Reborn With A Technology System In A Fantasy World-Chapter 108: Reaching The Mana Source

The Magi-Tech Rover surged into the frozen region, its rune-etched wheels biting into the snow-covered ground with relentless traction.

The Corrupted Lands were a patchwork of inhospitable domains, each more treacherous than the last: the barren wastelands with their cracked, lifeless earth, the volcanic wastelands, the poison region, the acid hot springs; and this, the region locked in eternal frost.

Adrian was closing in on the coordinates the drones had pinpointed, but first, he had to navigate this frozen domain.

The rover shot through the snow, its sleek, blue-black frame cutting a path through the powdery drifts.

The breathtaking landscape unfolded before him, a breathtaking yet forbidding vista: towering mountains cloaked in ice, their jagged peaks piercing the overcast sky; vast plains of unbroken snow; and frozen rivers.

Blizzards swirled in the distance, their howling winds carrying shards of ice that glinted like daggers.

Adrian slowed the rover, bringing it to a stop atop a low rise. He sketched the deactivation rune on the dashboard, and the engine’s hum faded into silence.

"Let’s get a feel for this place," he said, opening the door and stepping out.

The moment his boots touched the snow, a bone-chilling wave of cold slammed into him. His breath caught, and his skin prickled as the frigid atmosphere seeped through his clothing.

His blood seemed to thicken, his limbs grew heavy, and a sharp pain lanced through his chest as his body temperature plummeted.

[Warning: Vitals dropping to critical levels. Exposure to extreme hypothermia detected.]

[Equipping Power Suit in 3 seconds. Cancel? [X]]

Adrian’s teeth chattered, but he didn’t move to cancel. Three seconds later, the Power Suit materialized, its black nanomaterial flowing over his body like liquid, encasing him as usual.

Warmth flooded his system as the suit’s internal regulators kicked in, stabilizing his temperature and restoring sensation to his limbs.

His vitals normalized, and the Tech Core fell silent.

"That was... unexpected," Adrian muttered, exhaling steadily.

The suit’s swift activation reassured him, but the sheer brutality of the cold was still startling.

"I’m a 2-Star Knight, and this cold nearly killed me." Narrowing his eyes, he focused on the atmosphere and activated his [Analyze] skill, targeting the temperature.

[Atmospheric Temperature: -77°C]

"No surprise there," Adrian said. "But that’s still brutal."

The blizzards and ice-laden winds reduced visibility to a murky haze, obscuring the distant mountains. Still, he took a long moment to survey the expanse.

Satisfied, Adrian climbed back into the rover, the Power Suit retracting into his [Inventory] as he settled into the cockpit. He sketched the activation rune, and the engine roared to life, its mana-driven pulse vibrating through the chassis.

The rover resumed its journey, plowing through the snow for 45 minutes.

The frozen region stretched on, unrelenting, but the rover’s speed and stability made the traversal bearable.

Finally, the snow gave way to scorched earth, and Adrian crossed into the volcanic wastelands.

The transition was jarring; an apocalyptic hellscape replaced the icy desolation.

Molten rivers snaked through the blackened ground, their glowing surfaces bubbling and hissing.

Geysers of superheated steam erupted from fissures, cloaking the air in a haze of sulfurous vapor.

Towering volcanoes loomed in the distance, their slopes streaked with ash and glowing with veins of lava.

The heat was evident even through the rover’s sealed cockpit as he could clearly see the air shimmer with evaporated moisture and toxic fumes.

"I’ll come back here," Adrian said as his eyes scanned the volcanoes and he got moving. "There’s bound to be new ores in a place like this."

For now, though, the mana source was his priority.

He pushed the control yoke, and the rover accelerated, its wheels gripping the uneven terrain easily.

The volcanic wastelands spanned a shorter distance than the frozen region, and Adrian crossed it in just 20 minutes, the rover’s speed averaging 80 kilometers per hour despite the hazardous ground.

As he neared the edge of the region, a faint glow appeared ahead, piercing the smoky haze.

The map confirmed he was nearly at the mana source’s coordinates.

"Almost there."

Adrian sped up, the rover’s engine humming with power. The volcanic terrain fell away, and bright sunlight enveloped him as he passed through the region’s boundary.

The light was blinding, forcing Adrian to squint as the rover emerged into a new landscape.

The map’s red dot pulsed directly ahead, now mere kilometers away.

He slowed the rover, taking in his surroundings. The ground here was neither frozen nor scorched but strangely vibrant.

The air felt charged and Adrian knew why. He immediately closed his eyes and tried to draw in mana into his dantian, and it worked perfectly! He was cultivating!

"This is it," he murmured, his grip tightening on the control yoke as he made the rover surge forward, its wheels gripping the vibrant terrain of the new region.

Unlike the frozen desolation or volcanic hellscape, the new place was strikingly alive, its ground a patchwork of soft, mossy earth and tangled roots, interspersed with patches of bright grass.

He glanced at the System map glowing with the red dot marking the mana source. But as he drove, the map flickered, and his eyes widened.

"What the hell?" he muttered, slamming the rover to a stop.

The map was suddenly alive with countless red dots, spreading like wildfire across the screen. The mana detector was finally active once again, registering signals in every direction, their numbers growing by the second.

Some dots were small, others ominously large, clustering in patterns that suggested movement.

"These could be magical treasures," Adrian said slowly. "Or, worse... magical beasts."

The sheer volume and size of the dots told him this wouldn’t be a simple task. Securing the mana source would mean facing a horde.

As he spoke, two small dots on the map close to him surged toward his position.

Through the windscreen, he saw them. Two hulking creatures, each the size of a bear, lumbering through the grass.

Their bodies were covered in rocky, moss-covered hides, with glowing amber eyes and jagged tusks protruding from their jaws.

Adrian activated [Analyze], and the System lit up.

[Analyzing...]

[Beast Identified: Stonehoof Mauler]

[Rank: 1-Star Magical Beast]

[Element: Earth]

[Properties: High physical strength, durable hide, mana-charged tusks]

[Remark: A territorial beast that uses its mass to overwhelm prey. Vulnerable to precise, high-impact strikes.]

There were two of them, and Adrian summoned his mana gun into his hands as a precaution, its sleek barrel cold to his touch.

But a grin spread across his face as he eyed the rover.

"This baby’s begging to be tested," he said, holstering the gun. He yanked the control yoke back, the rover retreating with a ~whirr~ of its wheels, then slammed it forward.

The engine roared, and the rover shot toward the first Stonehoof Mauler, its reinforced front hatch gleaming.

~CRUNCH!~

The rover’s nose collided with the beast, the impact sending a shockwave through the chassis.

The Mauler let out a guttural bellow, its massive form lifted off the ground, tumbling through the air like a ragdoll before crashing 200 meters away in a cloud of dirt and grass.

[Congratulations! You have killed a magical beast!]

[Would you like to harvest its Magic Crystal?]

Adrian’s grin widened. "Knew you’d pack a punch," he said, patting the dashboard.

There wasn’t any time to celebrate though, as the second Mauler was charging, its tusks lowered.

Adrian spun the yoke, the rover pivoting with a screech of tires, its momentum slamming into the beast’s flank.

The Mauler skidded across the ground, tumbling into a tree with a thud, its body crumpling.

[Congratulations! You have killed a magical beast!]

[Would you like to harvest its Magic Crystals?]

With a mental command, Adrian stored both crystals and the beasts’ remains in his [Inventory]. The thrill of combat surged through him, but he knew stronger foes awaited.

He pushed the yoke, the rover speeding forward, its wheels chewing through the mossy terrain. More red dots appeared, and soon, more Stonehoof Maulers charged from the undergrowth.

The rover held strong, its reinforced chassis shrugging off their impacts as Adrian plowed through, each collision a BAM that sent beasts flying.

The System notifications piled up, his [Inventory] growing with crystals and corpses.

As he pressed deeper into the region, the beasts grew tougher.

2-Star Maulers appeared, their hides thicker, their charges more relentless, and some were able to form magical armors as they charged.

Some took multiple hits, requiring Adrian to angle the rover for maximum impact, slamming them with a CRASH that tested the vehicle’s dampeners.

The rover stood firm, its alloy unscathed, but Adrian stayed vigilant. The map showed denser clusters of dots ahead, signaling a greater threat.

Then, a swarm emerged. Seven 2-Star Maulers, their eyes blazing, converging from all sides.

Their combined mass shook the ground, and Adrian knew the rover couldn’t take them all without risk.

He could skirt around them, but his eyes glinted at the thought of their crystals. "Can’t let those go to waste," he said, his voice steady.

It was time to test two features he’d been itching to try.

Adrian’s finger traced a quick rune on the dashboard’s panel. With a hiss, the windscreen slid down, exposing the cockpit to the warm, charged air.

He summoned three 2-Star mana grenades from his [Inventory], their rune-etched Vyrillium casings glowing faintly.

The Maulers were closing in, their roars deafening. Adrian pulled the pins with a deft flick, tossing the grenades in a high arc toward the swarm.

~BOOOOOOM!~

The explosion was cataclysmic, a fiery blast that lit up everywhere like a second sun. The ground trembled, soil and roots erupting in a shower of debris.

The Maulers’ bodies were torn apart, their rocky hides shattering and their insides splattering across the grass.

The air quaked with the shockwave, and Adrian leaned back, his eyes wide with awe as he admired the fading glow of the explosion.

"Gorgeous."

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