The pocket chamber Hajime had picked for their rest was quiet in a way the abyss almost never was.
He had carved it out himself—smoothed walls, reinforced ceiling, floor transmuted flat and stable. A narrow, twisting tunnel led in, now laced with spikey traps, buried mines, and sensor strings that would ping the moment anything bigger than a rat came within range.
On one side, a low stone bench and a table jutted from the wall, both shaped by Transmute EX. On the other, Shtar shards from the scorpion guardian were stacked neatly, their black surfaces catching the faint glow from a few embedded crystals.
Hajime sat at the table, a chunk of Shtar in his hand, turning it over between his fingers. Infinite Resonance brushed across the ore's structure, tracing how mana hardened it, how it drank energy greedily and refused to let go. Ideas for what to make next simmered at the back of his mind.
Across from him, Yue sat close—closer than necessary—practically hanging from his back. She wore the simple pelt clothes in the form of female high school girls dress he'd thrown together earlier, bare feet lightly swinging above the floor. Every few minutes she flicked the astral dress on for a second, crimson starlight rippling across her frame, then let it fade again, testing its responsiveness.
She was calm.
Mostly.
The bond said otherwise.
A low, persistent tug scratched at the edge of his awareness from her side of the link. A sort of restless hunger, muted but constant, like a quiet knocking on a door.
Hajime kept turning the Shtar, watching her out of the corner of his eye.
Yue tried to sit responsibly for an entire three minutes. Then her fingers drifted up, brushing his sleeve. Her gaze, which had been on the ore a moment before, slid to his neck and stayed there just a little too long.
He sighed.
"Say it," he said.
Yue blinked, slow.
"…Nn?"
"That look," he said, tapping his neck. "You're thinking about my blood again, aren't you?"
She did an admirable job keeping her face composed. The bond betrayed her anyway—an embarrassed flicker, like crimson ink spreading through still water.
"I am… a little low," she admitted finally. "And your blood is… very efficient."
"Efficient," he repeated. "That what they're calling addiction these days?"
Her eyes narrowed in faint annoyance.
"Ambrosia-laden, magic reactor-charged blood is not something one can just forget," she said primly. "It is… troublesome."
Her fingers closed slightly on his sleeve.
Troublesome, huh. He remembers how she looks when she feeds.
Her pupils would dilated, just a fraction. When she swallowed, the motion of her throat was a little too deliberate.
Hajime set the Shtar shard down with a click.
"Blood Maniac," he muttered. "You know most people need therapy when the first thing they get addicted to after being freed from a three-hundred-year seal is their rescuer's circulatory system."
Yue's ears reddened slightly.
"…I am not addicted," she protested. Then ruined it by licking her lips. "I am simply… aware of quality."
"Right," he said. "You just happen to think about it every few minutes."
Her gaze slid away.
"…It tastes good," she said, almost sulky. "Rich. Like… the best soup."
"Pretty sure you just called my blood broth," he said. "But whatever. Come here."
Her eyes snapped to him, brightening.
"Really?"
"I need to see what Nexus Resonance does when we're not being stabbed at the same time," he said. "So yeah. Little test. Emphasis on little."
He tugged his collar aside to expose the familiar spot between shoulder and neck.
"Don't get greedy," he added. "I'd rather not pass out on my own deathtrap floor."
"…Nn."
Yue moved closer, knees brushing his thigh. One hand rested lightly over his heart reactor; the other steadied his shoulder.
For a moment, she just breathed in, eyes half-lidded. Giving his neck a lick.
Then her fangs slid in.
Pain flared for a heartbeat before dissolving into warmth. His Soul Reactor kicked up automatically to compensate.
Status windows flickered.
Nexus Overlap: Stable
Shared Mana Pool: +3% flow
Vitality Regeneration: Normal
Resonance smoothed—static thinning into a clean, steady waveform. Yue's heartbeat aligned with his in a manner more conceptual than physical.
Each swallow tugged mana from his core to hers, looped once, refined, and settled in their shared ocean.
Yue shivered faintly face flushing red.
Her earlier hunger melted into contentment… and something sharper. Satisfaction. Relief.
Embarrassment sparked behind it.
After ten seconds she pulled back. The punctures sealed instantly.
"…Full?" he asked.
She nodded, gaze lingering on his throat for a beat before she forced it away.
"…For now," she said. "It is unfair. Your blood is far too good."
"Complain to the reactor," he said. "It's the one remixing everything."
He leaned back.
"Anyway," he added. "Since your brain is functioning at something other than 'feed' again, you had questions, right?"
Yue tilted her head.
"…About your world?"
"Yeah."
He took a breath. " let's start with the basics"
"Earth doesn't have magic atleast not any I know of?, while there is mana energy in the air, I have never seen anyone use it. It's like normal humans don't even know that such energy exist around them. I only find out this energy existed a few years back through my resonance." he said.
"It's not like The mana here. Not like this. No status plates. No dungeons. No gods throwing people into holes for fun."
Yue frowned thoughtfully.
"No magic… and yet you have artifacts?"
"Technology," he corrected. "Machines. Tools. We pour knowledge and fuel into them instead of mana."
He shaped mana into crude floating diagrams—a car, an airplane, a skyline.
He also projected some simple gears and tools.
Yue watched with quiet wonder.
"No monsters?" she asked.
"Plenty. They just look like people and there was me i have always have had this power of resonance or atleast the sealed version of it. After forming my first Bond with you it unlocked fully"
Her lips twitched.
"And you… before all this?"
"Normal and Forgettable from other people perspective, due to some good investment our family was rich beyond measures. There were four of us, me and my sister and both our parents" he said.
"I was the normal guy in the class, with fewer than five friends, only two of them have suspicions about me being not normal"
He shrugged.
"This world changed me, no i should say it Awakened me," he added.
"The pendent you are wearing is it special?, it gives the feeling of your resonance pulsing"
She Asked.
"This little trinket?, it's a promise and assurance to one of my friends, she had a vision of me falling in the abyss and was to restless to get the rest her body needed" Hajime continued.
"This pendent has a simple purpose that is to send signals and these signal are connected to my heart Beats"
"She probably knows that I am still alive due to the pendant, she has the kind of stubborn personality that wouldn't give up once she sets a goal for herself."
"So right now she would probably be traning her ass off with another one of my friend who is also her best friend"
"But I will have to meet them before she ends up doing something stupid, after that find a way home."
"I'm going back. Doesn't matter what this world or its god wants. I'm going home."
The bond pulsed—his determination echoing between them.
Yue sensed it all: night city lights, a cluttered room, a blue sky without mana.
"…You miss them , your family and your world," she murmured.
"Not everything," he said. "But enough."
Silence followed.
Then Yue spoke again.
"And… my world? The one above."
Hajime's hand stilled.
He exhaled.
"In the castle library's records… your country isn't there anymore."
Yue's hands trembled.
"How long?"
"About three hundred years."
He continued evenly.
"The church called it a holy war. Said the vampire nation fell to corruption. Divine decree ordered a purge."
Yue sat still. Too still.
"Everyone I knew… turned into a footnote," she whispered. "Purged evil."
Her grief rolled off her in waves.
Hajime's jaw clenched.
He reached out and squeezed her hand.
"There's something I want to show you."
Yue looked up at Hajime, her crimson eyes curious.
"What is it?"
"I should've shown you sooner," he admitted.
"But it's important. I wanted the timing to be right. Sorry."
She studied his face for a moment, then nodded softly. "If you thought it was better to wait, then I don't mind."
Hajime smiled, leaned down, and pressed a light kiss into her golden hair. She stiffened at the sudden affection.
Then he reached into his Inventory and withdrew a small, clear crystal—no bigger than a golf ball.
It was the artifact he had recovered from the sealed chamber deep in the abyss. The place where Yue had once slept for centuries.
He placed it on his open palm.
Mana flowed.
The crystal glowed, and a moment later, a hologram flickered into existence between them.
As soon as the image stabilized, Yue gasped.
Her breath caught. Her eyes widened.
"Uncle…?"
Hajime said nothing. He wrapped an arm tightly around her shoulders. Yue clutched his free hand with both of hers, her grip trembling.
The man standing in the projection was unmistakable.
Dienleed Galdea Vesperitio Avatarl. Yue knew him well, to well.
"Aletia," the hologram said softly. "It's been a long time… longer than you can imagine."
His smile was sad, weighted with regret.
"You must hate me. No… hate probably isn't strong enough." He paused, then shook his head. "I had many words prepared, but now that I'm finally recording this, I find myself unsure how to say any of them."
He closed his eyes, took a breath, then opened them again—steadier.
"First, I should give thanks. Aletia, the person standing beside you now must be someone you trust with your life. Someone strong enough to reach the depths of the true Great Orcus Labyrinth. Someone who chose to protect you rather than flee from my guardian."
Yue's hands trembled harder. Hajime closed his eyes, bowing his head slightly, as if listening to a prayer.
Dienleed smiled faintly.
"To the one at her side—who are you? A man? A woman? A lover? Family? Or simply a comrade walking the same path?" He chuckled quietly. "Whatever the answer… thank you. From the bottom of my heart. Thank you for saving my beloved niece."
Hajime felt Yue's confusion and pain like static against his skin, but he stayed silent. This moment wasn't his to steal.
"Aletia," Dienleed continued, "you must have many questions. Perhaps you already know the truth. Why I betrayed you. Why I sealed you away in darkness."
His expression hardened—not with cruelty, but resolve.
"You were born with power too great. Ehitruje chose you as a vessel. When I realized that, I devised a lie convincing enough to fool even a god. I became the villain. I staged your death. And I sealed you in the depths where no one—not even Ehit—would look."
His fists clenched.
"I chose not to tell you the truth. I believed ignorance would make the deception real… and hatred would keep you alive."
Yue's tears began to fall.
"I won't ask for forgiveness," Dienleed said quietly. "I only want you to know this—never once did I wish for your death."
His voice wavered.
"I love you, Aletia. You are my daughter in all but blood."
"Uncle… Father…" Yue sobbed. "I love you too!"
Her words couldn't reach him—but she said them anyway.
"I'm sorry," Dienleed whispered. "I wanted to watch you grow. To see you find happiness. I wanted to punch the man you'd marry… then drink with him and tell him he'd better make you happy."
A small laugh escaped him.
"I'm running out of time. This is all my clumsy creation magic could manage."
"No—don't go!" Yue reached out desperately. "Father!"
Hajime pulled her close, holding her as if anchoring her to the world.
"I can't walk beside you anymore," Dienleed said gently. "But for as long as I exist—and even after—I will pray for your happiness. May your life be warm. May your path be blessed."
"Father…"
Dienleed turned his gaze slightly, as though looking at Hajime.
"To the one beside her… please. Make her the happiest girl in the world."
"I will," Hajime said quietly. "You have my word."
The hologram began to fade, light scattering like drifting snow.
"One final advice don't trust me, by the time you are released my soul may already be dead so becareful if you ever find me in the world above this labyrinth because that is not me."
"Goodbye, Aletia," Dienleed said. "May you find eternal happiness."
Then he was gone.
Yue's sobs echoed through the forest. She buried her face in Hajime's chest, shaking.
Hajime crushed the crystal in his fist and held her with both arms, saying nothing.
After a long while, Yue looked up at him. Hajime gently wiped the tears from her cheeks and cupped her face, meeting her eyes in silence.
He didn't need words.
He was there.
"You can rest," Hajime murmured to the vanished image. "I've got her."
Eventually Yue straightened, wiping her cheeks.
"Ehit destroyed my country. Turned my uncle into a villain. Locked me away."
Her voice steadied. "I will kill him."
"Already on the list," Hajime said.
She managed a faint smile.
"There is nothing for me above," she said softly. "Only your path forward."
"Then come with me," he said. "When I go home."
Her breath hitched.
"To… your world?"
"Yeah. Earth might not know what to do with us, but that's their problem. You're my first Resonator. You're coming."
Joy surged through the bond.
"…Then Earth will be my second homeland," she whispered. "Wherever you are… I'll be."
"Clingy," he said.
"Efficient," she countered.
The air settled—aligned.
Hajime clapped his hands.
"Alright. Enough crying. I've got god-killing toys to build."
"…Madman," Yue murmured.
He accepted it as praise.
He laid the materials out with deliberate care—Shtar ore, shards of Divinity Stone, dried alchemical herbs, monster cores reduced to inert catalysts, and fine mana dust sifted until it gleamed like powdered starlight.
The stone table groaned as it was repurposed, grooves forming under his fingers as he transmuted its surface into a perfectly flat workbench.
"The table is now a workshop," he said, mostly to himself.
Yue watched silently, crimson eyes sharp.
"First up," Hajime said, rolling his shoulders, "mana collectors."
The Divinity Stone was never meant to be used whole.
Hajime transmuted small parts of it, but with precision, splitting the crystal along natural mana fault lines into identical shards. Each fragment hummed softly.
He added his own frequency in them as a result rainbow coloured frequencies trapped within like light caught in glass.
He suspended the shards in midair.
Alchemical circles bloomed beneath them—Resonance arrays layered so densely they looked like overlapping snowflakes.
Hajime inverted half the runes automatically, hands moving faster than thought.
Yue leaned closer. "Invert this pair."
He paused, frowned, and corrected it.
"Good catch."
If left unchecked, that rune would've caused mana feedback after long-term accumulation.
Not an explosion—worse. Silent corruption.
Satisfied, Hajime lowered the shards and began shaping Shtar ore around them. The black metal flowed like obedient shadow, forming elegant shells—rings, clasps, frames. As mana pressure increased, the ore hardened in response, locking the crystals in adaptive containment.
"This formation," he muttered, rotating the shells, "creates a passive vortex."
He demonstrated, letting ambient mana drift naturally toward the cores. The air responded immediately—thin currents spiraled inward, drawn gently rather than forced.
The shards drank it in.
Not greedily. Not violently. Calmly.
"Portable batteries," Hajime said. "No generation. No cheating. Just collection, filtration, and storage."
He assembled the first piece—the bracelet.
Twelve crystal beads, each a Divinity shard, linked by Shtar connectors etched with microscopic channels. Mana gathered independently at each node, equalized across the loop, then stabilized. The bracelet pulsed once and settled, its glow barely visible.
Next came the ring.
Smaller.
Tighter tolerances.
A regulator, not a reservoir. It wouldn't store much, but it would smooth mana flow during casting, reduce waste, and prevent overdraw. A craftsman's solution to a mage's bad habits. Can't have her pulling out the nuclear operation (NEXUS STAFF) for every small rodent.
Finally, the pendant.
The heart.
Hajime selected the largest shard and compressed it further, refining its lattice until the rainbow frequency inside rotated in layered bands. He wrapped it in Shtar ore, reinforced internally with Taur stone ribs invisible to the eye, then suspended it from a chain that could survive a dragon bite.
When he released it, the pendant didn't flare.
It breathed. Just like his heart.
Mana flowed in. Slowly. Constantly.
Yue stared at it, silent for a long moment.
"… Are you sure this isn't a generator?," she said.
"Nope," Hajime replied. "It's logistics."
That was the terrifying part.
Gods hoarded power. Heroes burned it. Hajime did both and even better.
He slipped the pendant over his neck.
The world didn't tremble.
Hajime resized it into Yue's verson.
Pendent with the same features as Kaoris + mana gathering and storage at her request.
"Imagine astral dress enhancement and going Nexus Overdrives without running dry," he said.
Yue's eyes gleamed. "I approve."
Next: Ambrosia.
Hajime tried and failed to come up with any idea as to how he would go about it?.
The first attempt crystallized halfway through distillation, the liquid mana collapsing into inert sludge the moment he removed the stabilizer. He stared at the beaker for three seconds, sighed, and transmuted it back into raw components.
"Again."
The second attempt flowed better—too well. The mana compressed beautifully, clarity perfect, but the moment it reached extraction density, the mixture destabilized and dispersed like mist.
"…Right. That figures," Hajime muttered.
Ambrosia was never just condensed mana. The original Divinity Stones didn't make it—they aged into it.
Thousands of years of slow saturation carved invisible pathways inside the crystal, channels that guided liquefied mana into a state that could interact with living systems without tearing them apart.
He didn't have thousands of years.
But he did have something better.
He glanced at the pendant resting against his and Yue's chest, its rainbow core pulsing softly as it drank in atmospheric mana.
"Let's cheat responsibly." Hajime said in a Righteous tone.
Hajime dismantled the failed setup and rebuilt it around the mana gathering and storage system.
The bracelet fed ambient mana in a steady, distributed flow. The pendant's reservoir stabilized it, refining the intake into layered liquid bands. The ring regulated output, ensuring nothing surged faster than the system could adapt.
He rerouted the flow into the Divinity Stone fragment he'd reserved for this purpose.
The mana pathways were ancient—its internal pathways fractured, incomplete. Normally useless.
Hajime didn't see broken.
He saw unfinished.
Alchemical circles flared as he overlaid a mana compressor array, carefully tuned to imitate the pressure gradient of centuries-long saturation.
Mana flowed in, slow and deliberate, guided along the old channels.
It almost worked.
The mana stalled at the fractures, pooling dangerously.
Yue leaned over his shoulder. "Delay glyph," she said. "Here. And here."
Hajime blinked. "…You're buffering the flow?"
"Letting the mana decide where to go," she corrected.
He adjusted the array.
The delay glyphs slowed compression just enough for the mana to seep into the broken pathways, reconnecting them instead of forcing alignment. The crystal pulsed, rainbow light smoothing into a deep, steady glow.
Liquid mana began to separate naturally.
Drip.
Hajime caught it in a reinforced vial as the first drop formed—thick, luminous, mahival warm to the touch.
The process took hours. Painfully slow. Inefficient compared to the original artifact.
But it worked.
He held up the vial, light refracting through it like liquid dawn.
"Ambrosia 2.0," he said.
Yue stared at it, eyes wide despite herself.
"…It's weaker," she said.
"Yeah," Hajime agreed. "But it doesn't require a thousand years or divine intervention. Still stronger than the Ambrosia in my blood"
He sealed the vial carefully.
The gods had hoarded miracles.
Hajime had learned how to manufacture them.
Yue stared at it.
"Don't," he warned.
"…Nn I won't, it doesn't have your bloods taste anyway".
Donner and Schlag received upgrades: mini batteries, Shtar rails and plating, Resonance arrays keyed for her assistance.
He created buff barriers—fields doubling in strength when both stood inside, Yue stepped into the prototype.
"It feels like our bond turned into armor."
"Good."
Now that he also has magic he built azure blaze enchanted grenades, Lightening blast granades, storm torch granades, horror frost granades, Ceiling-flip traps, A mining laser, Etc
Yue perched on his lap at some point, claiming "mana-efficiency and that the spot was unattended."
She murmured, "At this rate you will eventually create something that deletes concepts."
"Work in progress."
She laughed.
Hours passed.
Finally he set the last anchor down.
"Phase one done."
He packed everything away. His was inventory a lot fuller now.
Yue was ready with her own set of pendent, bracelet, and ring as its crystal harmonized with the ambient mana.
Hajime looked toward the tunnel.
"Ready to field-test all this?"
Yue's eyes shone.
"Mm. Let's see how far our Resonance can break this world."
He smirked.
"Try not to cut the entire floor in half."
"No promises."
Side by side, they stepped out of their sanctuary and toward the spiral descent.
Far below, the abyss stirred.
Two lives now moved in perfect, deadly sync.
[Note that everything below 👇 is just for readers understanding and reffeance it has only a slight impact on the story]
■ Artifact Acquired
Name: Twelvefold Equalizer
Type: Mana Control Bracelet
Rank: Relic-Class (Composite)
Material: Divinity Crystal Shards ×12, Shtar Alloy Connectors
Mana Storage:
• 7,000 per node × 12 nodes
• Total Capacity: 84,000 Mana
Effects:
• Independently gathers ambient mana at each crystal node
• Automatically equalizes mana distribution across all nodes
• Stabilizes internal mana pressure, preventing surges and backlash
• Continues passive collection even while other artifacts are active
Special Properties:
• Node failure does not compromise overall function
• Excess mana is redistributed rather than expelled
Status: Active
Note: Designed for efficiency, not excess. Excess is merely a side effect.
■ Artifact Acquired
Name: Flow Governor
Type: Mana Regulation Ring
Rank: High Relic-Class
Material: Refined Shtar Alloy, Precision-Etched Divinity Filaments
Mana Storage:
• 5,000 Mana
Effects:
• Smooths mana flow during spell activation
• Reduces mana loss during casting
• Prevents accidental overdraw and mana shock
• Automatically enforces optimal output thresholds
Special Properties:
• Casting efficiency increases with user familiarity
• Functions even under emotional or instinctive casting
Status: Active
Note: A solution to mages who mistake force for control.
■ Artifact Acquired
Name: Continuum Core
Type: Central Mana Logistics Pendant
Rank: Mythic-Class (Artificial)
Material: Hyper-Compressed Divinity Crystal, Shtar Frame, Taur Stone Internal Ribs
Mana Storage:
• 10,000 Mana
Effects:
• Constantly gathers ambient mana at a steady rate
• Maintains uninterrupted mana circulation between equipped artifacts
• Prioritizes supply routing based on consumption demand
• Prevents total mana depletion state
Special Properties:
• Mana intake rate scales with surrounding density
• Does not emit mana flare upon activation
• Recognized by the system as logistical infrastructure, not a generator
Status: Active
Warning: This artifact violates conventional mana economy models.
■ Set Bonus Activated
Set Name: Continuum Logistics Array
Set Effects:
• +25% mana circulation efficiency
• Mana regeneration continues during active casting
• Overdraw penalties reduced by 40%
• Artifact synchronization latency: 0
■ Artifact Acquired
Name: The Patient Heresy
Type: Ambrosia Production Fountain
Rank: Mythic-Class (Artificial / Growing)
Material:
• Fractured Divinity Stone (Reconnected, Saturation-State)
• Shtar Alloy Mana Conduction Array
• Taur Stone Reinforced Pedestal
• Integrated Delay, Buffer, and Compression Glyph Networks
Effects:
• Continuously gathers ambient mana through a distributed intake array
• Refines mana via layered stabilization and pressure-controlled compression
• Feeds refined mana into a Divinity Stone core through guided saturation
• Produces liquid Ambrosia as a byproduct of long-term internal pathway formation
Production Parameters:
• Output: 1 drop of Ambrosia every 4 hours
• Acceleration via external mana input: Not possible
• Operation requires uninterrupted stability and time
Growth Effects:
• Internal mana pathways within the core Divinity Stone slowly regenerate
• Saturation depth increases with continued operation
• Ambrosia quality improves incrementally over extended periods
Projected Outcome:
• Gradual convergence toward natural, millennium-aged Ambrosia
• No confirmed upper limit to refinement
Restrictions:
• Artifact must remain stationary
• Core removal or interruption permanently halts growth progression
• while relocation through inventory is possible all it's functions reset and start from the start.
Example: it it stays at the same place for 100 years then the production naturally increases. If you change location after that long it's generation speed goes back to 1 drop per 4 hours
System Classification:
• Registered as Temporal Simulation Infrastructure
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Author: "Please send me some stones 😭."
Reader: "Sorry, I spent all mine trying to pull Jinhsi. Got nothing but 3★ weapons."
Author: understands the pain but still weeps in pity pulls 💎💔
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