"Ivan, it is finished." Yue wiped the sweat off her brow before heaving a sigh of relief. She looked at the sleeping Ivan before gently waking him up, excited to show him her handiwork, well excited despite her usually stoic face.
"Hm?" Ivan opened his eyes groggily before smiling softly at the exhausted and excited Yue. It had been a few days since they began the process and yet the progress would only move slowly per hour. As such it took days for the full tattoo to reach completion.
To show his appreciation, he extended his right arm towards Yue's head and—
"That was close!" Ivan hurriedly stopped his hand only centimeters from Yue's head before retracting it. He wouldn't forgive himself if he accidentally blew her head off after she worked so hard.
Yue laughed softly as cold sweat dripped down her forehead, sure she would have just regenerated back but she'd rather avoid exploding if the arm is indeed capable of doing what it was intended.
Ivan wryly scratched his head before opting to show his appreciation with his left arm. While he had created a specific function to activate and deactivate the right arm he wanted to be as careful as he can until he gets used to it. As any stray fluctuation of mana could power his arm, possibly through his emotions or sheer accident.
Perhaps if he felt happiness while patting Yue it would've triggered the tattoo and boom, her head would've come apart like a watermelon. After showing his appreciation to Yue he did his best to make it out of the room and manor without letting his right hand touch anything. Yue followed him from a distance ready to cast a spell should he need it.
It wasn't until they made it away from the manor and into the woods that Ivan felt the tension in his body disappear. He looked at the intricate patterns on his right arm before closing his eyes. He imagined the mana within him coursing through the lines of the tattoo before a reaction was elicited.
BZZZZZZZZT!
The familiar sound of sparking erupted in Ivan's ears as he opened his eyes. However the sight of his own arm shocked him as a development he didn't expect occurred. Instead of the familiar gray colored mana that would appear whenever he used his mana, what now coursed through his right arm's tattoo was a dark blue color.
The familiar gray sparks were nowhere to be seen as what took their place was blue ones.
Even Yue didn't expect this development as she readied her barrier magic in case something went wrong. Ivan only nodded at her before she became a bit more laxed, as of now he didn't feel any differences with his mana despite the color change.
He activated his Hands of Mana to confirm a theory of his.
"As expected, their color remains the same." The familiar sight of the gray colored tendrils calmed his nerves a bit as he came to the assumption that using his other transmutation skills would also elicit the usual reaction.
Meaning this odd situation that had appeared was likely only applicable to his right arm's abilities. Seeing as how it didn't cause any trouble for him he didn't feel compelled to try to change it to match the rest, in fact he saw this as a boon.
The color of a person's mana is very distinct, so distinct in fact that it is often used for identification along with the status plates. Now that he had access to two different colors of mana it wouldn't do any harm to keep one color a secret while making the other his main in public.
As if there ever came a time he had to hide his identity he'd just have to only use his hand of destruction and people would most likely not make a connection so long as he properly hid the rest of his identity.
Ivan grinned at the blue sparks arising from his right arm as he walked up to a tree, his right arm rested on the tree before—
BZZZZZT!
The sparks grew violent and bright before the sound of electricity coursing became louder.
BOOOM!
The trunk of the tree exploded into hundreds of bits and pieces in an instant.
"Hahahahaha! It worked! We did it, Yue!" Ivan threw his arms up in celebration as he ran over to lift up Yue, with his left arm of course. She laughed alongside him as she was just happy seeing him happy. Well, there was also some pride in her seeing it work as she was the one who inscribed it.
When their celebration ended Ivan decided to return to training with the arm. Sure it worked on a tree but he wanted to see if it worked on other matters or anything of the like. He really wanted to get a hold of one arm before adding another tattoo to the other.
Different from his other forms of transmutation his right arm only held two sequences: that being comprehension and destruction. Since its purpose itself was to destroy the final sequence, reconstruction, was purposefully left out.
Ivan walked up to a boulder before repeating the process, his right arm glowed sparks of blue electricity as the noise of the transmutation process grew louder. And then boom, the boulder was obliterated within seconds.
Ivan nodded, satisfied with his work as he made his way back to the manor. It would take a few days to get used to the trigger and not accidentally blow everything up but it was a small price for someone like him.
He lifted his right arm above his head as he moved from the entrance to the living room, dodging the cleaning golem as he made his way to Yue. Right now he wanted to see if the arm tattoo serves its main purpose, destroying spells.
"Hey, Yue. Do you mind hitting me with a powerful spell? I wanna see if this thing works."
Yue nodded curtly to his words, Ivan could've sworn he saw some traces of sadism in her eyes as they made their way outside once more.
Once they made it to an empty field they stood opposite from each other and left quite the large distance between.
"Alright, Yue. Hit me with it!" Ivan held his right arm in front of him as he braced for the incoming spell.
"You got it. Crimson Javelin." Yue softly recited the name of her spell as a flame shaped into a spiral spear went soaring through the air and headed towards Ivan's direction.
Ivan stared down the spell before activating his right arm. Blue sparks flew through the air as the intensity of them was enough to darken the area around him, his face only visible because of the glowing arm itself.
30 meters left.... 20 meters left….. 15 meters left… 10 meters— Now!
BANG!
The flaming spear made contact with his right palm as it stayed in the air for a bit, the sparks grew more intense. The spear only spiraled more in an attempt to pierce its target. Then, in a single second, it vanished without a trace.
"...."
Ivan remained in his stance for a moment before looking down at his palm, the residual mana from the combusted spear remained but that was about it. There were no burns, no scratches, and no cuts.
He stared sternly for a second before releasing a sigh of relief. Now they could move on to actual testing.
He ran up to Yue to talk with her about the results.
"It was a success. Though the reaction took longer than I expected I'm sure it could be sorted with some practice and adjustment. As for mana output, maaa~ I shouldn't have much of a problem seeing as how I already have a large capacity."
"Mm, even if mana consumption were an issue I'm sure we could create something to solve it."
Yue affirmed his words as they started talking about their next set of actions. Sooner or later Yue will assist him with the other arm but first he'll get adjusted with the current. The debate was whether to wait one week or two.
In the end they decided two, no reason not to act with precaution.
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"Wind Blades!" A flurry of sharp wind blades flew towards Ivan at startling speeds, no doubt if they hit him his body would be cut to bits and pieces. However instead of doging he fearlessly charged forward, holding his right arm in front of him.
BZZZZZZT!
As his hand collided with the wind blades nearest to him, Ivan continued forward without hesitation as they exploded upon contact, dissolving into nothingness.
Seeing the fastly approaching Ivan Yue only held both her hands in front of her as a thick wall of water appeared before him, she stared at it silently before hoping it would be enough to deter his pursuit.
But contrary to her expectations, instead of going over or around Ivan only made his way to the wall swiftly with his right hand held out, she stared in awe as the wall exploded upon contact and water flew everywhere.
She knew if they didn't ban the gauntlets for this trial there was no doubt Ivan would use the explosion of water to his advantage.
But rather than thinking of that right now she should be focusing on the great strides he was making towards her. She sweated a little internally seeing his right arm approach closer and closer.
However, she had the high ground. Taking advantage of the inclined hill she stood upon she would make sure to hit Ivan with this attack as he slowed down to climb.
"Azure Blaze!" The familiar ball of blue flames appeared above Ivan's head as he felt the area around become significantly hotter. Seeing the sun dropping towards him at a quick pace Ivan only lifted his right arm above him.
If this was truly a trail to see its capabilities then let it be known that all of his other abilities were currently banned. That means no water based transmutation, no regular transmutation, and no Hands of Mana. The only weapon he had was that right arm of his.
BANG!
The ball of flames collided with his palm as a loud crashing noise reverberated through the air. However compared to the other magics this one had overstayed its welcome by a bit. One second had gone by, two seconds had gone by, and finally three seconds. It took a whole three seconds for the spell to cumple under his palm.
It was a little disappointing for him but seeing as how they were currently conducting a trial he needed to focus on his goal. He ascended further up the hill to meet a collapsed Yue.
"Hahahaha!" It would seem casting that grand attack for the 4th time today on top of the other spells really took it out of her. She pouted cutely at his teasing before accepting his proposal for a piggy back ride.
"Well, Yue. I think it's time for the other tattoo." Ivan spoke excitedly to Yue who nodded from his back.
"Mm, let's do it." The excitement in her tone betrayed the expression of stoicism she showed on her face as Ivan recognized the gleam in her eyes.
And with a march in his steps, Ivan made his way to the manor. Of course they'd have to wait for Yue to recover before they continued first.
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Once again, huge thanks to my p.a.t.r.e.o.n.s, expect some other content besides chapters in the near future. Shout out to BlackSnakeZ1, Nazir Bizzell, Aledawizard, and our two newest members to the group: LastGlance and Rade. Thanks for keeping my dreams afloat and I hope you enjoy what you've gained access to. Stay safe and see ya'
Next time shall be the arm of creation. It should be a shorter explanation as its exactly transmutation just with one hand. It uses all three of the sequences I believe.
Anyways thanks for reading again folks, have a great day/night!
If you want to support me and read ahead 10-15 chapters, you can check out my p.a.t.r.e.o.n right here: https://bit.ly/ardoaleister
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