千鬼道流対魔法剣術
With my safety secured by the hut I had built beside the Sacred Tree, I am able to take that much awaited rest.
When I have a habit of reading books before going to sleep, well in the previous world they are usually in a form of light novels or mangas, there were even times when I find that there is no work the next day I would watch a lot of anime. Unfortunately there are none of those here at present so it could not help it. Right now I am reading a few books in a form of Lunamaia-sensei’s Magic Notes. I currently have taken four of these magic notes and stashed them in ‘The CABINET’.
Although I say I just took four, they were thick as the logs used as foundation for this hut. I have been reading since I started my training even back in the deck of Grimoire Atelier and yet I am not even halfway through. As I lie on my side while reading few chapters to tire my eyes out, a certain chapter in the book made me sit and fully awake:
‘MANA Crystals are crystalized MANA that can be considered a concentration of the elements in the surrounding area.’
‘There are two types of MANA Crystals: first is the Gathering MANA Crystal, just like how it sounds, it is a type of MANA Crystal that gathers the elements in the surroundings and crystalize. The second is Conversion MANA Crystal which converts the highly concentration of elements into its opposing element. While rare, they are somehow abundant inside old untouched dungeons.’
‘It is for this type of crystal that I had created my previously stated MANA CONVERSION magic, since it was tiresome to go to dungeons just to convert mana to its opposite elements, what a pain’
Just to be expected for a genius, she just deliberately called collecting MANA Crystals a pain so she invented a new magic. They did say that laziness is the mother of all invention, I guess for her it was creating new magic. Although, I have been saved by constantly using the MANA Conversion skill I think that having MANA Crystals might be a plus for me while in this UNDEAD zone. Okay, let’s make tomorrow Farming Day.
*****
After a night of rest, my body was lighter and more energetic, while part of it was because of the well-deserved rest. Most of it was also due to the new discovery I had learned last night. Today I will be on the search and farming of MANA Crystal.
Lunamaia-sensei’s Notes said that they are abundant in dungeons. When I first entered this dungeon, they were indeed there just glowing on the walls. It was not that I had forgotten about them, I was in fact very perceptive about their location, and was deliberately avoided them because they are dangerous to me, after all they are accumulation of MANA and one wrong move and will be my demise.
I took out a pickaxe tool I had forge beforehand from ‘The CABINET’ and started to slowly farm some MANA Crystal. Using some ragged clothes worn by some of the UNDEAD, I sew a simple handy bag to carry a few of these crystals, since I did not necessarily need to carry a lot of the Gathering Crystal I left them in an area so that they will be teleported to Girm-chan after minutes.
The ones I really want are the Conversion MANA Crystals, specifically the ones who have turned into Holy MANA Crystals. With this I don’t have to use MANA CONVERSION Magic every time I want to use my HAMA or BANISHING Skills.
That is quite a relief.
*****
After three days I had collected a fair amount of both Crystals, and also checked if they will indeed work as replacement for my MANA CONVERSION Magic. Thankfully they pretty much did and so much more.
Since these crystals are condensed MANA Affinities I could use an inch size crystal 25 times before they lose their contents and eventually break and turn to dust. Of course that number is only the bare minimum requirement to for a HAMA no YA, but for the BANISHING LIGHT Skill, that same inch size can only be used for 10 times.
The HAMA no YA only needs to coat the arrowhead part so it only needs so little, but if I use it other than just the arrowhead, say for example coating the whole bladed part of a short sword it will also increase the needed amount of MANA, much more for the BANISHING LIGHT Skill which is a 3 meter wide skill. That is why I have made sure to farm a lot of these crystals before completely going back to battling those wraiths.
But collecting MANA Crystal was just a sudden but positive whim I had undertaken. My greatest problem against the WRAITHs was never solved by these crystals. I did not have any trouble against MANA CONVERSION Magic from the beginning, sure they chip a few of my LIFE FORCE, but it was not fatal if I just make sure to calculate my MANA expenditure and will not die because of it, although I will not dismiss this fortunate coincidence.
Now I really need to find a way to fight with the WRAITHS, but since I have nothing yet in my mind I had resorted to this almost endless farming, like stress eating only I am not eating but farming –right Stress Farming. Although I wanted to consult with Lunamaia-sensei’s Notes, as she is an adept –no a genius spellcaster I would assume most of her solution is magic based, which I am for sad words unable to do.
Stressed with the lack of other options, I continued to farm more crystals. My body just acted automatically as soon as I finish farming in one area, I go to another. I wonder if the whole area would loss its MANA Crystals reservoir soon if I don’t find a solution to my problem.
*****
Eventually while my stress farming continued, and while on such activity, a sudden epiphany struck me: MANA and KI are equal and opposing energies. Yet I have not found any KI Crystals on this caves or anything similar to that effect.
By watching farming and watching these crystals that are accumulation of MANA I was able to envision a skill that would be a good anti-magic skill and will help me fight with WRAITHs or other magic casting opponents. I speed back to the SCARED Tree to try out this new discovery.
I put my right head into it: MANA gets accumulated and condensed in these specialized crystals because they attract it. Then they grow to a considerable size over time that is the true meaning of their abundance. Dungeons are an accumulation of MANA therefore it was easy for crystals like these grow in a rampant.
Could I use that the same concept for KI which directly oppose MANA, something like an accumulation and crystallization of KI and render MANA related attacks such as magic ineffective against me.
When I first started training in that beach a few months back, I first became aware with KI the same day I mastered the skill known as KENKI, It was not harmful unlike when using magic and so I readily accepted it without questioning where or how I got it. Now it was going to be my saving grace against my natural enemy –SPELLCASTERS.
Well it is not really a new discovery after all this answer was there all along with me. Now, I just need to get the feel of this KI in a practical sense.
To maximize in sensing these so called KI, I sit in a yoga position, I took in long regulated breathes and closed my eyes. After getting to the point of being in a trance, I then look inside my heightened senses to search inside my body to the basic anatomy level.
It was a bit surreal that I was even able to see inside my body like this. I did yoga sessions in the previous world but I’ve never had this kind of out of the body experience much less than an inside the body experience. But let’s forget about that for now and focus on what’s at hand.
I could see my inside it was how the images I once learned in anatomy class showed. Well except for one strange organ that was seemingly present that I was not familiar with it was placed slightly above the heart, this must be a-this-world-only organ, the MANA Reservoir.
According to Lunamaia-sensei’s Notes all creature living and even the UNDEAD have this, and they are conveniently coined as MAGIC CORE for monsters. Well mine seems to be broken as I could see some huge crack on it that must be the reason for the MIS.
Since there is no way for me to repair it lets leave it for now. I was looking for another energy highway which was standing opposite to the MANA Reservoir this must be the KI. Indeed, MANA and KI oppose each other, but for some reason they are harmoniously coexisting inside my body, like the concept of YIN and YANG.
After doing this training for quite some time, I was able to somehow get a gist of how to create a skill to oppose MANA attacks. I then envisioned type of mountain of defense the first to come into my mind is the KENZAN Skill, which had helped me escape the WRAITHs, by using that skill a needle of earth would protrude and altering the area, but this time instead of growing hardened soil, I will be using the lumps of KI and hardened them into crystals like the MANA Crystals. And the images where so concrete that…
Capta~in you’ve developed an Anti-Magic Sword Skill: Crystal Barrier
For some reason I had envisioned Grim-chan’s telepathic message tears of awe as the crystals formed from this new obtained skill were beautiful like a solidified rainbow. It feels like it had chipped a larg amount of my LIFE FORCE though I feel that the price is too steep I should consider a smaller barrier would have a smaller value… I hope.
With that thinking I then went to experiment a bit more, but it was not going too well. I thought that I just needed to make the barrier small smaller but apparently big chip in my LIFE FORCE is due to its low level proficiency, that means that I need to get lower the cost if I use it constantly.
My LIFE FORCE does not recuperate by eating alone I need to sleep and a complete rest at that. I am not sure if there are any potions that would recover me from that instantly, and even if there exist one I have nothing like those with me so there is no helping it.
*sigh
I sighed loudly. If this is how it will be I can only use it once per day or a huge chip will deal an amount on me which could be fatal. I might as well tell the WRAITHs to take my life afterwards… with the problem still there… I was in a bit of stressed.
When stressed you… continue farming.
*****
And that is what I did, farmed for more MANA Crystal. This was now my 6th day staying in the 37th floor the longest I have stayed in one floor, but what else can I do.
While chipping subconsciously at the MANA Crystal, my head just felt refresh, I guess doing mindless things sometimes get the right results, I mean the answer still lay with the Crystals, it had been accumulating MANA not from within them but from the surroundings, in fact I have already tried this with my MATOIKENJUTSU Skills, only this time instead of gathering MANA, I will just gather the KI around me.
In the other side a college friend once told me what he learned from some networking business, ‘Money is really just there, if it is not in your pocket then it is in someone else’s. So the real struggle is not to find money, instead make an effort to transfer the money from another’s pocket to mine.
Thank you college friend, I am sorry that I have partial amnesia and unable to remember your name but I have remembered you teaching.
So in that analogy, I don’t really have to worry about MANA or KI, they are already around me, so my greatest task would be how to gather those KI around me and exploit it for my own uses.
So without any further ado, I went for a special training. And was met with great success –no it was even beyond it since both were harmoniously coexisting I was able to get a good feel for MANA, I had tried it at once against the NECRO MAGES.
When they cast magic, a disruption in MANA around would be emitted and the darkness attribute gathers around the NECRO MAGE now I only have to find the right timing to evade. But since I was training my skill I do not evade and instead gather KI on my surroundings and invoke my own skill.
Techniques of a Thousand Demons’ Ways – Anti-Magic Sword Skill: Crystal Barrier
After invoking the skill a congratulatory telepathic message came through from Grim-chan. ‘Success Captain! Good job!’
Not a chip in my LIFE FORCE, The magic hurled towards me did not even place a chip on the barrier –The skill had created a beautiful crystal barrier that can withstand magic and the fact that not a single chip in my LIFE FORCE upon the creation of this barrier.
I succeeded. Now unto the real thing, let round two begin against the 3 WRAITHS.
