Thud! Arad walked away from the carriage as they stopped for lunch. Lydia followed him, carrying the sword that he got from Alcott.
"You sure I can use this?" She said, staring at his back.
"Your sword broke. It's the strongest we have." Arad looked back, "And that witch asked that you use a decent sword,"
"[It's Doma.]" A voice boomed from inside Arad, "[I've been teaching you about Mana since we departed. How about some practice?]"
Arad sighed, "Can you stop speaking from my stomach for a moment?"
Arad faced a tree, extending his hand and closing his eyes.
Mana is the energy fueling magic. It's an essential part of spellcasting that shouldn't be replaced. Doma told Arad that the part about it being fuel is a half-lie and half-truth. The average spell caster never uses Mana as fuel. It's the reason weak spells don't consume it.
Higher spells don't consume Mana. In reality, it's the caster losing control over the Mana that exited his body and letting it dissipate in the air. And this isn't a skill issue. It's a biological issue. A human brain can't suck the Mana he sent out the same way a lung can't pull the same air it exhaled.
Doma is optimistic that Arad could pull it off with his void brain and eyes that allow him to see magic. If he managed to muster it, then the higher his intelligence gets, and the stronger his brain becomes, the less Mana he will need to cast spells until it gets infinitely close to zero.
"[I might not be able to give you an infinite amount of Mana, but I can show you how to only need an abysmal amount of it.]" Doma smiled inside Arad.
Arad stood, staring forward and taking a deep breath. [Fire Bolt] He conjured a spell, seeing the mana flow from his arms and spread in the air. It then returned to a single point, igniting a blaze.
KA-B0OM! The spell flew forward, and Arad could see the Mana returning to his arms.
"[That was a 0-tier spell. You can naturally regain your Mana after use, but let's try something bigger. Using an ice spike or a fireball should do the trick.]"
Arad nodded, "A fireball is just a bigger fire bolt. Got it,"
[Fire Ball] Mana acted the same as before with the fire bolt, but the amount is higher.
KA-BOOOM! The moment the fireball flew away, Arad could his Mana dissipating into the air like smoke amidst violent wind, getting pulled away from him.
"[The large the Mana released, the harder for you to retain it. Now I want you to focus on pulling it back. Cast the spell again and try,]"
The moment Arad lifted his hand to recast the spell, Doma smiled, "[Lydia, blast him with a good smite. He needs to learn how to focus under pressure, and you're the only one here able to threaten his life,]"
"GIH!" Arad froze. "He will transform into a dragon," Lydia stared at Arad with a worried face.
"[Don't worry, I'm weakening him to holy magic. One hit from you, and he's screaming harder than a little girl. Come on. You're a paladin, aren't you?]" Doma giggled, "[Your kind loves to blast devils and undead, don't they?]"
Lydia sighed, her blade flashing with a brilliant light, "[Sorry Arad, but this is going to hurt. Dodge well,]"
BAM! Lydia jumped forward, swinging her sword at Arad's neck.
Thud! SWOSH! He jumped to the side and dodged her follow-up strike with a hair strand. Her holy light flashed in his face. To him, it looked far more terrifying than the purple dragon claws. ^I need to cast a spell and reabsorb my Mana to end this.^ He tried to focus.
CREEK! A sharp pain surged across Arad's body, forcing his body to stop moving. SWOSH! He could see a brilliant flash ahead of his face. VROOOM! He lunged up, feeling as if his legs were crushed.
"[Curse of Decay. You only have one minute to make it happen before you fall, do your best.]"
^You bitch!^ Arad growled, his vision blurring, ^You're damaging my body from the inside with your curse,^
"[I'm trying to push to the limits. Dragons grow the fastest when at the death door.]"
Thud! Arad landed, seeing Lydia rush toward him, brandishing her sword.
^This is bad,^ Arad growled inside. ^I have to doge her attacks and ignore the pain, all while focusing on casting a high-level spell and reabsorbing my Mana with a technique I only heard about yesterday, something I had never seen done in person,^ SWOSH! Arad dodged Lydia's strike, his face relaxing.
BULGE! As Arad looked forward with an emotionless face, two other pairs of eyes emerged on his face, one pair on his forehead of red eyes and another of yellow eyes on his cheek. Purple scales covered his arms as two horns emerged from his head.
"HUH!" Lydia gasped, feeling an oppressive surge of magic from Arad's body, and most of it was vampirism and Lycanthropy mixed with a draconic aura.
^My brain spans from my head to the tip of my tailbone. The spinal brain will coordinate dodges, and my head will focus solely on casting the spell and reabsorbing the Mana.^ Arad started drolling as Lydia swung her sword at him.
^With my void eyes, I can see Mana surging inside her body. I know when a smite is coming. I can also see my own magic. I shouldn't let the two touch. She will ruin my spell.^ CRACK! Arad's body twisted, leaping above Lydia's strike as his red eyes focused on her body.
^Blood is flowing toward her upper shoulders and thighs. She's about to swing up.^ Using his vampiric eyes, he could see attacks before they could even start. His body twisted mid-air, dodging her attack.
His yellow eyes flashed. ^I can see her hormones and smell them. The next attack is a feint, even if the blood told me she was going to swing.^ He didn't bother dodging, letting Lydia's sword hit him and get deflected off his scales.
BAM! Lydia jumped back, "What?" She gasped, feeling like she is facing a wall. "Something is off about you, this creepy feeling,"
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! Lydia jumped in, swinging her sword several times, but Arad deflected each attack and only dodged the smites.
"I knew it! You can read my moves. How do you even know when a smite is coming?" Lydia growled, pointing her sword at the standing Arad. He stared at her without blinking, a droll dripping from his lips as a large fireball emerged above his head.
Updated from fr𝒆ewebnov𝒆l.(c)om