My brief exploration into creating a fusion drive didn’t go anywhere. I simply don’t know enough about magic to get it to work… yet.

Talking of things that didn’t work, I should add ‘create or find better mana growth meditation method’ to my to-do list. The one Liz described to me was rather subpar.

The night after the adventurer escort I’d tried meditating using the technique overnight, using the normal aura suppression technique instead of my counterflow method to allow me to mobilise more of my lifeforce. It had only felt like a few moments before the alarm I’d set on my Cell Phone had woken me up. My immediate reaction was to promise myself to never do that outside, since I was so out of it over the entire time I was meditating that I wouldn’t have noticed if a monster had snuck up on me. I might not have noticed even if it wasn’t ‘sneaking’.

If it had been worth it I would have continued, but… it just wasn’t. Comparing the increases of the previous days, and the night spent meditating, the night spent meditating netted an increase barely half that merely sleeping in the tower provided.

I didn’t know whether it was the meditation technique not being suitable for the ridiculous mana density in the tower, or maybe it didn’t mesh with my extremely high mana pool.

“Whatever, it just means it's better not to use the technique. Maybe there'll be a more advanced one I can get my hands on at some point.

“Hmmm…” I hummed tunelessly to myself as I rebuilt the Tower’s Topaz Gemspark lighting to be in a more aesthetically pleasing arrangement across the ceilings and walls, adjusting the patterning on those floors that had subfloors.

Once I’d finished that, I laid the carpets in the guest rooms. Thankfully there would be no need to clean them as the Tower would handle that for me, though I did leave a shoe rack by the entrance to the floor, and another by the doors of each guest room. While I was at it, I also added clocks to all the guest rooms and common areas.

By then it was night. A quick meal with Tear, then to bed.

Still raining.

I grumbled something unkind to whichever deity was in charge of the weather and went to find some coffee and breakfast.

After sating my hunger, I checked my mental to-do list entry.

“‘Experiment with upper bounds of lifeforce infusion’? Hmm… would need to shut down my counterflow…” I glanced down at the entry two below the one I was looking at “…which I need to practise anyway.” I sighed. “Right, where’s my umbrella?” Then an idea struck.

I dropped down to the pool, then swam to the bottom of it, using my Rod of Discord to teleport past the Mythril cap into the shaft down to the mana artery, the shared icon for the Extreme Mana Density Buff and Debuff appearing in the top left of my vision as I descended down it. I could almost feel the mana trying to corrode my skin. Curiously I pulled out an Iron bar; the shiny smoothness of its surface instantly clouding as the mana broke it down. Even as the mana damaged the metal’s surface, inside the bar cracks were forming, and growing ever faster as the mana flowing through the iron concentrated at the faults. The previously solid metal bar crumbled through my fingers even as I watched.

…Well I’m not coming down here without my armour.

Using my Laser Drill, I cut a chamber into the shaft’s wall next to me, or rather, 10 metres beyond the wall. My depth vision combined with the reach of the Laser Drill and its ability to expand my inventory’s reach to where it was cutting meant I had no problem ignoring the rock between me and what I was aiming at.

I teleported into the space, wincing as the Chaos State debuff instantly robbed a seventh of my total health, the pink lightning bolts scorching my flesh as they sparked through it. I internally decided that teleporting before the Chaos State from the previous teleport wore off was not something I would do again unless I really needed to.

The mana density inside the chamber was significantly lower than the shaft or artery, though I could see blue tendrils of raw mana seeping through the walls and floor so I doubted it would stay that way for very long. It was quite dim, the only light from the mana seeping in, so I summoned my Light Pet, the Suspicious Looking Eye, a huge teal-coloured eyeball that floated over my left shoulder.

I quickly expanded the chamber into a sizeable room, some 20 metres tall and 30 across and 40 deep, pulling the cut chunks of stone into my inventory.

Acting on an impulse I planted a Gemcorn of each of the type of gemstone tree that I had: Amethyst, Topaz, Sapphire, Emerald, Ruby, Amber, and Diamond. I idly wondered if I’d be able to create Gemcorns for other gemstones if I got my hands on any.

Settling down on a slightly raised platform I’d left in the middle of the stone saplings, I focused internally, focusing on slowing the counterflow within my Lifeforce channels. Once it was slow enough I simply released it, allowing the normal lifeforce flow to bring the stationary lifeforce back into the fold.

I let out a long breath and opened my eyes. “An hour and 6 minutes,” I commented aloud, glancing at the time, “a bit faster than last time.” It would have to be much, much faster if I wanted to use my full strength instantaneously. Thankfully it didn’t seem that there was much that would pose that much of a threat to me in the immediate vicinity, so I didn’t have a problem with keeping my aura supressed in this manner. It certainly nullified my previous method’s risk of accidentally slipping control and blasting Tear with my aura.

“Right then, let’s see.” I pulled a wooden broadsword out of my world storage and held it up in front of me. I focused, drawing a thick thread of lifeforce from the pool at my heart and guiding it down my arm and up into the sword.

The wooden broadsword detonated in my face, transforming into a rapidly expanding cloud of flaming splinters that pelted my entire body.