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Whether this fic would continue or not would depend on the support I would get.)
'Well, this might take longer than it seems, but these are kind of very similar to rune arrays and should even take considerably less time than those runes I am working on.'
Akeru dispelled the mana word and focused on creating it again.
This time, he was able to achieve it within a few minutes.
'Okay, time to grind these to make them instantly,' Akeru instantly ditched the rune arrays for now and went for creating mana words.
To be honest, both aren't that different; words are just simple instructions, so they are getting made quickly. Let's say if he wants to create a more complicated spell, then multiple words would be used.
The Heart Kingdom uses these words to complement their own spells rather than to create the spells altogether.
'Still, I am a bit unsure about whether I would be able to create mana words from the natural mana, but I don't think it should be that difficult. Using them initially would only serve the purpose of moving a lot of natural mana to act as fuel for my spell.'
Akeru can't wait to experiment with this when he returns to the Clover Kingdom.
Days passed, and Akeru and others were getting lectures.
Soon, the topic of how what they are learning about elements close to nature could be applied to unnatural elements, and this led to a lengthy discussion.
In some classes, Potrof also gave pointers to others using mana, especially details to people using plant magic or its derivatives like Mimosa and her brother.
Akeru also got some insights specific to water magic, but it wasn't really that impactful.
Days passed, and soon the day of departure came.
"It was a pleasure to have you all in our kingdom. I will look forward to our next meeting," Gaja said as he departed from their ship, which was already out of the kingdom.
"Do you think we will meet him again?" Mimosa suddenly asked Akeru.
'Well, it's highly likely for that to happen due to how the plot plays out. Even if we consider the butterfly effect my existence causes, it probably won't lead to a high number of changes,' Akeru smiled.
"No," he said with a smile.
"Huh?" Mimosa was caught off-guard due to the conflicting signs and words his face and voice were giving.
"Just kidding, but I would say it's highly unlikely," Akeru shrugged.
He is not going to rely on his plot knowledge completely, as he is a devout follower of Murphy's Law.
"Well, I guess," Mimosa sighed.
"Did you really like the place?" Akeru asked.
If he didn't have to stay in the Clover Kingdom for multiple reasons, he would have really liked to stay in the Heart Kingdom for a decent amount of time due to the taste of their food.
"Yeah, it really had good vibes, and I felt like my magic was kind of strengthened apart from the gains I had in regards to that," she said.
"Hmm, probably due to us being in a forest-like area for most of the time of our stay," Akeru shrugged while giving a hypothesis.
After talking for a few minutes, he went back to his room.
'Okay, let's get to some more distance away from this kingdom before trying this,' Akeru thought while training his internal mana control.
After a few hours, he finally decided to try what he wanted to do.
First, he created a rune that would act as a decoy for people sensing mana here.
Even though it's only a superficial decoy, something is better than nothing.
'Yosh, here we go,' Akeru stretched out his palm and started creating a mana word.
In less than half a minute, one word appeared.
'Woah, this was simpler than I thought. I was expecting it to take a few hours—or who knows how long. I really didn't expect it to take the same time as it does inside my body.' Akeru started creating more mana words.
After more mana words were created, they formed an array, and a water ball could be seen coming out of it.
'YES! It works! It didn't even take one-tenth of the mana required to form a water ball!' Akeru started giggling, which soon turned into full-blown laughter.
Luckily, he was consciously holding back for it to be not too loud; otherwise, he would have to give some answers to some people.
This happened for the next few minutes.
After coming down from his "success high," he started practicing increasing the speed of casting mana words inside his body only.
Days passed in a blur of the grind.
"I'm already back, huh," Akeru said while looking at the familiar house he knew.
"My rival, you are finally back! I have trained seriously in the last month," he heard a very familiar voice.
"Yo, long time no see," Akeru greeted Leopold.
"I challenge you to another spar," Leopold instantly said.
"I haven't even stepped inside the house, yet you're asking for a duel. Didn't we previously agree that you would first learn mana skin before you challenged me?" Akeru shook his head while looking at Leopold with an amused smile.
Some things really don't change.
"Heh, I already learned that and can even maintain it in tough environments or in high-intensity battles without actively focusing on it," Leopold said with a smirk.
'Already? Also, he can do it subconsciously now? Then again, it's already been a month, and I can see Leopold's body stretched to its limits. I guess I really need to train harder too unless he catches up to me,' Akeru got motivated while looking at Leopold.
"How about in the evening? You seem like a twig on a windy day. I wonder if I poke you, whether you would fall or not," Akeru smirked.
"Tch, fine. I'll have a proper rest before our legendary battle in the evening."
"So, how was your last month of training?" Akeru asked.
"I trained in one of the magic zones present on a volcanic mountain," Leopold started getting into detail about his training trip, with occasional visits by his brother to guide him and even him staying for a week to train him.
"Damn, that really sounds like a fun place to train. I might tag along with you next time," this reminded Akeru about one of the places Mereoleona took people to train.
"Yeah, so how was the Heart Kingdom?" It was Akeru's time to start going into detail, but surprisingly—or unsurprisingly—most of the content he said was about the food of the Heart Kingdom.
They went into the hall, and luckily Fuegoleon was present today.
"It seems you have gained a lot from your recent trip," the first statement from Fuegoleon caught him off-guard.
'Wait, does he know? How? I only brought out mana words on one instance, and that was also for a brief time and under that rune array. Did Kirsch or somebody else know about it too? How many more people know about it?' Akeru was going through cognitive overload with all his questions.
He was still maintaining his normal expression outwardly. "Yeah, I learned a lot about mana and even got some insights and ideas about arrays," he went with a normal answer.
"Haha, that's really awesome. You are releasing some kind of confident vibes compared to before," Fuegoleon said as the other two took a seat at the table.
"Really?" Akeru said, shocked while internally relieved about the possibility of the worst-case scenario.
"I can't tell," Leopold said after looking carefully at Akeru for a few seconds.
"Haha, it would come naturally with experience."
They started delving into the food.
'This is good too. I missed this food,' Akeru thought while scarfing down all the food.
"Jeez, you're eating like you haven't eaten for a long time," Leopold said.
"One month is a long time."
"Heh, I thought you really liked the Heart Kingdom's food from the descriptions you were saying so enthusiastically. I'm shocked you didn't stay there," Leopold teased.
Akeru swallowed what was in his mouth before answering, "It's a pity that I couldn't stay for a longer period of time, but their cuisines will definitely remain in my heart for a long time."
"Smooth," Leopold chuckled.
They all finished dinner.
"Oh, I almost forgot, the Crimson Lions recently explored a dungeon, and we found a few centuries-old ice cream. Do you guys want to try it?"
"YES!" Akeru said on instinct.
"Didn't you just have a few plates of dessert just now?" Leopold deadpanned.
"For good food, my hunger is endless."
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