Chapter 655 Skills, Spells, Mana Manipulation, And Disaster

Eldrian finally cleared his mind after letting his thoughts wander. Returning his focus to improving quickly. Contemplating what he had just learned and returning to the question of mana manipulation's prowess. He felt he could now understand the difference between different casting methods.

Specifically what counted as casting, and what did not.  At least, he understood it a bit better.

'Dynamic casting is done by having the entire picture mapped out in your mind. I think I finally get it. You perfectly envision the end result and then feed mana to this image almost instinctually.'

'If you need to think of anything other than the result, even the mana composition, then it is a failure. It has to come naturally.'

'It is completely feel based. And due to this, I don't always succeed. Sometimes I just know what is required, but once I question I cannot succeed.'

'Static magic is the precise opposites. While using a spell module, following the blueprint means you do not have a clear final image of the spell itself. Rather you use this blueprint of a spell module to guide you. Yet, even so, your thoughts will influence the final spell.'

'Mana manipulation however does not count as casting. It is only controlling mana to reflect spells.'

'When I use mana manipulation I focus on the process. I know what I want to achieve but do not know how to reach the end goal in one. So I take personal manual control, painstakingly building my road brick by brick. When I want a door, I do not find a door. Instead, I find some wood and start carving.'

'After enough practice, I become really good at this.' Saying so, Eldrian pulled out one of the fangs from his inventory and had it fly. 'But I am still consciously enveloping it with ether, controlling the mana and not the item.'

'I am still carving it...' Eldrian paused, uncertain how to go past this. There was nothing wrong with starting as he did, but if he wanted to take the next step he needed to stop carving. He needed to use the door, not make it from scratch each time.

With learning Fotias he had realized this. He might not be able to skip the carving as it was how he learned the process of how things worked. But he needed to make it instinctually and move onwards, he needed to use the carved item after making it. Not make a new one again and again.

If he could not then it would always lack the power of a spell. Would always be more like a Tier 0 spell. It would always be a reflection of the idea and not the idea itself.

'I can attempt to replicate the mirror design, but would that work?' Eldrian was unsure, for the mirror he only wanted the appearance and ability.

It need not be strong enough to block an attack, or even survive rough winds. It was fine with it being at the level of a complicated Tier 0 spell since it was only there to record and show. (Tier 0 spells Eldrian found were basically just mana manipulation, not true spells. Hence their inability to do damage.)

While waiting for that percentage growth to reach one hundred, Eldrian kept pondering this while meditating. Kept experimenting with the fangs, trying variations of ether manipulation. Seeking the best way, a way that was more like moving a sword and less like moving mana.

'That is the problem, my focus is still on the ether. Just like how my focus was on my mana before. I need to focus on the fang, but...' Eldrian felt this and that was different, yet his mind kept returning to this.

Taking the fang in hand, Eldrian looked it over. Moving his hand over its smooth surface. Thanks to his experiments the remnant venom was long gone. Eldrian did not care much for that, while it was strong, it was useless against the undead.

'What will happen if I push my mana into it?' Eldrian thought, it was after all classified as a magic material. Thus, it should be able to accept his mana. While mana such as ether could interact with the physical, it was not inherently physical. Until Eldrian willed it, it would not react with the physical world.

This gave him an interesting idea of using it from inside a person's body, but he felt that a person's intrinsic magic armor would make this impossible.

However, the fang had no such active armor. While it was part of the spider it might have had, but no longer. Thus, Eldrian tried to push his mana into it. He immediately felt a massive difference between the fang and standard materials. He could immediately tell that it was not a blank slate.

He took his time to explore the inner mana networks of this single fang. Astounded by its complexity. The network was not like his. It was integrated with the spider's entire being, with nature itself.

'I've always thought that it does not connect with the physical. While I wanted to make it reflect it somehow, I knew that the ethereal is not physical. Mana can influence the latter, but it is still not part of the physical. But this, it is like they are one and the same.'

'Is this why monsters are so much stronger than humans?' Eldrian was astonished that he had never taken the time to examine monsters.

He had observed a few animal's mana pathways and also people. But he had never attempted the same with monsters. At least not in this detail, he knew that their mana flowed through them. But he had never looked into the pattern it produces.

Of course, doing so would not be easy. He would first need to subdue the monster. If he killed it then its mana would also start to dissipate. While it appeared that he would be able to discover the network after the fact, Eldrian knew that not all of them would remain intact.

After all, the fangs and claws of monsters are far stronger while they are alive. While their mana fills their bodies, sustaining and strengthening them.

'How do the smiths use this then? I can't imagine trying to work with the structure already installed in the fang. Do the smiths break it? Isn't that wasteful?'

Filling the fang with mana, Eldrian was careful to follow the paths. Slowly the fang seemed to gain life, gaining a shine to it that told Eldrian that it was a force to be reckoned with. He could feel that at this moment the fang would be far stronger than before.

He smiled, feeling a connection between him and the fang. Eldrian started to change the mana composition. After a few hours of testing, the fang slowly started to float above his palm.

He had found that he could integrate his mana into it. Then, slowly, he could change the fang's attributes. He had to be careful so as to not ruin it, but once his mana was in place he could let his mind wander. It would slowly be exhausted but until then it would remain and function with just a single thought from him.

However, just as he was about to test the extent of this control, Eldrian's mana was suddenly withdrawn. He immediately felt that the fang had been hurt as the withdrawal was not done with care. Worse still, he found that all the mana in the surroundings was being pulled towards him at an insane rate.

He was a like vortex, sucking in all the mana from his surroundings.

Eldrian immediately realized that this would not end well if it continued at this rate. Not wishing for a repeat of the last time he lost control he jumped to and tried to gain control of his own mana network.

His mana atoms were spinning rapidly, absorbing mana at an insane rate like little black holes. And the more they absorbed, the faster they spun and the faster they absorbed even more. Growing at an insane exponential rate.

'Is it evolving?' Eldrian wondered while fighting for control, attempting to slow the intake so he would not bring a natural disaster to the village.

Getting control over the atoms however was no easy task, luckily, he was no longer alone.  With Two's help, they managed to slow the consumption enough to allow them to see what was happening.

But it was still not slow enough.

'What do you think?' Eldrian asked after looking around, the surroundings devastated as his vortex had summoned all the elements as the mana become too dense near him. Fire, wind, water, earth. It looked like hell on earth, luckily, he had trained outside of the village and only the surrounding woodland was destroyed.

'Same as you, seems that the atoms are evolving. Not sure to what though.'

Eldrian nodded, for the moment not able to consider the consequences. No, he dived back to trying to slow his absorption even more. Having to suppress his body's want for mana.

Thinking back, Eldrian recalled the first atom he had made. The one with six electrons, with inner rings guiding the electron's path and dissipating the mana from the null center. In comparison, their current atoms had a core of compressed mana with an electron spinning around it.

'I see, it is trying to go towards that one. Or maybe not, but it is trying to change form to something else.' Eldrian wasn't sure why or how, he could only assume that the current form wasn't a good one, likely unstable or inefficient.

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