Nathan skipped the first city and headed straight to the second city. He decided it would be the best place to hide, considering this city was much bigger than the first one. There were a lot of stronger people in this place, which made the enemies think twice if they wanted to attack him.
The first thing he did after his arrival was to find the best inn. He had made a lot of money, so it was fine to splurge a little.
Instead of resting, Nathan had been eager to test the manual.
Nathan took out the first manual, Triple Strands.
Mae was sitting next to him, curious about the manual.
"Hmmm." Nathan summoned Anubis and Jinwu. Jinwu immediately patrolled the city, while Anubis was the smallest among his divine beasts.
Nathan closed his eyes and sensed his summoning link. When he didnât use the fragment of summoning, the summoning link was just like a single strand attached to both the summoner and the familiar.
Inside the familiarâs body was their fragment of summoning that had been turned into veins that became their existence.
When Nathan changed Anubisâ form, the fragment of summoning would be condensed again. The concentration of the fragment of summoning caused an imbalance between Nathan and his familiar.
In the normal form, the ena was spread through the veins. However, when condensed into the fragment of the summoning, there was no more vein for the ena to circulate other than the vein toward the summoner.
As a result, the summoner had to balance the ena when using the fragment of summoning. This was the reason a human could only use one fragment of summoning at a time.
In a way, it was similar to the lifebound contract, just in a different form.
If there were two fragments at the same time, the ena from each fragment would clash with each other, and the summoner would die.
Mae glanced to the side while reading the manual inwardly. âAccording to the manual, the vein that connects the familiar and the summoner is fragile.
âIn that case, the summoning link has to be folded one time and let the ena flow before stretching it to the original length. By repeating this step again and again, one can make the summoning link thicker and sturdier.
âIt can even be stretched to three times the original length after mastering this power. However, the limit is three times, which is why itâs called âTriple Strands.ââ
Nathan was following the instructions quietly as Anubis remained as a fragment on his palm. The summoning link was folded once, but Nathan had a hard time joining them together.
âThe difficulty lies in merging the summoning link together and stretching it. Just like making noodles, it requires great technique to fold and stretch them.
âOnce he masters this technique, replicating it with other familiars should be easier. The time required to do it wonât be as long, but this will surely take some time.â
Mae watched over Nathan, making sure nothing went wrong. At the same time, her eyes were taking a peek at the second manual.
âSince Master doesnât plan to absorb any cores for the time being, the manual to increase his absorption rate isnât needed yet.
âHowever, I do think breathing technique will be good. He picks River Breathing. This is a breathing that emphasizes the stable flow of the river.
âIt will increase the overall stability of his power. He doesnât need more enhanced strength because he can utilize the Time Seal to combine his attacks if he needs power.
âBesides, the fragment of summoning has given him the strength needed, like Fenrirâs pistol form.â
Mae crossed her arms. âIf I look at the previous enemies, Sniper must be using an explosive-type breathing technique. This will enhance his power. Itâs no wonder he is able to fight against Fenrirâs most powerful bullet or even harm the grand duke.
âThe same applies to Bell Crusher. He combines that explosive power with his weird ability, which makes it capable of even disrupting my energyâs flow.
âOn the other hand, Bloody Fiend should be using a breathing technique that offers stable flow. This is the reason his most powerful technique can be destroyed by the constant burst of Jinwuâs flame instead of the explosive power of Fenrirâs bullet.
âIf the explosive power hits, it can create a hole, but it will regenerate over time. That regeneration will be enhanced further by the black weapon.
âEvelyn chose the same copy for her breathing technique. She wanted to use the stable flow to create a harmony between her two elements, which is understandable.
âHowever, for the second manual, she still picks the Diamond Link technique. It emphasizes the toughness of summoning links. It is understandable. From what I have heard, she almost died from combining the space and gravity domains.
âBy strengthening the summoning link and stabilizing the elements, she might be able to achieve her goal in the near future.
âAs for the absorbing technique, itâs basically enveloping the cores they swallow and preventing them from escaping. But if you want more ena to be absorbed, you need to strengthen your physical ability. In the end, itâs absorbing cores, so it will stick to the basics of absorbing cores. If they are careless, they will be burned from the inside.
âStill, the one he picked should be able to increase 15% to 20% of his absorption rate. It will greatly improve his current absorption rate, which is only 53%.
âFor Selena and the others, they will surely reach a 100% absorption rate... Then again, Selena might not need one. I have never seen someone whose absorption rate is higher than Selenaâs, so she might already be at 100%... that devilish genius who might have more potential than heroes or most gods.
âEither way, once Master achieves a small success on Triple Strands, he should have no trouble in forming the crystal armor. Then again, he should be able to do it with his current ability, but the difficulty is higher, so itâs better to just focus on the technique first.
âOnce he forms the crystal armor, itâs time to increase its utilization by learning the breathing technique.
âThatâs the plan.â Mae saw no problem with the plan now that she had learned everything. She stayed quietly by Nathanâs side.
The only problem was the enemies might be chasing him, so they didnât have a lot of time to train.