Unluckiest Man Becomes An ArchMage

[before you try to level up, you need to understand some basic principles of mana]

[To know Grandor's "magic" as your world would call it you have to know some things about Grandor itself. Everyone throughout their lifetime gradually accumulates mana. It's a genuine rule of thumb to assume that the older a person is the larger their mana pool therefore stronger. In fact many people can still become mages even when they become older as their larger mana pool compensates for their lack of talent.]

'So there is hope for me yet?

[No, even if you killed a hundred mana beasts right now you would experience a "level up" since your body can't hold mana]

[Everyone born on Grandor learns to accumulate mana in the womb. Artificial beings can not accumulate mana as it was not ingrained at birth. While your body physically can accumulate mana, your "mind" never experienced it so…]

'It's hopeless huh doc?'

[yes it is, however in theory, since artifacts exist which are artificial creations that have mana you could hold mana too.]

'So I just have to become an artifact to learn magic?'

[Artifacts become artifacts because ancient mages imbued mana into objects with mana stones. However, using mana stones as a catalyst corrupts one's mana, either killing a person over time or rupturing every cell in the body.]

'Are you suggesting that I use mana stones that you just said will kill me?'

[Since you technically do not have mana as your mind doesn't know how to accumulate it, or even hold it, the mana stone might not affect yourself but if does it will without a doubt kill you brutally. If you are lucky you will pass out from the pain before your organs melt.]

'So either I wait in this little mud hut on my little bed and wait to die or find mana stones and challenge the god contending against his might all while living with this frail old body.'

[Bingo, of course, that assumes that you even find a mana stone and it doesn't kill you right away]

'But if I do find a mana stone, you said it is a catalyst to imbue things with mana, so we would need a third party to imbue it with mana, no?'

[No, the mana stone acts as a battery absorbing mana from the surroundings, a third party is only needed for artifacts because artifacts are objects. You are an organic being so just consuming the mana stone will result in mana flowing through you from the environment to the stone inside you, forcing your cells to hold mana]

'So by continuously consuming mana stones, I can use magic?'

[in theory, yes, realistically, no. Your body is likely well over one hundred years old, I would be amazed if the shock didn't kill you]

'But what are the chances of success?'

[It doesn't matter what the are chances becuase if you don't you will die anyways]

'I just want to know if maybe I should find a god to pray to'

[Actually, most people who anger the neo gods have a no-way-out situation, you have a way out, albeit it is likely you will die, there is a chance of success. That is more mercy than most people get]

'You are a really big "glass half full" kinda guy huh?'

[It doesn't hurt to be optimistic about not dying]

'Okay let's begin, where do I start?'

[grab that spade first we will see if we can find any abominations]

'You mean monsters right?'

[No, monsters are mana-accumulating beasts who don't need a mana stone to get stronger, we need to find an abomination against nature, something that goes against the neo god's will. Oftentimes nigh unkillable eldritch horrors that could wipe out the continent if united]

"HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO KILL THAT WITH A SPADE!!!!" I shouted

[Relax, thankfully abominations are not immune to the effects of time, most, if not all, are dead. You only need to find their corpse, which are usually in the ancient people's primordial cages, or as the people of Grandor say dungeons.]

'How did they manage to trap the abominations?'

[They didn't; when the abominations hibernated, they built these primordial cages around them. While the abominations could break out at any time, they choose not to, as what the ancients built would be considered an ideal environment to get stronger in peace.]

[The ancients figured they could delay their fate if the abominations would hibernate for longer to accumulate more strength. Their strategy worked so well that while the abomination was focused on its mana stone enlarging in its sleeping state, their bodies withered away]

[The adventurers only call them dungeons becuase of traps the ancients placed to stop retards like you from walking in and waking them up. Over time mana beasts or monsters were attracted to the intense concentration of mana from the huge mana stones in the abominations that they would flock there in droves]

[If you brave traps, monsters, and more you might be rewarded with riches beyond your imagination. That or the abomination finally wakes up and the continent gets wiped off the map]

'But it's perfectly safe now right?'

[lesser abominations for sure would have died by now. But the older ones, or as the ancients called them: "the elder gods" would still be sleeping.]

'So abominations were the first gods of the continent?'

[yes, the gods now are a much more refined version of the abominations. Rather than having a mana stone within them, they are pure mana themselves giving them the ability to rewrite reality. Many of the neo gods appear human; however, they are the farthest thing from it, always remember that]

'How do you know all this, everything you have told me seems like it wouldn't be common knowledge among people or even kings'

[...]

[Back when I was living and not some pathetic servant for an outer lordI was arguably the greatest ArchMage to exist. I don't know if the people still remember me for my achievements as the neo gods most likely rewrote history]

[Leon Norman, I think that was my name, it's been so long]

'What made the neo gods hate you so much?'

[I am the last "living" ancient]

[the neo gods feared that the ancients might revolt when they claimed the land as their own.]

[So they wiped out everything, nearly every living thing went extinct. Kingdoms were flattened in seconds. Hundreds of millions were sacrificed, and I escaped to the one place they couldn't reach, an outer lord's domain.]

[In return for serving it I was spared by the outer lord. However, when you made that declaration, the neo gods knew I was back. If I had to make a guess they are going to make waves to find us.]

'Are you here at the outer lord's request? Was I sent to Grandorby the outer lord?'

[yes I am here to investigate the anomaly that was your arrival, however no, the outer lord didn't send you. How exactly you managed to shift through not just a crack in reality but through time and space into a new body is unexplainable]

'So you are just an observer'

[No, I can intervene like when I gave you handstands and upgraded flick for you. You never did say thank you by the way]

'So why not just give me an unstoppable skill that could keep the neo gods away?"

[...]

[I used all my power to upgrade flick and give you handstands so it's impossible for me to help you right now]

'you are a terrible status window'

[I hope the god of death tortures you in hell. Speaking of which I think we might be able to survive a little longer]

[The only reason this hut hasn't exploded from a lightning bolt yet is that my soul is tied to your mana-less body, which they cannot detect.]

'So how did they even know I made a declaration in the first place?'

[Your life force was used to make the declaration in place of mana. A mage, if cornered and out of mana, will use their life source instead. Of course, the consequence will ultimately be they will die sooner, but the power that comes from it is extraordinary]

[Since life is your birthright, the gods cannot manipulate it to know where we are. They only know that it was made in the first place.]

'So the moment I accumulate mana they will know where we are?'

[yes]

There is no way I can come out of this scenario alive, that is for certain. However, I was given hope; zero is my chance of succeeding in my goal of never dying but I might be able to drag this fight till they lose interest.

I hate this. I thought it would be fun to get isekai-ed, I never could have imagined that this would ever happen. This was an execution after death, if anything, as I have probably gone missing in my previous world though I don't people will look long.

How absurd is this, the pros are that I have the most experienced teacher in the world in my head, the cons are that I am old beyond belief, and the god death is my enemy who will be able to find and kill me the moment I can fight back. Nor do I even know where I am with doubts about being able to find a mana stone or even survive consuming one.

I grabbed the spade and I stepped outside, two suns breaking dawn on the horizon appeared illuminating my surroundings. The forest I was in was lush with foliage covering the ground, cries from what I think are mana beasts can be heard every couple of seconds.

[There are two forests in this world that match this environment, one of which houses the decayed corpse of Shoggoth, the lesser abomination of hate, and the other forest contains the yellow king which may still be alive. If we are lucky it will be Shoggoth's primordial cage.]

[both dungeons are in the middle of their respective forests, since the mana beasts hordes served as a natural deterrents, the dungeon probably haven't been found yet]

'So just head deeper into the forest?'

[The only other option is to wait to die in the hut]