A few days after the creation of the IRMC or infinitely replicating mana core my training continued as normal, except with the rework of my mana stream going from around my body to the core I constructed in my stomach they have been training my control over the three energies. Fortunately, since the cores creation it has become increasingly easier to utilize both energies, they haven't taught me any new abilities but that was alright.
"Ok Leo, both your chaos energy and Aether have both reached levels where you can learn the abilities we intended for you to learn, unfortunately you will have to create your own abilities to suit your Nephellian Mana core."
While yes this has been an extremely long and repetitive process of Absorbing energy, holding it for as long as possible, and recycling it back into my system, it hasn't taken as long as other nepheli, it's either due to having both Devil and angelic energy, my Mana core or just simply understanding it easier.
I tried to replicate the process with the creation of my mana core to test if I could construct a Chaos core or a Aether core but I just couldn't figure out how to do it, it's possible but I know I won't be able to do such a thing for a while. I suspect that I either don't understand the energies enough to recreate the process or it could be caused by human body where it can't sustain an extra core.
If this was the reason my idea was to find a way to evolve my body into a stronger one. So the first thing I thought of was Evolution, simply, Nephellian Evolution. I asked Indra about it and his response was that Nepheli's evolved their body into a stronger one, this was achieved by facing death Time and again. But he said due to my universe not being in a aggressive or dangerous state it would take years for my body to evolve. My second Method was cultivation, similar to the process I was doing I would just change a few aspects and it would potentially work, and three, both Indra and Azel had told me that due to the high amount of energy I was able to accumulate, they could create a gate or Portal of sorts that would allow travel to another universe.
Normally this wouldn't be possible because the Nepheli's body would just be torn apart during the crossing but if I could create a ability that would shield my mind, body and soul, I could do it. Although, I was curious as to how they could open one, due to the process of circulating the chaos and Aether they have gotten enough to be able to use a travel for single use, meaning, if I went to a different universe I couldn't return for upwards of 5 years.
I wasn't against this plan, I could learn about different worlds, how they work and potentially increase my power. But I first wanted to get as strong as I possibly could here, of course, this only meant that I would repeat this process for an entire year and increase my control as much as I could.
It also meant that I had a year to create, remember and understand numerous abilities, I was also going to use this time to spend as much time as I could with my family, there was no telling if I would ever return.
As of the current moment I had 3 potential universes I could travel to. First, Universe 813B, this was your run of the mill Isekai world, there was a hero, a demon king and whole world of monsters, it was the perfect world for me to train in.
Second, Universe 4546B, there was multiple planets but the main planet was a Water type planet filled with multiple creatures and a long since extinct technologically advanced alien race. While the tech would be good to learn of it would be near impossible for me to survive there.
And finally, Universe 917X, this was a world that had long since become an apocalyptic wasteland, the creatures here were altered by a failed biochemical experiment, not a single human in that world remained, this would be a no go, 5 years with only Indra and Azel to talk to would be impossible, if I had no one and a longer time I have no idea what would happen to me.
As it stands, Universe 813B was my best option, it would give me the most fighting experience, I could learn more about mana control as this worlds magic was dependent upon it, and I could face death and potentially evolve.
"Hey kiddo? Are you even listening to me?" Indra was the first to startle me from my day dreaming, he was currently teaching me about negative elemental control. The four lower negative elements were Shadow, Blood and Nerva. While Indra was teaching me positive elemental control, they consisted of Divine, Nebula and Void, they however did not have higher elements unlike Mana. So far I've only been able to utilize Shadow and Divine, as they were the most simple.
Divine I had already been able to do since I created the blade or shield with the Aether and shadow was simple, I could use a shadow to disguise myself or even turn invisible. Ironically, the Divine element was optimized for offense while the shadow element was optimized for defense, although they could be used retroactively.
"Yeah sorry Azel I was just lost in thought, please continue" to both Indra and my surprise, Azel was actually a really good teacher, he explained things thoroughly and even offered help if I couldn't get it.
"Like I was saying, the Nerva element is basically the element that controls how we act, think and feel. It is mind control if you feel like calling it that, you may be wondering 'But you handsome Devil Azel you, wouldn't that be considered an ability? Well yes it could be, however, Nerva had the potential to transfer your own strengths into creation. But what does that mean, well I'm glad you asked, I have absolutely no fucking idea"
what… WHAT! IF YOU WANTED TO TEACH ME ABOUT A DAMN ELEMENT YOU CHOSE THE ELEMENT THAT YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW TO USE?
"Well, to be fair, not a single demon in history, neither lesser demon or demon king has never found out what that element was, the creator of it was a primordial, and even he found it to unstable to control so he sent it to hell, it was found, and it was never used" Indra gave me whatever explanation he could but it still made me wonder why you would create something and then just get rid of it, why not nurture it and learn to control it.
It's been a few hours since Azels little teaching session and I've learned a little about both Elements, while I can't use both opposing energies at the same time, I can activate say the shadow element to disguise myself and then use the divine element to heal myself. I've been thinking of new ways I could use my own abilities. I can create abilities as previously told to me by Indra, so I attempted to make a ability that would help me withstand temperatures more, or as I rather call it, a passive trait, if I could create it I would be able to withstand the temperatures of hell and a frozen world, if that exists that is.
While I have been working on this for a while i felt as if it was more so an experiment rather than a actual beneficial ability, but I continued nonetheless, and eventually, I had created it, my first ever ability as well as my first passive trait, Thermal constitution.
"You are doing really well Leo, most wouldn't have made it this far, we will have to talk about leaving for 813B but you seem exhausted so I believe you should get some sleep." Right, I've been at this for 5 hours. I think I'll sleep and continue tomorrow.