[How many do you have on your side?] Knowing that although everyone was joking around and acting carefree, and Cynrik was the tensest, Brance chose to speak up.
[Around fifty, but unlike before, these guys all seem to be scouts. Their overall battle potential is well below ours; for the most part, they are in the Mid to Peak of Tier-2.] Still appearing to be dead, Cynrik answered calmly.
[It's about the same for me, so…what, are they simply keeping tabs on our movement?] Brance asked while leaning back into the plush leather seat of the limo.
[That's my guess. With what we have showcased in the tournament so far, if they were following us with the purpose of an ambush, the guys sending them would have to be insane to send such weaklings.]
[It only makes sense that they have a singular purpose: always to follow us. I believe this group has also been waiting outside the mansion this whole time.] Cynrik stated while finally returning to his normal state and playing with one of the straps on Selene's dress.
His touch caused her to flinch for a moment before enjoying the sensation.
[Like I told you ahead of time, my announcement alone should be more than enough to cause the organizations coveting us to double-think their actions.]
[Thanks to the showcase of power our group has put on time and time again, we have garnered quite the following of fan groups; then there's my mentioning of the Uchiha Clan Skills; no one in their right mind would be able to bring themselves to attack us at this point. Still, I want to monitor their movement for now.]
After that, Cynrik and Brance didn't speak about the topic again and set about bantering with the other members of MyrkLys to keep them calm.
Soon enough, this banter became a lesson as Selene set about ensuring everyone was adequately prepared on etiquette.
This was, after all, nearly everyone's first time at a fancy party like this, and only Selene, who was raised as a member of High Society, had been to multiple events like the Gala.
As much as Cynrik would have liked to get to the Gala and get it over with, they were forced to make two stops along the way, one to pick up Kurza from his home in a posh neighborhood and the second to pick up Geralt and Garrison from their hotel.
Roughly an hour later, their limo pulled into a long line of similar vehicles at what Cynrik could only describe as a compound. Calling something so massive a Mansion didn't do it justice.
Unlike the Pinhurst Mansion, which was basically five two-story houses smooshed into one building, the venue for the Gala, The Governors Mansion, was five times larger and surrounded by a colossal wall on top of a Mana barrier capable of stopping Tier-6 attacks.
However, there was a long line of approximately 15 other limos to get to the front gate. While the Driver took his time pulling up and merging with the line, Cynrik narrowed his eyes and examined the otherwise invisible Mana Barrier with his [Mana Sight].
[[Damn…that's impressive,]] Cynrik muttered into the group mind link, causing Brance to look around in wonder and leaving Selene out of the conversation.
[[Care to explain what has the two of you so fascinated?]]
[[You can't see it, but an incredible Mana Barrier surrounds the entire Governor's Mansion. This thing is huge, and based on the runic inscriptions I recognize and the fluctuations it's emitting, I wouldn't be surprised if this thing could stop attacks above Tier-5 with ease.]]
[[Oh…so nerd shit…got it,]] rolling her eyes as she listened to Cynrik geeking out, Selene couldn't help but smile. Setting aside how curious and smart Cynrik was, times like this, where he would ramble on about things he was interested in, caused Selene to fall deeper for him.
As the saying goes, nothing is more attractive than a man passionate about topics he knows.
'Hey Tobs, what is the actual strength of this Barrier?' Wanting clarification, Cynrik directly asked for help, causing a small fairy no bigger than his hand to manifest and plop down on his shoulder.
-Hmmm, based on the circulation of Mana, there must be a minimum of 32 Cores powering the formation. Plus, the constant pulses the barrier emits leads me to believe it is an Early to Mid-Tier-6 formation.-
-However, remember that I can only give you a rough estimate of its strength without seeing the control diagram directly.-
'Hold up, cores? Pulses? You can't drop things I don't understand without explanation like that, Tobs; toss me a bone.' Turning and looking directly at the fairy on his shoulder, Cynrik scrunched up his face.
-We wouldn't have this problem if you had chosen Formation's Crafting for your Tier-3 Sub-Class instead of Magik Runic Scribe. I told you something like this would happen, but NOOOO, you were so keen on getting your hands on Rune charts and translations that my words of advice went unheeded.-
That's right, during the seven weeks post-round one, Cynrik and the rest of MyrkLys had finally obtained their Tier-3 Sub-Classes, but only Cynrik decided to go after something new. In contrast, the rest of the group opted for improving the Tier of their previous Sub-Classes.
'Listen, as I said, it is a more intelligent choice to learn about the runes USED in formations than jumping straight into the deep end and trying to make them.' Crossing his arms over his chest, Cynrik released a soft huff.
'To compare it to my past life, it's like trying to pick up coding before learning the individual languages. If I went the route you advised, I'd be stumbling around in the dark, hoping my formations worked, versus trying to find proper combinations of runes to make powerful formations.'
-Bullshit, don't try and justify yourself; you know damn well the only reason you went with Magik Runic Scribe was so you could act like a false artificer and carve runes on all those little toys you make.-
Standing up and placing her hands on her hips, Tobs puffed out her cheeks and argued.
'Agree to disagree, regardless; tell me what the hell cores and pulses are.' Taking a deep breath to calm himself down, since there was no point in arguing with a super-powered artificial intelligence like Tobs, Cynrik swerved the conversation back on track.
-Sigh, fine, ok, so as you know, every formation must have a power source, no matter its size or complexity. I don't need to explain why it's important since you can figure that out independently, but there are multiple ways to determine the power source's strength.-
-The most straightforward yet hardest way of doing so is to figure out the intervals between each Mana pulse on the barrier. I say hardest because unless the barrier is visible, or you have a skill like your [Mana Sight], it's basically impossible to do; however, if you CAN, all you need to do is pinpoint the directions of the pulses.-
-Think of it like ripples left after you toss a stone into a pond. The ripples, or in this case, pulses, shoot out from the power source, and like this, you can calculate how strong the source is and how many cores are powering the formation.-
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