Chapter 232: System’s Tears

There were five options, which was a good number. Alex went through them one by one, trying to understand what each evolution could offer before making his choice.

The first option was the Advanced Mana Blade Spell, which was the most straightforward upgrade. Alex’s Mana Blades were already extremely sharp, but while their sides were not exactly weak, they were still not durable enough when fighting monsters that could punch through steel.

He had been trying to improve the durability of his Mana Blades through repeated experiments, but finding the best way to arrange and compress the Mana was difficult. This evolution would probably provide him with a better understanding of how to create stronger and more stable blades, making it a reliable choice.

The second option was the Throwing Mana Blade Spell. Alex suspected that it had appeared because he had thrown and launched his Mana Blades many times during previous battles, causing the Talent to recognize that as a possible evolution path.

The spell would likely use elastic mana to launch the blades forward, giving them greater range and penetration power.

The Mana Wave Blade Spell was more surprising. From the name alone, Alex could guess that it would allow him to release a slash from his Mana Sword, creating a cutting wave that could travel forward and strike enemies from a distance.

It sounded the most fantasy-ish from his spell rooster. Alex wondered how he had obtained this evolution before remembering his experiments with the Mana Sense Spell.

While practicing Mana Sense, he had experimented with different methods of sending mana pulses outward in a uniform manner. During some of those experiments, he had discovered that vibrating the mana could make the pulses extremely thin and sharp, so this evolution had probably come from those experiments.

The fourth option was Mana Shuriken Spell, and this one was honestly the most tempting. Alex suspected it had appeared because of the star-shaped mana construct he had used to fly while fighting the Kraken, although the spell he had created back then relied on Fire Element Mana to spin the construct.

The Mana Shuriken Spell probably would not require Fire Element Mana. Moreover, it was obviously meant to be used as an attack rather than for flying.

There were several things he could learn from this spell. Alex did not know how to properly spin a mana construct without using Fire Element or Kinetic Element Mana. He could use elastic mana to push the construct forward, but making it spin at the same time was a completely different matter.

He would need to control the center of mass, angular velocity, torque, and the distribution of force across the construct while also applying another force to move the shuriken forward. Managing both rotational and forward movement at the same time would require a great deal of knowledge and experience.

It was possible for him to learn eventually, but Alex did not think it was practical to spend so much time figuring it out when he was already inside a dangerous dungeon.

Finally, he reached the last option.

Mana Disruption Blade Spell.

Alex immediately understood what this evolution was supposed to do. It was most likely the spell that would allow him to cut through other forms of energy by applying the same principle he had discovered from his fight the Warrior Badger.

Despite how useful the spell was, Alex was not particularly interested in choosing it. The reason was simple: he could learn it himself.

Alex created a Mana Blade and began experimenting with the spell. He used it with a dagger, then a sword, and finally a knife, repeatedly adjusting the vibration of the mana to reproduce the same effect he had achieved earlier.

A notification eventually appeared before him.

[Mana Disruption Blade Spell detected.]

[Would you like to learn Mana Disruption Blade Spell?]

[Yes/No.]

’Yes.’

Alex still had one available slot on his Status Screen, so he decided to learn it.

[Mana Disruption Blade Spell learned.]

[Mana Disruption Blade Spell, D Rank, Level 1]

[Why are you back to learning close combat spells!? Why?]

[Effect: Allows you to penetrate your Mana into and vibrate it to shake the foundations of other energies.]

Alex smiled faintly as he looked at the newly learned spell. It was quite useful, and its value was not limited to disrupting his enemies’ energy.

He could also use it against his own mana constructs. Whenever energy was compressed, there would inevitably be weaker points in its structure, and this spell could help him identify and disrupt those weak foundations.

If he could understand how those weak points were created, he might eventually figure out how to make a construct without them. That would allow him to create stronger mana constructs without relying entirely on trial and error.

With the spell out of the way, Alex looked back at his updated evolution list.

[Mana Blade Spell can now be evolved. Choose an evolution: Advanced Mana Blade Spell, Throwing Mana Blade Spell, Mana Wave Blade Spell, Mana Shuriken Spell]

As expected, Mana Disruption Blade Spell had disappeared after he learned it. Alex began going through the remaining options again, this time eliminating the ones that were less useful to him.

The first to go was Throwing Mana Blade Spell. It would give him stronger long-range attacks with his Mana Blades, but if he needed to attack something from a distance, he could already use Mana Bullets or Fire Bullets.

There was little reason to choose an evolution that only improved something he could already accomplish with another spell. Alex already had enough ranged attacks, so another spell focused on throwing Mana Blades would not add much to his fighting style.

The next to go was Mana Wave Blade Spell. It was a fancy spell, but Alex could not see much practical use for it beyond giving him another ranged attack.

Even its range probably would not be particularly impressive, and the cutting wave might only travel a few meters before losing its power. If he needed to attack something from a distance, he could simply use Mana Bullets or Fire Bullets instead.

That left Advanced Mana Blade Spell and Mana Shuriken Spell.

..

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