Chapter 16 : Seclusion

Ajel stayed in the cave for around 4 weeks, counting the days with a knife on the wall almost like he was in some sort of prison.

He wasn't there solely due to the water, however, he was there to hone his magic and make himself stronger.

Something he realised when he was practising the magic bullet is that, although the power was strong, yes, the penetration of the trip wasn't very strong, and so it needed to be customized.

He had been spending the past three weeks soaked in sweat as he slowly started to make adjustments to the magic bullet which was hard due to his limited magic pool and the purity and density of his mana.

How was he meant to purify his mana?

Mana points.

There was more than one way of cultivating mana points, but due to Noxian diversity, it meant that it could see through the pros and cons of each and develop the best method which then got smuggled into the Demacia by which Ajel determined to be the black market with all likeness.

Anyhow, the method had been adapted from Ionia's culture, which included these "magic points." which is a collection of points in your mana pathway that dictate the purity of the body.

10 stages and each has the power to make the mana purer and denser.

They were scattered along his body, and Ajel looked at himself through the crystalline water and saw the points through his aura.

His aura was orange with hints of red in it, which was the crime he committed by killing a child.

Ajel snickered.

There was no time for regret.

Not that he had some, afterall.

Ajel scooped up the water, before feeling it pour down his neck.

It was refreshing and it was a liquid, but it still made him feel thirsty.

It wasn't water, it was condensed mana that allowed him to keep his physical conditions and his magical powers up.

Slowly laying down on the hard, cold rock, Ajel looked at his mana points, which weren't turned up in the slightest.

He was on Stage 0 and needed to get more powerful.

It was a good technique, but it still had its side effects.

The higher he went, the more risk he had to undergo to unlock new power, and the more time it would take for him to get stronger.

He would have to gain more materials to help him grow.

Taking a deep, Ajel slowly looked towards the first point, which was located near his Pelvis, and would be the first step to becoming stronger.

Currently, his mana was barely blue, instead of being a blackness that represented the impurities of the mana. And if he wanted to start fully customizing spells he needed to reach the 1st to 2nd mana point.

(AN: Changed brown to black, seemed more fitting idk)

The denser the mana becomes, the more powerful it is and the less you need to use for spells.

That is a law of magic, alongside the omnipotence of mana.

Breathing in and breathing out, Ajel watched as a magic bullet condensed on his hand, its shape had been altered to make it more penetrating.

Its shape was more stretched, and the normally rounded black-blue curved shape of the front was replaced by a sharp point.

It looked right now like a thicker and less sharp needle, but it certainly had more power in penetrating certain pieces of armour and animals, but he had yet to do the experiments.

Looking down at his bag and seeing the wavering rations, Ajel shook his head.

Ajel grabbed the two flasks he had and dipped them into the water, before taking them back out and into his bag.

He needed to go out and get some food, maybe find the closest settlement and then he would go back to the cave and try to break through the first seal of the magic points in his body.

Slowly getting up and stretching, Ajel walked towards the exit of the secluded cave without a second thought, making sure not to run in case the cave ends up shifting.

Reaching the outside of the cave Ajel viewed the outside world, which was a new land compared to when he left last time.

It was around early morning, and the birds flocked around the skies.

The march air was a lot more forgiving than the February and was starting to feel warmer on Ajel.

The snow hadn't fully melted, but it had degraded to the point where you could see the permafrost soil start to show under the ground.

The Freljord was known for its cold climate and infertile soil, but this was just in the south. The more north/east you went, the warmer it would go and it would allow for a type of grain to be made, which is used in Alcohol and for food reserves.

Finally seeing the morning, Ajel sat down and stared at the sun, something he had missed.

The mana seemed to revitalize part of his mental being, as well. Otherwise, somebody probably couldn't handle being in the cave for so long.

using some snow and partly covering up the entrance to the cave the best he could, Ajel destroyed his tracks like any good hunter did and started his journey north, wherever there will hold for him.

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Feel free to leave a comment so i'm more motivated UwU