Chương 162: Chapter 160

The dawn is pale when Jacob Cloud walks through the forest. The forest here is one of Ytrial's hidden places, old and untouched. He had to go through one portal already that King Baalrek strained to activate since he doesn't have a body anymore. Yet, despite being reluctant to admit it, he is trying to make up for the large waste of money he was responsible for back at the Hidden Market's auction the day before.

What he told Jacob Cloud was that he needs to train his damn new Skills and become stronger—that he's an embarassment of a disciple to have since he has The Grimoire Extraordinaire and hasn't maxed out all his Skills yet. In truth, King Baalrek, who has once been a Vice Principal of the Academy knows many of its secrets and has decided to reveal one to Jacob Cloud. Honestly, he couldn't have revealed many more at this time since they would simply kill the kid.

He knows things that are going to be useful in later years and after graduation. Right now, the kind of knowledge that King Baalrek could bestow upon Jacob Cloud might very well kill the kid before he can even understand what he would be adventuring for. King Baalrek watches Jacob Cloud walk through the thinning forest, the air sharp and still in the early light. We're close, he tells him, his voice echoing through the boy's mind. Jacob glances over his shoulder.

"Close to what, exactly?" An old Infernal chamber, King Baalrek says. It was built by Infernals when they first joined the Academy. My kind used it to train—an arena for mastering Skills that thrive on pain and fire. Most who entered were broken before they ever learned control. Jacob slows, eyes scanning the misty path ahead.

"And it's still down there?" It should be, King Baalrek replies. The wards that feed it are buried deep. The Infernal Well will respond to them. He watches Jacob continue forward. He doesn't understand yet, King Baalrek thinks, his tone quieter, meant for no one but himself. That chamber was not made for a Gold Ranker. I do not expect him to last long… but even a few minutes will make him stronger. I do wonder how long would the Princess last in here, though.

I shall tell the kid to bring her here in the near future. Jacob steps out of the trees and stops. The clearing is small, framed by moss-covered stones and thick roots curling up from the earth. In the center, a circle of jagged rocks rises from the ground, their shapes unnaturally even—like teeth forming a perfect ring. There's a very vague hint of sulphur in the air. He frowns.

"This is it?" Step inside, King Baalrek says. Jacob hesitates, then does as he's told. The soil crunches under his boots as he walks into the middle of the stone circle. He waits a few seconds. Nothing happens.

"Nothing's happening," he mutters. Let me, please. Before Jacob can respond, his hands move on their own. Fingers spread, tracing symbols in the air. Lines of fire spark into being, curling and twisting until they form a circle of burning light above him. The ground drops away. In an instant, Jacob is somewhere else—deep underground, still standing within the same ring of stones, but now surrounded by a world of magma.

Lava cascades from cliffs hundreds of feet tall, glowing rivers twisting through the black rock like veins of fire. The sound is immense—a constant roar, like the earth itself breathing. The air shimmers, thick with heat, and the circle beneath his feet glows faintly, keeping him safe from the searing ground. The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

"King Baalrek," he whispers, voice caught between awe and fear.

"What the hell is this?" This is how you level up Infernal Well. Then, the wave of heat, supercharged with Mana, hits Jacob, displacing the fresh air that had come with him from above the surface. His skin reddens immediately and sweat starts pouring all over his body and soaks his clothes. King Baalrek sees him through his mind's eye, falling to the ground on his knees.

The only reason the Infernal King has brought his disciple here is because thanks to the trial to acquire Rafnov's legacy, Jacob has mastered Greater Fire Resistance. However, unlike the kind of flames that the boy met during the trial made by Rafnov, these flames here are supercharged by an array that— Here it is, King Baalrek thinks, looking at the ground. On the ground, snaking red lines appear one after another.

This is an ancient array that has not been maintained properly, but that was created by Infernals in order to channel the entirety of the scorching Mana in this chamber toward the circle of teeth-like rocks. It's not unlike Blood of the Ancients in some ways, King Baalrek thinsk to himself. The entire chamber is covered in runic scripts that form one of the larger arrays of the Academy. A mix of magma, the deep underground shadow, and the ashes here form the perfect mix that can create Hell's Mana.

Hell's Mana is what Infernals' ancestors, the Devils, used to channel in order to power their Primordial Spells. While Infernal Skills can be powered by other types of Mana, they respond the best to Hell's Mana. In fact, they respond the absolute best to Hell's Mana. Hell, one of the twelve great Devils. Only Lucifer and a few other have left a greater legacy. In Infernal history there have been twelve great Devils, the progenitors of their race, and thirty-six Great Kings.

The Great Kings are called as such because they have all slain a God or multiple ones. Not that they like to remember all of them, King Baalrek thinks to himself. They like Baal and Mephistus because they left easy Skills behind—but they don't like those who have left TRUE legacies, legacies that, if found, would spawn more legacies in turn. King Baalrek now watches attentively. He wonders, how will he react?

It would be normal for Jacob Cloud to panic, to be broken by the amount of pain that he's suffering, that his body is being put through through the scalding hot Hell's Mana. It would be the most natural reaction: to shut down, to immediately shout to get out. But then, King Baalrek metaphysically raises an eyebrow when he sees Jacob grit his teeth. He rises into a half-kneeling position. Then, he adjusts himself and sits back with crossed legs and starts inhaling deeply. Good.

He's activating Heavenly Intuition and— He sees a wave of Hell's Mana entering Jacob's body and his eyes go wide. Cloud! Stop, you're going too fast! * [Grimoire Analysis] [Infernal Well: 95 Flaws have been found.] [Listing the three biggest Flaws.] [Inconsistent Distribution: Mana is not being distributed along the right path because you're not using Skill-appropriate Veins. List of Veins that should be used during the loop: Rising Sun Veins…] [Stockage Failure: the lack of sub-loops inside muscles and your core severely reduces the amount of Mana that can be stored in them. Recommended paths: …] [Left-Right Asymmetry: the current loop has been skewed toward…] I read all the information and then I go for a very unorthodox solution as I feel this wild Mana entering my veins. Thanks to Heavenly Intuition, I glean something: this Mana seems to be partially conscious.

Maybe conscious is not even the best word I could use here, but there's certainly an element of will in it. And that means it seems to want to flow down the appropriate channels on its own. It feels like it knows where to go, which makes it fascinating. However, the pull, this sort of magnetic effect, is barely noticeable when it's just a very small amount of it. At the same time, I cannot stay here too long—my body is definitely going to collapse. I fully mean it—this is just too much.

Even with Greater Fire Resistance, I feel like I'm being boiled alive. The Mana itself is increasing the temperature and making it harder to breathe. Unlike the simple heat that I've faced during Rafnov's trial, the air here feels a hundred times the average density it should have. That's why I start pushing so much Mana inside my veins from the outside that it feels like now I'm also roasting from the inside. Yet, the process is surprisingly effective. I barely have to look at the Grimoire's instructions.

I just let the Mana do its own thing while I try my best not to get killed by it, regulating the amount until it's just about a few inches shy of taking my life. But the results are immediate. Infernal Well (Platinum) Lv. 1 -> Lv. 23 * King Baalrek is stunned into silence. He understood what Jacob Cloud has been doing, but he's still completely amazed at how well it's working.

Only Jacob Cloud, someone with Heavenly Intuition, the Grimoire, a terrific fire resistance, and enough idiocy to risk his life for some training, could pull this off. He can sense Hell's Mana settling inside the boy, slowly expanding his Mana storage capabilities and making his body subsequently stronger. One doesn't just get stronger through Skill Crystals and Attributes. The way he's absorbing this Mana is changing the very constitution of his body. He's purifying his own veins without even knowing it.

Soon, he hears Jacob Cloud exhale and say, "It's level 100. Can we go now? I feel like a chicken in a brick oven."