Reincarnation Of A Swordsman: The Omni Mage

Chapter 106: Attempting to Form a Chaos Core

Creating a mana core was a delicate and essential process, after all, your ability to create a core directly affected your ability to channel that magic.

Due to the importance of this step in your journey to become a mage; the academy made all first years attend a 1-week-long class specifically meant to teach them how to sense their mana, control it, and form it into a functional core.

Kyle had already been through this ordeal before when he created his lightning mana core, and it wasn't a very difficult process.

In fact, Kyle believed that he could create a core that night, as his mana control was on a different level compared to when he created his Lightning core.

He just had to sense his chaos mana pool before controlling it with his will to compress it into a small spherical orb.

Once the orb achieved the smallest possible volume, that further compression might make it collapse, Kyle simply had to use external mana—a mana core to obtain the highest concentration—and bind the core with the external energy. That was simple.

"Let's begin," Kyle muttered to himself as he began sensing his mana flow. It didn't take much time for him to locate it.

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The stream of his chaos mana flowed in an opposite direction with his lightning core. It shone with a chaotic blend of different colors, making it stand sharply in Kyle's mind.

Kyle quickly got to work. It took him a few moments to get acquainted with the Chaos mana, but he managed to do so at the end and could now direct its mana flow.

'Just like before,' Kyle thought, recalling how he'd formed his first core. But as soon as he reached out to guide the chaos mana, its wild nature fought back in an attempt to resist his will.

It was like trying to catch the wind with bare hands. Despite his focus, the mana crumbled, scattering into streams before he could even begin forming it into an orb.

Kyle was saddened at what happened, but he didn't fully expect to form the core on his first try. Forming a core wasn't meant to be easy.

"Alright," Kyle whispered to himself. "I'll do it this time."

He tried again, this time envisioning his chaos mana pool like a turbulent river. He attempted to direct the current, slowly compressing the flow inward to form a small, dense sphere.

At first, it seemed to be working. The chaos mana began to swirl, forming the rough outline of a sphere. Kyle felt a bit of hope when he saw that it was working, but just as quickly as it appeared, the mana scattered, bursting apart in a violent dispersal.

Kyle felt a bit of pain in his chest after realizing that he had failed twice in a row.

'Not yet,' he told himself. Sitting back up, he knew it was time to control the chaos.

Kyle took a deep breath and closed his eyes once more before reaching out mentally, trying to command the wild mana to bend to his will, coaxing and forcing it into formation.

The pool of mana twisted but kept resisting every attempt at order. It would start to shape, only to shatter again as if mocking him.

Kyle muttered through gritted teeth, "No… I will make this work."

Minutes soon turned into hours for Kyle, while the relentless cycle of molding and collapsing repeated itself over and over again, each failure dampening his resolve.

He hadn't expected to perfect it on the first try, but he'd hoped to make more progress than this.

'This mana, it's like it has a mind of its own,' Kyle couldn't help but conclude. The mana just couldn't be controlled by him but Kyle knew better than to give up.

Kyle closed his eyes once more and continued. In a blink of an eye, five full hours had passed and Kyle hadn't made any progress.

He was exhausted and his body was drenched in sweat. The effort of controlling and condensing chaos mana had really drained him mentally.

'No. I can't give up,' Kyle thought, shaking off the doubt that made him feel like giving up. The challenge was expected. He was trying to mold chaos itself, after all—something that defied structure by its very nature.

But Kyle didn't want to surrender just yet. He pushed himself upright, ignoring the groan of his body protesting the movement.

"I will do this."

Kyle sat cross-legged again and inhaled deeply. He emptied his mind, reaching deep within himself, pulling on every ounce of mental discipline he had.

This time, he employed a different approach. Instead of brute-forcing the mana into submission, he tried guiding it with a gentler touch, like taming a wild animal rather than caging it.

The chaos mana shifted slightly, hesitating as if surprised by the change. Encouraged, Kyle nudged the energy, using his will to coax it into a coiling form.

For a moment, it responded, moving almost willingly, but before he could feel the rush of success, it fractured again, scattering into jagged bursts.

Kyle sighed after failing again. He was very much tired and he knew he needed some rest before the night crawled to an end.

Kyle's gaze drifted to the bed, where Void slept peacefully, undisturbed from all he was passing through.

He followed suit making space on the bed for him to lie down. "Tomorrow..." Kyle promised himself

as he lay down. "...I'll continue,"

With that Kyle shut his eyes, he knew how important it was for him to succeed in this; failure was not an option. He had to rely on himself to form a chaos core, as there was no one he could run to nor anyone who knew about such an element.

These thoughts echoed in Kyle's mind as he finally allowed his body to relax, surrendering to the pull of sleep. Chaos would bend to him—he would make sure of it. But for now, he needed rest.