I was inside the Spell Testing Facility, a place designed to handle extreme magical forces.
«Welcome, Sir Arax.»
"Enable Privacy Mode," I said in a calm but firm tone.
«Privacy Mode Activated. You can now freely practice your mana arts.»
Perfect. Now I wouldn't have to worry about anyone barging in or judging me. With that out of the way, I was ready to begin. First, I started with the basics.
I closed my eyes and guided mana through my body, letting it flow outward and concentrate in my right hand. Slowly, it began to take shape, forming into a sphere made entirely of pure mana. It radiated a bright, almost blinding light, pulsing with potential energy.
"Let's see what I can do," I muttered, my excitement barely contained.
With a single thought, I altered the structure of the sphere. The glowing orb shifted, its energy converting seamlessly into water. What had been a radiant ball of power was now a shimmering globe of liquid, perfectly suspended in my palm.
"This is impressive," I said, marveling at how natural the transformation felt.
I wasn't done yet. With another thought, the sphere hardened, becoming solid stone. The weight in my hand was noticeable, a testament to how tangible and real the change was.
"Let's kick it up a notch," I said with a grin.
The stone ball erupted into flames. I could feel the intense heat, almost scorching my skin, but I remained unaffected. I knew I could make it even hotter, perhaps to levels that could melt steel, but I wanted to test its current power first.
Turning my attention to the row of target dummies, I stretched out my hand and launched the fiery sphere.
Boom!
The explosion was deafening, and the damage indicator lit up immediately: 1,000 points.
To put that into perspective, it was equivalent to the destructive power of ten grenades. Not bad for a simple attack.
"This is just the beginning," I said, my confidence growing.
Next, I focused on speed and precision. Shaping the mana into sharp, needle-like objects, I fired them at the targets in quick succession.
Psshh! Psshh! Psshh!
The needles struck their marks with suppressed sounds, piercing through the dummies with ease. I hadn't set them to explode, as I was testing their stealth and penetrative abilities. These would be perfect for situations where subtlety was key.
But I wasn't here for subtlety today.
"Let's try something bigger," I said, my excitement mounting.
This time, I concentrated harder, shaping the mana into two massive lances—one of fire and the other of ice. Both were 10 meters long, towering over me and radiating immense power.
"This is going to be devastating," I said with a smirk.
Hurling the fire lance first, I watched as it flew through the air, leaving a trail of fiery destruction in its wake.
Boom!
The explosion was massive, shaking the entire room. The damage indicator read: 50,000 points.
The ice lance followed, hurtling toward another target. It didn't explode like the fire lance but instead impaled the dummy and froze everything within a 10-meter radius. The temperature in the room dropped noticeably.
"Effective," I muttered, noting the damage indicator's reading of 30,000 points.
I wasn't satisfied yet.
Next, I experimented with elemental combinations. Focusing my mana, I created a swirling vortex of fire and wind, shaping it into a tornado-like structure. With a flick of my wrist, I unleashed it on the targets.
The fiery tornado tore through the dummies, incinerating everything in its path. The damage indicators struggled to keep up, flashing numbers that exceeded 100,000 points.
"Now this is what I'm talking about," I said, exhilarated by the sheer destructive power.
But why stop there?
I decided to test my limits, creating an enormous sphere of pure mana. The energy was so concentrated that it felt like the air around me was being sucked into it. I could barely contain it, but I managed to stabilize the sphere long enough to launch it.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The explosion was unlike anything I'd seen before. The shockwave knocked me back a few steps, and the damage indicators couldn't even display a number. The screen simply read: OVERLOAD.
"That might've been a bit too much," I admitted, wiping sweat from my brow.
Despite the overwhelming power, I felt no fatigue. My body had undergone so many evolutions during the awakening of my cores that it seemed almost limitless in its capabilities.
For my next test, I decided to focus on control. I shaped the mana into intricate forms—a dragon made of flames, a serpent made of water, and a towering knight made of stone. Each creation moved as if alive, responding to my thoughts.
The dragon roared, unleashing a torrent of fire that engulfed the targets. The serpent coiled around its prey, crushing and drowning it simultaneously. The stone knight swung a massive sword, obliterating everything in its path.
"This level of control... it's incredible," I said, watching my creations in awe.
Finally, I ended the session with a personal challenge. Using only pure mana, I created a barrier around myself and launched simultaneous attacks at it—fireballs, ice lances, and lightning bolts. The barrier held strong, absorbing every blow.
"Unbreakable," I said with a grin.
As I deactivated the privacy mode and prepared to leave, I couldn't help but feel a sense of pride. My destructive capabilities were far beyond what I'd imagined, but this was only the beginning. I had barely scratched the surface of what I could achieve.
And I couldn't wait to push even further.