Seed Of Speed

Thankfully, since Rainshower was a member of Healing Hall, it was expected that she would get a spirit beast at some point, so registering Jalu at Konto Tower was not difficult when they returned. Despite being Rainshower's spirit beast, Jalu seemed to be Diego's as the little fox had refused to leave its perch on top of his head. Katalina explained that it was likely due to his pure affinities with Light and Thunder.

The seven-tailed elemental fox needed lots of pure mana to form their tails, and the more they gained while in their development stage, the stronger their powers would be once they m.a.t.u.r.ed. She suggested that he feed the fox mana crystals, just like the ones his clan had mined before coming here. The crystals, and eventually the refined gems, would be a great, yet accessible means to strengthen her in the next five years before her last tail formed.

Diego walked Rainshower back to her dorm building, as men were not allowed inside by means of warding so there were no exceptions. He pulled the white fox off his head and placed her in Rainshower's arms. With a heavy blush, she raised up on her tiptoes and kissed his cheek.

"Thank you for a wonderful date and for Jalu," she said bashfully, then darted inside.

Diego chuckled as he rubbed his cheek and turned away. He headed back to his room to practice creating his manifested armor. Unlike his mental plane, it was much harder to contain the prana within his Solar Plexus Chakra. He could achieve the seemingly endless supply the three energies needed by using his [Speed Clones] to support him, but he was unable to store enough within his body to achieve the instantaneous transformation like Quicksand could.

After a while, he grew angry with the lack of progress and dismissed his clones as he threw himself back on his bed. He rubbed his temples as the strain of his training method would leave him with a headache for a few hours.

"What am I doing wrong, Katalina?" he grumbled.

::You are trying to achieve the impossible which is why you are repeatedly failing::

"But this was Swordflash's task, and seemingly every core disciple's task. I don't think it would be impossible."

::It is impossible for the current you for one simple fact: your body and soul are too weak to handle the strain that the prana puts on you::

"I've gone through four baptisms… how much stronger does my body need to get?"

::Diego, you are missing the obvious answer… again. What did Shadowbolt ask you when you first saw her this morning?::

Diego smacked his forehead, realizing his oversight, then sat up and returned to his meditative pose. With a mental command, all of the information from the [Heaven's Celestial Eye] manual flooded his mind. Just like how his chi cultivation methods could strengthen his body and soul by achieving the Demi Body Stage, a similar effect could be achieved through the usage of Magic Crests. Magic Crests would act as the mage's focus and refinery for mana, pulling in far more than they could normally could and distilling it into a purer form.

With this bit of information, he finally understood how Rainshower had been able to create that watery fox when they had fought together, yet someone like Stormblade who had been training for several more years than either of them was still so lacking in comparison. He was confident in his assumption that Rainshower had already formed her Crest as healing magics used a lot of mana to treat even simple injuries.

The entire [Heaven's Celestial Eye] Crest was a very complex formation, but Katalina had broken it down into nine stages to help ease the burden on the body by giving it time to adjust to the massive amounts of mana. If Diego was foolish enough to recreate the entire Crest at one time, combine with insane regeneration rate given to him by the Seed of Speed, his body would explode with enough force to wipe, not just the sect, but the entire city from the face of the world. Thankfully, he was not crazy enough to try, not that Katalina would have allowed it either.

With the information about the Magic Crest placed directly into his mind, it was practically impossible for him to mess up the first stage of the Crest, so he began the process. A rainbow glob of pure mana squeezed out of the center of his brow and slowly floated a few centimeters away from his skin. The side closest to him became a needle-like point and started tracing a series of complex runes that were so incredibly tiny yet bunched so tightly together that the mark took on the appearance of a spiral sun with nine separate rays coming off of the center circle, each representing an element.

Once the glob had completely depleted itself by finishing the mark, it was like an explosion went off in his mind. If mana was visible to the n.a.k.e.d eye, a person would see a rainbow vortex s.u.c.k.i.n.g all of the nearby mana into Diego's forehead. He actually was knocked into a stupor until the rush of energy finally began to slow and stabilize within his body. He looked inside his Third Eye Chakra and was stunned by what he saw. Before his mana had been like a thin, multicolored fog, but now, it was a pond of the rainbow liquid.

::You will need a bit of practice for using magic since your mana is much purer than it was before, and creating prana will have a new ratio because of this change. Just how stepping into the Demi Body Stage would strengthen your body more than your soul, forming your Crest strengthens your soul more than your body. Give yourself a day or two to get used it and you should be able to create your armor::

"I don't know what I would do without you, Kat," Diego said with a smile.

He spent the night practicing some of the basic spells he had learned under Firesand before finally going to bed. The next morning when he left his dorm room, he noticed a change in his perception as he passed another shaman. He could sense the mana within his body and, not only judge his strength, but also which of elements were drawn to him, hinting at his affinities.

::You don't even understand half the beauty of this Crest. In time, you will be able to read through your spells. Sadly, you will likely never reach my level of mastery and be able to instantly counter any magic used against you, it will still be of great help to you if only for the pure mana source::

(This is amazing!) Diego thought with a laugh.

Although he had {Mana Sight} and the [Analyze] of his helmet, both required some energy while this was just a passive ability of his new Crest, and in time, it would be much stronger than either.

(So, when should I move onto the second stage of the Crest?) Diego asked as he made his way to the Dining Hall.

::Without stepping into the Demi Body Stage, two and a half years, but the will likely reduce after you advance. The [Nine Hells Thunder Body] cultivation manual focuses heavily on refining the body and soul to withstand explosive bursts of power which will also help reduce you adaption period for the stages of the [Celestial Heaven's Eye]::

(Once I start the Demi Body method, only nine more stages until I can rejoin my sister and finally meet the real you!) Diego thought as he clinched his fists.

::The Demi Body Stage is not as easy to advance in as the Mortal Body was. Experience points can only get you to the peak of a rank, and from there, you must before a ritual to refine your body through the instruction given to by your manual. This is why I told you to join the sect as they will be your source for the resources you will need to advance, but using such a powerful method, in time, you will need to hunt throughout the world for the items needed for the last stages::

(Still… I will succeed!)