CHAPTER 77: MANA QUALITY

The Facility’s building eventually gave out. Cracks led to more cracks, pillars groaned under immense pressure, and the entire structure came down crumbling with tremendous force. Dust and debris immediately filled the air, creating a choking cloud that obscured everything.

Outside, Amira stood beside the van, waiting for Kevin’s arrival with such eagerness that she prayed in her heart that he and the second set of victims they had gone to rescue would make it out of the slowly crumbling building. Minutes felt like they stretched for hours, though in reality they didn’t, she was simply anxious.

Kevin’s tracking device had also stopped showing up on the scanner that their chaperone, who was also the van driver, held and monitored. And then it happened. The building crumbled fully, but there was no sign of Kevin.

Amira gritted her teeth in pain, yelling, "Fuck!" and was about to step into the van when the driver noticed something in his rear-view mirror. "Isn’t that—" the driver began, narrowing his eyes as he peered through the mirror.

Before he could complete his sentence, Amira had halted her nearly completed entry into the van, stepping back out and watching as a group of figures walked behind Kevin in the distance. "Oh, thank God!" she exclaimed, heaving a sigh of relief as she held her chest.

...

Back at the field, Liam stepped out of the rubble slowly, both hands in his pockets. The stream of notifications was nearly unbearable.

[You have leveled up]

[You have leveled up]

[You have leveled up]... This particular message popped up over ten times in a row, and when it finally ended:

[Nega-Fusion Active → Soul Absorption complete]

[You have gained a new skill]

[You have gained a new skill]

[You have gained a new class skill]

[You defeated a peculiar enemy, system has awarded you two Mystery Boxes]

[Skill upgrade token available]

[Skill upgrade token available]

[+25 available stats point]

"You never cease to amaze me," Liam said, as though talking to the system. Inwardly, he was excited, but at the same time he was slowly getting used to the feeling. However, it made sense why there were so many rewards from killing one enemy—it was because Helda had been a demigod, and just like in every game, the stronger and better the enemy you defeated, the better your rewards.

That was when Nacht, Quinn, and Jin approached him. Soon after Zebelon’s death, the trio had wasted no time heading toward the main building. Then they had heard the roar from Liam’s direction, and for a second they couldn’t move for some reason and even Nacht felt the effect briefly.

That mana quality of a god; they had felt it emanating from where Liam battled for just a moment. Then it dispersed, and after looking at each other in confusion, having all felt the same thing, the building they were proceeding toward crashed down.

"What was that just now? Just before this building went down," Nacht asked straightforwardly, directing his question to Liam. Everyone else wanted to know as well, they had all heard it, and to be honest, Liam wanted to know too.

For a second, it had felt like he was a different person altogether. He remembered that twice before he had felt this different energy. The first time was when he awakened the system, and the second was when he killed Ray. He had never thought too much about it until after his battle with Helda.

"Frankly, I don’t know either," Liam answered. There was no point hiding the fact that it had come from him at this point.

"There was no mistaking it. We all felt the same thing, and it came from the direction where you battled Helda," Nacht pressed on. He was certain he knew what he had felt—him more than anyone there would know.

Then Quinn chimed in, "At least the Director’s and Lucien’s suspicions have been confirmed."

"What do you mean?" Nacht said, turning toward Quinn hastily, looking even more confused.

Quinn sighed. Well, Nacht was a trusted ally; so he might as well know what it possibly was too. "Well, Liam right here is a demigod."

Nacht was startled by the discovery, and Jin was shocked entirely. It finally made sense where Liam’s feats in Detroit had been coming from—he was a demigod all along.

Liam just shook his head resignedly, saying nothing and letting Quinn handle it.

"Hmm." Nacht looked at Liam again, especially since he had never heard of him before until recently. "From what family?" But before anyone could answer, he continued, "Even if you were a demigod, that mana quality felt like a family head’s, not a demigod’s. Perhaps you use an item given to you by your family’s head himself?"

"Uhh..." Liam started, looking for a way to continue, then Quinn stepped in again, helping Liam out of his tough spot. "Faction President Nacht, there are things you must understand that we don’t have the directives to speak on." She bowed slightly. "Your questions are best answered by the Director."

Nacht sighed, understanding the need to not break ranks easily, especially for agents of USOV. He simply said, "Okay," then turned around, making his way out. Jin followed behind him, and Quinn gave one look at Liam, nodding affirmatively with a smile on her face before following behind the others.

Liam heaved a sigh of relief, scratching his head, then followed behind the team. That was such a save by Quinn, especially as he couldn’t handle awkward situations.

Mana quality was the distinction in a person’s mana—the way to identify the level of visors or to know the caliber of person before you. Even between a demigod and human visor of the same level, the mana quality of a demigod was still distinct. In the presence of a human, the demigod automatically commanded respect and intimidation, but nothing more.

Against a god, however, it was a sensation one’s mind would never be able to fully comprehend or process, so you instinctively averted your eyes.

As they walked, Nacht suddenly asked Quinn, "And the victims?" "They’ve all been rescued," Quinn confirmed, having verified that fact earlier. Nacht nodded affirmatively. This had been entirely a win for them, with no casualties.