the leakage of magic and home sweet home(chapter 9)

The spacious opening hosted a cavernous pond, its waters chilled and mysterious. Adam's gaze lingered on its surface for a moment before he turned towards another opening leading to a room. Inside, he found the makeshift comforts of his new home—a simple bedding, a cooler, and a firepit. "Home sweet home," he quipped sarcastically. This cave, discovered after being relentlessly pursued by the Empirikul hunting wolves and eye bots, had become Adam's refuge over the past week. Evading near-death experiences, he managed to stay one step ahead. Oddly, the chaos wrought by Empirikul's battle with Adam seemed to go unnoticed by the city's populace or heroes, almost as if they didn't exist and where solely hunting sorcerers.

Solidifying Adam's theory that Empirikul specifically targeted magic practitioners, the most alarming revelation was the slow drain of raw magic from this dimension. or in Adams case, the mana particles outside his bubble. Running on the last drops of magic, he was forced to seek out places with higher magical concentrations. Originally drawn to the park, with its abundance of green particles, Adam found it insufficient as time went on, prompting his move to the dock with its mix of blue, yellow, and light green mana. However, he could only absorb white mana at that time. Driven further each day, he eventually stumbled upon this cave, a haven he grew to appreciate where the mana particles where slightly more abundant.

Setting up his new abode, Adam sensed the dwindling magic even within the cave. "The raw magic in this cave is also dwindling, so I better hurry up and create those two spells," he resolved. His mind harbored two spell models, a ray of hope amid the encroaching gloom. After arranging his belongings and shedding the peculiar armor—untested against magic—Adam pondered the unfolding crisis. "Will this be the end of this world's magic?" he questioned himself, anticipating the intervention of powerful sorcerers like the Scarlet Witch. Doubt gnawed at him, despite them being powerful and saving its world magic, magic couldn't bring himself to rely on others. "Well, like I thought, I can only rely on myself," he sighed, settling into meditation.

In the ethereal expanse of his sea of consciousness, Adam found himself amidst a swirling sea of mana particles. Despite the apparent abundance, to him, it still felt insufficient, especially with the occasional disappearance of raw magic outside the protective bubble. "Alright, 1000 mana particles before I go creating a new spell and confronting these mage hunters," he resolved, setting a mini-goal before embarking on the perilous quest. Hours passed as he tirelessly gathered the mana particles, the bubble gradually becoming more crowded. Yet, he persisted until he finally achieved his target—1000 mana particles.

Surveying the thousand mana particles and sensing his spiritual force nearing a level-up, Adam cracked his astral knuckles with a satisfied smile. "Hmm, now then, which spell should I create first?" Several ideas floated through his mind, but one sparked immediate inspiration. He began the meticulous process, stringing together one mana particle at a time until it formed a coherent spell model.

In the ethereal realm of his sea of consciousness, his small bubble was shaking for some reason as he though, "Goldie did say that i should match the number of spells in my sea of consciousness to the spiritual force amount, guess this is the reason" as he continued to watch the bubble vibrate before he sighted, "but it's not that bad since i am quite close to reaching 5 spiritual force, however, it's not like I have any choice, magic is disappearing, desperate time call for desperate measure". Adam found himself gazing at the newest addition to his arsenal—a delicate yet potent spell model suspended in the magical milieu. "A string that controls small-sized objects and is invisible, the perfect weapon," he mused with a satisfied smile, eyes fixed on the floating screen that displayed his mystical creations.

[ Name: Adam ]

[ Mana (plain): 866 (particle) ]

[ Spiritual-Force: 4.94/4.94 (1 spiritual force lasts for 1 minute; 1 spiritual force can be recovered in 1 minute) ]

[ Created spells:

Unstable-Mana-Ball(Tier: 0): a very unstable and small mana ball that explodes due to its instability. It doesn't do very much damage due to its small size, but it does release bright flash light when it explodes, Lv:2 (114/500) cooldown: 5 seconds ]

Mana-Ball(Tier: 0): a condensed ball of mana that is structurally stable and is the size of a marble. It constantly emits white light that illuminates a 12 feet radius, Lv:2 (154/500) cooldown: 25 seconds]

Spinning-Arrow(Tier: 0): 3 spinning arrows made completely out mana that spins as it flies towards its target, giving a high piercing damage, Lv:3 (347/1,000) cooldown: 10 seconds ]

Mana-Plate(Tier: 0): a plate made completely out of mana, it's durable as steel and can withstand most physical and mystical forces. It's capable of floating, with measurements of 300x300x15mm, Lv:2 (34/500) cooldown: 2 minutes ]

Mana-String(Tier: 0): a thin and invincible string made out of mana that is 15 feet long, it can be attached to small-sized objects to be controlled by the caster, Lv:1 (0/100) cooldown: 50 seconds ]

The satisfaction of a well-designed spell lingered as he exited his sea of consciousness, returning to the familiar confines of his cave. "Well, now that I am close to reaching 5 spiritual forces, which would increase my spell duration and double the number of mana particles I could control—" he pondered. Waiting patiently for his spiritual force to recover, he then activated his newly created spell.

A slender white string of mana materialized, tethered to his index finger at one end, while the other danced freely in the air. "And all I need to do," he paused, attaching the end to the fang crafted from the witch-hunting wolf, "and done. Now I have an assassin's weapon." A satisfied smile played on his lips as he controlled the knife using the invisible string, attempting to throw it at an empty can, which he missed. "Well, I clearly need some practice," he chuckled.

In the luminous solitude of his cave, Adam dedicated himself to relentless practice. After countless attempts, he had achieved the coveted milestone of 5 spiritual force, a threshold that promised extended spell duration and the ability to control a greater number of mana particles. Wiping the sweat from his brow, he felt a surge of accomplishment.

However, the grim reality of the looming threat hung over him, manifesting as the periodic alarming disappearance of mana outside the safety of his sea of consciousness. Determined, he set his focus on a new creation, muttering to himself, "Alright, mana bomb. I need to create a mana bomb, not mana flashbang or mana light. Just a mana bomb, an explosive that deals damage."

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Author's Note: Well, here's another chapter. Yes, magic is disappearing in the Marvel Comics book universe (which is the setting for this fanfic), and Adam needs to put his "spells" (if you could even call them that) to use and get his hands dirty. Will he make a difference?

P.S.: The main girl is incoming.