Chapter 352: Flow
Alex turned toward the enormous board and examined the spherical arrangement of mana wisps once more. After carefully studying the diagram, he generated a fresh quantity of mana and began reconstructing the formation, eager to discover whether his new Spell would finally allow him to understand the diagram.
Alex continued recreating the diagram, repeatedly adjusting the positions and movements of the mana wisps. Despite his improved mana manipulation ability, he couldn’t produce any meaningful results, but he had no intention of giving up.
Instead, he decided to increase the number of formations he was constructing simultaneously. Before long, five spherical formations floated around him, each resembling the complicated diagram displayed on the enormous board.
Whenever Alex completed a formation, he dissipated it and immediately began constructing another. With Neural Overdrive Spell greatly enhancing his mental processing ability, he could maintain all five formations without experiencing much difficulty.
After repeating the process several times, Alex gradually began noticing something unusual about the arrangement.
‘These diagrams… They have a strange [flow],’ Alex realized, examining the movements of the countless mana wisps.
The [Flow] was difficult to describe, since it wasn’t simply the direction in which the mana traveled. Rather, there appeared to be a particular pattern connecting the movements of different wisps, almost as though the entire formation followed a single underlying principle.
The moment Alex recognized this Flow, his SSS Rank Origin Spell Physique began stirring once again. Although it didn’t provide him with any direct information, his instincts strongly suggested that he had discovered something related to the third method of utilizing Will.
Alex immediately stopped constructing the spherical formations and concentrated on the Flow he had noticed. Instead of manipulating hundreds of mana wisps simultaneously, he generated a single wisp and began moving it according to the pattern of the Flow.
He made the mana wisp move through the path created by that Flow.
As he observed its movements, however, Alex experienced a strange sense of familiarity. He was certain that he had encountered this particular Flow before, not merely once or twice, but countless times.
‘Where have I seen this before? I’m sure I recognize it, but I can’t remember where,’ Alex wondered, carefully examining the moving wisp.
Unable to identify its origin, he decided to investigate the pattern itself. He gradually increased the wisp’s movement speed until it traveled so quickly that faint afterimages began appearing along its path.
Those afterimages allowed Alex to observe the entire trajectory simultaneously, revealing a shape that immediately caught him by surprise. The path resembled a Rune, complete with the familiar geometric circles and intersecting lines.
‘This looks like… a Rune?’ Alex thought, examining the shape more closely before recreating it above his left palm.
He carefully constructed the Rune according to the diagram created by the afterimages, then infused mana into its structure to see what effect it would produce. However, despite repeating the process several times, nothing happened.
Alex scratched his head, feeling that something about his approach was incorrect.
‘The Flow seems right, and I’m certain its path is correct too. But for some reason, turning that path directly into a Rune doesn’t feel like what I’m supposed to do,’ he considered.
He experimented with several variations, modifying the Rune’s structure and changing how mana circulated through it. Unfortunately, none of those attempts produced any meaningful results, and Alex gradually realized that he was missing something fundamental.
Before he could investigate further, fifteen minutes passed, forcing him to deactivate Neural Overdrive Spell. Although Life Mana had reduced the damage considerably, his brain and spinal cord had still accumulated several minor injuries.
Alex sat down and began repairing the damaged tissues, allowing his nervous system to recover while he considered everything he had discovered.
‘I don’t understand how to use the Rune created by the Flow’s path. Maybe I’ve made a mistake somewhere, or perhaps the formation requires something I haven’t discovered yet,’ Alex thought.
However, there was one detail he was increasingly confident about. The Flow was familiar because he had already encountered it somewhere, and since it involved mana movement, the most reasonable possibility was that it existed within one of his Spells.
By the time Alex finished healing his injuries, he had decided how to investigate that possibility.
He activated Neural Overdrive Spell once again and began casting his available Spells individually, carefully examining their internal mana movements.
He started with his C Rank Spells before gradually moving through his D Rank, E Rank, and F Rank Spells. He observed mana movements of each spell at each Level.
With his enhanced perception and processing speed, he could observe details that would normally have been extremely difficult to recognize.
Nevertheless, most of his Spells didn’t contain anything resembling the Flow he had observed. Just as Alex was beginning to wonder whether his assumption had been incorrect, he finally discovered something familiar.
It was inside Body Reinforcement Spell, the very first spell he had learned. For a moment, Alex simply stared at the mana circulating through his body before an enormous smile appeared on his face. He suddenly felt like laughing, because the answer seemed so obvious now that he had discovered it.
‘Of course it’s Body Reinforcement Spell. Why didn’t I think of checking this earlier?’ Alex thought, feeling increasingly excited.
A Mage’s mana naturally strengthened whatever belonged to that Mage, which was why Body Reinforcement would likely be among the first Spells they learned.
Alex himself had discovered it by circulating mana through his body and accidentally reinforcing his muscles.
The System left the diagram that had the Flow of Body Reinforcement Spell, as it was a spell all Mages would recognize.
Realizing that this might be an important clue, Alex began experimenting with Body Reinforcement Spell in different parts of his body. He first reinforced his legs, then his arms, and eventually even the muscles of his tongue.
In every case, he discovered the same Flow appearing within certain muscles, although its exact location changed depending on which part of his body he reinforced. When he strengthened his arm, for example, several core muscles followed the pattern automatically.
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