The laboratory provided by the Sovereign Collective was a marvel of archaic technology—a subterranean bunker shielded by anti-scrying runes and lined with reinforced Mythril plating. This was not a military base, but a highly focused research facility, exactly what I needed. My alliance with the Collective was purely transactional: they supplied the Ancient Lore and Rare, Volatile Essences; I provided the unique data derived from my Epic Gauntlet's ability to consume and stabilize them.
My immediate focus was on skills deemed "Unsustainable" by conventional arcane standards. These were Rare-tier skills that, when activated, demanded such an overwhelming, continuous mana drain that any hunter using them would deplete their entire internal reserve in seconds, rendering them defenseless or causing fatal systemic collapse. But my current configuration—the Epic core fueled by the chaotic electrical surplus of the Storm Titan Core and filtered by the Legendary-grade Void Alchemist—suggested I could maintain constant, high-pressure consumption indefinitely.
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I selected three skills from the Collective's vast, esoteric vault, each representing a fundamental challenge to conventional Hunter physics:
Aura Projection (Rare, Energy/Utility): An advanced form of intimidation that allows the user to project their raw power aura outwards, mimicking a higher-rank hunter's presence. Conventionally used for a brief moment of psychological intimidation, it requires a continuous drain to maintain the projection. My Goal: Constant, Rank-S Intimidation.
Density Manipulation (Rare, Gravity/Defense): Enables the user to temporarily increase the density of their physical armor or clothing, rendering them hyper-resistant to external impacts. It demands a proportional, continuous mana tax to keep the density active, effectively paralyzing the user within seconds. My Goal: Constant, Lightweight Hyper-Defense.
Hyper-Focus (Rare, Void/Augmentation): A specialized skill that drastically increases the user's perception and reaction time, accelerating thought processes to near-impossible speeds. The continuous mana cost is astronomical, as the brain rapidly burns through energy reserves to maintain the augmented state. My Goal: Perpetual Bullet-Time Perception.
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My initial attempts to run even one of these skills continuously were disastrous. When I activated Aura Projection, the chaotic Storm Titan energy surged too violently, the power flickering and destabilizing before sputtering out, nearly frying the testing equipment. The system was powerful, but it was not controlled enough for prolonged, continuous application.
This was the core flaw of my current configuration: Massive Power, Low Refinement.
I retreated to the drawing board, reviewing the complex data logs provided by the Collective's research staff. The key lay in the Void Alchemist. I wasn't using it for its primary purpose (filtering Mythic chaos) but for its secondary function: refining unusable energy into stable, consumable catalyst essence.
I began aggressively filtering my internal energy. I pushed the Void Alchemist to its limit, forcing it to consume all the latent, chaotic Storm Titan electrical noise and convert it into a pure, stable Arcane Catalyst. This process was painful, feeling like thousands of miniature needles draining my core, but the result was a pool of perfectly stable, high-yield energy within my gauntlet, capable of powering any skill without instantaneous depletion.
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With the new system in place—chaotic power funneled into Arcane Catalyst by the Void Alchemist—I attempted the three skills simultaneously.
I activated Aura Projection. The air shimmered. My internal power was instantly filtered, and the external projection was not a mere display; it was a suffocating, continuous projection of Rank S authority. The surrounding Mythril plating began to hum under the sheer, unyielding pressure of my presence.
I activated Density Manipulation. My basic clothing and armor suddenly gained incredible mass, providing instant, unyielding protection. My movements were restricted, but the defensive strength was absolute.
Finally, Hyper-Focus. The world slowed to a crawl. The light flickered into individual photons, and the sound waves seemed to crawl across the room. My mind was processing data at an inhuman rate, allowing me to foresee the movement of my own body and the minute fluctuations of the lab equipment.
And critically, the Arcane Catalyst pool remained virtually static. The drain was there, but the surplus provided by the continuous filtering of the Storm Titan Core's chaotic energy was precisely balanced by the consumption rate.
The conclusion was undeniable: I had synthesized the first self-sustaining, perpetual high-pressure system. I could now maintain constant, high-cost skills indefinitely. My defense was unyielding, my perception was absolute, and my presence was physically suffocating. I had broken the rules of mana physics.
My first public test would be the ultimate shockwave. I contacted the Collective, demanding a trial-by-combat within a live dungeon environment.