Chapter 163: Mana conversion
Percy had decided to look for a mana conversion spell as an alternative solution to his problem.
He needed a lot of soul mana to lure the mysterious entities from much further away, and he only had two possible sources to tap into – his own recovery, and Micky’s ability to devour souls. He was already planning to bolster the latter using the preservation rune he’d recently bought, but he was hoping to improve upon the former too.
While he could regenerate soul mana very rapidly using Synchronization, it also led to a lot of wasted pure mana that he didn’t know what to do with. If he could find a way to convert some of that into soul mana, it would give him yet another potent source he could rely on.
‘And there’s no better place to browse for the right spell than the Vault.’ he grinned.
Strictly speaking, mana conversion wasn’t some esoteric art – it was something all living beings passively did with every breath.
After all, ambient mana was a mixture of many different affinities. This meant that only a fraction could be taken in directly. Of course, this fraction was the most significant by far, as it could be absorbed without losses. This was why a mage’s recovery greatly depended on their environment. For example, a water user would struggle to refill their core in a desert, but they’d have a much easier time doing so in the middle of the ocean.
However, that didn’t mean the rest of the ambient mana was useless. Among their many functions, mana cores could also convert other mana types into their own – albeit at an abysmal rate. That said, some conversions were easier than others, and there were also two very special cases:
The beast affinity, and the pure affinity.
Beasts could be considered “universal recipients” to an extent, because they could convert other affinities to their own more efficiently. This was, in fact, what they owed their ridiculous advancement speed to. Of course, it wasn’t smooth sailing for them either. Ambient mana didn’t contain the beast affinity, so they only had their higher conversion rate to rely on. This was why they still struggled to regenerate mana the conventional way, having to keep devouring cores instead. It was also why Micky’s version of Circulation gnawed at his body, draining his stamina.