Chapter 63 Intense Training [3]
[22 April 2023, 07:20 PM]
[House]
After Enhancing my Coat, I ended up staying in Park Injun's store for a while to ask him about the Intermediate and the Advanced Magic book. He had both of them, but in exchange for it, he wanted me to tell him what kind of blood I used for Enhancement.
Of course, I didn't tell him about what blood I used for the Enhancement. That information wouldn't come up in a few months, maybe years, depending on when Lisa decided to dabble into research to find it.
Although Park Injun might be able to find what blood I used in exchange for the Dust Enhancement for Enhancing item, it would need some time, maybe months, which he couldn't afford.
Time was essentially money, so he added some extra payment in exchange for my information. He offered to give me a Master Fire Magic Book. Unlike the Basic to Advanced one, the Master Magic book was divided by each attribute.
The one that he offered, Master Fire Magic Book, was one of them. It was tempting, and so I decided to tell him that the blood I used was from Lich in exchange for the three Magic Books. He was surprised and asked how I got Lich's blood. Because I got a nice haul, I happily explained how to get it.
Afterward, I left the shop while humming in happiness and arrived at home.
"I am back." I greeted while closing the door behind me.
"Welcome back!" A distant voice answered me. It belonged to Tina.
I entered the living room and found that she was watching TV while sitting on the couch, hugging her legs while licking a pink lollipop. She had already made herself comfortable as if she had been living here for a while.
I sat beside her and looked at the TV that she was watching. Unexpectedly, she was watching the news.
"What's the news about?" I asked as I pulled off my mask and put it inside my magic bag.
"Hmm, just some strange monsters' activities in Mermen Dungeon in San Diego. The Demon I saw yesterday has returned to his base and caused the Mermen to act strangely. Maybe the Demon killed some of the monsters? Who knows." Tina answered, turning at me.
"How do you plan to deal with those Demons, brother? Will you ask Chloe to take care of them?"
"No." I shook my head. "There is no need for Chloe to step up this time. I want to get stronger as soon as possible, so I will take care of one of them."
"One of them?" Tina asked, curious. There were at least two Demons in the Mermen Dungeon in San Diego, however, Tina only saw one in prison. So she didn't know the existence of the second Demon that originally appeared in the novel.
"Yeah. There are two Demons, at least. I will kill one of them while I have another person to take care of the other one. I want Chloe to focus on getting stronger and sit this one out. It would be troublesome if she joined this one. I plan on doing something a bit… reckless." I said.
My plan would include something that surely would hurt Chloe, so I didn't want her to participate this time. Also, if she participated in the second arc and killed the Demons before they did something to Zaiden, he would lose his chance to get stronger.
If he followed the plot or maybe even pushed himself, I estimated that his stat would reach E+ Rank in a month. His growth rate was unnatural, but I didn't plan to fall behind.
I set a goal for myself to reach D+ or C- in a month. If that was not possible, then I wanted my Mana to reach C+. That was the minimum requirement if I wanted to kill the Demon and take advantage of the situation to make Zaiden suffer.
Although it seemed to be impossible to get C+ Rank in a month, considering my growth rate had decreased after I hit D-Rank, I could only push myself.
Furthermore, because Zaiden was kind, I couldn't make him suffer by stealing the heroines from him or something. It just didn't work. He would definitely say, 'Please take good care of her,' with a stupid smile on his face.
He didn't even have romantic feelings toward them. He only wanted to save them.
So, how to make such a kind person despaired? It was simple. Just show him that he couldn't do anything even though he was supposed to change something.
'I probably will need to use [Arash Bow] special effects this time.' I thought.
"Hmm… is that so? Do you need my help?" Tina asked, peering into my face.
"Actually, yes," I answered her as I grinned. "I need you to do something for me."
I then explained what she needed to do. When she heard my explanation, her expression changed a few times.
It was a sight to behold; she put on a disgusted, excited, and then turned into a disgusted expression once again before she asked.
"For real?" She asked in disbelief. "I need to do that? Yuck…"
"C'mon, Tina. I will give you something good if you agree to this plan after you are done."
"Really? Promise?"
"Yeah. I promise." I nodded my head.
"Then I will try. Don't expect me to succeed, though."
"Don't worry. You will succeed."
As Darkest Secret said, Tina was useful. She had been trained to act and collect information when working under him. So, that job was perfect for her—an Espionage for that guy's movement.
Tina returned her attention to the TV, and I leaned my back against the couch's backrest.
'This will take care of that thing. Next, I will need to train my Magic and increase my Mana.'
A few minutes passed in silence until Chloe entered the living room and said. "Dinner is ready."
***
[09:00 PM]
[Bedroom]
After eating dinner, I went to my bedroom and sat on the chair in front of my study desk. I also changed into a white sweatshirt and black track pants that I often wore to sleep. It was comfortable for me.
Anyway, it was time for me to study Magic, so I pulled the Intermediate Magic Book from my magic bag on my desk and began reading it.
Unlike the Basic Magic Book, the Intermediate Magic Book started with the general knowledge of Mana.
It explained about how Mana was present anywhere in the atmosphere. However, the Mana in the atmosphere couldn't be used for Magic directly. Awakeners needed to use the Mana inside their body to use Magic.
Putting it in simple terms, 'It's like the Mana in the atmosphere is a recharger, while the Awakener's body is a phone. An application couldn't be used with just a recharger. It needed a phone to process it.'
The next page talked about the rank of Awakener's Mana. The Rank of the Awakener's Mana represented the quantity of Mana that they could hold in their bodies. It depended on their skill on how to control those Mana to turn them into Magic.
For example, if two people had the same Rank in their Mana faced each other and used the same Magic such as Fireball, the one with better control over their Mana would be able to create a bigger and hotter Fireball compared to the other one.
Also, on top of quantity, the Rank also represented the weight of an Awakener's Mana. That was why the pressure of Awakener with high-Rank Mana would feel heavy and force someone to be down on their knees.
After reading the first and second pages, I nodded my head, satisfied because it was still the same as the setting I wrote.
I opened the third page, and it was finally the Intermediate Magic introduction. The Magic that was listed as Intermediate Magic was a Magic that could destroy a big boulder. For example, Ice Lance, Fire Lance, Explosion etc. It was combat Magic, to put it bluntly.
The damage it caused was not as big as Advanced Magic, which could destroy a house or two with no problem, but it was useful Magic to use in a narrow space like a cave Dungeon.
The principle of using the Intermediate Magic was similar to the basic one. Just imagine, that was the key. However, the Mana must be condensed before releasing the Intermediate Magic, and the image must be complete.
The system was simple and looked like it was designed by a lazy person, but what I could say, I was the one who designed the Magic System.
I read the Intermediate Magic Book until the last page and remembered most Magic written in the book.
"Next is the Advanced Magic Book."
I picked the Advanced Magic Book next and put the Intermediate one back into my magic bag.
The content of the Advanced Magic Book started with the introduction of the composite attributes of Magic.
"Finally, it's here," I muttered in excitement.
Composite attributes Magic. As its name implied, it was a Magic that combined two or more Attributes into one. There were a few known composite Magic.
For example was Chun Dong, the guy from Memento Mori that visited my house a few weeks ago. His specialty was Ice Magic, the result of the composite attributes between Wind and Water Attributes Mana.
There was also Lightning Attribute, which resulted from Wind and Earth Attributes Mana. Mud from the combination of Water and Earth. Then Metal from the combination of Earth and Fire.
The other composite attributes existed but were not as popular as the one mentioned above.
Putting the unknown composite Attributes aside, Fire and Water Attributes Mana couldn't be combined. In my setting, only those two Attributes couldn't be combined because they greatly opposed each other, unlike the other Attributes.
The best Archer at this time, Atalanta, also used composite attributes of Wind and Fire, which created Tempest. It allowed her arrow to travel fast while leaving a fire trail that burned any enemy in its path, and explode upon impact. That was similar to the effect of my [Arash Bow], but she did all of that with her Magic.
The way to use a composite Attribute Mana was to make a perfect ratio between two Attributes and combine them while condensing them into Magic. The principle was simple, but one needed precise control over their Mana to combine two different Attributes.
"I should train the composite Attribute. Mainly the Fire and Dark composite Attributes to create Hell Flame. A flame which burns anything until the Mana supplied to the flame is cut off."
That would be perfect for a Sharpshooter like me. I could destroy the enemy using the Hell Flame arrow that I could shoot from a distance. But, there was one problem with these composite Attributes.
"The Mana needed to use Hell Flame is ten times that of normal Fire. That's counting the help from [Arash Bow], which has Fire and Dark Attribute and makes it use less Mana than usual. It's insane."
A Demon had an unusually high regeneration rate. They wouldn't die unless they were killed cleanly. Either destroy their heart, which was their core, or behead them cleanly. Demons were tenacious bastards; hence, I wanted to burn them to ash with Hell Flame.
I could kill Demons easily with Light Attribute Mana, which was their weakness, but… My goal was not only killing them but it was to make Zaiden freaked out.
Any composite Attributes involving Light or Dark Attributes Mana usually required more Mana than the other composite Attributes.
The reason why I wanted to get my Mana to C+ Rank was to use Hell Flame to freak Zaiden out. After all…
"Hell Flame or any composite Attribute combined with Dark Attribute Mana are often used by the Witches."
It would give him a wake-up call, and I planned to shoot it from a distance, so he wouldn't be able to see me.
"Well, I will need to go to the Academy tomorrow, so let's get it done with the Advanced Magic Book and sleep. The Master Fire Magic Book needs to wait until tomorrow."