AUTHOR'S NOTE: please do bring any typos or grammatical errors to my attention, either by chapter or paragraph comments so I can immediately fix and attend to it. As I am only human too, there's only so much I can do without making mistakes. Thank you, and enjoy!
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The migraines never stopped coming since I began studying X'xebecc's Rune a few days ago.
Days passed in constant pressure dealt against my mind, as each session applies a different weight against my brain. It had been almost six weeks since I decided to study the Mental Sphere spell using the Mad King's rune.
The rube wasn't the only guide to raise the success of learning the spell without destroying my brain or my Mana Core. There were various descriptions I had to follow to avoid suffering dangerous blows that could cripple me for the rest of my life and ultimately end me.
No day had gone by that I hadn't regretted my actions and vehemently considered stopping the babaric cycle of applying external force and pressure against my human brain.
I even began to question my sanity over why I had decided to do this again?
Some time ago, I discovered a strange spell. It was the inheritance belonging to a deranged king of a long period in history. This spell was constructed under the blood and sacrifice of many over millennials. A high risk spell with a one in a thousand chances of success.
The more I saw it, the more I questioned my sanity over choosing to actually learn something this barbarous.
Staring at the piece of paper in my hand, and disregarding the weighty pressure that plagued my mind, I weighed the pros and cons of my actions regarding the spell.
Despite all of this, I had more than enough time to consider all my options.
The Mental Sphere spell was indeed a dangerous spell to master for the user, it simply held too many risks to casually disregard and insane conditions to be successful.
The Mad King...who I decided and began to call X'xebecc...designed this spell, or technique, to gain the ability to be capable of interacting with principalities called *Laws* which bind the fabric and nature of the existence of our reality and this world. He wanted to touch upon such Omniscient plains, and forged through blood and lives of subjects to get there.
Overlooking the original intention behind the Mental Sphere, and the amount of lives wasted, having a Mental Core provided a vast array of passive and active abilities.
A Mental Core is akin to having an artificial Mana Core in the brain, effectively turning the brain to a new and different organ all together. That is, if one succeeded in establishing a Mental Core safely.
Some of the recorded few benefits to this were immense and simply mouth watery to any. The few benefits were almost enough to balance out the numerous risks and absurd dangers the spells posed to the human mind and body.
"Almost ' was the primary word.
A passive effect of the spell was total and complete resistance to mind and psychological attacks; i would have full and complete control over the active and passive functions of my brain I was incapable of before the spell, and mind attacks like illusions and mental debuff would be rendered entirely futile against me.
Basically, I would have the ultimate firewall for my brain! Psychological attacks also meant, I would hold complete control and stability over my thoughts emotions and mental stability.
The Mental Core would trippled ten times over my brain functioning and reasoning, raising my overall perception and processing speed and sensitivity rate nigh-limitlessly. My focus and concentration would also be improved and double to be more precise.
And then finally, the Mental Sphere spell would gift me with dense brainwaves, powerful enough to interact with the material world on a small scale.
Yes...magic brainwaves. I know how that sounds.
There were few, but it was without a doubt those benefits were nothing if not alluring at the very least.
Total immunity to mental, or mind and psychological attacks.
Multiplied the functions of my brain with improved perception, sensitivity and awareness, along with comprehension and reasoning speed.
And magically enhanced brainwaves that could affect and interact with the material world around me.
If it weren't for the many and ghastly risks and cons, the Mental Sphere spell would be a catch!
Again, i realized how incredible and crazy King X'xebecc's spell was. This was truly something people would die for...as well as something that could paint my back as a target of those untop if the discovered i had in my possession such a weapon.
"The inheritance of the Mad King; X'xebecc's Rune..."
Truly indeed, how had I ended up with something this insane?
It had many dangers accompanied with it, but if I truly do succeed in mastering this spell, then my potential would vastly increase. I would undoubtedly get stronger.
The singular thought was almost enough to render every pulsing pang of headache assaulting my mind almost slightly more bearable.
Almost.
To learn the spell, I first of all had to strengthen my mental fortitude and will. X'xebecc's research already proved that only minds with immense mental strength and fortitude could withstand the effects and pressure of assimilating Mana into the brain.
There were numerous ways to try and raise one's mental fortitude, and simply by growing older even works. One simply had to put the human mind through various experiences, those experiences shapes the mind and mentality of a person.
The more rigorous and painstaking the experiences are, and the more harsh the pressure on the mind would determine the mental fortitude of a person. That was why by simply growing older even worked.
But the spell demanded severe mental fortitude as a condition. Even the fortitude of living a lifetime spent in war was proven to not suffice.
King X'xebecc was greatly impeded by this, no matter what gruesome experience his subjects were out through, none of them managed to assimilate Mana before dying off.
He resolved this issue by compiling instead the mental strength of a vast number of people into what could as well be called, the ultimate mental fortitude in one.
The mental strength of thousands of people throughout millennials and tempered by the weight Mana asserted when assimilated in the brain was ultimately created.
One powerful enough to hold a complete Mental Core ; the will of a thousand.
Each time I thought that, my face would crumple. I had severe feelings over using the lives of that many people.
It was like I was going to assimilate all of their lives, like none of it mattered. Questions like, what then was the point of them living if they were going to be absorbed and assimilated by some else kept repeating itself internally.
As there was virtually no way possible for a single man to acquire the mental strength possible to hold a Mental Core even throughout his lifetime, X'xebecc's dissolved the weight and pressure of the thousands into the training rune.
It was designed in such a way that, any who looked at the rune would have their minds assaulted by pure unadulterated overwhelming mental pressure. This pressure made by the minds of thousands would forcefully and drastically expand the fortitude of the one who stared at the rune, if they could even resist it.
And that was exactly what I was doing now.
What I had been doing for the past couple of weeks.
Slowly expanding my mental fortitude, my mind would tremble and thrub the longer I stared with bloodshot eyes at the Rune diagram on the piece of paper.
The pain was so mind boggling I often found myself passed out multiple times when I had first began to study the rune. I would pass out from pain akin to the walls of my brain being torn down in less than thirty seconds.
It was hard...and painful but I still persisted on. Proof that my mental strength was strengthening was that each time I stared at the rune, I lasted a bit longer before the pain and pressure became unbearable and I pass out or give up.
Even then, hours later I would still be assaulted by dizzying migraines that would impede my daily activities. I was spacing out more in class and my reaction speed and performance I'm sword practice had dropped drastically.
My focus was dwindling and I could barely keep my eyes half open.
... But it was working.
I could feel it; my consciousness thicken and strengthen side by side my fortitude.
First it was twenty seconds, then thirty seconds, then it was a full minute...a minute, ten seconds... A minute, 13 seconds...two minutes... Five... Six... One hour. Each session I increased my past time by few seconds, a testament to my increase in fortitude.
So all wasn't for naught in the end.
No matter how painful it was, how hard and heavy my head would throb...no matter how much I bled from my eyes and nose from the mental strain I put on my brain, I continued. I had already come this far. I couldn't just give up now.
'Like hell I could! ' after being put through this much torture so much already.
Many days passed, and I slowly assimilated the mental will of a thousand people into my brain.
Then one day, X'xebecc's rune disappeared before my eyes.