"Hm?" Theron blinked, reaching forward and picking up the little tool.

The handle rounded nicely in his palm. However, it was small, almost too small.

Theron was still short in stature, being only 5'8" or so by now. He was quickly getting to the point that he just might not grow much more at all, not that he cared very much.

However, his hands were still quite large, especially for his height, making the tool a bit uncomfortable to wield since it was only about three or four inches or so long from edge to edge.

The blade, or skinning blade on the end of it, was even shorter than that, only about half the length.

"Yes. You'd think that the higher the grade, the easier carving would be, but no. That vindictive little thing is a true demon. Mana Wood is only second to Mana Crystal in terms of how much Mana it has stored within it. The difference is that Mana Crystals are hollow outside of the thick, somewhat permeable shell, while Mana Wood has the same density of Mana throughout.

"When you use the carver to cut into it, Mana will pour out immediately. Usually, it will gush out and be lost, but a carver can gather it. As it gathers it into the blade, the carver becomes heavier, and the addition of the Mana actually dulls the blade.

"This is because Mana Wood is actually quite sturdy. Because it's so dense with Mana, it's far tougher than even wood of the same grade. In order to cut into it, you either need overwhelming strength or a carver.

"That's where a bit of the oxymoron comes into play.

"A carver has the special ability to carve Mana Wood because it has special Mana Negating runes on it, a rare form of Spirit Mancy imbued into the blade itself. But they couldn't leave well enough alone.

"The higher the grade of the carver, the more Mana it's able to accumulate from the Mana Wood, and the more Mana it accumulates from the Mana Wood, the duller the blade becomes because the carver's Mana Negating runes become too occupied to continue expressing their Mana Negating effects.

"It's a whole looping paradox, a chicken-and-the-egg of complete nonsense.

"You need a stronger carver to cut into stronger Mana Wood, but if it's too strong you'll dull the blade even faster."

Theron's gaze flickered as he turned the carver in his palm.

"Where do you get Mana Wood?"

"It's the one thing our Sect doesn't lack since the density of Dark Mana is so massive here. Practically all the trees on Sect property are technically Mana Wood."

"And is Mana Wood only useful for this?"

"Not necessarily."

"And are there grades of Mana Wood?"

"Yes, for sure."

"And I assume those grades affect carving too?"

"Yup. If you really want to suffer, match a higher-grade carver to higher-grade Mana Wood and see what happens."

Theron smiled and kept the carver.

"I assume the technique tower will have something about this too?"

"It will…" Lyra gave him another weird look.

"What's that look for?"

"You don't know the kind of mess you're getting yourself into. But I'll let you suffer on your own. When you come crying to me later, don't blame me for not warning you."

"What's the worst that can happen? Is the Mana Wood going to explode?"

Lyra gave him a pointed look, and Theron's lip twitched. It seemed that that was a possibility in the cards.

But his act aside, even if there was a chance of death, Theron would be taking it. He had never seen a systematic method of training Mana Control before—how could he not take it?

The only trouble was that this would only work based on the Mana Wood he was using. There was no universal method.

So for now, he'd only be able to train Dark Mana since Dark Mana Wood was all he'd have access to.

Though… there was a chance that the trees near the Dark River would have Dual Resonances to them. That could be fascinating to try out soon.

But if there was a certain risk of danger, then it would be far better for him to consider raising his Dark Mana Control to the same level as his Water Mana Control first. Only when he had done that could he take more drastic and dangerous measures.

Until then, he would take one step at a time.

"Alright, to the next floors."

…

Theron, ironically enough, found the least interesting things on this floor because he had never had any intention of picking anything other than what he had already decided on long before stepping foot in here.

He chose a Peak Gold Resonance inner armor and a Peak Gold Resonance spear.

The former spoke for itself, though he wasn't sure if it could save him from anyone he would have any actual trouble with. As for his spear, he had picked this weapon precisely because it was wholly unlike any weapon he had used before now.

In truth, Theron could use any weapon he wanted. This was because his Resonance immediately attuned his weapon to Water Mana, allowing his tactics, his movements, his use of it to mirror Water seamlessly.

Of course, there was a transition period that was needed, and he felt that there were some weapons that better suited Water than others.

However, for the time being, it would do.

Before he got here, he had already refined his spear just enough that most wouldn't be able to tell he had only picked up the weapon recently. When the time was right, he would go back to the weapons he was most comfortable with.

That said… he felt the spear wasn't too bad, either. It seemed an especially good pairing for a Dual Resonance of Water and Darkness.

A mid-ranged weapon with the fluidity of water and shadows would be exceptionally difficult to beat…

The only unfortunate thing was that he would have to abandon the blade path of the unnamed cultivator for now. That path had even more potential than what Theron was seeing here.

"Alright. Let's go to the technique tower."

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