Sitting in front of the Ashenflare flower, I was stuck on level thirteen. The challenge had changed styles again, and it was now having me work on my efficiency. Before, I had just guzzled Mana to solve several problems, but now the battery had a set amount inside of it, and the moment it ran out, the challenge would reset. I found that going through each puzzle and optimizing my solutions helped me figure out how to do that. I'd already found two ways to reduce Mana usage. The first way was to clean up my output method, and the second was to vary the flow rate. Some of the puzzles had prebuilt artifacts I had to interface with, so I was mostly copying the way they did things. I assume this ring was supposed to be used alongside a course of some kind where you learned how all this worked
I varied the flow so that I could use exactly the amount needed with no excess by using detectors attached to flow gates designed for that purpose. Detecting Mana was incredibly inexpensive when you had direct contact with the source, and trying to detect it over a distance wasn't so bad, either.
In fact, I was already working on upgrading my eyes with Mana detectors. I just had to figure out how to interface with the prebuilt circuits that allowed my eyes to work. The little things were fucking complicated, but I was pretty sure I could figure it out before the end of the day by just brute forcing the solution. The visual data from my eyes were being filtered in some way before being sent to my Core, so the simplest solution would just be to hook up the extra circuits to the filter and hope that it can somehow process the data without fucking up the rest of my vision.
If that doesn't work, I might be able to toggle between the two somehow. I knew my [Regrowth] Skill could save templates of my form due to System knowledge being shoved into my Core, so I really only had to get it to work once, and I'd be good. I was looking forward to being able to shift forms on the fly, but that was a future endeavour. I definitely don't have the Mana capacity or flow rate to do that right now.The main issue with level thirteen was that breaking down Mana into its component parts was an expensive process. I lost over half the battery just from breaking Steam Mana into Fire and Water, and I couldn't figure out how to fix that part of the process. I wished I could attend a 101 course on this stuff. At least watching the pretty flower grow is nice. Oh, that's how I could do it!
I took all my attention away from the puzzle to study how the Ashenflare broke apart Ash Mana because despite consuming it at an incredible rate, it was also somehow very efficient in the process. Less than a minute later, I had my solution. When Mana is broken into components, it creates a bunch of waste aspects that I didn't need but ended up in the final output anyway. Instead of just allowing those aspects to continue onwards, filtering them out and running them back through the Rune that was splitting them into components again would sometimes result in getting the kinds of Mana I was looking for. Having this process in a loop would basically process all of the Mana into one of the aspects I wanted. The filter also had the benefit of giving me an output of far purer Mana, which worked a lot better when it reached the output requiring less Mana to get the job done.
I picked a few more Ashenflare leaves and stored all but one in my Inventory. With the remaining leaf in hand, I attempted to use [Regrowth] to form a small root around it. When the root burst into flames mid-formation, I quickly revised my approach. Instead of growing the root in the open, I sealed it within a sphere, allowing the fire to starve before continuing the process.
Once the root stabilized, I built a circuit inside it to convert Ash Mana into Fire, Earth, and Nature Mana. Using Nature Mana, the circuit would construct a wooden ball packed with hardened obsidian shards. To enhance Fire Mana conductivity, I had the root inject fine circuits made from the Ashenflare leaf into the ball's interior.
Next, I added several Mana injectors, each designed to store Fire Mana in parts of the leaf material within the ball. These injectors were programmed to release Fire Mana into a material incapable of holding such high-density energy, triggering the circuit to fail explosively on a five-second timer.Once completed, I activated the stake, jammed it into the ground and watched it get to action. Thirty seconds later, I had a wooden ball that I could activate with [Arcane Interface]. It even gave me a description of the abomination I put together.[Firebloom Grenade]A fragmentation grenade created using mostly biological material. The grenade activates five seconds after receiving a signal.
It's a rather simple description, but it's a simple creation. It does what it says on the tin.
Activating the grenade, I threw it as hard as I could toward Kharathyx because fuck that dude. I realized after the grenade left my hand that I hadn't thought it through fully. I couldn't actually see that far, given the ashfall was still reducing my visibility to the point the ball disappeared right after I threw it. Five seconds later, I changed my mind as a massive fireball erupted in front of me, and a couple of the obsidian shards pierced my bark skin, burying a couple of inches deep into my shell. I’m glad I encased my Core in wood as a precautionary measure. I wouldn't want any shards embedding themselves inside my important bits.
I spent a while creating more roots and embedding them in the ground, eventually making a bundle of ten grenades. I also dropped a root into my Inventory just to see what my Core thought about it.
[Firebloom Root]A handcrafted biological construct designed to convert Ash Mana into elemental components to be then converted into a construct. When properly nourished, it grows and assembles a single Firebloom Grenade. Requires an environment with a high density of Ash Mana to nourish the construct properly.This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.
I guess I couldn't just start a campfire and drop a root in the remains. I'd need to burn down a patch of forest with high Mana density to get the right conditions. I'm sure Smokey the Bear will understand. These grenades are pretty sweet, after all.
It turns out I could drop the bundle of grenades in as one item if I wrapped them in a twine bag. As I grew from my arm, I kept two grenades in separate slots just in case I ever needed one on the fly. It would be really awkward to have to pause and ruffle through a bag while something is actively trying to murder me.
On a similar note, I packed away as many leaves as I could into a cork bag before they ignited, including the little flake I was holding onto. I forgot to count how many I snagged before putting them away, but I could always make more in the future in the event I didn't get a great haul, even if it took ages to wait for my Mana to refresh between sessions.
I also tried dropping the whole flower into my Inventory, but it wouldn't take for some reason. I assume I'd have to uproot the entire thing so that my Inventory could differentiate the plant from the ground, which I figured would be a bad idea considering how much Fire Mana was stored in the plant. I didn't want to end up on the wrong end of the explosive decompression of Mana if the root structure is disturbed. I did manage to coax a piece of the stem to detach, though. The material was as hard as a rock yet somehow remained flexible. It was also almost as Mana-dense as the leaves, which meant I probably couldn't grow a shell of the stuff any time soon. Dropping the material in my Inventory yielded an interesting result.[Ashenflare Stem]
The Ashenflare Stem originates from an Ashenflare flower, a species of megaflora that thrives in environments with high concentrations of Ash Mana. This stem is non-conductive to Mana and highly heat-absorbent.
I could totally see this being useful once I can personally generate enough Mana to cover myself in it. I immediately absorbed it with [Adaptive Growth] and waited for levels to flow in from learning about a high-level plant, only to be disappointed by nothing happening. Maybe I couldn't gain experience from the same plant twice?
Checking the time, I saw that I'd been waiting around for the hour I allotted myself. The flower hadn't bloomed yet despite reaching at least four metres in height. Even though I really wanted to get my hands on a seed for the plant, I didn't want to wait too long. My Mana had regenerated to around fifty percent. The amount I wasted trying to make a flake was hitting me hard, and the Firebloom Roots were rather Mana-hungry to grow, too. Somehow, growing the Mana circuits pre-built into my form was a lot more efficient compared to the ones I had made myself. So, I decided to study how I was built and start adding those upgrades that I wanted to make to my shell.
I sighed internally and began my run. It was going to take a while just to figure out what some parts even did since the complexity of the original circuits was kind of insane. I was thankful that my Core automatically stored memories relating to circuit construction, so I didn't have to try and write all my notes down or store them in a log file in my Core.
Two hours later, I was already beating myself up for not doing this sooner. Whoever designed my internals was a genius. There was no way to put it but that. There was just one issue. It looked like somebody came in with a paint roller and fucked up three-quarters of the design. I assume that was whoever set out to nerf this species. The parts that carried the original design had an almost organic design. They didn't flow like mechanical circuits and almost appeared naturally grown. I could see this had a large impact on output. Wherever the organic circuits existed, I could perform nearly three times as well for the exact same cost when using Nature Mana. A prime example of this is the movement of my shell, which was performed exclusively using Nature Mana circuits.The runes used to produce Nature Mana were hilariously inefficient in the puzzles I'd done. There was over a ninety-nine percent conversion loss just trying to create it from Raw Mana. I had to assume this was due to Nature being a complex concept that can encompass a lot of little ideas.
My eyes were a part of my body that were the most fucked up by the nerf. This meant that their design was very simple compared to the circuits which facilitated the movement of my fingers, for example. This meant that, despite their complexity, hooking up a form of Mana sight to them wasn't actually that hard. I'd spent most of the run multitasking. Part of my mind was observing my internal design, while another part was designing my first upgrades.
Eventually, I stopped running for a moment and activated [Regrowth]. I was building the whole thing all at once, going with the first method I thought up, just hooking it up to the filters and hoping it worked. Once done, I looked over the design a couple of times to check for errors and corrected some small mistakes before finally connecting my sight. A blindingly grey light immediately replaced my normal vision. If I had retinas to burn, I would have just rendered myself completely blind. Well, at least I got a good result.
After a bit of tinkering, I realized that I needed to reduce my sensitivity a lot. So, I installed a dimmer switch to do just that. Once I turned down the sensitivity, I gasped internally, amazed by what I could see. It was like peeking into a hidden world filled with different currents, each moving in its own way but still interacting. Ash Mana hung thick, clinging to the falling flakes of ash. Fire Mana flickered and darted through the air like sparks trying to catch onto something. Air Mana flowed smoothly through it all, keeping everything in motion, following the movement of the slight breeze. Fucking nailed it!
The system seemed to think so, too, as I was awarded a new title.
[Title Acquired]
Name: [Arcane Veilbreaker]
Tier: [Basal]
Description: [You are the second person to have achieved Mana sight through your own ingenuity rather than being born with it or having it granted by external means.]
Effect: [+5 Arcana, +5 Spirit, +5% Effectiveness of Arcana, +5% Effectiveness of Spirit]
I wondered who the first person could be before continuing my journey. I hope I get a chance to meet them. I bet they're having just as much fun as I am playing with magic.