Judicator Azrael of the 2nd at the Coliseum of the 9th during a Century Tournament:

You people put too much importance on brute strength. It makes you inflexible, obsessed with recreating the same moves that your masters did years ago. The most important aspect a person can possess is creativity. Genesis rewards creativity beyond measure.

Entering into Meditation, I wait for the sun to finally set before I begin the second part of my plan. This is the most dangerous step, for if it goes wrong I am absolutely convinced I will be dead before the sun rises in the morning. Risk and reward go hand in hand though.

I take a slow breath as I stand on my branch, exhaling away my stress and worries. Committed to my path, I hold my hand out and conjure Raw Mana Bolt, feeling the power flow away from my Well and into a rough ball a few inches away from my palm. The quickness of the entire process catches me off guard, taking less than a second for the Mana to flow through my body. Say what you will about Genesis, it certainly knows how to impart knowledge.

I will the Bolt forward, having it land on one of the trees in the outer ring. It moves eerily slow but impacts with a similar explosion, the vivid blue Mana lighting up the night for hundreds of feet around. I wait for a few minutes as my Mana regenerates before shooting another Bolt at the opposite end of the ring. The light of the explosion reminds me of the creation story that my mother used to tell me. If I remember correctly, the phrase was “And let there be light”. Chuckling to myself, I whisper the phrase each time one of the Bolts explodes. Over the course of 3 hours I’m able to cast the ability a little over 30 times, aided by my extremely useful Meditation Skill. I also manage to gain 5 skill levels in in Raw Mana Bolt.

Deciding to stop, I lay down flat on the branch and try and hug my body as close to the tree as possible. This is the risky part of the plan that I couldn’t see any way around. Either it will work or I won’t wake up tomorrow. With resolve, and more than a healthy dose of fear, I fall asleep while still meditating.

…

I wake up the next morning with a gasp, feeling around my body with both hands. After a few moments of panic, I let out sigh and feel myself relax. I managed to make it through the entire night and, as a nice added bonus, I also didn’t lose any limbs.

It’s at this point that I hear a wild howling coming from down below me, filled with anger and rage. Did my plan work? Peeking my head around the edge of the branch, I look down at the hole I dug the day before and see that the blanket has been removed as it fell in. The success of my trap is evidenced by the Hunter trapped within it, unable to climb out due to its quadrupedal nature.

My mind urges caution before I celebrate, however, and I look out around my area with a careful eye, trying to spot any creatures that may be lying in wait. The benefit of removing all the pines and aggregating them in the trap is that I can now clearly see the entire area around my tree and no creatures, except for the one I’ve captured, seem to be around me.

Holy shit it actually worked, I think to myself as I climb down the tree. I mean… I had been cautiously optimistic but it worked even better than I imagined. A quick glance at my notifications page also shows that the night’s events gained me 6 levels in Trap Making. All in all, the plan was a complete success! Now for the step 3.

Approaching the hole, I stare over the edge and finally get a good glimpse at the creature trapped inside. The words, Helldarvin Hunter [Lvl 24], hang above its head but I can barely focus on them, too distracted by the beast’s eyes. Red as blood, they stare at me filled with barely controllable rage. I know that, if the beast were not trapped in a hole, it would rip into me and give its life to see me die.

Luckily for me, however, it is trapped in a hole and can’t do anything about it. Entering into Meditation, I stare down at it and smile widely. This creature may be stronger than me but I’m smarter. I cast Raw Mana Bolt and hold it away from myself, pointed at the Hunter. The blue Mana gives off its light and, for the first time I see the hint of fear in the creature’s eyes. Thrusting my hand forward, I will the Bolt towards the Hunter and smile as it explodes upon contact. The light released by the explosion forces me to raise my hand up to my eyes, holding it there so I don’t get blinded.

As soon as the light dissipates, I look down into the hole, expecting to find the corpse of the accursed Hunter, and instead just see the stupid creature staring up at me with confusion its eyes, absolutely no damage done to it.

Aaaahhh, goddammit! I pull at my hair in complete frustration and fall to the ground. I had assumed that the Raw Mana Bolt would be able to able to kill that stupid creature. I guess I could just leave it in the hole to starve but … I have a feeling Genesis wouldn’t look at that too positively. Obviously I need something that packs more of a punch.

I bring another Raw Mana Bolt to my hand but don’t send it away, instead focusing on truly analyzing it for the first time. The Mana swirls around in a loose ball as I hold it there, losing more of its shape and size for each second that I keep it around. I understand why Genesis referred to it as an unstable weapon. Even referring to it as a Bolt is a generous description for something that is nothing more than a badly shaped ball of loose Mana. After another few seconds the entirety of it dissipates and I’m left staring at an empty hand. Perhaps there is something I can do about that.

Another Bolt appears in my hand and, instead of just watching it this time, I immediately impose my will upon it. Ripples appear in the loose structure but I ignore them and command the Mana to condense further. It tries to escape from the ball but I hold it tightly together as the ball slowly begins to shrink. A few moments pass and it is now 2 inches in diameter. A full minute passes and sweat begins to drip down my forehead as I get it down to 1 inch. The potential to violently explode if my will falters for even a moment still exists though. Drawing more power from my Well, I let a little extra trickle out and I wrap it tightly around the condensed ball. The second dose of Mana works well and creates a shell around the inner ball, stopping any of the inner section from leaking out. I stare at the finished product for a few seconds with bated breath, just waiting for the fated explosion. The worries are completely erased as I hear the notification noise and new information floods into my mind along with the following words.

Your skill Raw Mana Bolt has evolved to Condensed Mana Bolt Lvl 1! By experimenting with your Raw Mana and creating the outer Mana shell, you have turned the unstable weapon into a carefully crafted projectile. Damage is significantly raised, dependent on Intelligence and Skill level. Cost: 30 Mana.

Mana Manipulation has reached Lvl 2, 3, 4 … 8.

Still holding the Condensed Mana Bolt in my hand, I walk over to the hole and see the Hunter staring at me with laughter and hatred in its eyes. Apparently it is smart enough to realize that my original attack was supposed to do damage and smiles at my inability to hurt it. Well, I’ll see how much he likes the new and improved version.

Willing the new Bolt forward, I watch as it shoots forward at an incredible speed to hit the Hunter directly on the snout. The outer shell breaks and the condensed Mana explodes out. The Hunter’s head is whipped downwards, smashing it into the ground with an awe-inspiring amount of force. A small crater forms from the impact of the creature’s tough skull and the dirt beneath it. Growling with an almost admirable spirit, it slowly gets back up onto its feet, stumbling only slightly, and looks back up at me with those hate filled eyes.

Bringing another Condescend Mana Bolt into existence, I hold it up so the beast can see the source of its impending demise. “Let’s see how many of these you can take”.