Chapter 1012: The Framework and Hypothesis of Infinite Mana
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 1012: The Framework and Hypothesis of Infinite Mana
Witch Academy.
"So this is the World Tree of the Sun Rock Elf Academy?"
The group in the rear sighed in admiration as they looked over the data presented before them.
As the saying goes: Know yourself and know your enemy, and you will never be defeated.
Even a lion uses its full strength when hunting a rabbit.
While they might verbally disdain these arrogant elves, they remained deeply cautious in their hearts.
The Sun Rock Elves were a unique race. They possessed both an affinity for the solar light attribute and a natural talent for dominating rock and sand.
Unlike the Forest Elves, their ancestral talent for archery and their Ranger traits were weakened, as they leaned more toward the mastery of energy and elements. In a sense, the Sun Rock Elves were closer to Elemental Spirits.
However, because they were subordinates of Afuhemi Academy, they were forced to include basic Ranger skills and archery in their mandatory curriculum.
For a small-scale transcendent academy like Sun Rock, the academic term usually didn't last as long as the Witch Academy’s ten-year program. They typically graduated in five years. Those with exceptional talent would be scouted by Afuhemi Academy several years early through special recruitment transfers. After undergoing a baptism by the Mother Tree, they would be naturalized as Afuhemi Forest Elves.
It could be said that the situation for small academies—especially those serving as vassals to top-tier institutions—was quite miserable.
Faced with their "masters," they didn't harbor even the slightest thought of resistance. And since they were mere vassals, there was no reason for their masters to show them any modicum of respect.
There was a definitive reason why small-scale transcendent academies could never truly grow powerful.
* * *
Inside the Fool's Dream Life Experiment Cultivation Room of the Primitive Dream Laboratory.
I had returned.
After giving myself a few days of vacation and thoroughly unwinding in the Dungeon World, I had fully recharged my energy.
After all, I had spent those days either fishing with Sister Bai, grilling fish, or tending to the various plants I had previously sown. Life had become quite wonderful. If I hadn't been so clearly aware that I still had much to do, I might have continued living like that indefinitely.
Now, the new semester had begun.
My Life Clone had declared war on the Sun Rock Elf Academy and had already fought its way into their territory. The battle was currently locked in a stalemate.
This time, the enemy wasn't being "thick-headed" by charging into a group fight. Instead, they were fighting on their home turf, receiving the blessings and protection of their World Tree. They had pre-set various magic traps and "grown" large-scale destructive alchemy items out of the wasteland.
Faced with the onslaught of the Witch Academy, they possessed at least a basic level of self-awareness: they knew they absolutely could not win in a direct confrontation.
Consequently, they had requested reinforcements without hesitation, not only from neighboring elf academies but also from Afuhemi Academy.
Although Afuhemi Academy had intended to support them anyway, there was a massive difference between offering aid voluntarily and being begged for it.
Regardless of the process, the result was that the Sun Rock Elves' defensive fire was exceptionally fierce.
Observing the state of the war, my main body in the Primitive Dream Laboratory instinctively paused the progress of the Primal Great Fool's Dream Transformation Spell.
Such a massive battlefield provided me with the perfect environment to test the various derived spells I had been accumulating for so long.
From existing Prototype Spells to Sequence Derived Spells, and even unconventional sequence spellbooks.
The ten thousand Mana Sources accumulated by this Life Clone, combined with the Self-Generated Mana talent, were actually starting to feel a bit strained. This was especially true for those spellbooks where the Prototype Spell alone cost dozens or hundreds of mana; their derived spells cost even more.
However, pushing myself to this limit allowed the Sun Rock Elves—and the other transcendent academies watching the battlefield—to realize something.
I, too, could become a literal spell turret!
With a never-ending stream of spells and surging mana, I was still casting with the same momentum long after others had finished their rotations. It truly terrified many onlookers. It was as if every spell I cast carried the weight of an over-consumption spellbook.
From summoning a Dark Hidden Legion that blanketed the sky to flatten the terrain, to continuously condensing lava into explosive meteor showers that rained from the heavens, the range and damage were staggering.
In an instant, a stretch of arid wasteland was transformed into a living hell!
And behind me stood dozens of others who, like me, possessed the Self-Generated Mana talent and had no fear of mana depletion. Even if they didn't all have over-consumption spellbooks, they had plenty of hundred-cost spellbooks to go around. The only thing limiting them wasn't mana cost, but the cooldown intervals between casts.
"Mana... it's still not enough," my main body muttered in the laboratory.
Based on the accumulation of my main body's Mana Sources, even tens or hundreds of millions wouldn't be enough. Mana was not something that could be solved by simple stacking.
Even for a Transcendent, or the Saint Realm above that, a flawless, non-prototype spell domain required a starting investment of a hundred million Mana Sources!
Thus, for a Witch, no amount of mana was ever truly "enough."
The concept of Infinite Mana surfaced in my mind once more.
Previously, in the Qunluosen Wasteland, I had used my form as the Ancient Remnant Ice to deeply observe and experience the mysteries of Void Rifts.
A Void Rift, in essence, reflects the characteristics of the Void itself. Whether it was infinity or self-circulation, these traits perfectly aligned with the concept of "Infinite Mana."
I didn't know if other Witches harbored the same delusion of achieving Infinite Mana, but without the proper foundation, such a feat was impossible.
My definition of Infinite Mana was similar to Self-Generated Mana; it was a special life talent akin to "Self-Awakened Body Cultivation." It originated from the essence of life and was structured upon it.
In my hypothesis, the foundation of Infinite Mana was "Prototype Self-Generated Mana." This wasn't an auxiliary racial talent gated by the advancement to the Transcendent Witch race. Instead, it was a complete, independent, and systematic Prototype Self-Generated Mana born through special means, possessing the potential for infinite derivation.
The other condition to be met was... the Void Rift.
And besides a Great Spellbook, what else could I use to stably tear open a Void Rift?
A Totem!
And what was a Totem?
Under my continuous refinement, a Totem was a special symbol born from the triad of "Self-Awakened Body Cultivation," "Prototype Self-Generated Mana," and the "Transcendent Witch racial concept atop the essence of life."
And next... came the trial.
Of course, it wouldn't be the "me" in the laboratory trying it, but the "me" slaughtering on the battlefield!
* * *
Sun Rock Elf Academy Territory.
Countless terrifying spells shrouded the battlefield like a natural calamity. In the sky, myriad fire meteors—imbued with high heat, explosion, adhesion, and shock—pummeled the earth. Even the mere aftershocks of the war were enough to strike terror into the hearts of the distant civilians.
The only thing they could do was hide their families in cellars and caves, praying the war wouldn't reach them.
These ordinary people knew exactly what was happening. Their region had been served a declaration of war by the Witches. And now, those Witches had arrived, carrying a thunderous rage!
They had cursed the Sun Rock Elf Academy's shamelessness more than once. The academy had failed to recognize the gap between themselves and the Witch Academy, yet dared to provoke them... and now the Witches were at their doorstep.
They no longer dared to curse the Witches in their current state, but they were more than happy to point fingers at Sun Rock Elf Academy.
Although the transcendent academies in the Core World had their own territories, in principle, academies were not allowed to prevent students in their region from seeking out better institutions. However, small academies like Sun Rock, in order to prevent a brain drain, set up countless obstacles for those wishing to leave.
The mere fact that they hadn't built roads across the arid and desolate regions was enough to stop countless people from reaching the nearest Witch Academy. Thus, the so-called "scouting" by large academies was, to some extent, a way of breaking these invisible regional blockades.
After that declaration of war was issued, a portion of the population actually hoped the Witch Academy would come and improve their harsh lives. After all, humans lived here too, and humans couldn't love the scorching sun and sand as much as the Sun Rock Elves did.
On the battlefield.
When I used the Transcendent Witch racial concept, Self-Awakened Body Cultivation, and Prototype Self-Generated Mana as a foundation to outline that "unreplicable" Totem, an oppressive aura immediately swirled around me.
Not only did the enemies become deathly afraid, but even my fellow students from the Witch Academy instinctively pulled back to a safe distance.
In my eyes, the Totems manifesting around me were tearing open fine Void Rifts in an incomprehensible manner.
Tearing a Void Rift required certain prerequisites. I could sense that the power of the Totem was fundamentally different from [Transcendent Knowledge]. However, both seemed to be "keys" to rending the Void.
"That guy is weird! Fall back! Don't get close to him!"
"Harass from a distance! Watch out for unknown methods!"
"Cover the wounded as they retreat! Anyone still able to fight, tie down those summoned creatures!"
Faced with my current state, the elf leading the defense shrieked orders, trying to exploit the gap in my actions, regardless of what I was about to do.
But the gap was too wide... wide enough to breed despair.
At this moment, the academy warfare experience they had accumulated as a small institution was utterly useless. As long as they couldn't defeat this one Little Witch, the hundred-man combat sequence of the Witch Academy could continue to advance indefinitely thanks to their Undying Mechanism.
And they could no longer retreat. Behind them was the academy, and within the academy was the Mother Tree they had to defend with their lives!
They had heard the war cry of the Witch Academy earlier...
Trample the academy gates, burn the World Tree to ash!
No matter how desperate the Sun Rock Elves became, they had to pay a thousandfold for their past actions!
As the physical space within the world shattered, the cracks reaching into the Void shimmered with a deep, pitch-black luster, ruthlessly tearing through the spatial blockades they had set up.
But at this stage of the war, spatial blockades were meaningless. We were about to flatten Sun Rock Elf Academy through sheer, frontal overwhelming force!
"It's still not quite right... the Totem's utilization of the Void Rifts isn't enough..." I muttered to myself, somewhat frustrated.
After all, the Void Rifts were a byproduct of the Totem's appearance, not the manifestation of the Totem's power itself. It was like a ship—its purpose was certainly not just to create ripples on the water's surface.
I was currently multitasking: leading the charge on one hand, and pondering the logic of Infinite Mana on the other.
Gradually, a mad idea took root in my mind!
The essence of Infinite Mana was to utilize the infinity and self-circulation of the Void itself, with the Void Rift serving as the entry point.
In that case, why couldn't I view the Totem as [Transcendent Knowledge] and the foundation I used to construct the Totem as a Great Spellbook?
This would create an application framework derived from the Great Spellbook.
With a framework, I had a direction. With a connection, I had the opportunity to unify them. With a foundation, I could take the first solid step!
Using Prototype Self-Generated Mana as the base—much like how the Crystallization Art was to the Great Glacial Throne Technique—it would be the cornerstone from which everything else derived.
Then, the racial concept and Self-Awakened Body Cultivation would become inseparable nodes of the basic framework, maintaining the effects produced by the Totem.
A Totem was not a power, but a phenomenon born from power. Understanding the Totem meant understanding its foundation. The more one understood the basis of the Totem's birth, the more one could stabilize the phenomenon (the Void Rift) triggered by the Totem.
Therefore, within this framework, everything was a self-circulating system of mutual achievement.
At that moment, everything structured upon my life essence caused countless Void Rifts to wander irregularly across the surface of my body.
If lightning was an irregular beam of light tearing through the night sky, then a Void Rift was a pitch-black serpent devouring everything in the material world. Its form was equally irregular, constantly shifting and annihilating between tearing open and healing.
This placed an extreme burden on my body. My flesh could not withstand the Void Rifts directly; not just me, but even a Transcendent who hadn't reached the Saint Realm would find it difficult to endure.
The reason I had called this idea "mad" earlier was precisely because of this operation!
Allowing Void Rifts to wander across my entire body, using a different state to trade for the possibility of advancement!
Void Rifts damaged not only the flesh but the very essence of life. Even I could not maintain this state for long. If this hadn't been a Life Clone, I wouldn't have dared to try this on my main body without first ensuring its safety.
The enemies, in stark contrast to my frantic internal experimentation, were equally shocked by my transformation.
The students could only sense an extreme threat and a tremor originating from the depths of their soul essence. But the Transcendent Elves watching everything from within Sun Rock Elf Academy were already drenched in cold sweat.
Void Rifts!
Void Rifts that could kill a Transcendent!
Back in the Qunluosen Wasteland, that Ancient Remnant Ice—using a Great Spellbook as a medium to briefly wield Void Rifts—had used such means to completely annihilate a Saint Realm Wizard!
And yet, this Little Witch before them was actually letting so many Void Rifts wander across her body.
Their first thought was... She's suicidal!
But she clearly proved through her actions that she wasn't dead... so who would be the one to die?
If the students, out of ignorance, felt they might still have a sliver of hope, the Transcendent Elves who understood the nature of Void Rifts knew better. There was no hope.
The only thing they could see...
Was total despair!
No one could stop this Little Witch anymore.
Not even the Transcendent Mentors of Sun Rock Elf Academy!