"A larger structure?" Howard blinked in surprise.
"What kind of structure? A larger-scale runematrix? Or sothing ant to condense mana?"
"If only it were that simple," Nula shook her head.
"Though the fundantal composition of a spell involves only a few runes, spells are a pri example of the principle ’more equals complex.’ The more runes that make up a matrix, the more functions this matrix can potentially perform!"
"Even two matrices with similar structures can achieve drastically different effects with just a slight alteration in part of their configuration!"
"Without sufficient information, I’m simply unable to make any judgnt right now."
Nula turned, locking eyes with Howard, "We may need to alter our plan."
Howard’s brow furrowed, a faint unease swirling in his heart, "What kind of change? Can’t we just destroy these rune signages? Even if they form a complete large structure, destroying them all would break it apart, right?"
"That won’t work," Nula shook her head, dismissing Howard’s suggestion.
"Such action would only lead to more uncontrollable outcos. The unknown, complete structure would automatically seek to compensate for its compromised formation after being damaged. The inherent ease of rune combination could result in the deficient structure acquiring more unpredictable functions."
"In other words, this vast structure might be safe now, but if we start to destroy it, it could turn into a bomb."
"Unless we obliterate these signages instantaneously. But in doing so, not only us but the entire city of Rodel would be annihilated by a mana tempest."
Although Nula’s explanation was brief, Howard grasped the essence of it.
He picked up a piece of rune signage, examining the complex rune configurations on it, his brow knitted in thought.
"So, what should we do? If we can’t destroy them, our original plan is completely unfeasible."
"That’s why we need to change the plan," Nula paused, her expression calming, her eyes reflective like beautiful glass beads.
"Drain all the mana from the signages! Without mana as a power source, no matter what the function of that colossal structure might be, it won’t activate!"
"Moreover, due to the characteristics of this dispersed form of structure, we can draw all the mana from the entire structure just from one corner!"
Watching Nula’s eyes ignite with a fiery determination, Howard fell silent once again.
It was another plan so mad it could not possibly be madder.
Howard had no idea exactly how many rune signages were in this hall, but judging by the volu of mana leaking out, the amount contained within the signages was unfathomably imnse.
Not to ntion a level 2 magus, even a level 1 magus might not be able to absorb all this mana.
Moreover, an excess of mana is harmful rather than beneficial to a magus.
Therefore, more individuals would need to share the burden.
However, with only Nula and Howard present, they were unmistakably insufficient.
"Your plan isn’t just crazy; it’s suicidal!" Howard stepped back, shaking his head at Nula, "I can’t join this plan. I’m going back to the surface to evacuate the people of Rodel. By abandoning the city, more lives will be saved!"
"That’s impossible; there’s not enough ti," Nula said with a determined resignation.
"Even if you went up now, even if you had notified them earlier, it would be too late! Mana isn’t a shockwave; no matter how wide it spreads, it’s lethal to ordinary people."
"Without passing through a living being, the natural conversion of mana takes a very long ti."
"Now, this is the only option we have! Besides, this plan might not be dood to failure. Perhaps neither of us can absorb such a vast amount of mana, but there is soone who can!"
"Another person?" Howard asked.
"You have an ally?"
"Correct, but not my ally, yours!" Nula looked into Howard’s eyes.
"The unknown entity that resides within you, it lies dormant because it lacks sufficient energy. And for non-biological entities, mana is as much a source of energy as anything else!"
"If you can find a way to let that entity absorb mana, this thod is not a road to death but a trendous opportunity for you."
"But I have no idea how to do that; the last ti it erged wasn’t under my control."
Howard was puzzled about how Nula knew of the mysterious presence within him.
However, recalling that Nula and Dorek were observers during the battle between Lorinda and Amriel, noticing such a detail might not have been too challenging.
Yet, throughout that fight, Howard had been utterly unable to exert any control from beginning to end.
The actions had been entirely initiated by the unknown presence within.
Perhaps that entity had intervened to protect him, but it seed unlikely to erge unless in the most extre circumstances.
Even if Nula were to take direct action now, she might not be able to force that presence out.
"Think back, think again! Could you have overlooked so detail?"
Nula’s gaze was calm as she looked into Howard’s eyes, but beneath the tranquility lurked a blend of madness and resolution.
After holding her gaze for two seconds, Howard suddenly smiled.
A possibility had dawned on him.
"What did you think of?"
"Exactly. I’ve rembered so very interesting details."
Howard caressed the rune signage in his hands, lifting it to his eyes as the spirit invasion comnced.
The rune signage itself was unencrypted, and it didn’t need to be.
Anyone with a modicum of spell knowledge would understand the implications of such a design.
The mana within the signage began to stir, and Nula’s expression suddenly shifted.
A brilliant golden light ignited in the depths of Howard’s eyes as mana erupted in its entirety, pushing his hyperawareness to the limits of his brain’s capacity.
He had only recalled a possibility—that perhaps, from the very beginning, he was not human.
The world in Howard’s eyes lost its color, all movents seemingly frozen in an endlessly stretched perception of ti, except for the rune signage in his hand, which remained unchanged.
The mana within, like an eager tide, began to surge, emitting a faint, luminous green glow.
The feeble barrier of the rune signage ultimately failed to contain the mana’s frenzy.
The mont it broke through, the mana transford into a luminous green deluge, rushing towards Howard’s mind as if mana itself was the greatest attractant to living beings.
The spirit of a living being would naturally draw mana closer, a pull so strong it could disregard the passage of ti.
However, Howard’s activation of hyperawareness was not ant to slow down mana but to afford himself the ti to react.
Even if the speed of mana always adjusted relative to human reaction speed, hyperawareness still managed to secure Howard enough ti to react.
To push himself to the brink of death.
All defenses were dropped, allowing the mana tide to surge through unfettered, coating everything it touched in a faint layer of green.
This green hue, seemingly harmless in itself, could induce mutations in the body, bringing the already stretched limits of a magus’s body to the brink of collapse.
This is where the true danger of mana lay!
Wild beasts might resist such mutations and even evolve, but a magus already at their limit isn’t as fortunate.
Mutations only lead to endless despair.
With no impedint, the speed of mana expansion was alarmingly rapid, closing in on Howard’s brain in just a breath’s ti, his defenses opening up even slower than the mana’s invasion.
In the final mont before the mana invaded his brain, Howard’s consciousness closed its eyes.
Success or failure hinged on this instant.
Should he succeed, not only would Rodel City be saved, but his own power would experience an extraordinary boost.
Although Howard was unclear about the specific capabilities of the unknown presence within him, recalling the mont with Lorinda when he could fight against Amriel—a nearly level 1 magus— with the strength of a level 3 magus, it wasn’t hard to imagine the terrifying extent of that unknown presence’s power.
This was no re stepping across a tier in combat; it was breaking through the barriers between two worlds!
But what if he failed?
The answer to this question was simple: Howard might disappear, his body completely assimilated by mana, ultimately becoming a mana bomb prid to explode upon the slightest touch—a kind capable of erasing Rodel from existence.
That would be the worst-case scenario, with Howard’s consciousness completely vanishing before that, untraceable anywhere.
Would a new "Howard" then erge?
What exactly am I to that unknown entity?
Why would it act to protect ?
Such actions seed counterproductive.
But Howard sought an answer.
Perhaps this ti, he might find one?
Howard’s consciousness sank endlessly in a pitch-black sea, when suddenly, a pure white light appeared at the edge of his vision.
It was peculiar; white light is inherently a single color, yet Howard felt as though the white light he now saw was the purest form of white imaginable.
The thought was illogical, but the mont it surfaced, Howard believed it unquestioningly.
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