Chapter 52: Mind Forge

Ed didn't have to think very long and hard to come to a decision.

'Yes!' He unhesitantly replied. It wasn't like he could do anything else with the small wisps so why not offer them to the system? As far as he could tell it could only bring him benefits.

Soon after, all of the small wisps of light disappeared from Ed's hands. The system then proceeded to process the offerings and compiled a string of messages.

[Taking offerings...]

[Offering amount insufficient, readjusting...]

[Forge unlocked]

[Reimbursing...]

Ed quickly analyzed the string of messages, 'Indeed, consciousness is used to upgrade the system space's capabilities...' The messages were in line with Ed's expectations. Still, he couldn't quite figure out what the point of having a forge inside of his mind was. Was he supposed to refine himself in it or something?

'That sounds excruciatingly painful' He shuddered at the thought of having his mind burned. The pain would probably not be any smaller than when he was attacked in the dungeon's space after all.

'That aside what did it mean by reimbursing?' The seven wisps of consciousness were apparently insufficient resulting in them being rearranged, 'Maybe the system didn't take all of them?' Ed proceeded to quickly look around the vicinity. His eyes shone with expectation once he caught sight of two distant glimmers.

He hurried over to the wisps and grabbed them, 'Maybe I can do something with these things now.' Ed highly doubted that the forge would be used to smelt regular ores. He felt that it would be a pointless investment as he clearly had no way to make use of such a function.

He also believed that the system was much smarter than that I mean, why wouldn't he? It already seemed to hold a reasonable amount of sentience. It wasn't a stretch to say its moves were premeditated.

Ed swept his gaze past the closed doors nearby, it took him no time to spot a newly opened door on the other side of the pristine white corridor. He immediately knew it was most likely the door to the forge and wasted no time in going over with the two consciousnesses in hand. Ed's first impression as he peered into the room was...

'Wow...' The room seemed to be nice and tidy. Unlike the boring storeroom, the forge room had many more things to see. Although everything was still white it at least came in different shades. The forge, although in the middle of the room, was also not the only thing found inside as there were all sorts of other tools and appliances he failed to recognize inside. They likely had something to do with smithing or the like.

[Basic functionalities are available, activate forge? Y/N]

After properly entering the room Ed was met by a curious message. Based on the message the system was likely capable of performing basic tasks without needing his assistance as well as understanding his intentions. But just in case...

'What does the forge do?' Ed felt the need to ask that question since he was currently inside of the system space which should mean it was more willing or at least more capable of answering questions, right?

[Forge can be used to upgrade ethereal substances.]

It was a simple reply but Ed was more or less able to understand what it meant. The consciousnesses could be considered ethereal substances, in that case, that meant he could upgrade the wisps of light. Still, he couldn't help but ask himself how.

As far as he could tell there were no materials available for upgrading things in there. No matter how hard he looked around the workshop-like white room he failed to find anything bearing even the semblance of a material.

Ed then mentally chastized himself, 'I won't find out by wasting time thinking, activate the forge!' He would find out what the required materials were soon enough.

The forge inside of the room then became lit, a mystic white flame could be seen burning brightly inside. The two wisps in his hand then magically floated over to the flames before the shimmers seemingly vanished, they were drowned out by the bright flame. Ed had to get closer and squint his eyes to understand what was truly happening.

The two small balls of light began to melt once touched by the supernatural white flame. It was a very weird sight as he couldn't understand how light could possibly melt. Regardless, the ball of lights then lost their brightness and became liquid white balls before flying over to one another and becoming conjoined.

The process was surprisingly quick and the now larger white ball of liquid flew out of the forge and regained its bright luster, It no longer seemed to be a tangible substance as it regained its wisp-like appearance. Ed wasted no time in getting a hold of the small wisp.

'What can I do with this?' He thought as he looked at the ball of light. He couldn't figure out any use for a larger and stronger consciousness.

He observed the ball of light as it flew about atop his palm. At the very least it seemed to have become more lively.

He looked at it for a couple more seconds before putting the matter aside and returning to the storeroom. He picked up the book lying by the entrance and then proceeded to also pick up the rest. He let go of the small wisp and then thought about leaving the space.

[Waking the user]

Following the message, Ed's mind grew hazy and the white temple's interior faded away. He woke up and was still laying on his bed just as before. The only difference was that he felt some items weighing down on him. He stood up and the books scattered to the floor.

"Ah..." He couldn't help but exclaim seeing the books on the floor for the umpteenth time. He should probably be more careful with them in the future...

[Assimilation is off cooldown]

His focus was brought away from the books and instead shifted towards the new message. His face naturally grew a smile after seeing the notice. He excitedly reached out for the book with the black cover and eagerly yelled inside his mind.

'Assimilation!' The black book once more rumbled fiercely before its weigh lessened and a third of its pages disappeared. The knowledge held inside it then entered Ed's mind and unexpectedly his smile grew somber.

[Assimilation has leveled up]

'I still can't use the spell' As it stood he was still incapable of completely integrating the knowledge inside his head into a spell.

'But there is one thing I find odd...' Based on his new findings it would seem that the space element could be called a pseudo-element or at the very least a very unique one.

Spatial fluctuations are created by a great abundance of mana in a single location. That mana can be a combination of the four primary elements or element-less mana. The former results in the creation of a space while the latter can be used for small distortions. The small distortions are usually in the form of portals or spatial fractures. Those types of distortions can be integrated into spells giving rise to space magicians. What the space magicians controlled could be considered a higher state of mana.

'Doesn't that mean that space magicians simply have a nearly inexhaustible supply of mana?' How else would they be able to make use of such an expensive element? Their control must also be incredibly large to cut down those costs, it is no surprise that space magicians are regarded as very powerful.

'I can only use this thing once even if I could learn it' The worst part is that the range on the spell was already limited to begin with. Wasting all of your mana to cross a couple of meters was obviously not worth it especially if you wouldn't be able to cast even a single spell afterward.

Ed couldn't help but let out a sigh of disappointment. To think he went through so much trouble for a spell he couldn't comfortably use! He opened the book and looked at how many chapters were missing and found out that he had absorbed two more chapters of the book. There were now only 4 chapters left for him to absorb. Given the assimilation skill's level up he should be able to acquire the spell the next day.

'Since I can't use it alongside other spells yet I should increase my mana capacity' Ed nodded to himself and tidied up a bit, he picked up the books and placed them on a desk. He then sat back on his bed and meditated. The process was much slower than before as his mana attribute had hit over two hundred but he was still not discouraged and persevered.

Ed spent the rest of the night exhausting his mana and aiding its recovery. His capacity slowly grew...