*Sigh…
Scratching her head in annoyance, Shiro looked at the broken corpse in front of her and frowned.
She was currently struggling to utilise the new mystery element as all of her attempts would just result in brute force. This was the complete opposite of what she wanted since her goal was to have a sword that ignored defence.
“I guess it is a bit tough for me to make something like that. Hmm… maybe I should mix it with some other elements.” She muttered while glancing at the element orb.
Crossing her legs, she rested her chin on her left palm while her elbow was on her knee.
“What to do, what to do… After all that experimenting, I only have around 8 hours left.”
Closing her eyes, she thought about any potential synergy between her elements.
‘Hmm, for me to create a defence ignoring skill/sword, my nanobots are probably the best choice. Though… they’re not exactly elements since I don’t have an attunement for the- Wait a minute. Despite having access to nanobots and them technically being an element I can use, I don’t have an island for them? Plus, the class was man made to begin with so maybe I need to ‘make’ the attunement?’ Shiro raised her eyebrows in a sudden turn of realisation.
However, despite this realisation, she needed to first understand how to make it an attunement.
‘Hmm… from what I know, an attunement is when an elemental island is created from that element inside your mana realm. It joins up with your mana links and constantly fuels mana through them, allowing them to be used at any moment.
‘But with my nanobots, they don’t have the same treatment. In fact, if I had to describe it, it would be more akin to me being the island itself. Mana passes through me and I create the ‘element’. If I make a proxy/island to do this for me, there’s a good chance for the system to recognise it as an attunement. Though… I can’t help but feel that there’s more to it than that. If all I had to do was to create an island, there would be plenty of attunements to go around the place.’ Shiro thought to herself.
Unless it was a special circ.u.mstance, you were stuck with the element that you started with. Hence why it was rare for a person like her who had acquired multiple elements for her to use at will.
For her to try to make a new attunement with her nanobots, it was akin to defying the natural order.
“Nanomancer is already a class that wasn’t supposed to exist. Since I’m breaking the natural order, I might as well go all in. No point in finishing things in a half assed way.” Shiro grinned as her mana surged.
Even though she couldn’t access her mana realm in her current state, she could still manipulate her mana. Therefore, as long as her control was up to par, she could remotely create an island and obtain a new attunement for her sword.
Spending the next few hours meditating on the spot while focusing on controlling her mana, Shiro’s mana realm started to shift as a new island was slowly being created.
Meanwhile, Nimue could only sit dumbfounded in the middle of her mana realm.
During the fight, a foreign island appeared in her mana realm. One that would ‘glitch’ out occasionally and flicker between forms. Sometimes it was a fiery hellscape while others it was an island made of code. It was even an island of mist at one point!
Frankly, Nimue didn’t want to approach the island at all cost since she felt dangerous just being remotely near it. Understanding that the island represented an element that could tear out the code of a being from the system, Nimue wanted nothing to do with it even if it was an ‘ally’.
However, just as she was finally getting used to the presence of this island, another island started to form as the mana condensed together into a mass of nanobots that would pulse with life.
“What the f*ck are you even doing Shiro!?!? If you’re unconscious! Stay unconscious! Why the hell do you have to create random crap even while you’re recovering!” Nimue cried out in bitterness as her temporary home was becoming more and more dangerous.
If she approached the fire island, she’d be hurt as her water body would slowly evaporate. While it wouldn’t kill her, it was still less than pleasant. The same would happen on the other islands with varying degrees of harm but the only exception is Nature and Oceanic Abyss.
Now that Shiro’s mana realm had two additional ‘occupants’ that felt more dangerous than friendly, Nimue decided to permanently take refuge in either the Oceanic Abyss island or the Nature island.
“I’m gonna make sure I have a good talk with her later. There are spirits living in her body after all. What if Attie accidentally walked to the new islands?” Nimue frowned before focusing her mind back on making sure Shiro’s body was in tip top condition.
“Hais… I suppose I am still freeloading after all.” She sighed.
As Nimue continued to make sure Shiro’s body was in good condition, the new island started to grow in size as it was now equal to the total land mass of three islands.
Created from nanobots, the surface of the island was completely metallic. Swords, bows, guns and other weaponry were sticking out from the ground as if they were grave crosses at a church. Pieces of what would be an orbital cannon would be the foundation of a mountain while lightning would flicker through the island.
However, despite the island being created, Shiro still didn’t get the notification for the attunement as she could only sit in wonder as to why that was the case.
‘I know for a fact that I’m so close now. I’m just missing that final breakthrough that I need.’ Shiro thought with frustration. She could faintly feel the presence of the island so she knew that she was successful with the creation. But the fact that the system still hadn’t recognised it made her go mental about what she was missing.
It was akin to having OCD and seeing a picture that was tilted to the side but not being able to do anything with it. The mere thought of her being so close but not being able to accomplish what she wanted to frustrate her to no end.
At this point, it had just reached the 22 hour mark. With only 2 hours left to create her sword, Shiro couldn’t help but wonder if she was ever going to complete this on time.
‘Am I going to fail?’ She wondered before shaking her head and dismissed the thought.
‘Rather than humouring the idea of failure, I’d rather spend the remaining time thinking up anything I can do in order to achieve my goals.’
Quickly scrolling through her list of skills along with the ones in her database, she started to experiment once more but this time it was akin to randomness along the lines of; if I combine this skill with that, would the outcome be something desirable? Would it have synergy? If the answer was yes, she would try it out.
However, despite finding out a few interesting combinations, she couldn’t find anything that matched what she required.
”Ok, let me go back to the basics. For me to use an attunement, I channel my mana through the island. For the elements I receive from spirits such as Iziuel, they provide a bit of the mana required through staying on the island. As for Yin, who helped me obtain Astral rift and Lisandra, who helped me obtain Celestial Star, the contract between us allows for this to happen. Meaning they’re the proxy for me to actually access the elements. Maybe the missing link is a proxy? I need a proxy for my attunement to actually work.” Shiro muttered while looking down at her hands. Thinking about it for a moment, an idea appeared in her mind. Soul Sword. It was a sword that was a crystallised form of her soul.
Since she was now a spirit, her sword could be the bridge for her to become the proxy of her own attunement. After all, the source of her power as a Nanomancer came from nanobots. Without them, it was like asking a chef to cook without ingredients. It wouldn’t work.
With her left hand, she summoned her soul sword.
“If this doesn’t work, it’s back to the drawing board I guess.” Shiro chuckled before starting the experiment.
