Rugrat let out a breath and he opened his eyes. He used a Clean spell to remove the sweat from his face.
“Mist Mana Core,” A faint sliver of a smile appeared on his face. “I reinforced it a bit it shouldn’t be long until I can reach Drop Mana Core. It’s still slow though.” He looked at his stomach, glaring at the mana core inside. “Who asked you to be so damn gluttonous?”
It didn’t answer as Rugrat stretched out and fell back, getting out the kinks in his muscles from sitting so long.
He looked up at the ceiling, the lights of cornerstones and growing mana stones dancing above him.
Rugrat sighed to himself as he looked at the mana gathering formation around him. He looked over to the Vuzgal dungeon core that had been supplying him with the necessary mana.
Rugrat pushed himself up. Instead of feeling excited, he felt defeated. “Come on, dude. You’re progressing quickly, after just a week of being here and concentrating on just increasing your cultivation.” Rugrat’s shoulders slumped as he headed for the exit.
Still, I can’t lie to myself. I haven’t made any progress in my smithing this entire time. My progress with formations is slow. I was never good with technology and figuring out how they work. I’m better dealing with things like nature. I can kill an animal, clean it, cook it, eat it. Teach someone to fire a rifle, scout a position. Physical stuff. Sure, shooting long distance is a lot of numbers—distance, drop, temperature—but it all makes sense. It just works in my brain.
Rugrat headed up just as Matt was heading down.
“Hey dude!” Matt said. He had been working in Vuzgal for a while now, commanding all of the building projects that were going on and establishing the blueprint office in Vuzgal. With so many crafters wanting to record down their items or to get blueprints the blue print office’s grounds was one of the busiest in all of Vuzgal.
“Hey.” Rugrat, not feeling like he wanted to talk, kept on walking.
“Do you want to grab a beer?” Matt asked.
“Not really feeling a bar,” Rugrat said.
“Like up at the top,” Matt said.
“The top?” Rugrat looked at Matt, who pointed upward.
Rugrat looked up through the pillar, seeing the changing sky.
“Sweet! I’ll just put these into the dungeon—new plans for underground Battle Arena training rooms. They’re expanding like mad over there. Also plans for the new defensive networks.” Matt jumped down the stairs and put the blueprints into the dungeon core and then placed everything away and headed up to Rugrat.
Rugrat still felt defeated as he started to walk up the pillar.
“You okay, man?” Matt asked. The two of them walked up the spiraling steps inside the pillar toward the top.
“Just, you know, feel like I’m not going anywhere.”
“Not going anywhere?”
“Like I started to work on formations, hoping that they would help increase my smithing skill. I have made progress with formations but it’s just slow and I haven’t figured out anything new for smithing.”
“Maybe you’re trying to focus on smithing too much?” Matt asked.
“It’s my skill, though.”
“It’s one of your skills. Someone told me that you should only focus on one thing at a time, and put all your effort into that one thing.”
“I am putting all of my effort into improving my smithing,” Rugrat said, confused.
“That’s it. When you’re working on your formations, just work on formations. Else it’s like trying to learn electrical wiring to figure out how to make a house’s foundations. Every time you learn a little thing about electrical engineering, you’ll go overboard trying to apply it to foundations. If you learn all of electrical engineering and about a house’s foundations and compare notes afterward, it will be easier,” Matt said.
“Just focus on formations.” Rugrat felt a bit easier not having to worry about the formations and engineering. Though he really wanted to learn both at the same time. Smithing and formations went hand in hand with each other. I want to make weapons from the ground up, from the base materials through the forging and the formations.
“You seem really convinced.” Matt smiled, seeing through Rugrat.
Rugrat wanted to rebut him and say that he understood it and would take the advice.
“What do you think is better: learning all about how to fight and then learning tactics, or learn tactics and then how to fight?”
“If I learned tactics and then how to fight, it would be harder. You need to build, learn your weapon, learn how to move, then learn how you slot into a plan. That way your foundational movements and attacks don’t need to be figured out. Movement and fighting can be made instinctual. Tactics is a higher level,” Rugrat said.
“So you would learn to fight and then tactics. So why not learn how to create formations. Then, once you have reached the peak of that, you try to see how you can adapt formations and smithing to each other.”
“That makes some sense,” Rugrat said. “Still, it feels as if I’m losing because I’m not progressing.”
“Sometimes a change is better than a break and sometimes working on something laterally will increase your progress with both,” Matt said.
“Sounds complicated.” Rugrat grinned.
“Don’t it?” Matt agreed with a self-deprecating smile as he nodded.
Rugrat let out a laugh.
“Look, I know I won’t be the most powerful person in Alva, Vuzgal, or whatever. I know for you and Erik getting stronger, showing progress is like a drug to you. We each have our own path to follow. Has your life ever followed an exact plan? Or did it take twists and turns?”
Rugrat fell quiet.
“We each got a path to follow—sometimes there might be dead ends,” Matt said.
“It’s just, with smithing I can get it—you know, add in this, heat this up, form into a shape and then you have something.” Rugrat moved his hands with his words before offering them to Matt.
“Yeah.”
“Now, with these formations, it’s like a computer. I know how to use a computer. Do I know how it works? Hell, no. I plug that thing in, switch it on, and then use a mouse and keyboard. I know that there are graphics cards, fans, a CPU and that in there, but how does it take electricity and turn it into music, video, words?” Rugrat grimaced and shook his head.
“So, mana is like electricity and then you’re trying to figure out how to turn it into something useful?” Matt asked. “This is a long damn walk.”
“Well, it is the tallest place in all of Vuzgal. Yeah, like knowing computers—it’s all complicated and twisted.”
“From what I know about formations, I think that you might be overthinking it,” Matt said.
“What do you mean?” Rugrat asked.
“Mana is a power source, yes, but I think it’s more alive than you give it credit for.”
Rugrat clicked his tongue and paused before responding. He used his Mana Vision to look around him. He saw the mana drawn into the pillar by the mana gathering formations, the intermixed different attribute mana as it settled on the floor of the pillar and passed through it. He knew that the mana was purified and then turned into mana stones.
They continued walking, with the two of them not saying anything. They reached the top, looking over Vuzgal as the sun went down.
Matt opened a beer and passed it to Rugrat.
“Thanks,” Rugrat said, his voice distant. “Maybe mana isn’t just like electricity.”
He felt as if he were on the precipice of something important. He looked at his hand, seeing the mana moving through it. The natural way it moved through his body.
“Maybe it’s like water, like the creek on Jefferies Farm—just needs the right path to follow so it don’t get blocked up.”
“Jefferies Farm?” Matt asked as he drank his beer.
“A place close to where I grew up. They had this creek, would overflow every year. Was nasty as hell. It was all blocked up. We got the idea to stick one of those hydroelectric generators where the blockage was, then we opened up the creek; when it rained, then the generator would create power. You know, hydroelectric is like that.”
“Like what? I feel like you’re half thinking through what you’re saying.”
“Hydroelectric turns the power of nature into electricity.”
“Yeah, don’t have to tell me. I lived in Canada—water all around. Even turned Niagara Falls into a hydroelectric generator station.”
“You ever see it?” Rugrat asked.
“See what? The generator station?”
“Nah, the falls—Niagara Falls.”
“Yeah.” Matt grinned. “You can feel the water turned mist from hundreds of meters away, just the roar of it. It looks so cool. The best is when it’s winter. Everything gets covered in ice and then the lights play on it, lighting it up. You just need to take a moment, you know? Just look at it and you can feel that roar in your chest if you pay attention. Nature might not be the fastest thing, but it’s the most powerful force in the world.”
Matt sipped from his beer.
“You miss it?” Rugrat asked.
“Sure, I miss the people, miss video games and TV. Don’t miss the taxes though, and being here comes with its benefits.”
Matt summoned one of his beasts. A turtle-looking creature appeared. “This is Leonardo.” Matt grinned.
Rugrat snorted as George padded over, tapping on Leonardo’s shell, examining him.
“Do you?” Matt asked.
“What? Miss it? I miss my mom, my sister, but I feel like I belong here more than I did there.”
“I can see that.” Matt nodded.
They sat there quietly and Matt let out a snicker.
“It’s strange. We’re rushing around doing so much right now, but to butcher a good quote: it’s not insane to think that with the medical professions and concoctions in the realms that we could live for two, even three hundred years!”
Rugrat let out a laugh and leaned back on his elbows. “Two or three hundred years—sounds like a long damn time.”
“Ten lifetimes.” Matt raised his beer in agreement.
Leonardo snapped at George, making him jump back, startled.
“Stop messing with Leonardo.” Rugrat waved George over as the flames that had started to appear around him dimmed down.
Leonardo seemed pleased as he laid down, tucking his limbs in as he let Matt scratch his neck.
“Maybe it’s like water, krill, and plankton as one. The attributes are the krill and plankton, in the water, or mana. The dungeon core and different items in the Ten Realms consume that plankton and krill, removing them from the water or changing them into a different byproduct. Like air back home and a dungeon core is the air filter.”
“Or maybe you’re overthinking it?” Matt said.
“Overthinking it?”
“When I use magic, I just use it and I get to know it more. Then it becomes like a secondary response. Talking and writing is something that we learned but now we use it every day. Maybe magic is just a different way to communicate?”
***
Erik sat in front of a cauldron as it started to shake and tremble.
Erik’s forehead was covered in sweat as he watched the different ingredients reacting with one another, turning the inside into a chaotic mess.
Erik lost control and a thick, turbid, black smoke appeared in the workshop, filling his nostrils. He coughed and spluttered. He started up a formation that would draw the smoke out of the room. He leaned over the cauldron and took a deep breath. He coughed some more as he used his Reverse Alchemist ability to try to understand what had happened in the concoction.
“It’s not a simple pill to make.” Erik ran his hand through his hair.
“Everyone wants a pill or something to heal their ailments in one go. If you were wounded on Earth, then you would need to get treated for the wound. Then there might be follow-up operations, then they needed to rest up, and then there is rehab so if the change is big the person can adapt to it. There wasn’t one pill but a series of medications, maybe a change to a person’s diet and their routine.”
Erik frowned as he pulled out his notes on the recluse.
“Making a pill might be too hard. But a treatment plan? I talked about using different parts to heal the body…can’t I do that for him? I’ve been so focused on increasing my Alchemy, but what if I can get the same effects through different means?”
Erik studied the sheet without really seeing it.
“Could I use that to increase my cultivation? Not one pill or concoction to bust through, just slowly over time. I used a pill, a blade, and the floor to temper my body with flames. So what if it takes longer? If I can get the Earth attribute to permeate my entire body—wait a minute.”
Erik turned his thoughts inward, to the power of Fire within his body. He opened his hands and flames appeared around his hand. He stood and closed his hand. His hand glowed with a red power as embers seemed to appear around it.
He struck out with his fist. Sparks scattered into the air. He did it a few more times before he shot a fireball from his fist.
“I’m such an idiot,” Erik said as he executed Illusionary Unhallowed Strike.
Now his fists were imbued with the power of flames, increasing his striking power.
“I was so wrapped up with other things. I was following other people’s paths and not mine. I wonder if I can use these flames instead of my spell flames? Can I use it in combination with the flame technique that Old Hei taught me?”
Erik’s head hurt as two sets of knowledge, history, and abilities were forcefully merged into one.
Erik waved his hand. A Fire tiger appeared on his arm and walked up his shoulder.
A spurt of water came from the other side of the room, striking the tiger. Gilly gave an unimpressed look.
Erik laughed as a flaming turtle appeared in front of him. He seemed to be made of a red crystal with a blue flame that could be seen burning within him. Embers flowed together and spun into the form of a dragon that wove around Erik’s shoulders and down his arm, charging the larger turtle. The turtle opened his mouth and the dragon passed through. It was formed of embers and fire, circling the turtle’s blue flame.
“The mana drain is really high, but I can just maintain it with my Mana Regeneration. Though my control is much higher than it was. If I could have the two of them within the cauldron…”
Erik’s mind was filled with more ideas.
“With the skill book, my spell book, and my arts combining together, I must be close to making my own technique. I feel like I am missing something still.” Erik frowned before he dismissed the flames.
“Time to see if there is an Earth-attribute weapon for sale, or if I can get someone to make one.”
***
“You want me to make you an Earth-attribute weapon so that you can stab yourself?” Taran asked.
“Pretty much.” Erik nodded.
Taran opened and closed his mouth, then shrugged. “Okay. I can make the weapon. I’ll talk to some of the people with the Formation Guild.”
“I’m going to be at the library. I need to research Earth-based poisons. Egbert!” Erik yelled into the air as he was walking.
“What?” Egbert yelled back through the air.
“Is the Earth floor done yet?”
“It’s filled with Fire-attribute mana still. Poisonous to others. The air is cleaner. Little Davin has secured the Wood floor. It is just taking us a lot of time to fix the formations. Stop eating rocks!” Egbert collected himself. “The roots went through the formation. It is a mess.”
“Just has Fire-attribute toxins, right?” Erik looked down at his hand as it glowed with power.
“Yes. Why are you using Fire mana within your body? Do you know how? Oh yeah, you tempered your body.”
“I’m going to the library and then I’ll be down in a bit.” Erik headed into the library. I’ll check out all of my options and then combine them together to temper my body and reach Body Like Diamond.
Erik was filled with energy again as he saw a way forward.