this great desire to take you all for myself, I think I still would have been obsessed with you. Juliette Silver.' He thought.