Infinite Paths: The Raging Phoenix

"I suppose…" Rain said while scratching the back of his head.

Rain began to work on the new crystals, and since he already knew the trick, it didn't take long for him to create crystals for all towns and cities. The villages had to be left alone since they were already covered in dust, and the people there had moved to other places.

Fortunately, with the barriers, they could expand them to use the fields around the cities freely… commerce was still impossible without using the underground routes, though.

Once Rain finished with them, he went to make the crystal for the underwater capital, and after finishing the tower and installing the crystal, Seadrei used his mana, and then the wind barrier pushed away all the dust.

"Things will get noisy here too, so I am heading home," Rain said when he saw the sea folk celebrating as well.

"My debt to you increased once more," Seadrei said, and he almost bowed. "What can I do to repay this debt?"

"Helping me how to make a spell absorb mana from the environment will do the trick," Rain said. "That will help me complete these countermeasures."

"If it were easy to do that, we would have done the same thing to create a barrier of water," Seadrei shrugged. "Regardless… the sea dragons can do something similar to that… why don't you try to use some of their materials to help with that?"

"That seems like a good starting point. Thanks for the tip," Rain said after he nodded.

Rain's realization about the crystal's capabilities opened a vast realm of possibilities. Understanding its potential to absorb various energies sparked his curiosity and ambition further. He comprehended that the crystal's application wasn't limited solely to mana absorption. Instead, it could potentially interact with a wide array of things.

This newfound understanding fueled Rain's determination to explore the crystal's versatility. With time and opportunity, he planned to conduct a series of experiments involving diverse combinations of elements and energies. His aim was clear: to harness the crystal's potential to push his own capabilities far beyond the confines set by the system.

Rain envisioned using the crystal in combination with different materials, elements, and perhaps even relics to unlock new realms of power. His willingness to delve into these experiments demonstrated a profound determination to surpass the limitations imposed by the system. Enjoy exclusive content from My Virtual Library Empire

In the end, Rain tried to make a staff while using the parts of a sea dragon, but the crystal that he created alongside it was only able to make him recover a bit more mana instead… it didn't have the effect that he wanted. It also couldn't create a barrier… still, it could work with Power Nap and increase the energy stored… but only that effect was allowed.

"I guess the crystal and the staff don't agree well when their origins are so different," Rain thought. "Still, I can use their combination to make any skill two times better, at least essentially."

In the end, Rain decided to learn what he could about the mana Absorption effect by letting Seara hit him with Water balls… Rain blocked them with his hands as he tried to absorb them. Since he knew how to create and how to cancel them, the next step was to try to absorb it… it was easier said than done.

"I see, I get it," Rain said while nodding several times.

"Already?" Seara asked without hiding her surprise. "Then again, water magic is your specialty…"

"I understand that I don't get it at all… I was already attacked a bunch of times by numerous types of magic, and I never got even close to learning how to absorb their energy," Rain said while nodding. "As expected, this isn't a matter of getting hit and finally getting it."

Seara frowned since she felt like she had been fooled… anyway, that kind of technique shouldn't be that easy to learn, so it made sense. Rain made too many breakthroughs lately, so maybe she had put too much faith in him.

"What if we can improve Meditation Mastery?" Terra asked. "That kind of technique was something I learned when I was able to sense large amounts of mana in the surroundings. So the base should be similar."

"In theory, that does make sense, but we are still living beings, we can't do that," Rain said. "Unless we can make something as advanced as that shield."

"A speaking magic crystal… that doesn't sound like a good idea," Terra said while furrowing her eyebrows.

Rain had no other choice but to keep following the hard path when it comes to solutions to those issues… he was itching to take the next steps on his plans and actually skip all that process, even though the knowledge on how to absorb mana like that from the ambient would come really in handy for him and everyone else.

Rain, who was well-versed in the nature of mana and its fundamental properties, held a firm understanding that mana, like other forms of energy, couldn't be annihilated or truly depleted. Instead, it operated under the principle of transformation, constantly changing states rather than vanishing completely.

However, despite this knowledge, Rain harbored a lingering concern about the threshold of mana extraction from the environment without adversely impacting the world. He contemplated the sustainable extraction of mana, pondering the extent to which individuals could continue harnessing mana without inflicting detrimental consequences on the environment or the world's natural balance.

While Rain was thinking of ways to solve that problem, several days passed… although people were thankful for the progress that was made at first, they started to complain about their lack of freedom. Some of them had family and friends in other places and wanted to visit them.

Rain helped them by using the underground tunnels, but people still complained… they didn't want to have their freedom controlled that much. Rain could understand them completely, but he still wished that they could be more thoughtful…