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nEldrian waited for the air to cool, using Aeraki to speed this up, while also waiting for his mana to regenerate. He had no idea how much mana the next spell would require, and as such he felt he needed to be in top shape.

nTo speed up the recovery, he equipped all his mana-boosting items, even pulling out Aoidos and making use of its active.

nFive minutes later, Eldrian felt he was ready to attempt water.

nThis time he thought not of anger, nor of the absence of emotions as the aura of tranquility would presume ice required. Instead, he thought of isolation, despair, sorrow, and grief.

nAs he did, the water ball seemed to grow heavy. Slowly turning from a light blue to a deep dark blue. Yet, the toll doing this took on Eldrian was far more than the former. These emotions weren't like anger that searched for a way to explode.

nInstead, they sank their teeth into his heart and crushed it.

nEldrian stopped after just a few seconds, unable to continue as the pain was just too much. It was much easier to use these emotions to fuel anger than it was to simply summon them.

n

"Never attempting that again!

" Eldrian said while clutching his chest, the pain felt so real that he would swear his heart was really being crushed.

n

"But, that did teach me that despair isn't cold...

" Eldrian paused, shocked that tranquility would really create ice. Whatever had been happening to the water, Eldrian knew that it hadn't been changing into ice.

n'No, it just felt like it became heavier and heavier, and... More and more suffocating.'

nIt took Eldrian nearly twenty minutes to just recover from the physical and mental strain this attempt had caused. Giving him another important lesson, 'Whatever the result will be, it will be devastating...'

n

"Let's try something more cheerful then!

" Eldrian shouted to psyched himself up as he considered wind.

nWith wind, he thought of the feeling of free-falling, of being on a rollercoaster, of running at his fastest; of freedom and the joy it brought.

nThis caused the simple wind ball to turn into a massive storm, not much different from the Anemos spells. However, Eldrian could keenly feel that this spell was different.

nHe couldn't quite tell how, but it felt like the room was limiting it greatly. Constantly the winds would slam against the walls and the shields created by the formation. Filling the room with the sounds of thunder as the winds searched for an escape.

nUnlike 'Incinerate', this one required Eldrian to constantly envision the feelings he had used to bring the winds forth. Once he stopped, the winds also calmed down.

n

"I wonder... I should be able to replicate any state of being with wind... Water and fire might be more limiting but they should accept most. But what do I do with earth, light, dark, and... Nature?

"

nEldrian paused as he felt he had an idea of what might work with nature, but he didn't know if it would work. 'I also can't test it here, so it is pointless.'

n

"Right! Let's see if I can do the fire one again. It seems to be the easiest.

" Eldrian smiled, extended his hand, and summoned a small flame of simple fire elements. Not even bothering to summon a stable formation of elements such as Floga.

nAgain he pushed in all his anger and hate at all his past failures, however, he found this far harder to do this time. He found that what he had drawn upon last time seemed to have become empty.

nHe could still focus on grief and his regret to form anger, he could still recall his endless struggle against the revenant heart to survive. Yet, where that used to fill him with anger at his foolishness and recklessness, it now just felt like a prudent lesson to be learned from.

n'Why? What is going on?' Eldrian questioned while still doing his best to summon all the anger and hate he had in him. Yet, he found that that was not all that much.

nThe flame he sent forth this time was still just the size of his fist, and when it condensed in on itself, it was only as large as his thumbnail.

nHowever, despite its minuscule size, the explosion coming from it was still impressive.

nPlayer has created a Unique Ability

nAdaptation Spell of Destruction: Incinerate!

nTierless spell - Rankless spell

nLimitations: Mana Quality, Quantity, and Control

nLimitations: Emotional Quality, Control, and Quantity

nLimitation: Adaptable Fire Elements

nCost: 180-590MP (Tier 4 control level)

nCast Time: 48 seconds (minimum)

nDamage (Fire-Destruction): 60-236 (160-630)

n

n(AN: Values in brackets is with relevant modifiers if armor of target is 0)

nFlame Damage (Fire-Destruction): 30-79

n

n(AN: Flame Damage ignores armor (destruction ignores resistances), but Flame Damage does not gain any modifiers)

n'Wha-what the hell did I just create?' Eldrian questioned while his eyes got stuck on the damage numbers. When it finally clicked that the spell would even work against the Flaming Reanimates that he had been useless against, Eldrian was left staring at those numbers even longer.

n

"Yo-you... Seriously?

" Eldrian couldn't believe it, he felt that this was a little too strong. However, when he looked at the cast time he frowned.

"Right, the second time was actually harder even. I think that time it took nearly 2 minutes to cast...

"

nSighing, Eldrian realized that the spell would not be one he could use at will. However, he also found to his surprise that he had finally reached Tier 4 in magic.

nObviously, he could have done so long ago. But, he hadn't wanted to do so by falling back onto his old methods of using spells. He had wanted to progress through his own knowledge, not through copying another's.

nEldrian smiled as he looked at the increase in strength, while moderate, it was not something to scoff at. From here on, Tier upgrades were becoming more and more significant.

nHaru's Statistics:

nLevel: 32 (1.6M

/186M XP)

nHidden Class: Protector (Tier 4)

nNormal Class: Magic (Tier 4) | Melee (Tier 3)

nAvatar Affinity: 100%

nAttributes:

nConstitution: 262

nStrength: 249

nAgility: 347

nSpirit: 287

nIntelligence: 307

n20free attributes

nStats:

nHP: 565

nMana: 1360

nStamina: 612

n'Actually, that boost in agility is really nice. And the intelligence and spirit boost is also most welcome. Forty points isn't a small amount at all!' Eldrian was actually quite shocked by the difference it made, and curiously he looked at the 'Incinerate!'.

n

"Wow! The minimum damage went straight to 184, and the max is now 725! That is insane, I can legit one-shot myself even if I use all of Chelona's abilities to try and survive! Crazy!

"

n

"But... I still can't use the spell reliably.

" Eldrian paused, wondering what to do from here. He quickly recalled the badge Sofiera had given him and at lighting speed, he came to a decision.

n

"Time to do some research!

"

nAN: Remember to vote to show your support and comment to share your insights!

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