Master Of None

Chapter 1773: 1773. Hard And Soft Stone

Walkerʼs focus was not on gathering earth mana. It was a pure focus on the fact that the carving surrounding him were better than many things he could create. His mind had to focus on what kind of skills would have been used. Was it a  sculpting skill better than a high sculpting skill? Or was it a skill of a better class altogether?

These questions were what Walker was stuck on and needed to figure out. Especially because he was unsure whether or not he would be able to use them. It was definitely a fact that the earth dominator dragons or the ancient earth dragons had not used mastery skills to make this. This brought him to the next theory, a mix of skills used in combination to create them.

The hardness of the stones around him was not natural. The only natural stone that would be this tough would be stones that were from naturally forming mountains found very deep underground. The party had seen this in the dwarven city all around them. Many of the dwarves had used it to become part of the cityʼs structure. Nature provided their home in some part.

Glancing over at Midnight, Walker saw that she had mimicked his seated position and grabbed a nearby stone holding it in her hands. Her focused eyes were following the movements of her claws as they scratched it. Her hands were more or less like that of a humanʼs hand in her dragonkin form, she could still show her claws when she desired.

This ability was something that set aside dragonkin from dragons since the dragonkin could only lengthen their claws that always showed on their hands whereas the dragons could shift between the two forms easily.

The scratches that Midnight was making were very faint, they were testing the strength of the earth in her hand. How tough the stone was and what she could do to manipulate it without mana. Aqs Walker watched, he felt that Midnight was on to something. She was focused on toughness whereas Walker had been focused on the shapes and how it was formed.

If the toughness of the stone was the focus first, then the shaping while making it tougher, then it made more sense. The walls could have been made more dense with a skill while the high earth sculpting was added slowly. It would take longer because Walker was less experienced and weaker than a real dragon. That would change as his experience changed and he grew more powerful.

Especially if he watched how Terron concealed earth more.

” see if you can channel your mana in to your claws, then see if it cuts the stone more. You might be able to make that stone cover your claws as armor.” Walker felt that Midnight should already be able to do this. She could wrap her claws in flames if she desired, why not stone as well?

Hearing Walkerʼs sudden involvement made Midnight stop what she was doing. Her thoughts had been solely on the density of the stone. It was heavier in her hands and made her wonder why it was different than a stone just on the side of the paths they traveled.

As she focused her mana and used the earth mana around her, the stone seemed to resist her influence. Walker had felt this as well when he probed the ruins following Terronʼs use of earth mana. The reason was the strength of the mana within the stone and the singular fact that mana was left over from generations of earth dragons being here.

When the earth mana hit Midnightʼs claws, Walker saw the stone start to bend under her pressure. The stone was slightly scratched more than before but the earth formed up more easily came to where she was pressing the stone. It was easier for her to draw the softer earth in than the stone itself.

”Hard.” Midnight declared the task harder than what she felt when it came to fire. She was comparing the two side by side. Her other hand had become covered in flames from the slight sparks she breathed out when she wanted to use the flame claws skill.

”Try pulling the earth than making it condense. If you can make the earth cover your hand, then you can make it larger and larger until it is a shield like Suʼs. But thatʼs not enough to defend anything. You have to be able to make it tougher like this stone. I also need to learn that.” Walker wanted to just mix in the natural mana to help them.

The addition of the natural mana would make his skills stronger. He also would be able to learn how to add the natural mana to earth more efficiently. After a while, he was sure that the natural mana control that he possessed would start to increase at a faster rate as well. Furthermore, he would be able to push his knowledge of natural mana and the role that earth mana played in it.

Reissing this curiosity came from the fact that he wanted to purely understand earth mana. The earth that had been changed to stone and then to condensed stone. He and Midnight were entirely focused on this process.

Both could control the earth easily. That was nothing to them. Moving earth and making it follow them or stick to something was simple now. Midnight coil easily covered her hand in soft dust from the ground. Walker could feel that he would even be able to make a tougher earth wall or spikes here. That was not outside the realm of possibility for him.

As the two delved into the stone with their mana, the density resisted them. Walker grabbed another larger stone and held it firmly. He and Midnight both had their own piece and focused their mana into a single point. Their minds were separate but their instincts were one. Their bond showed through in this manner. Their knowledge would be shared as instinctual movements together.

ʼDue to the bonds between the contracted beings, Midnight and Walker, the skill low shared instincts had been learned. The skill can be learned by any contracted beast, monster, tamer, being, or equals depending on level of trust, bonds, and time working together between them. Other factors are also applied.ʼ

ʼLow shared instincts- passive

Based on the bonds of two beings, they are able to share their innate instincts. This is different from other skills because it is only even activated when the two work on the exact same task together. This is used to share the instinctual feelings as the task is completed. These shared instincts can allow both to learn at a faster rate depending on the task and focus between the two.

The closer the bonds the better this skill can grow.ʼ

This feeling that the two had as they were hyper focused on the stone didnʼt feel unnatural. Walker didnʼt notice the skill, nor did Midnight, but they were gaining their knowledge faster. It felt that as they pushed on the stone with their mana to make it follow their will that it was becoming easier faster. As if they were under some form of inspiration.

Walker had other skills that did this but he rarely used them since they came with some restrictions. It was also better to learn something through experimentation and learn more skills or advance his skills. That Was his thought on the matter.

As the two realized that the dense earth mana was just slow because of its state, Walker tried to separate the piece of stone in to a smaller pebble. When he succeeded he found that he could overwhelm it with his own mana easily. Midnight learned the same thing just seconds later.

The small pebble was easily shaped between their pressures. Midnight flattened it out using her fingers while Walker made it change in to a perfect circle. This showed that they could control something smaller and how the ancient earth dragons were able to make such defined details. They had so much control of the earth mana that they overwhelmed it and made it change in to extremely specific shapes.

The mental strength for this was easily trainable. It just took time and mediations along with imagination. The overwhelming mana was the tough part. That meant that both Midnight and Walker would need to condense the earth mana with their own mana before they were able to make a massive shield of such dense stone like the stone here. But a weaker stone? That would be easier.

Especially later when Walker delved deeper in to the natural mana that he had to use in tandem with the earth mana.

”Midnight, letʼs make a shield together. Then we can separate and focus on it alone as we get better.” Walker and Midnight agreed. The small yes that Midnight mumbled was enough to tell that he was not the only one in a hyper focused state of mind. Midnight was extremely focused on the challenge before her.

Her dragonʼs pride did not allow her to hesitate when making these leaps and bounds for strength.

The others were all resting and focused on their own states of mind while Walker and Midnight did this. The wyverns still slumbering. However, the royal dragons had begun to refocus themselves on the potentials of other ancient ruins. They were preparing to change their plans if need be. Walker would just need to change his approach if they did.

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