After the Third Limit Breakthrough Update
After the third Limit Breakthrough update, the global mana reduction phenomenon recurred worldwide. I felt that same jarring incongruity from the dwindling mana once more.
It's definite. There has to be a passage somewhere where mana is leaking out.
The flow of mana draining from my body was steady and constant. Which meant there was an inflow passage somewhere, too.
"Hmm..."
I still couldn't pinpoint its exact location. But now, with my total mana reserves surging exponentially, its presence was sharpening into focus.
This has to be artificial. No other explanation fits.
I solidified the hypothesis I'd formed during the second update into certainty. Earth's mana density was thickening over time. Players and monsters alike were growing stronger as a result. World bosses probably followed the same pattern.
I pulled the guild together via the group chat—the first time since switching my profile pic to breadtteok.
Everyone's bodies now hosted stable mana. And the growth spurt dwarfed anything from the second update.
I left my phone alone for a bit and grabbed a chocolate from the kitchen.
Checking the chat, I furrowed my brow. What, did the whole group catch a virus or something?
Underground training ground. The first facility completed during Eterna HQ's expansion. It was called a training ground, but right now it was just a massive empty space.
We'd add player-specific gym equipment and facilities later. Not my concern at the moment.
Mana shields, shatter-proof barriers, sound-absorbing tiles—the latest in magitech. And now it was packed with what felt like thousands.
"..."
Every Eterna guild member had gathered. Not a single one missing.
Not surprising. The mana operation method I'd described earlier was like a pipe dream to them.
Of course it was chaos. Mana operation elevated humans to another level entirely—beyond mere players, into true transcendence. Free from system shackles, wielding power uniquely their own.
But I couldn't teach thousands one by one.
"Odd numbers, step back."
"Yes!"
The guild obeyed without question. If not one at a time, then all at once.
"Palms on the back of the person in front. Heart level. Last row, hands on the person beside you."
They hesitated at first, then placed hands on each other. Now they were linked as one.
"Feel it now."
I placed both palms on Tier's back at the front of the line.
...Our heights match, so it's comfy.
"The mana flow circulating through your body."
With those words, I infused power.
Hummm—
Mana boiled up from my dantian, refined through my heart, and coursed pure through my body. It flowed to my palms, into the next person's heart, circulating endlessly. Person after person. A boundless torrent, chaining through thousands of bodies like a river born from the sea.
"Th-this is the mana flow?"
"Sertina! Something's moving inside me!"
"If I just remember this flow, I could do it myself...?"
Right. A basic technique anyone could mimic. Odd if you had mana and couldn't.
As long as you knew the sequence.
"Memorize this flow. It's the foundation of mana operation."
"Yes!"
Even in Pandela, few truly mastered mana. Most butchered it, squeezing raw power inefficiently—like burning crude oil straight from the well.
But this? Centuries of refining the method handed down from the Voice. No superhuman I'd seen came close.
And now, I was passing it to them.
At this level, it'd be worth a kingdom in Pandela.
But I'm not petty. Charging for basics isn't my style. Magic tower fossils haggled peasants for pocket change over trash spells.
A puff of breath could snuff it, and they want ten gold? Peasants slave a year for one.
Anyway. This was my dream in motion. When the day came that believers gathered around me, I'd teach them everything.
"Whoa... Sertina, this is incredible!"
"I can use mana without skills!"
One cycle complete, they gazed at me with awe. They'd felt it—the shift in their power's nature and tier.
"Feel stronger?"
"Yes!"
"Totally different dimension!"
"Not done yet."
I layered new forms atop the base flow. Efficiency raised, now application.
Players stuck to jobs because mana attuned solely to them. But my method shattered that. Melee-focused power could shift to ranged, magic to defense—fluid, willful transformation.
Time to teach exploitation.
"Feel the flow. Etch it in your mind."
I injected knowledge equivalent to a basic grimoire—instant mastery of mansion-crushing spells.
With my guidance, natural.
What mentor spoon-feeds the incantation flows like this?
Elemental spells, body enhancement, mana barriers—priceless lore etched into their minds.
"Feels like blocked meridians just cleared."
"Power overflowing..."
"Ho, fascinating."
"With this, I could go infinite on a staff!"
Two hours of infusion done. I stepped back to observe.
"Now try. Basic fire-lighting first."
Tense, they swallowed, exchanged glances, raised fingers cautiously.
The air shifted. Over 2,000 guildmates refined their flows with precision—impossible mid-update otherwise.
I watched, arms crossed, satisfied.
"Quick learners."
Soon, over 2,000 guildmates hovered candle-flames on their fingertips before my eyes.