Chapter 11: Formations
Seeing his uncle's reaction, Isaiah chuckled, which further sent chills through Louie's spine. "I wasn't expecting you, but you are welcome either way, uncle."
Louie put aside the suitcase he was holding and loosened his tie. While Isaiah didn't make a comment on his reaction, he still explained himself, "I wasn't imagining the process to be this gory, that's all." He then chuckled and added, "Originally, your aunt also wanted to visit, but business came up last second." He laughed and added, "She probably would have had a heart attack seeing you like this."
Isaiah also chuckled, then said, "What's wrong with it? It's just business." He was obviously being sarcastic, which caused Louie to shake his head.
He tapped on the suitcase he had put aside and asked with a smug grin, "Guess what your uncle managed to get his hands on?"
Isaiah's curiosity piqued. "What?" He moved closer to the suitcase and looked into it. Louie passed him one of the papers in it and said with a laugh, "It's blueprints for Formations. While it only involves beginner Formations and the bare basics, it's still a generous gift from the government. They must value this project more than my initial guess."
Isaiah took the paper and read it. After a minute of looking at it, he looked back at Louie. "Which one did you say had the basics on it?" Isaiah had understood nothing just by looking at the formation. To him, it seemed like relatively random lines; there wasn't even any order or symmetry in them, looking like the aftermath of a thunderstrike.
Louie noticed this, gave him the papers with the basics on them, and added, "It's normal that you can't get it without learning the fundamentals first."
Isaiah nodded silently, acknowledging it. The more he read, the more his eyes shined. This was exactly what would help take this project to the next level and make it THE method to enter Rank 1!
Louie smiled, seeing his reaction. "Pretty cool, huh? It's one of the reasons companies close to the government do so much better. I had access to it for a while, but obviously, even if you are my nephew, I couldn't share it easily. It's great you gained access to it through this."
Isaiah nodded. "I can see why. This still needs a person who is able to use mana to activate it, though, so you will have to lend me a Rank 1 to help the project."
"Don't worry, I already handled that part." He then yelled, "Farida, you can come in."
In walked a beautiful woman with a fit body. She had dark brown hair and skin; her amber eyes shone like sunlight in contrast to her dark complexion. One could simply admire her beauty just the same way one would admire a sunset. Just by looking at her, Isaiah's pupils enlarged.
Farida bowed at the two men one by one. The way she carried herself was aloof with a tint of gentleness. "My name is Farida, Sir Isaiah. I will find it a pleasure to work for you," a gentle smile formed on her beautiful face, managing to light up the mood of even the blood-covered, gory room.
Louie pointed with an open hand towards Farida and introduced her further, "Miss Farida here is from the Notus Empire. She recently arrived in the Silver Empire as the entry requirements were loosened between both empires." He added, "She wants to get a working permit and open her own business here."
Isaiah was surprised to learn this fact, as the Silver Empire had always been closer to the Amethyst Empire. Farida managed to catch Isaiah's surprise and decided to give additional context, "Recently, a second Rank 3 powerhouse emerged within the Amethyst Empire. The only Rank 3 in the empire for a while was the old emperor, due to the new emperor ascending the throne at a young age. But it was recently revealed that the new emperor has managed to enter Rank 3. Now the Silver Empire wants to strengthen their relations with the Notus Empire as protection against the Amethyst Empire."
Isaiah nodded. He hadn't heard the news of the emergence of a new Rank 3 figure; it seemed like the news didn't trickle down to the common people.
"Well, then, since it seems like you two got acquainted, I will see myself off, as I'm a bit busy these days." After saying his goodbyes, Louie exited the tent.
Isaiah turned his attention back to Farida. "I hope you won't mind helping me power up the formations?" Even though he already knew the answer, he still asked.
Farida nodded gently; her movements were elegant. She really looked out of place in this gory room. "That is my job, Mr. Isaiah."
"Isaiah is fine," he said while he moved a chair for her to sit, which she promptly did. "I will have to look through the formation papers and come up with a fitting new formation. I hope you won't mind waiting a while."
Farida, her movements serene like water, shook her head. "It wouldn't be a problem, Isaiah." She smiled a little while calling him just "Isaiah."
Her smile activated the neurons in Isaiah's mind, but he was an experienced player; he didn't show it at all. Instead, he just returned a slight smile and turned back to his working area. He sat on the table and started reading the pages introducing formations.
He found the pages' content quite messy and unorderly. Apart from that, he had learned a lot about formations and, in extension, about mana. He took a mana shard and drew a small formation on the ground. The formation looked like an abstract art piece and took more than 15 minutes to draw.
Isaiah then called Farida, "Farida, could you power this formation, please?" Farida walked next to him and knelt elegantly toward the ground, putting her slender fingers on the formation and injecting her mana into it. Mana moved through the established routes and filled it all at once, creating a beautiful pattern that looked no different from an art piece, and then, nothing happened. The formation failed to activate.
However, this didn't take Isaiah by surprise; he guessed this would happen but still wanted to see it in action. He turned to Farida, "The path of your mana is important while injecting the mana; also, you have to make the connections yourself and activate the final total shape that the mana takes to create the formation."
Farida nodded and tried again, and it once again didn't work. Farida turned to look at Isaiah's face, looking a little apologetic, which Isaiah found cute. He said to her, "It's fine, I didn't expect you to get it at your first try," then started drawing the routes at which he wanted her to take her mana and its timing. After he was finished, there were pages worth of instructions. Isaiah then spoke while passing her the papers, "Take your time and memorize it."
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