[Two Chapters today. Consider it a late Christmas Gift.]
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Chris read everything he needed about the Konosuba Dimension to prepare for his journey; he wanted to be ready. Afterward, he planned his next step. He first debated whether to take magical classes and learned a few spells. Or directly go hunting.
After weighing the pros and cons, he realized this mana pool was too small to be of use; he was almost a Squib. However, he had another advantage: he was a Tier 3 Aura Master.
He used his military connection to buy a decent magical sword without wasting time. Most citizens must learn basic hand-to-hand combat, gun shooting, and the basics of one melee weapon. This law caused the Auror Department much trouble in the early days.
After getting some decent gear, Chris activated his watch. A golem received him and even helped him acquire a Skill Card. And as expected, Aura was one of the skills already registered, including his Spiritual Software Engineer.
The golem gave him a map that displayed the allocation of monsters in different areas. The areas were labeled based on their tier (Tier 0-3). And there was no other living creature inside–besides the new people.
Before the worldwide upgrade and revelation of his return, Edward moved all the citizens of Konosuba–including the Spark Gods. They were now slowly being intergraded into the Empire. As for the entire world, it was turned into a training place for the citizen to use the power of Karma to reach Tier 3.
Fleur combined the Crimson Magic Family Bloodline with the unique bloodline that the Adventure Cards will grant individuals when they change Classes. Hermione even upgraded the Karma System of the world.
'Which area should I go to?' pondered Chris. Tier 3 Area would give him the fastest rise, but it was also the most dangerous. From what he knows, someone will come to save him if he is in danger. But there is also the possibility of not arriving on time.
"Let's go to the Tier 2 Area." If there is danger, he can still run away. So, he headed to an area with a creature called Boxing Kangaroos. Based on the live map, he found an isolated one and attacked. He rushed forward and slashed his sword horizontally.
And to his embarrassment, the magical creature dodged, making Chris smile in shame as he realized his lack of combat abilities. Ignoring his opponent's mocking look, he activated his [Aura] and used the overwhelming physical stat difference to kill the animal.
He felt a mysterious power rush inside his body and hurriedly checked his Skill Card. As expected, he leveled up. Technically speaking, he was Level 0, while the Kangaroo was level 34.
Levels 0-9 are Tier 0, 10-20 is Tier 1, 21-3 40s Tier 2, and 41-60 is Tier 3.
Chris immediately added all his points to increase his mana. As he sensed the increase, an uncontrollable joy appeared in his mind. He headed to the next target. And this time, he did not rush in for the attack.
As the Emperor said, fighting head-on is barbaric. True mages fight long distances and spam their enemy with magic.
Chris remembered the chaos when the Arcane Emperor said these words in an interview. All hand-to-hand Arcane sub-classes rioted. Then, the pure mages came to defend the Emperor, saying he was correct. Finally, the Emperor had to come out to explain it was a poor joke and sincerely apologize.
Nevertheless, many people knew the Emperor was not fond of direct fighting.
Chris summoned his Grimoire to activate his unique magic. He increased the velocity of his sword, drastically increasing its speed. It pierced the Kangaroo's head before the creature even realized what had occurred.
Chris controlled the vector of the sword to change direction, achieving a power similar to telekinesis. Like a child, he continued to control the sword, making it fly upward, downward, side to side, etc. He had a smile plastered on his face like a child who received a new toy for Christmas.
A few minutes later, he suddenly felt light-hearted as his man ran out. Embarrassed again that he had lost control, he used his Aura to walk to a safe area to recuperate his mana before continuing hunting.
He killed a few more Boxing Kangaroos before becoming bolder and deciding to fight more than one at once. He was successful, but Chris realized he needed a defensive spell.
He tried creating a field around him that redirected all vectors directed at him. He thought the process would be difficult, but after trying for a few hours, a new spell appeared in his Grimoire.
"Is this the benefit of high Willpower?" he remembered the information explained this Grimoire System favored people with determination or high Willpower.
With a way to protect himself, Chris continued his hunting. A month later.
"Fireball," he chanted before creating a ball of fire five times that of a basketball, sundering more than a hundred magical beasts.
"Bottomless Swamp," he waved his staff to create a swamp and trap a ground of Long-Leg Chickens, a Tier 3 animal that was very fast.
"Lightning Strike." Lightning descended from the sky to destroy the Long-Legs Chickens.
"Is this the power of a Tier 3 Arcanist? How fascinating," he muttered. After a month of nonstop hunting, he was now Level 60. He had learned all the skills, and his Grimoire had a few more spells.
"Can I say my dream is accomplished?" he continued. "No, this is just the beginning." He controlled his Grimoire to manipulate the wind around him to create two high-powered tornadoes in his back and fly away. After resting, he returned home.
After reaching Tier 3, Chris felt he had reached a plateau, making it difficult to improve further. From what he knew, there were other dimensions where one could hunt to get higher levels.
Edward took a few more worlds under the Spark Gods. They were one of the many random Isekai novels that came out every year. These worlds could reach Tier 6 through hunting and gathering Karma.
However, things in talent will begin to take place from now. Someone like Chris has to go to extreme lengths to reach Tier 4. Furthermore, there was no safety net in these dimensions. If you die, you die. No one will come to save a citizen in danger; that's the rule of that dimension.
"Let's wait after the potion."
Afterward, he enrolled in school and learned the method of condensing a Magic Core. Things proceeded smoothly since he was used to controlling mana and had a vast amount.
Now, Chris had to worry about his future. He had to worry about learning the Expansion Charm to ensure he could advance to Tier 4. Then there is the process of Liquefying Mana.
"Even with a Dragon Potion, this would be difficult, not to mention the current me," he muttered with a smile. "If only there were another," he continued with a sigh.
'Another way?" he squinted his eyes as he felt a flash of inspiration.
'In terms of talent, intelligence, and spiritual power, there is little chance I can understand and enchant my core with the Expansion Charm. But what if there was another way? A way that used my only advantage over others: Willpower.'
Chris hurriedly went on the web to search for scholarly journals. He searched: "The relationship between Willpower, Mana, and Sou," "Controlling Mana with Willpower," and "Willpower Manifestation."
There were articles, but he could not understand them after reading them. After all, his magical knowledge foundation was sub-par. So, he used Artificial Intelligence to summarize things into easier-to-digest language.
"My plan is feasible," he said with excitement. Then, he hurried summited it to the Idea Suggestion Box and waited to see how much this idea was worth. To his surprise, the conclusion took more than ten minutes, worrying Chris to death that his idea was terrible or someone already had.
However, when he received a response, he was shocked. The message he received read:
"Your idea has possible ramifications that will affect the entire Arcane Civilizations. As such, the royal family has requested your presence for further discussion."
Chris' mouth remained open for a good five minutes. He could not fathom his idea was so important.
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Staring next chapter, it's Edward's POV, and the two will finally meet.