Interesting… I got a level for sensing primordial mana but no level for [Manipulate Magic]. I always get the ‘first use’ level, but I suppose it doesn’t count if I have help? If that is the case, then I won’t be able to max out [Manipulate Magic] levels until I am able to do it on my own, or perhaps with just the Mana Arc? I haven’t heard of magic item bonuses hindering skill training before… Regardless this might just be the only case where I can get all the knowledge levels before getting the first use level.

Now onto the elephant in the room. Primordial mana is the first form of mana from the first age of mana… it is highly likely mana itself changed when the Age of Elements came around, then changed again with the Age of Essences, so it’s possible this is the first time primordial mana has existed since before the first great calamity.

Now onto what I am looking at. It appears to be, well, primordial, like the energy version of mana if mana were matter. What I mean to say is that it seems to lack physicality, a cloud of possibility and power. I wonder if there are other versions of primordial mana, like a liquid and solid state of it but that is so far from even our combined efforts that there is no point in speculating.

“This is… incredible,” Kayafe says, her tail dancing wildly in excitement

I nod. “We’ll need to figure out what kind of properties it has. It doesn’t have the MM force, nor is it elementarily aspected, but it has to do something.”

Back during the Age of Mana, there were mages, so it was used in some way. However, we didn’t have to do anything, as I soon noticed the ambient mana that passes through the primordial mana suddenly gains a huge boost in intensity. This does drain the primordial mana a little, but it seems we have just found one of its interactions with normal mana. Primordial mana seems to super-charge normal mana.

“Did you see that?” I ask.

“Yes,” Kayafe nods. “It appears that primordial mana is pure power. I wonder how it reacts to enchantments, spell mana, and even ritual mana? Can it empower rituals as well?”

“We can test two of those and see how well it does with crafting if I use it for my challenge.”

“How much primordial mana do you need?” Kayafe asks

“Quite a lot more.”

If primordial mana is pure power, then isn’t it the mana equivalent to E equals M C squared? I’m sure there’s some mathematical formula to this, but doesn’t that mean that normal mana is a lower power but more stable form of mana? Is there an even lower power form of mana? And what would it look like?

All questions to answer later. For now, we start making more primordial mana, taking a small break after each session until we have just enough for me to make my weapon and one sample for Kayafe to play around with.

While I’ve been making primordial mana, my other minds have been hard at work finding a new inscription, and they’ve just found what I've been looking for, the inscription that compresses mana. I will need to improve it to the point that it compresses mana so much that it begins to fuse, but I also need to make a version that only gathers and compresses specific types of mana. This is where I suspect the outer layer of inscriptions comes into play.

If the core is where the magic happens and the middle part determines what happens, then the outer part determines what it’s all applied to. After an entire night of research, I finally found a form that works well enough for my purposes. I insert the realization core in this new inscription and watch as it produces a jet of freezing flames. It isn’t perfected, and the inscription can be refined more, but I am running out of time.

After a long day of producing primordial mana and a full night of research, we return home, and I start working on the sword spear. I first start by purifying the ore using my Bond; the impurities separate out and form a small pebble of rock. I try to [Analyze] it again, now that it has changed a little, but the protection stays; even the impurities are still protected. I shrug, expecting this outcome, and move on to the next step.

I reshape the purified ore into a long hollow shaft and form ritual mana, and compress it into a super-solid sword blade complete with a guard before applying magic to it to turn the mana to liquid once it touches a solid object. Since liquid mana is less dense than super-solid, the blade will actually extend in its liquid state, so as it cuts, it will grow longer. Of course, it’s harmless in its liquid state, so I apply magic, so it will form a cutting edge as it encounters soft flesh. It won’t cut bone, but organs, blood vessels, muscles, and other soft tissue will be cut.

Next, I fill the hollow of the shaft with primordial mana and apply magic so it can’t flow out; since it lacks physicality, it will just pass through matter and even mana. I then enchant the sword spear to increase its fluidity so it will have less resistance passing through matter. After that, I start decorating the shaft and blade with stylized depictions of the battle between the dragons and the cursed beings with a thin film of super-solid beauty mana mixed with ritual mana. Hidden as part of the decorations are my new inscriptions, incorporated in such a way as to be almost invisible if one is unaware of what to look for.

With the sword spear finished, all that’s left is to do an upgrade ritual, but that’s mostly to see how Primordial mana will interact with ritual mana during its ritual. Kayafe and I begin another session of creating more primordial mana before setting up a ritual site in the same place I cast the ritual spell.

I don’t want to keep asking Yrania for mana to sacrifice, and she’s been yelled at enough, so I need another thing related to the events here, but what else is there? We have the place, and we are making the depictions of battle again, but what can be used to start the ritual?

An idea pops into my mind, and I don’t like it. Memories of that time when I spent two years replacing everyone’s mind component resurface afresh, and I clench my fist.

I take a deep breath to calm myself. This ritual is already pretty similar to the spell, and there needs to be a distinction; this is the only thing I can readily sacrifice, and besides, it’s to help me win this stupid challenge. I’m not doing this for others; I’m doing this for me.

“Are you alright?” Kayafe asks with worry in her voice.

“Yes, I just remembered something unpleasant,” I say.

I also have to consider [Astral Projection’s] curse. This is intended to complete this item, so I should feel my anima start draining depending on how powerful this item is. I will probably need to be healed by Lanya again after this, but we will be returning to the Lunaleyan lands in a couple of weeks anyway, so I can do it then.

A part of me is uneasy about this ritual, but that might have been because of the ritual spell I cast recently. It is a good reminder that I have to be careful with these things, that just because I can’t fail at casting them doesn’t mean I am a master at casting them. What if that ritual spell inflicted collateral damage? I may have just gotten lucky.

Deciding to play it safe, I add more statues around the place, of the city rising out of the sea, to the workshops from around the city. I lean more heavily on the creation aspect of this location to ensure it is a safer creation ritual, not a destructive spell.

Finally, I draw out one of my mind components with [Astral Projection] and drift it over to the ice brazier. It burns with a ghostly flame as mana begins to gather and transform into ritual mana.

More and more mana gathers and begins to flow into the sword spear, but then something else begins to move and be pulled in by the ritual, ambient miasma.

“No, no, no, no! This isn’t supposed to happen!” I say in a panic.

I didn’t even know this could happen! No one even told me of this possibility! I knew rituals can go wrong, but not this wrong!

Is it because there’s too much ambient miasma? It’s been on a rise from everything that has happened, but there shouldn’t have been anything it can be applied to, nothing to spark it.

“What’s going on?” Kayafe asks, alarmed by my outburst.

“It’s drawing in Miasma!”

“WHAT?! That’s never happened before!”

More and more miasma is drawn in and burned, sparking a massive growth in magic. The growing magic framework of the item begins to shine brightly before cracking and dissolving until nothing is left, but more miasma is still being drawn in, continuing for another minute until everything suddenly stops. As expected, I feel a massive drain to my anima and I almost fall over from sudden dizziness, but I managed to stabilize myself with my tails. After the episode, I focus on the sword spear.

The imagery of the sword spear has changed to that of the cursed being consuming the mind components of its victims. The sword blade has changed from ritual mana into unique mana, but its form has become jagged and grim, but the worst change of all is its unworldly presence and humming.

Saintess’ Anguish:

This cursed item, made by the Saintess of Mana and Magic, can reap the minds of its victims, cut through any defense, bring ruin to entire cities, tear down mountains and sink entire landmasses. It can conjure shades of its victims to fight for its wielder, limited only by the number of minds it has consumed. However, to wield this weapon, it will consume a mind component of its wielder and more the longer it is held.

“What do we do about this?” I ask, making sure not to touch the weapon.

“We should tell Safyr, if anything, to see if she knows something. I’ve heard of cursed items before but never actually seen one.”

Agreeing with Kayafe, I send a clone over to Safyr and explain the situation, after which she remains silent for a few minutes before finally speaking.

“I’d say that I warned you about magic rituals, but it is fair to say that you weren’t warned that curses can arise from them. Looking at it from your point of view, the most you thought could go wrong is for the item to be destroyed, and you’d lose the challenge, a calculated risk.” Safyr says, being surprisingly fair. “And it is also rare that rituals lead to the creation of a cursed item without designing it specifically for the creation of one.”

Safyr sighs as if remembering something. “I should have foreseen this and warned you to never base a ritual on a negative. I don’t know much about rituals, so I can’t say why but it reduces the chance of a corrupted ritual. Now I would like to see this cursed item for myself, and you should ask Urolon about it for his wisdom; he may have insight that I do not have.”

Well, now I have the problem of how to transport this cursed item. I can probably transport it safely since I have spare mind components, but I’d rather not.