"It works!"
Five small orbs floated around me, rotating in a slow clockwise motion. Each of these small orbs were a stabilized and converted form of the Aether Mana that I had been painstakingly unable to control in the last few weeks.
[The current limit of processing power I can spare only allows the controlling of 4 secondary orbs, once we gain more control over the net and gain more data or learn a method of making it more efficient I may be able to assist in controlling more.]
It was amazing. I only needed to keep my focus onto one orb as A.I would control the others. Even if I let go of the orb I was in control of, as long as I controlled one of the other orbs quickly, A.I would be able to stabilize the first orb before it dispersed.
"Let's test the next step." I raised one of the orbs as I concentrated upon it.
Whoosh! The grey orb slowly started to shine as it turned into a ball of light.
I let go of the small light ball and controlled another grey orb, repeating the process until all five orbs had converted into the Light element.
Then.
'A.I, Obex times five.'
[Initiating Obex]
"OBEX!"
Five orbs of light turned into ten, thick barriers that surrounded me. Obscuring me from outside vision due to the sheer amount of mana and thickness the barriers contained. Each of the small orbs seemed to only have enough mana to create two barriers each.
'Keeping one orb around for an obex spell in emergencies should prove to be good.'
Also, I had found out something strange.
'A.I, get ready.'
I slowly willed the mana within the Obex to change back into the Aether mana and soon one by one, the barriers turned into wisps of silver energy and recreated the five original orbs except one of them had been smaller than before.
"This works as well!" I exclaimed out in shock.
It seemed like a chunk of mana that was originally a converted piece of Aether mana, no matter what it was converted into, can be returned back to the form of Aether at max efficiency granted that the mana it contained was not lost. I did not know why it was the case but I wasn't going to complain.
The issue lay in that the majority of energy tree elements lost some mana into the air through pure radiation of either/ or both light and heat.
'I need to learn a solid element outside the energy tree for maximum efficiency.'
Although the energy lost through pure light radiation of the Light element was not great, the 5th orb had still lost around 10 to 15% of the original mana it contained.
If he could learn an element of matter, such as earth or water then the mana retention would remain at 100% when he restored the fully converted mana back to Aether.
But which one first?
-----
"So you finally mastered creation? 3 days left before the 4 weeks are up, barely satisfactory." Lady Silvia turned to Deus as she spoke as she handed him a small metal ball. "Show me".
But shock rang through me as I held the metal ball.
'!!!... The mana... There's so much mana!"
"The ball you're holding is a condensed mana infused iron, it is infused with enough mana to easily cast a spell that could kill a full squad of men." Lady Silvia smiled. "Convert it."
"I-I'll try." I stammered.
I had never attempted converting such a large amount of mana before, the objects I practiced with were logs or normal stones. This small orb easily had over 10 if not 20 times more mana.
'A.I, let try it.'
[Understood]
I slowly started to convert the iron ball into Aether and soon a big orb around the size of my head had formed.
'Quickly!'
"Hmm?" Lady Silvia's eyebrows rose up.
I divided the big orb into five smaller orbs and focused all my attention onto one of them as A.I worked on the rest.
Sssszzzz....
Thankfully, I had been able to stabilize the big orb but maybe due to the amount of mana there were in the other four orbs, it had only been able to stabilize three. The final orb had dispersed into the atmosphere.
"Mu-Multicaster!" Lady Silvia was in visible shock.
"Oh...Um...I couldn't control the huge chunk of mana so I decided to... Divide it?" I struggled to find an explanation of the phenomenon, hoping I wouldn't be reprimanded over losing a fifth of the mana.
"Can...Can you control them all?" Lady Silvia, still in shock, asked with a low voice.
"Umm... Yeah. I could control five usually but it seems that it's dependent on the amount of mana there is." I replied as I slowly changed each of the Aether mana orbs into the Light element.
Soon.
"My god..." Lady Silvia crashed onto her seat, in utter disbelief.
Four bright balls floated before her as I maintained them.
"Oh I also learned how to do this." I quickly reversed the conversion before too much mana was lost to radiation as the four bright balls turned into grey wisps and soon formed the original four orbs.
"!!!" Lady Silvia was at a loss for words.
"Umm... Did I pass?" I casually lifted up one of the orbs as I looked at Lady Silvia.
"You...Yes. Pass." Lady Silvia woke up from the stupor as she looked into my eyes. "Deus, wait are you deus? I do-How did you do that?"
"Do what?" I asked in confusion.
"Multicasting! You're controlling four spells at once!" Lady Silvia shouted out in annoyance. "No magus had been able to perform such an act in years, and nobody had been able to control more than two at once!"
"I-I don't know." I decided that keeping the A.I hidden would be the best option. "I was just looking for a solution to stabilize the mana and found this alternative."
Lady Silvia continued to stare into my eyes.
"Deus." She spoke in a low voice. "You must not show this to anyone. Remember these words. Only use this skill if you're sure of erasing all evidence or keeping the mouths shut of all the people who see."
"Huh? Why? Is this some form of taboo?" I asked with visible confusion.
"No, it is worse. There are indeed taboo spells but they are only so because they can easily hurt the caster. This skill, Deus, is just too dangerous." Lady Silvia massaged her temples as she thought.
"Let me explain to you. In a usual battle, everybody knows that a magus needs time to cast a spell. Of course instant casting exists but that's only once you fully master a specific element where it becomes an extent of your own self. Anyways, a Magus can only control one element a time which is usually one that has an upper hand such as fire against nature for example." Lady Silvia explained.
She then lifted up her head to glare at me. "But you Deus, have too much power. You are, first of all, an Aether element user. Everyone already knows of this and unless you hide your identity and create another one to live as, you will be branded as the Aether Magus by the world. An Aether Magi already has the power to counter every element granted they learned all the major elements. But even so, they need time to cast the counter element spell."
She then tapped the air four times, creating a different colored elements. A ball of light, a blob of water, a piece of dirt and a wisp of air. "But imagine, Deus, having all these four elements at the ready. What would happen then?"
"!!!!" My eyes widened at the revelation. "I-I could become..."
"Yes, near, if not completely, invincible." Lady Silvia waved her hands as the four pieces of elements disappeared. "You would be able to counter whatever element came your way and play a step, if not two steps, ahead of everyone."
"Deus, you have the potential to become the strongest Magus to have ever walked upon this world or possibly even, to ever exist. You would have the power of every single element, other than space and time, at the ready." With a warn, Lady Silvia's words ended. "You will become the public enemy of all who are against the Magi, Deus."
Lady Silvia and I looked into each other's eyes. Both trying to overcome the shock that each respectively received.
But a small thought appeared in my head, flames of greed blazing within my heart. "But if I can survive and grow..."
"You will become a king." Lady Silvia added. "A king of all Magi. Even us, the dragonkin, will tremble beneath your feet."
A silence filled the room.