Chapter 330: I Cast Fists

Author’s Note: The previously shown evolution options for Disruption Mana Blade Spell were incorrect. Those three options were actually meant for the fusion of Mana Shuriken and Disruption Mana Blade, which is why there were only three instead of the usual five or six.

The previous Chapters will be edited soon to reflect this correction.

**

Alex ignored the notification and continued concentrating on Mana Vortex Spell. The more he experimented with it, the more impressed he became by the method used to maintain Disruption Mana beyond his normal manipulation range.

He could feel dozens of mana wisps constantly moving away from him before returning to receive another infusion of Will. The process repeated several times every second, allowing him to maintain a large region of circulating Disruption Mana without losing control.

’Let’s see what happens if I use other Spells while maintaining the vortex,’ Alex thought, deciding to experiment further. He attempted to create several Mana Bullets, but they disintegrated almost immediately after appearing.

Next, he tried covering his arms with Fire Mana Armor, only to discover that the circulating Disruption Mana interfered with the flames before they could form a stable structure.

’So it doesn’t distinguish between my mana and someone else’s,’ Alex realized, examining the constantly circulating wisps. The problem wasn’t particularly difficult to understand, since Mana Vortex Spell worked by rapidly infusing mana wisps with Will and sending them outward instantly before recovering them again. He couldn’t even control the direction of mana wisps, since there were too many and he had to send them back fast, leaving no time for little modifications.

He could technically modify the instructions contained within each wisp, but doing so would require additional concentration and time. He would have to distinguish his own external spells from other forms of mana and continuously adjust the circulating wisps to avoid them.

Unfortunately, that would disrupt the rhythm maintaining the vortex. If he spent too much time modifying individual wisps, he wouldn’t be able to replenish their Will quickly enough, eventually causing the entire spell to collapse.

Fortunately, the limitation only affected mana outside his body. Spells such as Advanced Battle Instinct, Advanced Blood Vitalization, and Superior Body Reinforcement continued functioning normally, since the circulating Disruption Mana never entered his body.

’Mana Vortex is a good Spell, but it’s going to be difficult to train. I need to become faster at infusing Will into each mana wisp,’ Alex thought.

As for the problem of the vortex destroying his external Spells, he already had an idea of how to solve it. Disruption Mana worked by exploiting weaknesses in the foundations of other forms of energy.

Therefore, if Alex could improve the stability of his spells until their foundations no longer possessed weaknesses that his Disruption Mana could exploit, they should theoretically be able to survive inside the vortex.

Of course, accomplishing something like that would be extremely difficult. Nevertheless, the idea of training and improve only excited Alex. The Mana Vortex Spell was an excellent method for training his other spells.

After experimenting for another moment, Alex finally exhaled and calmed himself. Now that Disruption Mana Blade Spell and Mana Shuriken Spell had fused into Mana Vortex Spell, he finally had some room to learn another Spell.

He stopped maintaining the vortex and immediately began covering his arms with Fire Mana Armor. Numerous dark-red cables of solid flames intertwined around his forearms, gradually forming a pair of protective gauntlets.

A familiar notification appeared before his eyes.

[Partial Fire Armor Spell detected.]

[Would you like to learn Partial Fire Armor Spell?]

[Yes/No.]

Alex smiled upon seeing the notification. He had wanted to obtain this spell since the beginning, but his limited spell slots had prevented him from learning it earlier.

Although he could already create the armor himself, what interested him most was its future evolutions. Even without evolving, he was confident that he could eventually develop the technique enough to cover his entire body with solid flames.

However, Alex was thinking much further ahead than that. His instincts told him that the evolutions of this spell could become tremendously powerful, possibly teaching him methods of mana manipulation he had never considered before.

’Yes,’ Alex thought, accepting the notification without hesitation.

[Partial Fire Armor Spell learned.]

[Partial Fire Armor Spell, C Rank, Level 1.]

[I cast fists! Flaming fists!]

[Effect: Allows you to create solid flame armor covering a portion of your body.]

Immediately, Alex felt the strain required to maintain his flaming gauntlets decrease considerably. The construction method had become more efficient, and he could now sense that maintaining armor over another part of his body was possible.

After considering his options, he decided to protect his head. It was one of the most vulnerable parts of his body, and having reliable protection against unexpected attacks would be extremely useful.

Alex began weaving thin cables of Fire-Mana cables around his head, carefully controlling their positions while using Kinetic Mana to absorb the heat they produced. Despite his confidence in his abilities, his heart began beating considerably faster as the structure gradually formed.

’One mistake here, and I’ll burn my own head off,’ Alex thought, becoming even more cautious. He had never accidentally burned his arms while constructing the gauntlets, but that didn’t mean mistakes were impossible.

Losing an arm would already be disastrous, yet making a similar mistake around his head would almost certainly kill him instantly.

Fortunately, the construction proceeded without any problems. The cables gradually intertwined into a helmet resembling those worn by medieval knights, although its shape was considerably sleeker and more menacing.

Once the structure was complete, Alex infused it with Will, hardening the solid flames until the helmet resembled smooth, dark-red metal. He carefully checked its stability before finally relaxing his concentration.

Only then did he notice a rather obvious problem.

’Wait. I can’t see anything,’ Alex realized, blinking beneath the helmet. Advanced Battle Instinct had allowed him to concentrate so intensely on constructing the armor that he hadn’t considered how he would see through it.

After thinking for a moment, he decided to experiment with Mana Sphere Spell. Since the spell allowed him to sense objects coming into contact with his mana, he wondered whether he could use it to compensate for his lack of vision.

Alex expanded a Mana Sphere around himself and began moving through the corridor. Although the sensation of walking without being able to see was uncomfortable, he could still identify nearby obstacles whenever they came into contact with the sphere’s surface.

However, after attempting several faster movements, he quickly realized that the method wasn’t suitable for actual combat.

Mana Sphere Spell worked by expanding a thin spherical layer of mana, leaving the space inside it empty. Consequently, Alex could detect something when it first crossed the sphere’s surface, but he couldn’t continuously track its movements after it entered.

Against an ordinary opponent, he might be able to predict the direction of an incoming attack. However, against monsters moving at enormous speeds, losing track of an attack the moment it entered his Mana Sphere would make avoiding it extremely difficult.

He considered what he could do to overcome the problem. After thinking for a moment, he realized that there were two relatively simple solutions.