Ch 30: Double Advancement

(AN: Missed yesterday because I wasn't feeling well.)

It was well past midnight before the Laksulm rat spy made it back to Baldeur. During that time, he was preparing to advance two of his Sources.

Sources advanced in different ways.

Infernius and Psychic had no set ranks of advancement. They were dependent on one's understanding and usage. Their advancement was closer to that of working ones muscles, advancing steadily over time.

Anodular users also advanced based on their understanding but each time they formed a connection to a new aspect of nature would be considered a major advancement.

Laksulm users' advancements were based on how many elemental threads they can handle at one time. Though knowledge of different techniques to weave them together could affect one's actual strength.

Mana, Qi, and Divinus each had specific ranks that their users advanced into; circles, realms, and choirs. But the ways to breakthrough to the next rank had some major differences.

Unfortunately the circumstances would only allow him to advance Mana and Anodular.

The primary ingredient to advancement was access to energy of that Source. Even those that relied deeper understanding also relied on having Source energy available to have true enlightenment.

He could sneak into the cathedral and steal their gathered Divinus energy but advancement to a higher choir was very difficult. What made it easier to advance was when its users worked together to advance their choirs. It was the only Source that its user could advance together.

While there was Infernius Source energy also on this world, it was in the hands of the person he was trying to match with his advancements.

First up was advancing his Mana to the next circle.

Those with Mana as a Source would be born with a Mana core in their soul. As they started their journey into magic, they would develop a circle of pure Mana around their core.

Over time this circle's maximum capacity for Mana would expand until it reached its limit. The person would then be able to split that circle, forming a second circle around the core. This process could be repeated up to eight times for a total of nine circles.

Each new circle would be able to hold more Mana than the previous one.

While the circle's capacity would expand on its own, there were methods that would make this process go faster. The most common way is casting spells at one's limit. Though it wasn't the fastest way to expand one's capacity.

Having lived as a librarian at a magical academy in his second life, Baldeur knew of dozens of ways to expand his capacity. He had been at the limit of the second circle for a year now and had planned to enter the third circle after this mission.

It wasn't uncommon for those with talent in Mana to reach the third circle by Baldeur's age but those with multiple Sources took longer to advance because they had to split their training between Sources.

To help with his advancement, Baldeur pulled out seven Mana Stone and placed them in a circle in the middle of his room. He then took chalk that had been mixed with monster bones and drew lines to connect each stone.

Sitting in the middle of the stones and chalk, Baldeur focused inwards to his current Mana circles. The Mana in his second circle was beyond ready to burst.

The stones and chalk would allow him to pull in extra Mana, helping the process of splitting his circle and making them stronger in the process.

With his force of will, Baldeur began to split the circle. He took his time, using his previous experience of splitting circles and the techniques from his previous life to make sure that his new circle would be as strong as possible.

By the time he was finished his second circle was already reformed and his third circle was at least ten percent stronger than what most other geniuses would have.

It was nearly four in the morning at this point and he was covered in sweat.

Now it was time for him to choose an aspect of nature and work on forming a connection.

In the end he chose the Rising Sun for his second aspect. This would allow him to have better control over fire and increased spells to buff his allies. It is the Rising Sun that nourishes everything that it touches.

He spent the next few hours reviewing everything he had read about this aspect during his sixth life. The entire time he could feel the connection to the Rising Sun form.

At dawn he began to finalize the connection. Within his mind he could now comprehend the sun nourishing the world and how too much of it could cause harm.

Without even taking care of the sweat covering himself, Baldeur collapsed on his bed. Even one advancement would tire out a normal person.

Baldeur felt his eyes barely closed when a knock came to his door.

He tried to ignore it but the person knocked again. As his eyes opened he noticed the light of the sun had moved over an hour past sunrise. At least he got a bit of sleep.

"Hey, you were supposed to be up already. You've already missed breakfast and Piaras is waiting downstairs." Aisling called from the other side of the door.

After letting out a long sigh, Baldeur rolled out of bed and opened the door.

"What happened to you? You look terrible." Aisling said.

"I just met a lovely barmaid and had a wonderful night." Baldeur said.

She looked behind him half expecting to see someone and gave him a scowl when she saw no one.

"Oh she left early." He said.

"I completely understand not wanting to spend too much time with you." Aisling replied.

"Just give me a chance to freshen up a bit." Baldeur released his Anodular energy to clean himself and give him an energy boost against tiredness.

Adding the Rising Sun aspect to the spell didn't add a lot but other Anodular users would be able to sense that he did.

"You…" Aisling said.

"Hey, let's get going. The others are waiting for us." Baldeur said as he passed her and patted her shoulder.