I carefully watch my super-solid samples, straining as I try to reach the fourth stage of super-solid mana, but the sample just doesn't want to compress any more than it already has. With a sigh, I lean back in my chair, giving up when my headache becomes too much for me. [Pain Tolerance] is preventing it from actually being painful, but it's very uncomfortable, annoyingly so.

I've been at this for four days now; progress has been slow, but I am making progress at least. In order to progress any further, I'll need help, but that won't count towards my mastery level… which is fine for now, I still have knowledge levels to get.

I take Dryad's Grace from its place in a corner of my room. It will only work with nature essence, but I'll get a fifteen hundred percent bonus to my manipulation.

I make a new sample of mana and compress it down easily. It seems that breakthroughs like this one almost require a Class bonus to get. I watch in fascination as the elemental particles are crushed and begin to fuse, all becoming one. The balls of mana have now gotten so close to each other they are almost touching, which makes me question what the fifth stage will look like.

Interesting… I wonder what kind of properties the elemental particle will have, now that it's fused?

As far as I can tell, it seems to be the same as before, only super-charged. If that's the case, then what will happen if I invert its charge?

I do so and watch another mana ball suddenly overcome the MM force and slam into it, fusing even more and neutralizing their charge.

So it behaves the same, but its charge is added together from the many smaller parts it was made from.

I also make a note of how some of the MM particles fused from the collision, resulting in a single particle with much greater MM force. I take some time to do some light observations before finally making the fifth stage of super solid mana.

The fifth and final stage of super-solid mana is by far the hardest one to create; even with my staff, I struggle to compress the MM particles together. Each time a set of MM particles fuse, their forces increase vastly, making further compression exponentially harder. In the end, I am only able to get halfway there.

How the hell am I going to do this?! I vent internally in frustration. If I can't even get this breakthrough with my staff, then how the hell did Kayafe do it?!

Well, Kayafe had a Class bonus and probably a strong item to help her like my staff… However, after clearing my mind for a few minutes, the solution jumps out at me. If I use the polarity of the elemental particles, then it should fuse all on its own!

Reinvigorated with a new possible solution, I enact my new plan, but help it along by compressing the sample with my [Manipulate Mana]. However, even that isn't enough to get all of the MM particles to fuse. The smashing of the mana balls isn't very elegant; it's a brute force approach and doesn't get all the particles. I am left with a sample that is mostly made of fused elemental particles marbled with fused MM particles, but there are impurities of unfused MM particles that create weak points in the sample.

I suppose this qualifies as reaching the fifth super-solid stage, but it is in no way close to being mastered. I am left with two choices: one, keep trying and refining my methods; two, get more breakthroughs and master them in hopes of getting strong enough to master this one, all within a week and a half.

I have to make my choice now, keep trying or try to master another breakthrough. I ponder any possible – and hopefully easy – breakthroughs that I can master relatively easily. Anything related to crafting I should be able to get within a few days of practice.

After several minutes of thinking, I've come up with four potential breakthroughs; solid vitality, making vitality crystals, vitality enchanting, and super-solid weaving. All four I should be able to master at the same time, that will be forty extra levels, but the issue is whether or not I can master them within a week.

If I choose this path, that raises another choice: take all the breakthroughs I think I can handle at once, or take them one at a time? Taking them all at once will probably allow me to complete them faster than one at a time, but if I take too many then that might not balance out the way I need it to: I must master all the ones I take in time, and I can’t feel it out as I go. I need to decide now, but over- and undershooting the number of breakthroughs I think I can handle in the time I have are both equally catastrophic outcomes.

Given how hard it is proving to get the super-solid mastery level, I am leaning toward three or four breakthroughs. That will be challenging, certainly, but I am already familiar with all of the potential breakthroughs: all are crafting-focused, which is something I've been doing for almost a decade and which comes really easily to me. Then there's my Race bonus helping me learn, and the breakthroughs are similar to other breakthroughs I already have, so I have experience with them already.

For these reasons, I will try to complete all four breakthroughs, but will have my staff to help me with the super-solid weaving breakthrough.

I start with solidifying vitality, which is rather easy conceptually. It's still hard in practice, since not only do I need to make sure the structure is right, but the attraction needs to be stronger than for vitality weaving.

Each positive vitality has to attract at least six negative ones, which makes it hard to balance because the negative ones can't be completely canceled out, since they need to attract more positive ones. After doing some math, I figure out what I need to do in order to make a dagger out of vitality. The dagger is a simple proof of concept, but it's enough to earn me the breakthrough.

Crystallizing vitality is a much more complex and deliberate matter. For solid vitality, I simply had to make everything mostly uniform – for example, I had to have all negative vitality at a charge value of one point one and all positive vitality at a charge value of five – but crystallization requires many differing charge values in specific places to form the crystalline structures.

Where solid vitality is relatively easy, it's going to be the crystallization and enchanting of vitality that will take up the majority of my practice time for the next week… but for now, I just need to get the breakthrough for quick levels, which will make it easier later.

Enchanting vitality is like crystallizing vitality, but much more complex. It still takes normal mana to flow through the enchantments, but instead of using the MM force to direct the mana I need to use the elemental particle charges to take that role. This adds a huge level of complexity that will require me to constantly work on it throughout the week.

Maybe I have bitten off more than I can chew with the vitality enchanting… but, after most of the day of practicing, setting my goal on understanding vitality enchanting, I manage to get this breakthrough.

After that, super-solid weaving feels easy in comparison. It's very similar to normal weaving, just that the mana has been highly compressed. The difference is that super-solid weaving has a much higher mana density, resulting in a much more powerful thread, and I feel that super-solid enchanting may be a thing.

There is so much potential in super-solid mana that I feel it might be what can lift my crafting to the next level. But if that's something that can be accomplished by the unenhanced version, then what is possible with the enhanced version of this skill?

Ting! Manipulate Mana has met the requirements for a breakthrough and will continue leveling past level 540!

51st Breakthrough: You have managed to forge solid vitality; this will help you create metallic vitality.

52nd Breakthrough: You have managed to make crystallized vitality; this will help you make crystalline structures out of vitality.

53rd Breakthrough: You have managed to enchant with vitality; this will help make advanced and powerful enchantments.

54th Breakthrough: You have managed to weave super-solid mana; this will help you make more advanced and powerful mana silk.

Ting! Sense Magic has met the requirements for a breakthrough and will continue leveling past level 860!

43rd Breakthrough: You have observed solid vitality; this will allow you to study vitality under unusual conditions.

After a full day's effort, I manage to get all the breakthroughs I set out to get; now, I just need to train them and then master them and hopefully, by then, I'll be strong enough to master super-solid mana.

* * *

Ting! Manipulate mana has obtained levels 506-545!

Ting! Sense Magic has obtained levels 781-796!

After a week of practice and study, I have most of the levels I need now. I just need to prove my mastery over my new breakthroughs within the next three days, before the ritual starts.

I form a teardrop-shaped clump of crystallized vitality, lace it with a Bond Crystal based on my healing skill and wrap it with solid vitality. Next, I weave a ribbon of super-solid beauty essence – specifically a type of beauty much like a passionate and vigorous dance – to form a necklace. Finally, I form depictions of life and vitality; a newborn babe, a person fighting for their life against a monster, two lovers in a passionate dance, with super-solid beauty mana. Once the decoration is done, I move on to the enchanting process.

It is a long process. The skill will automatically shape the vitality, but I need to carefully observe the enchanting structure and carve out that shape in the necklace. Once that's done, I enchant it and carefully fill in any gaps that shouldn't be there. Once enchanted, I look over it for anything to perfect before nodding with satisfaction.

Lifedrop Necklace:

(Enchanted)

Made by one of the best, this necklace will vanish when its wearer takes lethal damage, fully heal their body and restore their vitality, preventing death and giving the wearer a second chance.

Ting! Manipulate mana has obtained levels 546-549!

When I noticed how the lifethread dress would sacrifice itself, I thought something like this may be possible, but it seems that vitality-made items are one-time use. I wonder what Safyr and Kayafe will think of this? Safyr may find it interesting, but it's not like she needs it and Kayafe... I don't know if she made something like this before, but there is a good chance she has.

With only one more level before I max my [Manipulate Mana] and with my ink production almost done, I am almost ready for the ritual, and, after a day of working on my super-solid samples, I finally max out all the breakthroughs in my [Manipulate Mana] skill.

Ting! Manipulate mana has obtained level 550!

Ting! Alysara, the Runalymo, has reached unparalleled knowledge and mastery in the Manipulate Mana skill!

Mana starts to rush into my Kyhosa, an enormous torrent of it being consumed at an unbelievable rate. More and more mana, without any hint of stopping, vanishes as it nears my Kyhosa for several minutes… until it suddenly stops, leaving my Kyhosa's mana signature changed.

Alysara's Storm-Blessed Kyhosa:

(Heroic) (Artifact) (Set)

This Artifact set (amulet, left bracelet, right bracelet), made from Nexus gems and Myrou gold, blessed by Myrou herself and filled to the brim with beauty and creativity essence, was given as a Kyhosa to Alysara during her Kyholo. This set has absorbed three nexus mana cores and helped its wearer defend her people from a devastating storm through the usage of her Manipulate Mana skill. Alysara has proven herself a master of mana, able to conjure the storms that once threatened her village. She has learned from an ancient ancestor and even survived storms conjured by a dragon to train her resistance to them. Her knowledge and mastery of mana have grown so great no secrets are beyond her reach.

When worn, it enhances Beauty, Creativity, and Elemental spells by 1100% and boosts Intelligence and Wisdom by 50%. Grants Skill: Manipulate Mana 450/450. Tethered, Battery (250,000).