Ten minutes in and a lot of mana later, Julius still hadn’t gotten anything. Once he got used to the weird sensation of not breathing, he was quite comfortable.
The heat was barely noticeable at this point. It was kind of like how the first dip into a hot tub was really hot, but after you got used to the temperature it started to feel really nice. That was exactly what Julius was going through at the moment.
It was like he was going through a spa experience. Sort of like a bonfire sauna type of deal. It probably wouldn’t look like that to any onlookers, but Julius was enjoying himself.
It was a shame that he was running out of fire mana. He did his best to reuse whatever leftover remnants he could from it, but unlike his constructs where the fire mana was in its “inert” state, igniting fire mana made it much more difficult to get it back. A lot of it dissipated before he could recycle it.
He would like to experiment on the reason why that happened in the future. It would be nice to figure out a way to recycle expended flames like he did with some of his other mana techniques.
For now, he would have to make do. It wasn’t that bad either, the efficiency wasn’t atrocious or anything, it was just that Julius didn’t like running low on mana. He had so much of it that it felt weird not to have any in the tank.
He sat down while he waited for his natural regeneration to work, he worked on his aura. He took out the set of balls that he carried around and floated them around with his aura in the most complicated patterns that he could currently handle.
Which at this point, only resulted in several looping orbits that revolved all around a single ball. He threw in some balls that went through the center of these orbits, but the current Julius was only able to do this much.
It was still nowhere on the level of Lily who was able to move them around and make them dance like Julius would be able to do with mana manipulation, but it was a start. Lily had told him that she had gotten an aura skill when she was just twelve years old and that she had been practicing with it for many years under the supervision of her mother and grandmother.
She assured him that given his work ethic he would very quickly get to her level in time. She knew better than almost anyone about how much work Julius put in. He didn’t know if Aubrey told her about his sleeping habits yet, but she knew that he didn’t get a lot of sleep.
Still, her opinion mattered a lot to him.
Once, his mana was almost filled entirely back up, he packed away the balls into his storage ring. Then he began the repeat the same process as before, but, he did something else on top of it.
This time around he used [Armaments of the Arcane] to create a pseudo barrier construct around himself. He thought of it as an armor construct that wasn’t pressed against his skin. It was much easier to create than his normal armor.
He didn’t need to have any complex curves or joints, it was basically a dome that covered his entire body. He didn’t need to move around in it, he just needed to contain the fire within.
As soon as the flames were ignited and he felt the fire scorching against his skin, he immediately sensed the difference. This time around, he wasn’t having to continuously pump as much fire mana to keep the fire running.
Although the amount of oxygen within the shell was quickly burned up as fuel, the fire didn’t go out. While he might have thought the fire would have gone out as a result, it didn’t. The fire mana present within and the mana in his core was enough to keep it fueled. Not only that but since the heat wasn’t escaping, Julius was able to keep ahold of the fire better.
He didn’t have to actively control and recycle the ignited fire mana, but the shell did most of that for him luckily.
Still, the fire wasn’t enough to feel more than a warm bath. There was another reason why he used [Armaments of the Arcane]. The skill was the only way that Julius was able to confidently use his blue fire.
While setting himself on fire hadn’t bothered him as much as it probably should have, cooking himself with his enhanced fire was something else entirely.
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He knew that this was really pushing the boundaries of what is considered appropriate even with a healing skill like his. He didn’t think that his skill could bring him back when his entire body was burned to ash.
However, that just meant that he just had to control it so that it didn’t do that.
Before he could start to doubt his idea, he began the process. Something that he learned when he had been playing around with his blue fire was that he didn’t necessarily need kinetic energy to create it.
Kinetic energy made it much easier, but it was something he could handle just using pure mana manipulation. It wasn’t as strong or potent as when he used kinetic energy, but that was kind of the point.
He didn’t need the most powerful and intense flame at the present moment. He needed something that would push his fire resistance to the edge so that he could feel the heat enough to learn a Concept. There was no need to vaporize himself to oblivion just yet.
The trouble was that it was going to be hard to find that balance. This is where his practice of heating up beverages came in clutch. He already had some experience regulating temperatures with precise control the only difference is that this time he was playing with much more extreme temperatures and not a cup of coffee.
How much harder could it really be? He laughed to himself.
A soft violet hue started to take shape in the center of the flames that were engulfing Julius. It was only then did he began to feel the heat on his skin.
The heat before was a soft stinging sensation that could be described as somewhat pleasant. However, this new stinging was anything but pleasant.
It hurt and his skin agreed with him. Instead of the slight redness it displayed previously, his skin was actively burning to a crisp. The acrid stench and smoke of scorching flesh was now floating in his shell. Thankfully, he didn’t have to worry about breathing it in or smelling it, as he was holding his breath as he pumped mana through [Pseudo-Phoenix Renewal].
The thing that was soon becoming another issue was the fact that he was stuck in a container with ash from the remnants of his own skin. Not only that but since [Pseudo-Phoenix Renewal] was active, that meant that he was constantly growing more skin for it to constantly burn.
And soon enough, his entire shell was filled with blackened soot from his burning flesh. He had to create a small vent on top that let the smoke escape. He even had to manipulate mana to create a vortex that sucked the air like a ventilation hood.
He had to use more mana but it was worth it to save himself from the inconvenience of the acrid smoke billowing in his face.
The flames were now hot enough that his natural resistance wasn’t able to withstand the heat, which also meant he had to endure being burned alive by his own choosing.
The pain was pretty bad, even to his standards. His nerve endings were literally on fire and screaming in pain. Only [Savage Dance] being empowered by [Empowerment of Will] prevented him from screaming out in pain.
A small part of him wanted to end this experiment and try a new way. A less painful way if possible.
The same part of him started to wonder why he was willing to push himself so far for just a scrap of power. He had no doubts that if he took his time and continued to train like normal he would eventually improve. It wouldn’t be as rapid, but it would be stable and safe.
More importantly, he wouldn’t need to burn himself alive anymore. That was a big plus. If he just let go, all the pain would just go away.
However, just as quickly as that thought came into mind, he crushed it with an iron fist. He wouldn’t give up just because it got a little difficult. He needed to get stronger and this was a way that he could do that.
He firmed his determination. Nothing would stop him, especially not himself. He gritted his teeth and bore the pain. All the while, reminding himself that he had gone through much worse.
What would he rather choose? Several minutes of momentary pain or the pain of knowing that he was too weak to do anything for the rest of his life?
That was an easy decision to make. And as soon as he put it in that perspective, it was like it somehow magically made everything better. It was like a wave of resoluteness washed over him.
His boiling flesh didn’t hurt as much. His mind balanced on a razor’s edge, the perfect harmony of frenzied and calm. He reached a state that transcended normal consciousness.
Nothing would stop him. He would learn a Fire Concept or die trying. That was his promise. That was his resolve.
And just like that, after all this time he managed to touch that esoteric realm of Concepts he had been searching for. It was only then did he realized how ignorant his claim of learning a Fire Concept would be easier since he already had one.
It was a naive presumption that he could only make because of his lack of experience. Saying he would learn a Fire Concept because he had a Sharpness Concept was like saying he would be able to make a chicken curry because he knew how to bake a roll.
It was a humbling moment, but one that he would remember for the rest of his days.
Just as the final piece of the puzzle slotted in perfectly, Julius felt a Concept birthed right in the middle of his soul. Completing a piece of himself that he didn’t know he was missing.
Congratulations. You have acquired the Concept of Will: Inexorable Resolve.