The next morning, Lanek decided to experiment with his new skills. Liv watched on as Lanek launched a small metal ball into the trunk of a nearby tree, where it pierced deep into it.
“Impressive, but I’m not sure how useful that’s going to be. Yeah, it would hurt and it can certainly pierce into a tree, but what about armor or some of the bigger bastards we’ve fought?” Liv commented after digging into the trunk to see just how far the ball had penetrated.
“I’m still working on it. Hopefully, those balls can be augmented somehow. Maybe enchantments or simply altering their shape would make them more effective in battle? It’s going to take some experimenting.”
“Enchantments? Like what Ivan does?”
“Not quite, but definitely along the same lines. His are far more versatile, but mine can only be used by me and it costs me a lot of mana to create. But, if I can pull this off, I’ll have some nasty surprises waiting for our enemies.” Lanek said.
“Can’t wait to see it. Good luck.”
As they mounted up and headed out, Lanek ordered Kazuma, Pharaoh, and Sanguineus to return to the hunt. He needed more reward stones to create the gear he needed to accomplish his goal of making himself into a walking arsenal. After spending a few minutes crafting small spheres of various materials the night before, he knew that getting mana enhancing gear was a necessity. Additionally, if he wanted to make his spheres more effective, he would need to learn a few spells that he could inscribe. At this point, he wasn’t sure what spells he would inscribe, but he supposed that it would depend on the range at which he could trigger the spell or if the spell would trigger as soon as he launched the spheres.
In the latter scenario, he would need to restrict himself to spells that increased velocity or triggered on impact. However, if it was the former, he would have a lot more flexibility to work with, such as being able to launch spheres that would explode or cast debuffs when triggered remotely and if he chose to go with an air burst delivery. To be fair, he was also well aware that all of this was theoretical at this point and his experiments could easily end in failure.
As they rode, Lanek turned to practicing with [Telekinesis], specifically in order to move a little sphere around him. His hope was that he would be able to fine-tune his control to the point where he could use [Telekinesis] to aim the sphere and [Mana Acceleration] to fire it.
While Lanek moved the sphere, he realized that he would require a lot more practice. He was easily able to move the sphere about and rather quickly at that, but fine control was not great. In most cases, it took him multiple tries to get it lined up with his chosen “targets” that were just randomly selected trees. He would find himself overshooting the target if he went too fast, but slowing down wasn’t an option because then it would take too long to line up his target in combat.
Another issue that he encountered was when he tried to fire off the projectile. As soon as he turned his focus from simply controlling the sphere to firing it, [Telekinesis] would deactivate and the sphere would fall. [Mana Acceleration] would still trigger, but the aim would be completely off and he would miss the target by an embarrassingly large margin.
However, he wasn’t deterred. Lanek had learned with [Splintering Dart] that spells and skills could be trained like anything else, even if there wasn’t a proficiency metric showing up in the System. For example, when he first started using [Splintering Dart], he couldn’t use it while moving nor could he switch quickly between materials. Now, he was able to launch a new projectile before the first even hit its target without any issues and he could do it while atop a running Maximilian.
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So, as the pair rode and his companions hunted for food and reward stones, Lanek continuously used [Telekinesis]. Once he became comfortable using the skill in one way, he would switch it up and move the sphere in more intricate patterns or push the sphere to the absolute edge of his range and try to push beyond it. After several hours of practice, his range had extended by more than a meter and his speed had picked up dramatically.
However, precision was still a problem and he still wasn’t able to maintain it while casting [Mana Acceleration]. This didn’t worry him too much as he could quite literally do this all day since his purestrain dranrid mana regeneration trait apparently restored his mana faster than [Telekinesis] could use it. Not once did his mana budge during all the hours of practice.
Since Lanek was so engrossed in his practice and focused to the point where he was essentially ignoring everything, Liv decided to work on her own power. Entrusting Maximilian with Lanek’s safety while he was distracted, Liv made it a habit to join the furballs on their hunts. Unlike Lanek, the furballs, Yuri, and Liv still needed to earn experience and level up in order to become stronger.
Three days passed before Lanek was able to successfully combine the two spells. He still couldn’t do it quickly, but he could now fire off the sphere without deactivating [Telekinesis]. While Lanek did not receive a skill or title for this ability, he was extremely proud of his accomplishment. Once this barrier had been overcome, Lanek discovered that he could now dual-cast with any spells he knew. Liv had simply shaken her head in disbelief when she watched Lanek accelerate a sphere from the palm of his hand into a charging gaunt’s forehead while simultaneously launching a [Splintering Dart] at its companions.
“Oh, I like that…” Lanek said quietly, causing Liv to snort.
After another few days of travel and practice, Lanek had reached the point where he could rapidly aim and fire off a sphere. However, Lanek was far from satisfied. This was simply the first step. Liv stopped herself from congratulating him when she noticed him pulling out a pair of spheres. Sighing, she simply looked at the furballs before following them into the wilderness to earn some more levels.
For Lanek’s part, he found it very simple to move two or more spheres at once, provided he was aiming them all at the same target. The problem was that once he attempted to independently aim and fire them, [Telekinesis] would either fail entirely or every sphere aside from the one he was actively firing would fall to the ground. Even if he were to aim them all at the same target, any sphere after the first would fall to the ground while he fired the first projectile.
Another week passed as the party moved deeper into the vast grasslands and he was still unable to resolve the issue. He was easily able to keep seven or eight spheres moving in intricate patterns and at very high speeds, but it would all fall apart the second he attempted to launch a projectile.
Lanek was getting increasingly frustrated as it seemed like the past few days had been utterly wasted. He didn’t think the spells and proficiency with them would be a waste, though, as he could still fire off spheres rapidly, just not on the scale he had envisioned nor could he aim them at separate targets.
However, just as he was about to stop for the night, the System decided to chime in with a message Lanek had never seen before.
You have created a new skill: Mass Driver [Unique].
Through repeated practice and experimentation, your dedication has paid off with a spell never before seen in this world. Mass Driver allows you to launch projectiles at high speeds over long distances with pinpoint precision. The number of designated targets and speed with which you can fire your projectiles will scale based on PER.
Note: Projectiles will not track their targets. Exercise caution when firing as the high velocity can result in over-penetration of your target.
Holy shit, I can create skills? I’m sure it’s not just me that can do it, but that’s insane either way. And [Mass Driver]? That’s kinda scary considering it’s essentially a railgun. Good god, don’t tell me this thing is that powerful, I don’t want to destroy the landscape.
With a deep breath and look around to make sure no one was watching, Lanek pulled a metal sphere from his pouch. After confirming the position of his allies by reaching out to Kazuma and Sanguineus, Lanek aimed at a boulder in the complete opposite direction. Here goes…
The sphere levitated above his hand before launching toward the target faster than his eyes could follow. An instant later, a loud crack echoed throughout the landscape as the boulder was split in half. Lanek swallowed when he made his way to boulder to look at the aftermath. Not only had the boulder been split, but the sphere had continued onward and embedded itself deep into a nearby hill.
Fucking hell… Not as strong as a railgun, thankfully, but still terrifying.