Chapter 154: Magic of Stellar Acceleration
With his body covered in stardust, Kael carried his consciousness, his magical core, where stars covered his entire essence of mana.
This was due to the effect of magic; the entire sea of mana was calm like an ancient pond, where the Zu refined by him lay in a strange calm.
The Magic of Stellar Acceleration possessed an extraordinary function: increasing the speed of refinement by 89% while recovering mana essence with the same efficiency. It was an ability designed to break the limits of wear and fatigue, turning time into a malleable resource.
With my mana essence capacity at 100% in the core, coupled with my SSS-rank talent, the refinement speed reached an increase of approximately 300% above normal. For an ordinary person, 97% represented their natural limit. But for me, that was nothing more than the starting point.
However, that wasn’t the most impressive thing. The true marvel of Magic of Stellar Acceleration lay in its stability: even with the speed pushed to the extreme, the mana pool remained unchanged at 89% of its total capacity.
This meant that Kael could refine at 300% continuous speed, without exhaustion, without stopping, from that moment until dawn. Refining without pause, for hours on end, while his sea of mana remained as vast and deep as if it had never been touched.
Such a pace was something that no creature, human or otherwise, should be capable of sustaining—a speed that defied reason, a flow of power that rewrote the logic of the world.
This kind of speed... was too absurd!
However, there was also a price to pay for using this magic. Although in most cases this cost would not manifest itself, this ability was not common. It was an unnatural union: the fusion of magic and Zu. And on the path of the Zu, every extraordinary power demanded a payment.
The price Kael had to pay was his own life. For every minute he activated the Magic of Stellar Acceleration, one hour of his life was consumed.
It was a terrible cost. A sacrifice that anyone else would reject without hesitation. But for Kael, this "high price" was nothing more than a necessary transaction. Power had value, and he was willing to pay for it without hesitation.
Not a hint of remorse crossed his mind. Life, for him, was not a sacred treasure but a coin that could be spent.
Putting his thoughts aside, Kael began his refinement of mana essence.
The essence stirred violently, raising great waves within the nuclei that resembled infinite seas filled with stars. The starlight began to move, vibrating as if possessed by a life of its own, each emitting a glow.
The waves of steel-red mana essence grew in intensity, rising with overwhelming force.
Each twist, each spiral, was a testament to the immensity of the power contained within the core. And all of it, little by little, was refined under Kael’s will.
The sea of mana essence began to decrease at an alarming rate.
99%... 97%... 95%... 93%... 90%... 89%...
When it reached 89%, the energy remained stable. There were no fluctuations, no loss: the refinement continued to progress at full speed.
At the core, several whirlpools of mana essence had formed, spinning in opposite directions, intertwining like invisible gears.
Each rotation refined this mana essence more and more.
From outside the core, the scene was shocking. Kael’s body was covered in sweat, droplets slowly trickling down his skin.
However, there was no trace of fatigue in his eyes. His breathing was steady, as if physical exhaustion could not touch him.
The stardust that had adhered to his body also glowed intensely. It was not a simple glow: each particle seemed to pulsate in time with his refinement, enveloping him like a cloak of stars.
The sun shone brightly overhead, bathing the world in light. Thick clouds moved slowly across the sky, occasionally blocking the sun and allowing shadows to stretch across the damp ground.
But as time passed, the sky slowly changed. The clouds were tinged with warm tones, while the horizon burned with red, orange, and gold colors that gradually faded away.
The sunlight gradually weakened until it was reduced to a faint glow hidden behind the mountains and the sea.
Finally, darkness descended. Night fell slowly, silently but inevitably. Where the sun had once reigned, now the moon rose steadily, claiming the sky as its own throne.
The wind rustled the trees, and their branches swayed with a dry crackling sound. Moonlight filtered through them, casting shifting shadows on the uneven ground.
Among the logs, black lizards with rough skin scurried about, sticking out their tongues and rolling their eyes at any noise. But one was not quick enough: a black bird swooped down, caught it in its talons, and flew to a nearby branch.
There, in a nest of dry branches, the chicks chirped enthusiastically, opening their beaks. The bird threw pieces of its prey to them, and they pounced on them, swallowing them amid squeaks.
Several miles from the black forest, characteristic of the mountain, stood the mountain city of Vigerth.
Everything in it seemed carved from the same block: from the outer walls to the tallest towers, each structure shared the same dark color as the black mountain.
In the streets, the crowd mingled without any apparent order. You could see all kinds of people: shrewd merchants, wandering adventurers, fierce-looking warriors, and dust-covered travelers. They came from the different kingdoms that ruled the Northern Frontier.
In the luxurious inn, inside one of its rooms, Kael was still sitting in a refined position. The essence of mana circulated strongly in his core, while the moonlight filtering through the window bathed his sweaty body in a silvery glow.
This continued for several minutes until he finally opened his eyes. A strange glow burned in his pupils.
Immediately, the stardust covering his body separated and scattered throughout the room.
The air itself became impregnated with sparkling particles that floated slowly, as if night had fallen on the place and hundreds of constellations had been born.
"I’ve reached the intermediate level of rank 7," Kael murmured, with a mixture of surprise.
This speed of progress was absurd. What under normal circumstances would have taken him a month, or even two, to achieve, he had accomplished in a single afternoon.
It was a pace that defied all common sense.
However, despite the gains made, the cost had been real and tangible: hours of life lost.
Kael had been refining his mana essence for approximately five hours. That amounted to a total of three hundred minutes. And according to the rules of the Magic of Stellar Acceleration, every minute used reduced one hour of his life.
The equation was simple:
Lost Years = (Minutes used × Hours lost per minute) ÷ Hours in a year.
Substituting the values, the result was clear: three hundred minutes translated into three hundred hours of life. That meant an approximate loss of twelve and a half days of his existence.
Twelve and a half days... gone in the blink of an eye.
But Kael showed no remorse. During this time, he had managed to advance to rank 7, intermediate level.
For someone with his talent, this progress would normally take between one and two months of constant refinement.
What for others was an exhausting wait, he had compressed into a few hours.
In addition to the level up, he gained an improvement in his body, so he proceeded to open his status window.
Kael Medici.
Title: Strayed Demon.
Talent: SSS.
Mana Core: Awakened.
Rank: 7
Knight Rank: 7 Stars
Magician: 3rd Circle
Traits: Refinement (A), Swordsmanship (A), Melee (S), Tamer (C)...
Strength: 221 +
Endurance: 219 +
Agility: 220 +
Vitality: 235 +
Mana Capacity: 100%
Stat points: 0
Observing the improvements, a small smile appeared on Kael’s lips. Now he was more surprised that the magic was too effective.
Twelve and a half days of his life were nothing compared to the gain he had just obtained, but he wasn’t going to let himself be swayed by this rapid improvement, because the more he used it, the more life he would lose.
And the maximum a human can live is 100 years, so he has to find ways to increase his life expectancy as he did before he was reborn.
Without further ado, he closed the status window and got up, doing several stretches because his body was a little stiff. Then he went downstairs for his dinner.
As he descended, he noticed that most of the tables were occupied, until he saw Michel sitting calmly. Kael approached, sitting down across from him as if nothing had happened.
Michel took a sip of the orange juice he had ordered moments before and said bluntly.
"I’m leaving in a week. I’ve already contacted my family." His voice was calm as he took another sip of juice.
Kael raised an eyebrow, curious. "Why are you telling me this?"
"So you don’t come looking for me when you come up with some crazy plan, like killing the daughter of the leader of this territory," Michel said with a smile.
Kael simply remained silent, smiling. There was no need for him to say anything.
The silence was enough.