Lev blinked a few times. “Yes? More than a few times. There were just no leads to figure out the answer.”
“Good thing we’re heading towards the answer,” Drakys mused, turning away with finality.
Lev didn’t need to ask more, anyway. The devil was in the details. Combined with the fact that he was supposed to face something, the Exalted’s comment left little to the imagination.
So I have to fight an actual Goliath, Lev thought to himself, closing his eyes when the bubble started moving at an insane speed. What can I even expect or prepare?
One thing was for certain. Anything with that title was most likely gigantic. More so than anything he had faced before, perhaps even by orders of magnitude. Who knew what was possible in higher density regions? They seemed to be heading to the other side of the plains.
To that end, he needed mana, and a lot of it. That was also an issue, for storing pure mana in barriers was tricky. The effects of the amount being stored rose exponentially after a certain point, and for an amount akin to his combined pools, storage would be a very costly affair.
Fortunately for him, he had an excellent material that didn’t require anything but a bit of mana to form. For the best effects, he referred to all the runes from Drakys’s collection stored in his repository skill and found the basic formation meant for stopping mana flows.
Creating an orb with his eyes closed, he also created a large tub. Dumping a bunch of the cheap sap in his ring inside that tub, the orbs were thrown in and infused with a small stream of pure mana.
While they absorbed the sap to increase their conductivity, Lev planned.
Kinetic Energy was not easy to use for him yet. Grabbing a little bit was easy, except he had to use runes to actually channel that amount. Without runes, it dissipated quickly, though there was a single solution for that.
His class allowed him to teleport mana types. Kinetic mana was no exception, meaning if he could grab it all fast enough, he could teleport it to prepared runes in a blink.
The problem was, he couldn’t teleport something outside of his control. A minimum level of domination was required before something counted as “his” mana, though the effort needed for basic elements was negligible.
Then there’s the matter of creating Kinetic Energy, he breathed in deeply, also recreating the training orbs he used to practice with. Nearly as wide as his torso, these ones could handle a lot more lightning bolts in their layers, consequently raising the difficulty quite a bit. I mean, that’s not exactly hard, just nuanced. How can I create something efficient that also doesn’t hinder me during combat, or even actively aids me?
The simplest solution would be to enchant a few orbs to increase their weight and make them spin in place at absurd speeds. With a bit of tinkering, he could probably absorb that kinetic energy, creating a seamless chain of conversion.
Or, he could add something huge, like a spinning wheel on top of his bubble, devise a near-frictionless mechanism to keep it spinning with weights attached to each end, and absorb that ridiculous force. With some preparation in advance, that could result in a substantial output for minimal effort in combat.
The curse of his class was showing again. While Lev could prepare some genuinely stupid ways to go about things, he had to create things simply. He was still far from strong enough to rely on permanent solutions, for a single calamity could sneak up on him and ruin all those immaculate constructs. Adaptability was the key for now, even if he was constantly taking notes for the future.
So, decided to eventually go with the second idea and reduce it in scale until it could fit inside the bubble. Drakys was still piloting the construct, so he had to wait until they stopped and had free time, which was unlikely in the next few days.
In the meantime, the orbs continued to drain the low quality sap, slurping gold as if it were nothing. Not that he would complain. He got the sap for free at the fort.
Once he had twelve orbs, the enchanting began. It was simple, comprised of three layers. The first was a filled ball, resting in the middle. It was going to hold all the mana inside its structure.
The second layer simply reabsorbed all mana leakage and spun it back inside the ball, whereas the final layer blocked any mana from leaking or entering from the orb, trapping it inside for as long as possible.
Testing it with a bit of mana, he waited for an hour to observe the result. Coming up with an arbitrary unit of measurement, he deduced that out of the 10 mana he had put inside, 9.5 mana was still there after an hour. Not the best result, yet he didn’t even notice the mana leaving over time. It was the best he was going to get.
Satisfied, he redirected his willpower to control all of his regeneration and dump it into the orbs. It remained to be seen how much he could store in them before the structure or the enchantments faltered.
****
Two whole days of uneventful traveling later, Lev was getting quite tired of his latest creation. His mind was exhausted, and even his resolve to constantly train was nearing its end.
It was a cube. A demonic cube.
Each side was downright submerged in runes. Just to challenge himself, he had devised a formation that needed a very precise number of lightning bolts to reach the center of a side at the right time to consider that part of the puzzle complete.
Then he had to do it six times, all in the same instant.
Even worse, while the puzzle wasn’t truly random, as he didn’t have the runes for that, the simple “programming” behind it was random enough to make things a nightmare.
Like a pipeline with ends that closed abruptly, he had to hold the lightning bolts and map a complete pathway to the center of the side, and do it all in a short time frame. For all six sides.
At least his mana manipulation was progressing for once. Controlling two dozen lightning bolts wasn’t a big challenge for him anymore, but keeping them from clashing while preparing a mental route for rapid manipulation was expanding his mind in new ways.
Which reminds me, he sighed, already prepared for another defeat. About time I become unconventional with this.
Eyes still closed, he summoned Stargazer. The familiar weight lifted his mood immediately, and with great care, he sent a pulse of mana throughout her being.
Nothing happened. The past hundreds of times hadn’t revealed anything by doing that, so he didn’t waste time double-checking.
Instead, Lev raised the intensity. Another burst of mana was thrown inside the pole, bouncing within the structure. The runes carved inside were far too stable to be bothered by such an intrusion, so he upped the amount once again.
Incremental pulses of mana rebounded from the glaive’s inner walls, none of them revealing anything. Lev’s frustration mounted slightly, and he blew through the method faster.
When a noticeable chunk of his mana hit the glaive’s structure, it still didn’t do anything. A tenth of his pool was also gathered inside his arm before it was dumped inside, this time even rattling the enchantments slightly.
Once again, that didn’t do anything. With a sigh, Lev shaped a fifth of his pool for his final attempt, pushing past the tiredness to do it properly.
Like a tidal wave, pure mana rushed into the glaive. Enchantments flickered briefly, bracing against the pressure. The weapon itself vibrated in his hands, though he couldn’t spare that any attention.
Right at the very end of the glaive’s pole, near the base where the blade formed, a rune stood out. It pulsed for the briefest moment by absorbing his mana, acknowledging that he was on the right frequency.
Then it vanished, leaving him more than a little confused. Lev sent his senses and willpower inside and tried his best to interact with the rune, to try and find any other hints, but there was nothing.
So thorough was the concealment that even after half an hour, he didn’t find a single trace of that rune. Storing the glaive, he redirected half his regeneration to the orbs and leaned back with a sigh.
Well, that’s something, at least, he consoled himself with a snort. I can’t even try again because my pool is going to take a while to regenerate.
Using Stargazer’s mana was also out of the question. Her regeneration was even lower.
“You’re not that far off,” Drakys commented abruptly. “Take a few days off after we’re done here. It will be worth it.”
“I already planned to,” Lev replied and, seeing that the Exalted had no more to say, fell into a meditative trance.
Understanding kinetic energy was the main goal. He wouldn’t have had the patience to just sit still before, but with them traveling all the time, he was forced to.
Like the rest, he had to consciously influence the element. Lightning could be of different types of destruction based on the understanding and evolutions. Same with fire.
Kinetic mana was… a bit more rigid. Not that he was knowledgeable enough to speak about such matters. To him, it could probably evolve into something extremely strong, though as it stood, that didn’t seem possible. Probably not for a long, long time.
Still, piecing together his recent experiences with the element and dissecting his usage resulted in small doses of understanding. He separated his best moments from the rest and peered into them, learning the best ways to manipulate kinetic energy.
Opening his eyes an hour later, he saw color return to his world as the bubble slowed. They stopped over yet another patch of grassland, and Lev didn’t get a chance to ask questions before Drakys phased out of his bubble.
Sure, keep your secrets, he huffed and turned to all of his orbs. They were neatly arranged in a line, each possessing mana comparable to a tenth of his pool.
That was pretty good for little preparation, and while the passive loss hadn’t increased yet based on his testing, it was bound to eventually. He could also feel the constructs reaching their upper capacity pretty quickly.
All in all, Lev expected to be able to hold as much mana as nearly twice his pool in the orbs. A massive amount by all margins, yet also only possible by knowing he was going to get into a massive battle a week in advance.
If the mana potency wasn’t lower, which it shouldn’t be, considering there was no ambient mana involved, he expected to use the orbs repeatedly. Even if he wasn’t going to be able to store a lot most of the time, just redirecting most of his regeneration towards them during downtime would result in a decent excess.
Though that is only possible because I’m constantly infusing a bit of willpower into the orbs, and it manipulates any noticeable escaping mana back inside, he reminded himself. I hope that also counts as training, because man, it’s going to get taxing soon.
Willpower was ultimately like a muscle. It improved through usage, and it also demanded rest. What he was currently doing wasn’t feasible in the long run. Without willpower, though, the mana loss was also going to rise quite a bit, thus his low enthusiasm about the idea.
At least I will get to a point where such effort won’t be a problem anymore.
That was going to take quite a lot of levels and points in Intelligence and Wisdom, so he cut off the dreams when Drakys returned.
“Is it here?” Lev couldn’t help but ask. His preparations weren’t done yet.
“No, but we’re going to wait for it here.”
Mentally breathing out in relief, Lev nodded and returned to the runes in his mind. A lot was going on in his mindscape, and all of it was related to formations.
Kinetic energy, impact absorption, fire, and lightning. Utilizing those four was the primary goal, along with pushing them to new heights.
The problem was the conductivity. Cheap sap didn’t cut it for his armor. If he had to pack runes inside it even more tightly, the only option was to increase the size. So that was what he planned to do.
“What are we going to do until then?” Lev asked, hopping out of the bubble. Creating a barrier floor, he first began by dragging his spare treated orbs outside the bubble and enchanting them with kinetic absorption. Linking the formation with another set of runes that produced a weak pulse, he pushed the orbs underground.
Covering a half-sphere underneath him, the orbs were arranged to detect all manner of vibrations. In that arrangement, he could also best detect the direction of the approaching threat, a necessity after seeing how easily things like the Stormfury could sneak up on him.
Drakys also observed the process silently before replying. “We train, of course. We’re currently present in the best region for forming a new city. Right in the middle of it.”
The Exalted paced around a bit, going in circles while speaking. “Consequently, it is the most untouched of them all. I’ve hidden our presence so far, preventing any monsters from reaching us. The moment I stop doing that and task you to reveal your full aura, you know how that will go.”
Lev nodded slowly, pushing back the nervousness.
“The monsters here are too weak,” the Exalted added, both disappointed and amused. “As if that’s a bad thing,” he chuckled. “You will not use any mana directly. Instead, take this.”
A large wooden sphere appeared in his hands, tossed towards Lev. He scrambled to catch it, surprised at how heavy it felt. The size wasn’t doing it any favors either, nearly blocking his vision even as he held it near his navel.
“What am I supposed to do with this?” Lev questioned, some part of him dreading the answer.
Drakys sensed that quite clearly. “Cover it in a layer of your barriers. The ball is an extremely efficient yet indirect converter for kinetic mana. It will constantly absorb a portion of its own movements and convert that, which can be accessed through several outputs.
“Your job is to keep it moving. Any resulting kinetic energy is all you’re allowed to use, regardless of whether you move with it or convert it into different mana types.”
Then the man vanished, letting Lev come to terms with the cursed game of football he was about to play.