"Alright, so explain this to me." Ryo told Clone, the limitless white void inside his head surrounding them. His body was the same as it had always been, with Clone copying his appearance, while still fully blacked out. "Why have I been able to learn some of these Demon spells so quickly? Granted, with the exception of that one High Tier spell, I haven't had much issue."
"Well, do you remember when I broke your first chain? How I told you that Humans can use all types of mana, and that breaking the first restriction improved your mana efficiency, gave you more mana, and also made your mind more accepting of Demon magic?" Clone asked Ryo, forcing him to think back for a second. "Well, contained in that first point, is a little bit of extra information, that, when combined with you becoming more accepting of Demon magic, makes it exponentially easier for you to absorb knowledge."
"Oh?" Ryo asked, tilting his head sideways slightly. "Go on, tell me. I know those two points, but surely that isn't the reason why." Ryo continued, Clone nodding their head in response.
"Well, Humans are an adaptable species. By further increasing your… mental pliability, if that's the right term, you became a sponge, like I told you to. I told you not to think like an A-rank adventurer, and to your credit, you haven't. Well, unless it benefitted you, so that works." Clone explained, forming a blank book in their hands. "Imagine that this book is your magical capability."
The book began floating, but Ryo could visibly notice it was unstable, shaking and toppling from one side to the other. "This was it before. It existed, but it was unstable. It worked, but anything too intense would cause it to-" Clone explained, the book falling down, hitting an invisible surface in front of Ryo. It slowly rose once more, incredibly stable in its levitation. "This is you after breaking that one chain. Much calmer, with a lot more force needed to cause it to topple."
Ninety-nine more books appeared, arranging themselves into a ten by ten grid. Clone appeared beside Ryo, each book rising higher into the air than the last one, which quickly ascended to match. They were perfectly still. "This is you now. Obtaining Manabound practically increased your mana capacity hundredfold, and made your mana considerably easier to use, decreasing your mana consumption." They continued, making the books vanish. "However, that spell you attempted to learn before knocking yourself out would require ten, twenty, maybe thirty times more mana? Until you learn a lot more spells that are easier, you're not going to get anywhere with those, Ryo."
Ryo was shocked. He knew Manabound had a huge effect, but not to that degree, even though he now knew that it'd be a long time before he tried that High Tier spell again, but it left him with another question. 'Why was it so easy to learn Theoretical Advancements, if the spells using it are that insane?'
"I see. What if I were to compare myself to Inquisax?" Ryo asked, causing Clone to think for a second. Multiple different objects appeared beside Ryo, ranging from a candle to a crossbow, a fireball to an inferno, a sword to a staff, but, in the end, Clone created a dagger and a medium-sized Monster Core.
"It's like comparing apples to oranges." Clone told him. "Inquisax has a lot of physical attacks in his arsenal, despite using magic. I'm almost certain he has spells you've never considered possible. He knew about the Creation spell, but decided not to learn it. Decided. Not incapable. It's quite likely he knows spells that caused him to willingly leave the Demon Country." They speculated. "Maybe something not too dissimilar from that spell you tried to learn, Echo Of Nothingness?"
Ryo nodded his head. "So, why did you make a Monster Core?" Ryo asked, surprising Clone.
"Ah, I went slightly off topic. It's comparing apples to oranges. He's definitely a lot more physically gifted, but it's very likely that you'll surpass him in terms of magic capability in the coming weeks or months. Maybe one day you two could fight side-by-side, but for the moment, you lose to him a hundred times out of a hundred." Clone stated, the Monster Core breaking in their hand, the dagger falling into the endless abyss below.
"Another piece of information. I don't know how you've not collapsed from using that one spell, Ryo. Even with that single use of Echo Of Nothingness, you fell unconscious, but you should've been out longer than three hours. Your mana supplies are quite low, even with that use of Boost Veins. I'd recommend waiting for a good long while before trying anything as stupid as that again, as you're a lot more likely to fall flat on your face. Your body has gotten used to using a lot more mana, so it's not happy with such a small amount." Clone explained.
"Right. Thanks for the kind words." Ryo replied. "Anything else you think I should know before I force myself to wake up?" Ryo asked, cracking his fingers. Clone placed their finger to their chin, scratching slightly to imitate Ryo.
"Actually, yeah." Clone replied, appearing behind Ryo, mouth close to his ear. "Watch out for Kevin. I foresee him being a pain in the incredibly near future."
And with that, Ryo's eyes snapped open. If he had a clock, he'd be able to tell how long he was asleep for. He could tell that the sun hadn't moved too much in the sky based on the sunlight coming in from the window, so it definitely wasn't more than an hour. Ryo sat up from his chair, looking around at the books that encompassed his vision no matter where he looked.
"The incredibly near future, huh?" Ryo asked himself, his eyes landing on the open magic book on his desk. "I guess that means I should learn a lot of new spells then, huh?" He pointed out, grabbing the book, as well as his dagger embedded with a Monster Core. He walked out of the library, thinking about his lowered mana reserves as he went. 'If I'm going to learn new spells, I can test them on Monsters I find as I walk past. I'll have to be conservative, though, as it'll take a bit of time for me to regenerate all my mana.'
His footsteps echoed as he descended the ten massive library steps. His foot slipped on the fifth step, causing him to stumble slightly. "Christ!" He exclaimed, stabilising himself. His foot landed on the sixth step, and he used the momentum generated by that to keep his body stable as he went down. His right foot hit the grass first, allowing him to plant his foot firmly into the ground, ensuring he didn't fall.
"Clone was right. With less mana, I'm a lot more prone to accidents." Ryo commented to himself, flicking his left leg forwards to kick off the small bit of dirt that had fallen onto his shoes. He made his way into the forest that surrounded the library, intending to test out some spells on Monsters. First, however, Ryo decided it'd be a good time to try and use Boost Veins to improve his mana flow. 'Maybe it'll help me regenerate mana faster since it'll speed up my heartrate?'
Ryo pushed mana through each and every one of his veins and arteries, his body energising itself through the use of the currently-scarce substance. His heart sped up, an audible thump hitting his ears and heating his chest. It was almost like he was forcing his blood to rush through each and every pathway, carrying oxygen at a much more rapid pace.
Ryo began walking again, foliage and trees surrounding him from every direction. The sounds of Monsters skirmishing and scuttling around was everywhere, no distinct location, like a cacophony of intermittent clashes. A band of green Goblins, each of them holding these makeshift weapons, were fighting a trio of Slimes, each different in colour. The leader was red, the one to its right was blue, and the other one, which moved back a bit further, was a white colour, like the Slimes that had healed him at Aragoth's command.
"Well, no better time like the present to check out the spells." Ryo commented, looking at the page beside Boost Vein, noticing no diagrams, but another spell instead. It was as if they were meant to be tied together.
Boost Magic Daughter (Sub) Spell]
'Boost Muscles'
'Boost Muscles: The boosting of the veins inside a person's body. This improves muscle repair and elasticity, allowing for quicker physical reactions, improved strength and slightly tougher flesh.'
'This spell is used to enhance the physical capabilities of a body by roughly twenty percent. It's a weaker form of the Semphite's natural ability, which is similar in function, but increases both strength and magic output by fifty percent.'
'To perform Boost Muscles, you must imagine your muscles as if they were rocks, impervious to damage. It's a simple spell, but this spell can be cast on multiple people at once. It either costs more mana to utilise, or the effect is weaker.'
Ryo, going as fast as he could, as he could see the Goblins rearing up for their assault, followed the spell's description. He imagined his muscles as dense and as tough as rocks, which wasn't hard — considering parts of him were — allowing him to pour mana into his muscles. His body grew tense, muscles and tendons contracting before welling up with power. His shoulders grew slightly wider, his frame becoming a bit more muscly, but not enough to have it tear any of his clothes. All that could be seen externally was a slight tightening of his jacket that he still had on him.
Ryo watched as two Goblins attacked the Slimes, prompting the red and blue ones to fire fire and water magic respectively, combining their elements to create steam, burning the skin of the attackers, similar to how he used fire magic. "I can't let them have all the fun, can I?" Ryo asked himself, drawing the attention of one of the Goblins that hadn't attacked yet. He watched Ryo move out from the trees, performing two quick slashes against its flesh with his dagger, sitting squarely in his right hand. It attempted to move backwards in order to avoid the attack, but its left hand was lost in the retreat.
'I'm not nearly as fast as I was when I was fighting the Glasya-Labolas.' Ryo noted, hearing the Goblin cry out in pain. 'I used Psychokinesis to improve my perception and my speed during that fight. What are the differences between this and that?' He asked himself, quickly stabbing the Goblin in the throat as he thought, grabbing the attention of the other Goblins.
'Oh, I think I know! I'm directly boosting my body here, while back there, I was using Psychokinesis to quickly move my body for me. They're two different applications that apply the same results! However, Psychokinesis would definitely draw a lot more power to perform that effect, as it takes a lot out of me to improve my perception.' Ryo recognised, forgetting about the Goblins who were now pouncing on him.
The first Goblin used a rock on the end of a stick to club at Ryo's leg, knocking him to the floor with a sickening crunch. The second one used its weapon, which was almost like a small dagger carved out of rock to cut off Ryo's left index finger.
Ryo quickly glanced at the Goblins, using one swipe of his dagger to hit both of their necks, sending them falling to the floor, clutching their necks as blood bubbled in their throats. 'If that was a Goblin in the dungeon, it would have killed me without a second thought.' Ryo realised, dropping his two consecutive Boost spells to activate healing magic, placing his finger back onto its stump, watching as the nerves re-attached themselves, flesh stitching itself together.
A wave of tiredness rushed over him, and he was able to activate one spell before leaving the forest, book of spells and dagger in hand. He teleported back to the library, face against the floor, unconscious due to a lack of mana. A voice echoed out in Ryo's head, something internal.
"I told you to be careful."