Unlimited Power - The Arcane Path

For some very stupid reason, Ilyana was testing Leon. He didn't know if it was a test to force him to learn how to absorb mana from the ambient, but it was clear that Ilyana was plotting something.

"Maybe she wants to force you to choose..." Celsius said. "Choose between failing or solving the problem by destroying the ship.?

"Why?" Leon asked. "If she wanted me to do that, she just had to say. I owe her a lot, and I can't make an enemy out of her."

"I don't know. I don't understand this either," Celsius shrugged.

Time was running, so Leon decided to create some mithril in case he needs. It was clear that the job this time was beyond his current mana pool could let him do. When his mana was empty, Leon meditated, and when he was full, he created mithril. That same thing happened hundreds of times while he was thinking about what Ilyana was planning.

Congratulations! The skill Meditation has leveled up.

You obtained 01 status points.

Congratulations! The skill Meditation has leveled up.

You obtained 01 status points.

Congratulations! The skill Meditation has leveled up.

You obtained 01 status points.

...

Most likely, it wasn't a way to force Leon to learn how to absorb mana from the environment. If he could have the necessary to learn that, Ilyana would just grant him the tome to save time. She did that before, so there was no reason to do something different from other skills.

Eventually, Leon decided to stop thinking about it. He would obtain the answers he wanted directly from Ilyana's mouth. After creating a small sphere of mithril and meditating for a full day, Leon decided to make things a little more efficient. If his spirits could absorb the mana of some elements, perhaps he could make use of that.

"Gnome, can you feel the mana in the earth around us? Can you consume it and turn it into my mana?" Leon asked.

"Nope! Aside from magic attacks of the element earth, I can only absorb anything related to earth that is enriched with mana," Gnome explained. " And I can't feel anything like that around.

"Undine?" Leon asked.

"If you find a river that was created by a storm that was caused by a concentration of mana in clouds, then I can absorb it," Undine explained.

"Celsius?" Leon asked, already massaging his eyebrows.

"Same here," Celsius answered.

Leon was already used to that, but finding no easy way out in a situation that he could understand almost nothing was as annoying as ever. Efreet probably could absorb some mana if Leon finds some volcanoes, but he would spend too much time and even mana looking for it. In the end, Leon could only rely on his recovery and his skills to recover mana and create some stock of mithril.

It didn't take long before finally could understand that he wouldn't create enough mithril to use it later. He didn't know the size of the spaceship, but they did know that the job would be more complicated than anything Leon had to do before since he couldn't rely on tools or even on monsters to drain their mana. Leon tried to find some mithril and purple crystals by flying around and feeling the presence of massive reservoirs of mana. Still, even after covering a distance close to one thousand kilometers, he didn't feel any.

"I still can make my zombie snake come to this world... if anything, that monster's size should be enough to scare any alien civilization... but I guess I won't call it. That monster also can work to scare invaders that may target earth for the time being and also shows that I'm around to Hector, Yuki, and Gisela."

A job that Leon thought it would be easy was starting to get on his nerves. Still, he couldn't afford to get upset because by getting tense, he wouldn't be able to meditate and recover his mana faster. The best way was to use Zen, but he couldn't use it because he couldn't clear his mind since he couldn't understand what the heck Ilyana was planning.

"Maybe I can transform into a gigantic angel, and that will scare the people on the spaceship... but after traveling through outer space for probably years or decades, only showing the real difference in power will make them change their minds... Why the hell am I still even thinking about this job when that crazy bitch clearly is messing with me?"

Knowing Ilyana, Leon was pretty sure that she was monitoring him and that she still could even read his mind, but such things were the last of Leon's worries. Even his patience has a limit. She was a powerful being that could wipe out the entire population on Earth. It wouldn't be strange if she could make the planet explore. But Leon couldn't keep doing whatever she wants forever if she keeps doing things or make Leon do things for her without giving him some reasons or at least a few clues.

It wasn't a good idea to make an enemy out of Ilyana, at least not for the time being. However, someone who acts like that and puts unnecessary worries on Leon's heard would never become a true ally.

"She has been acting as of late as if she knows the best way that I should do things, but I guess it is time to draw a line between the things she can or not can do. Until now, I endured her bullshit, even though I owe her a lot, it was her idea to form an alliance. Unless she gives me some answers after this, I will tell her to screw it."