Hera walked around the nest of the Cherry Mantis as time stood still, trying to analyze the mana that was coming out of her blades. The problem was that she couldn't cast their skills in here to test. Somehow, the curse created this still image of what happened in a way that cut her off from her court. She could still feel them and understand they were doing well, but there was no way to contact them. Which also meant she couldn't compare their skills with this powered-up version. The only one she could actually try to do so was with her Elemental Poison Rain, but the origin of that spell was far away, making it harder for her to see the details of the magic.
She walked around Dao, looking closely at the mana he was gathering. The tiny particles, if mana could be called that, seemed to be connected by small jagged strands of web. If they weren't so interconnected, Hera would consider this to be actual lightning, but it spread amongst the magic-forming network that didn't seem to start or end anywhere. Dao was completely covered in that energy, but on closer inspection, Hera also noticed that some strands were reaching out to nothing. She couldn't understand why the mana was doing that. Each spell was a close circuit, it had all the magic that it would ever use when it was cast. Sure, people could make continuous effects that required a constant supply of mana, and there were ways of adding more mana to a spell that was being prepared. There were also some spells or magic effects that tried to siphon mana from a crystal or something. But a spell that would look for outside sources of mana on its own was not only extremely complex but would have very niche effects, and Dao's Chain Lightning was not one of those spells.
Hera tried to use her own mana to replicate those effects but on a smaller scale. First, making the small particles interconnected by that web and then spreading them out, but not only that, she also tried to create more of those tiny balls. It wasn't as easy as it looked because the mana was coming out in different forms, which made it hard to manipulate, even harder than normal mana, which was already difficult enough to handle. She also tried to replicate the loose strands, but the mana would just leak from those spots, and forcing them to stop or trying to make them search for more mana just caused the entire structure to unravel so quickly that it was scary. Thinking there was no way to continue with such a small sample, Hera turned around and walked across the frozen battlefield.
She reached Core, seeing the rapier that broke to save her and swallowed her sadness. He was mid-swing, gathering his magic on the tip of the blade, about to toss that chunk of lava that would become an eruption, destroying everything on its path. Even before fighting the Night River, Core always did his best and tried everything he could to help Hera. She shook her head, knowing this wasn't the right time to reminisce. Focusing on the mana he created, she was surprised by the stark difference from what Dao was currently doing. The particles that were held together by the web felt erratic and wild, as if the web itself was the only thing keeping the spell in one piece. What Core was doing, on the other hand, was more like a collective project. Each part of the mana was acting to do something specific but also to assist the mana around it. Some parts seemed to be trying to make it heavier and solid. Other pieces were just focused on heat, but they would spread it evenly between the rest of the magic, tempering it so it could withstand the incoming impact and maybe even more. The outer layer also had some parts that seemed to be reaching out, chasing more mana, but it wasn't as aggressive as the Chain Lightning. It seemed like the lava was taking the approach of a Venus fly trap, letting the prey come to it instead of over-exerting itself.
But there was also another component that didn't seem to contribute anything to the spell. Hera couldn't understand what it was, but she knew that whatever it was, it affected the magic's overall effect. When she thought about it, she also realized that the web was the only thing holding Dao's spell together. It was odd to think about it, but each skill was split into two pieces. One that would act like the spell itself and another to hold the magic in place, but that also would benefit the effects. The best analogy she managed to come up with was that each spell was a cake, while this new effect was the frosting that covered it. By itself, the cake was still a cake, but the frosting alone wasn't something that could hold its own very well. However, when combining both effects, things would change completely. That example worked surprisingly well with what Core was currently doing since she now understood that there was a layer of something dense and heavy around the fire and rock spell, almost like mud.
Hera tried using this new insight, making a two-layered spell. The primary effect would be inside it with some sort of wrapping around it to keep it together. It felt a lot like her mana reinforcement, and it didn't take long for her to make it work. However, the cost of the spell increased exponentially. She tried using only 100 points of mana for the chain lightning itself, but it took 10 thousand points to cover the entire spell in a way that it wouldn't just break the container, so to speak. To make matters worse, the wrapping only served to weaken it. Sure, the spell was protected, and Hera imagined that trying to stop that spell would be tough, but for something this weak, it hardly seemed worth the trouble. Especially when she started to consider the scaled-up versions of it. If she used 10 thousand mana to cast something and then added 1 million mana on top to protect it, she might as well use the 1 million mana to cast it from the get-go since then, the spell would already be too dense to be easily blocked.
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Frustrated, she turned to Daskka, wanting to see what the herald was able to do during this fight. Before getting close enough to the mist snake, Hera noticed something else. It was faint and small, but it was all around her. With some effort, she managed to find what exactly she was looking at spread around the battlefield. There were these small pieces of mana linked to each other. She followed the chain until she reached a monster that was being sliced in half by Ooze. Right in the middle of the slash, where the chakram touched, one of those small links seemed to be reacting to the attack. That reaction continued to another point, and Hera followed it again. This chain went around the tree until it found another Chery Mantis being split in half just as the one Ooze attacked. The mana was right in the middle of the creature, in the exact same position as the one her chakram hit, replicating the effect and spreading it to yet another link. Hera followed that path to another two monsters, both being split in half almost like copies of the first. This was Scythe's effect. What allowed her to chain attacks, making multiple targets take the same damage at the same time? The Empress never expected this skill to work with mana, but it made sense. Anything that had seemingly no explanation could be explained with magic. Unfortunately, this revelation also came with a big problem. There was nothing covering that mana. No wrapping to protect or increase its power. Yet it was here, being affected by her increased attributes. She didn't even attempt replicating this effect since it didn't make sense. The mana was just connected and far apart. It wasn't trying to pull anything else towards it or it had any indication of how those pieces of mana were working together.
There was one more thing she could check, and that was Daskka. Even if she couldn't have the herald herself here, Hera was familiar enough with her snake that could let her see the differences between that and her regular shape. Getting closer to the mist, the Empress was surprised by how natural it felt. Usually, Daskka's mist was clearly a magical effect. Something that was not supposed to be there. Not that it was a dead giveaway to anyone who looked at it, but her silver mist form was noticeable to anyone who paid a bit of attention. But this version was different. It wasn't weird or something that looked out of place. It felt like the fog that would appear on cold mornings in the countryside.
Paying attention to the mana, she saw another completely different setup. There wasn't any wrapping here, but instead, it felt like she was looking at a sheet of cloth. However, the mana wasn't the strands but the empty spaces between the tread. Each particle would leak mist that would, in turn, flow as if coursing through a river, following the line in between the pattern of mana. This time Hera tried to replicate the effect. Using her own mana to create some mist and force it to follow a set path. It didn't take long for her to make it work. However, she could only make two lines of mist that would be created by the magic. If she tried to make more, the lines would stop existing, letting the mist spread naturally.
Hera continued trying, again and again, going between all three uses of mana that she could see, but she couldn't replicate those effects; it didn't matter how hard she tried.
"Do you need my assistance?" the curse asked after the 12th time the Empress failed to recreate the lava sediment that Core was about to throw.
"What kind of assistance?" Hera didn't turn to look back at the curse, but she didn't know what to do right now to make this work.
"I can go back to the moment when the spell starts. Or move it along so you can see it in full effect."
"Allowing me to see the beginning of it would help a lot. Is there a reason why you didn't start with that?"
"If I had, you might not need my help," the curse replied with an amused voice.
"Of course," Hera sighed. She knew it wouldn't be that easy. The curse wouldn't show her what she needed for free, "How much will you grow if I ask you to help?"
"Not more than you already know."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"It's up to you to understand."
"Will you get further away than Alex's?"
"Unlikely, but possible," the curse replied.
"Ok, fine. I'll bite. Help me. Show me the beginning of the spell."
"With pleasure," the curse replied with such glee that it felt creepy, which was very much on brand.
The images slowly moved backward, the mana moving back inside the weapons. Eventually, only the wrapping around Core's sediment was still there, and the rest of the effects were gone.
"Hang on. Move the time forward now. Slowly," Hera asked and got very close to the mana, looking to the moment when the actual effects of the spell would appear, "Stop!"
Just before the actual content of the spell appeared, there was a shift in the mana. For a moment, the wrapping changed to something else. Something she couldn't understand properly. Not at first glance, at least.
"Would you like more help?" the curse asked, its voice almost teasing her.
"No. I'll figure this out, just do what I ask," Hera huffed and continued analyzing the spell. This was what she was looking for, she was sure of it. All she had to do now was figure out what it actually was.