Another night fell over chrokus,the peaceful sun was replaced by the frightful moon,Darian sat cross-legged on the bed located in his room,next to him was an open brown sack its insides revealing a bag full of dark charcoal like minerals,possibly in the hundreds.
Infront of him was a nameless book,that Doulos had gifted to him,turned to a specific page,it had recently been reacting strangely within Darians storage space,so he decided to let it out more.
The mere weight of the minerals had caused the bag to fall over,allowing some of these charcoal like minerals to naturally tumble out.
Darian Slowly Stretched his right hand outwards,as if caressing the air itself,within the time-frame of less than a second,each one of the tips of his fingers glowed an eerie blue,as the light levitated,and spun interconnnecting into complex patterns,and tiny words,creating an array the size of his entire hand.
Once complete the array seemed to develop a charge at its centre constricting itself,In a split second the charge of energy then spread out throughout its surface creating a small Boom!,the array completely expanding covering the inner circumference of his room in a protective bubble before it turned invisible,and incorporeal.
ofcourse such a burst of mana caught the attention of Benjamin,and Galahad as both in their respective rooms had their eyebrows raised,and eyes twitch for a few seconds before calming themselves.
It seemed that both tacitly agreed on minding their own business,afterall they had sensed the mana had not spread Outside of Darians personnel room.
This was also the reason Darian had chosen to do this now,he had gotten familiar with his roommates by spending time with them,in truth he was quite pleased that one of them was Benjamin from the start,because he was someone he already knew,and had a good rapport with,If that were not the case things would be much harder.
If he had done this the first day when everybody considered one another strangers,and everyones nerves were on high alert,even a spell that only expanded to his room would be considered danger,and in a normal scenario have his roommates breaking down his door.
Sensing that no major movement had occured from outside his room,Darian smiled, his timing was perfect.
The spell he had used was called,secret slumber,using it all matter of sound within its boundaries could not be heard by an Outside party it also blocked out sight within its borders, a person looking from the outside at best would just see a blur,it also negated spying attempts by others via magical means such as divination ,and astral projection.
But ofcourse this was all still dependent on the level of the opponent, he was facing,Darian knew for a fact if any teacher or the institute head had placed their prying eyes over him that he would be doomed,but luckily nothing he was about to do was technically illegal,dangerous yes but not illegal,another factor Darian relied on was the fact his teachers likely had better things to do.
And respected the privousy of their students,they were nobles afterall this was basic curtesy.
Darian sighed,mumbling fast justifications to himself," with this barrier I won't have to worry about any sound,getting out,whatever happens,even if I personally run out of mana, I'll absorb the remaining mana from the spell,and use it as fuel to contain any unexpected circumstances".
" Atleast starting from today I'll have a certain advantage over most of my noble kin",Darian smiled," for now,interms of mana drainage,putting it into perspective if my total supply is a hundred 100%,my normal spells,which are mostly enhancements take up 5% of my total mana supply for each use,strong offensive,and defensive spells that cover large areas take up 15%,enhanced versions of those,limit pushers take up about 30% at once,in a drawn out fight a mage of my level is more likely to lose".
Of course Darian knew of many methods to conserve,energy,and spells that allow for some refreshing to be done,even some in the midst of battle,but even they had limitations including having certain unfavorable aspects to them,that's why with advice from Doulos,Darian decided on this method.
Darian spoke softly to himself,"To fix my own weakness,creating my own cores is the only possible outcome".
What were cores,a Core was a crystallization of Mana,they took on different forms,and at times gained unique traits depending on the creature it was taken from,a Monster was of course required to be at a certain level to produce one,this production for the most part occured after death.
Mana has the properties of attracting similar energies,So when a creature with a certain amount dies,the mana centralises creating a core.
This property of Mana,being attracted to similar energies is also the reason,corruption exists,the Earth element has its own type of mana,fire as well,everything in the universe operates on its own discography of genres, in this state heaven,and Earth cannot mix when it comes to living things.
Unlike magnetism similarities not Polarism attract,when natural energies are conflicting they give birth to monsters,that are increasingly crazed by the imbalance.
Darian made another runic array,causing it to levitate above his palm,then flicked his wrist, within moments one of the coal like minerals flew to his hand,floating above the array.
The infusion process had begun,as strands of mana burst forth, from the array,In Darians mind a memory quickly swept passed as he focused on infusing his mana into the charcoal like mineral.
This memory took place in conrads Castle near the main living room,Doulos sat on an elegant couch,a brown wooden table between Darian, and Doulos,Doulos picked up a white tea cup with its plate,taking a sip,then gently sitting down the cup.
Doulos chuckled, "so you desire,to make yourself a mana core"," yes",Darian replied consecutively," But you don't seem all that surprised by that",Darian replied slightly confused,Doulos chuckled again," who do you think planted that idea in your mind".
" Having an active mana core is one of the most important things for a true mage,It has multiple benefits, it actively absorbs mana that is not used on a daily basis,normally when the user does not use his full capacity, just as the body stores mana, it releases a certain amount of mana passively,most mages aren't in a state of constant danger, so what happens to that stored amount?,simple it goes to waste".
"Unlike Normal Mana cores artificial mana cores can be given the properties of refinement,letting the core absorb Natural mana from the ground, and atmosphere directly into the body now normally this would lead to corruption as foreign energies battle it out".
"But through the refinement method,embedded within an artificial core,the risk is more or less non existent,as the mana goes through purification, and is converted into usable mana,this means at its up most benefit you will not only be storing your own power, but greatly multiplying it for further use,this energy can be extracted later,at your own beck,and call".
"But obviously everything comes with its own risks",Doulos said as he drank a cup of fine tea,"The creation process of a core happens within a mages own body, in its deepest parts,a single mistake in forging one could result in an internal explosion,where death or mutation is the most common outcome".
"This also creates weaknesses in battle as your opponent depending on their skill,will choose to tamper with the core itself,instead of a head on confrontation".
"That's why to even speak of creating a core requires expert control something,I fear you do not currently poses".
Darian sighed," I assessed the risks,but up till now,I had not truly grasped its danger level",hhmm,heh Darian snickered," I never expected it to be easy but I'm still resolute".
Doulos chuckled," As expected of you","But luckily there is a training method,that will increase the chances of first time success in creating a core by up to 99%".
Darians eyes twitched," What!,is it please tell me",Darian begged.
Doulos sighed,"The crystallization method".
"It involves substituteing the internal shaping,construction,and crystallization of your internal mana,in order to create a Mana core".
"Then Instead of crystallizing,ones own mana,a mineral is used as a in-between in which mana can flow through,using your own mana you must release,a constant flow into the mineral compress it,while breaking down,reforming the mineral,and incodeing the refinement method on it".
"Once success can be achieved a thousand,times consecutively,an attempt in making a mana Core can be made".
"If your not confident in it,one should abort immediately before the critical stage is reached".
" a Thousand",Darian said somberly clenching his fists," a Thousand!!,where am I supposed to get enough mana,to create a thousand consecutively".
Doulos snickered ominously,"Do I hear a complaint,with that timid attitude your sure to die or mutate".
"There is a much safer way you know,I could simply just make one for you,then imprint it within your body,connecting it to your mana networks it would still be painful though".
A chill went down Darians spine,the conversation had gone quiet for a moment before he replied," your not always going to be there,if an issue arises with the core,it's better I know how to fix it,and it's better that I avoid any unforseen circumstances".
Doulos chuckled " Good choice,besides have you ever heard of having a little bit of faith in your teacher".
"The crystallization method also doubles as an excercise that improves mana control,stamina,efficiency,and most importantly mana amount the constant failures alone will force your body to do a total recalibration".
Darian smiled," So your betting on your young lord no,students failure"," that's a little shameless".
Placing the cup of tea ,and it's plate down,Doulos dusted himself off before fully standing up,A grin Plastered over his face as he answered," In this case yes".
" Truly a shameless master I have",Darian replied,as Doulos figure blurred,vanishing from the scene,this was teleportation.