Chapter 123 : Focus

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Sora gazed at the strange, changing landscape in front of him. The ground seemed to ripple, as if made of water, even though it was solid rock. Shadows stretched and bent in strange angles, while parts of the surroundings looked distorted.

Everywhere he looked, the [Spatial Element] was abundant, moving around him and tricking his eyes. Tiny rips opened nearby, revealing gaps in space. Small, floating objects drifted through sudden portals that appeared and disappeared.

Sora reached out his hand, feeling the strange energy. Having achieved basic control over Space, he did not fear the element anymore.

He formed a small earth orb and sent it through a portal he created, feeling it reappear from another portal far away. Experimenting further, he tried with a longer object, watching as the rod he pushed through was sliced cleanly when the portal closed around it.

Curious about the effects of the [Spatial Element], Sora spent an entire week training in this environment, gradually deepening his understanding.

By twisting space, he found he could reduce the distance between two points, achieving quick movement without needing portals. He also discovered he could create a small, hidden space within the [Spatial Element], like a pocket dimension for storing or concealing items.

A simpler yet powerful technique was bending reality itself, distorting how things appeared around him. This allowed him to create simple illusions and mirages.

At last, he mastered the ability to use the [Spatial Element] like a blade, cutting through anything in its path. By shaping a razor-thin layer of spatial energy, he could cut objects, slicing cleanly and effortlessly through anything.

Reaching a level of proficiency he deemed sufficient, Sora began training his resistance to the [Spatial Element] using his familiar, brutal method. He cut into his own body, allowing the element to travel through every inch, while his [Adaptive Regeneration] and newly learned ability to generate life force ensured he survived the torture.

With the first month nearly complete, he opened the configuration panel, adjusting the settings to create areas where Hiyoko could withstand the increased gravity. In his own training zones, he pushed the gravity even higher, satisfied with the results before closing the panel.

"With this, my passive body forging should speed up under the extra pressure. And now, with my current mastery over the spatial element, I can finally work on my next plan."

Summoning various elements, Sora focused on strengthening each one he felt was lacking. His mastery over [Fire] quickly caught up to his [Earth] and [Lightning] masteries, thanks to Netsu boosting his affinity with [Fire]. Working on the [Wind] and [Water] elements next, he quickly reached a balance between the five elements.

After weeks of training, he felt ready to transform his [Elemental Nexus].

Recalling the process and hints he’d gathered within the storm, he summoned elements and let them flow into his palm. Experimenting with pairs, he began to notice rules that seemed to govern the fusion of elements. The higher his mastery over a particular element, the more likely it was to dominate the fusion as the primary ingredient.

However, he realized that if he took control of the process, he could influence the properties of the resulting [Elemental Nexus]. For instance, by carefully balancing [Water] and [Earth], he could guide the fusion to lean toward one element’s characteristics, with the other adding supporting traits. Such fusion would result in an element similar to water, with extreme weight, and the ability to condense that water did not have.

This process, however, was far from simple. Allowing elements to choose their fusion path was easier, but by assigning a lesser role to any element, he risked instability.

Unhappy with the [Elemental Nexus] formed naturally from the five elements mixed with the [Spatial Element] that was only stronger and more erratic than the original version, he decided to attempt this new fusion method.

With [Space] as the primary ingredient for crafting a new [Elemental Nexus], he began by introducing the obedient [Earth], [Wind], and [Water] elements into the mix, urging them to merge their abilities with the [Spatial Element]. These three elements, being the most compatible with [Space], blended, offering low resistance to the fusion process.

But his confident smile quickly faded as he saw [Lightning] and [Fire] rebel, fighting against his control. He threw everything he had at stabilizing these two, using every skill and method at his disposal to tame them, but his attempts failed repeatedly.

Having struggled to fuse two, three, and even four elements before, Sora knew exactly what he had to do next.

He honed his control over [Space], refining it countless times until he finally created an [Elemental Nexus] closer to his vision.

This new [Elemental Nexus] retained all the properties of [Spatial Element] and having unique attributes from each of the other elements. Its power felt immense, beyond anything he had achieved so far.

'This ... this is insane. Can anyone resist a blow from such thing? It feels even stronger than my [Lava In My Veins] ability in terms of raw damage' He thought, and shivered at the thought of trying it on himself. 'Wouldn't it be ridiculous to die trying this skill on myself?'

Looking around for a target, he sighed, realizing that there were only three living beings on this planet. "I need to add beasts for the next month," he thought.

Playing with the new [Elemental Nexus], his thoughts soon drifted to something he had thought about recently.

'I have too many abilities and limited brain capacity... yet I want to reach a point where I can use them all to the fullest.' He’d watched Emily and Kara use their clones, each requiring immense control and focus to maintain. 'But I don’t like having to split my focus to fight. Unless my ability to multitask drastically improves, I don’t want that restriction when fighting. I prefer being fully focused on smashing skulls with my Sledge Hammer.'

He started to dream bigger. "I want autonomous clones… or abilities that cast themselves automatically! I don’t want to control each ability by myself; I’d rather they act on my intent and fight for me." His mind raced with the possibilities, more confident than ever that, given time, anything was within his reach.

Weeks passed as Sora pushed his elemental mastery and experimented with various clone skills. Thanks to his [Mana Evolution], he had become proficient enough to recreate skills based on his understanding of their concepts alone.

Staring at the army of clones in front of him, he shook his head in disappointment.

There were [Elemental Clones] with high damage output for each element. He had designed them to use surrounding elements to fuel their attacks, and he could also supply them with mana if elements were lacking. However these clones were fragile, and he found their impact too limited given the amount of focus they required from him to control.

One clone, modeled after Kara's clones, relied on Life Force, but it felt like a cheap imitation. The quality of these clones depended heavily on the strength of his Life Force, making them especially delicate. Their main purpose was to heal him upon sacrifice, but Sora ultimately considered them a waste of time.

The clone from his [Martial Titan] class was more promising, able to function as an extension of his body and wield lower versions of his original skills using mana. But it too lacked independence and its own thought process. Despite the improvements, Sora found himself nearly tempted to write it off along with the rest.

Ignoring the countless variations of clones he'd created, Sora sighed.

“I've tried everything… not a single clone shows even a hint of intelligence.”

He had tested them in many ways, with different environments and situations, but they could only manage basic tasks. They lacked initiative and couldn’t make even the simplest decisions.

“I'm missing something,” he thought. “Maybe my clones need a soul. When Alius was created, he had one. But what if I gave them just a brain and not a soul? How would that even work?”

Considering both options, Sora felt uncertain about which path to take, or how to begin. Deciding to pause his clone experiments, he dissolved all his clones and moved on to his next training phase.

As his third month began, he headed to an area he’d designed specifically for training his mental defense, filled with hundreds of high-level spirit monsters. Here, he intended to hone his [Focus], [Faith], and [Peak Meditate] skills, inspired from his second trial and the Spirit Race's might.

Starting with [Focus], he quickly noticed it was far easier to advance than [Meditate] had been.

'Maybe it is because of the increased efficiency when resisting mental attacks, or my mental power having a strong foundation from [Meditation]. But it is appreciated not having to spend years to raise a skill.'  he thought, happy from the faster progress. Within weeks, he pushed [Focus] to [Peak Focus].

Putting aside his thoughts, he managed to advance [Focus] to [Peak Focus] within weeks.

When he activated [Peak Focus], his field of vision narrowed to a small angle, and the world around him slowed, granting a feeling almost akin to Kara’s [Time Acceleration]. With complete awareness of every inch of his body and mind, he could feel, understand, and even anticipate any movement in his limited view.

In contrast, [Peak Meditate] provided a deep sense of calm, elevating his awareness to its peak while emotionally detaching him from the action, but limited his ability to act on what he perceived.

'What if… I could use both at once?' he thought, sensing the potential. '[Peak Focus] drains me quickly and limits my vision but makes me react instantly and efficiently, while [Peak Meditate] enhances awareness but makes it harder to react.'

Determined, he trained both skills to the perfect level, while repeatedly attempting to fuse them, chasing a breakthrough in his mental mastery.

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