Rivers of the Night - Chapter 691

Capítulo 691: Oceanic Confluence

[Winding Lethe] was the first reflection method. When it was used properly, you could trap an attack you suffered in a quagmire of Dark Mana, controlling the redirection with precision. While most reflection techniques required that you aim before the attack even landed, this one had more wiggle room and could even work on a time delay.

[Prismatic Tide] was another interesting reflection-type Spell. Rather than trapping and redirecting, it turned the energy of an attack into potential energy by trapping its power within a prism of water.

Theron had learned about the principle it worked on in his library—Snell’s Law, he believed it was called. Essentially, he could use Water Mana to change the refractive index of incoming energy, trap it within, allow it to reflect off of itself and build power, then apply that newly changed potential energy into projectile speed for a cascade of water bullets.

This was especially potent for turning one defended attack into an area-of-effect rebuttal, though depending on one’s control, it could turn into a very focused attack as well—not only reflecting damage, but amplifying it.

By deconstructing the energy of the attack that was incoming, it was possible for Theron to apply potential wasted energy within it into a more focused form, especially if his Mana Control was well beyond that of his enemy’s… something it almost always was.

The last reflection-type Spell was [Echo Shell].

On the surface, it worked a lot like [Prismatic Tide] did, but the difference was that rather than taking this water-trapped energy and turning it into an attack, it powered Theron’s ambient Mana instead and then stored it in the air as some sort of Domain, prepping it for use at any given moment.

Essentially, it was a converter. It was much less efficient than [Prismatic Tide] was since it wasn’t just trying to take advantage of potential energy, but rather changing Mana from one form to another by stimulating the shell of water it was trapped within.

Theron was intrigued by the method this Spell worked with, but when he got his hands on it, he realized he was overthinking things.

This Spell didn’t actually convert one Mana type to another like his Void Cores did, otherwise the latter wouldn’t be such a shocking natural treasure.

What the Spell actually did was similar to osmosis, though not quite. Usually, things of higher concentration flowed to regions of low concentration, but [Echo Shell] was essentially forcing the opposite.

It was using trapped attacks to amplify Water Mana’s ability to call forth more Water Mana into a like form.

So it wasn’t converting, it was signaling… echoing Theron’s personal call for Water Mana to a wider radius and thus pulling more Mana toward him, effectively increasing the amount he had to control.

That left just two more Spells, a pair of Spells that intrigued Theron quite a bit, especially when his brain began to flicker with possibilities for synergy.

The Spells went by almost the same name: [Dark Confluence] and [Oceanic Confluence]. They both formed a maze-like Domain over an entire battlefield, though [Dark Confluence] was much easier to trigger and cast, while [Oceanic Confluence] required much more Mana and much more effort in changing the landscape.

However, what was potently interesting about [Oceanic Confluence] was in the name. Many Water Mana Spells made allusions to the ocean, but only a rare few actually spoke its name. That was because the ocean held a completely different connotation than rivers, lakes, and other fresh bodies of water.

Salt was involved.

Of course, that was the layman’s answer. But to Theron, a Water Mancer amongst Water Mancers, it was about more than just salt—it was about an underlying Earth Mana and the clash between Water Mana and those energy forms.

The salt in the ocean wasn’t because some mighty being sprinkled condiments from the Heavens above—it was because of erosion, and the Water Mana of the world constantly clashing and butting heads with the Earth Mana of the world.

It could even be said that this was a battle that Water Mana was winning. On the vast majority of planets, Water Mana made up more than 60% of the surface, and the number of creatures and forms of life in the oceans tended to far exceed that of the number on land.

Theron had never seen them personally, but he himself had often had a great deal of internal debate about which form of Water Mana was the truest form.

Logically, it felt like fresh water should win. But if the vast majority of Water Mana was in this salinated form… should this intuition be the truth?

Theron had no idea just how highly debated and discussed this matter was. He had never had a formal Water Mancer as a teacher, and everything he knew came from himself. It was impossible, then, for him to have known already.

But… the fact he had stumbled onto this thought process himself said everything about the sort of genius he was.

The question then was… what happened when you had a Water Mancer Spell that used Water in this salinated form?

Theron could already tell that it was orders of magnitude more difficult to control. There was such a heavy Earth Mana character to it—it lacked the same fluidity, and the Spells took longer to cast as a result.

But the power…

Theron stood there in silence, his hand gripping the jade tightly as he lost himself to it. He seemed to have forgotten that he had other Spells to learn at all.

[Oceanic Confluence] was only a Gold Mancer technique, but it was the most complex Theron had ever laid his eyes on, and for the first time…

He was actually interested in the underlying secrets of a technique.

His thoughts were consumed by it, and time seemed to almost speed up in relation to himself, his eyes glazing over.

Deep within, though, his pupils seemed to somehow be becoming brighter and brighter.