Zeke’s eyes widened. “What are they?”

The Dragon glanced at him through the corners of its eyes. “Do you know how essence crystals are formed?”

Zeke nodded hesitantly. After the earlier revelation, he wasn’t as confident in his fundamental knowledge anymore. “They form when the concentration of Mana exceeds a certain level, right?”

The Dragon bobbed its head. “Correct. But you probably don’t know that this is only one of the possible thresholds.”

Zeke waited for the Dragon’s explanation, a twinkle in his eyes. It seemed today was his lucky day with all the teachings he received.

“The next threshold is reached when the purity of ambient Mana reaches a level where it can form its own consciousness,” the Dragon explained.

“What!?” Zeke couldn’t help but call out. He had wanted to let the Dragon talk, but this information was too shocking. “Something like that is possible?”

Instead of getting annoyed, the Dragon seemed to enjoy Zeke’s dramatic reaction. “Calm down, whelp. It’s a pretty common occurrence. The creatures born from this phenomenon are called Elementals.”

“How dangerous are they?” Zeke asked, already dreading the answer.

To his surprise, the Dragon didn’t show the slightest bit of tension. “Not very. They will usually leave you alone unless you attack them first.”

Zeke furrowed his brows upon hearing this. “That’s very different from the story the patriarch told.“

The Dragon exhaled harshly, releasing a burst of hot air from its tiny nostrils. “That threw me off as well. However, after seeing the fountain, I finally understood.”

Zeke looked at the fountain once more. However, he wasn’t able to comprehend what the Dragon meant. “What did you understand?”

“I said that Elementals would usually leave you alone, right?”

Zeke nodded.

“One of the rare exceptions is when you touch their source,” the Dragon explained. “Normally, this black metal isn’t a strong enough amplifier to produce Elementals, but this vein is exceptionally pure. I am almost certain that they were born from it. The Elementals most likely attacked those fleshlings because they were trying to steal their source. “

“But aren’t we here to take their source as well?” Zeke interjected.

The Dragon’s maw opened slightly, and its scaly lips curved into the approximation of a smile, showing rows of razor-sharp teeth. “Indeed.”

Zeke stared at the Dragon in disbelief. What was this? Why did he suddenly feel like the Dragon had become a second Leo?

“Then what was the point of saying they weren’t dangerous?” Zeke asked accusingly, “Aren’t they gonna attack us as well?”

The Dragon chuckled lightly. “Calm down, whelp. They will not attack us just yet. Therefore, we should be able to explore the mine without any problems.”

He finally understood what the Dragon was getting at. “We can stay here without the fear of getting attacked until we actually make a move on the source.”

The Dragon nodded.

“If that is so, I think our best strategy is to get a clear picture of the situation before we do anything else.” Zeke was already beginning to form a plan in his mind. However, there was something else he needed to know.

He sized up the fountain before him with a critical look. Estimating how much liquid was circulating through it wasn’t easy, but Zeke figured it actually wasn’t all that much. “Say, how much of this metal do I actually need?”

The Dragon shot him an annoyed glance, unwilling to answer such a vague question.

Zeke thought for a moment before rephrasing his question. “If I want enough reserves to bring Leo and me to the peak of Grand Mage, how much would I need?”

The Dragon shot the fountain a glance before falling into deep thought. “That’s not a simple question,” it said eventually. “There isn’t much in this fountain, but it would easily be enough to bring the two of you to the peak of Grand Mage…” Zeke perked up. He might not even have to explore the mine if that was true. However, his good cheer was short-lived as the Dragon continued to speak, “…but it wouldn’t be all that fast.”

“What do you mean?”

“As I said, it’s not that simple,” the Dragon explained. “As you know, this black liquid powers the Mana purifying device. This also means the output is directly linked to the quality of the fuel.”

Zeke nodded. So far, this was all within his expectations.

“However, the fuel degrades with use. And it is not a linear decline either.”

Zeke’s face finally changed. Depending on how fast the quality declined from its peak, he needed more of the material if he wanted to advance quickly. “How fast is the decline?”

“It declines rapidly at the start and then flattens out toward the bottom,” the Dragon explained.

Zeke remained quiet, confident the Dragon wasn’t done with its explanation. He was proven right as the Dragon continued to speak after contemplating the matter for a while. “You have consumed quite a few essence crystals, yes?”

Zeke nodded.

“Directly absorbing from an essence crystal happens at the highest speed a Core can endure,” the Dragon explained. “Let’s call that 100%.”

Zeke nodded again.

“With the quality of fuel we have here, the Mana purifying device will start at around 70%.”The author's content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

[Notice]

If the device were able to supply pure Mana at the rate of 70% of an essence crystal, then it would take Host about three weeks to reach the threshold of the Grand Mage level.