Adrian navigated through the maze of towering bookshelves and sat down as he reached his familiar table. He took a deep breath to calm his mind.

’It’s finally time.’

This was a moment he had long been waiting for, the moment to test out the spell he had created.

Despite how impressive it seemed, Space Implosion wasn’t the spell he had been intending to create. It was merely something he had created as an experiment. After all, his original goal was to create a space element attack spell.

But when he learned how simple creating a spell actually was, he decided to create something more ambitious.

’Nothing came to mind at first, though.’

But he gained inspiration with Sir Joran’s help.

Adrian had always been curious. Why was he praised as a genius for possessing the space element? After all, it seemed so useless. At first, he had assumed that people thought of the space element as powerful simply because it was rare.

’But of course, people can’t be that stupid.’

A few people could, indeed, be that stupid, but people in general wouldn’t be. There had to be a better reason for this. When he asked this question to Sir Joran, the burly knight smiled widely as he replied.

’It’s actually because of a legend. Far in the past, a space element caster battled the Apex. Everyone had thought that the fight would be over in an instant, but to their shock, the space element caster actually managed a draw against the Apex.’

Although he didn’t quite know who or what this ’Apex’ was, Sir Joran had talked as if it were some kind of god. Adrian thoroughly researched that legend and managed to find a rather vital piece of information.

’Dimension Creation’

Apparently, this was the spell that space element caster had used in his battle against the Apex. Adrian then began collecting information on this spell, but what he found left him baffled.

’How did this Apex even survive that battle?’

Dimension Creation was an Undefined Tier spell, a spell that was at least above Tier Eight. It allowed the caster to create a separate dimension using mana. That dimension was like a completely different world. The caster had absolute control over that dimension and could literally do almost anything inside it using mana.

Inside the created dimension, the caster was like an untouchable, absolute god. What kind of monster did this Apex have to be for him to have survived such a battle?

This was the moment Adrian decided he was going to use the idea of the Dimension Creation spell as the basis for the spell he was going to create.

But there was a big problem. He was only at Phase Two; he didn’t have nearly enough mana to properly create a dimension. Surprisingly, he could actually create one, but it would only be the size of a peanut, even if Adrian completely emptied his mana reserve while casting it. A dimension that size would be useless.

This was the point where he got stuck for about half a year before he made a breakthrough.

’The inspiration came from looking at my presence.’

Presence was the mana constantly leaking from one’s body simply because the body couldn’t store it, even after it was subjugated by one’s intent.

It was basically Waste mana.

But what if one could use that waste mana too?

’Let’s hope it works.’

The spell he created worked something like this:

Adrian would use his entire mana reserves to create a peanut-sized dimension. He would then give up the ability to manipulate the interior of that dimension and transfer it to the spell he created. The spell was programmed so that the excess mana leaking from his body would instead be released into that dimension.

After the dimension was filled up entirely with mana, it would use a portion of the mana stored within to expand itself and make space for even more mana. This process would be repeated indefinitely.

This would theoretically create an infinitely expanding dimension containing infinite mana.

And by creating a link between the body and the dimension, one could theoretically use all the mana stored in the dimension, since the only requirement to manipulate mana is to have it subjugated by one’s intent.

’I still can’t believe it is possible.’

At first, his mind was filled with doubt, thinking that something like that should be impossible. After all, if it were indeed possible, then someone should’ve already created it. After all, Adrian didn’t think that his idea was unique enough that nobody could have thought of it before him.

More than that, the idea that someone could have infinite mana was too absurd for him to believe. After all, this world’s entire framework of power was based on the amount of mana one possessed.

But the more he thought, the more possible it seemed. All his calculations pointed to it working as he expected.

’Let’s do this.’

Sitting quietly behind the table, Adrian sharpened his focus to its absolute limit. He looked at the page lying on the table, which had instructions as well as diagrams of strange patterns and symbols on it. It was a simplified guide to casting the Dimension Creation spell.

Following all the instructions written on it perfectly, he began casting the spell as patterns resembling a dense constellation flickered in and out of existence.

The dimension wasn’t something physical; it couldn’t be seen since it existed as a separate space. But he could sense that dimension’s existence since it was created from his own mana.

"H-haah... Haah..."

A wave of weakness hit him as his body was completely drained of mana. He slumped back into the chair briefly.

’Now, it’s the hard part.’

Adrian turned the paper, looking at the instructions on the back side. There were a complex chain of patterns drawn on it, as well as instructions and guiding points. This was the spell he had created, the spell which would connect it all together like a framework.

Adrian briefly glanced at the paper before turning away. He had already memorized what was written on there. He was the one who had written it, after all.

While focusing on maintaining the tiny dimension, he waited for a few minutes so that some of his mana would be replenished. After all, he at least needed some amount of mana to cast this spell.

After a while, he felt his exhaustion somewhat fade as the sensation of mana flowing through his body slowly returned. Though his mana had barely recovered, this much was enough.

He put both his hands on his chest, commanding every drop of his recovered mana to gather and concentrate on that point. Patterns resembling a small constellation began to appear over his chest, floating in the air.

’Time to surrender my control over the dimension to the spell.’

By transferring his authority over the dimension to the spell, Adrian would forever lose his ability to manipulate the interior of this particular dimension. Still, it was a necessary step that was absolutely required.

The patterns changed and became slightly more complex, as if a few more stars were added to the constellation. He then established each rule or function he needed the spell to automatically perform, and more stars were constantly added as he continued adding rules.

By the time he completed casting the entire spell, it looked like a dense net made of glowing blue dots connected together by ethereal strings.

Adrian’s heartbeat sped up slightly as a single drop of sweat trickled down his chin. This was the moment of truth. Whether this spell would take effect or not would determine a lot of things for him.

If it did take effect, he would have infinite reserves of mana, which he could tap into whenever he wanted. But if it didn’t take effect, his next course of action would be determined by the problem that would occur.

Slowly exhaling a warm breath, he activated the spell. The magical formula was absorbed into his body, disappearing somewhere he couldn’t see or sense. He felt the sense of connection with that tiny dimension grow thin and rigid, as if something he should’ve been able to grasp with his hands went so far away that he could only look at it now.

That was the best way he could describe the sensation he felt. The sensation of losing part of his control over the dimension he had created.

But this didn’t confirm whether the spell had taken effect or not. To be completely sure, he would need to wait for a while.

Adrian sat quietly, trying his best to distract his mind by reviewing his notes related to the spell he had designed. Though it didn’t work as well as he had hoped.

About an hour passed just like that, and that was when he felt a familiar sensation, the sensation of his mana reserves having been completely replenished.

Adrian threw away the papers in his hand as if they were trash and observed his body carefully, from every angle he could.

’It’s gone.’

The massive bluish aura always surrounding him, the mana constantly leaking from his body—he could no longer see it.

Since his body’s mana capacity was full, the excess mana should now start leaking and creating an aura around him. But it wasn’t there, which meant... 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

’I’ve succeeded.’