Chapter 244: Solid Flames
Alex closed his eyes for a moment as he absorbed the information he had received about the Mana Sphere Spell. It was enlightening, giving him details about the spell that would have taken him days or even weeks to discover through his own experiments.
Alex started using the Mana Sphere Spell. A sphere of mana formed around him before expanding outward, and the process was much smoother than his previous attempt, with the sphere remaining intact even as it moved farther away from him. It eventually began to weaken after reaching a considerable distance, but Alex was satisfied with the result.
’With this, monsters should have a much harder time sneaking up on me.’
There was still one problem he needed to solve. The mana inside the sphere was too dense, which meant that sensitive monsters might notice the spell. If Alex couldn’t reduce its density while maintaining its sensing ability, then the Mana Sphere would end up functioning more like a Mana Taunt Spell, which could be useful in some situations but potentially lethal in others.
Alex adjusted a few things and experimented with the density of the mana. He carefully reduced the amount of mana in different parts of the sphere while using his Will to maintain its structure, and after several attempts, a notification suddenly appeared in his mind.
[Mana Sphere Spell has leveled up. Level 1 → Level 2.]
’Nice!’
Alex continued adjusting the spell so he could train it further. While doing so, he looked at the notification again and suddenly noticed something that had previously escaped his attention. The spell was called Mana Sphere Spell, not Mana Sphere Sense Spell, and although the distinction might not be important, it was still noticeable to him.
He also remembered his Mana Thread Spell. Despite being called Mana Thread, the spell could be used to cut things, which made Alex wonder if there was a deeper reason behind the names.
’Maybe two people can have the same spell, but their spells can work differently depending on how they learned them.’
Alex filed the thought away for now because it wasn’t particularly important. It was simply an interesting possibility that he might investigate later if he ever got the chance.
He looked toward his teammates and saw Yulia talking with Petra, trying to make sure that the little girl was okay. Although Petra’s injuries had already been healed, she had come extremely close to death, and Alex suspected that the experience might leave a mental scar even after her body had recovered.
Surprisingly, Petra seemed to be handling the situation better than Alex had expected. She was quieter than usual, but she could still talk with Yulia normally, which once again supported Alex’s theory that the Pioneers summoned to the Land of Origin were people who could adapt to the changes in their world faster than most people.
Since they still had some time, Alex decided to finish something he had been planning for a while. He wanted to create a defensive spell, something he had been thinking about ever since he fought the Wild Orcs.
Back then, he had nearly died after taking a single attack directly to his body. Reinforcing his body with mana increased his durability, but that increase came from strengthening every aspect of his body, including his muscles, bones, organs, and other parts.
Instead of reinforcing his entire body, Alex believed it would be better to create a shield made entirely from mana. A shield could focus its strength on durability alone, which should allow it to withstand attacks more efficiently than simply reinforcing his body. Of course, he would still reinforce his body. He had enough mana to do everything at once.
Anyway, he hadn’t had enough time to properly develop a shield spell before. He had tried working on it once, but Kraken had attacked before he could make any real progress, forcing him to abandon the experiment.
Now, however, they were preparing to fight the Boss Monster of a Mid-rank Species dungeon. Alex didn’t know how strong the Boss would be, so having another defensive option could be extremely useful.
Alex took a deep breath and began using the Fire-Mana Weaving Spell. He created two ordinary mana threads and one Fire Element Mana thread before weaving them together into a single structure.
Since he was using the improved Fire Element Mana Rune, the process was much easier and smoother than before. This time, however, Alex didn’t compress the threads to their limits because doing so would create another problem.
With his current stats and mana control, Alex could create eight threads while compressing them to the limit. Eight threads obviously weren’t enough to create a proper shield, and even if his mana control improved, that wouldn’t solve the problem because he would simply be able to compress the same amount of mana further.
He needed to create more threads instead.
Alex decided on a different approach. He first created a Fire-Mana cable made from two ordinary mana threads and one Fire Element Mana thread, then compressed the cable to a reasonable level instead of pushing it to its limit.
After creating the first cable, he continued making more of them. Since he wasn’t compressing the threads as much as possible, he could create twelve cables without much difficulty, which was a significant improvement compared to the five mana threads he had struggled to control in the past.
Twelve cables.
Alex couldn’t help but feel satisfied with the number. Evolving his Class had given him a major boost, and his improved stats and mana control were allowing him to create structures that would have been impossible for him before.
He arranged the Fire-Mana cables side by side, forming something that looked similar to a sheet of paper. Naturally, the sheet wasn’t strong enough to defend against a serious attack because the cables were not dense enough and any attack would pass through while being inflicted with burn damage.
Alex used his Will to change that.
The mana hardened as the connections stabilized, and the sheet gradually became a proper shield. He then carefully melded the cables together, making the individual pieces to behave more like a single object.
Alex examined it for a moment before creating a Mana Bullet. He fired the projectile at the shield, and the Mana Bullet struck the center with considerable force, causing the entire structure to shake.
The shield held.
Alex looked at the result with a slight smile. The spell was clearly effective, and the woven mana structure made the shield much harder than a simple layer of mana would have been.
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