The Antventure Begins

108. Experiments with Gravity!

There is so much Mana flooding through the walls that, to be honest, it’s almost intimidating. My Absorbing Legs never ceased feeling like they’re on fire. Energy gushes through them ferociously, pouring into my core at a constant rate. Even though I’ve used some Mana from my core and Gravity Magic Gland, already I’m nearly topped off.

Even the regular Mana regeneration I get from the Mana in the air is higher. The air is so rich with the strange energy. If I can find more ways to apply my Mana in a combat situation, then this wave would be the perfect environment for a magic oriented ant like myself.

As fearsome as my physical abilities are, thanks to my investment of evolutionary energy and my many mutation enhancements, my current species is Mind Ant. I’ve poured a lot of Skill Points, time, and energy into developing my ability to use magical energy. If I’d had a little bit more practice, I’m certain I could have worked out some sweet attacks.

Now that the wave has hit, I’ve no choice but to try things and see how it goes!

This isn’t a bad place to test it. The colony is holding the line at the tunnel entrance, refusing the enemy advance and swarming anything that comes too close. So far, this tactic is proving successful. Any monster that dares approach the wall of ants is quickly pulled forward, dragged directly into the middle of the mass of workers and set upon, carved up and sprayed with acid before they can even ask for a cup of sugar.

I’m not exactly sure why the ants aren’t suicidally charging into the fray as is their usual style, but I’m extremely grateful for it. Perhaps it has something to do with the brood? With the future generations of the colony at stake, the workers are refusing to abandon them, instead defending with all they have.

It almost brings a tear to my eye. Go for it, workers, fight for the future of our family! Defensively though…

That will give me room to work.

Of course, Tiny might be hit, but he’s strong enough to survive, surely. I can’t imagine anything I can produce with less energy than the Gravity Bomb would be able to hurt the big guy.

As battling monsters encroach on me from every side, gaping mouths and elongated limbs lashing at each other, I reach deep within, stirring awake my sub-brain and grasping hold of the ethereal energy of this world.

Mana is difficult to explain. How it feels, how it looks in my mind’s eye, the way it moves, it’s hard to find the words. Stored inside the Mana sources of my body, the energy is dense, hanging like a thick fog over the ground, a haze or mist that can’t be seen through, a low-lying cloud of sparkling power.

When I reach for it, the cloud stirs and shifts, like a living creature reacting to its owner’s voice. In equal parts I call to it and take hold of it, not roughly—like grabbing a cat by the scruff of the neck—but firmly, holding it by the hand, leading it where I want it to go.

The Mana doesn’t exactly fight against my control, it just feels… heavy. As if weighed down by an inertia I must overcome by sheer mental effort. Even with my sub-brain, the amount of willpower required to finely control the energy is no joke.

The more precise my control needs to be, the more effort required. To move the energy in a certain direction isn’t that difficult. To move it into an exact direction and form an exact shape is a far, far greater challenge.

Much like rolling a ball. To send it out in front of you is simple, even if the ball is heavy. But rolling it exactly five and a half metres with a ten-degree spin to the right? Hard.

This is where the Mana Shaping skill comes into play.

It helps to guide my hand, implanting in my mind the instincts and nous needed to understand just how much force is too much, exactly how to achieve that curve or to realise when a mistake has been made.

The other aspect of the Mana Shaping skill is the patterns I received when I learned it. All skills come with knowledge. It could be said that all skills are knowledge, and Mana Shaping contained more than most. Not just the control aspect, but numerous specific shapes and patterns that I should direct my Mana to form.

The only problem I have is that the knowledge of what each shape is for wasn’t available.

Well, that and the problem of the shapes being extremely difficult to form correctly. With my Mana Shaping skill improving as I grind, the work has become easier but it’s still immensely difficult to achieve the precision required every time.

In my last round of practice, I was able to get the shapes to form correctly only around 50% of the time. I wasn’t game to activate them, surrounded by workers and the queen.

Right now, I’m going to see what happens.

Cross all your claws, Anthony, and hope something good comes out!

Drawing out the dark purple gravitation energy stored within my body, I begin to direct it into the first pattern I think of. This shape resembles a circle that loops in on itself, forming many concentric circles that eventually shift into a sphere. The extra difficulty comes in due to the fact you have to ‘draw’ the shape in two places at the same time, directing two streams of energy simultaneously.

The sub-brain helps immensely with the split focus. Due to having to keep an eye on my surroundings, I can’t divert all my focus to just forming the pattern. I’ve retreated myself to as close to the corner of the chamber as I can, hoping to avoid attention by remaining still and quiet. In a room full of frenzied monsters lashing at everything they see, it isn’t an especially reliable strategy. Several times I have to shift my position or dodge out of the way of other monsters grappling each other.

My first attempt collapses and fizzles out as I can no longer hold the threads of energy together. Dammit! Who asked for magic to be this hard, Gandalf? All you had to do was shout a few words and wave a stick around, right? Any chance you could throw that ring my way?

Didn’t think so.

Backing myself tightly against the wall, I begin another attempt.

Even as the Mana is being drawn out of the gland, my feet, planted firmly against the walls, continue to draw in more energy. My core has been topped off already and now the excess energy is being fed into the Gravity Magic Gland, where it’s converted to the new Mana type.

Focus, Anthony!

Once again, I painstakingly begin to form the pattern within myself, controlling the energy to create every loop and whorl with as much precision as I can. I divert even more attention to the effort, allowing myself to be buffeted and struck by several monsters as I concentrate on the shape.

Slowly the pattern begins to take shape. Directing two separate streams of gravitational energy with my mind, laying them down symmetrically in the three-dimensional pattern of pure magic within me.

My mind aches when I lay the final sections of the pattern. Every pattern I’ve tried becomes more intricate towards the end of its formation, and this one is no exception. The finest of circles spiral inwards and outwards, outlining the now spherical mana construct in nearly invisible layers of energy.

BANG!

A powerful fist smashes into my side, sending my body reeling to the side. So engrossed am I in completing the construction, I don’t even notice. So close! So close!

GOT IT!

With a sudden flash of energy that radiates through my body, the pattern has been completed! A new awareness arises in my mind. One I’ve felt every time I managed to complete the shape. What is required now is to hold the shape steady, using my mind to lock it in place and then ‘power it’ by pouring more Mana into it until it’s ready to take effect.

As my body continues to be buffeted by attacks, my focus remains internal, directing more and more energy out of the gravitational gland and into the construct I’ve formed inside me. I have absolutely no idea what will happen when this takes effect, but it better be good!

The pattern glows more brilliantly with each passing moment.

At first, I’m encouraged by the sheer amount of energy required to power this shape, but as more Mana is consumed, I begin to grow concerned. What if the effect takes place in the colony as well? I don’t want anything too explosive!

As the Mana continues to flood into the shape, I start to blindly run away from the colony, skirting the walls, running straight into other monsters getting bashed away, just to create more distance.

Something clicks, like a block falling neatly into place or a switch suddenly flicking the lights on.