Spell Weaver [Book 2 Complete]

Alex grabbed the tablet Edwin had brought him with the anatomy textbook, moved around his desk, and thought about his idea. Both [Mirage] and [Parallel Mind] were at the brink of advancement, and he’d been planning ways to push the former to evolve into a clone variation skill.

Things had gone well so far. So well that Maelis was almost certain Alex would get something when the skill hit the last level. Theoretically, all he needed to do was keep pushing the skill as he had been, with the shell and mana stone dust, and he should get offered some sort of illusion skill with physicality.

Truthfully, though, that wasn’t enough for him.

Alex sat on the floor in front of his desk, on a plush new rug, with legs crossed. He rested his back against the desk after getting himself situated with the tablet in his lap. He pulled a pouch full of mana stone dust from his bracer and set it in front of himself while thinking through the idea he’d had last week.

“It should only take one…” he said to hype himself up.

He allowed the threads of mana to spill out from his fingers at the same time that he activated [Mirage]. His still image appeared seated across from him, eyes closed and legs crossed.

The illusion had been working well over the last several months, and, aside from its lack of physicality, it had very few downsides. He felt that there were even more aspects of the combination that he could explore if he really wanted to.

But, more than anything, Alex wanted the mirage of himself to turn into a clone of himself. He wanted that physicality, that ability to interact with objects and pass for a realistic version of himself. One that wouldn’t shatter from a stiff breeze or a passing shoulder.

While holding his intention firm, he carefully ran each thread through the magical dust at his feet before using them to form a shell around the still image. The next two hours of concentration and tedious construction of a flawless solid skin for the mirage, getting as detailed as its ears and each finger web and joint.

Something about the hands felt particularly important to Alex, and he knew that while this was more care than he normally put into forming the shell, it was the next step and intention that would push the skill to the final level of the tier.

He used a full D Rank mana stone to funnel the necessary mana into the task. Taking a deep breath once finished, he made sure to keep the mental desire for physical quality adaptation.

Not taking his eyes from his likeness, he removed a dagger from his ring and drew it across his left palm before stowing it away. He allowed new threads to form from the left hand and slide through the blood, rather than the mana stone dust. Taking twice as long as the previous step, he painstakingly used the threads to form the outline of a heart in its chest, and followed up with a myriad of veins. He focused first on the major arteries and then added as much detail as possible.

The entire process was extremely tedious and required all of his attention to maintain the intent, many threads, and focus on adding more. By the end of it, his Spectral Eye could see so many lines of mana overlapping and intertwined that it looked like a tangled mess.

Is it too much?

A bit of doubt crossed his mind as he looked at the finished product, worried that it was too detailed or that he’d gone overboard.

Alex recentered himself and redoubled his intent. The detail was part of who he was. The evolved skill would also need to be a part of who he was. Something about that thought clicked to him, and he focused on that thought and desire with as much of his mental power as he could as he activated the skill.

A huge smile broke out across his face as he read the window that appeared.