By his estimates, his thinking speed should have reached a theoretically impossible realm – thinking and perceiving information faster than the firing of the electrical synapses from one"s nervous system to one"s brain, faster than the resonance of mana waves (or Earth Pulse waves) from one"s surroundings to one"s soul.However, he wasn"t too sure just to what extent his moment of enlightenment had strengthened his mind and soul – so he was going to try something crazy and find out.
Lars checked the time – a total of 6 minutes had pa.s.sed. He still could delay by up to half an hour before meeting with Saint Ren to train in Divine Light.
"Ok, let"s see what happens… I can"t try any practical tests yet, but a mental attempt should do… And it"ll let me understand too just how powerful Insight has grown…!"
In Lars mind, he prepared to time himself and began to weave the formations for one spell each from levels 1 to 9. He did not use any gestures or chants to supplement the formation, using only his immensely powerful soul-strength and mind.
"Level 1: Magic Missile – much less than 0.01 seconds, but let"s round it up…"
"Level 2: Acid Arrow – a little bit more than 0.01 seconds…"
"Level 3: Fireball, 0.03 seconds… What is this speed…"
Lars was astounded.
Earlier in the Legendary realm, he could instcast 10-12 magic missiles in the span of a single second; now he could invoke more than 80 in the blink of an eye, or nearly 200 in the same second of time…!
"How much of this growth comes from breaking through to the Mythical realm…? And how much due to the profound experience of mental enlightenment? Interesting…" Lars eyes shone with greed as he wondered if he could replicate the same experience once more by cultivating subsequent levels of Earth Pulse.
Settling those thoughts, Lars continued to simulate the weaving of spell formations.
Level 4: Stoneskin – 0.06 seconds
Level 5: Breach – 0.14 seconds
Level 6: Phantasmal Killer – 0.24 seconds
Level 7: Globe of Invulnerability – 0.37 seconds
Level 8: Whirlwind – 0.51 seconds
Level 9: Time Stop – 0.69 seconds
Legendary Spell: Wail of the Banshee – 0.98 seconds
"Insane... At this rate, I wouldn"t need preparation time or any protection in a battlefield" Lars" face grew pale in shock, then flushed with excitement at the prospects.
"Instead... I can be like a walking battle cruiser - launching death in every direction even while fighting in hand-to-hand combat...!"
Parking aside the marvellous idea of becoming a human star destroyer, he returned to his a.n.a.lysis and the application.
"Hmm… These results are if I include the chants and the hand seals to replace the parts of the formation that are larger and more time consuming, it"s likely I could lower the casting time by a further 30%... Not exactly instcasting Legendary spells, but close enough. Though, if I wanted to, I could still instcast one, just at the cost of burning more mana or weakening the spells effects…"
"Let"s say my previous casting speed was the benchmark for a normal Legendary mage – no, I would still be likely 30% - 40% faster than another mage without Insight. Alright, let"s say… A Legendary mage should require roughly 30-35 seconds for a Legendary spell."
"Now for the test – how fast can I identify a spells formation, adapt to the individual style and modifications to the spell, a.n.a.lyse the weak points and then – the key point – unravel the formation from a distance?"
Lars attempted on his own spells, finding that the time needed to break and collapse a spell formation was roughly 5-6 times his own casting time. This might not seem to make sense at first, but it had to be known that before forming the spell runes themselves, a structure would be weaved as a stable foundation. This foundation would then be infused with high-density compressed mana to further strengthen the structure.
Only then would the actual spell formation be overlaid and inserted into the foundational structure, making the formation even more solid.
"So, 5-6 times longer than my casting time… This is in the case that I already know the spell and the specific style used… Adding in another 50% increase in time as a buffer…"
Lars smiled. It would work.
He could unravel formations faster than others could weave them!
"Which means… Perhaps I should be called the Anti-mage… While against close-combat opponents where the formations are on or within their body, I can probably disrupt the flow too just by being close enough. Body reinforcing formations are simpler, the challenge is just that I"d need to engage in close combat to disrupt them."
"No matter. I"m already halfway to being a warrior anyway." Lars considered his sword inheritance from Draken Blacksword, a star extinguis.h.i.+ng sword legacy. Coupled with Earth Pulse cultivation and the nouris.h.i.+ng of his body, he was beginning to lay the path of a warrior as well.
"Though Kizorik mentioned the inheritance of Draken Blacksword is at the Legendary stage, there"s no way a Legendary fighter could sweep away planets and quench stars… I wonder what realm he is in… Even the All-Father might not be his match…"
"And others might not have the mental capacity to grasp both close-combat as well as magic, but it"s not a problem for me! Insight oh Insight, it looks like I"ve undervalued you all these years!" Lars felt like whistling happily at this realisation.
"Kizorik… Velzash… Right, I wonder if they"re alright? Who"s going to feed them? I"d better hurry back quick. I should continue cultivating as much as I can."
Urgency returning to him, Lars stretched once before sitting down cross-legged and drawing the ritual for the next stage – Soil by the Wayside.
"The formation for hiding fluctuations worked well… Let"s see if it can be extended to the Soil-stage as well…"
Lars finished visualising the ritual formation, then carefully drew it out on his legs with Earth Pulse.
"At the Sand-level, the Life Foci lit up are in the centre of the palms… While the Soil-level involves igniting Foci in one"s feet…"
Checking one last time that the formation was perfect, Lars closed his eyes to trigger the formation and connect with the land.
"Alright, here we go… I have to imagine the journey and the path that I"ve walked as a child, as a youth and as an adult. As a child, leaving footprints in the mud. As a youth, laying on the gra.s.sy ground without a care in the world. As an adult, striving in the fields to till the soil and provide for one"s family."
"…"
"A pity… I can"t imagine even one of these…" Lars smiled, feeling that it was a pity. Without enlightenment in these areas, he wondered if he could trigger the strange sensation again.
"Now, power up the formation with Earth Pulse…"
Despite his lack of understanding of the concepts involved, Lars felt a connection established the ground beneath his feet and his surroundings. He felt a richness fill the air as faint brown and green particles floated up from the ground and infused his body. The particles of Earth Pulse landed on Lars whole body, seeping through his clothes and into his flesh, nouris.h.i.+ng and strengthening him wherever they rested.
"Next… The manual says to imagine walking in the soil while dancing. This seems like an indirect method to focus the formation on the Life Foci in my feet – let"s skip that part and just place the formation in the Foci directly."
Lars manipulated the Earth Pulse energy and carefully imprinted the Soil by the Wayside formation into his legs. Immediately, the particles began to flow towards his legs, still nouris.h.i.+ng his body wherever they pa.s.sed, but flowing excitedly towards the formations placed in his Life Foci.
"Wait, I"m supposed to have done only one leg at a time – one Foci at a time. I hope there aren"t any problems…" Lars was slightly worried, but figured that there should be no problems – after all, Earth Pulse was mainly vitality as well as earth and nature elemental power.
For the next minute, Lars felt the Life Foci on his legs gradually lighting up, pulsing brown-green with the nonstop flow of Earth Pulse gathering from all around him. Then he felt a sensation that left him pleased – as the energies of the land pa.s.sed through him, he could also sense that his mental state was being strengthened as well. Not as much as when he entered that strange state, but it was still enough to leave him smiling.
Very soon, it was done.
Lars sighed, slightly disappointed that he could not re-enter that special state, but also relieved that his training was progressing smoothly.
He was clearly stronger again, perhaps two to three-fold stronger than before. What was more frightening was his sense of inner vitality. He was almost certain than even a finger that was cut off could be regrown – though maybe within a year.
"Then what level of regeneration will I see when I enter the higher levels…? Let"s continue."
Checking the time, he realised he had 20 minutes left and decided to press on in his cultivating Earth Pulse.