E in Experimentation

[So...there are definitely some limitations to this.] Mike thought to himself while the summoned lizard's remains slowly disintegrated into motes of light.

After nearly an hour of experimentation, he decided to cap off his investigations with an attempt to invest as much mana as possible into the creature's tissues. The result was...messy.

He first noticed there was a problem when the lizard began to twitch uncontrollably. Immediately, he halted the flow of power and tried to determine the source of the disturbance. It quickly became apparent that the more fragile cells in its body had begun to rupture, releasing their stored mana in torrents of energy, which resulted in more cells breaking down.

Pretty soon the lizard started to disintegrate into a reddish fluid. He used the healing function of his Life Magic, doing his best to reverse the damage, but that only seemed to make it worse as the energy he tried to apply caused more rampant destruction. So, there was little he could do but watch as the summoned creature was reduced to a pile of goo. Thankfully, it began to disappear shortly thereafter.

[Well...that was horrifying. Note to self, be careful when using this on people.]

Despite this final setback, he nevertheless managed to determine several important things about his newfound enhancement ability. First and foremost, he discovered it could be applied to more than just Endurance. While he didn't have much luck on the Willpower front, he found that he could at least improve the lizard's strength and agility at the same time, simply by directing his mana into different parts of the animal's anatomy.

The second thing he learned was that, while it was technically possible to enhance multiple attributes, doing so required exponentially more mana for some reason. It almost felt like the energy already layered into the target's tissues was somehow resisting the intrusion of more of its kind. While it was still possible, he would need to think carefully before he used this on anyone.

Third, he determined that, even though he was limited in the amount of mana he could use to reinforce a living creature's tissues, he could manipulate the existing cells using Life Magic in order to get a similar result. So far, he'd tried to keep these experiments limited to some extent, since he figured that he would need a larger pool of subjects to determine how applicable this method was.

Despite that, he was able to use what little he remembered about biology to increase the lizard's overall strength by encouraging it's muscle fibers to break down and repair themselves repeatedly in a short period of time with bits of mana somehow playing the role of protein molecules in the process.

Of course, he soon noticed that the results were less than ideal, as the quickly developed muscles lacked flexibility and severely limited the creature's movement. Nevertheless, it did open a number of possibilities that he intended to explore in the future.

[I bet I can eventually use this to copy the natural abilities of one creature and give them to another. Perhaps I could even transplant body parts or reshape existing ones to increase their existing functionality. Hell, if I take some time to determine exactly how it works, I can probably even give the others my regeneration ability.]

He felt a small smile forming on his lips as he contemplated the various possibilities, before he came to the sudden realization that this might not exactly be the best path.

[It feels like I just entered mad scientist territory. I suppose this is basically just a magical form of bioengineering, and it's hard to say exactly what kind of long term effects this method might have on someone. Or worse, how it might affect any children they might have in the future...I might need to do some more serious experimentation before I try anything too extreme.]

Sighing, he added building a laboratory and filling it with experimental subjects to his list of priorities. Unfortunately, the unique nature of the demi-realm made any kind of long-term experiment difficult.

[Hmm...I wonder if there isn't some way of altering that setting…]

He was still lost in thought when a soft impact on his shoulder interrupted him. Glancing over, he almost cringed, but managed to keep his face neutral.

An exhausted and decidedly singed Sera was standing there while using the hero bow as a crutch, her face a mask of fury. "What, in the name of all that is holy, was that?! Are you trying to kill me?!"

Mike glanced around the makeshift combat site and noted that she'd finally managed to defeat all of his summoned monsters. By the looks of it, she'd managed to do so without taking too much damage.

[Did I make it too easy on her?]

"Finished already? I have to say I'm impressed. I figured it would take you twice as long."

"No! We are not talking about that right now! I want to know what in the hells was that thing you summoned."

"Not sure, really. I'm guessing some kind of fire spider, but I can't be certain."

Her left eye started twitching and she began to laugh a bit maniacally. "Hahahaha...hah...Not sure? Not sure?! Do you have any idea what kind of monstrosities you oh so casually let loose on me?!"

"Umm…"

"At first I thought the same. Clearly they were some kind of fire spider, so when they began throwing webs of liquid flame at me, I wasn't too surprised. However, it got even worse when I managed to kill one of them with a lucky shot."

"Worse?"

"It exploded! Like into a literal ball of fire! But not just any fire! No, that would be much too easy. No, it also created hundreds of smaller flame spiders that promptly began chasing me too. Can you imagine what it felt like to have the momentary satisfaction of successfully eliminating one of the monsters chasing you ripped away by the appearance of a literal swarm of flaming arachnids that want to devour you alive?"

"I don't-"

"And! And, do you have any idea how difficult it is to kill something smaller than you palm with a bow and arrow? Well, I'll tell you! It's practically impossible! Eventually, I had to beat them to death with a rock. A rock! Mind you, there aren't any rocks in this god forsaken realm, so I had to chip one away from that wall you made to trap me here!"

[I'm surprised I missed all this. I must have been really focused.]

"But you've gotten stronger, right?"

She glared at him as if to say that if she had the energy, she'd be attacking him right now. "Admittedly, a few of my skills have increased in rank…"

Mike tapped her shoulder with a quick wash of Healing Magic, easily repairing all of the minor injuries she'd suffered and replenishing her stamina in the process. "See? How long do you think that kind of improvement would have taken if you were just practicing in the usual way?"

Hissing through gritted teeth, "Weeks...months...probably."

"Exactly, you made a month's worth of progress in less than an hour. Did you think that kind of efficiency doesn't have a cost? If you want to get stronger quickly, you'll have to suffer for it." He shot back, a little harshly.

She continued to glare at him for a few seconds, before sighing deeply. "I get that, but...I...I don't know...I assumed you had some kind of secret shortcut to getting stronger."

He scratched the back of his head, "I can see why you'd think that, but I'm kind of a special case. My class and a few of my titles allow me to train faster, and my luck helps me to make breakthroughs in critical situations. In exchange I often end up in dangerous situations and get to experience some things that would probably be mentally crippling if not for my enhanced willpower."

Sera stared at him silently, disbelief obvious on her face.

"Look, I've nearly died a bunch of times over the last few months, and in the process, I've learned several things I would rather not have. Like the fact that suffocating is very painful, being slowly crushed while you are powerless to do anything about can be maddening, and being burned alive is probably the worst kind of pain a human is capable of experiencing."

He found himself staring into the distance unconsciously, and forcibly relaxed the tension in his face, "Of course that's not even mentioning having to watch the people around me suffer simply because they happened to be geographically near me when a powerful enemy shows up. That...sucks."

Glancing back at the Oracle, he noticed that she was now grimacing.

"Ah, sorry. I got a little carried away." He said while heaving a sigh. "The point I was trying to make is that, even though improvement has been easier for me than it has been for most, that speed is not without consequences in and of itself. That being said, the secrets for my growth are not something I can really share, anyway. The best I can really do is help you take advantage of the shortcuts already built into the system."

"I get it." Sera replied quietly, before crossing her arms and looking away. "Alright, you are forgiven for now, but I insist that from here on out we talk over any training plans before you throw me into them. I wouldn't have been angry in the first place if I knew what you were getting me into."

He winced, "Fair enough. I'll do that next time."

"So, where do we go from here? You have something else in mind, right?"

"Well, I was planning on letting you take a break…"

"I'm already back in fighting shape, and we only have a few more hours before the demi-realm pushes us out again. Let's make the most of it and keep going."

"Well, if that's how you feel, I did have an idea for helping you to improve that short range future sight thing you do."

"Oh?" She asked, sounding interested. "I haven't been able to improve my Precognition skill since I got it. Hells, I haven't even figured out how to control it yet."

"Well, I was thinking that you might be subconsciously shying back from using it due to how painful your visions have historically been. In order to overcome that, I believe that we have to force you to rely on it."

After a few seconds digesting that, she nodded. "What did you have in mind?"

Mike mumbled a quick chant, summoning a small globe of utter darkness in his hand. As soon as it appeared, it began to grow rapidly in size, swiftly washing over the pair of them and expanding until it reached the outer limits of the walls he'd thrown up. Inside the globe was pitch black.

While he was still able to see thanks to his ring, he could tell that Sera was completely blind.

"My idea is this, if you have to fight in an environment where you can't see your enemies, you will be forced to rely on your other senses, to include your precognition."

"I understand what you are thinking in principle," she commented dryly, "but seeing the future usually involves actually seeing."

"Just humor me, alright? Worst case scenario, you can't do it, and we will move onto something else."

"Fine. So what am I fighting? Some kind of shadow monster that consumes souls and will slowly drain the life energy of those nearby?"

"Hmm...that might not be a bad idea…"

"I was joking…" She murmured in a slightly subdued voice.

"I figured, but I suppose we can leave that particular enemy for later. Instead, I want you to defend yourself against these guys." He replied while summoning a trio of creatures.

There were a few moments of silence before she finally commented. "...You know I can't see anything at the moment, right?"

"Of course I do...ahem...Anyway, I've summoned three air elementals. In case you aren't aware, they are basically creatures made of solidified wind. Ordinarily, they are practically invisible and near perfectly silent, but when agitated, they make a noise that resembles a strong breeze. Since they aren't particularly strong, I figured that they would be good practice to start with before we move onto something more difficult. What do you say?"

She took a deep breath before taking a fighting stance. "Alright, bring it."