Chasing Manas

"He started sitting there with that weird crystal ball in his hands last night and has been there until now without moving a single inch." George had seen Malik return and was now surprised to see Malik playing the part of a statue. 

"I wanted to come and see if he could help me test a new spell that I am working on with my partner. I might be able to make it even better when I have his input." Lina was a little annoyed since she had expected Malik would be ready to train a little more. 

It would have been better for all three of them to have some training together since Geroge had already made a qualitative leap in his ability to throw people off in battle. Not just using dagger techniques, but also using mental abilities. 

Mental abilities not meaning skills but using feints in his attacks. Being able to mix some deception in to the entire style that he used to fight and move. That was what he had been learning when it came to stealth.

Many people believed that stealth was just for when someone wanted to hide themselves while traveling or scouting. But that was wrong. Stealth was also part of a battle overall. 

If someone masters stealth, they would be able to disappear right in front of someone without that person knowing where they went. But if they wanted to reach that point then they had to get to the start first. George had just started on that path and learned what next step to take. 

By that, he meant that he had to travel the path properly. First he had mixed in how to hide his incoming movements. Make his opponent think something else was happening which was untrue. When he mastered that, he would be able to use his attacks in a way that made anyone unable to counter him easily. Effectively making his movements stealthy. 

"Kids, that boy is in deep meditation. I am a mage and I can feel it. Whatever he has in his hands is full of complex and hard to understand mana. Right now, he is changing the way he sees and senses mana entirely. He returned to basics so that he could make sure whatever that thing is increases all his mana related skills." 

The mage that stopped for a moment after overhearing the two was one that took basic jobs through the guild and the city. Right now, the mage was making his way back inside to cash in on a job he had completed. As always, he would rest a day then go back out. Many people lived job to job like this. It was the life as an adventurer. 

That didn't mean the mage hadn't met and spoken to Malik though. Clara had been very excited to have Malik learning plenty of things. For their guild manager to be so excited meant that Malik was a telnet to keep an eye on for future events.

Regardless of whatever others were talking about while he meditated, many other things were filling Malik's mind. 

The high spirit veins were channeling mana slowly as Malik used every ounce of his will to follow and control that flow. He had hyper focused on this because he ended to feel how parts of his body were influenced by mana. 

The tiger tribe tendons were hardened and remained elastic because of it. The angelic eyes focused it and channeled it with a slight purifying effect. The desert camel stomach and humanoid slime stomach were able to encase, store, and break it down as needed. An interesting adaptation to what he had expected from the mana within his body. 

Then there was the dragon heart. Not only did it greatly condense mana, it was also forcing mana to bend to Malik's will. The dominating dragon aura that lived within him was like a powerful king ensuring that his subjects understood the standing they and he was in. The dragon heart demanded fealty from all mana. 

This changed the way that Malik felt about mana as a whole. How the different traces might have been able to grow with their own cultures. How those cultures developed. It was a new insight that he felt would be valuable to him later. 

Some newer aspects of his body also had a better ability to become known to him. The faster twitch muscles that he gained needed mana to flow so that they could activate better. Their effects clear across the entirety of his body. 

The demon wings growing on his back also required additional mana. Like a thirsty beast waiting for the right nutrients to grow fully. Malik could sense that a lot of nutrients went to them allowing the pair to grow almost before someone's eyes. It would still take some time for Malik to be able to use them freely, however, they were influenced by the dragon heart and protected by dragon scales now. Prompting Malik to understand that he had another passive and active skill now. 

'Dragon scale armor- passive/ active

Using more mana and stored nutrients, this skill will allow a layer of dragon scale to cover the entire body. It takes a toll since mana and nutrients are needed to ensure the full usage of this skill. The mana added will also strengthen them since it will change the resistance depending on the mana used. The body's mana does not necessarily have to be the only mana used. 

The passive aspects mean the weakest points of the body will be normally protected by dragon scales. Such as the wings, neck, back, arms…

This will become more apparent as the dragon aspects of the body develop. However, it will not halt the growth of the body overall. It will just cause the scales to gain tougher defensive and magical resistance abilities.'

This skill was one that the guide mentioned to Malik when it had appeared. However, Malik had yet to explore it. Just Sitting here, he realized he could change the color of the scale depending on the mana he focused to flow through his high spirit veins. 

Blue for when he added water mana would allow him to resist the water mana attacks he might face. Or even better, be able to swim better if he also learned some skills related to swimming. He wouldn't have as many issues with the cold too since water led right in to ice naturally. 

Without his knowledge, the change and appearance of dragon scales on his body had surprised a few people. They had begun a game of watching Malik use the skill and the manas change around him. He wasn't trying to hide anything in the training field, but he should have done so if he didn't want to make a scene. 

None of his actions helped Malik in one way though. He had yet to even get close to grasping the deeper manas within the celestial ball. They were evasive. They avoided him. They did not let themselves be easily touched by his wandering mana. Instead, they moved away and left behind trails of mana that Malik had to understand first. 

The natural runes formed by the manas being condensed would have been amazing for Malik to learn from. Yet, he knew very well that if he were to try and touch one that they would kill him outright. It wasn't the strength of the mana, it was the level of which he leaked to understand how to control them, 

Compared to the manas that were always around him and everyone, these manas were wild. They were from ancient time condensed and left there for a better use in the future. As such, they were the most potent along with the most unique forms of elemental manas Malik could ever hope to learn from. 

His intensity in trying to grasp these manas was increasing and why he had spent so long meditating. He felt that if he wanted to allow himself any slight understanding that he had to focus solely on this and only this. 

The nature of one elemental mana was not what he had expected and learned from before. The fact that the spirits had helped him greatly improved his ability to be flexible though. They had shown him the current state of manas flowing in the world. 

Therefore, when Malik focused on these ancient forms of mana, he was able to see what was and what is. Hwp the manas changes through time. That was very important to anyone researching ancient magic, the few that did, had studied for years and were old now. Hence why Malik needed to put in the world now and remain focused. 

Being able to understand the changes of mana over long periods of time would allow anyone to create more unique magic and also understand the growth of the world as a whole. Something that made Malik much more excited to learn here. Something that spurred the divinity within him as well. 

A good challenge to take on.