Chapter 15 Part 2 of 3 (Patreon)

“Three tips with this rifle, you can make it shoot faster, longer and harder. Built into the handguard there is a conductive filler that connects to the propulsion system. Increasing the flow of fire and water mana will increase the overall speed of the round exiting the barrel. If you increase the fire and metal mana then you can increase the weapon’s rate of fire. Both will increase the heat of the weapon faster. The foregrip is connected by a filler to the barrel, increasing the water and Earth attribute mana will decrease the heat, meaning you can shoot longer. If you want to add spells to your rounds, cast it on the magazine and it will be transmitted to all rounds. If you cast a new spell then it will wipe the previous spell and add a new one. If I was you I would pick either increased blunt damage or piercing. Whenever you reload cast a new spell.”

Rugrat lowered the rifle.

“Let me highlight this to you, you have many tools at your disposal. Pick a situation for them, do not get wrapped up in indecision, if it works it is the right tool for the job.”

***

Egbert walked back to his seat as Qin walked out onto the stage.

“Formations have been gear created and used in the rear, setting up a formation in the middle of battle has been a monumentally stupid idea. Qin tossed out a formation plate on the ground.

“With this one formation plate I can increase the power of my spells four times their initial power. More if you are a lower level. If you can cast only a level one fireball, this formation will allow you to cast a level five fireball with no extra mana or effort on your part.”

Qin threw out another formation, it snapped to the first larger formation plate and lit up.

“Magnetic linking formation plates. Premade and ready. All you need to do is throw them out, connect them and you create a new formation. I’ve added in a mana barrier so I will be protected while I am casting my spells.” Another formation plate connected.

“Now my fire spells will be stronger.” Another formation plate. “Now the power of the spells will increase.” Another formation plate.

Wind and dirt whirled together, creating a golem.

“Now I have a defender to help me.” Qin threw out more formation plates, more golems rose up.

“True golems are materials that have been refined and engraved to turn into fighting machines, they are expensive in time and resources to build. More so to repair. They burn through power in no time and if their formations are damaged they’ll be torn apart. Though they’re incredibly powerful and strong.” Qin raised her hand to the floating dirt and stones that resembled a headless humanoid figure. The white air shimmered between the moving rocks.

“Summoned golems can be destroyed faster, but their power is reliant on the power supplied to them. Increase the amount of mana you give them, the longer you can keep them summoned for, the stronger their attacks and unlike pure golems, they can destroy their form and recreate it.”

A golem ran to the end of the stage, the power in its body dimmed and it collapsed into dust and dirt. Back at the formation another golem was already forming.

“Redeployment, shift your forces and the battle in moments. Some of you might ask about the range issues?” Qin threw out two more formation plates.

“I just doubled their range, going from four hundred meters to eight hundred meters. Range is your biggest limiting factor. Which is why we need formation combat masters to get into the middle of the fight and call in the reinforcements needed. Bolstering the squads on the front line. If that is close range high level spells, defensive spells, healing spells, summoning golems, buffing your allies and debuffing the enemy.” Qin took out another formation plate and tossed it down.

The Golem’s grew stronger.

“I just increased the power of Earth spells, which worked with the Earth golems to increase their overall power.”

She threw out another formation plate, it locked into place, passing light back into the dimming formations.

The golems grew once again, the winds and dirt shifting around them as runes appeared on their bodies that took on a more refined look.

“The first rule of formations. Keep them powered. If you run out of power, everything comes apart. Dump in mana stones, add in secondary power formations to distribute the load of the formations. Having them all focused on one main formation and you will burn it out, drain it of power and collapse.”

Qin pressed a button on the main formations with her foot.

“Releases on the formations will disconnect them so you can rapidly store and deploy them. You can deploy them in groups if needed. Though it would be better to create a formation stack and use as required. Interlocking formations are used in fluid situations. Stacks are best prepared and used for specific missions. Julilah will talk on that more.”

Qin stepped away and Julilah walked up.

She pulled out the formation stacks, it looked like an accordion made of metal.

“Stacks. Premade ready to use complex formations. My friend Qin’s interlocking formations are great, but they are much larger. Stacks have been optimized to be compact while giving the same power as larger scale traditional flat formations.”

Julilah turned and locked the top formation in the stack. A mana barrier covered her and the mana around here was stirred up as the runes on the stack glowed powerfully.

“With interlocking formations you need to watch for the power differences, there are many factors going on. Stacks are used, keep charged, and forget. With this stack I have just created a double skinned mana barrier, activated a clean spell within the space as well as stamina recovery and a healing spell. Right now it is a mobile Casualty collection point.

Julilah turned it off and put it into her storage ring, pulling out a formation plate and another stack.

Qin sighed and shifted in her seat. “Show off.” She muttered under her breath.

Julilah turned on the formation, ten summoned golems appeared.

“My golems are weaker than my friend Qin’s, though I have two more. This is an enhancing formation plate,” Qin held up the formation plate and put it on the ground. It is very similar to the formation plate that Miss Qin put down as well.” Julilah put the stack into the recess in the middle of the formation plate.

The formation plate’s glow increased as runes along the sides of the stack lit up.

The golems doubled in size each as strong as the golems Qin’s formations had created.

“As Qin said, the stacks are built for a situation. In this situation we needed Golem back up. Though with Miss Qin, she needed to increase her own spell attack power, created a defensive barrier and she summoned golems.”

Julilah returned to her seat and Tan Xue went up, talking about the melee weapons they were using, spells that would enhance the weapons, ones that would give them greater power at the cost of weakening the weapon or increase the durability. She talked about the conqueror's armor that was being issued to everyone as well as the arm and leg armor.

A CPD leader went up, he had been on the training staff for a long time and spent his time talking about the benefits of using the different repeaters, bows, and firearms. He went over using the new belt fed ammunition system versus the magazines. How bows, if the user was strong enough as was the weapon, then they could be stronger than the railgun.

Roska went up next talking about small spells that could be of use. Clean spell on your eyes if you got dirt in them. Using dirt or sand spells to blast the enemy in the face and get an opening. To time debuffing the enemy moments before they clashed so they had no time to get used to their new state. To train with the different settings on the conqueror’s armor and if possible train with that power in flux so one could be ready for the chaos.

“A simple ice spell under a powerful opponent’s foot could mean the difference. If they go down they’re at your mercy. Metal conducts the cold and lightning well, while leathers are susceptible to heat. In close range fighting it is the small quick spells that have the greatest effect. So listen up to Tanya. With her pure magic, your larger spells and smaller spells will be stronger and not cost nearly as much mana.”

Tanya stepped on stage next.

“Pure magic is taking mana and the attributes and using them together directly. Spells are a way to control the immense power of mana and the attributes easily. Though spells are not formations. Formations outline specific instructions, taking in mana and releasing a result. We are adding in the attributes of our own mana and environment. All of the factors change. A formation burns out, you replace it. If a spell burns out, then the caster will have a violent backlash. While you can use less mana and get better results. Remember you’re taking off the training wheels. The risk of spell backlash is immense. That is why Pure magic is best suited for small effects.”

Tanya shrugged and looked at Rugrat.

“Unless you have advanced your mana gathering cultivations and have an incredible mana sense. With a higher mana sense you can understand the elements around you and within your body more. Most pure magic only reaches the first three stages of spells. Power, function and direction. With a strong mana sense you can tap into the elementals around you and enhance your spell with the external mana surrounding you. How?”

Tanya cleared her throat.

“Mana sense. Mana sense is an understanding of the world of magic around you. You can sense the densities of different attributes around you, notice pockets where there is more or less mana. You reduce the amount of Earth attribute mana you are using in your casting because you notice that the area has a greater Earth attribute and will make up for the lack of Earth attribute.”

Tanya saw people raising their hands.

“Please wait till the end for questions. Though I can think of what one of them might be. Will I run out of the attributes to cast with? The short version is possibly.” Tanya shrugged.

“If you are, say, on the water floor and you are casting fire spells all the time, in an environment without the fire attribute then you will need to use more mana in order to make up for the lack of Fire attribute in your surroundings and from within your body. We all know how in different environments, different spells are weaker. There is always some of every attribute around us, or within us, but at different levels. There are ways to counteract this. Like using more mana in your cast, or tempering your body. As you temper your body, your body naturally refines and holds different attributes. It means that your spells won’t be as weak; it also means that your sense and control over the attribute you tempered your body with will be much higher.”