Let say after my dip in the pond of truth, the schedule Scathach threw at me wasn't scary anymore. This last three day had been a great improvement.
Hypothermia? Well the ice bath was cold but my I managed to combine mana resist with my new found knowledge. Do you know that mana could influenced your senses? I sure feel tad warmer with almost no hypothermia.
Territory expansion? No problem the raw power of mankind desire and hope was supporting my territory. Those helpful little guys even help me reduced my pain. Who know it can used the positive energy it carried to patch out mental wound.
Sustaining my creation? Mana could hold the multiverse together while transporting hope of mankind. You couldn't asked for the better material to hold creation from my self-contain universe.
Despite those nice springy feeling of accomplishment, there was one question I couldn't get. How did my new buddies transport the essence of humanity? Where did those essence essentially go and How did it get absorbed? Well I need a greater and better design of experiment to answer that iffy question.
Oh my stat also jumped up. Actually knowing about natural mana arround the atmosphere and actually asking it for help really improve my stat growth.
...
Rem Breaker
Shadow Agent
Stat
Str: 100 (D) >> 150 (D)
End: 240 (C) >> 268 (C)
Mag: 210 (C) >> 260 (C)
Wis: 302 (B) >> 479 (B)
Dex: 200 (C) >> 225 (C)
Skill
Active
Magic Bullet (C)
Overburst: Limit Override (B)
Arrival of Dream (N/A)
Existence Comprehension(A) *new*
Passive
Territory Creation (D) *upgrade*
Reality Breaker(Ex)
The Way of Optimism(N/A)
Calm mind (A)
Mythological Sword Art: Simplicity (B)
Shadow Land Martial Art (C)
Mana Comprehension (N/A)*new*
...
I hummed happily.
Life was incredible.
One article popped into my head. Suddenly, life was not so happy anymore. I grimaced. I will cross that bridge when I have to.
Wait...Bro mana just filed an emergency report. Someone was attempting to read my mind. It appeared mind reading technique operated by reading the information from the excess mana leaking from the person.
My solution: gather my personal buddies, shared an image of adorable kitten and asked them to show the intruder this image.
Scathach's eyes twitched like crazy the entire morning. I didn't know why.
Oh right, I did.
...
Cytortia looked annoyingly at Rem's attitude. Ever since that dip from the pool, the bastard had experienced a 180 degree change.
He still couldn't beat Scathach yet but it was a just a matter of time until he amassed enough skill and stats to narrow the gap. Given that she was talking about one of the best fighters in Phantasia, this fact was terrifying.
Took Luxinna for example, she was faster stronger and equally durable. Her skill with sword was also several grade above Rem. Any sparring match between them should have been a curb stomp on her favor.
Yet, somehow, Rem managed to hang on, blocking and deflecting each blow like he could predict the future. And whenever he scored the blow, it seemed like Lux's mana resist stop working properly. And just where did he get those stamina from.
Scathach called the match over with a marginal victory on Rem. Cytortia groaned. She knew what was the real result. Lux was huffing like she just run a marathon and, given the heavy and acrobatic offense she tried to use to pierce Rem's guard, she had in a sense. As for Rem, he was defending the entire match and only countered, a perfectly timed countered to boot, when Lux showed any openings. It was a testament to Lux's speed and instinct that she managed to countered several decisive blow and block every attacks from Rem. Yet that didn't change the fact Rem was barely tired.
Scathach squinted at Rem and frowned.
"Still got only kittens." Cytortia asked.
"Yes, this was not like a mental barrier and any kind of Defence technique I know about," Scathach frowned. "I can still read him but it is like the only thing I got is image of kitten. It was like someone is holding a giant kitten photos in front of Rem's thought."
"That could be done right?"
"Yes, there are a technique to fake out thought or spell to prevent a reading or a way to stop stray thought altogether." Scathach answered frowning. "But this is not a wall or static or a false door leading to a kitten image. It was like finding the open empty room with only picture of cats and blank walls."
"Can you breach it?!" Cytortia said hurriedly. "I refused to believe he is the stealth master of mental defense. He might be better than most mortal but he can't be that good."
"I already tried," Scathach concentrated. "I have been trying for days but there are no way ahead. I think it was my skill was that was faulty."
"That impossible," she whispered, looking at Rem as he started meditating. "I mean you are you."
"You don't get what I meant," she said while Lux crept silently from behind to join them. "It's purely a difference between the hardware. Rem skill was barely a dust compared to mine but the tool he was working with was simply to advance. It was like a professional swordsmith using copper foil against steel sword crafted by backyard teenagers. The skill gap is there but the difference in quality of material was too huge"
Both girls looked at Scathach.
"You are claiming that Rem was using a different system to beat anything we threw at him." Cytortia said.
"Yes," Scathach nodded in defeat. "He is basically answering a trivia exam using the internet but we can't stop him because we are essentially caveman who didn't even know what is the internet."
"I am going to ask him." Lux said and walked toward Rem.
"Eh. What is she doing?" Cytortia said.
"Trying something that couldn't realistically work," Scathach sighed.
...
The mana of the multiverse flowed into each person. That was a certain fact. I don't know about its mechanism or the cycle that it flowed but I do know that we were permanently connected to it.
So how do we increased the flow. Could we influence the others' flow and how was it possible that for us to run out of mana and got rebounded.
I need to set better experiment to observe this asap. The possibilities were endless.
"Hey what are you doing?"Said the voice of Lux
"Communicating with the lifeblood of the universe and pondering its secret," I said honestly. There were nothing false in that sentence.
"That was not a sarcasm, " she started. So she at least caught on that much. "So that was how you managed to block out Scathach and beat me."
"I will not confirm or deny that."
"Teach me."
Now that was new.
I opened my eyes to see Luxinna sitting in front of me.
"Ok, " that was quick. I expected it to take quite a while for her to get frustrated enough. "Why all of the sudden?"
"It was just how I am." She sat down near me. "The guard back home calls it stubbornness. I think it something else. Kind of an urge to learn and master something no matter how hard it should be. It is a passion of mine."
She showed me her hand that crackled with electricity.
"My father was afraid of this. I never understand why. Back when I was child, he always moved like he wanted to prove something. To move on from something. After the day, I received my card, he avoided me as much as possible and he became even colder. Even as a kid I could feel he was losing sleep. Finally, I think his fear got to him and he forbid anyone to train me."
I really wanted to explain to Lux that her father was a total douche. No that was not true. He was The Douche. The jerk with no equal. Seriously, this man had issued. The way he treated his daughter was not a fluke or a complex of traditionalist mindset. No, what happened to Lux stem from something much more sinister.
But I didn't had a heart to explain to her.
"Your father seemed to have an intense anxiety disorder regarding lightning."
"Yeah, but I have to cope when I was a kid. So I set a goal and taught myself. I tried running. I practiced with a sword, using anyway and shortcut I can find. My form back then was ridiculous because no one taught me. So I made it up with hard work."
"And then you got exile."
Lux was lucky. Lucian set her up to die and what I had read recently told me she was not the only recipent.
"Yeah, luckily I knew a little bit about archery and the guard did left some arrows and tools behind," she said. "So I began to practice to take my mind of my problem. You could claim that being diligent was a habit of mine. So teach me please. If there are anyway to master my power as quickly as possible, I want to know about it."
I sighed. How could I refused after that? The girl had a huge obstacle in front of her. It was a good thing she changed her name. The Drakokia's name was cursed to the point that I believe Satholia's recruitment of her was a divine mandate to punish one Lucian Drakokia in an even more painful and psychologically crippling blow than castration fist.
"There are no way to show you what I saw except for seeing it for yourself." I said. "But I can tell you the trick."
So that how I end up teaching Lux about the nature of mana. She took it surprisingly well.
"You are saying mana is actually alive."
"Yeah," I said. "They basically form a channel the connected all things in the multiverse together. Each of us fuel this flow by, well, being alive. Our entire existence gave the power for mana to keep moving. In return it grant us magic. Magic was created when the mana channeled and interact with our existence. The mana that connected to us absorbed who we are and turn into a unique power known as magic."
"So you are telling me I have lightning because I am defined by it."
"Yep."
"So how do I cast spell with it?"
"Yeah let me try something I came up with." I sat up and recalled the structure of the only spell I know [Magic Bullet (C)]. The spell used specific formula to condense mana into the ball, energies it and fling it toward the enemy.
When I first used mana it was as a barrier. It was inefficient and highly wasteful. Now I simply saturated the mana into my cell and regularly replace any exhausted mana with the supply from the channel. The goal was not to create the barrier but to changed the body into something that naturally resist attack by conducting mana. Mages thought the body as a battery. That was wrong. Magic users are essentially a light bulb plug to a power supply. We simply existed to increase the bulb quality.
When normal mages cast a spell, they burn their mana as fuel. This was inefficient. Mana wasn't meant to burn like coal. They are carrier of energy. Spell that function by trying to burn it would work like burning electron. The only reason spell even worked as because of mana release energy upon dissipating in the spell.
To give a clearer picture. You designed an engine the worked by burning flammable wires, connecting to the most powerful generators in the universe to boot, in order to produce heat which will be converted to light. Sure the wire will be caught on fire and you will get a result. But any kindergarten worth their salt will tell you to connect the wires you are burning to the machine.
Combined the fact that said wires were literally the thing glue you health point together--the current spellcraft was not only stupid but outright suicidal.
There were limits of course. Took to much energy and your body will overheat. Used too much at once and the rebound caused by exhausted mana will wind you until your body can refill it. Rapid changes in mana density without time to adapt will wear the body down. But considering the current magic system essentially worked by burning your lifeblood, I concluded that my style is the least lethal.
So to implement this theory I began experimenting. Firstly, I channeled mana through myself and synchronizing my intention with them, instead of forcing them into death machine I compromised. The mana, each particles dye with my magic, responded by forming a ring of rainbow light around my hand. I gently focused the power inside the ring to a point while using mana to condense and contained the power.
The processed took a half a second to set up and millisecond to fired.
The ring of light fired a bolt of raw force. The forced blasted a crater on the ground with a power of a cannonball, sending dirt flying every where. Meanwhile, any exhausted mana was an instantly recycle and replace. The result was immediate. The power was at least 5-7 time larger than the [Magic Bullet]. The ring was still functioning for the second shot and, compared to what I used to fire, I essentially used next to nothing.
Wow, for living energy, this little guys were absurdly clever. To think, people have been using them as petrol fuel for flashy fireworks. Totally, uncivilized. No wonder they failed to take forbidden zone. Given the rate they burn through their force, it was a testament to the human will to live someone actually managed to walk back
'My Lord, oh you who made miracle, oh you mighty chosen one.' Central chimed in a tone that basically a transparent attempt of flattery. 'You had invented a new...er... Something never recorded before and are free to name it. So please give it a good name...'
I could name it as Central Doombolt but I think I will stick Photon Ring. I am nice that way.
'Thank you for your generosity. You had upgrade [Magic Bullet (C)] to [Photon Ring (C)].'
Next, to me, an elf stared at the crater.
"You got to teach me how to do that."
"Roger that."
...
Scatach and the goddess stared at the crater and then at Rem playing with a ring of light.
"That was ridiculous, " Scathach murmured in disbelief. "I doesn't recognize that spell. I don't even think it is a spell. Spell is not supposed to be reusable and that kid was not even winded."
The goddess stayed silent and walked into a Van.
"Where are you going?" Asked the incredibly confused badger.
"I am looking at the map for the nearest mana spring." Said the voice inside the Van.
"To do what? Jump in it."
"Yes!" Cytortia's voice roared back. "If lethal hallucination taught me that how to threw that blast at Chuang's face, they will gladly join the insane club over there."
Scathach stood there still. A long time from now, she would claim that this was the day the very rule of magic broke apart. It's the moment that consigned nearly a millennium of speculations and researchs to burn in a fire. This was the moment that solely responsible for a vampire's dynasties upheaval and its following decades of identity crisis, magic technology revolution, the rise and bankruptcy of nearly 530 megacorps, fall of the Aztellic Regimes as well as a foreshadow of Demonic Continent's March of Social Freedom, a massive reshuffling of Lightwell's council, the Day of Kneeling for the Drakokia, collapses of wizarding and spell-craft unions, a mass suicide and, finally, after all that mess, world peace and the stop to the greatest conflict in history of Phantasia, often called the Twelve Hours War.
On that historic moment of legend, Scathach had only sentenced to describe it.
"Nu Wa is going to kill me."