330 Chapter 329
The next one Leon would have to pick and take to a dungeon would be Jorhorn, so he would be the perfect test subject. He was clearly wary of Leon and probably wouldn't waste a chance to use Appraisal on Leon.
The very moment Leon appeared at the tower, he felt his mana decreasing one time and another once again a little more. Jorhorn was right in front of him, frowning.
Congratulations! The skill Mental Armor Armor has leveled up.
You obtained 01 status points.
Congratulations! The skill Mental Armor Armor has leveled up.
You obtained 01 status points.
"What's wrong? Leon asked.
"Nothing..." Jorhorn answered.
"Well, let's go then," Leon said.
Leon was trying really hard not to show a broad grin, but in the end, he started to wonder if doing a test like that had been a good idea. Jorhorn's Appraisal obviously failed, but that could give him the impression that Leon was plotting something.
"No, perhaps he thinks that his skill failed because his intelligence isn't high, and I increased my mentality..."
The increasing mentality was the obvious way to counterspells, after all. Still, being cautious was necessary from now on. The dungeon Jorhorn would guard today was the centaurs' dungeon. As much as Leon wanted to make some magic weapons using their spirits, he had to return to his own dungeon. After taking Jertien back to the tower, Leon returned, and he started to laugh maniacally.
"Hehehe, finally! FINALLY!" Leon shouted. "No… I have to calm down. I spent two months wasting time because I'm so dumb. I have to keep improving…"
Although Leon leveled up a lot some of his skills and obtained several status points, it wasn't enough. Even with his mithril ring of liches + 6, his magic growth wasn't enough. Thunder Ray was proving itself to be a beneficial spell to eliminate monsters, but it probably wouldn't help Leon as much as Magma Spear would. In two attacks, Leon would spend almost all his mana, but those two attacks would be devastating. Besides, it was a combination of two elements, so the strength wasn't something to laugh at.
"If light magic is really a combination of all basic elements, then it would be a very good idea to learn it. After all, the power of any spell would be four times bigger because the earth, fire, water, and wind creation would increase the power. Perhaps, even more, considering Pyromancy and Geomancy... but I can't spend two months learning it."
In the end, Leon was hesitating to practice it. The chances of him failing and wasting time were significant. It was already a fact that he was terrible at learning complicated spells.
"Oh, well… even if I fail, I will be failing, but at the same time, I will level up some elemental skills. So, I guess that isn't a problem."
Just trying to combine all elements in a single projectile because colors worked like that seemed a bit silly, but it wasn't like Leon would think of having any other idea. Since Leon still had to guard the mermaid's dungeon, he couldn't spend much mana training. So, he decided to start with something simple, a bullet that he combined fire, water, wind, and earth… the result was… wet earth bullet that had smoke and wind inside of it.
"… I already knew that would fail on the first try, but this is… I guess I can't just mix the elements. I have to use them in their strongest forms… without making them become steel, ice and thunder… probably."
Leon tried again, and this time the bullet was made of magma and was emitting smoke… a lot of smoke. Leon tried again and again, but he failed and obtaining any result. The fact that the mermaids were regularly appearing started to annoy him still.
"I can't lose my cool here… just kill them and move on."
After using for Thunder Ray for a few seconds, Leon noticed that lightning was kind of similar to the energy beams that were the angels' light projectiles. Maybe instead of combining their basic form, Leon would have to connect the elements at their highest output. The cost of mana would be insane, but it would probably be easier to combine thunder, magma, and steel, instead of wind, fire, and earth.
"Magma isn't fire strengthened; it is just a combination of earth and fire, but… whatever."
There was also a possibility that Leon had to reach a certain level of mastery over the elements before he can create something like light. He also concluded that probably it didn't exist something Light Transformation, possibly Light Manipulation existed, but its use wouldn't be easier than Light Creation… While Leon was pondering about that, three other mermaids appeared.
"… If Transfer didn't cost so much mana, instead of killing those freaks, I would send them to outer space… Why is my concentration waning so much as of late?"
Leon shook those thoughts out of his head and then focused on the task at hand. Creating a bullet using any element was easy, but creating a magic bullet using all the four strengthened versions of the same elements wasn't.
Things got a bit weird at the beginning, but eventually, Leon noticed that the bullet was taking its shape and emitting light. It probably was the light of the electricity, the smell was quite strong, and the mana used wasn't something to laugh at. Still, Leon didn't receive any notification.
"It probably took a while to obtain those properties because my power over those elements is still weak… and I won't receive any notification unless I create a projectile fast enough."
It was hard to be sure if Leon would obtain the result he wanted, but he was convinced that he received something by combining the strengthened version of the basic elements. However, that was just the beginning, and it looked like things wouldn't be easier. Leon imagined that he would eventually learn something like a Light Aura, but considering that smell… No one would endure such a spell for long.