Mercury spent two more weeks trying to strengthen his mana skin, he realised by training his mana skin.
His mastery over his other bolts would increase accordingly, " My mana pool isn’t increasing as fast anymore."
He realised this a while go, each session no longer doubled his mana pool, he still absorbed the same amount of mana.
But the mana he absorbs is now merely a fraction compared his current mana pool, " No matter, I just need to strengthen my mental energy."
Mercury got out of his mud house, he had created it using earth bolts shaped like walls and he formed the roof the same way.
The earth bolts were densely compressed to the point of being extremely smooth and shined like polished metal.
That’s because Mercury has finally managed to create E rank bolts while maintaining an E rank mana skin.
Five bolts of pure mana appeared around him, they were the same size as the F rank bolts.
But their mana density was at least 10 times as much, considering how wasteful creating bolts are.
He needed to use about 30 times more mana than he did to create F rank mana bolts.
" It’s getting worse, this is like buying a copper coin with a gold coin, if any mage knew I did this, they might die of anger."
Mercury created a chair with his earth bolts and sat down, he closed his eyes and concentrated.
’ Most people can’t sense ambient mana but I can, I can also sense anything my mana touches.
What if I mix my mana with the ambient mana, would I be able to sense everything around me undetected?’
Wondered Mercury, he decided to try it, he released his mana into the air, it wasn’t dense enough to be visible.
But anybody would be able to sense, slowly he took control of the ambient mana like he did when he absorbed it.
But instead of absorbing it, he mixed his mana into it, his mana merged seamlessly with the ambient mana.
However there came an issue with this, because he had merged his mana with the ambient mana.
His control over it became terrible, he couldn’t even use it to form bolts anymore but his original idea worked.
His mana forced a semicircular domain a hundred metres wide, Mercury could see a mental image of everything within this domain.
Above that, he gained another ability, with a thought he created a fire bolts, it materialised 50 metres away from him.
" Its power seems lower than a standard bolts and my control over it is not as great either."
Mercury detonated the fire bolts, " It’s at the peak of F rank." He frowned and formed another.
" It seems the further away I materialize it the weaker it gets." He continued testing the range limit.
" I can only make an E rank bolts within 10 metres of me." Mercury shrugged, he took off and flew deeper into the forest.
While flying he continuously infused more mana into his mana skin, he did this until he reached his mental limits.
Then he would start over, it was mentally exhausting but a good exercise to train his spirit and mind.
Mercury was looking for another target practice, he found it soon after, a giant lion with a flaming mana.
The lion was 3 metres tail with red glowing claws and eyes that burnt like embers, it was feasting on a bovine type monster.
" Fiery mane lion, they are C rank monsters at their peak but this one seems relatively young, it’s still only E rank, good."
Mercury’s intention was to test himself so he descended to the ground and landed a hundred metres behind the lion.
It sensed him and turned to face him, the lion growled threateningly, it could sense his overwhelming mana.
Even with his rings on, Mercury still had a tremendous amount of mana, ’ Perhaps it’s time I add more rings.’
He still had five rings only, there was another thing Mercury came to notice about the rings.
They also limited his mental strength, with these rings, he could only create 6 E rank bolts at once.
But when he took even one of them off, the number climbed to 15 and when all of them are off, well he hasn’t tested that limit yet.
He could at least create a hundred but no matter how many E rank bolts he can create, he still couldn’t even form one D rank bolt.
If he could form D rank bolts he would have the confidence to compete in the upcoming tournament.
Even though Mercury knew the rings limited his mental strength he didn’t take them off, they actually helped train his mental strength.
They were part of the reason he was growing so fast, by placing a constant strain on his mental strength.
They helped strengthen it, like how body builders build muscles. Mercury realised he got lost on his thoughts when the lion ran.
" I did not expect that." Considering his large mana pool he had expected it to attack him, after all.
Unlike sapient races, monsters can grow stronger by consuming beings with larger mana pools.
They can even increase their own mana pools this way. Mercury shook his head, " Perhaps my mana is too large, the lion was intimidated."
He chased after it, his mana skin allowed him to fly at tremendous speeds, he caught up to the lion in mere moments.
Seeing it couldn’t escape the lion decided to fight, it took a sharp turn and lunged at him catching him off guard.
Mercury failed to stop on time, he infused earth mana into his mana skin, the lion’s claws hit his chest sending him flying a hundred metres away.
He broke through multiple trees and rolled on the ground for a dozen metres. Mercury stood up and dusted himself.
There was no wounds on his body, his mana skin had absorbed the force of the attack and merely rippled.
The brown glow disappeared replaced with a yellowish white glow, he changed his earth mana to light mana.
His body felt much lighter, Mercury took a step and disappeared. He appeared in front of the lion in a blink of an eye.
His light mana skin changed to back to earth mana and he punched the lion in the face sending it flying dozens of metres through the forest.
Mercury stretched his body, " How strange, I clearly remember how to fight from Mercury’s memories but it seems I can’t keep up."
He looked at the lion, " Don’t disappoint me, I’m in need of some good practice."