A Demon's Core

Calla has grown quite attached to Noctis. Following, or sometimes riding, the beast around more often than not. Her mother was nervous about it at first but calmed down when she saw how gentle Noctis was with the child. She will even often sleep curled up next to Noctis. The first time it happened Lily panicked when she awoke to find her daughter was not in their room. I told her where Calla was and assured that she was safe. Now Noctis usually sleeps in their room as well. Not on the bed though. Lily did not allow that.

Noctis also seems to enjoy the attention from the imp child. It is almost comical watching the two play together given their incredible size difference. There is not a lot of space for Noctis to move around in the room so they often end up running back and fourth along the hallway. I do enjoy watching them so I am considering claiming the entire hallway so I can observe their antics. Though that will have to wait until I have mana to spare.

Whenever Noctis wants to go outside, Calla insists on following. Which means Lily also has go as well to supervise. Even though I am certain Noctis would keep Calla safe from any dangers out there. It is not uncommon for Violet to also join them as she enjoys playing with the both of them as well.

I think I need to check in on Rose. She has been trying to figure out more about magic but has not made much progress so far. She is currently sitting on her bed focusing intently on a shiny metal ring before her. It looks like it could be made of silver, but I am hardly an expert on metals.

How have you been doing with the magic training? I ask her.

“It’s been difficult. I’m not really sure where to start.” She says, a little dejected.

What have you been trying?

“I’m trying use magic to move things. To start with, I’ve been trying to put mana into the objects that I'm trying to move, but I don’t know how.”

What about when you are healing others. Do you not have to push mana into them when you do that?

“I think so, but this is different. Pushing mana into living things feels natural. It’s almost easy. Inanimate objects aren’t as receptive. Besides that, healing is a slow, gradual process done over the course of a few days rather than all at once.”

Have you tried gathering your mana around an object instead of pushing the mana into it?

“I did think of that, but it’s hard to feel the mana after it has left my body.” There is something I can do that may assist her in getting past these issues since I have not used my mana yet today.

I have an idea that might help you. I use all of my mana to create a mana crystal on the nightstand by her bed. Even though doing so means I will not be able to do much else for the day. I consider it an investment in Rose’s development. She watches in awe as the crystal grows.

Take this. Try to feel the mana within it. She reaches out and gently touches the crystal.

“Is it really okay for me to take it? Aren’t these important?” She asks hesitantly.

They are extremely important. But not nearly as much as you are. I can always make more of them later so using this one to help you learn to better control mana is a more than worthwhile expense. It looks like she is blushing again. It is kind of cute.

The crystal is a sphere a little smaller than the palm of her hand. She carefully wraps her hands around it and tries to pick it up. There is a little resistance at first, like it is actually attached to the nightstand. But with a faint cracking sound it breaks free of whatever was holding it in place. I guess they do seem to grow out from the mana filaments so it makes sense that it was attached.

Rose is holding the glowing pink orb in both hands, gazing at in it wonder.

Can you feel the mana inside that crystal?

“I think so. It feels similar to when I held your core. But smaller and less potent.”

Excellent. Now try to absorb the mana from that crystal into your body.

“How do I do that?” She ask, looking puzzled.

I am not entirely sure. I think when I absorb the mana from these crystals it responds to my will. The mana is absorbed into my core simply because I desire it. Try focusing on the desire to absorb the mana I guess.

Rose closes her eyes and her grip on the crystal tightens. The glow fades and the colour slowly darkens until she is holding a pitch black sphere. When she opens her eyes she looks surprised that it actually worked.

“I did it.” She exclaims, elated by her success.

You did. That is good. How do you feel?

“Kind of warm I think. But also refreshed and energized.”

Any discomfort?

“No. It feels quite pleasant actually.” A different reaction than Third had when his body became saturated with mana the first time I tried to heal him. Maybe Rose did not get as much mana out of this as he did at that time. Or she has a higher tolerance for it.

Good. Now try putting the mana back into the crystal. It should be more receptive than other objects.

She closes her eyes again and focuses on the crystal. It slowly changes colour as she pours her mana into it. But it is taking her a lot longer to fill it with mana than it took for her to drain it and I can feel a lot of mana just being released into the air instead of into the crystal. When it is finally back to glowing bright pink she is breathing heavily and looked exhausted.

“That was a lot harder that absorbing the mana. It felt like it took a lot more mana to fill it than what I’d initially gained from it.” She says between breaths.

Yes. The transfer process was quite inefficient. A lot of mana was just being dispersed into the air. She looks quite disappointed at my explanation. I believe this is simply a matter of experience. If you keep practicing I am sure you will eventually be able to do this without wasting any mana. Once you get to that point I want you to try doing the same thing without actually touching it. Hopefully that should give you a better feel for controlling mana outside of your body.

“Will that really work?” She asks hopefully.

I do not know for certain. I am also quite new to this. So we will figure it out together.

With a look of determination she starts absorbing the mana from the crystal again.

Please be careful not to overdo it. I do not want you to hurt yourself by practicing too hard. She just nods and I leave her to her training.

I have my own mana experiment I would like to conduct now. Though since I just used most of my mana to help Rose I am going to need to take some from one of the mana crystals. They are all almost at capacity now. I estimate it will only take another day before they are full. Then it will be time for another summoning. I take the mana from one of the smallest crystals. It is not very much, but that is not a problem. For what I am about to try only, using a small amount of mana will be safer.

There is no one in Room 3 right now as the others are all out at the moment so I will conduct my experiment there. I gather the mana before me and start compressing it. The more I condense it the greater the resistance grows. I continue pushing and compressing it until I have reached my absolute limit and I can not compress it any further. Then I let it go. The resulting shock wave exceeds my expectations. My body disperses for a few seconds. Though it was thankfully not destroyed and quickly reforms. The intensity of the shock wave caused the entire room to shake and cracked the windows. Luckily they did not shatter, for I do not know how I could replace them if they did.

For such a violent reaction to have occurred, I either underestimated the amount of mana I used or I underestimated the volatility of highly condensed mana. Rose soon rushes into the room in a near panic.

“Lord Magentam, what is going on!? Did you do something? What was that?”

Sorry for startling you. That was another experiment of mine.

“Did something go wrong?” She asks looking around the room worried.

No. It actually achieved more or less what I was hoping for. It just turned out to be a little more potent than I anticipated.

“What exactly were you trying to accomplish?” I seem to have piqued her curiosity now.

I am attempting to devise a way to use mana as a weapon. The process needs some refinement, but the core concept seems to work as I expected.

“Will you teach it to me?” She asks

Maybe in the future. After I have figured out how to do it a little more safely. I do not want you to accidentally blow yourself up along with your target. Now she is back to looking worried. You are also going to need to vastly improve your mana control before you have any hope of replicating this technique.

Rose heads back to her room after that leaving me to ponder the results of my test. I need to control the shock wave better. To aim it. Releasing an omnidirectional shock wave is not ideal. If I could focus it in a single direction, not only should that result in greater destructive potential directed at the target for the same amount of mana, it should also hopefully make it safer for the caster. I also need to be very careful about how much mana I put into it unless I want to turn my target into meat paste and risk damaging the building.

When the others return from their latest excursion I find myself once again observing Calla and Noctis. It is quite relaxing watching those two. Lily grew concerned when she saw the cracks in the window. But I explained what happened and reassured her that everything was okay. Luckily there was not much else in the room that could be damaged. I think I should find a place for these sorts of experiments that is away from where my imps live. I have almost reached the next floor down in the stairwell so soon I can turn my attention back to expanding on this floor. I can choose one of the other rooms to become ‘The potentially dangerous experiments room’. I soon feel my connection with Violet buzzing.

‘Magentam, it’s not fair. Why did you give Rose a present but not me? I want a glowing pink orb too.’ She demands in a petulant tone.

I gave that to her to help her learn magic.

‘I want to learn magic too. Please can I have one?’ She pleads.

Perhaps that is not a bad idea. I have not seen anything to indicate that Violet would have a capacity for magic like Rose. But that does not mean it is impossible. Maybe it is something that can be learned or developed. Even if it does not work she can still keep the mana crystal with her and use the mana to get an energy boost in emergencies. Maybe I should offer the same to the others as well.

Alright, I will make one for you. But you will have to wait until tomorrow. I need to let my mana regenerate first.

‘Okay. I’ll wait. I’m going to be the best magic imp ever.’ I can feel her excitement through our connection.

Violet and Rose are both in their room now and when I check on them Rose is explaining to Violet everything she knows about magic, which is not much admittedly, and what she was doing with the mana crystal to try to improve her control. Violet is listening intently to every word. I was surprised when Violet agreed to move into Rose’s room permanently, but I am glad she did. After the attack it was clear to see that neither of them wanted to be alone, especially Rose. While she was reluctant to give up her customary spot next to my core, her desire to comfort Rose and be comforted in return won out.

The next day I finish my journey to the floor below. I tried to maintain unpredictability by crossing over the stairs at intervals between three and seven steps. But it was not very far down. There was only 22 steps between the floors with a landing in the middle.

I use the rest of my mana to create a mana crystal for Violet. At first she pouts a little because it is not as big as the one I made for Rose, but she is still happy with it.

“It’s just like holding the core, but smaller.” She says, beaming.

Rose said something similar. Do you remember her explanation about what to do with it?

“I remember.” She closes her eyes gripping the crystal. It turns black almost immediately. That was unexpected. Rose absorbed the mana pretty slowly, but Violet drained the crystal in an instant. Perhaps she may be able to do more than I expected with this. She opens her eyes and stares down at the black sphere in her hands.

“Did I do it?” She asks, seeming a little unsure.

Yes, you did. Quite remarkably, in fact. You remember the next step?

She closes her eyes again. Only this time, nothing happens. The crystal is not changing colour at all. Which means it is not absorbing any mana, but I do not sense any mana being released into the air either. So she can absorb mana into her body easily, but she is not so good at releasing it. I am not sure how to help her with this. Releasing mana has always been easy for me. Even Rose had been radiating mana for quite a while before she started this training. Seeing the crystal is still black Violet becomes confused.

“Am I doing it wrong?”

I am not sure. Can you feel the mana that you took from the crystal?

“I think so. I feel like I have more energy now. But I don’t know how to put it back.”

I have an idea. I do not know how well it will work, but I cannot think of anything else right now. You will need to head out to my core. She is quick to comply and is soon standing before my core.

Now place your hand on it. I am going to try taking mana from you directly. I have never done this before, but I think it should work.

It is actually quite easy for me to feel the mana inside her when she is touching my core directly. I reach out to that mana and start slowly pulling it into my core. Being very careful not to take too much too quickly.

Can you feel that? Your mana flowing into my core?

“Yes, it’s a little uncomfortable. It feels like my energy is being drained.”

That is likely because that is, technically, exactly what is happening. I want you to focus on that feeling. After draining about half of her mana I stop. Now I am going to give you that mana back. She sighs as the mana flows into her.

“That feels much better.”

I repeat the process a dozen more times. Then I tell her to try pushing her mana into my core herself and to remember how it felt when I was taking it before. She struggles at first, but after a few minutes of intense concentration a slow trickle of mana starts flowing into my core. The stream is slow, but steady. I can not feel any mana dispersing into the air. So nothing is being wasted. It is just slow. After about half a minute I tell her to stop then return the mana to her.

Excellent work. Now you just need to practice doing that with the mana crystal. In particular, you need to work on transfer speed. Try slowing down how fast you absorb mana from the crystal, while also speeding up how fast you can put it back. I am sure Rose will be willing to help you if you are still having trouble with it.

She hurries back to her room, probably excited to tell Rose about her success and start practicing right away.

Something they both said has given me an idea. Holding the mana crystals felt similar to my core to them. I could make a bigger one. The same size as my core even. It can act as a decoy. Hopefully the humans will not be able to tell the difference. Then if they do manage to make it past all of our defenses, they can be tricked into taking a fake. It would still be unfortunate to lose such a large mana crystal, but better than them taking my core.

But that will wait until later. For right now, most of my mana crystals are at or near capacity. It is time to use that mana to summon another vahxa.