Volume 5 – Chapter 6 (in editing-v6)

Volume 5 – Chapter 6

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Magic was an exceedingly complex subject matter.

There were countless different Spells, different forms of Spells, and even different sub-types of Magic. The Language of Magic was a varied and complicated tongue that was extremely difficult to master. Things like intonation sometimes mattered just as much as one’s intent and skill.

The Spell Micheal decided to focus on, ‘Mana Blade,’ was one of the more complex types of Spells – at least, amongst the Spells he currently knew, limited to the knowledge gained from his first life.

‘Most forms of Magic are direct.’ Once you cast the Spell, the Magic would activate and something would happen. These Spells typically had a one-time cost of Mana that would drain from one’s Mana Circles at the time of casting.

‘The 2nd Circle Spell ‘Mana Blade’ is a continuous Spell.’

It was a Spell that remained linked to one’s Mana Circles and drained Mana at a constant rate.

‘An active Spell that shapes Mana into the form of a blade.’ It required precise control and practice to master. Micheal had extensive skill when it came to handling Ki, and much of that skill would transfer over to Mana, but they weren’t identical forms of energy.

‘I can control the Mana Blade with my Soul.’ One of the advantages of a Mana Blade was that it wasn’t something he needed to physically hold. It still required his focus, meaning he’d have to multitask, but that wasn’t particularly difficult for someone as experienced as him.

‘And once I create one…’ Micheal’s eyes glowed faintly,

‘I can extend my Grandmaster Sword Energy through it.’

It would add an incredible layer of versatility to his attacks, giving him a powerful, unorthodox method that few foes would expect or be prepared for.

‘And once I form my 3rd Mana Circle, I can create multiple blades at once.’ He could already visualize in his mind an unstoppable storm of blades slicing out with the fury of a dozen Grandmasters.

‘I’ll need to look into more powerful Mana Blade Spells.’ The two Mana Blade Spells he knew were solid choices, but they weren’t as advanced or unique as they could be. They were just two Spells he happened to memorize in his first life.

In the background, Micheal kept an eye on Shin as the teleporter began absorbing the two Miracle Gems.

“Sovol Reize.” Micheal frowned as he pronounced the Spell, instantly recognizing that he was pronouncing it wrong.

“Svol Reize.” He muttered before shaking his head slightly.

He took a deep breath, focusing on his Soul, and the two Mana Circles that rotated within it. Then, in his mind’s eye, he formed an image of a small, silver sword.

“S’vol Reize.”

Instantly, he could tell something was different.

He felt a resonance in his Soul as the Mana within it teemed, stretching out from his Mana Circles and entering physical, tangible reality…

Only to then promptly fall apart, wisps of cool, blue energy flowing off him and stirring up a small breeze. Dead leaves, stone dust, and bits of dirt washed into the air and flew away from him, forming a 3 meters wide circle where only bits of stray grass and dirt remained.

‘My casting is accurate, could it be my Mana movement?’ Micheal frowned.

‘Or is it how I’m imagining the Spell?’ He knew visualization was an important aspect of Magic.

After a few seconds, he shrugged quietly to himself. He knew the basics of Magic, and he knew how to counter Magic users. While he’d never been formally, or even informally, taught Magic, he knew enough to get by with trial and error, at least up to the 3rd Circle.

‘I’ll have to find a way to deepen my knowledge while I’m here on the Third Layer.’ He would keep that in mind as he moved forward.

Half an hour passed in the blink of an eye.

Shin spent that time focused on slowly and steadily intertwining his Ki with the two Miracle Gems Micheal had given him.

Unlike Micheal, Shin had the luxury of activating them in a secure place, without the soul of a dead Toren haunting him. It made for simple, and safe, work, though none would argue it wasn’t monotonous. It also meant he would evolve his Physique in one sitting, without having to wait a day like Micheal had.

It was only after close to an hour had passed that Micheal finally managed his first successful cast.

“S’vol Reize.” His intonation was perfect, the magical words resounding with the Mana Circles in his Soul.

‘Absorb, direct, create and manifest.’ Like clockwork, an hour of practice let Micheal perfect each tiny step, learning from his errors as he went, until now.

A small, faintly glowing, silver sword appeared in the air, hovering half a meter in front of his face. It was a plain sword, not decorated in any way, made entirely of solidified and hardened Mana, with a sharp edge on either side.

A measured grin found its way onto Micheal’s face, fighting back the growing headache that an hour of Magic practice had cost him.

Slowly, on that hovering sword, the white gleam of Grandmaster Sword Energy appeared.

“It works.” Micheal muttered, flexing his wrist slightly.

He also winced as his Soul shuddered, the strain of using Grandmaster Sword Energy weighing heavily on him.

'Without using the Crown of the Angel King, it's still a bit rough to draw on my Grandmastery.'

He needed time. Time to meditate, time to absorb the energy his Soul was baptized with when he first drew upon Grandmaster Sword Energy during his fight with Orion...

And time to use that absorbed energy to obtain the Body of a Grandmaster.

'I can almost feel it... my Soul's nearly there.' As long as he split his focus while they travelled, he judged it would take him, at most, 2 weeks.

The process of obtaining the Body of a Grandmaster after first drawing on Grandmaster Sword Energy had taken less than a day in his first life, but that had more to do with the absurd energy levels of the Sixth Layer, and Micheal's much higher stats at the time.

'If my Soul had been baptized on the Third Layer, where more energy exists, the process would be shorter.' After a moment's thought, Micheal sighed quietly.

It wasn't as if he really had a choice in the matter, so there was no point in complaining.

As his wrist turned, the movement sent the sword spinning around him in a tight circle, before stopping abruptly as he held his hand up.

‘I need to make it move purely through my Soul, no hand gestures.’ It felt so right to make a cutting motion as he made the Mana Blade cut through the air, resisting that urge felt strange.

‘I’ll get used to it.’ He thought as he watched the Mana Blade return to hover in front of him, his eyes narrowing.

At the base of the sword, a few tiny cracks had formed as the overwhelmingly sharp Grandmaster Sword Energy damaged the makeshift weapon.

‘I can’t let my concentration slip.’ Even a slight lapse would let the deadly energy shred his temporary Spellblade. Grandmaster Sword Energy was truly an incredibly dangerous substance.

Micheal waved his hand, another instinct he would need to iron out, as he cut the connection between his Soul and the Mana Blade, watching with interest as it dissipated and fell apart, small motes of blue light fading into the air.

He would need a great deal more practice before he would even consider utilizing a Mana Blade in actual combat, but even so…

‘Progress is progress.’

“I’ll have to give my thanks to Lady Idara.” He muttered as he massaged his temple, a faint smile finding its way onto his face.  

The idea to link a Mana Blade, or even multiple Mana Blades, and his Sword Energy together wasn’t something he came up with on his own.  

It was an idea he stole from one of the Third Layer’s Heroes.

Idara Ro’ten – the Rainmaker. Hero of the Egoes Principality to the far east of the Empty Sea.

‘It’s kind of funny when I think about it.’

The Second Layer was an incredibly unique world with an incredibly martial focused culture and society, built around the ideas of Martial Arts and Weapon Mastery.

The Byrens more or less tolerated the new arrivals to their world, with the exception of the war-mongering Orkals. The martial artists of the Second Layer often acted with honor and a sense of fairness, though such concepts sometimes fell apart in the face of blood feuds.

‘The Rainmaker is one of the relatively few Masters this world holds.’

The Second Layer actually possessed more native Masters than the Third Layer, despite the fact that the Second Layer had significantly less latent energy in the air.

‘It’s not just because of cultural differences. The higher the latent energy, the easier it is to train all sorts of different Abilities.’

Comprehending Conceptual Powers was hard. Very, very hard. It took large amounts of discipline and effort, requiring consistent dedication and hard work.

Why waste months trying to obtain even a basic connection to a Conceptual Power, when one could use that time studying Magic, or evolving a Mana Heart to power learned Abilities?

The denizens of the Second Layer, by dint of the fact that their world lacked energy, were forced to pursue Conceptual Mastery if they wanted to advance in power. The natives of the Third Layer, on the other hand, had countless different avenues open to pursue.

‘The Rainmaker is a Master of Fist Energy, like Orion.’ Though both were Masters, Orion’s Mastery was that of a man reaching the highest upper limit he could possibly obtain on his present world, just a hair’s breadth away from Grandmastery. The Rainmaker’s Mastery couldn’t compare to Orion, but Mastery was still Mastery.

While being a Master granted one great power, that alone was insufficient to become a Hero. Many a Master had fallen in battle against Apex Void Predators over the years.

What set the Rainmaker apart, however…

‘Her lineage grants her the ability to create and control rain.’

It was a useful Ability, to be sure, though not one particularly suited for combat, not compared to the lineages of other Void Nobles. In fact, before the Rainmaker grew to fame, Idara’s family was nothing more than a minor barony with a small estate, barely a blip on the radar to most, notable only for their ability to stave off droughts.

‘She applied Fist Energy to individual drops of rain, on a mass scale.’ It was an incredibly innovative and genius application of her family’s bloodline, and an incredibly potent combination of powers that exemplified how powerful one must be to become a Hero.

Micheal had never personally witnessed the Rainmaker take the field, but he had seen brutal remnants of battles she had participated in.

Entire floating islands obliterated from existence, crushed by endless waves of force shearing down in an unstoppable display of power.

“I don’t expect to catch up to that level of control any time soon.” Micheal tempered his expectations, cautiously planning his own development ahead of time.

“Still… even if it’s just a half dozen Mana Blades assisting me…” His eyes gleamed.

“It’s absolutely worth pursuing.”

‘I need to be ready for anything.’ As Micheal finished his Magic practice, he switched gears and began to examine his current state, running a few calculations to see where he was at compared to the enemies he might expect to face in the future.

“Off stats alone, I’m around the level of an average Knight Commander.” He nodded to himself. His training, all the enhancements he had gone through, the Trait he obtained through the Title’s System, it all added up to an impressive level of power.

He might not quite add up in all areas, but strength was king and Micheal was undeniably strong, and he would be even stronger once he obtained the Body of a Grandmaster.

On the Third Layer, it was an exceedingly common practice for every Noble lineage to possess its own Knightly Order. The Commanders of these Orders were typically the strongest warrior any Noble lineage could muster, as much a matter of necessity as it was for prestige.

“The upper echelon of Knight Commanders, those with a Stage 4 Mana Heart, might be physically stronger than me, but…” He shook his head.

At the end of the day, Micheal was, after all, still a Grandmaster. A single slash of Grandmaster Sword Energy was more than enough to equalize any difference in strength he might encounter, for almost all enemies he might face.

The only real exceptions were Heroes and Apex Void Predators.

“As for Shin…” Micheal turned his focus to his best friend, eyeing him briefly.

‘I’ll wait until he’s finished absorbing those Miracle Gems and evolved his Physique before I pass judgement.’

As the thought crossed his mind, Micheal took a moment to reflect.

‘Shin. Do I need to slow down for him?’ He remembered how stressful life felt in his own early years in the 7 Layers. How much the terror, the horror, and the fear of the unknown tried to tear apart his sanity.

Micheal might be a grizzled veteran of a thousand battles, but Shin decidedly was not.

Across the clearing, Shin sat still leaning against the tree, sweat dripping down his brow as he focused on the two glowing gems. The stones were smaller, down to a fifth the size of when he started.

‘Maybe not.’

No one that reached the Seventh Layer could be described as normal.

The fact that Shin reached the final Layer was a testament in itself to his best friend’s endless determination and grit.

‘I’ll keep an eye on him.’ Micheal ultimately decided to wait and see.

He would face the problem when, if at all, it arose.

And it was with that final thought that Micheal came to a halt, his attention refocusing as a bright flash of light exploded from Shin’s hands.

In just under an hour and 15 minutes, far faster than Micheal had anticipated…

Shin’s Physique began to evolve.

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