MMORPG: Rise of the Primordial Godsmith

“Huu…”

Letting out a soft exhale as he opened his eyes, Ataraxia glanced at his other self for a bit before going over the steps he needed to take in order to upgrade his mana circuit to its final stage.

‘So far, the past six stages have just been an extension of what I’ve done thus far,’ thought the young man to himself, a satisfied smile creeping up onto his lips.

‘Though it was somewhat difficult for me to transfer the energy that was circulated through the first set, I was eventually able to move it to the second set of acupoints after a dozen tries.’

As these words lingered in his mind, Ataraxia briefly thought back to how the energy coursing through the acupoints and meridians he opened underwent great improvement the further he went with his mana circuit.

In fact, with the circulated energy being replaced with True Arcana, the improvement brought about by each subsequent stage was heightened even further.

By the time he reached the 9th Stage of his circuit with True Arcana, the young man could not help but feel like the energy contained within it had reached a point where even the slightest touch would cause it to erupt in an instant.

Fortunately, that feeling only lingered for a brief moment, instead being replaced with a feeling of dominance and grandeur that made Ataraxia think he was wielding a form of mana that came after Arcana.

‘In a way, I can already consider the skill as an ultimate buff I could tap into at any time,’ muttered the young man to himself as he let out a soft chuckle.

‘After all, not only does it already boost the efficacy of my spells by over 50%, it already reduces both the cost and cooldown of my spells by over 25%.’

‘…But what if I stacked all of the other buffs on top of it?’ he thought soon after, a hint of anticipation appearing on his face. ‘What kind of firepower would I be able to unleash?’

‘…And what if I stacked [Arcane Authority] on top of that?’

‘…’

‘…Calm down, me.’ Realizing that his train of thought had completely gone off the rails, Ataraxia swiftly reined in his imagination as he spent a bit of time gathering his bearings. ‘The best is yet to come.’

Letting out a long exhale after that, he then proceeded to do the task he gave himself at the very start.

…Which was to push his mana circuit to its final stage.

Whoosh!

Sending a few wisps of True Arcana to the lowest set of acupoints, the young man willed the energy to circulate through all of them, only to then move the energy towards the meridian adjacent to the set.

After having the energy circulate through the lowest set of acupoints and meridians three times in a row, Ataraxia then willed the energy to move onto the next set of acupoints and meridians, repeating the movements he had just done once more.

Once he was done with that, he then moved the wisps of True Arcana towards the final set of acupoints and meridians he had opened, feeling a hint of pressure as he got closer and closer to achieving success.

‘After having the energy circulate through the highest set three more times, I would need to move the energy back down to the lowest set,’ muttered the young man to himself as he focused all of his attention towards the circulation of energy happening within him.

‘Once the energy starts moving on its own through the entire circuit after that, then it won’t be long until I form a star within my body, which would mean that I’ve pushed the circuit to its final stage.’

‘However, if it doesn’t…’

Feeling more pressure as he began to look at his current situation with pessimism, Ataraxia forced himself to calm down as he had the wisps of True Arcana circle around the final set of acupoints and meridians one more time.

After watching it go around the final set one last time, the young man let out a long exhale as he willed the energy to slowly move towards the first acupoint he had opened through the mana circuit.

Of course, with how strong the energy had gotten after circling through three sets of acupoints and meridians a total of nine times, it went without saying that it took a lot of his willpower just to move the energy closer.

Thankfully, after continuously fighting against the innate resistance the energy had gained throughout its journey, the wisps of True Arcana had finally acquiesced to his whims, entering the first acupoint as it took its first step towards its unending journey.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Within a matter of seconds, the empowered wisps of energy began to move through the circuit at increasing speeds, eventually reaching a point where the circuit had been completed in half the time it took Ataraxia to move the energy on his own.

Then, as more time passed, the time the energy took to circle around the circuit grew shorter and shorter.

A minute…

Half a minute…

15 seconds…

5 seconds…

At some point, the wisps of True Arcana began to cover the entire circuit in just a couple of seconds, giving Ataraxia the feeling that he had turned into a ticking time bomb just waiting to burst.

Yet, just as the energy had seemingly reached its tipping point…

Swoosh!

All of a sudden, the energy accumulated within the wisps of True Arcana began to condense towards a spot away from all of the acupoints and meridians that had been opened.

Feeling an immense sense of relief wash over him the moment that happened, Ataraxia intently watched as the collected energy condensed even further, taking on the form of a three-dimensional four-pointed star.

‘The final stage…’

Curious as to how the circuit would work now that he had upgraded it to its final stage, Ataraxia noticed that, while the energy had condensed into a star, the wisps of True Arcana that previously covered the circuit disappeared without a trace.

Wondering if he needed to send a few wisps of energy to bring the circuit back to its life, the young man soon obtained his answer as he watched the star send a few bits of its energy towards the lowest set of acupoints, only for the circuit to start doing its thing.

Seeing that part of the energy obtained at the end of the circuit was sent back to the very start, the young man soon understood what the circuit meant by not needing to actively circulate energy around it anymore.

‘…And I guess that’s that, then.’