Return of the Fallen Volume 7 Chapter 5
Entering the 5th stage, the core stage, was one of both ease yet at the same time immense difficulty. This contradiction did not fall away quietly in Kazuki’s mind.
The reason why many would consider the 5th stage to be one of both ease to enter and at the same time extremely hard came in the way one becomes a 5th stage mage. To ascend to the core stage, one must do a few things. One, they must have a mass amount of energy to absorb into their Mage core. The amount one needs is something that cannot be factored in and is based solely on the individual absorbing the magic.
Since there are very few 5th stage mages in the world, this line of study and research isn’t something many, even with fortunes and an ocean of resources could tap into and nail down perfectly. Because of that, there are many things most people just don’t know about the 5th stage and beyond.
After one absorbs a large amount of energy directly into their Mage core they then must condense it down and solidify it by purifying it. Once it is purified you must then expand it to the point that your Mage core can expand no more. You repeat these steps until the core can hold no more power itself. When you reach that breaking point you must push yourself one final time. Your Mage core will break and grow in an instant. This causes a great disruption in both the Mage core as well as in the soul itself and can cause one’s magic to run rampant, and without control over such magic, its pure energy will go wild within one’s body and you will die.
One can see why entering the 5th stage is both easy and yet difficult.
Absorb a shit ton of energy, that isn’t difficult but finding such a large source. Most would need a large fortune to purchase enough mana crystals or elemental crystals to absorb. That or they would need to discover a place with a large amount of these crystals or a place with a large amount of natural energy. Such places have already been occupied by kingdoms long ago. Kings, queens, nobles, and rich merchants own the crystal mines and have control over the prices of these commodities.
To obtain these things is not something just anybody can do. After that is actually absorbing the power in the crystals. Too much energy, even without entering the 5th stage is dangerous for a Mage. Purifying all of that energy becomes toxic to a Mage’s body and is extremely dangerous. For a regular Mage to absorb enough energy, even if they have the fortune and resources, in order to not be poisoned by the purified energy, they would absorb such power over a very long time.
This range of time could stretch for individuals and differentiate. Most of the time though, from the 4th stage to becoming a 5th stage mage, at least a decade would pass before one entered the core stage. For Mages who usually take decades already just to make it to the 4th stage, by the time they enter the 5th, most of them already have a head full of grey hair. Because of all of these things, it is both easy and difficult to enter the 5th stage.
Kazuki knew he would not take that long at all. Reaching into his storage ring, Kazuki removed a boulder-sized chunk of dark elemental crystal and set it next to him in his man cave.
As soon as the dark crystal was once more in the actual world, thick pure energy began to flood the cave. This energy was so pure and so dense it was like poison to a regular mage. Being exposed to it would easily flood their Mage core with far too much power. The result therein would be the Mage core either exploding from too much energy or the Mage core would go out of one’s control and the person’s magic would run rampant. The end result of both cases would be death.
For Kazuki, there was still this danger but it was lessened by a great degree. Several fail-safes were in place. One was his ki. With it he could create a barrier of this energy around himself, encapsulating himself as though he were in a bubble. With this barrier of ki, he could block the pure energy from entering him. The second was his aura, with it he could repeat the first step and block the energy the same as he would with his ki. The third way would be his body.
After training with Glacious inside his tiny world, although from the outside it looked as very little happened to him physically, on the inside it was a different story entirely. Glacious had trained Kazuki’s body with a special method before tossing him inside a magic cauldron. With the effects of the training as well as the magic cauldron, Kazuki’s body was one that grew stronger with magic energy. He, like Sam and the rest that went through the same training, are different from regular mages.
Their strength can grow in two ways. Absorbing magic directly into their Mage cores or by absorbing magic into their bodies.
Kazuki had gone even further than that training and his body was enhanced even more. By strengthing the soul, one’s body will also strengthen by a small margin. Kazuki had strengthened his soul by learning and materializing his own aura at a desperate hour. After that, he was captured tortured, and eaten by Satorus, the goat-headed fuck. IN that situation, with the help of Danny and his older brother Kai, he learned the Ourodyess technique, the power to devour. Once activated, he ate his way out of the monster’s stomach and by consuming Satorus’s flesh with that technique, his body, once more grew stronger.
Finally, after his encounter in ape city, his friend, King Oren, baptized him and his body had evolved once more.
His body had grown so strong that he could smash a mountain. For a being to be at the 4th stage and have such capabilities with physical strength alone, was quite unheard of.
The last and final fail-safe was the ring Kazuki wore. A ring made from the mythical metal orichalcum. Not only did it have a massive capacity for storage, stretching 100 miles inside, and was the most efficient medium for magic, Kazuki had ever known but it also had a special effect that could absorb a sizable amount of any kind of energy.
All of these conditions stacked atop one another, giving Kazuki a brilliant chance to enter the 5th stage with a fairly low probability of death. Yes, the danger was still there, but death was basically taken off the table. Compared with the rest of the danger such as an injured body, with Kazuki’s ability to heal, he could take it.
With the boulder-sized elemental crystal right next to him, Kazuki made a barrier of ki just in case his body couldn’t handle all of the pure energy. He believed he could take it but there was no reason not to be somewhat cautious trying something most people in the world can never hope of even trying.
Kazuki would open a small spot on his barrier and start absorbing energy. If it ever got to be too much, he would immediately close the opening and allow no more energy inside.
With that being said, Kazuki made a few simple preparations and hesitated no more.
Kazuki’s ring glowed and his magic began to circulate through his body before stretching outward and coming into contact with the large dark crystal.
*Tzzt*
As soon as his magic touched the dark crystal, Kazuki felt like he had just been shocked with a tiny bit of static. He tore his magic away from the crystal and closed his barrier of ki and inspected himself in an almost jittery fashion. His blood ran cold for a split second as he didn’t expect it and was surprised.
After a moment of discovering not a hair out of place, he couldn’t help but laugh at himself inwardly at how foolishly he must have looked just now.
(That was interesting. I guess I was a bit nervous because that little shock almost made me jump, hehe.)
After that little surprise, Kazuki calmed down and he was able to focus more. Opening his barrier his extended his magic out confidently and touched the crystal once more.
*TzzZt*
(A small static-like shock but nothing more. Good, I can do this.)
The dark energy began to swirl around his own like a curious animal. As his energy mingled with the dark energy, he began to encase the entire boulder with his own power. As soon as he felt e had a firm grasp around it and not even a sip of energy leaked out, Kazuki willed his magic and with a pull of it, he commanded.
(Come!)
Comment (0)