18 18 A Turn Never Taken (1/2)

Donis was laying in his bed, wrapped up in his blanket on this chilly evening. It was early Warrus, which is what the people of Erazar called the winter season, and the land had began taking a slightly lighter hue with splotches of white painting the scenery. He had been deep in thought for a while at this point, wondering whether or not the [System] will give him any new quests after he chooses his upgrades.

It didn't give him anything for learning his first offensive spell from the Archmage, which turned out to be nothing more than a binding spell.

-[Ethereal Grip] –

[Intermediate] –

[Cost: 115MP] –

Etheric tendrils invade the body of the target, overcharging the nerves and neurons causing instability and a sense of doom in the target. Can then be re-used to forcefully tense the targets body, causing them to be unable to do any movement until the spell is released.

He'd been quietly practicing skills again for months, achieving the half way point in both his [Basic Mana Control] and [Basic Mana Emission]. He had reached that point already with the [Basic Mana Control], but didn't know what to choose so he left it until they both hit that point.

He would spend his days, from morning til night, practicing what little he knew about the intricacies of spells. He would try and lift heavier and heavier objects, eventually lifting a 1KG bag using his mana in key points of the bag to not overuse the amount of mana used. He would change the colour of his mana inside and outside, increasing the costs but also increasing the [EXP] gain.

He spent months of sweat and headaches changing the properties of his mana to be more solid, hotter, colder, thicker, softer, more viscous and so on and so forth. He practiced diligently in every conceivable way, trying to find the absolute perfect way of casting each and every little thing he did, just so he would get more ability [EXP].

Donis had no way of knowing, but his [Serene Mana] title was the only reason he was able to continuously cast spells without break like that. Normally mages would have to take hours to cast again after expending all of their mana, for the mental strain would break their will and concentration enough to make the spell fail.

Eventually, it all came to fruition.

Tonight the moment to inspect and choose his options came. He first opened up [Basic Mana Control] and the [System] spoke once more.

-[Basic Mana Control] has Reached the Halfway Point. The Options it can Upgrade to are as Follows.

[Advanced Mana Control],

[Mana Finesse],

[Elemental Mana Control],

[Etheric Mana Control],

[Void Mana Control].

Which Does the [User] Choose-

[Advanced Mana Control]: Allows the [User] to further refine the control over the mana in their bodies, and which surrounds them. Opens up the path for further non-system approved methods.

[Mana Finesse]: Allows the [User] to further refine the control over their mana to the point where using spells or abilities will cause them no mental strain, nor will it cause any fatigue. All spells will have their Accumulation Time reduced by (30%).

-Accumulation Time is the time required to gather the mana, convert it, will it, and use it before a spell is shot out or used.

[Elemental Mana Control]: Allows the [User] to upgrade their control over Elementally charged Mana. Also allows the [User] to infuse his abilities with Elemental power. This also allows the [User] to tap into Elemental world energy to supplement their mana pool, power, and longevity. Allows interaction with Elemental Spirits.

[Etheric Mana Control]: Allows the [User] to upgrade their control over Ethereally charged Mana. Also allows the [User] to infuse his abilities with Etheric power. This also allows the [User] to tap into Ethereal Conjuring, and Spirit Melding/Bending. Time is now able to be interacted with.

[Void Mana Control]: Allows the [User] to upgrade their control over Void-filled-Mana. Also allows the [User] to infuse his abilities with Void power. This also allows the user to tap into Void pockets and begin to interact with space.

'Holy shit. These are not the upgrades I would have imagined at the half way point. The last time the system gave me the ever so broken [Ocular Inspection], I wonder if these are on the same level. Although reading over all of these, I'm left with even more doubts. While [Mana Finesse] sounds insanely tempting, the ease of control over an entire school of magic is even more tempting because they seem to come with other benefits. Like, what are pocket dimensions, or what does interacting with time even really mean. They don't seem to be simple upgrades,' thought Donis.