Upon returning to camp, the others wanted to work on their cultivation or professions. Billy started with some healing.
He first employed healing meditation, his new advanced skill. Using his other skill mana synesthesia, he was able to sense what was happening as the meditation did its work on his meridians. As Mia had said, it was a slow and complicated process. It seemed to be strengthening the meridians while at the seem time reducing he chaos of the damage caused. To his senses, it felt it was like a soothing balm on a burn.
He stopped after one hour to see how much improvement he had made and also to eat as he now felt ravenously hungry.
“Hi Mia, did I make progress?”
“Your damage has been reduced by one percent,” Mia said.
“You said there might be a way to speed up this process.”
“It is possible.”
The reply seemed hesitant.
“But?” he asked.
“It is not an easy process and you can’t afford to make mistakes.”
“Like I did before?”
“Exactly. You could also risk irreversible damage.”
“Well, alright so explain what is needed. I can hardly sit around for one hundred hours to fix this.”
“There are two other options. One is a faster healing, where you combine the healing meditation with mana synesthesia to improve the healing focus and efficiency. That will reduce the time needed by about twenty-five percent. The other, and this is the dangerous one, you would have to combine healing meditation with mana synesthesia and void healing.”
“How long would that take?”
“Uncertain. It should be possible to do it in less than twelve hours. You would have to do it in one session. You cannot stop once you start or… well you saw the results.”
“So if I was interrupted…”
Billy realized this was not going to be an easy decision. He would need to speak to the others before doing this; if he decided to do this.
Seeing that the others were still busy working on their own tasks and realizing that a little procrastination can be good for the soul, he looked through his profession manual – the opening section anyway.
Wards were protective, fixed enchantments. There was a surprising amount of flexibility. Different media could improve the efficiency of the wards but you could use essentially use any material. The important aspects involved the complex geometric patterns needed as well as the combination of materials and mana. Being a mathematics teacher, Billy was no stranger to geometric shapes, though these were more like three dimensional Celtic symbols than Euclidean geometry.
Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.
If he were a proficient user of earth mana, he would be able to use earth-based protective wards using earth-based materials like rocks and soil. With his own predilection for air, fire and void, he needed to be more selective. For now, he felt air would be better to work with. It was possible to set up simple illusion wards using basic materials from his starter pack. If he wanted to venture into using more aggressive fire-based wards, he could, but those were impractical for lengthy periods of time as they quickly consumed the materials used. Void was even more problematic. He barely had enough physical materials to make a small ward using void mana.
After studying the section, he felt confident he could make a simple air-based ward that would hide their camp over a long period of time. He could exclude small insect or animals as that would be too consuming. Feeling he had the beginning of a plan, he went to talk to the others.
###
Lorna was highly skeptical.
“We only have a few hours before the tutorial ends. If anything happens…”
“If anything happens, I will not be able to help until the healing is finished,” Billy said for her. He had already thought that through. “I will be more able to help once the healing is finished. This is the best time. There will probably be a lull after the tutorial ends. And you guys are very capable.”
When Lorna was about to interrupt him, he held up his hand. “Plus, I will ward the camp. No one will even know you are here.”
The good thing about air wards was the fact that they would hide them from sight and hearing. The ward was a little more complicated but worth it in Billy’s opinion.
“How long will setting up the ward take?” Trevor asked.
“A few hours. If I start now, I should finish about an hour before the tutorial ends.”
Their largest concern was for his well-being. Yuki and Lorna felt he was rushing it unnecessarily, but Billy knew that was not the case. They had already seen what level ten monsters were like. They would soon have to face worse and maybe more sentient creatures, too. He wanted to be able to use every weapon he had.
It took a few more minutes before the others agreed to let him proceed, but once they di,d they were fully supportive. They helped him in setting up the ward, which was made from feathers from his starter pack and vines pulled from the surrounding trees. The ward encompassed a radius of twenty metres.
Once all the elements were arranged, it was time for the difficult part. If Billy had use of his meridians, he would be able to use his internal mana to initiate the ward. As it was, he needed to use the air mana around him. The air mana would need to be directed into the complex geometric shapes needed and anchored to the physical elements. When he reached a higher level, he would be able to use air itself as the anchor.
Using the air mana was easier said than done. It proved to be willful. The size of the area did not help. Billy had to fix the shapes mentally over the area and have the mana flowing in those shapes before tying it all together. The air mana did not like to be fixed down and fought against his control. He exercised all of his willpower. As he fed the mana through the last of the shapes, sweat flooded his body. With a forced gasp, he held on the last shape was formed. Billy deliberately and carefully tied the mana flows together. The mana had to flow cyclically.
With much trepidation, he released the flows. His eyes widened as the air mana seem to pause mid-cycled before continuing to flow through the shapes. He had done it. The ward held true.
Happy days!, Billy thought. The extra stats were a nice bonus and would hopefully be beneficial in his next task – to heal himself.
He rejoined the others who were eating their lunch. The warm food refreshed him, and he tried to mentally prepare himself for the difficult process of healing his meridians.