Zane 's brow furrowed. After searching several aisles, he did not find any books that contained what he wanted. Of course, that's mainly because this library was too vast, and without knowing exactly what to look for, he was basically searching for a needle in a haystack.
Returning to his seat, Zane accessed the magic web and used the search function. For the next twenty minutes, he scrolled through all the free articles and information about how to accelerate the training of mana projection. There were many useful but impractical suggestions, and after summarizing everything, Zane realized only two were feasible.
The first thod was the use of a small, specialized tal orb designed to interact with mana. A mage can then project their mana to control the sphere, which will aid in their training. The more spheres a person can control, the higher their control of the projected mana.
The second thod is the use of a gravity room. Unlike what Zane thought, the gravity room's purpose is not just for knights to exercise their bodies to elevate their life force. The gravity room also functions to purify mana and battle energy. Mana Purification is sothing that only 1-ring Mage and above have to worry about, but apprentices can use it to train their mana projection. By fighting against the downward force of gravity, the control of projected mana can be trained.
"For now, I don't have the money to have a mana orb made, so that leaves the gravity room. However, is there really no faster way?" Zane thought. Sothing in his mind told him there was, but he just hadn't figured it out yet. This feeling wasn't new; every ti he was on the verge of a critical breakthrough, a eureka mont, this strange sensation would haunt his mind.
Closing his eyes, Zane tried to catch that hint of inspiration; he knew not to rush things and just let his thoughts flow naturally. "Scattered ntal energy … condense ntal energy … brainstem … increase control… That's it. The ditation book stated that mana was not a foreign matter but an extension of the body and mind; it is just like any muscle or other body part. In that case, since condensing my ntal energy can increase mana control, what if I condense the ntal energy in the frontal lobe, which is responsible for motor function?"
Without hesitating, he rushed to the [Life Section] to retrieve a book about human anatomy, specifically about the brain. After learning about the frontal lobe and the motor cortex, Zane imdiately started his experint. The first issue was finding such a small part of his brain. After thinking it over briefly, he chose to follow the life energy in his brain, since it's connected to everything.
The process was not as easy as he had thought. Every part of the brain had its own unique life energy, and the key was to distinguish the energy signature of the frontal lobe from that of the cerebellum, temporal lobe, and other parts. With the condensed ntal energy, Zane's sensitivity to energy had increased, but even that wasn't enough for imdiate success. He only saw a positive result after thinking about mapping his entire brain, starting from the spinal cord.
"This is kind of eerie," Zane thought as he realized he could now perfectly visualize every part of his brain. His sudden thought disrupted his concentration, forcing him to start over. Without hesitation, Zane gathered his scattered ntal energy and forced them to condense, forming a transparent sphere inside his motor cortex.
"Nothing? Is my idea wrong?" Zane thought. However, his intuition told him that he wasn't wrong, just missing another piece of the puzzle. Imdiately, his mind began to operate at an alarming rate, using the available information he had to find answers. Then, his brain retrieved a piece of information: mana was described as a catalyst, aning it needed sothing else to facilitate a transformation or effect. Following this logic, the next step was simple: channeling.
However, Zane was not referring to mana. The ditation book once stated that the brain was the ho of ntal energy and that they were intrinsically linked. So, he figured, since mana could be channeled to life force, ntal energy should have the sa effect — especially with the life force in the brain.
The process was simpler than Zane had imagined; the brain's compatibility of ntal energy and life force was unparalleled. They fused without any struggle, resistance, or clash; it was as if they were from the sa source. And the transformation that erged was a unique manifestation of his extraordinary perception.
Zane imdiately felt he could control the life energy coursing through many of his bones and muscles; specifically, he could control all the body parts involved in voluntary movent. In simple terms, in this state, Zane suddenly beca a great gymnast, tennis player, and martial artist due to his extraordinary motor skills.
"What will happen if I channel my ntal energy into different parts of the brain?" A new word suddenly opened to Zane after asking this question, but he did not imdiately try. His original objective was to find a way to improve his Mana Projection Training. So, he proceeded to test out his thod.
While his eyes were still closed, he raised his palm and pushed the mana out; it exited his body and remained in the air — connected to his concentration and ntal energy — for more than five seconds. Zane's emotions beca excited after sensing the mana in the air, but, having learned from his previous mistake, he imdiately cald himself and continued the experint.
Now that the mana was out of his body, it was ti to use it to engrave a spell model. With a calm and steady mind, Zane slowly outlined the rune diagrams for the Mana Shield Spell. However, midway through the process, the magic circle and other runes fell apart, and the spell failed. He tried again, and while there were minor improvents, the results were the sa.
"Under normal circumstances, the projected mana can exist in the air for more than 5 seconds, but when engraving, the requirent for focus or ntal energy is higher, and it can easily fall apart after only 2 seconds," Zane summarized as he opened his eyes.
Standing from his seat, Zane headed directly to Valeria, asking her for information about his situation. Right now, he needed guidance and answers instead of stumbling on his own. The beautiful Drow looked at him and sighed, "I can't believe you discovered ntal Channeling on your own."
"ntal Channeling?"
"Didn't your book tell you that 95% of magic skills are based on mana? Well, the remaining 5% uses ntal channeling or ntal energy."
"Is that so? Then, what's the difference between the two channelings?"
"Difference? There are only a few. One, mana channeling is a basic magic skill that all mages can easily learn. anwhile, ntal channeling is considered at least a mid-tier magic skill."
"It is?"
Valeria displayed a look of annoyance, "Finding the life energy in muscles and bones is easy, but do you know how sophisticated the brain is? Do you know how much talent and effort are required to find different areas of the brain? Especially in an area as small as the motor cortex.
"And even if the life energy in the brain and ntal energy are highly compatible, it's not easy to fuse them. The brain has its own defense chanism. If it senses the fusion will cause even the tiniest of problems, the life energy will reject the fusion process."
"When you put it that way, it's indeed a difficult task."
Valeria shook his head. Those words were an understatent. Even Life Mages with a good understanding of the human body cannot easily navigate the brain's life energy. After all, it's one thing to know where the different areas are in a picture in a book — and maybe even after dissecting a real brain — but another thing entirely navigating from a three-dinsional perspective with ntal energy. So people have poor spatial awareness and simply cannot achieve ntal channeling.
And that's just one of the issues. The brain is a sophisticated machine, and ntal channeling is dangerous. If the brain senses that the channeling will cause even one molecule to behave oddly, it will instinctively reject the fusion process. And if a mage forces the union, well, they will be lucky if they are only dizzy for a few minutes.
"Alright, your presence suddenly annoys ," Valeria stated before writing down a list of books and handing it to Zane. "Go away." Smiling wryly, the young Skylar walked away to seek the knowledge he desired.
"What a horrifying talent," Alerti said after suddenly appearing next to Valeria.
"Indeed," the Drow nodded. They were not talking about Zane's magical talent; their focus was on his cognitive ability to make connections, deduce information with the limited knowledge he had, and even co up with ideas and concepts that no one had thought of before. Both of them had a deep understanding of the history of magic and understood how long mages took to evolve from developing Mana Channeling to ntal Channeling. Yet in just a few minutes, Zane figured it out on his own and took a leap that the ancestors had taken hundreds of years to achieve.
This was a unique gift. Magic talent can be improved; there are countless rare potions, magical rituals, and thods that can raise a person's talent to the highest level. However, his particular gift is unique to the individual, and usually impossible to replicate.
"He probably has an SS-Class Shaman Talent."
"Highly likely," Valeria nodded. Many things add up to determine a mage's talent: mana perception, ntal energy developnt, energy control, energy affinity, energy recovery, rune affinity, soul potential, and many more. Anyone who scores high enough in these areas will receive an S-Class Talent. However, the primary factors in talent for Shamanism are the soul and ntal energy. While the others are applicable, these two are the main.
"Don't forget to write your report," Alerti said before disappearing, leaving a complaining Valeria.
anwhile, Zane was already in the thick of a book called [ntal Channeling: The Secret of the Mind]. Through this reading, he learned the answer to the question he previously asked about the different applications of ntal channeling. According to this book, a mage can increase their control over emotional energy by channeling ntal energy into the limbic system; enhance their mory by channeling it into the hippocampus; and improve their cognitive abilities by channeling it into the prefrontal cortex.
"ntal Channeling is a great way to boost my magical abilities. The only issue is how slow it is," Zane thought. The process of condensing his scattered ntal energy into a single area of his brain already takes too long, let alone the other steps in channeling. As of now, he can't even do them without his eyes closed.
"I need to train myself so that this process is instinctual," Zane analyzed. With enough training and conditioning, Zane knew he could activate these different ntal channels instantaneously; a few books have already confird this. The only issue is that the training process takes ti. Luckily, he would be safe for another year.
"I wonder what the effect of mana channeling would be like on the brain?"
Zane did not waste ti and searched for the answer. Well, he was imdiately glad he had never tried. While Mana Channeling had greater improvent than ntal Channeling, the side effects were too severe. Unlike with ntal channeling, the brain has no resistance to mana, aning it cannot reject the fusion process, which makes mana channeling in the brain extrely risky.
And even upon success, the strain placed on the brain and body will result in cerebral hemorrhaging, which requires imdiate care afterward. However, Zane learned that many mages use this skill in a life-and-death situation. Afterward, if they are lucky enough to find a good enough healer, then they might survive. Otherwise, death is their only fate.
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