Chapter 105 - A More Complete Arsenal

Chapter 105: 105 - A More Complete Arsenal

Adrien returned to the clearing the following morning with Umbral Root already manifested in one hand.

He had spent most of the previous day experimenting with [Thunder Needle], changing its compression, width and mana consumption until he had a much better idea of what the spell could do. Today, he wasn’t interested in learning anything new.

He wanted to understand where it fit among everything he already had.

Adrien stopped near the center of the clearing and brought up his Status, ignoring everything except his spells.

[Zap | 1 Star]

[Frost Lance | 1 Star]

[Ice Wall | 2 Stars]

[Veil of Mist | 2 Stars]

[Thunder Needle | 2 Stars]

[Winter’s Reach | 4 Stars]

[Lightning Bolt | 6 Stars]

Seven spells.

It wasn’t an enormous collection, especially compared to experienced mages who had spent decades building their arsenals, but Adrien had learned them in a ridiculously short amount of time, and each one served a different purpose.

[Zap] was almost useless beyond arm’s reach, but that wasn’t what it was for. It interrupted the body for roughly one second and had already won him a duel because of it.

[Frost Lance] remained his most versatile spell. Cheap, simple, fast enough, and something he could modify without much effort. He could use it at range, freeze the ground, create a temporary blade, bombard an area or simply overwhelm an opponent through numbers.

[Ice Wall] gave him immediate defence and control over terrain.

[Veil of Mist] removed vision, which became considerably more useful when Adrien himself didn’t rely entirely on sight.

[Winter’s Reach] controlled an entire area and strengthened everything he did with Frost inside it.

Then there was [Lightning Bolt].

It was easily the most destructive spell Adrien possessed, but it was also Six Stars. Even with Bottomless Core making mana itself almost irrelevant, forming a spell that complex still required far more concentration and time than anything below it.

Using Lightning Bolt against every opponent would be the magical equivalent of breaking down a door with siege equipment.

Thunder Needle filled the missing space.

Fast. Precise. Cheap. Extremely good at putting a small amount of damage exactly where Adrien wanted it.

"Let’s see how fast."

Adrien raised Umbral Root.

[Thunder Needle]

A thin line of Lightning mana compressed at the tip of the staff and disappeared almost immediately with a sharp crack.

The metal plate fifty paces away gained another narrow hole through its center.

Adrien repeated the spell.

Then again.

By the tenth attempt, he had stopped waiting for the first spell to fully disappear from his attention before beginning the next. The shaping process was considerably shorter than Lightning Bolt, and because he had spent the previous day simplifying parts of the structure, it could become even faster if he accepted slightly less penetration.

At combat distance, it was close to an immediate response.

Lightning Bolt required preparation.

Thunder Needle only required a target.

Adrien turned toward the collection of practice materials he had prepared before coming outside. Several thick wooden boards had been placed one behind another, followed by a slab of stone. Behind all of them sat a small metal target.

From where Adrien stood, he couldn’t see it.

That was deliberate.

He closed his eyes.

Absolute Mana Sense expanded through the clearing.

The spell did not give him normal sight. He couldn’t suddenly see the shape painted on the metal target or the scratches across its surface. What it gave him was something much more useful.

Mana.

The faint amount inside the metal itself. The residue left from previous spells. The movement of mana through every enchanted object around him.

Adrien adjusted the angle of Umbral Root by less than an inch.

[Thunder Needle]

The projectile crossed the clearing.

It passed through the first wooden board, then the second and third. The stone behind them slowed it, but not enough to stop it.

A sharp metallic sound came from the other side.

Adrien walked over and removed the obstacles one at a time.

The metal target had a hole almost perfectly through its center.

’Useful.’

He could already imagine what the same principle meant against a living target.

Absolute Mana Sense allowed him to perceive the movement and density of mana inside another person’s body. He could notice where mana circulated more heavily, where an Item was concentrated, where protection weakened or where a Core sat beneath everything else.

With enough familiarity, he wouldn’t necessarily need to see the exact point he was attacking.

A shield could block his eyes.

A wall could block his eyes.

Mist could block his eyes.

None of those things necessarily blocked Absolute Mana Sense.

Adrien returned to his position and changed the next exercise.

One Thunder Needle appeared over Umbral Root.

Then a second formed beside it.

The first remained stable.

Adrien added a third.

The difference from Frost Lance became obvious immediately. A Frost Lance required shaping and direction, but once formed, its structure was simple enough that maintaining many at the same time barely demanded individual attention.

Thunder Needle was different.

Every projectile depended on heavy compression. The width had to remain extremely narrow, the mana stable, and the structure precise enough that the projectile didn’t lose the entire quality that made it useful.

Adrien formed a fourth.

Then a fifth.

Five narrow concentrations of Lightning mana hovered around him, each pointing toward a different target.

Adrien released them together.

Five cracks almost overlapped.

Four struck exactly where intended.

The fifth landed several inches to the side.

Adrien repeated the process.

This time he reached six.

The moment the sixth stabilized, he could feel the difference. Nothing was collapsing and he wasn’t struggling to provide mana, but maintaining the compression of six separate projectiles while also calculating six trajectories required considerably more control than creating six Frost Lances.

He fired.

Three hit perfectly.

Two were slightly off.

The final one missed the small target entirely and buried itself in the wooden post beside it.

Adrien lowered Umbral Root.

’Hm, one is missing when I use six.’

He tried again with five and found the result noticeably cleaner. Four perfect impacts and one only slightly misplaced.

That gave him a useful limit.

Not a permanent one. His control would improve, the spell would gain mastery, and Absolute Comprehension would probably help him refine the structure further.

For now, however, five was where accuracy remained reliable.

And reliability mattered more than showing that he could keep another projectile floating in the air.

Adrien dismissed the remaining Lightning mana and looked across the clearing.

His arsenal was beginning to make sense.

Zap for interruption at close range.

Frost Lance for almost everything else.

Ice Wall for defence and controlling movement.

Veil of Mist for removing an opponent’s vision.

Winter’s Reach when he needed to control an entire battlefield.

Lightning Bolt when something simply needed to be destroyed.

And now Thunder Needle for the space between them. A spell fast enough to respond immediately, cheap enough to use repeatedly and precise enough to attack places his other spells weren’t designed to reach.

Adrien raised Umbral Root one final time, and five Thunder Needles formed around him in a controlled line.

He released them together.

Five sharp cracks crossed the clearing, followed almost immediately by five impacts.

This time, every one of them landed exactly where he wanted.

Adrien lowered the staff and looked over the damaged targets for a few seconds before turning back toward Greymoor.

Five was enough for now.

Tomorrow, he could try six again.