I gestured to the hundreds of rock cubes I placed on the tables and explained, "these rock cubes are infused with spells. Mostly Lesser Heals as requested, easily differentiated by the plus sign, and a select few others each with their own corresponding symbols."
Our initial group from Rumah are familiar with these, the request for more of the healing cubes had come from them after all. On the other hand, this is the first time Billy had seen them. And he took one to observe closely while someone I do not bother to identify brought it upon themselves to explain for him.
"Wha' bout da Mana C'ore?" Atech asks.
"Ah~, yes! Thank you for asking!" I give him a grin, my armor is currently only a simple chestplate. "This one is infused with Conjure Weapons. Allow me to demonstrate."
I lift up the Core in question and trigger its Infusion, "this Core has 124 mana. You do not want this to fall to zero, remember that! Now a dagger costs about 40 mana, which is what I am currently aiming to conjure."
Instantly, a fine unadorned dagger manifests, hovering above the Core held within my palms. "That did not cost me any of my own mana, the Core itself is now down 28 mana, but this will regenerate. So, as long as the person takes care to not spend all the mana within the Core, I assume they may use the spell for a long time."
"You said a dagger costs 40 mana, why is it only down 28?" Billy asks and I catch the dagger and tell him that I have a way to lower mana cost. Yet refused to elaborate any further.
"It amuses me that 40 mana conjures a mere dagger with this spell, while 50 mana conjures a half meter cube block of Trilattic Swarm plates using your spell." Henry says out of nowhere…
"Huh, I never noticed. But that's a good point!" I tell him, "I wonder why there is such a difference?"
But only got a shrug for an answer… I allowed Henry to take the Infused Core off my hand.
—
I accepted no share from the sales of these two newly released video games, allowing them to focus the funds for developing humanity as a whole. And so, now that another solution to earning capital for our growth has been found, I am once again scheduled to set out and build relations with the other countries.
Regarding the dangers of a collapsed spatial expansion, Billy had assured me that it will not be a problem. He had brilliantly come up with a simple solution to that specific flaw; the expansion done on his Great Wall is done through use of a hidden magic circle carved into the floor. This circle affects two things; one being the room it is carved upon, and two—using a specific rune that may be carved upon something—an object.
Expanding both to a set parameter determined upon cast. So the whole room, and its furniture are actually specially designed objects that would only function properly within the influence of spatial expansion. Narrow cups that become normal sized cups upon expansion, narrow beds and bookshelves that also needs expansion-ing, etcetera. Therefore, besides the people and external objects they brought in, a malfunction with their spatial expansion will simply return things to how they are; non-functionally narrow objects.
Fortunately, with the addition of DollarOne, this colossal entity among the gaming industries. I am freed from having to convince Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan; as they are all located close by–parallel to the northern coastline of China and are already in a working relationship with Billy and his corporation.
He had also found that what is left of the people from Mongolia have decided to re-embrace their nomadic life; traveling their desert land and beyond to survive the monstrous weather; as the advent of mana had done more for the forces of nature than it did for them. Which meant finding them might be hard, but not impossible for me. So, I have decided that Mongolia will be my next destination.
Gon and I left them to their well earned rest and departed a few hours before noon… arriving only a little bit more than an hour later; this I know because we are hovering above the abandoned ruins of their city, approximately in the five o'clock direction of Beijing... With my four minds, one for my general controls, I am left with 3, x2 disks each. Magico Disk; 630 mana spent on six permanent versions, the V3s. I invest 100 mana onto each one for speed and range, then send them in a gradually enlarging rotational search, beginning from where I am...
"Found them!" I tell Gon. "Bit' easier than I thought... This way buddy."
—
'Inspect!'
** DING **
Sand Elemental lv 29
'Thank you.'
A bunch of creatures are chasing after a large group of people mounted on two different animals; horses and camels. They are in turn herding a bunch of cows, sheeps and goats. Honestly, it is a rather hilarious sight—only completely dampened by the thought that this is real life, not a game. Death is real!
Out of the six V3 Magico Disks I had conjured to scout, three had had the time to return. Such perfect coincidence! I control all three, Latent enhanced to give greater impact on hit before sending them off. They each jump from one Elemental to the other, scattering their sandy torso on impact and slaying the creatures.
The mounted people below stopped their escape soon after, rounding up their numerous herd and are now standing quietly, all 300 pair of eyes shifting between the dying Elementals and their doom; me!
This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.
Combat summary
Enemies slain:
Sand Elemental lv 25 x 234
Sand Elemental lv 26 x 142
Sand Elemental lv 27 x 96
Sand Elemental lv 28 x 34
Sand Elemental lv 29 x 27
Sand Elemental lv 30 x 6
13,933 syscred and 58,180 exp awarded
Eventually all hostiles were successfully eliminated, it took me about an hour to slay all 500 or so Sand elementals. Resulting in Monster Cores being strewn about everywhere, and this in turn caused the herded animals to go wild rushing to consume them. Therefore, causing the people much trouble attempting to keep them under control… These Cores are worth quite a lot of Creds, but I really don't want to be down there among the magical livestocks competing in who can grab the more Cores.
Speaking of grabbing. I have~ been entertaining the thought about being capable of controlling objects with my mind. But how this may be accomplished still eludes me. Mana threads or Mage Hand like spells should work, there are even a plethora of similar spells within the System Store. But I find the idea; bland, so to say… as that is, instead, the act of controlling an object through another object. In this case; by mana-made-threads or by mana-made-hand.
So, as an alternative. I use Mana Manipulation to reach out for a core on the ground, riding along the range of my Mana Sense to accomplish the deed. Then, through use of the skill, I manipulate the mana found within and physically pull the object towards me… This allowed me to collect a little more than 300 Cores out of the 535 strewn about; no spell, no use of a mana-object, but still not something that I would define as using only my mind… It was a skill I used.
"биднийг аварсанд баярлалаа." A yell can be heard coming from below me. I look down to find an elder followed by two middle aged men looking up, they would be approximately five meters from me in the event I land. So I landed… Some yelling ensued after I enquired about English before a teenage girl—from the looks of her—was brought forth to act as our translator.
"Thank you for saving us." She translated with a thick but perfectly audible accent, "may we know the name of our savior?"
"Nah, don't mention it." I reply a little awkwardly at the slight-reverence in her eyes, "I'm Zane. Nice to meet you!"
"The pleasure is ours. To what do we owe the presence of one as powerful as yourself?" She asks after a prompt from her elder. Which made me realize then that they do not revere me—it is fear.
"You owe me nothing. A great man once said; with great power, comes great re—"
"Are you quoting spiderma—"
"Yes! Yes I am!!" I chuckle. After facially expressing bewilderment on her face, she brightens into a cute giggle. This instead made her three elders express fear, speaking quickly and urgently at her—words she replies with in bright positivity, and this in turn, calms the elders down somewhat. Probably helps that I have my mask opened and grinning wide enough to show my friendly 'human' teeth.
"Thank you. Did not know I need that." She said, "these few months have been hard on me, on us. Running from one danger to another and always on the road…" she invited me into their lunch camp, explaining their woes and challenges, as well as the beauty of their journey. Their main trouble comes from the strong weather and their manifestation coming to life; Elementals… Sand getting in their eyes and chasing them for days, the acrid Wind drying their skin or causing wind blades, and the nightly cold followed by moving ice creatures that are shooting pointy cones of ice.
Second, food is scarce for both them and their livestocks. Fortunately—with the coming of mana—most carnivores are now omnivorous and are generally capable of consuming Monster Cores. She also mentioned something about insects being larger and having more meat as being a good thing. Fortunately, it is also easier to find water nowadays, through use of a familiar spell; Condense Water. And their nomadic ways, allowing them to collect water from the air above as they travel the dry lands.
"On a bright note, the views are magical!" She said with an enthusiastic glint in her eyes, "if you know where to look. Sandstorms that glow in a multitude of colors and the dancing rituals done by hundreds of Elementals to name two. They are mesmerizing!"
"But I wish we can settle down, like before magic becomes real. Mom and dad said that is not possible now. Our lands is to violetile–volatitle… тогтворгүй; vol something, I am sure!" She said, mentioning a word in her native language.
"I think you meant volatile."
Her head perked up, "yes that!" She then repeated the word to herself several times in a whisper.
"Well, have you considered migrating to friendlier land?" I ask. I barely heard her say; please wait a moment. Before she turns her head to converse with her elders.
"Yes," she said. "The elders have considered that option. But they are not sure the locals would approve."
"I see… Your turn to wait a moment!" I tell her with another friendly smile, already opening my VICOS message and texting Henry and Billy.
Zen: Yo, you think it's possible the nomads from Mongolia can live somewhere else? China for example?
Zen: Hello Mr. Billy. I'll skip to the chase, would you be opposed to sharing greener land with the survivors of Mongolia?
They agreed… actually, Billy was pretty enthusiastic about it. More people means he has a larger pool of people to find hidden talents out of, after all. Not to mention there is more land than anyone can use nowadays.
—
Between me, the combatants of Rumah and Billy's soldiers. We spent the week venturing Mongolian lands looking for the hundreds of tribes scattered all about to inform them of the arrangement. Unfortunately a minority refused, preferring instead to lead a life of danger and adventure. True they may not be the brightest, but they sure are the mightiest of men… literally; from all the life experiences, Creds and levels they will acquire.
Strength + 35
Constitution + 40
Dexterity + 45
Intelligence + 20
Wisdom + 10
Will + 15
Charisma + 5
Five days worth of Vespas. By noon on a sunday, we were finally done evacuating as many of the survivors as possible from the desert lands of Mongolia. They now reside on one end—the one that does not meet the sea, and further away from Beijing—of the The Great Wall; as it was closeby. Not to mention most of the stones survived the infusions of mana during The System integration and are therefore perfect for Shaping—the chime of a new VICOS message drew my attention.
Henry: You might be interested to know that you now have two options for your next destination; One, to involve yourself in a conflict between Vampires and Humans… or two, between the war and politics of seven countries. Russia or The Stans?