Chapter 371: Warping Space

Chapter 371: Warping Space

Late Evening - Early Spring : The Tree of Prayer | Siratha

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-What if I just.. fueled the tree myself?- It was a thought that obliterated the ever-encroaching cloud of drowsiness that was taking over my mind.

But the idea wasn't nearly as simple as it initially sounded.

The thing was, during prayers, the mana given by the worshipers was directed straight toward the top of the tree, causing the mana density to get higher and higher as it neared the rune, before eventually getting dense enough to naturally penetrate the tree trunk and individually fuel each layer of the rune within the Gods' Abode.

As it was, the rune was perfectly designed with that method and effect in mind, using a combination of mana flowing through the trunk to fuel the central runes, and a larger volume of mana from outside to fuel the outer rings.

It was the perfect rune to gather mana from the prayer.

However, for me to mimic that effect, I would have to either hollow out the tree and fill it with mana or plainly fill the air with a similar amount of mana to the prayer. -But that'd definitely kill a bunch of people...- For me to fill the air with that much mana while not having to constantly replenish it, I would have to bury the entire base of the tree in a lake of liquid mana. -So I need a better idea...-

But it didn't take long for me to come up with one. -Hmm.. I wonder if I can do that...-

The idea was pretty simple, create a relatively small lake of mana deep underground, directly beneath the tree, and guide the mana up through the tree trunk with a long sequence of runes, essentially making it a giant mana vein.

In theory, it was totally possible, but as for whether the flow of the mana would be great enough, I could only guess. -It's worth a shot though...-

Deciding I would figure it out quicker through trial and error rather than purely theory, I hastily began carving out sequences of annoyingly complex runes that spiraled around the core of the tree trunk with my aura.

But the task quickly became even more daunting than I anticipated.

Adjusting and testing my theories as they came to mind, I ended up burning through tens of thousands of theories, ideas, and designs of runes over the course of a couple of days.

After a while, it even got to a point where I had to question if what I wanted to make was even reasonably possible.

But that was when I stopped worrying about efficiency or complexity, and realized one key piece of information...

It was that mana interacted with the fabric of space in the exact same manner as normal matter, but to a different extent.

In the process of warping the fabric of space in any manner, an enormous force is exerted on the matter within the fabric to try and keep it in line with the warp. This force does not directly push matter in the direction of the warp like a shockwave, but rather tries to force the matter to take up a larger or smaller volume based on the direction of the warp, consequently expanding or compressing EVERYTHING in that space.

That meant the force was capable of literally ripping atomic nuclei apart, or compressing them to a density far beyond even the cores of neutron stars.

However, this force was only on the motion of the bend itself. As long as the warp in the fabric didn't change nigh-instantaneously, like with vector flipping, the forces within atoms would be able to adjust accordingly before they were ripped apart or compressed to such an unholy extreme... [1]

But that was where the difference with mana laid. Unlike matter, mana didn't have those incredibly powerful atomic forces to resist the force resulting from the fabric of space being bent, allowing me to make a rune I would eventually call a 'warp rune' that could create a relative vacuum of mana, and then use mana's desire to expand and fill that less dense space as the main force pulling the mana up the tree. [2]

However, just moving the mana upward wasn't enough. I also needed a way to contain the mana so it wouldn't escape into the lower-density mana outside the tree trunk, as well as a way to spread the mana to the outer rings of the rune in the Gods' Abode.

It was time to see if my contraption would work. -Well.. here goes nothing...-

I was a little anxious, but as I removed the small pieces preventing the bottom runes from getting fuel, the whole thing instantly jolted to life and the entire place started gently vibrating with a hum. hhhhmmmm

The next thing I knew, the flow of the ambient mana in the cavern shifted, and my worries about the pipe's flow not being enough vanished.

When it worked, it fucking worked. With a flow rate so immense it ripped through the mana strengthening in the tree trunk before rearranging it in a less restricting manner, the flow rate, even at the top of the tree was immense. "Haha..." -Holy shit...- With a slightly nervous laugh, a smile came across my face.

It was really working. -I just need to head up to make sure it's fueling the rune properly...- Vwoop

With a bit of disbelief, I quickly jumped through the void, nearly instantly entering and exiting it, not even staying around long enough to look around.

However, that instant was more than enough to send a spine-chilling fear through my body.

Although I only caught a glimpse of it out of the corner of my eyes, for the instant I was in the void, I was being watched... From deep within the abyss, there were two massive, glowing eyes that stared at me.

Vwoop By the time my gate above ground began dissipating, the excitement of my accomplishment had vanished in its entirety, and I found myself gently shivering with the warmth drained from my face. -W..what the fuck was that...-

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[1] - This hasn't explicitly been explained yet, to my knowledge, but once the warp stops, and the fabric is stationary in relation to the matter inside it, a constant, static centripetal force (gravity) is then applied to the matter, scaling exponentially with the curvature of the warp.

[2] - Gravity from the warps is also helping the flow of mana, but to a much lesser extent than the other forces.

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