Chapter 10: Tier 1

The day had finally arrived. Julius had spent countless hours accumulating as much mana as he could into himself. It was honestly the only slightly boring part of his training. There wasn’t much variety he could do with it. He could try different methods of gathering mana, but most were less efficient than his usual technique. It didn’t make sense to constantly try new techniques if they took more than twice as long to absorb the same amount.

Julius did try to find ways to further compress his mana before he made his core. He didn’t figure anything out, even after months of extensive testing and experimenting. He believed that liquid was the only state he would reach unless he wanted to spend another few years or decades trying to see if it was possible.

At this point, liquid mana filled the entire space. He believed he could’ve done it yesterday, but he wanted to see if he could pack in any more beforehand and go at it with a fresh mind.

Edwin had already shared the steps he was supposed to take to form his core with him. The most important thing was the intent. Julius needed to imagine all the mana merging with his body and soul. Right now, it was a mass of mana that was stored separately. What he wanted was for the mana to become a part of him, so that he could generate mana of his own.

Julius was used to compressing the mana already inside him. The only difference now is that he needed to do the same to the shell surrounding the mana. The barrier that kept the mana contained needed to become smaller. Julius’s main concern was that he had already compressed the mana until he couldn’t anymore, so he didn’t know what was going to happen. Logic says that since he was compressing what held the mana, it would compress the mana inside of it as well.

Despite that, Julius had a feeling that wasn’t how it worked. The mana inside of him wasn’t actually contained within a physical barrier; it was just the easiest way that he was able to comprehend it. Who knows, there might be an interesting result after he creates his core.

Regardless, Julius sat down and began the process. He envisioned the barrier around his mana shrinking. He wanted it to change into a sphere. It was the natural shape of celestial objects like planets, moons, and stars. It was also easier to mentally envision.

For what seemed to be forever, Julius concentrated on compressing it into a smaller shape. He didn’t make any progress, no matter how hard he tried. Maybe, compressing the mana itself beforehand wasn’t a good idea, he thought to himself. Too late now, what’s done is done. He didn’t have the time or the focus to be worrying about what he should’ve done. He just needed to focus on the task at hand.

Even with his improved mana manipulation, he couldn’t generate enough force for it to compact together. Realizing that he was just wasting energy, he took a step back and thought about what he could do differently.

For a long time, Julius just sat there, contemplating his options. Then he remembered Edwin saying intent was the most crucial aspect, so maybe his intent, or rather, his mental image of the process, was wrong.

There was something he had to change. There wasn’t enough force from the outside to compress it. That was the main issue.

Wait, outside. There isn’t enough force from the outside, but what about the inside?

Julius was wondering whether he could use the same vortex method. He used a vortex to bring mana inside of him, but if he used it again, there would be nowhere for the mana to go. He didn’t want to remove the mana; he just wanted to compress it. So that idea was out.

But maybe he was onto something. He needed an internal force that simultaneously pulled the barrier into itself while smashing it from the outside to make it denser. The first thing that popped into his head was how gravity pulled various gases and particles into a star.

Okay, he would use the image of gravity to act on the inside while he compressed it from the outside. Deciding on how he wanted to do it, he settled down and got to work.

It was the same as before, just struggling to condense it, but with nothing happening. However, after some time had passed, he couldn’t keep it up anymore and had to take a break. Taking a step back again, he looked at his mana. It was a beautiful combination of every color, sparkling like a rainbow lantern in the middle of the night. It was–

Wait a moment. It was smaller. Call me crazy, but I think it is actually smaller.

He had spent several hours each day meditating, observing it. So he had a good idea of what it normally looked like. But right now, he could swear it looked just a hair smaller than usual.

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Julius didn’t care that he might be seeing things. This was the best opportunity yet. He immediately jumped back into it and continued. This time, he wasn’t going to stop until he formed his core. His entire soul struggled. It was like pushing a house-sized boulder up a hill. But with a supreme will, he commanded it to condense. He wasn’t giving it an option anymore. He wasn’t stopping until he accomplished forming his core. Julius wouldn’t be denied.

Suddenly, Julius felt the slightest give. Just the most subtle of movements.

Noticing it was ever so slowly condensing, he redoubled his effort. He was squeezing every ounce of strength from his will as much as possible. All he cared about was forming his core; there was nothing else distracting him.

It steadily picked up pace. It was no longer crawling and was continuing to accelerate. The boulder no longer felt like he was pushing it uphill. It was as if he had gotten over the crest, and now it was gaining momentum on the way down.

It was scary. Julius could feel the force behind it. It was spreading throughout his body, suffusing his flesh with sheer power. He was becoming one with mana, but he didn’t know if his body could take this amount of energy.