Chapter 93 – Stress

In front of Dream was a giant sphere of Mithril.

After assisting Sophia in putting this together, he was getting ready to carry out another experiment. 

Sophia had come up with a way to utilize those mana explosions and distribute the flux to other materials. The result was this ball of metal about 5 meters in diameter. Its outer layer was made of grade 4 Mithril, and the core was made from grade 3 Mithril. 

[What we need to do is explode the core, which will release the flux to the outer layer. Though the process of explosion will result in a violent expansion of the core, so I've thrown in a thin vacuum layer between the layers in hopes that nothing extreme will happen.]

"Fun. Then let's get started."

Dream didn't ask any questions and began filling the core with his mana. It took a decent amount, but not much before he began feeling its instability. And soon, it exploded.

*Thud*

<[Material Magic] has leveled up!>

<[Material Magic] has leveled up!>

<[Material Magic] has leveled up!>

<[Material Magic] has leveled up!>

A low sound came from the ball, and Dream could sense how the core had exploded and reformed into many smaller chunks. Its volume had actually decreased a bit. He also got 4 more skill level-ups.

[Ok, so good news and bad news.]

"...What?"

[Good news is, the flux is working as expected. The Grade 4 shell has been evenly enhanced to grade 4.5. Which means our experiment is a success.]

"And the bad news?"

[We may have created a capsule filled with some particle radiation. Or possibly plasma. Either way, there are particles like neutrons, alpha particles, and electrons that are flying around in there, so if I were to open it up, the reaction between the gas flowing in due to the vacuum and the particles flowing out will be unpredictable.]

"...Are we talking nuclear explosion type stuff?"

[...That's a good question.]

"Oh god. Alright, just...Slow the particles down before we open it. We won't until we can be sure that it won't destroy me and everything within 100 miles of here."

Dream began panicking when he thought about the possibility of accidentally creating an atomic bomb. He didn't think doing this would casually result in something so dangerous. 

Eventually, Sophia got everything that was moving inside slowed down and even modified the metal to help make things safer. She then opened it up and dumped out the 'depleted silver'.

[Ok, I'll take that into account next time. Turns out, the more flux there is, the more intense the explosion. This could make for interesting weapon designs.]

"Like nuclear weapons?"

[That's one option. If we made a ball of metal with high flux content and put some hydrogen gas in its center, then that would effectively make a hydrogen bomb. The flux explosion would cause the hydrogen gas to fuse under the pressure which would result in the nuclear explosion. Although we would need to calculate the pressure of the flux explosion, it could be done. But it could also be applied to small scale weapons.]

"Like my gun?"

[Yes. We can use flux explosions as a propellant. Again, I would need to calculate the pressure of flux explosions, but it could be done. It may or may not be better than your electromagnetic gun.]

"Very cool. So we've found three uses for flux explosions. To make better metals, to make better bullets, and to make nuclear bombs."

[This might be one of the biggest and most useful discoveries that we've made. Given enough time and mana, we'll be able to make new tools, gear, technology, and most of all, better materials. We can make our own grade 8 Mithril, maybe even this Pure Mithril that only the strongest in the world have.]

"I know. But even after I've gained the skills and power that I have, we've only just discovered this extraordinary energy, flux. Its nature is so...magical. It's not of the physical universe, something alien. It makes me wonder what kind of other secrets are out there. And the power of the beings who can wield those secrets, when something so small like this is already so powerful."

Dream fell into thought. He thought he had already discovered a lot, but this opened his eyes once more. Something so exotic was sitting all around him, in plain sight. But he had only just opened his eyes enough to find it. He wondered what was out there, the things he could find if he was able to open his eyes a bit more. 

[Well, one step at a time. For now, we're going to concentrate on this flux and making better metals. This flux doesn't only apply to Mithril. So we might be able to do something with that steel.]

"That would be cool. But it's going to take tons of mana to make materials at higher levels than grade 6 mithril. The problem is that we actually have to explode this stuff by filling it with mana, and each grade we go up requires much higher mana levels."

[Well for one, the mana only dissipates when it explodes. Not only that, but we have plenty of storages and ways to recover mana. So the amount isn't the problem. The problem is going to be the stress on your soul from moving such huge amounts of mana. Not to mention the instability when it overloads, which you'll have to combat over and over again.]

"...I'm not too worried about that. Sure it's stress, but it'll strengthen me in the process. I'm no stranger to moving volumes of mana greater than my own pool. So just point me in the direction and I'll push."

[Alright. Then let's get started.]

After she spoke, all the silver ingots around the warehouse began flying over and forming themselves into spheres with different layers. 

20 tons, equaling 40,000 pounds, all split into 200 balls weighing 200 pounds each. Each ball had a grade of Mithril in the core and the next grade up for the outer layer. 

Sophia had set him up with the most efficient way to enhance materials, and all he needed to do was the manual labor. But he understood that they still didn't understand everything about this process, and each explosion they performed was an experiment to improve efficiency. So he started from the lowest grades and would move his way up.

Dream went to the lowest grade spheres consisting of grade 1 and 2 Mithril. He infused his mana into 5 spheres at once, causing 5 simultaneous explosions.

<[Material Magic] has leveled up!>

<[Magic] has leveled up!>

Dream got another level up and Sophia studied each explosion thoroughly. When they moved on, the spheres were modified according to what Sophia saw and felt was best. Dream continued and caused more explosions.

After each explosion, Sophia modified the spheres more and more. Sometimes she only changed the internal structure, sometimes she also experimented with different shapes. Sometimes she would throw in some venting holes, sometimes she would seal everything, the changes were varied and wild, but Dream knew that she was making more and more progress into understanding the nature of flux energy and the best way to distribute it. 

Dream went through each sphere from grade 1 through 6 and detonated them all. This left the spheres filled with depleted silver which they would open up and take out before reforming the spheres and repeating the process. 

So Dream went through the spheres one by one again. He disregarded the already piling fatigue and pushed through. During this, he began thinking of Arrina and how she would have the same machine-like repetitions. She would just work until she couldn't, and Dream was going to do the same.

He went through hundreds of spheres that reformed again and again. Sometimes they would get smaller, but sometimes they would get bigger. They would form into more weird shapes like diamonds and prisms, even stars. 

Though this was another thing that piled up stress, the shaping. He would have to shape the metal through melting and cooling constantly. And sometimes, Sophia would maintain the heat and explode the metal as an experiment itself. 

Very quickly, Dream ran out of mana, but as Sophia said, mana wasn't a problem. He could take it from a storage or just recycle it from the explosion. And even when he needed more mana than he could give, he would just pull it from somewhere else and funnel it where needed. This was especially so when he began hitting the higher grades that needed excessive amounts of mana to explode.

Even a grade 6 sphere of mithril needed all of his mana infused into it at once for it to explode. So as he began approaching grade 7 spheres, he was handling over double his original mana pool.

Over time, he began forgetting about time. He just moved on to the next thing he needed to do. That was until the sun rose, but he didn't care. He was too engrossed to care about school. 

But eventually, he had to stop. Not because of school, but because he collapsed from exhaustion.

"...I'm tired."

Dream could barely get the words out after falling to the floor. He felt numb and in pain at the same time. His soul hurt. A lot. And it wasn't a pain that could be taken away or avoided. 

[You did a good job. Go ahead and rest now.]

"..."

Dream didn't respond with words, instead immediately taking her advice and falling unconscious.

..............

.........

When Dream woke back up, it was daytime. 

As he opened his eyes, he noticed he wasn't in the warehouse. He was instead laying on some grass. He wasn't sure where he was.

"Ugh. I don't feel good at all. Did I sleep for 2 hours or something?"

[More like 24.]

"...If I was out for so long, then why do I still feel unhealed?"

[Because it's going to take a little longer for your soul to heal. You'll have to give it another day. And during this time, you aren't to do anything besides the bare minimum.]

"*sigh* So where am I?"

Dream didn't argue and looked around.

[Outside the city. I walked you here as you slept.]

"Oh. Alright. Why?"

[So you can go to school. If you go right now, you might be able to make it to your first class.]

"..."

[I'm not saying you need to go to school or anything. I just thought it would be good to explain yourself to the girls. And you can relax and heal throughout the day without being bored inside a warehouse.]

"...Ok"

Dream nodded and stood up from the grass floor. He could indeed see the city and began walking. Though he tried to fly, it hurt when he used his skills so he didn't.

Eventually he entered the city and made his way to the academy. He first went back to the dorm, and when he entered his room, he found some documents that gave him his class numbers. He was in a new class after all. So he took the documents and began making his way to the class.

Luckily, he got there right as the bell rang. 

*Ding* *Ding* *Ding*

"Alright class. Toda- Oh, who are you?"

"Dream?!"

The teacher noticed Dream walking in and stopped before he started. A shout also rang out, and Dream recognized who it was. 

He looked over to one of the top seats and saw Arrina sitting there. He smiled and waved before turning back to the teacher, showing him the documents.

"I'm Dream."

"So you were the second new student. Why weren't you here yesterday?"

"I'm in the healing class and I got busy with some work at the hospital. It took up most of my day yesterday. Sorry about that."

"Oh, I understand. That's no problem. Go ahead and take a seat up there next to our other new student."

"Ok."

After Dream came up with the nice excuse of healing people to get out of his absence, he took a seat next to Arrina who was looking at him dumbly. He spoke to her using telepathy.

'Sorry about disappearing.'

'What do you mean sorry?! We woke up yesterday and you were just gone! You didn't even show up for our first day in the intermediate class. What the hell were you doing?'

Arrina angrily replied to him, and it even showed on her face. 

'I was working on something important, and it ended up being a workout of my own. I collapsed and slept for all of yesterday because of it. But even after all that time I'm still not healed. I won't be able to do much until I recover.'

'...'

Arrina took a look at him and noticed that he really did seem much weaker than before. His aura wasn't energetic and casual, instead being pained and tired. She got worried.

'...Are you okay?'

'Yea. It hurts to use magic, but I brought it on myself. I'll be fine given some time.'

'Well if you need anything, just ask. We can take care of you too, you know.'

'Thanks. And again, sorry for disappearing.'

'It's fine. We were just concerned. After Mara went around the school and couldn't find you, she went to whoever her 'grandpa' is and tried to get his help. He in turn went to that guy you know, Riddick, but he said that you were fine. So we eventually dropped it.'

'...It's not like I died. Why did she go so far?'

'She was just that worried about you. Maybe even more than me. It's not normal for people to just disappear for a day, so we could only assume the worst.'

'...Oh.'

Dream felt guilty. They really worried about him that much.

[Look at how nice they are. You need to properly apologize to them. Especially Mara. One of her only friends just up and vanishes. She probably didn't take that well.]

'Ya, I'll think of something.'

Dream was going to seriously apologize to Mara. He would also do something for Arrina. Though he would have to wait to heal a bit more before using his skills.

'I'll make it up to you guys.'

'You don't have to. Just don't disappear like that without telling us first. We're friends now, right?'

'Right.'

Arrina nodded and smiled, satisfied.

They went through the class quietly and soon moved on to the next, where they also got through it smoothly. Soon came lunch.

Dream and Arrina went to his dorm. She also told him how they used this place even though he wasn't here, which he was fine with. They settled down and soon, Mara came walking in.

"..."

"Hi Mara. I- Wait, where are you going?"

Dream was surprised when Mara walked in, looked at him, then walked away. He hurriedly gave chase.

It hurt, but he ran out and using his vastly superior strength and speed, moved in front of her before she could even react.

"Let me explain."

"Eek!"

Mara crashed into him after he just appeared in front of her. He caught her and held her shoulders.

"Hey, I'm really sorry about disappearing."

"You...You left..."

"Well, if leaving the city and working myself to exhaustion counts as leaving then yea, I guess I did. Look, I just had something I needed to do and I didn't expect it to lead to what it did. I was planning to be back when you guys woke up but that was until I collapsed and slept for a day."

"..."

"Look, I heard about what you did, and I'm really grateful. I'm also really sorry. Arrina talked to me and made sure that I would say something before vanishing like that. We shouldn't make each other worry. Because we're friends. Right?"

Dream let her go as he spoke and looked into her eyes. She had a hard time meeting his, but when she did and saw his weak aura as well as sincerity, it told her what she wanted. She lowered her head and nodded. 

"...Yea."

"Thanks. Wanna hug?"

"N-no, that's alri-"

"Come on Arrina, bring it in."

"Ok!"

Arrina skipped over and they squished Mara between them. Although she 'fought' a bit, she eventually just let herself be squeezed.