After discovering that Leon could control the mana, which wasn't his, inside the Mana Shield, he was one step closer to nullify the mana within a specific place. The problem was, the mana within the poison mist still could be felt, and Leon couldn't make the Mana Shield thinner to make it untraceable. He also needed to make his own mana untraceable, but that problem would solve itself once Leon finds a way to get rid of the mana within the poison mist.
"Let's see… shall I use Mana-Eater?"
Although the poison mist inside Mana Shield had become a dense, small sphere of poison that had the size of a marble, Leon still managed to absorb its mana. However, that itself didn't solve the problem. If he could use Mana-Eater to eat every single bit of mana inside the Mana Shield every moment, perhaps that could work… but he couldn't.
"This is so incredibly annoying…"
After a long sigh, Leon resumed his practice. He didn't recall complaining all that much when he was on the island. Perhaps, he complained a lot at the beginning, but after a while, he got used to the no-end practice… it looked like he needed to get used to it again.
"I guess my accomplishments after I left the while made me become a lax person… I failed sometimes, but I guess I succeeded more, and that was why I feel so annoyed right now."
Learning offensive spells was so easy, that even if Leon had to practice for one week straight, he couldn't feel bothered by it, because he already knew the things he had to do. Although learning new things always made Leon feel proud of himself, the process before the success would always get on his nerves.
While Leon was practicing to make the poison mist inside of the Mana Shield reunite in a single place that wasn't near him, he noticed one thing. All the mana around him, which wasn't his, had also being absorbed by the mist. That was how the fog could keep itself working non-stop, but it wasn't the mist that made the ambient mana… Leon's mana did.
"I knew it… maybe if I learn how the poison mist spell works, I can apply the same principle to Mana Shield and absorb the mana of the environment… but first things first. I need to destroy it since I can't absorb it, yet."
In the end, Leon learned and recalled on the most annoying way the first law of Thermodynamics… ' energy is always conserved; it cannot be created or destroyed.' In essence, energy can be converted from one form into another. Mana was a source of energy so that it couldn't be destroyed… he only learned that trying for one month.
"I should have done push-ups on the island instead of practicing magic… I'm too dumb to be called a magician."
While Leon felt like he wanted to bury his head on the ground to hide his embarrassment, he felt someone approaching. It was Eadmund.
"It looks like you are having a hard time learning that…" Eadmund said. "It doesn't surprise me. I'm pretty sure the people above didn't even learn such skill and never will since that would cancel their magic advantage.."
"Well, it's not the first time I'm having a hard time learning something," Leon said. "By the way, how do you know that? I thought that kind of information was a military secret."
"You are right, but even if they hide that information, rumors on the battlefield spread fast." Eadmund said. "We have ears and eyes on the frontline, and their job is to see what kind of new tricks the people up above learned."
"I'm guessing you guys don't have any idea if they can hide their mana," Leon said.
"Yes, we absolutely have no idea." Eadmund said.
That was withing Leon's expectations, so he didn't feel bothered by it. Anyway, Eadmund left since his presence prevented Leon from concentrating. Still, that brief pause made Leon clear his mind enough for him to notice that he was trying to accomplish something impossible. Create a zone where mana couldn't be used and keep that same zone from being seen was too much too ask for… at least using mana alone or with Leon's current knowledge.
"If I can't nullify, then I will just have to disguise it…"
Leon couldn't keep training for another month to learn a single spell. His status was increasing thanks to the dragon hearts, but his other skills stopped growing. In the end, Leon decided to give up on the idea of canceling his target's Telepathy. If she tries to use it, Leon will notice if he uses Appraisal, and if she uses it, then he would have to kill her and try another day.
"I'm pretty sure I can't make my mana emulate the mana of another person… at least not for the time being a not for long periods. So, my best option is to make my magic presence become like the ambient mana…"
Although it wasn't easy to emulate, it was easy to understand. Leon just had to decrease his magic presence… there were two ways of doing that, keep using his mana and let the mana bar almost empty, or he could 'calm down' the mana in his body. After two more weeks trying to do that, Leon finally learned the skill, but there was a problem. He couldn't use any other spell active like Mana Dominion and Mana Shield. So, if someone discovers him by chance, he wouldn't be able to notice, and he would be totally unprotected.
Congratulations! You have learned the skill: Mana Concealment.
Cost: 10 mana per second.
You obtained 01 status points.