**Big Sadge, placed 66 out of 503, just missed out on the top 64, which was good prizing in the tournament. Anyway, today is Sunday, so as per our usual Schedule 1, 1500 word chapter for yall.**
'Sigh, leave it to Cynrik to even go so far as to organize a bunch of injured people in a pattern suiting his needs. Still, I can't complain too much since it gave me a starting point.' Kneeling down beside a young man with orange hair and freckles, Brance placed his hand on the person's chest and activated [Mana Sight].
Slowly circling his hand over the young man's Codex and taking a deep breath to calm himself down, Brance's eyes zeroed in on the particle cloud of disgusting Mana in the young Ginger's Codex; his face twitched slightly.
When Haylon's Death Mana was integrated into physical form, Brance noticed and had been fighting a queasy feeling in his stomach, an inherent revulsion of sorts.
The reason was relatively obvious; technically, thanks to his Light and HolyFire Affinities, he came under the "Auxiliary" or "Creation" Affinity User, while Death Mana was part of the Destruction Category.
One of the first things they learned in Mana Theory Class was that although there were potentially hundreds of different Elemental types, they all fell under one of three Primary Categories and one of the three Sub-Categories, Creation, Destruction, Neutral, Offensive, Defensive, and Auxiliary.
As time has proven, the biggest downside to having a narrow classification system was that many people would argue about certain Elements falling into specific categories. For example, the Light Element was one such topic of conversation.
Between its ability to form solid and usable constructs easily, Light Mana could be used to strengthen the bodies of its wielder and Allies; plus, as Brance had proven on more than one occasion, the offensive capabilities weren't weak either.
The problem was never about whether or not Light fell under Creation, but instead which Sub-Category it was part of. Luckily, since the Light Element was also the number 1 Mana type in medicine and healing, with Chloro taking a close Second, Light had firmly solidified its place in the Creation Category.
Offensive, Defensive, or Auxiliary, depending on the Affinity User, Light potentially fell into all three, and it was down to said Affinity User to choose which path they wanted to walk down since it was incredibly difficult to master all three forms; however, it was officially listed as part of the Auxiliary Sub-Category, something which had irked quite a few scholarly beings.
Especially those who firmly believed it fell under the Defensive Category, who made up the largest group of vocal objectors.
Meanwhile, Death was solidly rooted as one of the Top, if not the best, Destruction Mana Type; thus, Brance's aversion to the particles within the Ginger's body.
Compared to Brance's Light Affinity, Cynrik's former Dark and current Umbra Affinities were lumped together with Fire and Lightning in the Destruction Category, with the latter two being lower on the proverbial totem pole than Dark. It was why Brance and Cynrik became uncomfortable whenever they used their Primary Affinities around each other.
At the same time, Wind, Ice, and Psychic were considered Neutral, leaving Water and Terra as part of Creation.
As for why Brance was musing about the Categories, it came down to him trying to figure out the most efficient way of dealing with the Death Mana.
Unlike Cynrik, who could simply overwhelm other particles with his mutated Dark Affinity, Brance needed to take a different approach, which was to pacify the natural Particles within the Ginger's Codex. At the same time, it was vital that he simultaneously obliterated the Death particles before they could latch on and cause damage to the organ.
Still, the question at hand, and the reason he was taking so long to decide, was whether he should use Light Mana or HolyFire. Besides being extremely rare, borderline Mythical, Brance's HolyFire could be considered one of the very, VERY few Mana Types which fell under both Creation and Destruction.
Clutching his right hand slightly, Brance tapped his pinky finger and thumb against the Ginger's chest, above his Codex, and expelled Light Mana from his pinky finger and HolyFire from his thumb.
'I will need both if I want to do this safely. I can't rely solely on either, as HolyFire is intrusive, while Light is passive.' Brance thought as he pushed two streams of razer-thin Mana into the young Ginger's body.
'However, the first thing which needs to be done is dealing with Cynrik's Umbra Mana. Luckily it seems he already predicted what course of action I would take, and at least in this instance, the barrier he erected is thin and barely strong enough to hold the Death Mana back.'
Steadily controlling the flow of Mana, Brance allowed the two particle types to encircle the Umbra Mana, with the HolyFire taking the spot closest to Cynrik's Mana and his Light, forming a similar barrier around both.
Like this, where there was once one ring surrounding the Ginger's Codex, there were now three.
'Tobs, what I wanna do won't trigger an all-out attack from the Death Mana, right?' Glancing at the tiny fairy sitting on his shoulder, Brance asked.
-Eh, yes and no... had you attempted to push your Mana into the kid's Codex before securing the perimeter, the guy would indeed have been killed in seconds. Still, since you decided to cordon off the area around Cynrik's Mana, you should be fine.-
-However, the moment you breach the kid's Codex, the Death Mana will rush forward to attack, while his Natural Mana will move aside upon seeing your Light Mana.-
-But the key thing to bare in mind moving forward is that you will need to supply two steady and equal streams of both Light and HolyFire, one for defensive reasons, the other Offensive.-
-The trick is keeping the Natural Particles at bay without causing a Riot using your Light Mana while your HolyFire moves to eradicate the Death.
-HolyFire and Light are both in direct opposition to Death, and, as natural enemies, you can expect an instant confrontation between the two. But…in contrast to Cynrik, who wanted to brute force his Umbra Mana in and take control, you have a significantly higher chance of success than he could ever.-
-That is…if you can keep control of your Mana. Brance, I don't have to explain how Mana control is one of your weakest aspects, so I need you at the top of your game this time.-
Giving him a worried look, Tobs walked to the edge of Brance's shoulder and peered down at what was transpiring within the Ginger's Codex.
'Un, got it, thanks…as always, Tobs, I really do appreciate that you explain things clearly versus how Cynrik glazes over important subjects.' With a smile creeping onto his lips, Brance secured the area around the Ginger's Codex before moving his HolyFire in to wipe out the Umbra Ring created by Cynrik.
-Well, you know how your brother is; he expects everyone around him to find their way toward the same conclusions as he makes. Since I can read his every thought, I understand why he does that; it's his way of pushing you all to get stronger and improve your high-level calculative abilities; however, his method isn't necessarily the best approach for everyone.-
-Maybe only Gabby could keep up with his way of thinking, but even then, she is still, at best, around 20-35% as good with critical thinking as Cynrik in stressful situations.-
-Anywho, be careful; line up both of your streams side-by-side, pick a point of entry, preferably where one of the many Mana Circuits connects to the organ, and move in as one unit.-
Brance followed her instructions with a nod and controlled the two thin streams into a parallel holding pattern before navigating through the young Ginger's body. Soon enough, his Mana was pressed against the outside of the main circuit hub point leading to the young man's Codex.
-Kay, good job so far, but now is the first obstacle; getting your Mana into someone elses body is easy; since this kid is only Mid-Tier-3, all you need to bypass is tissue and muscle; however, breaking into someone's Mana Circuits is a different beast entirely.-
Taking slow, shallow breaths, Brance retracted the two streams of Mana and, with steady movements, treated them like a battering ram, slamming the two equal-sized streams against the clearish blue and vein-like Mana Circuit.
Unfortunately, although things had gone well for Brance up until this point, the moment his streams came in contact with the Ginger's Mana Circuit, they veered off, one going up the other down, and began dissolving, causing Brance to frown in confusion.
-Sigh, Brance…I know you are a muscle-headed jock, but you should have known better than to try doing things with physicality. You are dealing with Mana, not a steel beam and a door. What you are attempting is a delicate procedure, not a fucking baseball game.-
Smacking her face with an open palm, Tobs dragged her fingers from her forehead to her chin and groaned loudly, causing Brance to give her a look as if saying, "My bad."
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