Elemental Cats

?Toz's idea that would hopefully solve his problem of not being able to condense his mana quickly enough stemmed from the thought that if he couldn't apply enough pressure on his own, he could use an outside influence. However, that was where the foolishness of the idea came in. Since Toz's body was immobilized by the mana surging through it, and because there was a limit to how much he could interfere with what was happening to his body, there was only one outside influence he could rope in to help him.

The mana storm, and more specifically, the rushing avalanche of mana, eagerly pushing its way into and through Toz's body so it could enter his mana pool. After Toz managed to get his mana pool back under his control, he had also been able to balance the influx of mana somewhat and restrain it. But he had already done as much as he could on that end. He couldn't do any more without risking his body exploding.

However, if he reversed what he had done and let up on the restraint, and on top of that, began actively supporting the mana's entry into his mana pool, the force and speed of the mana might be enough to increase the rate at which it condensed.

It was a stupidly farfetched idea that a rational mind would have never thought of doing. To solve the problem of too much mana entering Toz's mana pool by increasing the amount of mana that entered his mana pool.

Just thinking about it again made Toz worried that he had gone insane. But considering that he was insane was a sign that he wasn't that far gone yet, so Toz decided to just go through with it before its too late.

With the fire still raging across his body, slowly eating away at it, and the trickles of mana that escaped his mana pool, Toz began. His mind wasn't clear enough to focus as much as he would have liked, but he still began changing the way he controlled his mana pool and mana.

Since he had to make sure that the pressure would be enough as soon as he opened the floodgates, he couldn't do a gradual increase. If he let in a little more mana bit by bit, he wouldn't be able to condense it fast enough, and his mana pool would eventually shatter.

So, the first thing Toz did was to make sure that the mana surging around his body was ready to enter. Surprisingly, it was a lot easier to control the mana when it came to ordering it to do what it wanted instead of trying to block it and keep it away from his mana pool.

The fact that the mana was so readily helpful and conformable comforted Toz, and he briefly thought that his idea might not be so insane if the mana was on board with it. But mana wasn't sentient. It just followed the laws of its nature as it traveled into and through him due to the connections with the mana that came before it.

The mana wouldn't care whether Toz blew up or not. It just wanted to go where it wanted to go. Weirdly enough, knowing that the mana didn't have any ill intentions, it just passed through the world and him like nothing mattered comforted Toz, and he began preparing with a little more ease.

Toz was still pretty much an anxious, half-mad wreck. But he managed to calm down a little as he started to admire the mana's attitude of how nothing really matters.

With a newfound respect for mana, Toz finished up his preparation and began executing his stupidly crazy idea. He couldn't help but hesitate a little since if he failed, which was more than likely, he wouldn't get another opportunity to do anything else in life. It was a little daunting to be so close to the face of death. And also be forced to take the next step over the ledge on his own.

But if he didn't do it by himself, he would only get pushed. Besides, it wasn't the first time he had made such a decision. Just during the mission and what had come after it, Toz had made several seemingly suicidal decisions because he wanted to and because he wanted the Fountain of Death. Making another such choice wouldn't matter much. Or so, Toz hoped as he opened the floodgates and invited the mana into his mana pool while doing his best to increase the pressure and condense it into a solid state.

The mana forcing its way through his body and into his mana pool would have made Toz wince from pain and exertion if his body had been able to move. But since it couldn't, his outward expression remained stony.

At least the mana entering his mana pool as if devoured by a black hole let up the strain on his mind and body, and he could delegate even more concentration on increasing the pressure within the mana pool. But Toz didn't have leeway to think about those kinds of things. 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝓫𝓷𝓸𝒗𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝓶

As soon as he invited all the mana inside his mana pool, all he could see and hear again was the rush of orange fire mana. Despite that, he still did his best to concentrate all of his efforts on solidifying the mana and completing his breakthrough to the seventh level.

The orange lava-like avalanche of mana barely had time to roil and bubble after entering Toz's mana pool before another wave came and pushed it deeper inside toward the marble-like lump of mana in the center.

The force of each successive wave pushed the mana deeper and harder into the center. Combined with Toz's own pressure, the mana quickly shrank in volume and began solidifying. But the mana still filled the mana pool to the brim and began pushing it outward, although minimally.

Feeling the tension on his mana pool's shell, Toz somehow redoubled his efforts. If his body hadn't been immobilized, he would have gritted his teeth until they cracked. Thankfully, only the mana's passage and the fire damaged his body, and his teeth remained mostly intact.

Well, if Toz died, there wouldn't be any mana protecting his teeth in the ensuing explosion of mana. So, they might not remain intact for much longer.

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