The Implock – Chapter 112 – “Manipulation”

∼ Manipulation ∼

Chapter - 112

The following days were uneventful for the young herald of pride. Nyx found himself under house arrest while Zechariah figured out how to deal with the Guild situation. Having nothing better to do, he worked on his mana pools. At least enough to allow the summoning of both his familiar at once. As it stood, he barely had any left after calling upon either, let alone both at the same time.

Able to draw in mana much faster than ever, however, he closed the gap rapidly. His new body was truly made for magic, making meditation infinitely easier. Merely opening up his core and mind created something akin to a maelstrom, sucking in all the surrounding mana of the courtyard.

Additionally, his new and improved [Mind's Sea] and [Core] practically made it so he could expand and expand with no end in sight nor a strain put on his vessels. It was a breeze.

But increasing the mana his pools could hold wasn't the only thing he accomplished in those days. After great effort, less than patient practice, and a pinch of reckless experimentation, He reached a long-sought-after goal.

The change in his ability to control mana had been extreme, to put it mildly. Mana now flowed as if an extension of himself. From his core to every extremity of his body, it moved with but a thought. Powering spell constructs, compelling controlled mana flow, and unleashing surges of energy, all were as easy as breathing for him now. But more than anything, he could finally venture into the world of over-charging his spells.

Aria had warned him time and time again about trying to increase the power of his spells by pouring in more mana than their base costs.

Apparently, it was almost the single-most often way young mages got themselves killed. Mana was chaotic by nature, and trying to cram more of it together tended to have explosive results - or worse, mind-corroding consequences... As a result, Nyx had only ever over-charged his spells a few times before, in life and death situations that had required a little extra oomph.

But now that he had reached Peak-level in [Mana Manipulation], Nyx met his mentor's qualifications for training such dangerous methods. After all, one could only pour in as much mana into a spell as you could control. With [Mana Manipulation] at Peak, he was well equipped for the basics.

With a simple motion, Nyx summoned a [Demonbolt]. The hissing ball of purple demonic fire flickered in his palm, moving as if it had a life on its own. It was already much more powerful than what it had initially been. Twice the size and twice as potent. Slowly. Very slowly. He began pouring more mana into it. At first, there was some resistance as the spell's natural structure fought against the perversion. However, as his intent and control flooded over it, it relented to his desires, and the [Demonbolt] sparked.

As if having just added a splash of accelerant to the fire, it burned hotter and expanded uncontrollably, then returned back to normal.

It took a bit, but Nyx got a grasp of the mana, keeping it from leaking back out. Then the ball of demonic fire grew and grew and grew. From something little larger than the size of his fist, it expanded to the size of his head, roaring with unprecedented power. More than ever before.

Strain was evident on Nyx's face. He had nearly poured ten points of mana into this simple spell. A spell with the base cost of only one point of mana. He could go no further. If he did, the spell's structure would crumble and all this compacted wild and chaotic mana would go boom. He'd prefer to keep both his arm and life, so he discharged the spell, letting it fly.

Screaming across the courtyard, the massive [Demonbolt] struck the overgrown fountain centered in the middle. With the scream of what sounded like tormented souls, it demolished the hard marble stone, making it crumble to the ground as a small inferno of purple flames that hissed in search of any life force to sustain its corrupting taint. Finding nothing on the dead rock but the moss that had been growing on it, the fire left little more than a smoking pile of rubble.

He glanced at his handiwork with a mildly satisfied expression. "-Hm, it'll do."

Definitely not efficient. Pumping mana into a spell to increase its potency did not provide a linear incline in power but gave in truth diminishing returns. Good, situationally. As a whole; rarely worth it.

Pulling up his status, he checked to see if everything was in order.

Towards the end of his house arrest and non-stop meditation, he knew he had enough to summon both at once. However, it probably still wasn't wise to attempt. He only barely had enough, and it'd only be a repeat of Fisty's evolution if he did. Overall, Nyx was happy with the results, and only a day later, he could finally leave the Orphan's compound.

Zechariah had sent him off with little more than the assurance of a promise to not create more trouble - or change into a whole new species again...

***

Arriving at the Guild Hall's entrance, Nyx felt as if could breathe properly at least. Being confined wasn't something his nature as a demon of pride allowed. It made him irritable and angsty.

Reporting in at the desk, he claimed his reward from the golem request which summarily had the clerk in a fit. At first, he had been nervous that Zechariah might've actually not figured out whatever it was he had needed to do, but when the clerk returned with a new golden tag, he realized her reaction for what it was. Deference.

How her demeanor shifted entirely as she handed over the tag with both hands and a deep bow, it was clear how gold-ranked mercenaries were treated within the guild.

"As a veteran status mercenary, you've been granted access to the second floor, simply display your tag and you'll be granted passage." She smiled. "Thank you for your service."

Though one could hardly see anything beneath his dark, baggy hood, a toothy grin spread across the demon's face. He had been waiting to see what was up there, and being told multiple times before how he couldn't go up there had only served to ignite his desire to do so even more.

"So, you've finally deigned to appear yourself, or is this just another familiar?" A voice, deep and unshakeable, remarked, cutting through his thoughts. Turning around, Nyx saw the visage of a familiar face. Tall and broad, the arbiter from months hence towered over Nyx with a look of disdain. However, it wasn't born of arrogance or pride. Rather, it was as if what stood before him was very scum of the earth.

"What you want?" Nyx sneered, latching the golden tag around his neck.

The arbiter looked around at the eyes drawn to them, the clerk suddenly skittering away after noticing his gaze on her.

"A certain band of mercenaries has recently been found slaughtered to a man. That wouldn't have anything to do with you, would it?"

Nyx paused only for the briefest of moments before shrugging. "Don't know what you're talking about," Without sparing the human another glance, Nyx moved to leave, passing him. Faster than Nyx had expected, the arbiter's hand shot out and grabbed his arm, clutching on with a vice-like grip of unprecedented strength.

"Watch it, human." Nyx sneered, his indignancy getting the better of him.

The arbiter got in close. "An entire band of silvers. All unmistakably killed by a warlock. And it so happens they had an altercation with one months prior. One that has for nearly a month not reported in. That's quite the coincidence, is it not?"

Standing in the center of the commotion, Nyx and the arbiter stared each other down. However, the demon's eyes narrowed. His face then suddenly donned an evil smirk. "You have no proof?"

The arbiter's face turned to a snarl.

Ripping his arm out of the man's grip in a shocking display of might, much to the human's astonishment, Nyx tugged his robes back into place. "Am I the only warlock in Argon? If not, then fuck off humie."

Then he simply left the human to stand there, an aura of menace radiating off him as he stared pure hatred at Nyx's back.

Nyx knew this wasn't over. Far from it. And even as it stood now, he still had an inkling that he couldn't take the human still. That arbiter was no weakling. No weak, stupid, human at all.