“Woooo…” Caspian let out a breath as he put the piece of paper with the shield spell on it away, he’d read enough of the concept to understand how the spell worked and what he needed to do to cast it.
From what he’d observed it seemed that every spell needed to be have their spell-circle formed in what this world calls the ‘Mental Plane’ something that could only be created while practising a Mage Cultivation Technique.
Caspian took a minute to stretch his muscles after sitting down for so long and look around the tent, two robed figures stood silently next to him as they guarded him from the side, the original eight fledgling students had increased to fourteen including himself but despite this the tent still seemed spacious despite the number of people.
Some of them were talking quietly to each other; this included Eliot and Eliza, Eliot was gleefully speaking to someone that had come in after Caspian while Eliza was quietly reading through a book as she ignored her brother. He finally noticed Killian in a corner of the tent and much like Eliza was reading a book silently, he noticed there was someone else with him however but a hooded robe much like the ones his Demons’ were wearing obscured his view.
Killian flinched when Caspians’ gaze landed on him but he didn’t look up to return the gaze, Caspian shook his head and pulled out the book that Oliver had given to him containing details of Telimus and more importantly the Cultivation Technique for Mages’ he’d wanted to learn.
‘Telimus Guide for Fledgling Students’
The first few hundred pages were filled to the brim with the history and famous students that had graduated from the academy in the past thousand years, he quickly skipped over this without much care as he reached the page, he was most interested in.
‘Basic Mana Circulation Technique’
"My Knight Cultivation won't conflict if I train this, right?" He asked the system, although it'd already basically confirmed this fact before he wanted to be absolutely certain that there wasn't a risk of him dying because he rushed into things like he had with his Artificial Mana Channel.
[The System will help with any conflicts that occur, rest assured]
It confirmed almost instantly, that was all the affirmation Caspian needed before he started reading through the rest of the technique. The first section alone was far different from the Knight Technique as it required him to form a Spell-Circle in his minds eye and have that become his 'Core Spell' which would also be the spell that would become his most powerful in the future.
Caspian didn't really have much of a choice in this matter, he could either wait until he had access to more spells or pick between 'Fireball' and 'Shield' neither of which were particularly powerful however, he didn't have the patience to wait and his mind was quickly made him as he chose shield.
'It's not like I'm lacking in offence, at least I'll have a way to protect myself if I can use shield.' He assured himself of his choice as he slowly began the process. It was fortunate that he'd gathered enough internal mana beforehand so he didn't have to spam dismantle fireballs and bear the confused looks of other students as they tried to figure out what exactly he was trying to do.
Caspian took a deep breath before entering the meditative state and feeling the Mana within him, he watched as his Mana followed the Knight Technique automatically while passively reinforcing his body at the same time. He could feel the same process being down with his organs as they slowly became much stronger and healthier than they had originally been.
'Ready?' He asked, he was about to disrupt his entire cultivation to forcefully carve a path from his Mana Core to his Minds' Eye using the raw force of the Mana but by doing so he'd completely cripple his Knight Cultivation and cripple his own Mana Channels in the process. If things didn't go to plan then he was basically about to kill himself.
[Just begin]
The System was casual, although it wasn't as if he would be able to tell if it wasn't with how emotionless and cold its voice usually was to begin with, but the casual tone didn't do anything to dissuade his worries. But, Caspian didn't hesitate any longer as he carefully guided the Mana to a 'wall' in his body.
"Ugh..." Blood began to well up in his throat as he ripped through the barrier dividing his Mana Core and Channels from his organs and began to force it up through his body, along the way it began to tear through his Mana Channels, demolishing them the moment it came in contact until it finally reached the middle of his forehead and firmly planted itself there.
His body had become a complete wreck as he looked at the Mana that had been circulating in his channels begin to pour out into his internal system uncontrollably. He couldn't even forcefully stop the circulation of the Knight Technique, all he could do is place all of his trust in the System.
[Initiating Merge]
The moment he heard its voice relief washed over him as he watched what the Mages' Called the 'Mana Link' between his Minds' Eye and his Mana Core slowly grow tendrils that began to connect with the broken Mana Channels and integrate themselves as a part of his body. Now that he thought about it this 'Mana Link' looked closely similar to his own Artificial Mana Channel, in fact he noticed when he tried to move Mana through it that it acted the exact same as the Mana Channel he'd created as a replacement.
But that wasn't the end, the System continued as the tendrils didn't only connect to his existing Mana Channels but instead began to engulf them as it took their place in the system, replacing his organics with the energy and improving his overall circulation speed of the Knight Technique by four-fold.
[Merging of Mana Technique and Body Reinforcement Technique Completed]
[D Class Universal Cultivation Technique Created]
The System began to display a new menu that he'd never seen before in front of him.
[Cultivation Technique: D Class Universal Technique (Unnamed) 1st Stage (Incomplete)]
[Host please continue as stated]
Caspian was stunned for a moment but quickly gathered himself and directed his attention to the newly formed Minds' Eye that was greedily absorbing the Mana being provided to it. With just a thought a the spell structure for the Shield Spell began to appear in his mind, a complex structure of circles and symbols began to intertwine as they merged together almost seamlessly to complete the spell in his mind.
Ten minutes passed as he drew the spell slowly as he recalled the details bit by bit in his mind until the final symbol was in place and the Spell-Circle glowed silver before stabilising itself at the centre of his Mana Link.
[Spell-Circle Formed]
[Spell Body Integration: 0.01%]
'Spell Body Integration?'
[Due to the merging of techniques it's possible for the Host to form a 'Spell Body' which allows for the instant casting of whatever spell was used as the 'Core' upon completion. Integration may be sped up by using the spell repeatedly which increases compatibility between the spell and the body]
