Chapter 407: The Mana Shell

Chapter 407: The Mana Shell

The schemes among the Witches had Zheng Yichen feeling dizzy even as he rested his chin on his hand, listening to Dan Marina’s explanation. It truly felt like a battle between masters where a single misstep meant instant loss. The point Dan Marina was making was this: the Undying Witch hadn’t yet leaked the fact that Zheng Yichen possessed Element Hearts. This silence, without a doubt, revealed one particular message.

She didn’t want Zheng Yichen overly involved in this matter, nor did she want the Witches connected to him to enter the game. In fact, this very act carried an implicit threat.

“She vaguely threatened us not to meddle too much. There’s that intention alright. But the Undying Witch is probably also probing,” Dan Marina said.

“Probing our relationships?”

“Hmm~ Pretty much. However, she shouldn’t normally make such a clumsy mistake. But since she did exactly that right now, the reasons aren’t many. Either this issue is too important to her, forcing her to overlook details, or it’s a manipulation tactic—intentionally exposing a seeming weakness might cause others to doubt, making them wonder if she has other schemes. The last possibility is her leaving herself an escape route.”

Witches… how to put it? Generally, they didn’t possess some noble resolve to face death bravely. Even Loris, who detested her own abilities intensely, made substantial preparations during the Witch Rampage period. She wanted to endure, not seek liberation by passively letting the Sanctuary Church execute her.

From ancient times to now, except for those rare Witches who had someone special to live for, every Witch struggled desperately for survival. Therefore, even if the Undying Witch was undertaking something extremely unique and dangerous, she would ensure she had a way out. So, regarding this ‘flaw’ she deliberately exposed, Dan Marina couldn’t yet reach a definite conclusion. That didn’t stop her, however, from making preparations based on these possible interpretations… and even extra preparations others wouldn’t conceive.

This might be a flaw the Undying Witch intentionally sold, but it could equally become one of her crucial weaknesses.

“What should I do about it?”

“Hmm~ Nothing for now. You just focus on your own tasks,” Dan Marina replied without hesitation. At the level they were clashing, forcibly dragging Zheng Yichen into it wouldn’t provide any actual benefit. It was better for him to observe and learn. Of course, he wasn’t just a bystander either. While Zheng Yichen couldn’t manipulate the pieces on the board himself, he could be the one holding them. After all, many things he created were quite useful.

Even if she didn’t need them, others would surely find a way to use them.

“Alright then. I’ll go handle the matters concerning The Church.” Zheng Yichen nodded. The Church’s business naturally referred to the Magic Potion he had spoken of earlier. The potion he had promised to Deya wasn’t anything exceptionally unique; it was a special Body Strengthening Potion. This potion was actually a byproduct of researching the Semi-Awakening Potion. Its primary ingredient was an Earth Element material. Using it greatly reinforced the drinker’s physique.

Even an ordinary person who consumed it could temporarily turn their body into something as hard as steel in a short span. Potions that enhanced physique… weren’t exactly rare. None, however, matched Zheng Yichen’s extreme variant. It only toughened the constitution, offering zero improvement to strength, speed, or even stamina. It simply made the user harder…

Didn’t that sound a bit useless? It had a very special aspect: it was effective even on powerful beings. The potion’s effect was a blend of percentage-based enhancement and a fixed boost. This meant weak individuals could achieve significant results, and powerful entities could also utilise it, unlike potions that were solely percentage-based or solely fixed.

It was a potion usable by anyone. Its effect was directly tied to the user’s condition. This potion functioned more like a catalyst; it temporarily channeled Earth Element Power into the body, strengthening cells down to the cellular level to induce a powerful ‘solidification’ effect, thereby bolstering defense.

For weaker individuals, the percentage part was hard to manifest because their physique couldn’t endure the intense influx of external Earth Element Power. They could only utilize the fixed enhancement provided by the potion itself. For powerful beings, their natural resilience allowed them to accommodate far more Earth Element Power, thereby truly unleashing the full percentage boost… The fixed part? For them, that was just a nice little bonus.

This potion was especially useful for Spellcasters. A Spellcaster using it could potentially reach or even surpass the sheer physical resilience of a Warrior of the same level. After all, Spellcasters never lacked the capacity to absorb Elemental Power deeply.

Overall, it was a potion for becoming tougher. It didn’t turn the tide of battle; the difference was dying in one blow versus needing two or three strikes. Of course, its true purpose wasn’t to be used while beaten up. Like the Fixation Potion, it was meant for unleashing forbidden techniques during combat!

Fixation Potions were now exorbitantly expensive and perpetually out of stock. If the Body Strengthening Potion appeared as an alternative, it could somewhat compensate for the Fixation Potion’s absence in battle.

After all, people in the Otherworld had become weirdly obsessed with using Fixation Potions purely for forced life extension. Fighting? Who would waste such precious stuff on something as trivial as battle!

In Zheng Yichen’s mind, using one meant gaining extra days of life! What? A few days seemed insignificant? How about dozens, or even hundreds?

As Zheng Yichen dealt with the Body Strengthening Potion matters, Irene emerged from her seclusion. She returned to the place housing the colossal Wind Elemental Crystal.

The massive Wind Elemental Crystal had transformed. It was now a transparent disc, almost like water. It had also shrunk dramatically. Zheng Yichen reached out and tapped it. It felt quite hard, much sturdier than the tempered glass he had developed himself.

Moreover, it possessed an oddly peculiar property. Though not an Enchanted Material, it seemed utterly unaffected by Mana and possessed an astonishing capacity to bear Mana.

“…You’re focusing on the wrong thing,” Irene remarked dryly, seeing Zheng Yichen stare dumbly at the lump of ‘waste’. The Wind Elemental Crystal was completely spent after her processing. What remained was just residue.

This distinct shape was the result of extreme compression combined with her unique Arcane Arts. The core essence of the Element Crystal had undergone subtle corruption, resulting in this substance. It had no capacity to store Mana anymore. It didn’t even function as an Enchanted Material. Its sole characteristic was immunity to Mana erosion.

Its origin as an Element Crystal explained that resilience.

“Ahem, it’s alright. I’m just thinking how to put this waste to use,” Zheng Yichen coughed slightly and glanced elsewhere – towards a fist-sized, crystalline object shaped like a diamond, significantly larger than the Dark Element Heart. It emitted a gentle, luminous glow, bright yet not harsh. “Uh…”

Zheng Yichen lifted a claw to scratch his head, swallowing back the words he wanted to say.

“Want to ask something?”

“…Never mind,” Zheng Yichen shook his head slightly. He had almost asked why it was diamond-shaped instead of round, but realized questioning Irene’s hard work like that was pointlessly rude.

“Alright then. I won’t pry. But step back a little, will you?” Irene didn’t press further, instead shuffling sideways slightly. “Your Mana aura… it’s a bit irritating.”

“What?! It has a smell?” Zheng Yichen blurted out, momentarily startled. While the overwhelming stench of the Soul-Loss Fruit had made him feel drugged just days before – and he never wanted to experience that again – surely that effect should have long worn off? Yet Irene seemed to imply it lingered.

“Not a smell,” Irene clarified. “Think of it this way: your Mana aura is grating, like someone constantly shouting insults.”

So the Soul-Loss Fruit really was necessary? Zheng Yichen thought with exasperation. Unbelievable! Annie hadn’t mentioned it could affect Mana signatures too!

“Enough. It’s ready. How you use it is up to you… I’ll borrow the Dark Element Heart for a few days.” Irene stated plainly, pocketing the Dark Element Heart and leaving the chamber without further explanation. What Zheng Yichen did with the Pseudo-Wind Element Heart was his own affair now.

Zheng Yichen hesitated for a moment before reaching out, his claws closing around the levitating Pseudo-Wind Element Heart. Inside, it seemed to flow like water, shifting beautifully when moved. It looked incredibly dazzling… and incredibly dangerous.

The ‘danger’ was a visceral, knee-jerk reaction like holding a Nuclear Bomb. In reality, the object was remarkably stable and tough. Zheng Yichen had no idea what method Irene had used. Probing gently, he grasped the structure of its surface: its shell was a bizarre ‘thing’, or rather, it wasn’t a ‘thing’ at all!

It was the result of pure Mana Materialization! Did it look somewhat like an Element Crystal? Yet it wasn’t one. Normal Element Crystals, once drained of power, crumbled into something akin to powder, not particularly hard. The solidity of Element Crystals depended on impurities containing their power, sort of like how pure water resists freezing. But this was different. Its hardness was astonishing, seemingly unbreachable…

The immense power once held within the mountain-sized Wind Elemental Crystal had been compressed entirely within this shell. Crucially, the shell’s strength was directly tied to the energy contained within. To breach this shell by brute force, one would need power capable of instantly overwhelming the energy sealed inside it.

Was that possible?

Yes! If Irene hadn’t designed a backdoor, the only other brute-force method would be to take a genuine Element Heart, extract a massive portion of its power, focus it violently, and lance it against this Pseudo-Element Heart’s shell. “A Sorceress trying to reach the heavens… Hmm… But does this reveal something?” Zheng Yichen rubbed his chin, muttering.

If Irene could create a shell like this, might she also be able to craft such shields in battle?

Remember, Irene was a Mana monster. Her personal Mana Capacity was ocean-like; pulling a single strand of her hair contained more mana than what most people possessed in their entire life. Generating such a Mana Shell would surely be trivial for her.

Defeating it, though? That would be an event. Just…

Mana wasn’t Elemental Power. How did one achieve materialization? Zheng Yichen felt intensely curious. This Mana Shell likely wasn’t Magic itself, just a unique application of Mana. Its power clearly depended on the user’s Mana. A weak user might find it weaker than a standard Magic Shield, but in the hands of someone powerful, its effectiveness would be extraordinary.

Zheng Yichen, naturally, couldn’t match Irene’s immense Mana Capacity. He did possess the Magic Weapon Summoning Book! Its internal power was ‘Pseudo Divine Power’, inherently superior to Mana. Creating such a specialized Mana Shell would yield an even more formidable defense.

He yearned to understand how it was done. Unfortunately, Irene had retreated to deeply study the Dark Element Heart and refused any visits. Zheng Yichen left empty-handed, forced instead to focus on studying the Pseudo-Wind Element Heart.

Some initial investigation revealed its fundamental difference. Unlike a genuine Element Heart, which felt like it could spawn elemental power ex nihilo, this counterfeit operated on principles of circulation.

It could generate an Anti-Magic Field… but unlike the field of a true Element Heart, its effect was inverted!

Within its range, not only could one only cast wind magic; no, it made wind magic utterly impossible to cast! It actively drained all ambient Wind Element Power within its zone of effect, creating a state of extreme Wind Element scarcity. Naturally, wind spells couldn’t form.

Spells from other schools would also be significantly disrupted due to this draining property, making casting noticeably harder. While a useful effect, it paled compared to what a true Element Heart offered. In sheer capacity, however, it probably wasn’t lacking.

That capacity advantage, though, was its main merit. As a counterfeit, it was quite an achievement.

“Alright… Store it for now. It will have major uses later,” Zheng Yichen decided, pocketing the Pseudo-Element Heart securely. Its versatility was immense. His current skills just weren’t sufficient to fully exploit its potential. Much like his use of the Dark Element Heart – basic utilization felt ridiculously inefficient.

On the day before the agreed delivery date for the Body Strengthening Potion, another project Zheng Yichen had labored over for months was finally complete: the Power Core, crafted using the residue of Mana Crystals.

Its appearance somewhat resembled the residue from Element Crystals. But this was a manufactured creation. Its purpose? To store vast quantities of Mana… Hold on! Staring at the Power Core in his claw, Zheng Yichen instantly retrieved the Pseudo-Element Heart he had just stored. Comparing them… they seemed subtly similar!

The material of the Power Core vaguely resembled the materialized structure of the Mana Shell… Er, though the Power Core was crafted using rare materials, while the Mana Shell manifested purely from manipulated Mana itself. One involved physical matter, the other created something from nothing—clearly not operating on the same technological plane.

“Tch, is Irene’s advancement what made this possible?” Zheng Yichen murmured, putting the Pseudo-Element Heart away. He took out the Magic Weapon Summoning Book and began channeling its stored reservoirs of different ‘Seed of Power’ types into the intricate compartments within the Power Core.

“Whatever. It’s bound to be useful someday. Until then… just keep slowly filling it with power.” Zheng Yichen gave the humming core a final pat before putting it aside. He set about finalizing the recipe formulation for the Body Strengthening Potion. Focus returned to the task at hand.