Blade Over Magic

In Theory

The artificial star in Falael’s mana pool wasn’t just good or amazing.

It’s existence was unprecedented.

Not just because of what it could do, but what it represented. Because think about it, for most of their life, Falael was unable to use magic as they pleased due to their subpar mana pool. Something that wasn’t common among elves, or even half-elves. So suddenly, them having more mana than they even knew what to do with was simply insane.

But what was even more shocking about it was how it worked. After all, when Falael had wanted to even form it, they were skeptical because creating a usable construct inside one’s mana core was something that had been tried multiple times in the past to no avail. Yet they succeeded, and their mana quantity issue hadn’t just been rectified, it’s quality had also spiked, while its nature was more in tune with the affinity of starlight than ever before.

It went without saying, but Falael was still exploring the full capabilities of the artificial star, with one of the biggest obstacles being their own body. After all, again, they simply couldn’t handle the full extent of the star.

So, with all of this said, and with how effective it was for Falael, why hadn’t Xander helped Aubrey and Curtis do similar things with their own Mana cores? It seemed like an obvious path of advancement. So why hadn’t he?

Well, the answer was fairly simple.

Xander. Wasn’t. A. Scientist.

Now, don’t get him wrong, Xander isn’t stupid. Even with all the time he spent learning swords, he went through school and even college, studying metallurgy. It’s why he was able to pretty easily procure a watered down version of steel production that was still superior to whatever the people on Tatonia did.

However, as a result, Xander wasn’t as well versed in other fields of study and science.

In Falael’s case, knowledge regarding stars was pretty widespread and common on earth, so it wasn’t hard for him to figure out. Same with the knowledge he’d shared with Aubrey and Curtis previously. The light spectrum and molecular composition were things taught in high-school.

The issue now was what came after, and till now, Xander had never suggested that Aubrey and Curtis do something similar to Falael because he’d been slowly figuring out how to actually pull that off.

Yes, he hadn’t just been focused on his own training, he still had his teammates in mind the whole time.

It took a while, but after lots of theories along with using the bits of information he did know concerning certain scientific fields, he believed that he had more or less come up with effective directions for both of them to follow. And luckily, he’d affirmed and reaffirmed it multiple times.

The only reason he hadn’t brought it forth yet was because they were on an active battlefield and had been busy in the past days.

However, now that they were under house arrest and effectively being forced to stay put from any of the fighting, now was a good time to make even more progress, especially when the demon ants were about to make their appearance.

As such, after everyone had finished eating, they cleared up the center table, creating an empty space where Aubrey and Curtis sat cross-legged.

Mary, Mia, and Falael watched on as Xander deliberated for a few seconds, took a breath, then looked at Curtis first.

He sat down, gave Aubrey a look that said she was next, then addressed the taller boy.

”Alright, Curtis, do you remember how Falael came to create the artificial star in their mana pool?” He asked as a starter. Curtis was silent for a moment, then he nodded.

”They explained that by smashing their mana together hard enough, it would create energy, but they would also prevent it from just exploding. So they needed to create an equilibrium between the two, resulting in the star.” To Curtis, while it wasn’t something he could pull off because he didn’t have the corresponding affinity, it was still a topic that interested him greatly simply due to how it worked.

Hearing his response, Xander nodded.

”Alright, then. Now just to be clear, you and Aubrey aren’t creating stars in your pools. That just won’t work. You can only make something that matches your affinities. So, here’s what we are gonna do. Close your eyes.” Having complete trust in his friend, Curtis closed his eyes, and Xander continued.

”You’re an ice mage, and currently, your ice is tougher and colder because you because you pack together the particles ’after’ you cast a spell, make a construct, etc. However, your mana pool, despite containing ice affinity mana, is like a chaotic room. And that room is filled with people moving around haphazardly, constantly bumping into each other and the walls, and whenever these impacts occur, they release energy. This resulting energy is ’heat’.” As he described this, Curtis focused on his mana pool.

On the surface, it appeared akin to a large container of cold water. And at first glance, it appeared calm, however, when Curtis focused on the individual particles of mana, he discovered that they were constantly moving and bumping against one another, just like Xander had described, and the resulting energy from each of these collisions made the other particles move, bump against each other, and generate more energy, causing the process to rinse and repeat.

’It’s just like he said.’ Curtis nodded.

”I see it.” Xander hummed at that.

”Now, imagine that room of people again. However, rather than them moving haphazardly, I want you to imagine all of them forced to stand next to each other with utterly no space between them in any way, packed so tightly that they can’t even wiggle their fingers, can’t even blink, can’t even breathe. And not just that,” Xander continued.

”Even while packed together, they might still want to move, vibrate, and so on. So I want you to imagine that when they are packed so tightly together, you also ensure that each individual is completely and utterly still, unable to move. If you pull this off, your mana should condense into a permanent flawless lattice. Instead of balancing pressure and explosion like Falael, you are gonna balance crushing weight and absolute stillness, until you mana particles lose the ability to vibrate entirely.” When he finished, Curtis was both awed and amazed.

Aubrey looked on with glittering eyes, Falael tilted their head in thought, while Mary watched with unabashed curiosity. Even Mia, while asleep, was listening.

”... It sounds simple, but what should I expect?” Curtis asked after a moment, and Xander exhaled.

”Well, expect a crushing weight and incredible numbness. That’s what I’m assuming, anyway, seeing as you’re essentially forcing your mana pool to generate something at absolute zero, or close to it.” Hearing this, Curtis gulped. He didn’t quite understand what absolute zero meant, but it sounded a bit ominous.

However, after recalling the various things the group had fought these last few days, then the sight of the things they WERE going to fight in the form of the ants, he took a breath.

After internalizing everything Xander explained, Curtis took a deep breath to calm his racing heart.

Gradually, he drowned out everything, putting his attention on his mana pool entirely.

’Will his nature a Lycan cause any problems?’ Aubrey asked with some concern, using telepathy so as to avoid disturbing his state of concentration.

’Other than his large mana pool making the process take longer, I believe not. But if anything does go awry...’ Xander glanced back at Mia, and to his relief, she gave a thumbs up, meaning she’d step in if something went wrong.

’Fuu, okay. Here we go.’ Curtis muttered to himself, and by controlling his mana pool, he first controlled all of the mana into a tight ball floating in the center.

This process wasn’t particularly stressful or problematic, it was simply the initial part.

The hard part would follow.

His brows furrowed as he began to compress the mana.

It didn’t take long for it to become uncomfortable, but he didn’t stop.

Using his willpower, he compressed, then compressed again, then he compressed further.

And then he compressed again.

The more he compressed his mana, the more his expression tightened. And it didn’t take him long to feel the sensation Xander had described. It felt like a metaphysical weight had suddenly formed in the depths of his soul, and it was unbelievably uncomfortable, bordering on painful.

But still, he did not stop, and eventually, all the mana in his large mana pool had been compressed into a tight ball much smaller than its original size. At this point, Curtis had to tread carefully, as the slightest mistake would make him lose control and cause the mana to burst out, which wouldn’t end well for anyone.

Still, Curtis tried to compress it again, but as soon as he did, he ran into an issue.

No matter how much he tried, the mana refused to condense any further.

He frowned at this, but when he focused on not just the mana, but each individual particle, he quickly realized the issue, and he understood what Xander had been saying.

When he concentrated on each mana particle, he noticed that as he compressed them closer to each other, each individual particle would vibrate faster and faster, as though utterly refusing to interact with the other mana particles.

The more this happened, the harder it became for Curtis to control, and he consequently realized that this was what Xander meant when he said that the particles hitting each other released energy, and this energy was now trying to escape with the vibrating particles.

Realizing that things were getting dangerous, Curtis followed Xander’s consequent advice about ensuring absolute stillness in each particle.

After stabilizing his condition, he attempted just that.

Taking control of the different mana particles, he forced his will on them, doing his best to make them stop vibrating entirely.

And oh. Oh...

The pain that followed was exquisite.