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Hegemony by The Lines [Weaponized Dice] [System Creation]
Chapter 51 - Searching the trash can wait; it's time to study spells and bombs

Chapter 51 - Searching the trash can wait; it's time to study spells and bombs

"See that, Percival; that's why I keep telling you I'm unlucky. We found a pile of garbage.", Roberion said, exasperated.

"Sir, maybe something useful is here.", Percival tried to placate Roberion's mood.

"I know. But there are so many things here, and maybe they are dangerous. These undead were created from something; maybe this something is here." Roberion became silent, thinking about the possibilities. Well, better to do what we already know first.

Roberion took out the [Bombing Tamer Kit 101st Edition]. "Here, Percival, try to learn how to use this. Remember to be somewhere far away from these crates, and try not to explode anything for now. Later, we will talk." Roberion took out his [Minor Air Movement] spell blueprint and continued, "Finally, it's time to learn this spell. If something happens, just shout. This area seems secure at least, but I will take a look around first," Roberion said, starting to analyze the place.

"All right, sir", Percival took the box and left.

Looking around the area, Roberion knew two things: that the place was indeed full of crates and junk, and that they were trapped inside. He didn't find any door; it didn't even appear to have any door to begin with. That makes matters more suspicious for the null.

Who would create a place that didn't have an entrance? Even if the research station was a secret location, there were better ways than to do this; to open and close with some magic every time someone would put the failed experiments seems like too much; there is even a pile of trash in that corner. This place doesn't make any sense. Dammit, I don't want to die here!

Roberion put his hands on his head with a stressful expression. "Dying here, after all I have been through, I won't accept to die like a caged animal. I can survive here, at least for a while, but with that fucking quest time limit, how much time do I have?"

Not now; I will think about that later. I will try something; first, let's deal with the spell. Roberion looked at the spell blueprint; its wooden black surface was soft to the touch. If I am remembering right, Kannon said that I could only activate this spell once, so I need to learn to activate it in one go, or at least remember enough to try again.

Roberion started to feel the spell blueprint and its wooden surface, this time with his mana. He didn't feel it directly, but it was more of a sensation, like a tendril trying to be guided by the spell-blueprint formation. The first thing he noticed was that he didn't feel that his mana was being stored; the mana he used was consumed directly, which made him more afraid of using his one time activation wrongly.

The spell used a simple version to direct mana; Roberion didn't have problems learning how he needed to direct the mana to use it. As the spell was similar to the neutral line fireball, it was like guiding the mana in a two-dimensional way; if it were like a rune, it would be a simple rune, like three lines crossing each other; the fireball was more complex, like four lines crossing each other.

That didn't mean there weren't problems; after many tries, Roberion learned that the spell needed a constant flux of mana in a determined quantity. If he used less mana, the spell wouldn't activate; if he used more, the spell would try and fail to be cast. The result of the later could be felt in Roberions hands; the black wood of the spell blueprint was damaged, and fissures were showing up, like a beast had attacked a tree.

Roberion was glad that the internal part of the spell-blueprint was intact, but he didn't have many tries left. It's better to slowly increase the mana. When I feel I'm nearing the quantity at which the spell failed, I will increase it even slower. It's better to lose mana than to lose the spell-blueprint without learning how it works.

Roberion felt that half his mana was already used, but nonetheless, he kept focusing on getting the spell right.

"I got it!", after using more than sixty percent of his mana, the result could be seen as the spell-blueprint fragmented in his hands and scraps of black wood fell to the ground. His body was covered with a translucent energy, like if the air had become more energetic and charged with mana.

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Happpy Roberion stopped the mana influx as the spell was already cast. That was when the spell effects started to vanish quickly. In two seconds, the [Minor Air Movement] was nowhere to be seen, and its effects stopped.

"I couldn't even see if it increased my speed. But the old couple said that there were continuous spells, so maybe that was what they meant—a spell that you needed to feed mana; the time you stop feeding it will vanish!" Roberion exclaimed loudly.

From a distance, Roberion heard Percival's voice say, "Sir, is everything alright?"

Roberion yelled back, "It is; forget it."

So I need to feed it continuously, that in a battle will be a problem. Did Fujin have to use mana to protect me from the fire all the time? I didn't see if they were using the spell too, only the village wall. Percival didn't have fire protection either.

Dammit, I was so preoccupied with that fight that I didn't even notice. Maybe they just cast it for some time and then stopped casting. Maybe Kannon has control over the temperature too; otherwise, Percival would have been burned from the beginning. We were at a distance from her spell, but when the gate opened, even from a distance, the heat was too much.

It's too much information for me. What is Kannon's true incarnation? If that's someone in the Blessed, I can't even imagine someone from the next incarnation. From how they talked, the next incarnation exists.

Alright, time to stop with these ramblings. I will probably never reach an answer this way; there isn't enough information to use.

Roberion focused again on casting the [Minor Air Movement] spell; this time it took only a minute for him to reach the correct concentration of mana. The translucent energy enveloped Roberion's body again; this time he kept feeding mana so the spell would keep working. By his estimation, the spell consumed a small quantity each second, but more than that, he needed to concentrate on flowing the mana.

"How will I move like this? The spell is already too demanding!", Roberion started to slowly walk, one foot after the other, like a person walking in low gravity.

"I feel a difference, like something that was always there suddenly vanished, like I was swimming and the water became air. It seems to flow easier; I will probably be faster now if I could run while using this spell, but now I can't even walk right. It will take some time, and that is something that I have little of now, as far as I know."

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"My patron is probably getting a little crazy. Talking with himself. Oh, I'm doing it too!", Percival stopped thinking aloud about Roberion and his spell learning, the knight also had much to learn.

The capybara started whispering to himself, "This equipment is destined to be used with bonded creatures, it seems. To feed mana, the user or the bonded being needs to do it. The item has a necessity for money before use—no materials; we need to give it the materials. This language is too archaic; even with the inherent knowledge I got from Sir Roberion, it isn't enough to understand it perfectly."

Percival smiled as he read the next passage, "Wonderful; it seems the equipment is already charged with materials, but my patron will need to feed enough mana so I can be able to create the bombs. It looks like I can create only mundane bombs with this equipment; that's unfortunate. But maybe the quantity will be satisfactory. What is mass conversion? What a blaphemous thing is this? A bunch of nonsensical numbers and letters—aha, here is some useful information: A fully charged piece of equipment can create twenty bombs. Amazing. What an explendid [Sacred Bomber Kit] you are.", Percival said, lovingly patting the equipment at his side.

The [Bombing Tamer Kit 101st Edition] had two items inside the box: one was equipment that looked more like a rugged green backpack, and the other was the manual Percival was reading.

The only difference is that this bag only had three holes; one seemed to be on top like a normal backpack. According to what Percival read, the user could feed materials to create the bombs; the instruction said that it was a space enchantment.

The other two holes were each on one side of the lower part of the backpack; it seemed the user or the bonded creature could activate and launch the bombs to each side, or they could pick it up using their hands to throw the bomb away themselves.

"Are you finished, Percival?", Roberion yelled from a distance to his right.

"NO, ONE MOMENT, SIR!", Percival yelled back, scared. He was so focused on learning the equipment that Roberion gave him a fright.

Percival took the backpack, and after studying the types of bombs the equipment could create, it was time to meet Roberion and see what they would do next. The capybara knight was sure he would need to open some of these crates; he just wished to not become one of the undead, as his patron told him, which probably happened to the helmeted individuals.

Percival whispered to himself, "But can I use this sacred item? I have to sadly admit, I can't probably catch the bombs from my back, and to use this beautiful weapon at my front would be blasphemy; I should be its shield, not the contrary!", Percival lovingly embraced the backpack, as someone would embrace their child. The capybara looked ahead at Roberion; it was time to decide what came next.