Chrysalis Chapter 1859 - Wave be Wavin’

The first few days of the wave are uncharacteristically relaxing for me, all things considered. There isn’t that much for me to do, really, since I’ve handed the bulk of the defence operations over to the crew. Invidia, Crinis and Tiny need all the Levels they can get in order to reach the next tier, so taking away their chance to get some serious grinding in would be counterproductive.

Not to mention we need to try and secure Mythic cores for them, which is far from easy. I’m hoping that some big bad monsters from below might climb up and we can secure what we need that way, but who knows?

I’ve asked if the Colony would like me to do anything in particular, but Solant wants me here in the event that big bads do actually climb up, as emergency backup to ensure the problem gets handled.

Which is fair enough. I’m the strongest ant in the Colony, I know that, so being here, where the most danger is, only makes sense. Until those monsters climb up, though, I’m stuck here… doing… not much.

“Is this really necessary?” I groan, working my mind-constructs through the same pattern they’ve whipped together a hundred times in a row.

“Yes, it is,” Coolant tells me patiently. “There are many ways to gain levels in mana-related abilities. Using them in combat is the most common and fastest, but disciplined training and drills are another way. Not only do you gain levels, but practising these exercises until they are second nature makes using your abilities in combat much easier.”

“Sometimes you need to go slow before you can really let loose and blow stuff up!” Propellant declares, literally flaring up with heat as she grows more animated. “I train the basic Fire Bolt spell ten thousand times a day!”

“Okay… but why? Surely there are better spells to practise?”

That seems like a colossal waste of time considering there are much better spell forms she could be using.

“It’s my favourite!” Propellant says with great enthusiasm. “I’m trying to master it to the utmost limit. The most power, speed and heat packed into it with the shortest possible casting time! It’s my life’s work.”

“Really? Let me see it and compare it to mine.”

Using the omni-elemental construct, I whip up some Fire Mana and hastily throw together a Fire Bolt, throwing it out towards the wall.

Casting it as quick as I can means I don’t have much time to condense the mana and the spell form is a little sloppy, but it still holds together. Bursting into existence, the Fire Bolt whips through the air and detonates against the wall in a flash of heat that washes over my carapace.

Nice.

Without saying anything, Propellant whips her own spell together and sends it flying. Audibly sizzling, it streaks through the air and bursts with a tremendous wave of heat, leaving scorch marks on the stone.

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“Holy moly,” I exclaim, “that was a of a lot better than mine.”

“I am a fire specialist after all,” Propellant says, trying not to look smug. “I have many advantages when handling Fire Mana, but some of the difference can be explained by the volume of practice I’ve put in. To truly master magic, you have to have a burning soul to diligently train!”

“A calm, collected and reasoned demeanour towards repeated training exercises is also a viable means to improvement,” Coolant says, rolling her antennae. “I do not find temperature has much to do with anything.”

“A burning spirit is always helpful!”

“No, it isn’t.”

“Shush, both of you, I’m trying to think.”

Need to head off that fight before it can get rolling. These two will bicker about anything and everything. The more they’ve evolved to specialise in their chosen elements, the more their personalities seem to have diverged along with them.

Right now, Coolant is an icicle of an ant and Propellant looks like she has a fire burning on her back pretty much around the clock.

However, there is something to what they’re trying to teach me. Despite Propellant playing down the difference between our two Fire Bolts, I’m quite impressed at how much power she was able to pack into it. Sure, she has evolutionary advantages, but I’m evolutionary tiers ahead of her. My mental stats should be able to overcome any difference in our abilities.

And yet, they can’t. Is this really the difference that proper practice and repetition can bring?

As much as I would like to say I’ve been properly practising my spells, putting my dozens of minds to task whenever there was downtime, I haven’t done it as much as I should. Nor have I done the kind of relentless, focused practice that these two are suggesting.

“Does this only apply to easy, simpler spells or does it work for harder ones as well?” I ask.

Coolant answers.

“You can use these methods to practise more complex mana forms, but it is better to break the spell down into segments. A more complex spell, you might break in half, and practise the first half, weaving and then unwinding it, then the second, then the two combined. With more difficult spells, you may need to break them into more pieces. It’s hard to achieve mastery over something with thousands and thousands of component pieces by practising all of them at once.”

“What about something like this?”

I start pulling together a very weak version of the Singularity using external mana, so they can sense it. It won’t do anything, formed of the wrong type of energy, but it will let them see what I’m talking about.

Using external mana is a heck of a lot harder than internal, that's for sure. I end up bending all of my constructs into getting the job done in order to pull it together in a reasonable time frame.

“There. This is one of my strongest spells.”

Well, offensively, it my strongest in terms of single-target damage. A Gravity Bomb can cause wide devastation, but the Singularity will carve a hole in pretty much anything.

Coolant and Propellant study the spell form carefully.

“Maybe… ten separate parts,” Coolant says eventually. “This is a complicated spell.”

“Can I see it working?” Propellant asks eagerly. “Is there any heat?”

“Absolutely not and no. It uses the fundamental forces of the universe to create a beam of… something. But there is no fire.”

I sigh.

Well, if I have all this time on my mandibles, I may as well start practising my Skills. Let’s start here and when I get bored, I’ll work on the omni-elemental construct.

“Here we go.”