Gerhard had created the bullet version of Mana Arrow. But he wasn't content with this. He realised that what he was creating with this skill was merely the shape of a bullet, not an actual bullet.
Again, the system was cheating for him.
But if it were like this, it should be able to be ecstatic if he created an actual bullet. And so, he did.
Gerhard sat down, completely ignoring what Sera was doing, and focused on a standard bullet for an autogun. He had created so many of those bullets at this point that he knew their interior and design by heart. And he knew something else... mental image and willpower were essential when using Mana.
Mana floated above his palm as he entered [Mana Mediation] unknowingly.
He went ahead and mentally recreated the process of building a bullet using nothing but his mind, and the Mana followed his thoughts. The casing, the interior... all of it followed his will, and after roughly 10 minutes, Gerhard held an actual bullet, made entirely of Mana, above his hand.
[Mana Bullet has levelled up by 39]
Mana Bullet (Active) Lv. 40
| MP: 5 (base)
| EXP: 3.08%
| A highly refined mana projectile technique that compresses, accelerates and stabilises Mana into high-velocity destructive rounds.
| At advanced levels, the user can alter projectile properties, trajectory and firing patterns.
Effects:
| Bullets: 12 (simultaneous)
| +250% projectile speed
| +180% damage
| +120% penetration power
| +80% accuracy (auto-correction mid-flight)
Additional Effects:
| Projectiles can slightly track targets, following the caster's will
| Can fire in bursts or spread patterns
| Increased effective range
-
"Oh, yeah, now we're talking. Bahahahaha, I will become ridiculous. This isn't even its final form!"
"Did you go insane now?"
The voice of Sera pulled Gerhard out of his thoughts. She stood in front of him, holding her Long-Las in her hand and seemed to be ready to shoot him, in case he had truly lost his mind.
"I just made a great advancement. I may or may not have solved the ammunition problem. Using my energy, I can create bullets and even add certain properties as I see fit."
"What? So you could create a bolter round, from thin air?!" Sera asked.
"Hey, that's a good idea. Let me try that."
Gerhard once more entered his meditative state and focused on the intricate workings of the standard Bolter round. This time, it took longer, and the energy exploded several times, shocking Sera before he finally got it right.
After roughly half an hour, Gerhard held the Mana-version of a bolter round above his hand and grinned like a lunatic. It was a real bolter, just made of Mana.
[Mana Bullet has levelled up by 27]
Mana Bullet (Active) Lv. 67
| MP: 5 (base)
| EXP: 0.38%
| A highly advanced mana projectile technique that allows full control over projectile creation, behaviour and impact.
| The user can shape, accelerate and guide multiple mana bullets simultaneously with extreme precision.
Effects:
| Bullets: 18 (simultaneous)
| +400% projectile speed
| +300% damage
| +220% penetration power
| +150% accuracy
| -30% mana cost (efficiency from mastery)
Additional Effects:
| Advanced tracking (multi-target)
| Variable projectile behaviour
| High stability under rapid fire
-
"OH SHIT!!"
"What?! What happened?!" Sera exclaimed, once again, not expecting such an outburst.
"I think I just broke the game..."
"What game? What are you talking about?"
"The great game, of course. Ha... haha... hahaha... HAHAHAHAHA... oh, shit!"
Sera grabbed Gerhard by the shoulder and calmed him down.
"What is going on, Gerhard?"
"This," Gerhard said and created a single Mana Bolter above his palm.
"Is that a--"
WHOOOOSHH--
The Mana Bolter round shot through the air so fast that it was almost impossible to see it with the naked eye. All Sera noticed was the sound and what followed.
The bolter hit the Boss Monster of the second level of the Labyrinth Dungeon, the Giant Arachnid and when it did...
BBOOOO---OOOOMMM--!!
The poor creature blew up so hard that it didn't even realise what happened. The entire floor shook, and the walls trembled. The shockwave was hot and strong enough to knock Sera off her feet and send her tumbling to the floor.
"..."
"..."
"Uhhh... yeah, that."
"WHAT THE F--"
.
Well, it was indeed ridiculous. Gerhard had just proven that with enough knowledge and the necessary Mana, you could be basically invincible. Such was it cheating to be the Gamer.
Naturally, Gerhard wasn't finished. Not after he had smelled blood in the water with this demonstration. No, he was just getting started. So, after Sera had finished her training more or less and needed a break, Gerhard retreated to his workroom to go nuts.
He had created a Mana Bullet, so could he use said bullets with his guns?
The short answer was no, that wasn't possible.
Worse, Gerhard destroyed several of his weapons to try out his theory. So, another thing had to be done; he needed to create a weapon that could fire Mana Bullets.
> The answer to this problem may lie in what the late Tech Priest had in his mind. A group of weapons called Force Weapons.
"Tell me what he knew."
> Yes, Master. Force weapons, also known as psy weapons, are advanced, psychically attuned close combat weapons that are only fully effective in the hands of a psyker.
> The name of the weapon is derived from the term "the force", which is commonly used for psyching energy and its use. Force weapons effectively act as deadly, psychic extensions of the wielder's own powers. They are designed to allow a psyker to channel deadly warp energies into their victim, acting as a conduit between the wielder's mind and the flesh of their target.
> Large alien monstrosities and daemons that are resilient to conventional weapons can be slain outright by a single wound, as the unearthly powers of the Immaterium destroy their bodies and minds.
> Force weapons take the form of swords, spears, or other close-combat weapons. Within the structure of the weapon is interwoven a psi-converter, formed into a precise serpentine shape, that concentrates and directs psychic energy.
"Interesting. What else?"
> If a non-psyker took up such a weapon, it functioned as a standard weapon.
"Do you have schematics, by chance?"
> As a matter of fact, there were some pieces of information on Force Weapons, but since the Mechanicum hates everything flesh and trusts only the machine, there are very few.
"What about the Grey Knigths? Is there some information about them or the Force Weapons they use?"
> None, Master. But I believe you might be able to recreate such a weapon if you've already created a normal one, no?
"I might, but it's not as easy as it may seem. I'll need quite a bit of research and training in that regard. Nemesis Force Weapons might have been the answer to fusing my Mana into all of my technology, apart from using it to power the suit."
"Can you imagine, the Iron Monger with a Psylencer or a Psycannon on the shoulder or on the Lightning Claw... Well, never mind then, I'll just have to start from scratch."
> Not quite, Master. There is some information about Force Weapons from the Tech Priest's memories. I believe you can use them.
.
Gerhard was in his study, using [Special Creation] in wild abandon, creating ammunition, magazines and entire weapons from scratch. All of them were Novice grade, but it was worth it. You never knew what might happen, and it allowed him to deepen his experience with the skill. It was so close to evolving to [Legendary Creation].
As that was going on, Gerhard constantly kept [Psionic Mana Shield] active. Just like the creation skill, it was an invaluable skill for him, as it allowed him to block all attacks, no matter what they were. All he needed was to level the damned thing.
He had come to realise that he could change the shape of the shield and maybe use less of it, concentrating it on specific areas. The smaller the area he made the shield, the higher the defence grew, exponentially.
Thanks to Gerhard's new [Dual Casting] skill, he also tried out something else. His breathing skills had reached a bottleneck. He had finally managed to turn it into a passive skill and gain the bonus stats at all times. The problem was that it stopped levelling up.
His training was getting harder, and he still had no idea how to create the iconic gravity training with his Mana. The different spells were a long time away for him. But he would look into it, that was certain. There was another idea he had, which he would look into before he went and fought the Orks again.
...
Gerhard focused on carefully controlling his Mana. His [Mana Control] now sat at a comfortable level 4, which reduced his MP consumption by 25%.
He controlled the Mana, letting it flood his body. He imagined it slowly flowing through his blood vessels and muscles. He was careful and didn't rush anything.
Nothing happened at first, but after working on it for a full hour, the system finally reacted.
[A new skill has been created through a special action]
[A skill to reinforce the body using Mana has been created.]
[A similar skill, 'Deep Breathing Energy Control - Constant', has a high synergy with the new skill.]
[Fusing skills]
Mana Reinforcement (Active/Passive) Lv. 1
| MP: 1000 (activation)
| EXP: 0.00%
| A fundamental technique that reinforces the entire body using Mana, enhancing physical, mental and energetic systems simultaneously.
| This technique strengthens muscles, bones, nerves and mana flow.
Passive:
| STR +10%
| VIT +10%
| DEX +10%
| INT +10%
| WIS +10%
| HP Recovery +10%
| MP Recovery +10%
| Fatigue Recovery +10%
Active:
| Additional STR +20%
| Additional VIT +20%
| Additional DEX +20%
| Additional INT +20%
| Additional WIS +20%
| +25% physical resistance
| +20% mana/energy resistance
| MP: 100/min
-
"Oooooohhh, baby. Yes, I think that works. Let's see my new status window."
-------------------------
|Name: Gerhard
|Class: The Gamer
|Level: LV42
|Title: The Grinder
-------------------------
|HP: 2400/2400 (2640)
|MP: 1814/1814 (2180)
-------------------------
STR: 79 (+16)
VIT: 84 (+17)
DEX: 70 (+14)
INT: 144 (+29)
WIS: 88 (+18)
LUK: 20
-------------------------
|Points: 181
|Money: 0
-------------------------
Derived Stats:
MP Regen:
→ Passive: 1,032.66 / min
→ Passive + Iron Will: 1,807.16 / min
MP Regen with [Mana Reinforcement] active:
→ Passive: 1368.73 / min
→ Passive + Iron Will: 2470.28 / min
HP Regen:
→ Passive: 703.93 / min
→ Passive + Iron Will: 1231.88 / min
MP Cost:
→ 67.5% of normal
-------------------------
"That is 'quite' a good status window."
> I believe the word "quite" is not really appropriate here. You basically regenerate your entire Mana pool in a minute. That's beyond ridiculous. That's definitely cheating.
"I suppose it somewhat makes up for the fact that I still have such a small amount."
> What does that matter, Master? When you can regenerate it the same time you use it? That's almost like having endless Mana and only a max amount you can use each time. That sounds very overpowered to me.
"As long as I can't see a Primarch's level and stats and am either the same or higher, I can't even call myself powerful."
> I apologise. Allow me to return to the bottomless pit we find ourselves in...
> Very well. Mental status adjusted.
> What terrible stats, Master. You probably barely qualify as a standard Space Marine.
"That's the spirit, Hans. Now we just need to turn up the music and get back to grinding. This reinforcement skill is actually ridiculous. Depending on what the max level is, I can pretty much cheese my way through life now."
> Might I suggest: Stayin' Alive from the Bee Gees?
"Not a bad idea. But I think something with a bit more oomph is needed. Give me: In The Shadows - The Rasmus."
> Understood.
.
Gerhard went ahead and continued working on a Storm Bolter that could fire [Mana Bullets]. So instead of focusing on improving damage and recoil, heat generation, and all that, he focused only on durability and ammunition integration.
And while he did that, he used [Psychokinesis] to both train the skill and gain valuable levels, and protect himself from the frequent high-energy explosions that occurred many times.
He used a time-dilation dungeon to achieve this beautiful creation.
Gerhard fell into a rythm, where he used [Psionic Mana Shield], [Special Creation], [Spinning Mana Arrows], [Mana Bullets], [Psychokinesis] and [Mana Reinforcement].
Gerhard was interested in creating a Mana Construction skill, something that was like a Green Lantern skill. But because it was real after he created it, it was essentially borderline reality manipulation - on a very small scale, but still.
He had a lot to do.