Toz almost groaned in frustration at the restriction that constrained his consciousness before he realized it wasn't the restriction's fault he couldn't leave his body with his mind. It was a defensive measure to prevent himself from injuring his mind by exposing it to the outside world without the support of mana.
Toz had no trouble expanding his consciousness to absorb and convert mana when he trained. But trying to do the same thing without the support of his own mana proved a lot more challenging.
However, he could feel that the resistance hindering his consciousness from leaving his body wasn't as stubborn as the layer covering his mana pool. Toz felt as if he could pierce through the resistance as long as he tried hard enough. But he wasn't sure if he should.
Bringing his bare consciousness outside his body without the support and protection of his mana could very well lead to it getting injured or his mind suffering harm.
Toz only thought about it for a few moments before deciding to go through with it.
Being imprisoned in an isolated cell practically guaranteed that there wouldn't be any outside interference, and his mind would be at minimal risk. And he had to do something to try and break through the layer around his mana pool so he could use magic and break free.
Going through with his idea would be risky, but it was worth taking the risk if it meant bringing him one step closer to freedom and finding out what happened to the cats and Brunswick. And then, after that, he could begin thinking of revenge. It would probably take a while until he could defeat Yill, but as long as he dedicated himself to growing stronger, Toz was sure he would eventually become strong enough to beat her. He hadn't experienced a single hurdle or wall during his training, and every time he broke through to the next level, he did so with overwhelming success.
And if Toz wanted to grow stronger faster, he couldn't be scared of taking a few risks.
Toz resolved himself and put away any distracting thoughts, focusing entirely on controlling his mind and the stream of consciousness, moving it to the border between his inner self and the outside world.
Toz stopped for a moment as he braced himself before pushing through. With the feeling of tearing through a blanket, Toz's consciousness left his body.
Feelings of being exposed and vulnerable overcame Toz. His body also rapidly paled, and he felt his thoughts slow down.
Before anything else happened that would lead to permanent damage, Toz stopped forcing his consciousness to stay outside his body. As soon as he let go of his control, his body sucked his consciousness back inside again, repairing the tear he made at the same time.
Toz involuntarily gasped as he returned to his body. He hadn't technically left it. He had just sent a part of his mind outside his body, but it still felt like he had become two separate entities, his body, and his mind, when they were usually joined together as one.
It was an unnerving and eerie feeling that Toz would prefer not to experience ever again. He hadn't even stopped shivering, and his face was only gradually recovering its color.
But when he ignored the sense of discomfort and the unpleasant aspects of it, Toz realized he had gotten a new perspective on mana. Usually, when he interacted with the mana around him, he did it using his own mana as an intermediate.
But when he sent his consciousness out of his body, he came in direct contact with the wild and free mana of the universe. It was a lot more lively than the subdued mana in his mana pool, but it also seemed like it was more varied.
Every bit of mana of the same attribute in his mana pool was practically the same. And when Toz used that mana to look at the outside world, that was what he sensed. But now that he looked at the world around him with senses unaffected by his mana, he realized that not all fire mana was the same.
Some of it was bright orange, lively, and hot like his and Mindle's. But there were also gatherings of dark red fire mana or light blue fire mana. And it was the same for every other element he sensed, not only the six elements he had.
Since some of the elements looked like what he could create with combination magic, Toz first thought that combination magic was a natural aspect of the universe and that wild mana could also spontaneously combine. But he quickly realized that it wasn't like that.
Elements weren't so simple they could be defined or characterized using only a single representation or aspect of it. Fire was more than the fire that came from lighting some wood on fire.
It could be fire that came about from something special burning or even the changes wrought by a mage controlling the fire.
Toz compared his fire magic with Mindle's. Due to learning the Fireball spell, his fire magic was more explosive and flashy, while Mindle's fire magic focused more on the extreme heat she could produce.
If similar developments stacked on top of each other, it wasn't impossible for the two of them to develop their fire magic in different directions, eventually creating their own fire magic, separate from one another.
Despite having the same starting point due to Toz getting his fire attribute from Mindle, he might eventually end up with an almost entirely different kind of magic. The realization left Toz in awe as he pondered on the possibilities of his magic in the future.
He couldn't force his consciousness to leave his body again until he recovered completely, so he happily accepted the break where he could daydream about what his magic would develop into in the future. His fire magic was only the beginning. Toz couldn't help but wonder about all his other elements as well.
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