"First, you need to know how to bring out your mana to form the orbs, and then you need to learn how to move them simultaneously without losing control. But that's the obvious part, isn't it?"
Achilles followed his instruction and tried to bring his mana out. But it did not work the first time. Nor the second, and not even up to the twenty-third time. But on the twenty-fourth attempt, Achilles had managed to draw out a thin stream of his mana and gather it into a ball.
He then quickly formed a barrier around it, keeping it contained. He thought that it would be far easier to control if he knew the motions first before controlling them. But it was actually more of a struggle, since he had to maintain its form as well as move the orb around.
Suddenly, a notification appeared in his system, confirming the activation of a certain ability.
[Lacker has been Activated. Remaining time is twenty-seven minutes and twelve seconds.]
After the notification had activated, it was as if all other disturbances had been mostly muted, put on the back burner of his mind as the rest of him was completely focused on the task.
Tesla's eyebrows raised a bit, having already known that the Lacker ability would activate, but he didn't think it would be such a drastic change. He even poked Achilles a few times, but the man was ignored.
For the next twenty-four minutes, Achilles was able to successfully understand and practice how to move the orb around before discarding the barrier to help maintain its form. Unfortunately, the orb of mana exploded, but he made another two shortly after, trying to learn how to maintain their forms the best.
It was like shaking around water in a bottle continuously without stopping, or else the water would still. But in this case, the mana would dissipate and become part of the already existing mana in the air. He moved the mana around in a bubble, making it swirl at a fast speed, then moving it forwards and backwards in a straight line, trying to maintain it within at least half a meter of movement from both points.
He then tried the same with the second orb, and after some more practice, with only twelve seconds remaining, he was able to sufficiently move the mana orbs around at an acceptable level.
He felt the Lacker ability fade, and his body went into almost instant exhaustion, aching all over and sore. He felt like he'd pass out soon, so he quickly thanked Tesla. Before he left, Tesla stopped him, grabbing his hoodie by the hem.
"Young man… Whatever your name is now, I want you to take this book. If you believed you could simply come back tomorrow, you're wrong. It's been decades since I died, and all of my mana was spent, so I'd prefer it if you took this book instead of returning." He said, handing Achilles a normal brown journal, a bit thick for its size, but also a bit worn.
Achilles blinked. He understood Tesla's reasons and accepted the book before being shooed away by Tesla. In the hallway, he saw Kimsung turning the corner of the hall, heading down the same corridor from which Achilles was coming. Kimsung looked a bit shocked to see him, but composed himself.
"A-Achilles. You're here." He said, walking to him before speaking again: "Can I ask a question really quickly? It's just about your skill, that's all. I didn't catch it before, and I just wanted to know." He explained, walking towards him.
Achilles thought nothing of it and smiled a bit.
"Sure, why the hell not. We'll be working together for a while anyway, right? It's called ###### ######." He said, and Kimsung's eyes widened quite a lot, and he stayed silent for a while, staring at Achilles, almost in shock, before he closed his eyes and cleared his throat.
"A-anyways… The others are downstairs eating, if you want to join them. I just have some stuff to do here right now, and I'll go back down. Wanted to see if anyone else was in the building, in case they also wanted food." He said, walking past him. Achilles nodded and walked around the corner, bidding him goodbye.
Kimsung looked back for a minute before walking to Tesla's room and opening the door with a serious expression. Tesla looked up at him, also with a serious expression.
"I've been expecting you, Kang Kimsung." He said, surprising him a bit, before he responded.
"How did you know?"
Tesla snorted, almost amused by Kimsung's cluelessness.
"If I can predict one, I can predict another. In fact, that boy is the reason I chose to die here. What he has learned here today is not what I will tell you. After all, you don't have enough time to even learn it if I wanted to. You're on quite a tight schedule, aren't you?"
Kimsung gritted his teeth. He knew whatever he did probably wouldn't do anything to the man. His methods wouldn't work on something that was, from what he could tell, made completely from mana.
He left the room, slamming the door closed. He'd already gotten what he wanted, so he could go back now anyway.
With Achilles, who had already returned from the thirty-third floor and went into a room he'd taken for himself, he got into the bed and sighed. He was tired and refused to do anything else besides sleep.
When he fell asleep, he was immediately put into a dream. A very vivid dream, as a matter of fact. He dreamt of a great feathered serpent, the winds around it howling and flowing, eager to follow its will, as well as a jaguar made entirely of black obsidian with spots on its black fur, like the stars in the night sky.
The two were in a mountain range, watching a colossal crocodile swimming in the ocean, covered in countless mouths and jaws, consuming everything that it could get in its mouth.
The Obsidian Jaguar went first, attacking the mouth-covered Crocodile as it was consuming a forest, landing a great scar on its side. The Crocodile roared in pain and anger, directing its attention to the Obsidian Jaguar and began to attack it.
After several rounds of attacks, the Feathered Serpent moved, flying through the sky like a fish in water. It flew above the two as the sun shone above the Primordial Ocean and the lands, and stopped above the two fighters.
The Jaguar flew itself up into the sky, and the Crocodile stood on its hind legs, its mouth filled with jagged teeth and even more mouths, wide open, ready to devour the Obsidian Jaguar. Except, it never got the chance, as the second the Jaguar ascended past the Feathered Serpent, the sky itself attacked the ancient Crocodile.
The Crocodile's open mouth was torn apart as the sky slammed down on its face first, destroying its jaw like a split tree, and a part of its skull caved in.
The Crocodile roared in great pain as it collapsed, only to be slammed again and again with the same attack, being bombarded by the sky itself, the pressure of the air keeping it down.
Achilles woke up with a jolt, awoken from the strange dream as he looked at the window. It was morning. Someone was knocking on his door, and it sounded like Heidi.