章 98: SPACE
"... Hey, Yue. Did I do that or did you get tired?" Before celebrating Ivan wanted to make sure he was correct in his assumption. If he did celebrate and it turned out Yue was pitying him then he'd look like nothing but a fool. Though in his heart he didn't dare doubt his partner, as she knew better than anyone that it wouldn't make him happen.
"...no, you did it." Yue immediately understood his insinuation with a glance. So she replied as honestly as she could. Over this one minute, she felt the control over her portals decrease considerably. It was all to the point where the consumption of keeping her portals upheld had increased almost double. In a tactical scenario, it'd be wiser to cancel the portals rather than waste up all that mana. But she knew this test was for his total control, so at the risk of exhausting herself, she kept them open for as long as she could.
And like a door being shut right in front of her face, the portals closed. It was an impressive feat in her opinion but she decided not to express them. Instead forfeiting the results of this little experiment.
She even gave him a few pointers on where she felt he could improve. Because as impressive as his development was, the act couldn't be used in combat. I mean, it took a full minute to close her simple portals.
Ivan nodded to each word, writing down her teachings in his notes. Never did he think of dismissing the thoughts of a talented mage like her. Especially considering how disrespectful it would be when he was the one who approached her for help.
He concluded that with constant repetition, his proficiency with the act should improve exponentially. Ivan marked it as just another part of his schedule. Normally, this would be the point where he took those findings and researched more into them before jumping on to the next step. But if he was going to improve his skills then it'd be more time-efficient to practice everything he could use all the free time he had.
"Master, may I present you an idea~?" For the first time, Tio chimed in. A smile adorned her face as she brought the sleeve of her yukata to her chin. Her eyes narrowed deviously yet within those pupils Ivan spotted nothing resembling malcontent.
"Go ahead and hit me with it, Tio." In the end, Ivan boiled it down to just plain seduction attempts.
"Obviously, the simplest way of increasing the range of your restoration magic would be sticking your hand through a portal to reach your opponent. Clearly, it isn't what you desire but it is the first step toward your ideal. You would have to open the portals, keep them manifested without your opponent noticing, and simultaneously cast restoration magic. This is why for now, until you become more proficient with spatial magic, allow us to focus on the other aspect you wished for. Casting restoration without hands."
She went up to him and held his hands in hers. Holding each of them up as she rubbed up against his back. Ivan only turned his head back and down to look into her eyes before focusing on the lesson she meant to teach.
"As you did with Yue, exert your mana. Rather than imbuing it with only spatial magic, do it with both restoration and spatial magic. Control the space and revert it, so long as it's within three meters it shouldn't be trouble for you. I'm aware this isn't the range you desire but allow it time and I'm sure your range would continue. And then from three meters, you can control the world~!"
"Control the world huh…" That was essentially the goal of Ars Magna, to alter reality. Imbuing his exerted mana with spatial magic was hard enough as it was, and now she was asking him to add another magic right on top of it. It was absurdity he was willing to abide by, the worst that could happen was that his body exploded or something.
"Alright… I'll give it a try." With a smile on his face, Ivan pecked the cheek that was sitting on his shoulder. The entire weight of Tio's body had been leaning on him, she even stood on her toes just so she could rest her head on his shoulder. Ivan wasn't oblivious to her courting, with that he did get the stink eye from Yue but that only relented for a few seconds before she sighed.
If it was someone she trusted then it was fine. As long as she remained the number one in Ivan's heart then none of it mattered. An added factor was that Tio had been their companion for the longest, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that they were already family from the tribulations and trials they endured together. The only thing she wanted to do before anything proceeded was talk with the offender herself.
Yue turned her stare to Tio, who flinched instantaneously.
But that was a talk for another time.
"Here we go!" With a clap of his hands, Ivan spread his form to what he believed would optimize the release of his field. Tio and Yue stood far from the scene as they had no idea what would be the product of this test. Even if they trusted Ivan, the last thing they wanted to do was worry him just because they were standing too close.
Being out of his field of view should hopefully knock out any of his restraints.
BANG!
A pot fell to the ground three meters away from Ivan, shattering the moment it hit the floor. If he was going to test restoration then he needed a subject capable of being restored. He stared at the destroyed pot with serious intent, not taking a single step closer, nor did he even point his hand toward the pot itself.
This whole duration he had been casting both ancient magics simultaneously, space shook but none of the restorations occurred. He knew he had the right spatial coordinates in mind for the broken pot and yet the process hadn't started.
After two minutes, he sighed.
He took a break before going over what had happened, or more like what didn't happen. This time both Tio and Yue left the room to allow him to concentrate, much to the concern of Tio who wished to continue aiding him. But under Yue's glare, she relented.
Ivan paced around the room impatiently. Thoughts flowed through his thought processes like a river. It would likely be simple to create something similar to his tendrils of mana to reach out and touch the broken pot. But once again, that wasn't his goal.
He wanted a field, a barrier, a world that once someone entered they would fall under his control. It also needed to be invisible, if his enemy saw the field then they simply would withhold attacks until it disappeared. Not to mention potentially exposing the effects of the ancient magic he and his group obtained.
That's when he thought about not just extending his mana imbued with spatial and restoration. He needed to create a scenario as he had practiced with Yue. He needed to lock the space around him like a cage. A cage only he had the key to, a cage that only he could move within. That seemed like something more in the right direction.
With that, he returned to his position, this time the broken pot sat four meters away from him. Quite a lot of time has passed since the pot broke but with an excessive amount of mana, the time to repair should be reduced.
"Puuuuh—" He breathed loudly. His eyes snapped open and glared at the broken pot. The ends of his hair lifted briefly into the air. For a second, there were no noises. No sounds of ventilation, no sounds of breathing, none of the fluorescent lights made a noise. And then— the hair that floated came back down. The sound returned with a blast. And the pot that laid broken on the floor was perfectly restored in the air, not a single sign of it having been broken.
It was a success. And he even managed to gain control of an extra meter he didn't intend when first deciding to conduct these tests.
BANG!
Of course, since the pot originally came out of the Treasure Trove from thin air, its 'restoration point' was where it first appeared unbroken. It couldn't return to the treasure trove by principal unless Ivan made it so. And so, it fell to the ground…
With a sigh, he went and sat down at the nearest desk. It wasn't that he was disappointed with his results, in fact, it'd be an understatement to call him ecstatic. What he was disappointed with was how exhausted he became. Though those negative emotions disappeared as he reminded himself that proficiency came with practice, and with practice came time. In the future he was sure he was going to laugh it all off, all while locking the world within his space.
Later that day he would just observe the documentation taken from the observation room and take notes. A deep analysis of the results today should provide some sort of basis to work upon and improve. As each room was under strict supervision on a recording.
"Maa~ Maybe I should ask Claire to make a cake for us today~!" Ivan stretched his hands into the air as he arched his back, a yawn escaping his mouth before he got out of his seat and made his way to the door.
WHOOSH
The metal door automatically opened, a whoosh as the chambers and mechanisms shifted. Behind the door sat Tio, who held her elf-like ear against the door likely to listen in on what was going on. With a mischievous smile on his face, Ivan took advantage of her shock from the door being opened to grab hold of that ear.
"Iyyah~!" She yelped out in surprise. A blush adorning her face as Ivan twisted it ever so slightly. "M-Master, while I do appreciate the rough play, that's a very sensitive p-part you're holding onto and I advise you to— Mnn!"
Her words were cut off as the pleasure from his aggressive actions broke her thought process. With a laugh, Ivan let go.
"Maa~ it's fine. I know you didn't intend on eavesdropping or anything. In fact, I'm sure you were doing that just to make sure I was okay, right? So thank you, Tio. I'm glad you care for my well-being, fufufu~!"
His teasing only worsened the blush on her face. Never did she expect her master to be on the offensive regarding their relationship
"N-No! I-I um…" Unable to come up with an excuse, she ended up stammering to the point of accidentally biting her tongue. Her eyes watered up as she held up her hands to her mouth. Failing to remember that she had magic that would make such an injury disappear in less than a second.
"Hm?!" She was caught off guard one last time. Ivan placed his left hand on her chin. She stared deeply into his eyes as he approached closer and closer. And when she thought their faces were about to connect, she closed her eyes.
But the kiss she anticipated never came.
"All done." Ivan released the hold on her chin before standing back up.
"Huh…?" Tio opened her eyes in confusion, she wondered what he meant before she realized the injury on her tongue had completely disappeared. Realizing that she had been completely had, she snapped her head back up at him, only to be met with that teasing smile once more.
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