Tim helped Ortana get out of trouble. He lifted her away from plain sight, and hid her in some random hole on the ground. There were plenty of such holes surrounding them, and they could hide within any of them, just because they were very small-bodied stingrays. They were safe for the time being, or at least, Tim wanted to believe that he and Ortana were safe.
He muttered, “Those fuckers are probably coming after the mana roots, so, if we’re quiet enough, then they won’t bother us.”
“They will bother us, Thomas, they will.” Ortana suddenly added.
She hadn’t spoken much for a while, as the upgrade session took quite a toll on her. She had been preserving her energy, but now, the situation demanded otherwise.
She had to add, “You’re full of mana, so they’re gonna sniff you out, and then try to eat you whole! Your mana is pretty weak, but that doesn’t matter for them; Those sharks will still benefit a lot from eating you…”
“Well that’s fucking peachy,” He whispered.
Timothy was in danger, because apparently bigger animals ate smaller animals, for more reasons than one. Ortana briefly explained that if one ate an animal that was full of mana, their bodies would absorb and then amplify the said mana. With that said, Tim was at risk of being sniffed out and eaten, even if the sharks were several levels above him in mana quality! They wouldn't spare him, as he’d be a great snack.
WIthin seconds, Tim came up with a solution against the possible dangers, but it wasn’t a solution that he really liked. In order to escape the scent of those sharks, he had to do a mana quality upgrade, which in turn, would deplete every point of mana he had! This would deter the scent of mana off of his body, and since he couldn’t go out there and that bundle of sharks, this was his only solution!
“I hate to be vulnerable right now, but this has to be done! Let’s hope that the sharks waste a few minutes on those roots.” He added.
Afterwards, he took a couple of safety precautions. Tim assumed that his body would glow a lot throughout the upgrade session, which in return could attract even more unwanted attention. He wanted to avoid that, so he buried himself within a couple inches of sand, just to be completely out of sight. This idea made him feel safer!
After that, he felt ready to upgrade his mana quality, or at least, he felt just a little bit more ready. He was still a nervous wreck for the time being!
He then asked, “What’s that spell again, plant woman? The one about a mana upgrade.”
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Marlo was supposed to teach him this spell, but he hadn’t gotten the chance to do so. With that considered, he had to depend on Ortana for the spell instead, regardless of how occupied she was right now.
“I don’t remember mana upgrades being this rough, this feels worse than giving birth.” She muttered to herself first.
Afterwards, she mustered up the strength to give a solid answer to the boy. In the utmost detail, word by word, she eventually explained the spell to Timothy, without accidentally recasting the spell on herself in the meantime! She didn’t want to make a mistake like that, so she took her time.
Tim understood and memorized the spell eventually, and once he did, he casted it on himself immediately. He had to handle a long, spoken-word spell, and these were the kind of spells that he had to believe in himself in order for them to work, so it took him a while to mentally prepare for that. He had to bring himself in a very sour, emotional state, in order to believe in the spell, and he also started depending on it in a very desperate manner.
He then casted, "My will is but mana, and mana is life! I call upon the gods to bless me with purity, even if punishment is the means to my end!"
The gods were really responsive, or at least, the spell was. In response to the spell, every fraction of Tim's body started twitching! Throughout these first few seconds of distress, he figured out that magic could be extremely physical, even though that was hypocritical to magic as a name itself.
"Fucking hell… I'm steaming!" Tim muttered, as he noticed that he was even making the waters warmer, at least by a few degrees.
The mana quality upgrade was taking a real physical toll on him, but the reason behind it was at least a little bit logical. Mana was a magical substance that had to be stored, and processed through organic bodies, as that was how mana typically worked in this world. With that said, the upgrade was simply preparing Timothy's organic body to accept a better quality of mana.
His veins may be twitching, his muscles and organs may be changing forever, but if he was successful with this upgrade, then he'd be able to harbor a better quality of mana as a result. It was a tough process, but the results promised multiple rewards and advantages!
Tim twitched for about five minutes, and then the twitching and bodily spasms stopped. His pain halved immediately, but now, he couldn’t move all that much. Timothy's body remained dormant for a moment, until suddenly, he started radiating a luscious, blue light!
The light would've been blinding originally, but he buried himself in sand for the same reason. The sand was coating most of the blue light which he was radiating, and this in turn provided him with a simple advantage; Mainly, the mana quality upgrade session could go on without any interruptions!
It was really advantageous that he wasn’t to be interrupted, as he wouldn’t be able to protect himself in the slightest. Tim couldn't concentrate much, as the burden of this upgrade was both crippling and overwhelming. He didn’t want to remain like this for long, so with every bit of strength he could muster, Tim tried to trick the gods to accept his attempt at a mana upgrade, even if he had to pretend like he was begging them along the way! He could put up an act.