Manashaper P.O.V

What sort of monster is this kid? I can’t help but ask myself as I look at him sitting on the side lines drawing in deep breaths. Balthazar is helping Lexi and Anna with the safety precautions before they try their hand at the new mana type so I can focus on Ajax.

I knew that he had an odd and possibly new mana type at his disposal. I couldn’t do much with the knowledge since my silence on the matter was part of the favor that I owed to house Silvertongue and they asked me about something he managed to pull of during one of their delves but this ‘Magnetic’ mana as he calls it seems nothing like what they described.

So the question is were they lying to me and trying to throw me off the scent? That theory makes no sense, why would they do something like that only for him to come to me like this. There is ofcourse a second option, one that seems just as unlikely but that is only if common sense is applied. What if he gained two new affinities that haven’t been explored by humanoids.

I know exactly how difficult something like that is to pull off. After all I managed it once myself, though my achievement was arguably harder to succeed in, Cold Flames were still just a Rare affinity. Managing to keep the easy generation and spread of fire with the cold attribute of ice proved to be a true headache, and even then I only achieved it after the inspiration I gained from an Elemental floor boss with the attribute.

What is even more ingenious, the perfect defense against this ‘Magnetic mana’ is clear, simply wear nothing metallic. Besides that however the next best thing is to bring up a strong defense the moment you are hit by it. That would be too extreme a weakness for anyone to pick this up as anything more than a last ditch option. From what the Silvertongues told me however he has a way to bypass defenses with his other affinity. By revealing this one to the world he is setting up the perfect trap for all who would go after him directly.

“Are you girls ready?” I hear Balthazar ask and I refocus on them.

“How much mana should we put into it?” Lexi asks.

“Let's start small.” I say. “See if you can generate together only ten mana each.”

The outcome isn’t ideal but it is a success. While they did succeed in generating magnetic mana, the use of two people clearly shows the issue with approach, ten mana from each did not generate an equal amount of the affinity mana and a bit of Anna’s leftover Lightning mana shocked Lexi.

“Ow” Lexi exclaimed. “Well at least it worked, kind of.”

“You definitely got it.” Ajax said. “You just need a bit of practice to ensure you are each outputting the same amount of attuned mana and not initial mana.”

The small tests go off without anything else of note, a few more shocks here and there but nothing all that big. Where the first big difference happens is when the girls start putting in a lot more mana.

“I’ll put in three hundred.” Anna says.

“I’ll do four hundred then, just to be safe.” Lexi nodded.

The result there was surprising to say the least. Despite a few bits of metallic mana being wasted by the wayside I suspect they put about six hundred and seventy mana into that combination.

Unlike any of Ajax’s previous demonstrations however this is a lot stronger of a release. The most Ajax ever put in was three hundred mana but the power is more than double in size, close to five times as strong. Whereas that preview managed to pull the training weapons off the rack this sent all of the flying towards the girls at high speed.

“Rhamb Sus” I mutter as I spawn a windwall blocking all of the weapons.

“Does it scale that well with more mana?” Balthazar asks after everyone stays staring at the pile of weapons now on the ground.

“It’s not so much a matter of scale.” Ajax says.

“They used a bit more than double the amount of mana you did but the effect is four times as strong, how do you explain it?” he asked, but I already knew the answer there.

“That’s the downside of your casting style,” I said. “Isn’t it? You get the flexibility, speed, even multicasting. But you sacrifice power.”

Ajax simply let out a sigh as he nodded in confirmation. Despite the massive upsides there are also strong downsides. If the king’s oldest son is to be believed those downsides also extend to limiting the caster to only using mana types they received an affinity skill towards. If that is true however the difficulty and compatibility will mean that his leveling pace will slow down much slower, he might even manage to keep a three level a year average for the next decade.

“Since you came to me with this so openly I am guessing you are willing to share it beyond just the two of us?” I ask.

“Sharing this is just me being through.” The kid surprises me once again. “I mean I obviously want to add this mana type to my abilities but they way I discovered it is something that I will not only keep the whole credit for but also something the king may want to keep more tightly controlled.”

“They way you discovered it?” Balthazar asks.

“I know I’m not always a model of efficiency when training but not even I spent my time randomly mixing my mana types to see what would happen.” Ajax says this is clearly related to their previous work together on curses. Knowing how much the old man cares about efficiency I can see why someone so young would take a chance to fire back.

“So then how did you come up with it?” Lexi asks.

“I was training, after the latest incident, I focused on something that seemed to work particularly well and came upon the odd interaction.” Ajax said. “Do you have a full set of armor here that is made out of mana enhanced metal?”

“I do, but it's not all that high of a mana concentration.” I answer.

“That’s perfect, I wouldn’t want to use an expensive one for this anyway.” Ajax says and that has me more interested.

After I bring out the suit Ajax quickly puts it on one of the target mannequins. “Go ahead and use a lightning strike on it.”

I do as he says. Even without putting all that much mana into the strike I still knock the helmet off with a precise blow. This clearly surprises Ajax and it was obviously not what he expected me to do.

“Can you do a more prolonged spell with the intent to immobilize instead of strike down.” he says after he puts the helmet back in place.

I see why he was surprised now, for him Lightning is much more of a control affinity than one used for pure power. The effect of lightning on muscles is one that is well known and used when dealing with large creatures, though mages prefer the penetrating power it offers in conflicts with other humanoids. Nevertheless I do as he says.

“I still don’t see what you mean.” I say following my second use of lightning mana.

“You will now.” he says after he takes a fully metal mace and places both hands of the mannequin on it. “Hit it again.”

I do so again but this time something is different. Unlike my previous attack I actively shift away from my intended pattern. Instead of radiating outward from the point of impact the Lightning mana travels in repeated circles through the armor and the metal warhammer. Not only that but I can also feel the release of magnetic mana. A very interesting phenomenon, with this mages would just need to carry a piece of mana infused metal and they can simply strike it with lightning mana to achieve the desired effect. Though I can’t help but feel there is too much magnetic mana being released from the small lightning I sent.

“That sure is a more convenient way of generating it than training two mages to cast in synch at a moment's notice.” Balthazar says. “But I don’t see why the king would care about keeping it hidden.”

“It takes both Metal and Lightning mana to generate Magnetic mana.” Ajax says and I get a bad feeling. “If we are getting it from here despite only casting lightning, where does the metal one come from?”

I’m the first one to catch on as I focus my [Sense Mana] on the suit of armor. Just as I feared, the density of the mana is lower now. Not only that but I’m not the only one to catch on.

“You’re taking it from the mana infused in the metal.” Lexi exclaims, she was always a quick study.

“The king will definitely want to keep this quiet.” I say. A way to weaken any pieces of equipment that contain mana infused metal, with proper precautions and good timing in place this could be used to turn a war on its head. I know for a fact the king will have me researching this as well as a way to stop it from being used against us the moment he hears about it.