Chapter 27: Dem Bones
When Darius delved into the new runic system encircling his meridians, he tested the absorption of all five elements. To his surprise and satisfaction, he discovered he could easily absorb each one simultaneously, encountering no resistance in the process.
Darius focused on his hand, contemplation etched on his face. 'The only issue, I can still only use one element at a time,'
'I should wait to see the final outcome of the first layer before delving deeper into this,' Darius conceded, closing his eyes. He shifted his focus inward, contemplating the next stage, and his upcoming target, his skeleton.
'Originally, I planned for simultaneous use of all five elements. Now, limited to one, I'll have to adapt my approach.' As his thoughts raced, lightning mana surged through his mind, boosting his Triple Burner Meridian, enhancing his comprehension rate to a monstrous level.
'Breaking down my bones while preserving my form and avoiding unnecessary injury is crucial,' Darius pondered.
After a few hours, Darius opened his eyes, a resolute smile emerging. 'Alright, first step, utilize earth mana to form an array, imprinting it onto my skeleton's surface. This will serve as a protective layer, containing the refinement process to my bones and preventing my body from collapsing,' his body shivered at the image of his form caving in, forming a puddle of flesh.
Rising to his feet, he collected the crystals designated for this stage and began to methodically positioned them at the Elemental Nexus Array's cardinal points.
'The second Array will form a loop chain with the Elemental Nexus Array, ensuring a continuous power supply during the refining process.' Darius arranged five Low-grade Chaotic Crystals alongside each partially used Mid-grade crystal. The scene was mesmerizing, with the crystals' prism reflecting off each other, creating a spectacle of light.
"Then, I will need to refine and temper the marrow," Darius continued, finishing his arrangement of crystals.
'Next, I'll employ fire mana to dismantle my bones, lightning and wind to temper them. Water will be applied to quench. Finally, the earth array will apply tremendous pressure to crystallize and complete the transformation, similar to diamonds squeezed from coal.' Darius contemplated this sequence with a smile, settling back into the Elemental Nexus Array's center.
Darius let out a deep sigh, his mind drifting back to his initial experience refining his bones using the Taiji Talisman Technique. It was a simpler method compared to his current elaborate procedure. Back then, all it required was a specific method of circulating his qi. The qi would naturally navigate through his body, targeting and strengthening his bones. Despite its simplicity, the process was long and intensely painful.
Darius gave his cheeks a brisk slap, "Ok!" he exclaimed, straightening up. He took a deep breath and turned his attention to the flow of Earth mana cycling within him.
With delicate precision, Darius pulled thin strands of mana from his channels, converging them at the center of his sternum. He shaped this gathered mana into an intricate formation, embedding it with runes akin to those imprinted on his meridians. While the specific meanings of those new runes eluded him, he was able to enhance his grasp of runic knowledge significantly.
After embedding the last rune and activating the earth array, a pulse emanated from the Elemental Nexus Array.
A weight blossomed from Darius's chest, quickly infusing every limb and solidifying his posture, rendering him as steadfast as a mountain. Alongside this sensation came a subtle, crunching sound as a hazy yellow barrier enveloped his entire skeleton.
After ensuring his skeleton was securely encased within the protective earth array, Darius delved inward, focusing on the marrow nestled deep within his bones. Understanding the marrow's pivotal role in his body's physical and magical functions, he approached this phase with a heightened sense of purpose. The marrow, a vital source of essence and crucial for regeneration, demanded not just preservation but also enhancement to bolster his capabilities.
Darius commenced by guiding a gentle stream of water mana into his bones. He felt the cool, purifying essence permeate deep within, encircling each bone with a nurturing touch. This process, essential for preparing the marrow for refinement, saturated it with elemental essence, enhancing its receptivity to transformation.
This meticulous preparation unfolded gradually, ensuring no fiber of his marrow was left untouched. Hours stretched into an enduring silence within the library, marking the passage of time with a slow, deliberate pace.
With the marrow ready, Darius embarked on the intricate task of infusing it with a carefully balanced mix of fire and lightning mana. The fire mana, embodying transformation, initiated the refinement, methodically enhancing the marrow's potency and resilience. Concurrently, the invigorating essence of lightning mana worked to amplify the marrow's capacity for conducting and storing elemental energies. The fusion of these potent forces triggered an intense, searing discomfort throughout Darius's body, manifesting in a clenched jaw and strained breaths as he steadfastly maintained his concentration.
To safeguard the enhanced marrow and mitigate the impact of these formidable elemental forces, Darius employed a nuanced strategy. He crafted a micro-array of wind and earth mana within each bone. The wind mana acted as a buffer, evenly dispersing the elemental energies, while the earth mana established a stabilizing framework, securing the enhancements and preserving the marrow's integrity for the transformational stages ahead.
He meticulously calibrated the mana flow, each adjustment crucial to maintaining the delicate balance necessary for the marrow's transformation. 'The margin for error is slender; an excess of force could fracture the marrow, insufficient, and the transformation fails. The resilience and adaptability of each bone are paramount,' he reminded himself, fine-tuning the mana distribution with precision.
Completing this phase, Darius wrapped his skeletal framework in a revitalizing shroud of water mana. This final step, designed to temper the intense heat from the fire and lightning infusion, also harmonized the elemental enhancements, embedding them securely within the marrow. As the cool water mana enveloped him, the air hissed, reminiscent of heated metal meeting cold water. For Darius, this moment brought a wave of relief, a stark contrast to the preceding agony, now replaced by a deep, throbbing sensation that echoed through his bones.
Pausing to acknowledge the transformation, Darius engaged his cultivation technique, tapping into the newly enriched elemental mana within his marrow. The quality and reactivity of his mana had significantly improved, a testament to the successful integration of the elemental enhancements.
Content that everything was functioning as intended, he proceeded to channel the volatile fire mana to start the bone refinement process.
'This is gonna hurt,' Darius's understated prediction proved accurate.
As soon as he collected enough fire mana, he directed it towards the earth array, where it flowed straight through without hesitation, igniting as it passed.
Like a lightning bolt through his spine, every instinct of his screamed to escape. His bones resounded with sharp, piercing cracks, splintering under the intense heat. A ghastly scent of charcoal filled the library as his bones began to darken from their pristine white.
Darius channeled an immense surge of fire mana into the earth array, driving the temperature to a harrowing intensity. His bones began to carbonize under the unbearable heat, then startlingly, started to liquefy.
The Earth Array glowed intensely, stretched to its limits by the task at hand. As it worked to contain the extraordinary heat produced, the yellow barrier around Darius's skeleton darkened to a rich amber, visibly struggling to hold the refining process within its confines. This barrier not only safeguarded his marrow from the intense heat but also served as a crucial protective layer, ensuring the delicate marrow within remained intact and shielded throughout the transformation.
Darius, immobile and imposing, resembled a fierce deity. His body was taut, muscles and veins bulging under the stress, his skin flushed with an intense red. Where his eyes once shimmered blue, now dark crimson overtook, with blood seeping from the corners, turning his gaze terrifyingly red as blood vessels burst under the strain.
Darius clung to consciousness by a thread, anxiously awaiting the last of his bones to liquefy.
At that critical moment, he swiftly shifted to lightning mana. The concentrated intensity of lightning was crucial, tempering the molten liquid of his bones, forging them anew with unparalleled resilience.
His muscles, previously rigid and taut, began to twist and spasm, intensifying the fearsome view of his immobilized body. His heart raced as his eyes shimmered with the agony of the ordeal.
Lightning mana surged into the earth array, coursing swiftly through his molten skeleton. It electrified the fluid, making it froth and seethe. The transformation from liquid to solid unfolded gradually, requiring repetition. At each boiling point's climax, Darius introduced Wind Mana to temper the heat. He persisted in this cycle, witnessing solid fragments gradually form within the molten bones until, at the final charge, only tiny bubbles sputtered from the surface.
After countless cycles, Darius's bones now took on the appearance of roasted, purple timber, their texture rugged and cracked. Within their core, the glow of fire, wind, and lightning mana persisted, casting a energy that continued to afflict him.
Finally, he could draw upon water mana to quench his bones. He needed to amass as much water mana as he could, before he propelled all of it at once through the earth array. This swift, uniform cooling of his entire skeleton was vital; any misstep here risked a uncontrollable explosion from the mounting pressure.
He collected as much water mana as possible within his chest. Then, unleashed it into his earth barrier, where it surged through his skeleton like a raging flood.
Sizzles echoed through the library, each accompanied by muffled pops. Darius's body underwent a series of sporadic bulges, resembling muffled explosions, as if waging a silent battle within. The library, a silent witness, vibrated with the intensity of these contained explosions.
Amid the mystical glow of the five elements, Darius sat motionless, resembling a buddha carved from a nightmare. His form, caught in a series of painful, grotesque spasms, expanded and contracted as if undergoing a violent, hellish transformation.
Darius finally screamed, muffled and distorted, struggling against the confines of his barrier. It was a stifled sound of raw agony, a primal howl that vibrated against the magical restraints, desperate to break free. The noise barrier shimmered fiercely, absorbing the intensity of his pain.
'Activate!' Darius's mind screamed, causing the earth array on his chest to flare and spin. As it rotated, it began to tighten the barrier encasing his bones, squeezing and causing the four elements to condense and merge within the earth barrier.
Darius teetered on the edge of insanity, overwhelmed by a suffocating agony that seeped from every pore. His cultivation technique, his key to bypass the world's natural laws, promised a journey of unknown depth and boundless potential. Yet, the cost was steep, demanding a resilience borne only by those who walk the cultivator's path. Clinging to resolve, Darius endured as his bones trembled, pushed to their very brink.
The trembling of his skeleton reached a frightening speed, emitting a high-pitched scream reminiscent of metal drawn slowly across glass. Eventually, this culminated in a single pristine note, like the clear ring from a blacksmiths hammer.
Darius's form stirred at last, his eyes snapping open. The flushed redness of his skin gradually faded to its usual tone, breaths coming in sharp, uneven gasps.
Darius's bloodshot eyes suddenly sparkled, a light igniting within them, causing them to momentarily radiate with a pure white glow, he then gazed at his hands. A broad smile stretched across his face, "I did it."
His skeleton transformed into a marvel of crystalline beauty. Within this crystal framework, fire spread and contracted with the untamed vitality of a wildfire, while lightning coursed with ferocious speed, its aggressive journey a stark contrast to the steady, central stream of water that formed a singular channel throughout his skeleton. Wind filled every available space, its presence a whispering force among the other elements, while earth etched its strength into the very structure, manifesting as runes along the skeleton.
'The five elements, each following its unique path, yet in perfect balance.'
"If I were to fall now, what a sight my remains would be," Darius laughed. "A giant magic crystal," Darius's eyes were wide as he watched the elemental display, his smile spreading from ear to ear.
Darius's attention quickly shifted, gleefully plunging into cultivation, eager to gauge the mana capacity of his new skeleton. His breath found its rhythm as the few remaining crystals around him began to hum, their glow now a faint echo of their former radiance.
The five elements roared through his mana-forged meridians with the speed of a cannon, each surge seeking the embrace of his skeleton. His bones, parched for power, swallowed the vibrant currents whole, each element a mere droplet in the ocean.
'This is more than I anticipated,' Darius's brow lifted, his pulse quickening, 'the absorption rate shows no signs of slowing.' With a surge of exhilaration, he resolved to test his bones limits, accelerating the intake of mana.
Within Darius, a phenomenon unfolded as his skeleton became a spectacle of vibrant colors, each element intensifying under the onslaught of mana. To the observer, the marvel was visible even without aid; Darius's bones began to trace their outline beneath his skin, their radiant light seeping through his pores.
Eventually, Darius sensed his threshold and halted his technique. The light emanating from his bones slowly shrank back into his body, restoring the library's tranquil atmosphere, as the early glow of morning crept through the high windows of the library.
Darius rose to his feet, the sound of cracking boulders echoed against the noise barrier. "Amazing, I can feel every element coursing through me. I no longer have to cycle my cultivation technique to access mana. I can finally focus on developing new martial techniques," Darius excitedly voiced, testing his newfound capabilities. With swift motions, he executed a series of maneuvers. A punch thrown by Darius sent a visible shockwave rippling through the air, while his kicks, swift and powerful, caused books to flutter and pages to turn, even from across the library.
"I just have one last step," Darius's voice dimmed of its earlier excitement, his gaze returning to his hands. "At least this last step shouldn't be too painful," he mused, eyes drifting towards the window.
In that quiet moment, his thoughts wandered to Haku, pondering if his little brother was finding joy in the world outside.