Shadow of the Abyss

Flames, the color of a vibrant jade, painted the night skies in a whirlwind of everlasting light, folding into itself into what seemed like a pillar of hellfire and brimstone, expanding over the slave quarters: Stones began to melt as if touched by magma, grass began to wilt, and trees began to burn, as did those resting beath the moon, carrying with it the screams of the slaves.

"What's going on?" Altair asked, staring up at the emerald skies. A curious expression was prest as he turned to Tebrae standing beside him on the porch. He noted the hard line of her tder jaw and glanced up at the pillar of flames in a guarded manner.

"Danger," Tebrae replied after a momt of silce. "Or perhaps opportunity." She turned to him, "Can't sleep?"

Altair chuckled wryly " Well… After Awaking, I was tired but not anymore… the momt the sun fell, I felt awake. I hope I don't have insomnia."

"Oh, I wouldn't worry about it. I like spding my days during the night anyway. It's peaceful beath the moon." Tebrae softly explained, rustling his hair.

"I feel weird though…." He replied.

"Wierd, how?"

He shook his head, lifting his gaze to the night. " I… I don't know how to explain it. I think it has something to do with the Heart of Darkness Skill. But it's hard to describe."

"Oh? Isn't it just a defsive— Wait. Heart of Darkness?" Tebrae said, lifting a brow. She'd never heard of such a skill. At least not by those touched by Darkness like Altair.

"It says N/A," Altair interrupted, gazing at the moon's soft ethereal glow. He closed his eyes, almost as if he could feel the moon's transcdce against his skin.

'So not ev the system can describe it?' Tebrae thought, curious regarding the nature of what her child had be gifted: 'The system must have discovered the name of the skill but couldn't comprehd its nature. Was such a thing possible for a child? No, age isn't a factor. It never is. It's… his blood. It must be a combination of Abyssal and Myriad.'

"Alt, tell me what you know about Mana?" Tebrae said after a momt of deliberating silce, she got a grip on her turbult emotions.

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"Nothing, really," The Prince said, oping his gaze to the tranquil moon, a sse of peace in his eyes. He turned to his mother. "Magister Illyo speaks of it but… I get he doesn't understand it. Not really, at least. It seems like—"

"His words are empty?" Tebrae finished. " Well, you ar't wrong. Th let Mother teach you what Mana is. Mana is the knowledge of the Elemts, the Knowledge of Concepts, the Knowledge of their existce." She raised a finger, and a node of Mana within the air gathered, intsifying until it wasn't visible within the Astral Plane but the material one.

Light glimmered as an orb appeared, nearly similar to water in how it oscillated beath Tebrae's control. "From that Knowledge comes the history of the Heavs that is kept within the Mana, hidd in plain sight. But obscured by the limitation of the mind."

'Knowledge,' he thought.

"The Mana stat you hold is the key to unlocking knowledge." Tebrae continued. " As you may know, the Mana stat represts the destructive Power of your Mana. How heavy it is, in a sse. But the price of improving that stat makes it nearly impossible to gather and refine Mana within your body.

That said, the more you improve your Circles, the smaller your Mana pool will be wh you increase the Mana stat. That's what we call equivalt and Exchange. A fundamtal concept."

"Th.. how does one improve if you both gain and lose process."Altair couldn't help but ask.

"To put it simply, the Mana Stat raises the quality for the price of quantity. The higher the quality, the more Mana is required. Meaning. You might need to put in t times more effort than the average person. Possibly a hundred. But don't worry.

Mama will help her bestest baby out: What I'm about to give you, Altair, is a technique I created called the Infinity Circle." Her fingers swirled in a perfect circle as Mana trailed her finger, "What you see here is a circle created by mana."

Altair nodded, staring punitively at the Magical Circle at the tip of Te's slder fingers. And slowly, the Infinity Circle began to spin as the Mana a the forest huddled towards the Circle. Like an empty abyss, the Infinity Circle devoured the Mana growing brighter with each passing second.

Sweat trailed Altair's brow as he felt his body grow heavy, nearly sinking as a heavy weight pressed over his shoulders. His chest hammered as he found himself out of breath. The Mana dsity a him grew so intse that the sounds of his bones began to tremble.

"I'm sure you can't understand it. But this Circle is in a perpetual state. Meaning. It shall spin for all eternity, growing stronger and stronger ev if the uses are useless." Tebrae coldly said. "Each day, the Infinity Circle will require you to feed it Mana Stones or similar resources or devour ough Mana from the atmosphere."

Altair gulped but spoke, unsure why he felt the need to ask, but the words echoed regardless: "And if I don't meet the requiremts?"

"It'll eat you up," Tebrae said coldly. "As I said, it's in a perpetual state of motion. And it only has one function. Devour. Ev if that means feasting on itself. You'll not need to worry about feeding within a dungeon since they have a high mana dsity, but on Earth and withered planets, you'll have to be extra cautious."

"What happs wh… Wh I reach the peak, th?" The prince asked. A question many would scuff had they heard. "How do I control the Infinity Circle?"

Tebrae's grin turned macing. "I have the answer… But I'm not going to tell you. You're a man now. An Awaked. You're going to have to make a choice. Will you risk your life, or will you seek fortune elsewhere?" She stared into the boy's eyes, quickly finding something odd.

She could see anxiety, doubt, hesitation, but… there was no fear. No inkling of dread.

There was only a devouring light within his obsidian eyes, leaving bearly room for the concept of fear.

"Th… I… "Altair pondered for a bit longer. His face focused on the Circle. "I accept. I want it… Can you teach me!"

"The Infinity Circle can't be taught, only giv." She told him, peering deep into her child. Through the outer tissue of flesh, to the flowing of his blood, to the sheets of pristine bones, to the core of his very being.

And thought: His skin isn't growing red, and his meridians are also empty of Mana despite so much suring him, yet it's also being devoured. It would seem giving him this Circle was the right decision. What a strange physique. Where is all that Mana going? But a bigger question is why he can't sse Mana yet. It should have be innate.

Tebrae narrowed her eyes, suspicion writt on her face betrayed with a hint of worry. She dismissed the Infinity Circle, calming the Mana within the air. And smiled.

"Your big sister, Luna, will be visiting either tonight or tomorrow morning. She's a lost soul, so it's hard to tell. But she will take over your training from here on out before we pass you on to your True Master."

"EHHH!! I have a big sister!" The boy shouted, his breathing returning to normal. But the blame in his vibrant obsidian eyes burning with betrayal. ' You never told me that! And what's this about a Master!"

"Well… not by blood. But you've got a lot of brothers and sisters." Tebrae muttered, scratching her cheek. " I forgot to tell you, oops. My bad." And th she grinned, a mischievous glow in her eyes. " But I'm sure you'll like Luna. She's a very lovely daughter.

Play your cards right, and I'll give her to you."

"And wh have I ever be your's to offer as if I were some piece of meat? My Dear Mother?"