Chapter 353: Skill
However, when Alex activated Full Body Reinforcement Spell, the Flow disappeared entirely. After repeating the experiment, he confirmed that the unusual pattern only appeared when he concentrated Body Reinforcement on a particular region, not when he used Body Reinforcement Spell on his entire body, which could be called Advanced Body Reinforcement Spell.
‘So this Flow must be related to the core principle of Body Reinforcement Spell,’ Alex concluded, carefully considering the difference between the two methods.
Until now, he had always reinforced his muscles in a methodical sequence, generally beginning near the base of a limb before gradually extending the enhancement outward. However, the Flow suggested that this might not be the most efficient approach.
Alex recalled the exact muscles where the Flow had appeared during his earlier experiments. Instead of following his usual sequence, he reinforced those particular muscles first, then gradually extended the enhancement to the surrounding tissues.
The result immediately surprised him, and a broad smile spread across his face.
Body Reinforcement Spell was considerably easier to cast this time, and Alex immediately noticed the difference. He repeated the experiment on several parts of his body, always beginning by reinforcing the muscles where the Flow naturally appeared.
The results remained consistent regardless of which body part he targeted. In fact, once he infused mana into those particular muscles, the remaining mana almost seemed to guide itself toward the correct locations.
‘This Flow… It’s a formula. It’s the formula for Body Reinforcement Spell,’ Alex realized, feeling his heartbeat accelerate.
He was finally beginning to understand why his SSS Rank Origin Spell Physique had reacted so strongly to the diagram. If his suspicion was correct, this discovery could completely change his understanding of Spell construction.
Alex took several deep breaths to calm his excitement before carefully considering the difference between his previous casting method and the new one. The easiest way to explain it was through a simple mathematical comparison.
Suppose he wanted to multiply four by five. His previous method was equivalent to adding four five separate times, whereas the new Flow allowed him to perform the multiplication directly.
Both methods produced the same result, but one was considerably faster and required much less effort. Similarly, the Flow seemed to provide a more efficient method of accomplishing what his Spells already did.
Of course, discovering the Flow of a Spell wasn’t particularly easy. Body Reinforcement was among the simplest Spells Alex knew, yet he had only managed to recognize its underlying Flow after examining the mysterious diagram.
Finding similar patterns inside higher Rank Spells would presumably be considerably more difficult. However, just as Alex was considering that problem, another possibility suddenly occurred to him.
‘Wait a second…’ Alex thought, closing his eyes as he recalled a particular memory.
He remembered Pipi, the pigeon he had previously taught Body Reinforcement Spell. During that process, Alex had examined the mana circulating through Pipi’s body while the bird was performing the Spell.
Although their bodies were completely different, Alex remembered the mana movements surprisingly clearly. As he compared those movements with his recent experiments, a shiver of excitement passed through him.
‘The Flow was the same! The Body Reinforcement Spell inside Pipi followed exactly the same Flow as mine!’ Alex realized.
He immediately opened his eyes and turned toward the enormous diagram. Until now, he had assumed that the board contained some advanced Rune construction method that would allow him to complete the Trial.
However, if the Flow was universal, then perhaps the diagram was teaching him something far more important. Alex began considering what would happen if he constructed a Rune capable of reproducing a Spell’s Flow automatically.
‘Wouldn’t that create a Spell Rune? Something that casts a Spell automatically whenever mana is supplied to it?’ Alex wondered.
However, almost immediately, he realized that there was a more appropriate name for such a creation. There was already a Class whose members possessed abilities that activated automatically when they supplied mana and thought about the desired effect.
‘A Skill Rune. It would be a Skill Rune!’ Alex realized, feeling another wave of excitement.
For the first time, Alex believed he had discovered a possible explanation for how Skills worked. Perhaps the System placed Skill Runes inside the bodies or souls of Rogues, allowing them to activate complicated magical effects without understanding the underlying mana manipulation methods.
Whenever a Rogue activated a Skill, the corresponding Rune would absorb mana and reproduce the Flow required to generate its effect. If that theory was correct, then Rouges were just a System-Baby Mages.
Alex forced himself to concentrate and recreated the Rune he had previously constructed from the Flow’s path. Its geometric structure was identical to the one formed by the rapidly moving mana wisp, although he already knew that simply supplying mana wouldn’t activate it.
However, he now understood something he hadn’t known during his previous attempt. The diagram represented the third method of utilizing Will, and he finally had a clear idea of what the resulting Rune was supposed to accomplish.
Alex surrounded the Rune with his Will and began imposing a specific intention upon it. since he knew what spell this rune was supposed to be, he “willed” those intentions into the Rune through the Will.
He wanted the Rune to reproduce Body Reinforcement Spell automatically whenever mana entered its structure.
Despite his efforts, the Rune still felt incomplete, almost as though it lacked something essential. After considering the problem, Alex remembered that Elemental Runes required an Element’s Essence during their construction.
‘Then maybe this Rune needs something similar. Could the Body Reinforcement Spell has its own Essence like Elements?’ he wondered.
Alex activated Body Reinforcement Spell on his arm before carefully inserting the unfinished Rune into the reinforced muscles. He maintained the Spell while allowing the Rune to interact with the mana circulating through his body.
For a while, nothing happened, but Alex continued observing the process without interfering. Eventually, he sensed a subtle change within the Rune’s structure, followed by a strange feeling that something had finally fallen into place.
Alex immediately withdrew the Rune and examined it, noticing that its mana structure had become considerably more stable. Before he could investigate further, a familiar System notification appeared.
[Body Reinforcement Skill Rune (S Rank)]
[What kind of bullshit is this? How the fuck did you actually make this when you failed to use your Physique to learn this instantly? Be serious, bro. Are you cheating somehow? Don’t worry, I won’t report you to me. So, tell me, are you cheating?]
[Effect: Allows you to use Body Reinforcement Skill (Level 1).]
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