Chapter 330 - Greed

'What are you doing?!' Jason hurriedly transmitting to the black origin flame.
However, it only answered with the same three words it transmitted to him before.
'Soul energy….MANAAA'
This was not really helpful and Jason couldn't help but sit down on the chair nearby him because his complete mana was drained.
To find out what the black origin flame was doing, he entered his soul world where Jason saw their fortified soul conjunction.
Intently staring at the fortified soul conjunction, Jason's eyes widened when he perceived that the faintly glowing 10 soul energy units around became dimmer.
However, that was not the astonishing part because he could see his mana flowing through the fortified soul conjunction towards the black origin flame that absorbed everything greedily
'What...or Why is it doing that?'
The question about what could be answered without any issue because the black origin flame seemed to have established a unique type of fortified soul conjunction that could transfer his mana to it as long as the fortified soul conjunction was empowered by soul energy.
Yet, Jason was unable to figure out the answer to his last question as he approached the center of his soul world where he found the black origin flame flickering vigorously below the soul world core.
He calmed down upon seeing this and decided to look at everything level-headed.
Otherwise, he might make a mistake, even if Jason was not sure what exactly he could do wrong right now.
Nevertheless, he felt that it was better to be careful right now.
Seizing up the black origin flame, nothing about its appearance seemed to have changed which was what Jason imagined to happen.
Rather than that, his eyes widened, when he saw that the small mana pool it had deep within the flame, was slowly transforming.
To achieve that, it used Jason's mana he got drawn out.
'What is going on?'
Taking another step closer, Jason was only a few steps away from the black origin flame as his mana eyes inspected every little detail.
'It does resemble a….mana core, right?' He asked himself, thinking that his assumption was right.
Staring at the black origin flame in curiosity, Jason couldn't help but ask.
"Little fella, are you constructing a mana core with my mana?"
Unfortunately, the black origin flame couldn't answer him directly and transmitted him the word 'MANAAA' several times in succession as a means to answer him in a different way.
It was definitely not bad that it wanted to construct a mana core, but Jason knew that his replenishing speed was slower than what the fortified soul conjunction drew out of him.
This was not great at all!
Running around while one's mana was drained could be considered extremely exhausting.
Jason was already feeling tired without mana because he never really took a long break.
His schedule was filled with things he had to do!
As such he relied on the energizing feeling of his mana which was currently not there.
Turning his attention to the fortified soul conjunction, he started to try out a few things to see if he could adjust the pace the fortified soul conjunction could draw out his mana.
In the next 20 minutes, Jason test almost everything to accomplish this feat, only to notice that the answer was extremely easy to find.
After he drew five out of ten soul energy units from the fortified soul conjunction away, Jason perceived that the transfer speed decelerated by a large a margin.
Once that happened, he sighed in relief before he started to adjust the pace his mana was drawn out further.
If his replenishing speed was slightly higher than the amount of mana the fortified soul conjunction would draw out, Jason wouldn't be harmed in any way.
Additionally, the black origin flame could construct its mana core without any issue.
It would take a long time but time that was not something Jason lacked right now.
Immediately after he finished adjusting everything, he senses the black origin flame transmitting to him the thought 'MANAAA' several times.
Even if it was annoying, Jason tried to ignore it in the beginning until he decided to threaten his third soulbond with a simple, yet impactful sentence.
'If you continue to behave like this, I'm not gonna give you a single soul energy unit or any mana ever again!!'
After that, the black origin flame quieted down in an instant.
Thus, Jason left the soul world after he was done, only to see that the black flames around him dissipated.
However, the chair below him was smoking which caused Jason to jump up before he used his ice affinity to cool down the chair again.
Staring at Dalia apologetically, she only sighed before asking
"What was going on?"
Smiling drily, he answered with a particular gleaming in his eyes, with which Dalia was already familiar.
"The fortified soul conjunction between me and the black origin flame is able to transfer mana to it by using soul energy as a means to empower the transfer.
With the mana it receives, the black origin flame constructs a mana core! Fascinating, right?"
Jason grinned after he explained what was going on when he heard Dalia shaking her head.
"I don't know whether I should whether I should be shocked about anything you're saying ever again....or not!"
Tilting his head in confusion, he was unsure what exactly his master meant when he recalled that almost everything he said to his masters has been shocking.
It was not always positive and in his opinion rather disadvantageous for mankind or his masters.
At least in most cases
After he remembered all the scenarios where he shocked his masters, Jason couldn't help but feel that Dalia's reaction was genuine.
Jason wouldn't be able to be shocked all the time too, and one would grow accustomed to that faster than one might think.
"Were you able to take care of your small mana shortage issue?
Did you have to adjust something about the fortified soul conjunction or was it the black origin flame that is in control of the mana transfer pace?"
Even if Dalia was not that shocked about Jason's revelations anymore, she was still curious and asked him how he got the hang of his problem.
She was still hopeful to establish a fortified soul conjunction with her silver origin flame too someday in the future and once that happened, Dalia would be prepared thanks to her disciple explaining everything in a detailed manner.
It was unknown when or if she was able to reach such a possibility in her future, but Dalia thought that there was still a ray of hope left for her. She could clearly feel that her origin flame was trying to do something for a few decades and it was just lacking something particular!
After Jason finished his explanation, he turned back to the large beaker that was still standing there, undamaged before he made a few tests with his flame's affinity
There didn't seem to be an issue and Jason stretched his body that was slowly replenishing the used-up mana.
Actively absorbing mana in addition to the passive mana gathering technique in his sub-area, his mana core was filled in a matter of a few minutes.
Standing in front of the large beaker, he summoned 12 small black flames with the exact same temperature before he instructed them to float below the beaker to heat the water inside.
Taking out the ingredients required to mass-concoct the desired peak-grade-1 potions he had in mind, Jason smiled lightly before he began the concocting procedure.