Chapter 91 Enhanced
In my mana signature, [Sense Mana] ignites, like a nascent star reaching the tipping point and beginning to fuse matter. It immediately outshines all my other skills, a beacon that nobody with the appropriate mana sensing breakthrough will miss. The only upside is that it will be hard for anyone else to notice my other skills, plain and dim as they are in comparison.
It's surreal. To have a world-spanning message mention me... I don't know what to think about it. I can see the surprise of the faces of my escorts. What about my family? What do they think of it? What will the Elders think? Everyone will want to say something, they'll want to praise me, but I don't want that. I just want to go back home as if nothing happened.
I am broken out of my thoughts by mana gathering into my Eyewraps, more and more mana swirling until a torrent of mana is being consumed. When the devouring stops, my Eyewraps' unique mana has changed slightly.
Alysara's Eyewraps:
(Grand) (Unique)
This Unique item has been with Alysara since she was a child. It has protected her from painful sights and shared in her growth, even when she has reached such mastery that none may hope to compete with her in the Sense Mana skill.
When worn, grants Sense Mana: 250/250, and Sense Soul: 80/80
I had expected this. It is still lower level than my [Sense Mana], but now it is vastly higher than anyone else in the village. Considering that two hundred fifty is almost at the point the skill starts glowing, this should be extremely valuable to anyone in the world, but I have to say that I am quite attached to it. I don't want to simply give it up; it's been with me for so long.
While I am here, I should talk to the Guardian. Maybe she has some advice that she has been holding until now.
"I'm going to see the Guardian," I tell my guards.
"Ah... Right!" one of them replies and starts following me.
I arrive at the Guardian's resting grounds; she is already sitting proudly, like a queen.
"Honestly, I thought you'd take a few more years to finally get your skill to the point of being enhanced." The Guardian says, more praising me than a mere statement. "However, you must be warned that just because you have an enhanced skill doesn't make you all-powerful. Rather, it only raises you to the point where other races are. Yes, their skills aren't as strong, but they have a longer history, and there will be those with many enchanted and magical items to cover their weaknesses. Be careful, and don't let yourself become overconfident; that is the number one killer of any bearer of recently enhanced skills."
I nod. My skill is a sensing one, not a combat one; while it does help, I am still disadvantaged. But with what I can learn, perhaps I can make things to help.
"There is not much else I can say; you are in uncharted waters. You can expect higher levels to gain and more breakthroughs, but any more than that? That's what you need to find out for yourself."
"How exactly do I spend a Legendary Point? I don't want to spend the wrong one," I ask, nervousness settling in.
"Focus on your Legendary Points when looking at your stats and focus on using the one you want to. You can't accidentally spend the wrong point."
I do as instructed, seeing in my mind the information take form.
Legendary achievement: 1
You have reached unparalleled knowledge and mastery in the Sense Mana skill!
Mythic Achievement: 1
You have survived the Great Calamity and been reincarnated from a primordial realm.
This is it; this is the moment I enhance my skill. I focus on using the Legendary Point on [Sense Mana]. A small part of me wonders what would happen if I use it on another skill. Would that skill gain some weird breakthrough? I squash those thoughts and confirm my choice.
Ting! Sense Mana has evolved to Sense Magic!
Ting! Sense Magic has obtained levels 311-555!
I almost choke. I have suddenly gained almost two hundred fifty levels! My vision instantly became so clear, so crisp! The burning star that is in my mana signature bursts in a bright light... no, it's more than that, it's not just mana I am seeing but now the magical signature of the skill! The range of my vision didn't just increase tenfold; it almost increased by twenty times what it was before I almost doubled my skill level. My vision radius extends out over twenty-two kilometers! Before, I could move my vision out during scouting to a maximum of... my level, divide by ten... thirty-one kilometers. Now? I have to check, but it should be over five hundred fifty kilometers, one per level. Factoring in my Race bonus, I should be able to see four times further than that.
I wonder if I can discover a continent, or if we are too far out in the middle of an ocean. Still, even if I can see that far, I am still limited by my summons' own range.
[Sense Magic], it's not just about mana anymore, but what mana fuels. I wonder what else I can see now? Magic, not just a simple spell, but the most powerful phenomenons known, a mystery that not even the Guardian truly knows the truth of, the source of the system and monsters. No wonder you gain access to new breakthroughs, it almost becomes a new skill.
As the realization of what I can see finally hits me, I begin to scan around to try and actually see what magic is. There should be several sources of magic, but all I can see is mana. Surely there has to be at least one source of magic around, right? I then realize that my ability to sense magic is as basic as it can get. For starters, I should try to think of what magical sources I can find right now. First, my magic items, second, Classes, third... well, thats all I can come up with.
I focus on my Kyhosa, trying to see its magic. It takes me several minutes of staring at it but slowly, as if fading into view, a shining light seems to radiate from the Kyhosa. It is enveloping me with its magic, passively consuming the waste mana I produce.
Ting! Sense Magic has obtained level 556!
"That is quite the improvement," the Guardian says, taking me out of my own world and back to reality. "With such high potential in your skill, there is one more thing you should be warned about. Sensing skills such as your own are widely known as clairvoyant skills and many others have means of hiding from them, or even attacking you through your clairvoyance. When out in the world, you need to be careful with how you use it, and should only expand its range as far as you need it lest you find unwanted retaliation."
Retaliation through my vision? It is like how in Earth’s mythology some monsters could turn you to stone if you look them in the eyes? That actually sounds dangerous.
"It is a common strategy to use clairvoyance to spy and gather information," the Guardian adds. "Naturally, many found ways to guard against this strategy, and you'll be lucky if some of the worse ones don't immediately kill you."
"So what you are telling me is that I need to level up a resistance skill or use protective equipment?"
It's just like with the Mind Slime. If I'm not careful, I can be attacked through my perception. This means that I need strong mental resistance. I have [Mental Fortitude] and [Calm Mind], but I should also have enchanted items to help resist retaliation. I don't even know where to begin with that, though.
"Yes, you may also want to ask Kayafe about safety measures, or you can try to experiment and discover it yourself.”
"Thank you for your advice, Guardian," I say with a respectful bow.
I return home after talking with the ancient being. I see the entirety of the village long before we arrive, long before it is even visible on the horizon. People go about their day, working their craft, making art; divers swim down to the seafloor in search of elemental gems, or check on Domr traps or search for bigger ones to hunt. We arrive at the docks, and immediately after I get off the boat, I am swarmed by passersby all congratulating me while also bombarding me with questions.
"Alysara! You've had a world notification about you! I always knew you were a genius!"
"Alysara! How did you do it? Can you teach us to do the same?"
"Alysara, congratulations! Do you want to come over for dinner?"
I hate this. It's just like after the superstorm all over again. I want nothing more than to get away from all of these people, to get away from the suffocating wall of bodies. I turn invisible while at the same time summoning my clone, then I muffle my footsteps with a spell and run out of there.
I arrive home, panting. I know if I enter, I'll get more of the same treatment, but I have to return home sometime. The twins are probably too young to know the meaning of a world notification, but my parents do. Welp, I might as well just get it over with.
I open the door and undo my invisibility. With the twins playing outside, it's just Mom and Dad home, working in the shop. They immediately come out, noticing me through their [Sense Mana].
"Alysara, I'm so proud of you!" Mom says, embracing me in a crushing hug.
Dad simply pats my head with a proud smile. I can tell they are trying to tone down their reactions for me. I let them have their moment before gently pushing Mom off me and tell them all about the enhanced version of the skill. I'm going to have to lay low for the next month until everybody gets the hint that I don't want too much attention again.
Surprisingly the Elders never show up; I guess Tusile can sympathize with some of my plights after all.
The Lojyo is a nightmare. With everybody in the village here, I cannot escape, but I don't have to. I am invisible, while my clone is being surrounded by everyone. I don't even have a mind piloting it; I just have it on autopilot, thanking the upgraded intelligence from when the skill evolved into [Create Twin], it's probably the first time I have used it this way. It still can't do anything complex, but simple, vague, and non-promising replies are just fine.
The people with [Sense Mana] can still see my real body, even if it's invisible, but they probably get the hint that I want to be left alone or just assume the clone is piloted by a mind. I am all too thankful for when the Lojyo comes to an end and we all go home.
During the night, when everybody is asleep, I continue looking for more sources of magic. I take a look at my soul, my Class should be... 'applied' to it; there should be some sort of magical framework. I stare at my soul, looking for anything that might stand out. Eventually, I notice a glow on my soul. I can't make it out but there seems to be some form of... structure to it. like a drawing or something, a deliberate order to it.
Ting! Sense Magic has met the requirements for a breakthrough and will continue leveling past level 640!
31st Breakthrough: You've learned to see magical frameworks, this will help you identify and study them.
Ting! Sense Magic has obtained levels 557-559!
As the sun rises and falls, I fill my days with study and experimentation; I hold off on preventative measures against clairvoyance retaliation until I meet with Kayafe again. I even hold off on seeing just how far I can remotely view, just in case there are some monsters out there that can seriously fuck me over. I shrink my perception to only cover my house, and I ignore the rest of the world now that there is no danger currently present... and I may need to get used to this in the future.
I work on a project I've been meaning to make progress with for a while now while my second mind continues exploring my newfound vision. There isn't much else I've discovered, other than that magic items also seem to have a magical framework, and I'm beginning to think that anything that can 'evolve' or upgrade to an improved version of itself has a magical framework. As for what exactly this framework is? I'm trying to figure that out but so far my sight of it has yet to clear up.
I try to make a teleportation device, and after many days two crystals are in front of me. A large one, almost as large as I am, and a small handheld one. The crystals are made with space essence. This one is just one of the dozens of prototypes, none of which work properly.
It turns out that the dungeon waystones and waystone key do indeed work outside of the dungeon, the major problem being its scarcity. However. we cannot use it to enter the dungeon from the outside. The dungeon entrance seems to interfere with any link; both sides of the link must be either in the dungeon or outside of it. I used the dungeon waystone for study, but I don't understand how to replicate it's teleportation; I'll need to find a master space mage to teach me to hopefully copy that mechanism.
Instead, the teleportation crystals teleport something to the other end of the link... which is inside the anchoring crystal. Naturally, this means death for anyone who wants to use the crystal. However, this new prototype should be able to bypass that issue. Being larger, it can hold an enchantment to put the other end of that link into an extradimensional space and deposit a person outside of the crystal. This will, unfortunately, have the side effect of cutting the link, but that can be reformed.
Using the teleportation key, I teleport a small object. The object disappears and reappears next to the teleportation anchor. I jump up with joy; it works! I quickly calm myself; I need to make sure it's safe and efficient for larger objects and longer ranges. Just as importantly, I also need to make sure it's safe for living things.
The next object I teleport is my chair, then my desk; however, that is where the problems start. The desk, being slightly longer than the crystal, didn't end up in one piece.
I sigh and sit down on my bed. Maybe I'm going about this the wrong way. I'm trying to copy the dungeon waystones, but without understanding the whole thing I'm left with just trying to copy the end result. First, the crystals need to have an anchoring enchantment and be built to handle it; just the enchantment alone won't do it. Then I need to store and immediately remove anyone teleporting to the anchor... It's too complicated, and I should have listened to [Inquisitive Perfection]. I still have years to figure this out, so let's start simple: a doorway that connects two points in space via a link.
It takes a month to get a working portal, and the end result requires all of my expertise in [Mana Manipulation], but I do have a working portal. A set of archways, made of space essence metallic mana, made and enchanted like my Diadem. The main reason it took so long to get it working was because of how much time it takes to craft the portals; I also decorated them so as not to neglect my Runalymo nature.
The biggest problem with making the portals work is how much mana it requires to keep running: no one wants the portal to suddenly close while they are halfway through it. The battery I ended up making is the large platform that the portals stand on. It holds a whopping one hundred thousand mana for each side of the portal, and it burns through a lot every second the portal is open. Actually, it's even worse than that, since the mana cost increases drastically with the distance between the portals.
I toss a pencil through the portal archway, watching it come out of the other portal. I continue putting things through it, and it seems that as long as it can fit through the archway, it can be safely teleported. However, what about living things? The portal does not deconstruct you and rebuild you elsewhere, so it shouldn't run into the ‘Ship of Theseus’ problem. There is a good way to test it, and that involves seeing if the body is transported with all of its vitality and soul. If one of the three isn't teleported, then it's a death machine.
Naturally, I use small Domrs for the live test subjects and, according to my observations, it does indeed work safely as intended. No vitality is lost, the soul remains the same, the body is in one piece. In summary, it's perfectly safe to use; the only problem is that it can't change destinations without moving the portal itself. So, in order to make a portal to every island, it's going to need to work off of teleportation hubs for each region. Thankfully, that’s not my problem aside from the sheer number of portals that will be needed: I'll leave the logistics up to the Elders.
Speaking of... It's time to go talk with the Elders yet again and introduce myself to the newest Elder.
