Chapter 598 - Shane's Turn (Patreon)

Hera walked Shane to the house where she was going to call the guide. Despite her friend saying that there was no need for it, the Empress wanted to use her Soundproof Bubble just in case.

"So? Any advice before I start?" Shane asked.

"Not really. I think you will have fun. Do you have your questions ready?"

"I do. I'm going to ask about when the next doorway is going to come through. I know it's a big ask, but I don't think we will ever have enough mana for you to ask Yarnball that," Shane looked back to the house, "Do you think I'm rushing too much? Bonnie seemed to think I should wait."

"Not at all. I know better than anyone how curious we get about this stuff. And it's not like we don't have anything to ask. Also, I agree. I don't think Yarnball can even tell us when a storm will come. That feels more like predicting the future, and it's not something it can do."

"By the way, we're talking a lot about what to do next, but we are just going in circles. Do you have any ideas?"

"Well… it depends on your questions. If we find out that this is going to be short, we should just focus on helping Bonnie and moving to the next room. If we are going to stay here for a while, we might have to train and level up. That way, we are better prepared for the next room," Hera explained, "I also want to check Abyssia. An underwater city sounds amazing, but it's not like we can just go there without a way to breathe underwater."

"Yeah… I'll see if I can find something out about that too," Shane nodded as she entered the house.

"Good luck. Remember, we also have Yarnball if you don't want to waste time with more specific questions."

"That only works if it can give us an answer," Shane smiled and walked to the couch, "Now do your thing and get out of here. We can't be together for this."

Hera nodded and used her Soundproof Bubble around Shane. That way, there wouldn't be any risks. The Empress went back to their house and grabbed a glass of water. All of her blades were currently with her, and she wanted to test something out.

"Lurize, can you change to your weapon form?"

"Of courze, Hera," Lurize transformed into his zweihander form and floated closer to Hera.

"Thanks. I'm going to cast a poison spell. Let me do it on my own. I don't know if using your mana would be harder for me," the Empress grabbed the handle and used a poison mana reinforcement on him. Trying to pay attention to how the mana behaved around the weapon. It's been a while since she analyzed that, and right now, her mana was like a plastic sheet covering the blade. But it was flimsy and uneven. As she moved Lurize from side to side, the mana changed its shape as if it was being dragged by the air resistance. These changes were not something that could be seen by the naked eye. Hera only could see it herself because it was her mana, and it was like she was looking at that through a magnifying glass.

Thinking for a moment, she tried to make the mana more steady, more solid. Poison mana should be like thousands of small needles, or at least that's how she remembered. Yet, this version was smooth. Even when she tried to change it, the shape returned to that form quickly, like it was a rubber band that someone stretched and let go of.

"Lurize, are you controlling this mana in any way?"

'I'm not. This is how the mana behaves when you use that spell on me.'

"But there is something wrong. How can I make this more… elemental?" Hera stopped for a moment and called Core over, "Can I try with you? I know fire mana is not exactly what you use, but it might be close enough."

'I don't think so. Fire mana is wild, like, well… fire. Lava mana is calmer, like coal that is burning red. Strong and intense but contained,' Core explained.

"I see… then I guess I should try to learn more types of mana that match what you guys do," after getting the title, Hera could see the mana of her blades. As interesting as that was, it also meant that when she used a spell that used a different type of mana, there would be a lot of interference as the mana tried to change to match the blade's.

"I think that Frost or Dao would be the best options for that. Everyone else is a bit more… conceptual, and it might work better if you are trying with something that you can visualize," Nimbus suggested.

"I was actually thinking more about Dao and Core since they are the only ones with an actual active skill that matches their element. Or you, but doing that with a titled blade might be even more complicated," Hera explained.

"I agree. I might not be as helpful as one of the others. I do feel like the way I use mana and the way the other court members use it is quite different," Nimbus nodded.

"Ok then. Dao. Let's go outside. I want to see you using your spell a few times, ok?"

'Of course, Hera. But it would be better to warn your friends about this. So they won't get spooked by the lightning.'

"That's a good call," Hera took a moment to tell her party about her plan. She would be sending Core's skill to the sky. That way, nothing should be affected by it. Bonnie and Helena got interested in what she was doing and decided to watch her and try to help. It would be somewhat hard since neither of them was a conceptual mage, but their insight could also prove to be valuable.

When they were ready, Dao activated the chain lightning spell aiming at the sky. For a moment, it illuminated the dark city before the electricity vanished into the night. The first cast only served to show Hera the trajectory of the mana. The second wasn't that much different, but after the third cast, she noticed something that eluded her so far. Hera always imagined that lightning mana would work just like actual lightning. An electric current chasing after the positive charge. However, she never considered how a spell would find the target. Would it create a large amount of positively charged particles on the destination before creating the lightning itself? By looking at Dao's spell, she realized that her initial idea was completely wrong. The mana wasn't chasing anything but growing at an extremely high speed, as if it was a timelapse of a tree across the centuries.

Unfortunately, this was everything she could find from that cast, and it took another five until the next breakthrough. The Empress was finally able to see the mana magnified and she was shocked by her discovery. The lighting wasn't just a simple strand that grew but a connection of snowflake-like fractals, expanding and growing. Repeating its shape again and again while focusing its direction.

That made her feel somewhat confident that she could create a lightning spell. Just as she started gathering mana to make her first attempt, Shane came out of the neighbor's house.

"Hey, what are you doing? I kept hearing the noise from inside there."

"I'm trying to figure out some lightning spells. Actually, I'm trying to figure out how to make my mana reinforcement do more than what it does, but to do that, I need to test the types of mana that my blades use. Otherwise, there is too much interference for me to understand."

"I see… That's an interesting idea. Have you been curing the mana?" Shane asked.

"Have I been what now?" Hera thought Shane was speaking a different language for a moment.

"Curing the mana. I don't know if there is a better term for that, but you know when you work with resin? You need to heat it up later to make it solid. It's the same principle. When you are covering something in mana, if you cure it, the mana will change its behavior."

"And how do I do that?" Hera asked.

"It varies depending on the type of mana. Some you need to change the temperature, while others just use the same type of mana as acupuncture needles. It's really weird. If you have the actual element you want to cure, let me know, and I can see if the legacy can give some ideas."

"Your legacy can do that?" Bonnie asked.

"Yep, that's how I found out about the whole curing thing. But it takes time to do that on your own. That's why people should only use that method when studying. When you unlock the spell you want, just use the system. It's better," Shane smiled.

"Hang on. You are saying that each type of mana can be cured by a specific thing, right? Is that the basis of your legacy?" Helena asked.

"Not the basis, but it's part of it. Also, my legacy lets me cure any type of mana with any type of mana. If I already know what the combination does, the curing process is instant," Shane explained, "Now, can we go inside? I have some things to talk about with everyone."

"Sure, just give me a moment," Hera pulled up her tablet and recorded a small audio file with her explaining to herself her idea about how to use lightning spells.

After a couple of minutes, everyone was in the living room, sitting on the couch and chairs, with Shane standing in the middle to tell everyone her discoveries.

"Ok. I have news," Shane started.

"Good or bad news?" Blue asked,

"I honestly don't know," Shane sighed, "For starters. The doorways only show up when it rains, and the next time it will rain here will be in at least three months, potentially six or even more. Apparently, we came here in the last storm of the rainy season, and now it will be a drought for a while."

"What? That doesn't make any sense. We are in the middle of the ocean. There is water everywhere. There is no reason why it wouldn't rain," Bonnie gasped.

"I know, but that's the information I got. Then again, it's not a guarantee. Weather is fickle, so it's hard to predict accurately. And to be clear, the thing Hera and I do is not like seeing into the future. We can only get concrete information about current or past things," Shane added.

"Ok… I think we would be able to see heavy clouds forming here anyway," Alex nodded, but she then turned back to Shane, "Do you know if the doorways always show up in the same place?"

"I do, and they don't. Well… sort of. The doorways will always show up close to the Flotilla. That's the name of the raft. It can be in any corner of the boat, but they will be close enough that anyone should be able to swim to it. The next information is that the next doorway should lead us to a room in the 11th layer. So it will be less risky. Oh, and we will need to go underwater to get to the doorway. Don't ask me why. That's just the information I got."

Everyone felt conflicted about that. On the one hand, they would have a chance to go to a safer place. On the other, they would stay here for a while.

"I also found out a little bit about Abyssia. The raft should have some gear that can help us breathe underwater, but we shouldn't go there just yet. It seems like there are a lot of monsters down there, and we should try to get a bit stronger before heading in that direction."

"So we just need to train before going there?" Hera asked.

"Sort of. Basically, the information I got was that if we want to go to Abyssia, we should go in a group with everyone. The sea is filled with slimes, apparently."

That sent a shiver down everyone's spine. But one way or the other, they had enough information to make some plans in this place. It was just a shame that they had no option but to wait for the rain. Then again, maybe Blue could make another storm and bring the doorway with it. And even if she didn't, three months wouldn't be such a long time.