Taking some Mana particles, I infused them into the building blocks. They gave a green halo.
I pushed.
The building blocks impacted against the opposing Mana particles, and…
It works!
The Mana particles were pushed another percentage, then another, and another, reaching 16% of the distance needed, but then…
The building blocks started to slide away, creating enough space that the Mana particle could escape through.
I infused more Mana into the blocks, and… they held.
I pushed.
Reaching the 20% mark, the Mana particles started to shake in place. That damaged the blocks, which in turn led me to infuse more Mana into them.
The struggle continued, with me infusing more Mana as the distance between the particles shrank slowly—I could’ve increased the pace, but decided to take it slower to see the process more clearly; it was already hard to see these minuscule creations.
Reaching 24%, the blocks started to eat at my Mana through infusion at a ridiculous pace.
It was like I was infusing an entire limb, not a microscopic creation.
At this rate, my Mana film will be spent before they get close enough.
I hastened the process, turning the objects blurry to my vision.
At 30%, I faced another problem.
The Mana particles were shaking so fast now that they looked more like a cloud of haze triple their original size.
The problem didn’t lie there. Every percentage I gained, the haze cloud grew. At 33%, it became larger than the bowl encasing it.
Unable to escape its prison, the particle shook so violently that the cloud turned deep green.
Oh, no…
Poof
The explosion was barely audible, destroying a hair’s mass of slime cells, but for a single Mana particle to release that much energy… Mana is scary.
What is even Mana?
My best guess would be that it was a type of energy that, somehow, after changing its colour, could be turned into other types of energy and even matter.
It surely is magical.
Since birth, Mana had been one of the most unique experiences of life.
It felt like it had endless potential.
Understanding this world… it really brings me joy and happiness.
I added exploring and comprehending the universe to the things that I’d try to do through my dream—through my All.
Turning back to the experiment, I pondered the problem.
I quickly came up with a solution.
Bigger particles need bigger platforms.
I zoomed in on multiple cells until I found what I wanted: bigger building blocks.
Taking two, they were about four times the size of the originals and had a conical shape.
I repeated the experiment.
Aligning two Mana particles with the two block platforms, I pushed.
At first, it was harder than the earlier experiment with the building blocks being too big, which in turn led the particles to slide around.
After a bit of struggle, where I had to push a circular building block into the cone, thereby decreasing the area the particle could struggle inside, I reached 30% again.
I removed the circular lid, stopping the growing haze cloud from exploding it.
Reaching a new record, 35%, I couldn’t celebrate as…
Piiiing
The haze disappeared, probably because the particle flew away.
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Argh! This is so annoying!
I spent the rest of the day experimenting with different shapes, but nothing worked.
They were either too big, allowing the Mana particle to escape, or too small and exploded into flying building blocks.
I faced another problem, finding the right-shaped building blocks.
My solution was to use a combination of different congregations of building blocks. A flat disk that had me create edges with other smaller blocks.
By the end, my Mana was drained, while I was too annoyed and bothered to search for another block inside a new cell.
It wasn’t that I hated this project, no. In fact, I was enjoying my time, but even with my patience and love for the project, seeing no real results and having to settle on alternatives wasn’t good for my morale.
What if I even made it work, so what? With all that Mana reinforcement, it’d take half my Mana just to fuse two particles. Creating an entire core…
I decided to give myself a longer time to contemplate the process, and after a day…
This gotta work!
I had searched the entirety of the Aqua slime body, looking for something that could aid me, and that was when I stumbled upon my old sisters—The neurones.
The neuron axis had these tubes in its wall. When it wanted to send a signal, it opened them, allowing particles to enter.
I was about to go with these before choosing others that remained open indefinitely—they were the ones that kept the axons in rest mode.
I placed the Mana particles on either opening of the tubes before I went in search of disks that fit inside the openings.
No, no, no!
But no matter how much I searched and tried, nothing fit. The protein blocks were either too big or too small.
I tried to fill the space with a combination of different-shaped building blocks, but there was always a small opening at their meeting points.
This won’t work.
I didn’t give up.
If they won’t fit, then I’ll make them!
Bringing a pointy building block, I reinforced it with Mana.
I started chiselling at a disk, contouring it to the same perimeter as the circular opening of the tube.
The process was insanely hard, as controlling the building blocks with biomancy was already hard, but precisely chiselling away at this building block…
It was like asking an elderly human to lift a big dog, then using its tail, they had to draw a circle.
The elder might be able to raise it with difficulty, but he’d be shaking after a few seconds. Adding the drawing condition? The man would at best draw a wiggly line.
Like always, I persevered.
The result wasn’t that circular and was still a bit smaller than the opening.
I redid it once, twice, thrice…
It took me an entire day.
My control, vision, and mind were all spent by the end.
By the last few attempts, my control had started to shake, making the cutting block destroy the disk. My vision became blurry from all the focusing and exhausting zoom ability, while my mind was spent from the arduous and repetitive task
The disks I settled on weren’t the best, and they could still be improved, but with my current capabilities, they’d have to do.
I rested for half a day, then continued.
Positioning each Mana particle on an opposing end of the tube, I pushed them inside until the invisible force separating them stopped me.
It took me a while, but after some shaky placements, I managed to make ten disks slide into opposite ends of the tube.
The idea was simple: five disks on each side meant a thicker building block that should survive the volatile Mana, while the thick tube walls would act as a prison, keeping the particles inside.
I reinforced the disks and walls with Mana, and…
I pushed!
GO!
36%
37%
38%
39%
The first disks on both sides broke.
Pouring more Mana into the blocks, I didn’t stop.
41%
Two more disks broke.
42%
Two disks.
45%
No disk remained.
The particles freed themselves.
I wasn’t discouraged because of a single reason…
The tube could hold tens of disks.
I got to creating dozens of disks, wanting to push the percentage even higher.
Nothing would dissuade me from creating the Temporal—my only hope of escape.
I’ll escape this imprisonment, kill the Noblesse, and grow my ALL!
I spent three days creating the disks, and that was when it happened.
I had been skimming through skill level-ups when it popped.
Forced Mana Regeneration has reached Lv. 5
Mana Infusion has reached Lv. 3
Hive Mind has reached Lv. 4
Rudis Subtilis Biomancy has reached Lv. 13
Manima Senses has reached Lv. 10—skill evolution available!
Would you like to evolve your skill [Manima Senses]? (Take into account that the evolution might cause loss of consciousness, body changes, and other symptoms.)
I was about to put the evolution for another time, in hopes of unlocking better upgrades, but then…
What if there’s no other time?
The challenges Somani and I were facing had been slowly getting easier, although weirder, and the dream harassment had completely stopped a few days ago.
I couldn’t get the idea out of my mind that they could be getting bored with me, and that could mean death.
That’s probably not true, but there’s still a chance… The quicker I escape this prison, the better.
With this project of mine, I had seen how my skills, even after being pushed to the limit, had come short.
I needed an upgrade. [Mana Manipulation]? No, that skill was as important as biomancy if not more, but [Manima Senses]? Sure.
I could settle for something a bit below perfect.
I also couldn’t come up with new uses for the skill. I mean, I’ve pushed it to the limit in many aspects.
Let’s hope this isn’t the wrong decision.
Upgrade options:
-Advanced Manima Senses: The Manima Monoform has shown fine control over its special senses, unlocking the general evolution. [Warning! This is the direct upgrade of Manima Senses, meaning there will be no further evolutions.] (General Upgrade)
-Attentive Manima Senses: The Manima Monoform has shown high awareness, catching the notoriously hard-to-perceive ghosts through a faint haze. This upgrade will allow the user to see through non-magical hiding effects. (Few Upgrades Available)
-Extreme Manima Senses: The Manima Monoform has endured prolonged periods of heightened alertness, showcasing their indomitable spirit to survive. This skill will lessen the mental load from constant alertness. (Moderate Upgrades Available)
-Manima Danger Sense: The Manima Monoform, through constant spherical awareness, has managed to evade life-threatening attacks. This upgrade will allow the user to sense magically unhidden life-threatening attacks. (Numerous Upgrades Available)
-Hybrid Sense: The Manima Monoform has experienced human vision, while keeping its own senses active, revealing its great visual capabilities. This skill will grant the user horizontal, conal vision with the same capabilities as an average human. (Numerous Upgrades Available)
-Soul Sense: Through parasitical mingling with the essence of creatures, the Manima Monoform has managed to gaze upon the most hidden, the most precious—the soul. This skill will allow the user to see souls and their matter, even through flesh. (Abundant Upgrades Available)
-Manima Nanosenses: The Manima Monoform has been insistent on discovering the minuscule world, going beyond their limits to zoom in on things at any chance it gets. This skill will help in discovering the world unseen—the nano universe. (Abundant Upgrades Available)
-Prodigious Manima Senses: The Manima Monoform has shown versatile, ingenious, and excellent control over Manima Senses, pushing the skill beyond its original intended use. This skill will expand the user’s control over the visual sphere while expanding its perimeters. It also provides: low-light vision, a wider colour spectrum, and an increase in the user’s hearing distance and frequency range. (Abundant Upgrades Available)
No Maximum, huh?
It was a bit sad to see no skill upgradeable to the Maximum, but it was what it was.
I didn’t regret my decision.
The best choice I had was Abundant, and there were three of them.
The first skill, Soul Sense, didn’t appeal to me.
I just didn’t see any use for it, other than easily seeing ghosts, and maybe seeing through walls, which I already could do.
It could help my senses bypass sneaking skills, or maybe I could use it to locate faraway creatures, but that’s not really useful.
I was basing all of this on conjecture, meaning I could be wrong.
Seeing other creatures’ souls? Not for me.
My soul was the only important soul right now, and I could already see it.
The first skill might not have caught my attention, but the final two…
Manima Nanosense could really ease my life.
Zooming in at the scale I was doing was really difficult, and on multiple occasions, my skill had failed me.
I would use it to zoom in on the space between building blocks. Learning how they were held together could be the key to solving my problem.
I can also understand the nucleus, the brain of the cell, and the twirling, building block assembling, things.
There was another use. I could zoom in on the Mana halo formed by infusion, possibly improving infusion.
Through seeing the minuscule, I’ve solved lots of my problems. This skill… I must have it.
But then there was [Prodigious Manima Senses]. It promised to increase the range of my vision while heightening my hearing, manipulation, and… colour spectrum?
I didn’t know what colour spectrum meant, but I could take a guess.
There are colours I’m unable to see, and this’ll allow me to perceive them.
I reached this conclusion upon remembering how the cat’s vision colours differed from mine and even Somani’s.
But what really made it appeal to me was the night vision.
Night vision had been a weakness of mine for a long time now, so solving it would be great.
What should I choose?