Sanctuary: Safe Haven

While Canna was still recovering from the mana backlash, Mortem finished giving him treatment. He looked at his master's pained face. Even though Mortem had been born recently, he possessed the knowledge of his predecessors.

He knew that a child at this age shouldn't encounter such pain and torment so early in life.

Mortem turned and floated over to Tonitrum. His feet hovered above the ground, and when he was a few feet away from Tonitrum's jaws, he stopped and looked up. Sensing his gaze, Tonitrum opened his eyes.

"Speak, undead."

Mortem glanced at his recovering master, then looked back at the dragon and spoke through telepathy.

"A severe mana backlash. Must have been a high-ranking elixir that temporarily breaks his limits. Why?"

Though Mortem's words were few, Tonitrum understood the question. The undead knew that Canna had used an elixir to gain enough mana for the Create Elder Undead spell and was questioning why Tonitrum allowed it, knowing the backlash could endanger Canna's life.

Tonitrum snarled at the undead but settled down shortly after. He didn't like being questioned by an inferior being but understood that unyielding loyalty was a trait of the undead. Whether it was a low-ranking zombie or a feeble skeleton, the undead would follow their master's wishes with great enthusiasm.

However, Canna's firstborn was different from any other undead summon Tonitrum had encountered—brilliant, terrifyingly brilliant. Tonitrum smirked when he read Mortem's mind, knowing that despite their differences in rank, power, and sheer mana, this undead wanted to fight him. Mortem refrained only because he knew he couldn't help his master if he perished right after being born.

"I like your tenacity, undead. To answer your question, it's for selfish reasons. His soul was supposed to enter the reincarnation cycle to a different world, but a God's underling abducted his soul and transferred it here. Not even a minute after waking up, he was rejected and thrown away like garbage. I'm doing this to spite those annoying winged birds.

Based on his memory, they were abducting souls from different realms to raise an army. I have no idea what those idiots are doing, but I'd like to throw an oddball into their plans.

That and for pure entertainment, I'm chained here for another thousand years, so I might as well watch something entertaining."

Mortem stared at the calm dragon, treating his master as if he were a tool for entertainment. He was angry but knew there was nothing he could do about it. Mortem walked away and slowly made his way back to Canna; for now, he would have to endure.

"Teach him the basics of Sepra, mana utilization, and more," Tonitrum said, then went back to sleep.

Canna's sleep was filled with strange, vivid dreams. He saw himself soaring through the skies, battling mythical creatures, and mastering powerful spells. Each dream felt intensely real, as if he were living another life within the span of a few hours. When he finally awoke, the dreams lingered in his mind, filling him with a sense of purpose and determination.

He knew he had a long journey ahead, but these dreams fueled his resolve to learn and grow stronger.

"Holy sh*t! You're loaded! Did I get you as my summon? My firstborn, how cool is that?" Canna was currently circling Mortem, touching and admiring him simultaneously. "Look at your bony hands." Five minutes passed before Canna's curiosity was sated.

"Nice to meet you, Mortem. I hope you can teach me about this world and things I don't know about." Canna's eyes were filled with happiness, and Mortem couldn't have been happier. His master was delighted with his existence, which brought him great joy.

"I will give my all to whatever my Master wishes," Mortem said, bowing deeply. "Master, before we start, I have but a humble request. There are questions I would like to ask, but it would be too time-consuming. Would it be appropriate to read the master's memories?"

Canna didn't think much of it. In his eyes, Mortem was his son, and he was more than happy to oblige.

Mortem spent three hours viewing Canna's memories while Canna napped. The spell Mortem used to read memories didn't require physical contact, so Canna could freely do as he pleased. The only requirement was consent and for the target to stay no more than five meters away.

Mortem wanted to read Canna's memories to learn about his master's personality, the best teaching approach, and how he could help him advance further.

"I see you have gone through a lot, master. Enjoy your slumber. Once you wake up, I'll teach you how to get stronger, strong enough to protect the sanctuary you will be making in the future."

When Canna woke up, he was dazed by the lights. He was already used to the dimly illuminated surroundings of the dungeon, so he found it hard to adjust his eyes again. When they weren't blurry anymore, he saw Mortem holding a watermelon-sized glowing ball. Mortem initiated the conversation through telepathy.

"Master, the world you're in is called Sepra, named after its goddess creator. Sepra is large enough to fit eighteen Earths inside and has many races, from humans, elves, orcs, beastkins, dragonkins, and much more.

Unlike the previous world you came from, this world has monsters, dungeons, spells, and the most significant difference: mana." The glowing ball, representing Sepra, turned into many rainbow colors.

"Mana is a form of energy that exists in nature and within people. It is the source of all magic, like how you fought the goblins and used mana. Mana only requires three things: will, direction, and affinity.

You 'willed' to have power in your legs, and therefore, you unconsciously spread mana to your legs, then you 'directed' it to make your legs faster, and so it did. Your arm was broken in your next goblin fight because you only willed mana to cover your arms but didn't direct it to strengthen them.

Mana is formless; all you have to do is will it and guide it in the direction you want it to take. That leads to the third requirement: affinity. Mana can not only be spread to your body to strengthen it, but you can also use it to harness the power of nature. It can be fire, water, wind, air, earth, light, and darkness.

Those are the essential elements." Mortem paused to let Canna digest all the information before continuing.

"Normally, people would get to know their affinities by testing them in guilds and mage towers. However, we don't need that, for I already know your affinity: Lightning."