Chapter 218 - Mana Convergence*

Edward POV

“Ghhh…”

Air filled my lungs as I woke up after an unknown amount of time.

My heart raced, and sweat covered my body. I forced myself to lie still and take deep breaths, trying to bring my heart rate under control.

As my heartbeat slowly steadied, I became more aware of my body.

Sadly, with that awareness came pain.

It radiated throughout my entire body.

It was then that I realized that, just as during the grand beast tide, I had once again lost consciousness after a large battle. At least this time, I had managed to stay awake until my body was dragged into the safety of the reinforcement cart.

Then flashes of the battle returned.

Toward the end, I had been in a trance-like state in which my body moved without conscious thought. Now, those images were returning to me one after another.

Even I was surprised by how fast I had moved, how quickly my body had reacted, and how much power I had generated with my mana-reinforced spear attacks.

Moreover, it felt as though the time and mana required to use my mana techniques had also been reduced during the battle.

If not for that, I would never have been able to create such a large mana sphere and destabilize the mana cannon’s attack.

Once the pain subsided a little and my head stopped spinning, I started looking around, only to realize that I was lying on one of the beds inside Velkar’s infirmary.

Long lines of beds stood along both walls, and every one of them was currently occupied by a patient.

It looked like I had woken up in the middle of the night. The biggest indication was that it was completely dark outside, with stars visible through the window in front of me.

But there was another sign.

It was extremely quiet.

While the infirmary experienced the least amount of chaos after a war had been won, even then, it was never this quiet unless it was very late at night.

Given that even a small twitch of my leg sent pain through my body, walking out of here was almost impossible.

So I closed my eyes and analyzed the condition of my body.

More importantly, I tried to understand why my mana reserves were still less than one-tenth full, even after I had been unconscious for some time.

As I moved the small amount of mana present in my body, I found both the injuries I had suffered and the reason behind my low mana reserves.

The chaotic ball of mana from the mana cannon had left deep wounds all over my body, with the two largest on my chest. One of the wounds ran from my right shoulder toward my heart. The other started just below it and continued in an almost straight line down to my left thigh.

Moreover, that same chaotic mana had entered my mana nodes, injuring all seven of them.

But the reason for my low mana reserves was not the damage to my mana nodes.

Instead, it was a thin layer of silver liquid coating the walls of my mana nodes and covering my wounds.

From its color alone, I knew that it was Senior Lieutenant Caeso’s doing.

Yet there was only a small amount of his mana inside it.

Instead, the silver liquid was taking any mana I recovered above a certain limit, using it to amplify the healing effects of the herbs tied over my wounds, and then directing that energy toward my injuries.

It was healing them in sequence, starting with the most critical areas.

Once I was satisfied and relieved that I would not need to manually guide my mana to speed up my recovery, I had nothing else to do.

For a few seconds, I tried to go back to sleep.

But then fear assaulted me.

What had happened to my squad?

Were they all safe?

How bad were their injuries?

After all, Garran, Kael, and Varric had been ahead of me, which meant they had been even closer to the ball of mana than I was.

After some time, I gave up on the idea of sleeping.

Instead, I opened my status page.

+97200 XP

37,000 XP – Frontal assault on the enemy, killing multiple higher-tier enemies and guiding the formation during the assault

50,000 XP – Leading more than 150 soldiers in battle for nine more days

10,200 XP – Saving essential supplies that ended the siege

Name: Edward

Class: Battlefield Coordinator

Rank: Initiate (T2)

Level: 50 / 50

Elemental Affinity: 0.1% Wind

Mana Cultivation: Tier 2 (85.5/100)

Mana Nodes: 6 / 7

Adept Class Trial Available

Find a secure location to undergo your class trial. Any excess experience will be assigned to your class level after completing the trial.

Physical Attributes

Constitution: 87.9 → 96.9

Strength: 72.4 → 81.4

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Agility: 64.2 → 70.2

Spiritual Attributes

Intelligence: 137.6 → 163.6

Wisdom: 117.6 → 142.4

Willpower: 110.6 → 131.1

HP: 400 / 969

HP Regen: 248.5 per day

MP: 500 / 5541

MP Regen: 474.8 per hour

Class Skills

[Operational Cognition (A)] – Level 72 → 100*

[Unbroken Stride (UC)] – Level 50*

[Flowing Spear Style (UC)] – Level 50*

[Perceptive Instinct (UC)] – Level 50*

[Adaptive Vital Restoration (A)] – Level 12 → 22

General Skills

[Battlefield Command (UC)] – Level 50*

[Triage Ward (UC)] – Level 50*

[Rune Analysis (UC)] – Level 50*

[Fortification Planner (UC)] – Level 42 → 50*

[Logistics Routecraft (UC)] – Level 47 → 50*

[Mana Manipulation (A)] – Level 57 → 100*

[Mana Reinforcement (UC)] – Level 50*

I was extremely happy with what I had accomplished.

I had finally reached the threshold of my Initiate-level class.

Nine days of fighting, followed by my participation in one of the most brutal frontal assaults, should have earned me nearly one hundred thousand XP, and it looked like they had. Therefore, gaining six levels in my class did not come as much of a surprise.

And with my class now at its peak, I no longer had to hold back on my mana cultivation.

With one proper meditation session, I should be able to clear my seventh node completely and reach Tier-3 in cultivation.

Similarly, gaining forty-three levels in [Mana Manipulation (A)] might have seemed excessive, but during that time, I had developed mana whips and spearhead-shaped mana arcs, which I planned to call Mana Darts from then on.

When combined with the mana manipulation I had performed in a trance-like state—instinctively creating small mana shields and releasing sharp, precise mana arcs—those developments should have pushed [Mana Manipulation (A)] to its limit.

But gaining levels in my class and skills paled in comparison to the excitement I felt when I saw the two skill-upgrade notifications waiting for me.

I opened the one I had been working toward for almost a year.

I had finally created my first Rare skill.

And I had done it without anyone’s help.

[Flowing Spear Style (UC)] → [Mana Convergence Style (R)]

[Mana Convergence Style (R)]

Type: Integrated Mana Combat Style

Associated Attributes: Intelligence, Willpower, Wisdom, Agility, Strength, Constitution

A combat style born from the convergence of internal mana reinforcement, external mana manipulation, weapon technique, and movement into a single unified system.

The style grants exceptional control over mana both within and outside the body.

Internally, the user can direct mana with extreme precision, reinforcing only the muscles, joints, tendons, and movements required at a given moment. This allows rapid acceleration, enhanced reflexes, greater striking force, improved balance, and more efficient use of physical strength while reducing unnecessary mana expenditure.

Externally, the user can shape and control mana with significantly greater speed and precision, allowing techniques such as Mana Shield, Mana Arc, Mana Whip, and other free-mana constructs to be formed, altered, and deployed during active combat with minimal interruption.

The true strength of [Mana Convergence Style (R)] lies in simultaneous execution. The user can reinforce the body, accelerate movement, enhance a spear strike, maintain a defensive mana construct, and prepare an external mana attack within the same sequence of motion.

At higher mastery, these actions begin to occur almost instinctively, allowing the user to respond to changing battlefield conditions without consciously separating physical movement from mana control.

If I had not been in so much pain, I would have started dancing inside the infirmary.

Smiling from ear to ear, I stared at the skill for some time, rereading it several times.

It was perfect.

The skill worked exactly as I had hoped it would.

With this, I was confident that I could hold my own against any Tier-3 in my squad. I might even be able to give someone with skills like Julius’s a tough fight.

With mana spells, quick reflexes and movements, and a higher degree of control over my internal mana, I would be a beast in one-on-one fights. And while maintaining such a state would be highly mana-intensive, my high mana capacity should allow me to maintain it for at least a few minutes.

Once I was done admiring my new skill and imagining myself beating up Julius with it, I finally looked at the next notification.

[Perceptive Instinct (UC)] → [Battlefield Perception (A)]

[Battlefield Perception (A)]

Type: Advanced Perception / Battlefield Awareness

Associated Attributes: Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom, Willpower

After prolonged battlefield exposure, continuous mana sensing, and repeated survival in chaotic combat, the user has gained continuous awareness of mana-bearing entities, active mana techniques, major disturbances, and sudden changes occurring throughout the field.

Individual signatures can still be examined for relative strength, dominant mana characteristics, and emotional or hostile fluctuations, but the skill is optimized for maintaining awareness of numerous targets in a large area simultaneously.

Prolonged exposure to danger has also refined the user’s instincts beyond mana perception. Even when an enemy has little mana, suppresses their presence, or when the threat itself carries no mana, subtle changes in movement, sound, pressure, positioning, killing intent, and battlefield rhythm can trigger an instinctive sense of danger.

This danger sense does not reveal the exact source or nature of a threat. Instead, it warns the user when something within or near the perception field presents an immediate or abnormal danger, allowing the user to react before fully understanding what caused the warning.

This skill upgrade was unexpected.

I had not actively tried to upgrade [Perceptive Instinct (UC)]. Moreover, it was a qualitative upgrade of the skill, which meant that [Perceptive Instinct (UC)] had not combined with any other skill.

Rather, the skill itself had evolved into something better.

I selected the skill after giving it some thought.

Before I could dwell any further on my new status, sounds coming from outside distracted me.

Opening my eyes, I looked out the window.

The dark sky had turned pale blue, indicating that it was already early morning.

When I turned toward the door, I saw Peter, Barry, Leif, Kael, Varric, and Garran standing there, making me sigh in relief.

It looked like my squad had survived.

Moreover, they were in much better shape than I had feared.

“Looks like the hero of the Velkar siege is finally awake,” Barry commented as soon as our eyes met.

“I am afraid the Captain might declare another night of celebration after receiving this news,” Leif added, nodding toward Barry.

“What…”

Before I could say anything else, I felt an extreme dryness in my throat.

After clearing my throat a few times, I continued.

“What hero?”

“Well, a lot of people are saying that you are a hero and a savior,” Peter explained. “Especially after they saw the pale blue bubble expanding from you and stopping the ball of chaotic mana from hitting the mana crystal carriage, effectively ending the siege.”

After hearing the last part of Peter’s explanation, heat rose to my face.

Up until now, I had thought that the ball of mana had been aimed at my unit.

I had been low on mana at the time, forcing me to limit my sensing capabilities. Combined with the size and speed of the attack, that had made it difficult for me to judge the ball’s exact trajectory.

And I was not sure what I would have done if I had known that my unit was not the intended target.

Desperately wanting to change the subject, I asked, “How did you guys know I was awake?”

After all, they had arrived at the same time.

Instead of answering, everyone looked at Leif.

“Oh, Senior Lieutenant Caeso informed me,” Leif replied. “He said, ‘Your friend is awake. Go meet him and tell him not to mess with the silver liquid on his body. I will be there in a few minutes.’”

Leif’s tone shifted as though he were trying to imitate Senior Lieutenant Caeso.

“After that, I thought, why not call the others as well instead of coming alone?”

I nodded.

Then I looked around and asked with a smile, “Where are Silas, Rokan, and Daren? And if Silas is awake, tell him I’m starving.”

I would have loved to get some food into me.

Proper food might not have been available at the moment, but if Silas made something, it would be the second-best thing to happen that morning after receiving a Rare skill upgrade.

Yet after hearing my words, the smiles vanished from everyone’s faces.

“Where are they?” I asked, now afraid of the answer.

I stared at them for a few moments, only for the reply to come from an unexpected voice.

“Rokan and Daren are four beds down from here,” Senior Lieutenant Caeso said, pointing toward their beds. “I have kept them unconscious to expedite their recovery. Once they have recovered as much as you have, they should regain consciousness.”

Then his expression grew heavier.

“Silas didn’t make it.”