Chapter 214: Small steps forward

Eldrian slid down against one of the walls and started to relax as he realized he was going to need to spend a great deal of time experimenting. Having completely forgotten that he was not alone in the room at this time.

"Um, now what?" Myropsis asked after about a minute of silence where Eldrian just sat on the floor deep in thought.

"Ah, oh... Sorry I got lost in thought." Eldrian replied after looking up in slight confusion.

He had been thinking that changing spells in this way was far harder than simply trying to change the mana composition of spells. He also knew he could cast spells by simply focusing on mana, so he started wondering if this path was even worth anything. If anything, it is more concrete... This was the final result he had come up with to continue trying for at least a few more hours.

Eldrian also wondered if he could enter the magic abyss without relying on a spell module. If he cast a spell purely through mana, would it actually work? He was really curious about how this differed, and how everything actually worked and was connected. Stumbling in the dark for the most part.

"I don't really know." Eldrian said after taking a few seconds to return to the conversation. "I need to try a few things, you can do what you want." Turning to face Pelaros Eldrian asked, "When is the mission going to start? Rather when are we going to meet up?"

"Oh, right. Everyone will come here to meet up and I will also share some things you all need to know. Mostly what your most important objectives will be and what you must be wary of. Everyone should start arriving today, tomorrow is the last day for them to get here." Pelaros replied.

"Can I then just stay here then? Do you have a room I can use to practice?" Eldrian asked, having forgotten Pelaros's strange attitude towards him as his thoughts stayed mostly in training new things. He also didn't even think of a room to sleep in since he would just logout.

"Certainly, I will have a room made for you. And this room is probably the best for you to practice in."

"Thanks... Wait!" But this was too late as Pelaros was already out the entrance. Dang, he didn't need to make a room for me. Eldrian sighed before blocking out his surroundings and focusing on his mana.

Let's try and enter the magic abyss through pure dynamic casting. Eldrian did just this, quickly finding this far harder or maybe even impossible. To enter the magic abyss he needed to cover the spell module with mageia, surrounding his active thoughts and all the mana in the process.

This was hard but doable, as he could keep the envisioned module in his mind for as long as he wanted to try and manage this. His spell module also worked as a beacon for his mana, allowing him to keep control of it even when his actual control slipped after it was surrounded by mageia.

Strangely mageia worked even in thought, probably because it was very much a thought. Wait, isn't it just a more concrete version of thoughts? Eldrian suddenly wondered as he thought back to how he realized the spell module consisted out of mageia, not mana.

He had totally just willed that into existence, and now he had found that it existed in more than just an abstract way. Though magic was mostly abstract, one could not deny that it was more than thoughts. He truly could not figure out how this all actually worked or even existed.

In any case, following the steps to enter the magic abyss was clear when using a spell module. He had a target he could use to focus on. If he didn't use a spell module though, then he had no target.

Summoning his mana Eldrian could follow it as he controlled it to gather above his hand, it suddenly converting from pure mana to fire elemental and the spell then being there in existence. What he should cover in mageia he did not know. He could try and cover his converging mana, but doing so seemed to interfere with his control over it and caused him a great deal of trouble.

Seeing Eldrian blocking out his surroundings Myropsis gritted her teeth. The hell, I am a Tier 6 mage. A Greatmage! Yet he doesn't even look at me as an equal! She truly did not like this. She knew that in a fight she would kick his ass, he would not have a chance. Yet she could not deny that his control over magic was much greater than hers.

After staring at him with jealousy and slight anger for some time, Myropsis teleported back to the Magic Crystal to try and catch up. Being so behind someone so much weaker than her just did not sit right with her. How could she be arrogant, prideful, and blunt when she wasn't the one in the lead?

Eldrian tried a couple of different methods to enchase his mana. None of them yielded any results as fully enchasing it caused him to lose control of the pure mana; mana not in an elemental form but rather in its natural free state. After a few tries, he rested for a few minutes and then entered the magic abyss through his tried and tested method.

Not focusing on the spell module he turned to his surroundings, What are you? What is this place? He asked and tried to feel, failing even after multiple attempts. Fine, then this is my only way to enter for now.

Eldrian continued to try and add a node or pathway to his spells for the next hour, finally managing this with Nidia. It was the simplest spell he knew, simply two nodes and two pathways in the form of a droplet.

As a simple attempt, Eldrian thought of adding a pathway in between the curved ones. After focusing on the current spell's mana flow, he realized that these two curves allowed mana to flow in either the clockwise or counterclockwise direction. Making the one flow clockwise and the other counterclockwise resulted in the spell becoming highly unstable.

I remember needing to realize this when I tried to learn Tier 1 magic. Why didn't I realize this sooner, of course the mana flow of the nodes and pathways will be important. Especially for nodes, just determining it to absorb or expel mana isn't enough.

To put this to the test Eldrian quickly added the pathway, with the direction of its mana flow downwards. This did nothing though as the pathway seemed to be disconnected from the rest of the module.

Changing the mana flow of the existing nodes helped, as Eldrian needed to add an extra outlet to give the new pathway mana too. This took a couple of tries. Once this was done he pulled himself out of the magic abyss while keeping the spell active, the mana usage slightly increasing from his addition.

Oh, wow. Eldrian looked at the ball of water with interest. Normally Nidia slowly spun around its horizontal axis, now it spun around two axes. Before it only rotated left to right when looked from the front, now it also spun top to bottom. This is something I already knew possible with simple mana flow changes. Though the addition is new. This was all my first step to controlling my spells. What more did this pathway add?

Observing the spell with care Eldrian moved it closer to himself, finding that the ball seemed to have become denser. At least trying to look through it the distant objects seemed more distorted than what he remembered. Taking out a cup from his inventory he let the spell fall into it. He then cast the normal Nidia and confirmed that the amount of water was more.

With his first success, Eldrian wanted to rush into more tests. However at this time the wall of the hidden room slid open.

"Haru, if you want your room is ready," Pelaros said popping only his head into the room for fear of a spell losing control.

"Ah..." Eldrian's words faltered him as he didn't just want to say no. "You didn't have to, you know I can just return to my world."

"Never, how can I not give my guest a room. Even if it is just a formality." Sighing Eldrian gave up and simply thanked Pelaros for his hospitality.

"No thanks necessary, it is the duty of the host."

"Well then, I am going to get back to training if you don't mind," Eldrian said, not wishing to deal with the drama he knew would come once he left the room.

"That isn't the only reason I came. The first people who are going with you on the mission have arrived. You can either meet them when everyone is gathered, or if you want I can introduce you to them right now."

Ah... Meeting them one on one will be better to get an idea of who they are and their feeling about me joining them. In a group, I will likely just be dealt with as a background character. Eldrian thought, quickly thanking Pelaros and taking him up on the offer. "Lead the way."

"Great, the two who have arrived are twins," Pelaros said, pausing and looking at Eldrian to see his reaction. Eldrian gave none, "Ah, I thought this would excite you. Guess not..." Pelaros paused for a while and finally added, "It does suck that they aren't the same gender. It is quite the bummer."

What the hell? Eldrian almost blurted this out when Pelaros said the second part.

"Oh, that got a reaction." Pelaros teased and laughed at Eldrian's flabergasted look. "Just joking, they will probably be able to easily beat you up if they wanted."

"Hey! I am not the one thinking of weird things!" Eldrian finally snapped and countered.

"What weird things, I just thought meeting twins is something everyone likes," Pelaros replied with a cunning smile.

Dammit, I still suck at this. Eldrian quickly realized that while he had gotten really good at fighting, and quite good at magic. He still sucked when it came to talking with people. Easily falling into veiled traps the other laid out for him. He couldn't just shrug it off as Pelaros just did.

"Right, well on a more formal note. They are both nobility, quite high ranking too."