After Vector's little "accident" and plan, a few hours slowly passed by, uninterrupted with no guards noticing a single thing.
However, time waits for no man. So as the morning work shift came to a start, the bell startingto ring, the guards passed out the food and quickly kept tabs of the slaves.
Jerome and the guards like usual, we're constantly yelling at the slaves to pick up the pace. However, a commotion occurred that morning. Deaths were always common, but eight people missing was too big of a number to ignore, or let it slide by.
The most important thing though, was the trash prince wasn't here! He was asking for a beating,the guards all thought with various insults, such as trash or weak, etc.
The guards all grumbled to each other like little kids , until one pointed out something that made them immediately cower, just like the slaves did to them.
"What if he's dead, he's been broken for awhile? always covered in filth, always obedient, so he should be here right?" A random guard pointed out to the others.
" F#ck, Sh#t, God damnit!" Various curses flew out of the guards mouths, located in the camp. So, they decided to stretch out and look for any signs of him. Otherwise, the commanding officer of this section would personally punish, and discipline them!
Not too long after, a guard found 7 men dead, located at the bottom of the cavern, where the outsiders slept. The guards thought these people decided to jump and end their suffering, and particular didn't care, but they had to search for the prince.
Of course, that's not what happened… but the cavern was simply too far down, their eye sight not being able to see fully due to the height, and some of the the bodies were laying face first.
So the guards organized a team, slowly starting to descend down the cliff side, to check it out. The camp hearing the news slowly turned into chaos, the slaves were all filled up, yelling and screaming until Jerome killed a slave and caused "order" to happen once again.
The guards even went so far to offer the slaves extra food, and even desperate enough to cut labor time, just for information of the trash prince's whereabouts. Alas, no info could be found.
- - -
Meanwhile, the man in question slowly just woke up from some much needed rest, and looked at his surroundings in peace, slowly admiring the beautiful and glistening mana stones all around him.
With constantly planning and training, this was the first time in awhile, Vector dreamt and slept peacefully.
Vector slowly got up, admiring the peace of not hearing a gong, quickly ate, and took care of his business, until he was finally ready to dive into his elements.
His blood pumping, his eyes gleaming with joy, and his soul feeling free. He reminisced on his hard work for months, and the constant planning, just for this very moment.
Vector already knew his mana reserves were massive now, his body was fully adjusted, and one with mana, firmly packed to the brim with pure un elemental mana.
It was just begging and asking to be converted to elemental mana. It was practically begging for a release. He was a walking nuclear power plant at this point. He knew he had to start off slow, take it step by step and not rush the process.
Otherwise, a mana backfire could happen, being detrimental to his growth and escape plan.
That would then extend his time here … which was not possible on his rations, and not possible for the very reason, that time was running out.
'Hmm, let's try my Ice affinity first. Even with my awakened Spacial bloodline, I need to take covering mana slow, and learn to first wield mana itself first. Hmmmm.'
With these thoughts going through Vector's head, he slowly looked inside to his mana sea, which naturally evolved over these months, with a scenery that would dazzle anyone.
With a night sky so vibrant, stars shining overhead, various moons shining in the background, this scene would cause anyone to be at peace… and this is what got Vector through the hard and hellish months.
The peace here, sense of familiarity, the control and power he felt here. It was his. Control. He like the feeling of control. His sea of mana was an icy and crystal clear blue, with glaciers constantly floating, while snowflakes often fell down, peacefully floating in the wind.
One could only describe this sea as the perfect representation to the attribute of ice. His 2 affinities representing themselves to the maximum
in his inner mana sea. The island in the middle, started off as as that little white dot, but slowly expanded into a obsidian sandy beach with countless trees, varying in color. Vegetation on the island was thick, usually with gold leaves, while countless small animals started to appear, rabbits, wolfs, and so forth.
Vector witnessing these scenes was shocked at first, but slowly got accustomed to it and quickly brushed it off, just being a side effect of his constant mana training. In the middle of the island, a small sprout from that little white dot slowly started to be evolved in giant tree. No ordinary tree mind you. With an obsidian tree trunk color, matching the very same island sand, countless leaves sprouting out with a golden color, a blue and purple aura hue could be seen surrounding the tree. His island growth, and mana seas hit the same plateau when his body couldn't process more mana.
However, even to this day his tree did not stop growing, he didn't think it ever would. His "world tree" as he called it, gave off a very profound feeling of space, a vastness of some sorts, and a ethereal existence feeling, that felt primal but young, and yet caring towards Vector.
He often sat and leaned against it slowly enjoying the view while often falling asleep in his mana sea, the little animals would often surround him and sleep beside him.
- - -
Vector know fully ready to explore his element, walked over to his mana sea, put a hand into the chilling water and immediately grasped his ice affinity. The moment Vector opened his eyes in the real world, holding and picturing the Arctic Ice mana in his hand, his hair very slowly but gradually changed color. The temperature in the cavern instantly dropped, the floor around him slowly froze, and a attic wind could be felt breezing through.
'OOPS, hmm how do I undo this? Do I just will it? … nope ok, let it melt? … ok never mind. Hmm let me dive deeper into understanding Ice…'
After countless try's, Vector slowly grasped something vital to the use of mana. Imagination and detail! To control mana, one had to have a clear representation of what one wanted to do with it. Each element with a different feeling, a different way to "mold" it if you will, simply a different approach to each element.
Vector found his Ice mana to be the embodiment of winter, the coldness one felt, the numbness one could feel as well. However, Vector found his ice ready to respond to any command, not obeying him.. no more like a symbiotic relationship of sorts.
He felt a kinship, a feeling of safety and warmth even though his Mana was Ice. A weird parallel but Vector found his mana responding to all types of ideas. It was fluid, and most of all bendable, designable. He found a profound feeling of adaptation.
Yes that's the word… adaption, he could tell this affinity was argued as one of the most versatile for good reason. Vector after standing in the same spot for over 2 hours, fully focused on the ice element, finally wielded his mana. Willing the mana to flow back through him, to return like a snowstorm swept up, it immediately evaporated and got sucked back in.
'F#CK YES, HAHHAHHAH MAGIC FOR THE FIRST TIME!!! Ahem… I mean, flawless like usual what can I say ….. Hahahaha.'
Once the floor was unfrozen, Vector slowly stretched and worked out his body physically , and replenished his nutrient, before diving back in.
Even with the vast amount of mana he had, the mental strain was still very real while using mana. He was excited to learn some spells but knew they would be difficult. What is a spell per say? If people can simply "wield" mana, whats the point? How does a spell come about.
Simple actually. There are only 3 ways to gain spells ; SpellBooks, Training/Repetition, and bloodline abilities. SpellBooks, like their name indicate is a book holding a given spell, varying from any ranking, and any element.
These are usually passed down by families and bought by commoners to gain higher spells and support. All SpellBooks are transcribed from someone's knowledge or designed and then passed down.
Therefore, a "scribe" as they call it, gain an inspiration and transcribe the spell to fruition. Scribes are commonly sought out, usually very powerful, with extra perks and bonuses, because of this rare class.
SpellBooks are simply absorbed by ones mana, the knowledge slowly implanting it inside someone's head, the only downfall was the spell structure most of the time, was unchangeable.
Yes that's right! Unchangeable! That is the sole weakness of SpellBooks, most spells learned from these books, regardless of ranking are mostly unchangeable meaning the spell cannot be changed into something else or adjusted.
However, even wirh all thousands and thousands of SpellBooks out there, with different elements, for different races, and with different ranks… Training and creating ones spells will always be the pinnacle of magic. SpellBooks were once upon a time, someone's pure ideas and creativity.
So, Vector didn't even panic nor bother with SpellBooks! He would only use and learn ones that had passive effects or were just too good to pass up.
- - -
During these hard Months of not being able to wield his mana, Vector constantly thought of the spells he wanted to wield and create. The first one being the most basic but the most reliable as all,
probably end up constantly being upgraded, and or used through his whole journey.
While, fireballs, swords, and lances are often common to send out. Most residents of this planet did not use a bullet type or compact shape to fling out mana at an opponent. Why? Well they simply had no idea or reason too, guns don't exist here! So, for Vector's first spell he decided in creating something reliable and easy.
"Ice-Bullet"! A simple and sleek, rounded bullet design that could constantly be fired and packed with ice.
However, Vector's idea for this bullet slowly changed in time. Instead of a simple bullet with a given mana amount, he wanted a versatile bullet to adapt, and increase in power if need be. Therefore, he thought of ways of creating a cylindrical design bullet, compressed and compact, with his ice elemental mana.
Depending on the amount used, the size changed, alongside the power. A simple bullet design, could be changed change in size, into a missile easily by packing more mana into them. If he got good enough at controlling his mana output, speed reaction, it would be unbeatable.
As most spells are non adjustable, a simple "Ice-Bullet" that could first contain only 20 MP, could look the same, act the same… could hold a whole 200MP! This was simply too good to pass up on, while dealing with ants or lower opponents. The use of varying the amounts of power or size would come in handy. He knew even while dealing with high-leveled opponents, a super compacted mana bullet could one tap them in the head, if placed properly in the right circumstances.
- - -
Time slowly passed by for Vector, and after finally getting the hang of slowly forming the shape he imagined, would then launch it. Slowly but surely, over the course of a full day he completed his first basic spell. Down to very last detail he imagined, the feeling of accomplishment he felt was immense.
-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|
[ Spell created ]
[ What would host like to call this spell? ]
…
"Ice-Bullet"
[ Recorded! ]
[ Host has learned spell "Ice-Bullet" ]
…
[ Spells : Ice-Bullet , ]
…
[ Ice-Bullet , MP : ~ Damage : ~ ] - A spell created by an aspiring prince, ready to kill his foes, and take down the world if need be. The elemental ice can be compacted to change the size, roundness, and power of the bullet design.
-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|
'Hmm the ~ line seems to because it can vary in both aspects. System calculate damage for 30 MP! That seems like a good enough number to spam to start off … '
[ Affirmative ]
…
["Ice-Bullet" , MP : (30) , Damage : 15 ]
…
' Hmm it seems a single point of mana is .5 damage, not bad at all. System, if I shoot a mana bullet packed with 1000 MP, it will do 500 Damage correct?'
…
[ Affirmative ]
…
'Good! I'll use 30 as a common start since 15 is not bad damage for a spam, I could increase the mana output with a little focus… however, I could simply just spam them… wait can I shoot more than once? What's my limit? Hmm let's check!!'
- - -
Vector than started pushing the limits of his first spell to know it inside and out. He could only fire 3 bullets in one cast so far. However, that was more than enough, and perfectly fine with Vector. He knew if he increased his intelligence this number would slowly go up, since his brain could handle more strain then and process better. 3 shots at a time with 15 damage each, amounts to 45 Dana age per cast. Which isn't bad at all!
'UGHHH my head hurts now, I've been at this for god knows how long! Let me get some rest than continue …'
- - -
Over the course of the full day, the guards still did not find Vector! If they weren't panicking before… they were now. After constantly searching and asking around, only one answer could be formed in their heads. The prince was possibly one of the 7 men! This was bad!
He lived on the outskirts, was broken inside, and after checking everywhere … even the other camps with certain favors between guards. They still could not find him! The guards that were still descending could only bite their nails once they heard the news from up top.
The unofficial leader of the slaves, Jerome could care less and was actually happy that trash died.
He always hated him for his Royal blood, but most of all his weakness. He felt immense joy constantly beating or belittling him!
The search effort did not stop one bit over the 3 days. With no signs of finding him until the dreadful news they did not want to report was reported back up too, from the search party.
A body matching the princes description with the same build and size, underfed and bone like, with his head fully bashed in and slowly rotting was found in the cavern below….
Vector's plan going exactly as he thought it would … While, Vector himself was slowly increasing his use of the ice element, by practicing his bullet creation time, his aim, and output of power.
He spent three whole days only using this one spell to understand and become as efficient as he could be. Now after mastering his first elemental attack, after three hard days, it was finally time for him to dive a little deeper and make some more spells… for the time to escape was coming!