A word. The one and only word Isaac could utter in such a situation.
"F * ck ... f * ck f * ck f * ck f * ck f * ck f * ck"
In front of him, the rather small sphere emitted powerful gusts all around, sweeping the trees and capsizing them. The noise caused would have scared all the animals if there were any.
Isaac seemed to be standing upright, his feet on the ground under the power of the winds blowing over him, protected by his Vesment or Aura, observing the sphere and considering what to do. In front of him, a new red window appeared.
Concentrated on the sphere, Isaac hesitated to look out the window for fear of losing control of the concentrated energy, but decided to look at it anyway. "Why red?" he wondered curiously.
He really didn't want to die, not yet. But curiosity and especially the dangerousness of the situation pushed him to look away.
[Security alert]
Level Offensive spell has been cast in [Garden of Origins]. Analysis of the energy concentration suggests that the damage taken as a result of this attack will exceed the tolerance of the installed [Rune of Protection].
A security system? It was predictable, but what will happen? Will it launch a counterattack on Isaac and view him as an enemy? Or will it try to extinguish the concentration of energy. The second option would be good news. But alas, he didn't have time to wait for a possible reaction.
A powerful impulse swept through the surroundings again, this time pushing Isaac a yard back, his feet gripping the ground, his aura shielding him from the squalls, but the pressure forcing him back.
Without further ado, Isaac then decided to take action and concentrated again. Staring at the sphere, he thinks, "How do you do it? Breaking up the energy could cause sudden destabilization and cause an explosion ..."
He wasn't quite sure yet that he could fully control the flow of energy let alone if he could make the process go smoothly.
The other solution would be to absorb the energy entirely and instantly, but Isaac was not at all sure if he could do that or if he was able to store all of this energy. The two possible outcomes would be for the sphere to explode and Isaac with it, or for Isaac to explode. Unattractive results.
Imagining all kinds of scenarios, Isaac began to think. "If I use my aura to propel myself while manipulating it, could I theoretically be able to get far enough away to get out of the blast radius?"
Of course, this option was based on the fact that the sphere would take a certain time before breaking, that the explosion would not be too large and that he could manipulate his aura to propel himself ... Too many variables. more than if it was a nuclear blast as the system suggested, there weren't many places he could hide.
Underground ? He hadn't yet learned how to dig with his aura or magic, digging by hand was a pretty ridiculous idea considering that it would take a lot of depth to be able to escape an atomic explosion.
Isaac analyzed his possible choices before arriving at a potential alternative.
If it were possible to breach the field confining the mana in one direction, Isaac would potentially be able to redirect the energy and release it to a safe location in front of him.
This solution also had its drawbacks, more commonly destroying anything in its path, but he didn't really have many choices at hand that were better.
He then measured the pros and cons quickly before coming to a conclusion. He decided to go with the last option. Isaac then placed his hands, palm facing each other and began to build a new mental bridge, moving the sphere of energy a little further and higher.
With difficulty, he continued his concentration until the sphere was about 5 meters above the ground, the distance from which Isaac began to feel waves of vibration on the surface of the sphere.
The mana inside began to destabilize and its intensity began to dissipate, making the manicles present more and more active. In a matter of seconds, the gusts tripled in strength.
A powerful breath then hit Isaac's aura who sank his feet into the ground, sliding under the pressure of the wind before looking seriously at the sphere. "Quick quick !"
Without wasting any more time, Isaac then relaxed his concentration slightly, imagining a very small breach on the top of the sphere.
Exactly at this point, a slight crack then suddenly opened in the containment field keeping the sphere under control. A moment later, an intense burst of mana blew through the air, creating a huge beam.
The pressurized mana then ejected into the sky and a powerful impulse swept through the canopy and forest, propelling Isaac several tens of meters back into the air. The trees and the few obstacles that could have stopped him were all already on the ground, the trunks lying on the ground, the rocks broken, turned over or much further.
Seconds later, the containment field shattered and released the remaining energy, creating a large expanding bubble of energy. First at 2 meters in diameter, it began to grow rapidly, reaching 10 meters in an instant and doubling in size in the next moments.
Isaac still in the air and propelled by the winds could only watch the explosion before being propelled higher into the air again, soon reaching an altitude of 200 meters. Giddy, he decided not to look at the ground anymore and began to focus his aura and allow him to slow his impending fall by any means possible.
Ahead of him was a huge vortex of energy. In the center of a completely razed forest whose trees were lying on the ground with a huge empty crater in the middle. No trace of burning or fire, the earth just seemed to have been squeezed or expelled.
A large formation of mana rising in the air, following the golden ray towards the sky, hovered in the crater. Isaac's gaze then followed the path of the beam before finally widening slightly in surprise.
"A force field?" he thought.
A few kilometers above sea level, the beam struck a thick invisible barrier. On contact, enormous white calligraphic and geometric designs invaded the sky, revealing an immense dome over the Garden.
"The defense system? So is that why there are no animals here?"
With the shield enveloping the plain, the deduction was immediate. While trying to figure out how this force field was formed, multiple messages were added to the red window floating next to Isaac.
[System] Alert! Rune of Protection at 90%.
[System] Alert! Rune of Protection at 85%.
[System] Alert! Rune of Protection at 70%.
[System] Alert! Rune of Protection at 62%.
As the messages displayed, the golden ray and mana present at the base continued to attack the surface of the shield, attempting to pierce its surface. Still afloat, Isaac then closed his eyes and came to focus on his aura, imagining it forming a water bubble shape floating in the air with him in the middle.
Responding immediately to his master's commands, the air around Isaac seemed to solidify slightly, assuming a consistency close to that of water. Isaac's clothes and hair then began to float, as if he was in water, although he could still breathe.
He then stopped in the air, neither descending nor ascending, but remaining in the exact spot where he was, floating in the air silently, Isaac watched the messages follow one another.
[System] Alert! Rune of Protection at 58%.
[System] Danger - Rune of Protection below recommended threshold.
[System] Alert! Rune of Protection at 41%.
[System] Bypass of power supply to auxiliary systems ...
[System] Alert! Rune of Protection at 36%.
Cracks then began to appear at the point of impact between the shield and the beam. As the mana at the base of the ray began to disperse, the ray lost power. The initial thickness of the latter of one meter then began to weaken.
[System] Alert! Rune of Protection at 22%.
- "Come on! You can do it!" Isaac pushed, looking at the shield.
While he didn't want to stay locked in the Garden forever, losing the one thing that protected him when he wasn't yet skilled enough to cast spells without risking his life would be a disaster.
Either way, when he did decide to get out, he could probably destroy the shield if he couldn't figure out how to deactivate it or how to make it work. After all, if he could unwittingly damage it up to 20%, once the spell was calibrated and controlled, he could destroy it in one hit.
Especially by observing the many manicles lost during the process and scattered around the base of the shelf. Once the refinement of the spell is completed, Isaac will likely be able to use 100% of the energy concentrated in the ray.
[System] Alert! Rune of Protection at 9%.
Isaac looked in the direction of the fading beam, looking only like a streak of energy a few inches thick, piercing relentlessly across the surface of the dome. Although thin, the energy was still emitting huge pulses at the contact area, indicating that despite its small size, the intensity and frequency of the concentrated mana was extremely high.
Probably comparable to an industrial laser in the modern world. Although, comparing a mana ray to a laser would probably be as accurate as comparing an apple to a peach. The two have outward similarities with a few exceptions, but ultimately have very few things of the same.
[System] Alert! Rune of Protection at 5%.
[System] Critical - Rune of Protection below minimum threshold.
[System] Failed to maintain Rune of Protection.
[System] Automatic security system failure.
[System] High security breach risks.
[System] Analysis in progress ...
A few seconds passed without anything happening, then suddenly a new window appeared, this time on a blue background rather than a red one.
[System] For security reasons, access to the defense control panel has been unlocked by the automatic security system.
[System] The Garden of Origins will now switch to manual mode.
"..."