After Pronos' first success, they spent close to two hours perfecting his control over it. Sadly, now that he could properly cast the magic, the drain on his mana made it hard to train as much as they would have wanted but it still bore results.
The first thing they checked was how many aspects of the arrow his Infinity Magic could modify and in what way exactly. Velocity and acceleration were obviously the first ones. The second had been the weight of the projectile; making a regular wooden arrow weigh close to a hundred kilos in an instant.
The third one was size. It was surprisingly the easiest to change, perhaps for how easy it was to picture the transformation. On his first try, Pronos had made the arrow bigger than Rakna himself.
The fourth one had been durability. It was confirmed that Pronos needed to alter a number for his magic to apply. Velocity and weight were easy ones but durability was another. There was no proper base unit to measure durability, at least, not in a direct way.
Shock absorption, flexibility, hardness of the material, etc… All of these were quite hard to apply with Pronos' understanding but one of them had worked splendidly; density. In other words, the mass per volume.
However, it had a different effect from just changing the weight. It was as if the material itself was being compressed to welcome a higher quantity of it. It was as if the material of a hundred arrows had been forced to fit in only one.
This had the effect to make the projectile incredibly tougher, and heavier at the same time. Which worked perfectly for Pronos since it gave it two effects for the cost of one alteration.
Their last discovery was a random idea that Rakna had come up with. Since they were working around numbers, it was natural to believe that negative values could also be employed. That revelation allowed Pronos to reverse-engineer the aspects and make the arrow lighter, slower, or more fragile. It also took severely less mana to do it.
"Hm, the time it lasts is variable," Rakna commented as he spun an arrow between his fingers. "On average, the enhancements you place last about five minutes. Sometimes less, sometimes more. It most likely correlates to how much you change the initial value."
Pronos nodded tiredly as he was finally getting some rest. Rakna had already fed him two mana pills in order to prolongate the training.
"Well, I guess it's enough for today," Rakna said and told Trii to take back the bow as well as the hundreds of arrows littering the floor of the training room. "In the future, you'll have to test if you can modify the aspects of living beings and the numerical values of items or statuses..."
"You could potentially change the effectiveness of a consumable, the attack of a weapon, the cost of a skill, or even stats and attributes. It would also be incredible if you could change the level of a target so we could exploit how much experience we get from defeated foes," Rakna said with an even tone as if he hadn't just said something completely outrageous.
On the other hand, Pronos gaped at the possibility of such a loophole. Tyran had heard him but he wasn't as smart as his snake friend so he couldn't grasp the full implications.
"{…wow, that is… wow…}" Higure was speechless.
[…] And Alexa didn't even know what to say.
"Oh well, that will be for later. For all we know, it might be impossible or it might require obscene reserves of mana," Rakna shrugged and pulled out his unfinished book from his storage. He went to the page he had bookmarked and opened the door. "Well, you two can do whatever you want for the rest of the day… I'll be laz- I mean, resting in the lounge room," he said before leaving them to their devices.
Tyran And Pronos looked at each other and with a shrug, followed after him, jumping on the door's knob to open it.
⠀
* * *
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An hour later, Rakna was reading the last page of his book whilst a green hexagonal barrier floated above his head, slowly rotating. After a short moment, he closed the book and hummed. "7/10. Not bad but nothing is striking about it."
"{They… kissed?}" Higure muttered. "{That's it!? That's how they end it?!}"
'I told you,' he retorted dully and sat up on the couch as the book returned inside his storage.
"{That's rubbish!}"
'Now, now, don't go too far. It's just not to your taste. Don't insult the work that went into writing this story, mediocre or not. A good reader finds enjoyment in both the bad and good literature. It doesn't necessarily mean to read something you don't like but rather to learn something from it no matter what it is and reset the bar of your expectations.'
'That makes the discovery of a good read even more satisfying,' Rakna said. 'You said you were disappointed because of the dreary nature of the relationship; then you'll be overjoyed if you read a story afterward that takes things to the lengths you were imagining.'
"{Uh, I never pegged you a bookworm,}" Higure commented.
'Already forgot? Uncle? Big collection? Does that ring any bell?' He sarcastically responded.
"{Ah, true. You did say you that you read a lot but I never expected you to be so… passionate.}"
'Well, what do you know. You can never judge a book by its cover, can you?'
"{Hahaha! Indeed, you're right!}"
Rakna snorted in amusement and glanced at his two pets relaxing on the table, with Tyran sitting down and Pronos on top of his head. They were currently focused on the TV, watching a cartoon out of all things.
'By the way, Higure, when I was carving my magic circuits, you said something was happening in my mindscape. What was it?' He asked after the topic came back to him.
"{Aaah, that. Well, why don't you see it for yourself? After doing it once, it should be easy for you now to visit us down here.}"
'Give me a second,' he replied and crossed his legs before closing his eyes. He activated Soul Breath and let himself fall into the endless pit of his soul power. When he opened his eyes again, he was looking at the smiling face of Higure.
The roses at his feet were still red, contrasted by the purple ones, while black petals fell from the sky. However, there was something different this time. The color of the air, if he could call it like that, was odd. It was both warm and cold.
He looked up, expecting to see the twelve moons hanging amidst the starry sky but what he saw made his eyes pop. Two celestial bodies were burning above him and lighting his soul realm.
One was colder than ice, unforgiving, and carrying with it the peace of frosting dusks.
The other was hotter than fire, uninhibited, and bringing with it the rage of blazing dawns.
"Impressive, isn't it?" Higure said. "This is how this place appears during the day. When night falls outside, the moons take over."
"I see…" Rakna whispered and took his eyes off the sight before suddenly being tacked by a flying figure. The impact was soft and didn't hurt him but he was startled as Rexam started licking his face. "Hey, hey, calm down. I'm being cuddled a lot today…"
"Hah, this cub was probably eager to do that from the second he saw you enter this place for the first time," Higure said. "He restrained himself at the time for appearance's sake."
Rakna huffed at that and gently stroked the Luquila's head. "So? What was that change?"
Higure waved her paw as she said, "Look around you."
He complied and other than the sleeping form of Fenriu, he spotted something that puzzled him at first glance. Within the flowers of this field, there was a singular river transporting clear water that sparkled with a blue light.
This river had no beginning or end. It also had no explicit path and even made loops to his right and left before disappearing in the horizon of the small planet he was on. At least, he thought it was a planet or just a floating sphere of soil and flowers. Maybe exploring this place would be an interesting endeavor.
That aside, what confused him was that while he knew the river wasn't there the last time he came, its presence felt natural. Once again, it was as if everything in this place had a place in his heart.
He slowly parted from Rexam's hug and walked to the river. He crouched at the edge and dipped his fingers in the water, watching the stream part as it collided with them.
"It's full of mana… and cold," he commented before pulling his hand back.
"Cold it is. I tried to touch it earlier and I felt like I was going to turn into an icicle. Though for you, it's not nearly as bad since you have the protection of your element," Higure remarked.
Rakna hummed as he traced the river's waves. "So? What is this? Some sort of representation of my magic circuits?"
"I think so," the lioness nodded as she stood beside him, watching the mesmerizing glitters that shone below the surface of the water. "Ever since it appeared, I feel more powerful too. Or, I guess it would be more accurate to say that my existence here has been consolidated. It's the same for the cubs."
"What does that entail exactly?"
"Well, I wasn't sure before this but," she paused with a meditative look. "Manifesting us outside of here might be possible now. Your circuits have affected your soul, and in turn, us as well. Do you remember the thing about unlocking your Soul Marble?"
"Manifesting my soul in the outside world?"
"Indeed. I think this has made you closer to unlock it. This also means that it's likely that you can manifest us, parts of your soul, in the outside world. And I'm inclined to believe that you will not need to have full access to your Soul Marble to get us out."
"Interesting…" Rakna muttered. "How do you think it will proceed if I succeed?"
"As in… how will we manifest?" She asked in return and he nodded. "I honestly have no clue. With a bit of luck, we could be something similar to Phantoms, ghosts with physical influence. But it's also possible that we'll be nothing more than incorporeal beings with no power. No better than an illusion."
"Hm, I'll give it some thought," he stated. "For now, I'll take the rest of the day. I'll continue reading a bit while practicing the skills that don't need too much thought. Tomorrow, I'll give it a shot and since Eyes of the Soul has reached Exceled, using a skill point on it might also help."
"Understood. But… what kind of book will you read?"
Rakna shrugged and mentally nudged the connection he had with his soul. "Let's see," he said and the landscape of his soul realm broke apart like glass and he found himself back inside the Pavilion with the sound of the TV blaring.
'What about this one?' Rakna asked as a new book appeared in his hand. This one was thicker than the previous one. 'From what I can see in the synopsis, there's a chance it has the… 'thrill' you're looking for.'
"{What are we waiting for then?}" Higure replied excitedly. Reading was a novelty for her. She was far from illiterate but she had never bothered to try literature in her entire life. She had to admit it was stimulating to see fantastic tales that she would never have the opportunity to observe in real life.
"All right. This one seems more accentuated toward fantasy," Rakna said and opened the first page.