El’s body in the center of the circle was starting to stir. Although it was hard to say how long they had been there, It had been at least 4 hours. As the sun had fallen long ago it was now pitch black as the circle started to fade. Although these long hours were watched with stressed eyes Requille was in a good mood. With the help of this ritual, they should have at least increased his mana pool to an acceptable level. The last time they checked, it was at 45-50, with this he should have close to 100 mana. While it wasn’t much in the grand scheme of things and would be difficult to raise, it was enough.
People had gone around the problem of low mana before. What was to stop his son? With such thoughts, he looked at En and spoke, “I guess it’s time to get back. It seems he has successfully passed his trial as he is moving now.”
As the teleportation device activated they were covered in a white glow. Arriving back at the study Requille quickly lifted El into his arms. Master En quickly started tidying up the mess they had created while he did so. Requille although he had an entire kingdom to sort out, he first took care of his son. Opening the door he saw both Ianna and Elena there, waiting for him.
“How did it go?”
“He seemed to have passed the trial just fine Elena. And with the amount of mana he absorbed, as long as it runs through his system properly he should have a decent amount of mana now. The only issues will be that increasing his mana further will be even more difficult than before.”
Using such artificial means to increase one’s mana pool while very effective, was not good in the long run. However, for El who would’ve had 50 mana as a first stage caster, it was required. When even a simple attack spell cost 15 mana, he would be helpless against monsters even with training,
As they were walking to his room El started to move around. Thinking that he was just starting to awake they weren’t worried. It was only when Ianna saw his left arm glowing did she finally notice something wrong. Although still unconscious, tears started to stream down El’s face as his body writhed in pain.
“EL!”
Going back, El was sitting atop a chair, the book, and papers spread about a table he had created with ice. All around him were small tablets with long designs and formulas written atop them. With spiraling and large figures were physical models of Tower spells. His spirit-like body had grown considerably, reaching above five feet.
His face still reminiscent of a child had grown, however, the bags under his eyes made him look older than he was. It had been six years since the beginning of the trial. El had spent more years sitting in this trial than he had lived on earth, His mind was beginning to thin and an unknown rage burned inside of him.
All this fueled him to work harder. Six years was a considerable amount of time, especially since he didn’t have to worry about food or sleep. Leading to him not taking a rest for years one end and as such, the number of ideas he had amassed grew exponentially. He had tried and researched things of which didn’t even inherently have anything to do with his quest. All of this to search for some clue on how to go about sating the god’s hunger. As it wasn’t that he hadn’t created what was required.
He had ticked all the boxes the first few years. Be able to create ice, mold it, control it, and create more on command. It was simply not up to the standards the god had set. Well, more accurately, the god would increase the requirements every time he met the standards.
“Oh-, you need finer control than that eh~…”
“How the hell are you going to use a sword that looks like that!”
“Why is it so light, shouldn’t you condense it? Where’s the structure?”
Lifting his head from the desk, his hair lifting slightly off the ground, he stood. Walking in front of the altar at which the god was reading, he stood. In his hand, he clutched a small knife made with a special type of ice. Staring at the god with a determined look in his eyes he began, “ I’m ready once again.” With a smirk the god simply watched, waiting for him to begin.
The past few times this kid had come up, the spell continued to evolve. The last time using a combination of movement and hand signs to coordinate the movement and molding of the ice. Allowing for a very well controlled but limited system that allowed for strong and fast attacks. This boy’s talent was far beyond what he had expected and this had caught his interest. So he thought to only end the test when the kid ran out of ideas and so far he was thoroughly impressed. He wanted to see just how far the kid could go as he kept pushing him. With a giddy mood, he watched with great interest. “What would the kid come up with next?” His high expectation however didn’t prepare him for what El was to do.
Lifting the knife he had painstakingly made over the course of months he stabbed his left hand. The searing pain almost made him fall but he quickly caught himself. From the wrist down the knife seemed to move on its own. Looking closely one could see a magic circle built directly into the ice. This was one of his areas of research during this time. While creating anything he could build a spell circle and circuit within it. As it moved and carved an overly intricate circle all the way down to his elbows, it injected what looked like pure frost energy into the lines it made.
When this grueling process finally stopped he stood. Trembling from the pain he began to slowly construct a second spell. When he finally finished only then did he start the actual demonstration. The spell on his left hand worked in conjunction with the other spell. While his left hand created and morphed the ice the complicated spell tower he made controlled it. It didn’t end there as the tower also made it possible to create ice within an area around him. Going along up to this part was normal, simply demonstrating the uses and fierceness of it.
Until he suddenly punched at the god!
Within a second a block of ice was created, condensed, and finally catapulted forward. A spark of understanding gleaned in his eyes as the god quickly summoned an ice wall to block the attack, “To think that he would create his own blood magic!” With a shake, the wall stood firm before the god burst through with a look of joy on his face. How long was it that he had a good duel?
“ANGRY ARE YOU! EH!”
“SCREW YOU OLD MAN!”
The old man’s power didn’t seem to fit his body as he ran towards El. His speed gaining every step. Suddenly jumping forward as two giant icicles formed in front of his hands he crashed towards El. The crazed look in his eyes only grew.
“If you can land but a single hit this old one will award you!”
With a look of rage, El watched as the two icicles came towards him. He had but one thought in his mind, a way out! Creating tiny snow crystals he covered the icicles before directing them to the sides. Explosions from the pure force behind them launched shards into the air where they landed. In the air, the old man floated as he surrounded himself with crystalline swords. Every second he created more and more and with one wave of his arm they acted.
Fifty plus swords seemed to lock on to El before descending like rain. Once again he punched out, however, this time he thought to put pure strength behind it. He made sure to put himself in the most stable stance his mother taught him as a base. This reminded him once again of his family as he yelled in anger along with his punches. As if to reflect the emotion put behind this punch a storm raged forward with hundreds of thousands of snow crystals colliding with the blades. The center of the punch carried with it an invisible force as it slammed into the remaining swords.
The winds created in this clash blew El’s long hair into the sky as he attacked in a fury. The ice he threw, once crystalline in nature, started to become a deeper and deeper blue as the attacks were becoming more and more focussed. Instead of throwing thousands of small blade-like crystals, he was stepping forward as sharp spikes flew through the air. With each punch, a pressure which shook the world, with each sweep of his hand another sword deflected, and with each stomp, a pillar of ice grew from the ground. In this place he had no need to worry about mana, so he continued his relentless assault.
Restricting himself to only using his own variation of the spell even the god of magic had to be careful. Making thick rotating shields he blocked the majority of attacks with ease. The ones he had to watch out for however were the pillars. These were 2 feet in diameter sturdy pillars that came at a speed that could rival arrows. Carrying such weight behind them that even if he blocked one he would be thrown into the ceiling.
Acting quickly he controlled the swords to parry the attacks alongside his shields to buy him time. Quickly stretching his left hand out ice started to form in the shape of a longbow. As if to defy all that El had learned a thin but pliable string was created as well. He knew it was a higher level of control that he couldn’t even imagine. The shock he felt as he saw the god pull back the bowstring was enough to stop his rage. He looked with wide eyes as the bow created a powerful arrow filled with frost. The world seemed to tremble when the bowstring was released.
He wasn’t stupid enough to let himself get hit. Quickly summoning two walls and trying to dodge to the side a feeling of pain spread from his left shoulder as it pierced through all. His defenses.
How? That was two condensed walls that I put a majority of mana in making! With a shock, I looked up as the old man started to smile. I had calmed down from the initial battle but I still didn’t know what I could do.
“Bad Idea to start a fight with a god boy. Even if I’m holding back.”
Mocking me the god sat upon a chair, floating in the sky; the swords still rotating slowly around him. THINK! What have I not used yet! What can I do to sneak a victory! Looking around, however, I found nothing. Resting his chin on his hand, the god contemplated.
“Guess this trial is complete eh- Still gotta grade you….. Hmmmm~”
It wasn’t the god’s fault for thinking he was safe. As he sat on a throne of ice, after displaying his prowess. As El hadn’t even thought it was possible. This one trick however became the basis for his fighting style. With a movement of his fingers, one of the pillars suddenly had a tiny, truly tiny spike grow from it. Guiding it with lightning-fast and almost godly control the spike maneuvered through the air, around swords, and finally into the god’s hand. With a resounding drip, a single drop of blood fell to the ground.
