Ed found himself outside the boss gate for the umpteenth time. It was a sort of base for him at this point. The mess of furniture was also a nice reminder of his first base.
Ed let out a mental sigh and took a quick look at the four books he carried.
[Earth shot]
Launch pieces of dirt or stone at high speeds.
[Earth wall]
The ground rises to create an earthen wall.
[Earth Dome]
A protective dome of earth reinforced with mana.
[Earth Manipulation for Dummies]
Introduction to the manipulation of soil. It is the basis for most earth element spells.
Ed had his work cut out for him. It took less than a week for the adventurers to return to the dungeon after eliminating what he presumed to be scouts. Hoping for a similar amount of time to pass was already quite generous.
'I need to learn all of these spells in three or four days...' It wasn't optimal but he was still confident.
Needless to say that was only possible due to his assimilation skill paired up with the time-saving capabilities of deduction. Ed's intelligence and understanding weren't entirely lacking either leading to his confidence.
'I will definitely master these'
All of the spells apart from Earth Dome were pretty easy to master as they were an application of earth manipulation. The Earth dome spell however, required the infusion of mana. The earth element mana when properly infused into the ground could turn it as hard as steel. Of course that required a certain level of mastery, Ed would be lucky to get a dome even half as protective given his limited time frame.
'Let's start then'
The Earth manipulation for dummies book started with a brief explanation of mana and how it interacted with living things. Ed skipped that part as the first book he read had already given him in-depth information on the topic. After skimming through the pages of the book he more or less understood the process.
Ed would have to transfer the mana from his core into the ground and cause it to shift or form whatever shape he wanted. It sounded easy on paper but the actual process was much more grueling. In the first place, passing the mana through his bones was not an easy thing to do. Given that mana is usually harnessed by living creatures it is more apt for traveling through things like veins or even plain old blood. You could compare it to electrical conductivity. Not all materials were great at conducting electricity. Even among metals, the ability to conduct electricity varied greatly. Although bones are a part of living things they are not very mana-conductive.
To put it simply, while others could simply send mana into their feet to infuse it with the ground, Ed would have to send it through the air. It isn't impossible, as a matter of fact, many spells depend on that function, but it was a method that met much resistance from the wind mana in the air. Although all of the elemental energies were ultimately mana, they still clashed and opposed each other. That is why it was common for inexperienced magicians to point towards the direction they would cast a spell, it led to less resistance. Of course, if you were a magician with wind affinity the problem instead became a blessing.
The easiest and most practical way to overcome the clashing of the elements was to overpower the opposition. The magician would send out so much of their affiliated mana that the resistance would become futile, albeit practical, it was very wasteful. It was a much better idea to have extremely fine control over your mana to the point it could cut through the resistance. This was also one of the reasons why liches were such fearsome spellcasters, mana was akin to an extra limb for them.
'But I need to overcome that barrier in three to four days...' Ed wasn't so confident anymore.
Perhaps if he had much more mana he wouldn't be agonizing over the issue but that was precisely the problem, he was lacking in mana!
'I can not overpower the wind mana with my earth mana as there isn't nearly enough'
It was a problem that needed time but that was also the only thing he was lacking. Expending mana and recuperating it could lead to an increase in mana capacity much faster than through assimilation.
'For now, it isn't a bad option' Ed would need to send the earth elements outside his core and wait for them to naturally recuperate. It is worth mentioning that natural recuperation of mana relies heavily on the surroundings, a place with more abundant earth mana would be ideal for the task.
He would also have to do his best to improve his control over the earth elements as he sent their scant amount out into the world. Eventually the method would become less and less effective but that was an issue for the future.
'When that happens I will rely on my assimilation skill' Ed was all set to start his cultivation journey. He would just have to find an optimal location.
The dungeon was a dirty place with stagnant air. The wind mana in the air was actually fairly scarce due to this which was to Ed's advantage. It meant that the amount of mana needed to overpower the wind mana was actually much smaller than in the outside.
'Does that mean I should live a dirty life from now on?' He shook away the thought as it was a horrible excuse to be lazy even by his standards.
Ed looked around the area to find the dirtiest spot possible, this was probably what people meant when they say you need to get your hands dirty. He located a corner by the gate that seemed fitting.
'If dirt and dust don't increase the number of earth elements I would have done this for nothing' Luckily Ed didn't need to worry about things like feeling dirty or discomfort ever since he became a skeleton since he had no tactile feelings.
He laid down on the ground to get as close as possible to any earth elements.
'This is probably an extremely unorthodox method' Most people would travel to barren mountain ranges or caves to cultivate their earth element but Ed didn't have that luxury.
Ed started to move the dirty mana inside of his core around a bit before finally getting it out. He had only practiced moving it while inside so he needed a bit of time to adjust. As soon as the earth mana exited his body, it dissipated. His mana started to slowly recover before finally filling up his core again.
[Mana +1]
Ed was satisfied with the speedy process. It took him less than a minute to do what would otherwise take him a quarter of a day. Assimilation only netted him 2 mana attributes every 12 hours, Ed started to regret not knowing about the method any sooner. The lich could have casually mentioned it while teaching him how to read, he felt like he wasted precious potential attributes.
'Whatever, I should start again...'
Ed continued to slowly increase his mana attribute. He waited for his mana to recover by reading, at times he read some of the spellbooks or instead refreshed his knowledge on basic mana application.
After a couple of hours, he was able to cast a crude wall of earth, the single spell cost him all of his mana but it still put a faint smile on his nonexistent face. The crude wall was the result of his efforts and he couldn't be any prouder.
'I just might be able to pull this off'
His control was still lacking but he was not discouraged by that fact. If he could master such a thing that easily he would be more akin to a god.
'Well that might be a bit exaggerated...' Ed still believed that was too much of a cheat though.
After his mana recovered he put all idle thoughts aside and got right back to training.