The hideout is exceptionally busy this morning. After Jellal said he would consider letting them leave if they cleared all the bodies Vincent made an appeal to the other captives to join the work. For the first time since taking over this cave every cell is empty. Even the people who had no experience processing monsters buckled down and learned as fast as they could in order to increase their chances of escaping.

‘There really isn’t anything in this world more powerful than hope. Even though I only said I would consider letting them go if they took care of all the bodies they still rallied together and are working so hard. It seems they forgot the bodies also need to be incinerated. It seems Kira has a gift for drawing the short straw with her assignments. It should be interesting for me though. Will she try to tuff it out on her own or will she finally give in and ask me for help, kekeke.’

Finishing his lunch he headed back to the depths of the living quarters to continue his training. Thanks to his unexpected transformation his overall ability skyrocketed, especially his abilities related to magic. His ability to sense and manipulate mana improved to the point he barely has to put in any effort.

The major drawback with his new form is his lack of mana. Unlike before where he had mana stored in his body specifically for his use, now his mana is more ethereal. It may be a part of him but it is also a part of the surroundings limiting what he can do by using brute force.

His current training regime is more focused on figuring out his new abilities and limits rather than using a specific type of mana. Calming his mind and becoming one with the mana in the surroundings he can feel how he interacts with mana as a whole. By gauging how well his mana merges or passes through the different types of mana he roughly estimates how much influence he has over those types of mana.

For him wind and light are on opposite ends of the spectrum. His mana merges with the wind to the point the two are almost indistinguishable, showing how close they are. On the other hand, his mana and light mana pass through each other with almost no interactions. They stay separate to the point they almost seem to exist on separate plains of existence.

From there he moves on to using the mana to form different types of magic. How well his mana merges with the type he wants to use for his magic heavily influences how long it takes to form. Using wind and light as an example; he can form wind magic almost instantaneously while he would require around ten seconds if not longer to form even the crudest light magic he can muster.

The new properties of his body and mana also led to him coming up with a couple new theories. Unfortunately in order to test portion of them he needs a partner that can use magic.

While he’s pondering an anomaly appears in the mana by the dining hall. A person’s silhouette moves through the mana in his direction. Because the mana in their body repels outside mana it allows him to see what they look like through their silhouette despite the distance between them.

‘She’s right on time! Just when I needed someone that could use magic to assist me in my experiments she comes to me. With her mana pool and the number of bodies to be incinerated it was only a matter of time, but to think she had such a great sense of timing. There’s also the matter of darkness to discuss as well. Now that I really think about it I have a lot of things I need her help with.’

A smile floats on his face as he waits for Kira to arrive. When she slows down to a snail’s pace at the bend, as per usual, he lets out a sigh. Finally she inches her way around the corner only to find Jellal staring at her as if he was expecting her.

[Are you sure you have time to be paying me a visit? There should be a mountain of corpses waiting for you to torch them after all.]

[I was wondering if I really have to burn all the bodies by myself. There’s no way I can do it, there are too many of them. Even if they can finish taking the valuable parts it’s impossible for me to finish incinerating them by myself, yet everyone keeps telling me I’ll manage if I try hard enough. Do they think I’m made of mana?]

[It isn’t impossible for you to do it all by yourself. You just don’t know how to do it. How about this: if you help me with a couple small experiments and tell me what you know about darkness magic I’ll give you some advice to help you finish your job in time. Of course whether or not you can properly use the advice I give you isn’t my problem, so don’t come to me if you still fail.]

[Darkness magic is it? I don’t know much, but you didn’t say I had to tell you a lot, just what I know. Let’s see, I think there was a book that mentioned it that I read when I first started learning magic. I don’t know how reputable of a source it is but it claimed that darkness magic could only be used my monsters or other beings corrupted by the miasma.

According to the book instead of using mana it uses miasma to create the magic, and apparently only extremely evil being are capable of using it. It’s said it can take on almost any type of mana but the magic will always be dyed a deep black due to the miasma’s tainting properties.]

‘Using miasma which is supposed to be concentrated malice and evil as a source for magic? A bit of a novel concept I’ll admit, but in bad taste. Still the corrupting nature of miasma would definitely make it extremely dangerous, especially to me with my close connection to mana. Yet at the same time I have Heart of Darkness which should have something to do with darkness magic.

I bet if I had tried using darkness magic before it would have tainted my mana, making it impossible for me to become like I am now. I knew it was trap! Kekeke, I bet that annoying bastard is pulling his hair out knowing I didn’t fall for his little trick.

Back to darkness magic. Maybe only beings with special abilities like the one I have are able to use darkness magic. If I can use darkness magic I should theoretically be able to prevent the corruption of the mana around me. In theory it should be possible to separate the miasma from mana if I’m skilled enough at using both. If I can do that I could even reverse the effects on the monsters. I’ll definitely have to run some tests when I go out later.’

[Alright, with that out of the way we can move on to the experiments. First I want you to use magic in front of me. It can be any type or style, it doesn’t matter. As long as you use magic I’ll take care of the rest of the test so you don’t have to worry about anything else. You can start whenever you’re ready.]

As Kira starts her chanting, Jellal leaves his mana permeated out the way it naturally is. As her magic starts to take shape he can sense every tiny change in it no matter how insignificant. She releases her magic causing a small flame to float in the air.

When she stops releasing mana Jellal influences the mana to keep it from separating. Kira stares at the flame in shock as it starts circling around her as if it had a mind of its own. When Jellal stops influencing the mana it separates, causing the fire to disappear in a flash.

[Good, now do the same thing again but don’t cut your mana off so soon. Your job is simply to try to keep the flame alive as long as possible.]

It doesn’t take long for another flame to hoover in the air in front of Kira. This time while she tries to keep the magic going Jellal does the opposite. Exerting a small amount of influence he easily causes the mana to dissipate, breaking the magic.

Kira is once again left stupefied as the flame fades away as if it were an illusion the whole time. Disregarding his assistant Jellal gives her instructions to do the same as she just did for the third test.

Soon another flame floats in the air. Before she started chanting her magic Jellal made sure to rein in his mana so it isn’t influencing the area she’s operating her mana in. In this way he’s able to see how much of a difference there is between his influence on a magic prepared in his sphere of power as opposed to when it is made outside and brought into his sphere.

He lets his mana permeate back through the surroundings when she finishes preparing her magic. Although there is a tiny amount of resistance from her magic, his mana manages to flow through it regardless. The same as before he makes the flame dissipate. The difference in the amount of time he took to destroy them was negligible but he can’t be sure if it was due to her being too weak or if he’s able to do it so easily because of his recent changes.

Kira’s instructions for the fourth test don’t differ much from the previous three tests. This time Jellal actively prevents her mana from properly interacting with the mana in the area. She can only look on befuddled as her magic refuses to even start forming due to his intervention.

Jellal’s about to call an end to the experiments when an idea comes to him like a bolt of thunder. He pauses, pondering whether it’s actually feasible or not. Deciding it’s best to find out in a controlled environment rather than in the heat of battle he prepares for the final experiment.

[Just one last test and we’ll call it a day. This experiment will be a little different from the ones we just finished. This time you’ll be attacking me with magic.]

[You can’t be serious! Are you trying to find an excuse to get rid of me? What did I do to deserve this?]

[There will be no repercussions or grudges due to something I ordered you to do. You have my word.]

[You’re for real about this? You actually want to be hit by magic? I don’t get it, but if say I won’t get punished I don’t mind letting off a little steam.]

Kira starts chanting as a spear of fire forms in front of her. When the spear if completed she hesitates for a moment before sending it careening toward Jellal’s chest. Even with an attack bearing down on him he stands there calmly as if it wouldn’t affect him in the slightest.

Rather than attempting to dodge or block Jellal focuses on becoming one with the mana in the surroundings. The fire spear hammers into his chest, yet he doesn’t react at all. If Kira could see mana she would notice a mass of fire mana flow out his back before dissipating and blending with the surrounding mana.

Looking down at his unharmed chest Jellal smirks at the confirmation of his theory. Even if it’s compressed together and given form magic is still just mana. When he becomes one with mana it can pass right through him the same way it would the air why can’t magic.

Unfortunately his theory wasn’t perfect. Even though he knew people’s mana is usually resistant to the mana in the surroundings he didn’t place much emphasis on it. When he was hit by the fire spear he still felt the impact from Kira’s mana.

‘The amount of mana people use to control magic isn’t enough to cause me any harm but that doesn’t mean I can disregard it. If I was facing an opponent that uses a massive amount of their own mana in their attacks it could become dangerous. Still, since I’m able to let the mana pass through me that also means I only have to worry about my opponents mana. If I can filter out or block their mana from coming in contact with me I’ll be able to ignore pretty much all magic attacks.’

[Since I said that was the last experiment I won’t keep you here any longer. As for my advice on how to burn the bodies easier, that’s simple. Which do you think is more difficult and mana consuming: creating a river then using it to flood your enemies, or manipulating an already existing river to do the work for you? Unless you have some other business you should probably get back to the rest of the captives. You have a lot of work to do after all.]

Having spent so much time for such obvious advice Kira felt like she had been cheated. Even if what he said was true, was it really worth the time she spent to hear it? Unable to even complain she sullenly turned around to head back to work.

[Before you go back, stop by the treasure room and pick up a mana potion for yourself. People would look down on me if I were to have you spend so much mana just for a little advice after all. That and having a bunch of flies saying I sabotaged their chances of escape as they sit in their cells after failing to take care of the bodies would get annoying. Now when you fail you only have yourselves to blame.]

Kira was surprised at Jellal’s generous offer. She didn’t think he would be so kind as to let her take a potion from the treasure room. Inwardly she praised him for his morals. That praise immediately turned into complaints when he didn’t stop after his second sentence.

After Kira left Jellal was once again left alone in his personal training area. With no one around he decided to do an inventory check on the items he had picked up from the treasure room for his trip to the city.

Grabbing his item bag he started pulling out the things he had prepared. The first thing out of the bag was a grey, hooded cloak. Compared to the one he had originally grabbed it was significantly nicer. The back was embroidered with gold thread which, combined with the nice fabric used to make it, gave the cloak a refined feel.

Amongst the various boxes he had also managed to find a nice button up silk shirt. The off white color meshed well with the cloak despite its rather plain appearance. To go with the long sleeve shirt he found a pair of tan pants. Instead of focusing on style he found the most comfortable pair of pants he could.

Despite looking through the entire treasure room he was unable to find a pair of shoes that he liked. In the end he grabbed a brown pair that looked decent and somewhat matched his pants. The last item he prepared was the pair of black gloves he had found at the beginning.

The only thing he was missing was a mask to hide his face. Unfortunately he didn’t find a single mask in the entire treasure room. He did find a lot of half masks amongst the bandits’ belongings but he didn’t see any point in only covering half his face.

‘I can always try making a mask. It won’t look very good but it’ll be better than nothing. I could go without a mask but if I let the prisoners go and one of them spills my appearance to the authorities or the adventurer’s guild it would make things annoying. I suppose I could still use magic but constantly keeping it up will be a major pain. Speaking of magic, couldn’t I use magic to manipulate a sapling and grow a mask? It should work in theory at least. Hmm, it’s decided! Growing a mask also sounds the most interesting.’

During his next break in training he walked out into the forest. Using his mana to scan the area he found a sapling growing on top of the cave. Careful not to damage the roots he slowly digs it out with earth magic. Not bothering to deal with the monster hordes he could sense he went back inside and closed off the entrance.

Back in the depths of the living quarters he replanted the sapling. Pulling earth, water, and light mana in and merging it with the saplings own mana he started helping it absorb nutrients from the ground and air.

Since the process was too slow he started using raw mana to supplement its growth. As it slowly grew taller it became thin and wide. The front of it formed a bit of a wedge as the sides curved back slightly. The sides grew thin vines that would be perfect to keep the mask in place. A pair of low spots made it look as if a face was growing in the wood. As it got taller it began to curve back giving it the appearance of a forehead.

Pulling the sapling from the ground he held it up to his face to check the fit. The final product had a pointy bottom from where the roots hung down while the front curved around his face. The center line protruded slightly thanks to the curve giving it a bit of character. The top sprouted in multiple directions giving it a wild yet natural look.

Satisfied with the end result he put it with the rest of his stuff. Loading up his bag he set out toward the entrance of the cave.