Weapons of Mass Destruction

Chapter 110: Heartbeats

For one more time, I check our surroundings and the room next to the one I'm in, and then I close my eyes, focusing on the flow of my mana and my body as I sit down.

I cast a glance over the room again, taking in the sparse furniture and worn rug underfoot. It becomes quiet and I stop feeling the cold of the room as I delve deep into myself. Slowly, carefully, I reach out and start deeply inspecting the construct I made before. Now, after some time has passed, I realize even more how terrible and inefficient it is.

When I inspect the construct, I can't help but see its shortcomings glaring back at me. It's like I used a stone tool when a scalpel was needed, making it rough around the edges, the energy moving in jagged jerks rather than smooth waves.

The Reinforcement construct is sucking up around thirty percent of my mana and strengthening my body, amounting to what I would be able to do with 10% instead of 30%.

But hey, it's not like I had a perfect situation while creating it.

Drawing inwards, I anchor my senses to the mana coursing through my veins. It's a familiar sensation, a rippling wave of power beneath my skin. It's not just energy, it's a part of me - a soft, consistent hum, warm like a blanket.

I [Focus] and cautiously make changes to the web of pathways I had created. I examine my bones, into which I etched it, I observe how it flows and once again, with the help of [Mana Manipulation] and [Oscillation], I make changes.

I add a pathway here, and I change a turn there, slowly, carefully feeling my body and my mana while I do so, and the world outside becomes a distant memory.

It's like I'm sculpting a detailed statue out of a coarse block of stone, each chip revealing a new twist to the construct. The process isn't smooth. I stumble and make errors, but each mistake helps me to improve. The pathways start to reflect my adjustments, a bit smoother here, a bit narrower there.

Okay, this pathway should go away - I scratch it with [Oscillation], leaving deep wounds on my muscles and bones. It's painful, it's terribly painful and my mana flares up a few times as I remove the twisted pathway, but I endure it. My body will heal, the pain will disappear, so I [Focus].

I know that every drop of sweat, every gasp of pain, is just a milestone in a way to my goal. The process is painful but also somehow fun, it makes me feel good knowing that I'm improving something, that I am creating something that is mine and the result of all my testing, all my observations.

The result of my hard work.

After what feels like hours, I stop and with a satisfied feeling, check out my construct. The flow is better, the mana flows faster, and, to my current knowledge, it looks amazing.

I know I'll find some mistakes as I improve, but right now, this is the best I can do and I'm happy with that.

The construct's name didn't change, even the effect didn't change, only the efficiency improved. It's still using nearly a third of my mana but instead of feeling like I'm actually using 10% to strengthen my body, it feels like a bit over 20%.

A little, but significant result.

Now then, the second construct, right?

I take a short break, calming my breathing and excitedly beating heart. I calm my curiosity, I dim my impatience and for a minute, just focus on breathing slowly.

Breathe in.

Hold it.

Slow breath out.

Repeat.

I repeat the rhythmic cycle, allowing it to ground me, to anchor me to the present. The steady rhythm sets the pace for my thoughts, calming me. As I breathe, I visualize my goal, the second construct taking shape in my mind.

Finally, I enter an even deeper [Focus] and get to work, using all I learned from my testing, all I learned from watching Lissandra etch the pathways into her body and move her mana. I remembered all I could. I perceived all I could. Yet, I can't understand it all, not yet. But, I'll do what I can.

I reach out to my heart and extremely carefully start creating an intricate web of circuits around it. At first, I do not connect it to my mana, I just continue to use my skills and create this web, this construct around my heart while being more careful and focused than before.

While doing this, I realize how big of a mistake it was to pick the Dual Focus upgrade. I went against what the skill is intended for.

[Focus]

Instead of improving on it, I split it and weakened its effect instead of strengthening it. I do understand the system a bit better now and the skills as well. [Focus] should help me focus my mind on a single thing, to delve deeper, to understand more, yet I foolishly split it instead of strengthening it. It's something I'll have to deal with in the future, but now, I push it to the back of my mind and continue.

This time it takes me even longer and I take short pauses, rewinding what feels like distant memories from the end of the second floor but I get to the point where I pause, keeping the intricate web alive with my [Mana Manipulation] before activating it.

First, I connect it to a thin pathway and the construct slowly starts sipping on mana, activating, collecting it and gently shrinking and tying itself around my heart, partially merging with it.

Good.

Another pathway connects to it and while my Mana Heart beats, the construct moves too.

I connect the few final pathways and the heart beats strongly, sending vibrations through my body. Notification sounds.

Congratulations, you have created your second Construct. The name will be kept as such and it will be shown in the status under active skills and over passive skills. Well done!

Kinetic Mana Heart - a construct that leverages the rhythm of the heart to generate kinetic energy. Operating in sync with the mana heart, it doesn't contribute to magic directly. Instead, with every heartbeat, it sends a surge of kinetic energy coursing through the user's body.

Woah, isn't that super good?

One heartbeat.

I feel kinetic energy enter my body in a similar way it does when I absorb it from my orbs. My excitement grows bigger.

Second heartbeat.

Even more energy is sent through my body, slowly filling the reservoir I can control.

Third heartbeat.

I observe the construct around my heart that uses another 30% of my mana to amplify the kinetic energy of my heartbeats and then sends this kinetic energy through my body.

Fourth heartbeat.

It's beautiful. My heart still generates mana but now also with every heartbeat, I get kinetic energy I can use, not having to rely on external sources or my orbs.

Fifth heartbeat.

Oh, that's quite a lot, isn't it?

Sixth heartbeat.

Okay, that's a lot of kinetic energy.

Seventh heartbeat.

The amount of kinetic energy I can control reaches the maximum and I grab hold of it. Eh? What now? I didn't think that through.

Eighth heartbeat.

I groan, feeling the pressure of this energy coursing through my body. My heart, being closer to my left arm, sends more energy through it.

Ninth heartbeat.

This is the most kinetic energy I've ever held and I slowly move it to my left arm that is closer to my heart. Not again! I swear, if my left arm explodes again, I'll be pissed off. What the hell is it even? Is my left arm cursed?

Tenth heartbeat.

I use all the energy I can with my upgrade of [Redistribution] to strengthen my endurance and the remaining energy explodes into front of me, destroying the wall in front of me and shaking the house. The roar of the outside wind hits the house even harder and I feel it on my skin. At the same moment, I hear the screams of the people from the room next to the one I'm in.

Oh, I totally forgot about them. Quickly, I check my arm that seems to be fine, thanks to my quick converting of some of the energy into endurance with Symbiotic Transference.

Huhu, not today!

One heartbeat.

The energy starts filling up again. God damn it, okay, it seems like testing can wait. Let's turn off the construct first.

Second heartbeat.

Let's turn off the construct.

Third heartbeat.

I said let's turn off the construct.

Fourth heartbeat.

Fuck.

Fifth heartbeat.

Now I really start to panic. What did I mess up?

Sixth heartbeat.

I release all the kinetic energy through the hole in the wall and think.

"What the hell is happening?" someone from the trio screams from behind the door. I filter him out and it starts again.

First heartbeat.

Why on earth won't it shut down?