Reincarnated With A Glitched System: Why Is My MP Not Running Out?

Spiritual Sanctuary.

Places with high concentrations of Spiritual Energy would often times receive these names.

They could be as small as just a dozen meters, and other times, expand across many kilometers.

They characterized by having a heavier atmosphere, with higher concentrations of Mana, and sometimes, a lot of “colorful glow” that people would sometimes notice.

Of course, those with little magic sensitivity would never be able to tell, but often times, there was another big thing telling these places instantly.

They were, most of the time, full of Spiritual Crystals growing everywhere, usually over trees, preferring to take upon the tree’s life force to expand quickly, like parasites.

Spiritual Crystals or Stones were crystallizations of spirit energy and therefore, technically not alive, but at the same time they grew where there was a lot of spirit energy, mana, and life energy to drain.

At the same time, most animals would enjoy eating them directly, capable of easy digestion as they are simply crystalized energy that will melt away into power upon being eaten.

This slowly creates a cycle where monsters approach these areas to eat and replenish their mana easily, or even grow stronger, while also providing the crystals with more life energy as they die, and they grow over their corpses.

The moment Aquarina’s group entered this zone, they noticed the desiccated bodies of huge beetles, the bones of large reptile-like monsters, and more, covered on vegetation and crystals.

“So this is what you call a Spirit Sanctuary?” wondered Justicio. “Looks almost the same as any other place to me though…”

“Almost? What about the crystals everywhere though?” Aquarina asked.

“Ah yeah right…” Justicio nodded. “Though you said there could be spirits here?”

“Yeah they usually appear around here,” said Aquarina. “Some of my friends got theirs by visiting these places… I think I remember recruiting Undine in a similar way.”

“Woah, really?” wondered Silvia. “Is that true?”

Undine, who was right by Aquarina side sightseeing, nodded.

“Yeah she was just a tiny little baby girl back then! I still remember it as if it were yesterday,” nodded Undine. “She was so cuteee! And tiny! And she was so innocent too, nothing like she’s now! I think she even used to be very cowardly and crybaby.”

“E-Eeeeh?! Really?” asked Silvia.

“I had no idea you were like that!” said Justicio.

“U-Undine! Don’t say that out of nowhere!” Aquarina said angrily. “A-And what about it? I mean, I’ve changed since then… What kid isn’t a bit scared and crybaby when they’re children? I was only like two or three years old after all…”

“Still, it’s surprising!” said Silvia. “But I guess it’s also kind of cute… To think Aquarina started as an innocent baby.”

“Yeah, I always imagined you were born as a gorilla with a short temper,” said Justicio.

“Who are you calling gorilla, shmuck?!” Aquarina said angrily, smacking Justicio’s head. “You want your spirit or not?!”

“Ouch, ouch! Sorry! I didn’t mean to make it sound offensive…” Justicio shed a little tear.

“Ugh…” Aquarina sighed, crossing her arms. “Don’t share personal information like that Undine! I don’t like talking about the past.”

“Hahh, but you were so cute…” Undine sighed.

“…”

Aquarina glared at her angrily, and even Undine nodded obediently.

“Okay, okay, sorry master…”

As they advanced through the jungle, Aquarina quickly found some traces of the Golden Dung Beetle, namely, a lot of dung.

“It seems they were around here, see that? Looks like a chunk was taken and then rolled into a big ball…” Aquarina said. “Ugh, well, it went towards that direction. It has left a lot of… spirit energy too? Golden colored.”

“You can see it too?” wondered Undine. “Indeed, looks like the huge beetle has a spirit friend!”

“Eeeh?! Nice! So we’ll kill two birds with one stone!” said Silvia. “But why does a beetle have a spirit friend?”

“No idea,” said Undine. “Well, sometimes we spirits are weird or rare. Just like we can get attached to some people, we could also grow attached to monsters or animals we like. Perhaps the giant golden dung beetle does something the spirit likes. Perhaps rolling all that dung creates nutrients for the jungle. And a spirit liked that.”

“Well, whatever the case, let’s go,” said Aquarina.

Leading her friends through the jungle, they followed the traces, eventually reaching a small hill that had some fresh-looking soil and also a lot of plants and grass.

Surrounded by several spiritual crystal growths, making the hideout of the beetle look mystical or even magical.

“This must be the place… it’s a cave, wanna go inside?” wondered Aquarina. “I wonder if it’s like a dungeon? Mini dungeon at least.”

“Maybe, there are dungeons around here but not in here…” said Silvia. “Let’s go! No wait, it stinks inside! Justicio goes first!”

“Whaat? Me?!” Justicio cried.

“You were the one that wanted another bug for your bug collection!” said Silvia. “So you go first.”

“Fine…”

Justicio walked towards the cave and inspected it first.

“I can’t see nothing, must be deeper into the cave,” he said. “Come!”

The girls quickly walked behind him, as the boy led them, feeling a bit important in that moment. As if he were protecting two ladies from the monsters.

“Hey leading isn’t so bad, makes me feel a bit important,” he smiled.

“Shut up, there’s something coming,” Aquarina said, looking around and unsheathing her blades.

“Something?” Justicio suddenly felt something… biting his toes. “Uwaagh!”

He screamed, jumping away to find a small golden-colored beetle with big, sharp as blade mandibles.

“What is that thing?!”

“Tier 2 Golden Dung Beetle juvenile…” Aquarina said, throwing her knife at the monster and killing it with a single attack.

CRASH!

However, right after, the sound of thousands of little legs started echoing everywhere across the caves, rushing towards them.

Aquarina conjured a small fireball using a basic fire spell she could conjure easily, illuminating the area.

And then everyone gasped in horror as a huge swarm of tiny little golden beetles started rushing towards them from every angle…

The ceiling, the walls, the floor, and every other direction!

“Eek!” Silvia cried. “They’re trying to bite my toes!!!”

“Calm down already, these are just small fry!” Aquarina sighed, calming herself down.

“{Abyssal Embodiment}: {Shadow Bolt}!”

Aquarina stepped the ground furiously, releasing thousands of black bolts of darkness against every bug within her range, making them explode into pieces upon contact.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

—–