Eventually, Leon spent all the mana he had obtained thanks to Rem. So, he began to focus on expanding the range of Mana Magnetism again. Thanks to his recent increase in intelligence, Leon managed to do that with relative ease… even though that kind of action also increased the headache, Leon was feeling. It wasn't much, but Leon would be able to recover one thousand more points of mana aside from what was necessary to keep Accelerate and Mindscape Transportation active.
"Sekundez, you can evolve, too, right?" Leon asked. "Transferring my mana to you can speed up your leveling up speed?"
"No, spirits can only assimilate your mana to evolve," Sekundez replied. "So, I will only be able to do that once I reach the max level."
"I see… Well, who wants to evolve first?" Leon asked. "This might take a while, so someone patient will be the best option.
"I want to be the first!" Sylph shouted.
"Me too! Me too!" Gnome joined the fray.
"I don't really want to use such methods to evolve, but I guess it is the only way," Efreet said. "I also want to be the first."
"I guess you guys don't understand what being patient means…" Leon sighed.
In any case, Leon couldn't show favoritism. That being said, Celsius, Undine, and Volt were his first choices. However, since they weren't in a hurry, Sylph, Gnome, and Efreet had to choose between themselves… and there was only one way to solve them fairly. By using rock, paper, scissors.
In the end, Efreet won the contest, and Leon began to transfer his mana toward him. After twenty minutes, Leon had transferred one million mana points to Efreet, but he didn't notice anything different with him.
"Do you feel different?" Leon asked.
"Just refreshed thanks to your mana," Efreet replied.
At the very least, that wasn't a bad sign, but that also meant that the process might become even more time-consuming than expected. Although that was troublesome, it wasn't so bad considering that Leon would eventually increase Mana Magnetism's scope.
"Sekundez, do I have to keep transferring my mana non-stop, or can I take a break now and then?" Leon asked.
"You are transferring your mana to the spirit very existence," Sekundez replied. "Although you can't see or feel it, Efreet is becoming stronger as an existence. So, you can stop as much as you want."
Leon wasn't tired, but he needed to assimilate his replica's experience every hour in order to give him orders more frequently.
Congratulations! You have learned the skill: Sword of Light.
Cost: 2000 mana
You obtained 01 status points.
Congratulations! You have learned the skill: Arrow of Light.
Cost: 2000 mana
You obtained 01 status points.
Congratulations! You have learned the skill: Cannon of Light.
Cost: 10000 mana
You obtained 01 status points.
"Mmm… it looks like Rem is quite competitive," Leon nodded in satisfaction. "
It would be great if Shadow and Rem could compete with each other without annoying Leon, but as expected, he couldn't have everything he wants. After stopping to allocate his status points in intelligence, Leon resumed his job of transferring his mana for Efreet. Thanks to those points, Mana Magnetism range increased a little, but even so, Leon still had a long way to go.
Although that kind of thing would happen faster inside his mindscape, Leon couldn't stop his replica training since it was the only method where he could become stronger at a pretty awesome speed.
Fortunately, Leon only had to keep transferring his mana to Efreet for a few days. More or less around the time he transferred one billion mana points, Efreet started to glow… like a Pokémon.
"The hell?" Leon said, surprised.
Congratulations! The skill Summon Efreet's Fragment evolved to Summon Great Efreet's Fragment.
Cost: 150 mana per second
You obtained 01 status points.
While Leon was reading that notification, the glow around Efreet's body finally disappeared, and Leon saw a man made of fire in front of him. He was like two hundred and thirty centimeters tall. He also had bulging muscles. However, Leon recognized the vicious smile on his face. Efreet had lost his genderless appearance and closely resembled a human… but he had a pair of horns on his head.
"Hahaha! So, I really evolved!" Efreet laughed. "I lost some of my power, but I can feel that my potential grew exponentially."
"Good for you, now wear some clothes," Leon said. "The last thing I need is to see the body parts of another man that makes me feel depressed."
In the end, Efreet could produce clothes. Only a fire armor appeared around him. Although the cost of mana increased, it was much better than see a man naked. Before Leon could notice, he started to look forward to the time Celsius and Undine would evolve. They would probably lose their genderless features as well… so…
"I can hear your dirty thoughts…" Celsius said, visibly displeased.
"I don't know if I feel relieved or worried by seeing you imagine this," Undine frowned.
Leon shook his head and then analyzed his status. None of his statuses decreased, but Leon lost the skill Summon Efreet's Fragment. That was relief… in any case, Leon tried to test Efreet's power. As expected, it looked like his strength decreased, and it was around the level when he was at the level two hundred. That means that Efreet could become five times stronger than before.
"I guess you can really become identical to the original spirit," Leon rubbed his chin. "But I doubt we will have time for that."
Although Leon wanted to make his spirits evolve as fast as possible, it wouldn't be a good idea to make them lose their power at the same time. So, Leon tried that again once Efreet reaches the level two hundred inside his mindscape.