[Author's Note: For bonus chapters, the goal every week is:
- 25 Power Stones
- 50 Power Stones]
Volume 2 Chapter 19: Magic Amplification and Debuff
If Carmilla hadn't amplified the blood dome based on its original defense and durability, it would have likely crumbled. If subjected to the same explosive force, the blood dome would have been destroyed, along with the people inside of the blood dome.
While Carmilla poured all of her available mana into the blood dome, she informed Eve and Pepper about the condition of the blood dome using their mental connection.
They needed to repair the blood dome to some extent, as if Daniel were to learn its current condition, he would likely take advantage of the situation and fire an arrow towards the blood dome.
Even if he didn't fire a powerful arrow, a normal one could be sufficient to pop the weakened blood dome.
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Upon learning the current situation of the blood dome, even though the two of them had expected it to be in a bad condition based on its current appearance, they didn't anticipate it being in such a dire state that a single weak arrow could easily pop the blood dome.
So the two of them, along with Carmilla, began pouring all of their mana into it to restore it to its normal state.
Daniel, observing the aftermath of the explosion, and he was taken aback. In his original level and power, even if he amplified a spell with much more mana than this arrow, the mana would never become unstable, thanks to his high level in the skill [Mana Manipulation].
That's when he remembered that he is currently at level 5, and consequently, the maximum level of his skill would also be level 5.
Back then, when he was at this level, he didn't have a lot of skills, or there were none; he only had a limited amount of racial skills and have no other kind of skill.
So he didn't have this kind of problem back then, even if he wanted to, as he was not as abnormal as Carmilla to have the [Automatic Mana Recovery] skill this early.
The reason Daniel's blood arrow exploded is attributed to it having too much mana, causing the mana to become unstable. However, it's worth noting that Carmilla, Eve, and Pepper also poured much more mana into their blood dome than what was used in Daniel's blood arrow.
It's quite simple, really. Even though any spell can be amplified by using more mana, both of them have used different kinds of spells.
Daniel used a blood arrow spell, which is clearly an offensive spell, while Carmilla casted a blood dome spell, which is a defensive spell.
Since the are two different kinds of spells, the two types of spells will have different outcomes when being amplified by mana.
The outcome of amplifying an offensive spell is an increase in the damage it can deal, but the mana on it will become unstable. Without a high enough level in the [Mana Manipulation] skill or not possessing it, the spell will eventually explode.
Similar to how Daniel's arrow eventually exploded, and in some cases, an amplified spell might just explode instantly in the face of its caster.
On the other hand, the outcome of amplifying a defensive spell is that the toughness and durability will get an increase, depending on how much mana was used.
However, there is a certain limit on how much someone can amplify a defensive spell, but there is no need to be worried about any kind of explosion, unlike an offensive spell, no matter how much mana you use on it wouldn't explode no matter what.
There is a limit on how much an offensive and defensive spell can be amplified to become more powerful, as it wouldn't be practical to use 1000 MP to increase the power of a spell by 0.001%, leading to diminishing returns and extreme waste of time and mana.
Back to the fight.
After some time have pass Daniel fires a probing shot to the silhouette of the blood dome trying to know the current situation of it.
The arrow was swallowed by the dust cloud around the blood dome. After a while, a collision sounded inside the dust cloud, followed by the sound of a crystal shattering.
Daniel has deduced four things about the blood dome based on the probing shot from that shot.
First, the shattered object is the arrow he just fired, as the silhouette of the blood dome remains intact.
Second, the blood dome is not that damaged enough to collapse from being hit by a probing arrow.
Third, Carmilla and her two clones must have already repaired the blood dome to some extent, as the silhouette of the blood dome didn't even tremble from the collision with his probing arrow, it means that the blood dome is stable enough.
Fourth, he have likely already missed his only chance to win this fight since he can't penetrate or break the blood dome anymore. His only chance was when the blood dome was severely damaged from the explosion of his unstable spell.
Daniel can only smile warily, realizing that with the three of them inside the blood dome, they must have promptly repaired it upon seeing its state. With the [Automatic Mana Recovery] skill, they could easily supply the blood dome with enough mana for partial repairs.
Carmilla's win rate just increased dramatically, given Daniel's now precarious condition. The unstable mana on his arrow not only made Daniel lose control over the spell but also caused it to explode.
As the one who cast the blood arrow spell that went unstable, Daniel experienced some backlash from the explosive outcome.
This caused him to receive several debuffs, including a 50% reduction in the speed of his mana regeneration. This also affected every possible skill that could regenerate his mana, as well as any other means of mana regeneration, such as potions if he were not a vampire.
The second debuff he received is a 50% reduction in his casting speed. The third debuff is a 50% reduction in his control over every type of element and, lastly, a 25% reduction in his total amount of mana. All of these debuffs will last for a whole hour, so during that time, Daniel will be severely weakened in terms of magic usage.
Now that he doesn't have any of his usual equipment, his only way to deal damage is through hand-to-hand combat and magic, using blood magic to create a bow and arrow—a skill innate to every vampire.