[Gravity Hand. Description – A Magical Hand made out of Gravity Mana. Faint pulses of gravity exude from this hand. Depending on how the user wields it, it can either increase gravity of an object or lighten it.]
Liam smiled at the description. This was something Vesely, or Lady Arachne, had suggested he make. This and the Lightning Hand, which he planned on making next. After dismissing the notification he turned to see Uncle Naro staring at him. He couldn’t read the look on his face entirely. He had seen awe, surprise, curiosity, and at the end confusion before going neutral. Liam wasn’t sure if he made a mistake but decided to wait for him to respond.
After a few moments of silence, Uncle Naro finally asked, “How did you do that?”
Taking some time to think about his response. Mixing some truth with a lie, Liam replied, “I just thought about what you said. I saw someone use a magic similar to this and thought about the shape they used. Keeping that in mind, I thought about Gravity itself. How would I use it to help me? I remember someone saying that Hand type magics were helpful to Crafters and thought about how specifically this Hand would help me. Besides helping me with Crafting, I thought about how it could help me in fights.”
Uncle Naro nodded his head after bringing a hand to his chin.
“I thought about the effect one of my Gravity Enchanted daggers had and thought that maybe the Hand made from the same Mana Type could possibly have the same effect. If it did then I could use it as an extra hand, no pun intended, in a fight,” Liam explained. Internally, he was hoping that would be enough of an explanation to help him out of how easy it was for him to make it.
To Liam’s luck and surprise, it was enough as Uncle Naro removed his hand from his chin and said, “That’s an excellent idea. I’m impressed you were able to create one just from seeing a different version of it.”
Blair shook her head, knowing full well that he had Hand Magics from two other Mana Types, but she also knew he couldn’t say it since he was hiding those two magics. She stopped shaking her head immediately as Uncle Naro turned to look at her.
“The idea behind his Gravity Hand is almost similar to what I was going to suggest you make. Except, instead of a hand, I was thinking a sphere could be beneficial to you,” Uncle Naro stated.
“A sphere?” Blair questioned, curiosity and interest on the subject.
“Yes, a sphere you can use to float around you,” Uncle Naro started to explain. “The sphere can and will have a purpose both in and out of battles. While inside of a fight, you can use it to hit weapons or armor and increase the weight on them with each contact. It won’t have any damage output, but increasing the weight of an enemies equipment can both hinder them and create opportunities for you or your teammates.”
Blair liked this idea. “And what about outside of battle?”
“Outside of battles,” Uncle Naro started back up. “You can use it as a practice tool. One that can help you understand it better and the Magic associated with the Mana Type. The more you study it, practice with it, the more you can learn from it.”
“That’s great and all, but what is the point of it?” Blair questioned, looking like she wanted to understand more.
Liam could agree with her question. Learning to control and manipulate Mana Types was a good and all, but there had to be a deeper meaning behind it. If all there was to it was increase the power of said Mana Type, then Channeling the mana would suffice. He knew it was great for those crafting since you needed to guide the mana in some cases, however, that wasn’t true for all of Crafting. The same could be said outside of those who did not wish to craft.
“The purpose of this is to help you grow more. Learning how to properly Channel, Manipulate, and Control Mana Types isn’t to help you strengthen a magical attack,” Uncle Naro started to explain.
Liam noticed the others had stopped what they were doing and were listening in on the conversation. Mercer already had his notebook out and was writing in it.
“It’s for you to get a better connection to the Mana Type you wish to grow with. By studying it and understanding what that Mana Type means and works to you will help shape your Magic in that Field or Focus Point. You can use it to gain new abilities or make current abilities grow. It will also help when it comes time for it to advance. Whether it is an Advanced Field of Study or beyond, understanding the mana used in the respected Field or Focus Point will also help shape your future Class evolution.”
“Interesting,” Liam heard Mercer mutter softly.
“Not everyone views things similarly,” Uncle Naro stated. He pointed to Liam and added, “Take Young Liam here for example. While the use of Gravity Mana has some similar points you can relate to, not everything he currently knows about it and will use it matches with what you know or want to do with it, correct?”
Blair nodded. “Yes. While using it to hinder enemies is something I would like to do with it, the Hand form isn’t the right image I have.”
“And what kind of image do you have?” Uncle Naro pressed.
Blair thought about it. “I’m not entirely sure if it’s what you can call an image, but I thought about using it in a way where any enemies around me are hindered while I and those I deem friendly are not. Maybe even be able to help them out. That’s why I was thinking about an Aura.”
Blair looked at Artem. “His Healing Aura is what gave me the thought. How it washes over and heals those who need it while ignoring those who are enemies. I want something like that, but in a gravity version.”
“That’s a good start,” Uncle Naro said. “A bit broad and a lot the current you can handle, but it is a good goal to endeavor for. For now let’s start with the sphere. With that you can get better ideas of its uses and eventually get there.”
Blair nodded. She was getting some inspiration from this talk and thought deeply about what they had talked about. After focusing on it she channeled her Gravity Mana and tried to make a sphere.
Everyone waited and watched in silence. Blair looked to be in complete focus and concentration as she lifted her hands out in front of her, palms facing each other. Her face would periodically frown before going back into a neutral expression. Her body would tense then relax and tense again before relaxing once more. After a minute had passed, Liam felt it.
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He felt something start to form right in front of Blair. He activated his Mana Sight and saw Gravity Mana start to float from both of her hands and connect in the middle of the space between them. There, the Gravity Mana started to swirl. However, instead of swirling around, the mana swirled inward. Right towards a spot. Liam had to blink a couple of times to see it properly, but a small black orb had started to form.
It was really small at first, but after more and more Gravity Mana swirled right into it, it started to grow. An outline of Purple surrounded the black orb as it grew and grew. Liam watched as she poured every bit of Gravity Mana she had Channeled into it. And after the last bit of Gravity Mana escaped her grasp, it stopped growing.
Liam deactivated his Mana Sight and got a better look at the sphere floating between her hands. A pulse of purple light weakly emanated from the middle of the sphere where a black orb rested. To Liam’s surprise, not only did the light pulse out, but it pulsed back in a few seconds after going out.
Sweat had formed on Blair’s head and was slowly rolling down her forehead. As she opened her eyes a smile formed on her face. She looked at everyone and said with a soft joyous voice, “I did it.”
Artem, Ariyana, Avery, and Mercer cheered as Roman, Gimmel, and Liam clapped. Uncle Naro stared at Blair. The look of awe and surprise etched on his face, much like the one he had when Liam made his Gravity Hand.
He the scratched the back of his neck as he shook his head. A smile grew as he said, “Well, I’ll be damned. I didn’t expect you to get it so quickly. Tell us, what is the ability called?”
After focusing on the notification, Blair read out, “Gravity Sphere. Like what we were going for, it is an orb that, when struck against a piece of equipment, will increase the weight of the equipment. It says it can stack up to five times. It can’t cause any damage and if hit with a magical attack will disperse. It will float around me and with focus on it I can move it, but it looks like it won’t move unless I command it to.”
Uncle Naro nodded. “A bit better than what I originally thought of. The fact that it needs to be hit by a magical attack instead of a physical one is good. If someone or something stupid enough to try and hit it with a weapon then they are only causing trouble for themselves. However, for it to only target equipment means you are limited on when you can use it. Maybe after leveling it up that can change.”
Blair nodded. “That’s what I was thinking.”
Uncle Naro looked at the others. “That is two of you who have grown. Can the rest of you catch up or will you let them leave you in the dust?”
The others yelled out their responses to the call before they went back to what they were doing. As everyone left, Roman remained and was looking at Liam and the Gravity Hand floating around him. He then looked at Uncle Naro, who in turn was staring at him.
“Do you have any questions?” Uncle Naro asked.
“I was just wondering if a Hand Type Magic would be beneficial to the path I am trying to go down,” Roman stated.
Uncle Naro raised a brow. “Oh? Why do wonder that?”
“Well, I thought after seeing Liam’s Gravity Hand that, since I am a melee hand to hand type fighter, maybe if I had extra hands that can cause different effects and maybe some damage along with them, that I could have a versatile fighting style? I don’t know how exactly to word it if I’m being honest.”
“I think you worded it just fine,” Uncle Naro stated. “At least worded it in a way that expresses your desire to use your melee capability while adding magic to it. It is an interesting idea.” Uncle Naro looked at Liam. “You mentioned before that you have the Lightning Focus Point correct?”
Liam nodded as Uncle Naro looked back at Roman. “You have a strong affinity for Lightning correct?”
Roman nodded.
“Then why don’t you both work together on creating a Lightning Hand. Since Liam was successful in creating a Gravity Hand then he should be able to make one. And while he does you both can talk about the process to help you both succeed.”
Roman smiled widely. “That sounds like a great idea.”
Liam and Roman started to discuss how they both felt about Lightning Magic. While they both agreed that they felt Lightning was a great source of magic that could stun or paralyze an opponent for a certain amount of time, that was where their similar thoughts ended.
Liam believed the element Lightning was also a great conductor for energy and charging things up. While Roman nodded in agreement that is was a good way to use it, he also thought it was a waste of potential. He believed Lightning was a powerful force that if utilized correctly could be fast and strike in more than one place at once.
Liam could see potential in what he said, but just like how Roman didn’t envision his use of the element, he too couldn’t envision that route for himself. One of the reasons as to why he thought this was because of the lack of attacking magic outside of his Shadow and Lunar Magics. Even his Gravity Magic lacked any offensive power. He wasn’t entirely sure, but he was starting to think that the seal he had on him limited his spells outside of the Shadow and Lunar Fields.
If that was the case then he was going to have to get creative with what he was going to get. If that meant getting into a mindset that shaped his Mana Types in a Utility or Support style of magic or in ways that could benefit his Crafting Classes, then that’s just what he would need to do. Both Gravity and Lightning had great capabilities in those aspects.
After drawing up those theories he wanted to think about other Mana Types that he could draw upon to help that. While having an arsenal of Mana Types on hand he didn’t want to clutter himself and potentially ruin any path he had. He needed to talk to Uncle Naro and see what he thought before proceeding.
After Roman and Liam finished discussing their ideas and understanding, they decided to practice trying to form and create a Lightning Hand. After an hour of practice and raising the Lightning Mana Type a level, Liam was finally able to create a Lightning Hand. To his satisfaction, the definition the ability provided showed that it was exactly what he needed the ability to be.
[Lightning Hand. Description - A Magical Hand made out of Lightning Mana. Faint pulses of lightning exudes from this hand. Any strikes made with the Lightning Hand with send a ripple of lightning from the point of contact and into the target, making a numbing sensation at the spot. If same spot is struck, the numbing sensation will create a Paralyze Debuff on that spot for 2.5 seconds.]
Roman started and analyzed the Lightning Hand Liam had created. He took note in the shape and structure of it. After doing this for a few minutes he decided to try it out again once more. After fifteen minutes had passed, he was finally successful.
Both he and Liam high fived each other in celebration before Liam asked if there was any difference between their Lightning Hands. To Liam’s surprise and grumbles, there was a slight difference. Roman’s Lightning Hand, while having the same effect, had another effect that helped cause some damage.
Roman’s Lightning Hand didn’t just causing a numbing sensation and a Paralyze Debuff if striking at the same spot. His Lightning Hand could be used like an actual punch where if it hit a target it would be like his own fist was striking. Not only that, but it had a five percent chance to cause a small discharge where a wild stream would shoot out from the hand and strike at a random part of the opponent’s body.
Roman cheered at that as Liam, while happy for his teammate, was a bit peeved he couldn’t have that effect as well. Seeing the difference in both of the Lightning Hands though showed proof about Uncle Naro’s words earlier about how everyone views mana types differently. Because they both had different views and understandings on it, both abilities had different effects.
As Liam finished thinking about this he noticed a curious expression on Roman’s face as he stared at his Lightning Hand. Curious about what he was thinking, Liam asked, “What’s up?”
“Hm?” Roman muttered as he looked at Liam. “Oh, I just had a random thought.”
“Oh? What thought was that?” Liam asked.
“I was thinking…,” Roman started before looking back at his Lightning Hand. “What if I tried to use my Lightning Hand as a sort of gauntlet.”
Liam thought about what he meant. “You mean like wearing the Lightning Hand over your own?”
“Yeah,” Roman stated. “How cool would that be?”
“I mean, it would be pretty badass to see but…,” Liam started to say, feeling like there could be some draw backs to it.
“But what? I think it should be possible to do,” Roman stated as he hyped himself up. “I’m going to try it.”
“Roman I don’t think you sho…,” Liam started to say. He was stopped as Roman didn’t hear him and placed his fingers through the wrist end of the Lightning Hand.
The moment his fingers plunged halfway through the Lightning Hand, shocks of lightning shot out and towards Roman, striking his chest and arm, and causing him to scream out in pain.