Chương 55: Chapter Fifty-Six: The Solution

With my new understanding of <NIR Control> properly slotted in my mind, I do a quick check on the notifications I missed while learning about my skill. < Non-Ionizing Radiation Control Lvl. 2 -> Non-Ionizing Radiation Control Lvl. 3 > < Non-Ionizing Radiation Control Lvl. 3 -> Non-Ionizing Radiation Control Lvl. 4 > I'm a bit disappointed the skill only leveled twice during that time, but I haven't even begun attempting to use it on myself just yet, so I suppose the small gains aren't that big a deal.

Also, knowing that <NIR Control> is from a class rather than something I learned myself could play a factor as well. <Polarize> is still somewhat difficult to level, so I imagine the gains I get from each skill could be stunted based on the fact that they were handed to me rather than learned. Wait a minute. <Emit> is level 16. Okay I guess I stand corrected then. Either <Emit> is just built different, or perhaps the added difficulty in leveling <Polarize> and <NIR Control> is just a talent issue on my part.

Regardless, it doesn't matter for right now. With the basics of my new skill solved, I try to fit it into my two existing theories on how to solve my current situation. The ability to control energy wave frequencies is useful for sure, but my creativity on the matter is not the greatest. A part of me thinks I should just be able to slow down the oscillating energy waves surrounding me to something harmless like radio waves or the like, but at the same time, that wouldn't take care of the excess energy in the air.

Also, I don't think I would be able to keep up such a technique, at least for the time being. My familiarity with the class skill is one that only goes back an hour or so, which means I won't be able to do anything insane just yet. This struggle is annoying for sure, as I have a similar bottlenecking issue with <Polarize> which I have been wanting to use to manage my radiation and mana for days now. Unfortunately, it too is under leveled and unprepared for such a drastic change in it's application.

Cursing silently, I project my annoyance at the lacking time to work my new skills toward the wave itself and the assholes who sped up the floor timeline. If they hadn't changed anything, I might have been able to figure out how to use these two radiation-related skills to either fix my growing body problems or as a devastating new source of attacks to make fighting the wave that much easier. My mental tirade lasts for a few more seconds before something dawns on me.

I might actually be able to turn this to my advantage still. Thinking about my previously concocted, temporary solutions to my unbalanced attributes, I realize that I could combine the two. It might just be half-assed and could go completely off the rails if I screw up, but the payoff would be well worth the risk. Instead of constantly using my skills to keep the scorching radiation in check or creating a complex mana mechanism to filter the energy, I can comprise between the two.

With the new idea inspiring my actions, I quickly get to work with <Mana Construct>, <Emit>, and <NIR Control>. The problem at hand is one that would usually take a steady hand and patient re-allocation of stats over time into BDY to deal with the overflow of my radioactive mana. Too bad I don't have either of those traits, so I begin using the dangerous aspects of both my mana and the overallocated PWR attribute to fuel my new creation.

Taking inspiration from the mana cycling technique I learned from Master Lirin, I use <Mana Construct> to create a large orb about the size of a basketball. After this is complete, I quickly flatten out the orb into a disk before creating a hole directly in the center of the it. Now a pseudo donut, I take the odd construct and stretch it out into a hula hoop while curving the edges to create a closed loop. < Mana Construct Lvl. 4 -> Mana Construct Lvl.

5 > While splitting my focus to rouse my radiation and turn down the dial of <Emit> to increase the amount in my body, I ignore the itching feeling on my skin and continue to strengthen the barriers of the loop. Once I'm satisfied in it's strength, I hollow out the loop itself and use the remaining mana inside to compact the walls of the loop even tighter. At this point, the construct looks almost solid in appearance.

Letting <Fixation> take over the loop to make it stable, I begin stretching a tendril of mana out from between my shoulder blades and attach it to the loop. Like a leash and partial feeding tube, I let the tendril hold the loop in place and hollow out the tube while opening a hole in the loop for the two to connect. < Mana Construct Lvl. 5 -> Mana Construct Lvl. 6 > Now that the loop is fully complete, I let the stable construct hover in front of me while still attached to its leash.

Preparing the second step of my experiment, I finally direct an emission vent through the spot where the mana tendril stretches from my back, and attempt to carefully expel the growing buildup of radiation from my body.

There is a little spillage at first before I'm able to get the vent to the right size, but after this is complete, I watch in satisfaction as the radiation streams into my mana loop and turns the inside into a dull orange color that grows in intensity as more and more energy fill the space, causing the kinetic energy to clash and create heat that flares with the help of my new passive skill.

After making sure the loop is filling properly, I take the entire construct to the next level by firing up <NIR Control> to manage the fiery energies inside. Focusing on the mess of oscillating waves that bounce against the inside of the loop, I attempt to force their waves into a state of acceleration that paths through the circular tunnel of the mana construct.

It's quite difficult, especially since it's my first time trying to control the frequencies in a direction rather than one specific spot, but slowly, I can feel my skill pull the rampant energies through the waves. Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. < Non-Ionizing Radiation Control Lvl. 4 -> Non-Ionizing Radiation Control Lvl.

5 > Despite the sheer amount of concentration I pour into moving the waves along my predetermined pathway, the energy only lazily spins at a very low speed. In the background of my efforts, I can feel a wind begin to pick up against my skin, and it looks like the sun has almost disappeared completely across the horizon. My time to remain in relative safety is quickly expiring, so I use the majority of <Fixation> to hone my mind and command the energy to spin.

It takes multiple minutes, but the energy finally reaches a circular momentum that results in less overall instability on the mana loop itself. Grinning to myself, I lower my mental skill's effects and continue to feed the loop with my radiation and watch the spinning energies in the construct cast a pretty orange light against my surroundings. Without warning, I feel the construct begin to go to shit.

My smile almost instantly turns into a frown as I watch the mana barrier of my loop begin to crack underneath the intensity of the flames inside. Only then do I realize that damn near all of my radiation is gone, and I have severely overfed the loop due to my lack of focus. My stomach does a flip and my eyes widen as they watch a wisp of the energy emerge from the crack in the barrier.

Almost immediately, the rotational momentum and the density of the energy from being compacted in my construct causes the resulting escaped energy to expand rapidly upon meeting the open air. My ears are deafened for a moment, and the explosion throws me back several meters while I feel my sternum and ribs crack even with the 50 points I have in BDY. I hadn't been expecting the blast, so I wasn't quick enough to <Infuse> myself with mana to absorb some of the force.

As I barely have enough wherewithal to reinforce myself with mana a moment too late, I feel another explosion lash at my skin and pound me into the dirt. The damage isn't that bad this time, but the shock waves of the blasts abuse my prone figure and make it hard to realize that the loop is till connected to my back, making it impossible to escape their wrath. As another explosion of rampant energy causes me to wheeze and catch my breath, I force <Fixation> into overdrive in order to salvage my construct.

Just as another packet of energy is about to emerge from the loop and throw me around again, I slap a hastily crafted mana sheet on top of the cracked barrier and prevent the flames from incinerating the air once again. Now that I have a moment to breathe, I don't let up on my re-construction and mana pours from me as I use <Mana Construct> to save my loop from spontaneously combusting and killing everything in the area including myself. < Mana Construct Lvl. 6 -> Mana Construct Lvl. 7 > < Mana Construct Lvl.

7 -> Mana Construct Lvl. 8 > < Fixation Lvl. 13 -> Fixation Lvl. 14 > < Mana Control Lvl. 13 -> Mana Control Lvl. 14 > Pushing my mind to the brink of collapse, I ignore the state of my body while simultaneously patching and strengthening the mana loop's outer barrier. While doing this, I begin to spin the very loop itself in the inverse direction that I continue to force the energy inside to do.

Using my hands as an aid, the mana loop continues to spin faster and faster until both the stream of energy and the mana construct have reached the same speed. The mana tendril holding the construct in place near me flails wildly in the air and even smacks me every now and then, but at my current skill level, the inverse rotations aren't quick enough to cause that much pain.

Now that I have the loop to an acceptable state, I let the tendril fall off and absorb into the surface of the mana construct while I use <Mana Control> alone to keep the construct aloft and spinning correctly. < Non-Ionizing Radiation Control Lvl. 5 -> Non-Ionizing Radiation Control Lvl. 6 > <NIR Control> never stopped it's tireless pathing either, and now it only takes my two control skills working in tandem to hold my newest construct in check.

Breathing a heavy sigh of relief, I allow <Fixation> to manage my skill use for the most part in the background while I turn my main attention back to myself. The most surprising part of this all? My pants are somehow still in one piece. Checking around to make sure I am still safe; I do a quick once over on my body and examine the various sources of blood that paint my skin red.

I had already been covered in ash and dirt thanks to my fight with the Plaints, so the mess of blood is just another bothersome add on to my current nightmarish appearance. On the bright side, I don't believe to have burst any of my organs, and the wounds I did accrue are manageable enough for the time being until I see the creepy nurse again; so, all in all, I'm in pretty good shape.

With my personal safety somewhat certified, I finally get to examine the beautiful and horrifying creation I made to manage my growing PWR and mana problem. Spinning in a fast enough circle that I can't completely follow, the impromptu flywheel of mana and radiation casts flickering lights and almost pulses with a promise of fiery destruction. Given its origination stemmed from a severe over application of damn near all of my skills, I had partially been hoping that my efforts would result in a new skill.

Seems like I was unlucky though, and if I ever have to make it again, I'm sure it will be just as big of a pain in the ass to make happen. The invention itself was based on the barebones knowledge I had about the gyroscopic effects of two counter-rotating wheels. Due to the two wheels spinning in inverse directions along the same axis at the same speed, they should have a stability effect that seems to be working exactly as advertised from what I can tell right now.

The DIY flywheel seems to be pretty stable now that I poured damn near half of my mana reserves into solidifying its barrier, so the construct is running pretty smoothly even with my gross over-simplification of the principles behind its effects. At first, I wanted to build a temporary storage space for my overflow of mana and radiation by replicating the mana cycle Master Lirin taught me inside an artificial loop made from my <Mana Construct> skill.

Now though, it would seem that I have some sort of hybrid from the mana cycling technique and an applied theory behind an invention from Earth. Now staring at the possibly catastrophic creation of mine, I find myself needing a name for the dual-inverse-flywheel-for-radiation-storage. I am a fan of acronyms, yet I feel like DIFFRS Loop is a bit harsh on the ears. After a bit of consideration, I realize that some spice to make it sound cool if I ever have to explain the invention is more useful than a technical name.

The construct itself also reminds me of a sun wheel from a show I watched back on Earth. Add on the scathing explosion that results from the slight destabilization of the contained energies, and a perfect name rises to the surface of my mind. And so, the Flare Loop is born.