Chapter 454 - Shaping the Invisible (Patreon)

In the end, I decide to go with

Passive Skill: Mana-Fortified Mind (Low Arcane) - The user's mind becomes an impenetrable fortress, fortified by impossibly complex mana weaves. This passive grants immense resistance to all forms of mental attacks, including illusions, mind control, and psychic attacks. Additionally, the passive allows the user's mind to endure the immense strain of using powerful skills and traits.

It's shameful to admit, but as of late, I've been having trouble with my mind when I wanted to use skills on a really big scale. Some big constructs, inscriptions, or just keeping my mind split with [Focus] into too many parts has proven difficult. Especially large-scale things are something I want to do.

[Ley Line] should be improved as well, and actually, probably a lot of my skills, even the domain, that I should be able to expand much more without putting much strain on me.

And I can't forget my eyes. With this passive, I should be able to strengthen the trait. I just need to get the token for 1st stage as I don't want to waste 2nd stage token I have.

The other that interests me is the Mana Sculptor one, but I think it's one I can learn to do on my own.

I will probably regret not picking the one with healing. No, I'm sure that I will regret it, but at this point, I'm kind of used to bleeding and losing my limbs. I've always preferred a glass cannon type of build.

Hopefully, my epic healing passive will hold on for a bit longer. Plus, there are some body modifications we plan to do with Lily, and healing marks she is working on.

Mana Pulse Circulation is a passive skill I seriously considered and was close to picking. But there are a few reasons why I didn’t, and I need to think about it a bit more to know if I should smack the back of my head. Mana Cycling is especially something I need to look deeper into.

As always, for me, the most important thing is my mind and its freedom. It's something I keep thinking of and worrying about ever since the 1st floor when I got manipulated by Sophie. The plan is to learn how the passive works and also use it later. Another bonus is sharpening concentration and insight into skills.

As just a bit over 230 thousand shards disappear, the passive appears in my status. It leaves me with just under 40 thousand shards.

New passive is not activated immediately, and there is even a lot of pain. I mean, a lot of pain. My entire head feels like it's about to melt, and as if something is poking red-hot iron through it.

Another thing to note: high-tier passives being applied hurts like hell.

I begin doing mana shaping exercises to ignore the pain, still working with the evil orbs. I glance at them now, curious to see if the passive has made any difference, and it's clearly noticeable even now.

There were levels in mana shaping I could delve into, but the pressure on my mind didn't allow it, so that means more training!

Right away, I add two more evil orbs, totaling seven when I get slowed by my inadequate mastery over mana rather than weakness of my flesh.

In a few days, I have planned setting up a large-scale web similar to Sophie’s but using [Ley Line], so I can test the passive then. Another test I will do is compressing my mana more and delving deeper into things the Mana Sculptor passive described.

I will improve my mana armors, my weapons, my projectiles, and my manabloc chairs.

Actually, I think it makes sense to call the material that is compressed mana "manabloc." So, manabloc sword, manabloc armor.

Damn, I know about people who would absolutely hate it, hehe.

Anyway, my big mecha armor requires testing. With the new passive, I should be able to make it bigger and stronger, and the self-repair would be nice to learn. I will also totally try to make the longest possible lasting creation. I already started with the chairs I made during that night a few days ago.

It is still awkward to think about it, and to feel manly again, I will have to kick some ass. Bullying the twins could also work, but they are suspiciously not annoying, and something in me thinks it's their adaptability. As if they know what I would like to do so they are trying hard to not give me an excuse.

Tsk.

“How is training?” I stop by them, the lazy asses sitting in the chairs I made with modified evil orbs floating over them.

“Frigging monster,” Dennis groans.

I track his eyes and find them on the seven orbs following me.

“Skill issue?”

“Please, Nat, don’t use that jargon.”

“I heard it from you, so who’s to blame? I will also remind you again: if over the next few months you fail to meet my expectations, I will force you to switch to Hard difficulty. You would be dumb not to believe I would do just that.”

“We know, we know, damn it. You are not the type to back down from this kind of stuff,” Aaron, who sits closer to me, sighs, his evil orb gone.

I modify one of mine, move it over him, and then replace the one I gave him.

“Any reward if we succeed?”

“Becoming stronger?” I ask, somewhat confused. “You will improve your skills too, and maybe you won’t be the weakest out of group 4. You could beat Min-Jae if you do well. I’m sure Tess will train him well, so we can’t lose.”

“Are you maybe competing with Tess to see who can raise a stronger pet?”

“Do you want to turn us into your disciples?” Dennis smirks.

That is amusing enough, and I make the orbs a bit harder to handle. “In a few years, Vega will wipe the floor with you. Both of you at once. If she continues as she does now, and it will be possible to summon her during the tournament, no one from Hard difficulty will be able to face her.”

“She’s a demon, that girl.” With a wave of his hand, Dennis swats away the remains of the evil orb that bursts.

Right away, I create a new one.

“So, what happened with the group after you left the Champion’s prison?”

“Well, at first we got confused, missing the thylarin douches and you, but we checked the Community, and you were still there. Izzy seemed to know more, so she calmed us down,” Aaron says lazily.

The way he handles the orb tells me it’s beginning to get easier for him, so I increase the difficulty.

Dennis continues instead, “We appeared in some old, abandoned fort. We cleared the surroundings of monsters, and while keeping guard, we rested. Then, during the night, Sophie and Tess started fighting.”

“More like Sophie started drilling Tess,” Aaron adds quickly before handling his orb.

“She is always like that when it comes to Izzy’s safety,” Dennis confirms.

When Aaron’s orb bursts open again, he leans back in his chair. “They fought and damn, if Sophie wants to, she really can do some damage, even to Tess. Izzy had to stop them before someone died and Sophie then took her and they left. I really didn’t expect it to happen, and neither did Tess. She seemed… hurt. Are you okay with that, Nat?”

“You guys act like it’s the end of the world or something. Just give it a few months. Maya will poke Tess, Izzy will manipulate Sophie, and the gang will be together. Did you meet anyone from the central region?”

“Not a single person so far, and I think we are way off target from where we were headed. Kallus also seemed lost, but he was a bit more open about sharing information on the central region, as well as hints and rumors about the remaining four containment zones. We will tell you all we have learned.”

“Good, the containment cells similar to the Champion’s seem like a solid lead to follow to get off this moon.”

“Solid lead to follow? After the blue maniac in the hole? Are you sure you want to mess with possibly more Champion-level beings?”

“Why not? It ended well the last time.”

“Suuureee.”

I increase the difficulty of the orb and then create a few more that I let hover close. They can grab them if the one they train with bursts. I’m quite happy with the orbs. They will activate their frequency and mana levels requirement only when taken by the twins. Until then, they are inactive. Sandra would be proud.

Well, more likely she would compare me to a pet or something.

Walking towards Lily, I spin evil orbs around me and examine each of them. I could probably upkeep a few more of them, and that annoys me as well as makes me happy. It shouldn’t be that easy. I should be unable to do more, blood seeping out of my ears and nose just to handle a single one. Just like the good old times in the pyramid.

Tonight, I will have to sit down and check the mana stones left behind by Lady Lissandra and ramp up the difficulty. Just as I modified the orbs for the twins, I’m sure she modified the orbs for me, and I can modify them again.

The thought of me being to her what the twins are to me irks my competitive spirit. If I don’t come up with a way to make it much more difficult, I will check out the other two shaping exercises, even though Lissandra recommended starting with this one.

Lily, resting with her back against the boulder, has her eyes closed, in her hands holding the finger bone of the champion from the 5th floor and some other ones I collected.

Careful not to interrupt her, I connect to my Ley Lines, and they appear in my sight. A dozen invisible pale blue threads stretching in all directions. A new test I came up with. Currently, all of them are tied to a different item. Something I could easily do with normal mana. The difference is that the lines are something people can pass through and are extremely difficult to sense.

They do not affect the physical world yet, but I’m sure I can come up with some stuff with a few more levels in the skill.

I touch one line, and for a moment it shines, and I strongly pull the anchor towards me. The chair gets pulled to me through the open area, and I grab it by the leg.

Sitting down, I think of that skill of mine.

These threads creating these Ley Lines—what can I make of them? They are of a material I have yet to meet, and I know the intention is to make them hidden, but during previous testing, I was able to make part of one line show in the physical world. That single short thread was stronger than anything I’m currently capable of creating.

It took a lot out of me. It scared Biscuit, and the twins felt like they were about to pass out as I strained my skills, pushed my limits, and burned through a ton of mana to make it happen.

I can usually estimate how much strain something will put on me, and here, I don't think I can push it further—at least not without seriously hurting myself.

Fortunately, the arcane passive came just in time and should allow for more testing.

The materialized Ley Line is impossible to disrupt, impossible to cut even with with my current skill, even at the full power of my [Resonance], I couldn’t burn it either nor kinetically affect it.

That much effort just to materialize this weird, finger-long, thread.

But at that moment, I decided it’s something I want to do. Together with the intended use of the skill, I will try to materialize it as much as possible. I have the skillset for that. I can do it.

And then I will weave things from that thread.

Weapons, armors, barriers. I will make the threads, the Ley Lines, as thin as possible if its something that can be done and make my creations more delicate. I will also learn from that skill and add it to my own [Mana Manipulation].

One day I will even weave it through my mecha mana armor, making it much tougher and using lines as muscles and tendons.

The sheer amount of processing it will require to materialize that many Ley Lines makes my mind spin, but my arcane passive will help.

There are also other options: I can level my [Focus] more, allow it to handle the strain of that, split my mind into multiple parts to process this control. Another option is to make an item, something that will take part of the strain off me.

The Ley Line thread is already gone, as I couldn’t keep it materialized any longer, but its image is still fresh in my mind. A delicate, pale blue shimmering thread, a color so similar yet distinct from the pale blue of mana.

***

Next Chapter