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He chose a square aluminum plate measuring one meter and proceeded to the adjacent room.
He sought a quiet space that would enable him to focus, as the task ahead demanded a significant amount of his concentration for an extended period of time which had taken him a very long time to train on it within the universal simulation.
After closing the door behind him, he placed the aluminum plate on the floor and took a seat beside it.
"Time to concentrate," he said to himself, taking deep breaths to calm his mind and gather focus before he begins.
Once he had calmed down sufficiently, he extended his right hand toward the plate, forming it into a gun-like shape with two fingers outstretched, and immediately began channeling Mana to the tips of these two fingers, focusing on accumulating the energy there.
The Mana concentration steadily increased as he kept it contained at the fingertip, not allowing it to disperse elsewhere, solely focusing on building up the energy until the Mana had reached a sufficient concentration.
With a deliberate focus, Aron released Mana from his fingertips, channeling it into concentrated parallel beams. The beams gracefully traversed a short distance before he swiftly halted their motion, causing them to instantly intersect and merge at the tip. In a seamless motion, they formed a triangular shape with the apex pointing directly toward the aluminum plate resting on the floor.
As soon as the triangle was formed by the two golden beams, Aron began carving intricate pathways onto the aluminum plate. With each movement of his fingers, a trail of golden lines appeared, marking the path he traced on the surface of the plate.
He painstakingly continued to carve the lines with precision, transforming the aluminum plate into a complex network resembling intricate circuitry.
As the lines extended and interwove, the plate gradually assumed an appearance similar to that of mana pathways, trying to emulate the intricate channels within Aron's own body that facilitated the manipulation of mana.
For over three hours, Aron remained completely focused, his hand and eyes the only parts of him in motion. He did not allow himself a single moment of rest, aware that any interruption would necessitate starting the intricate process from scratch, resulting in a significant waste of time.
"Whew!" Aron exhaled a sigh of relief, wiping away the beads of sweat that had accumulated on his forehead after prolonged concentration. "The first step is finally done," he remarked, acknowledging the completion of this initial phase.
[Congratulations, Sir, but the machining process has been completed, and it's time to replace the aluminum blocks to avoid any unnecessary time wastage,] Nova informed Aron after she allowed him a moment to bask in the pride of his achievement and offer her congratulations.
"On it," he replied. Rising from the spot where he had been sitting for over three hours, Aron walked without feeling any cramps in his legs. His enhanced body, continuously augmented, had prevented restriction of blood flow despite the prolonged period of sitting.
He made his way back to the machining room and carefully removed the completed parts from the CNC machines. Using a cleaning rune, he cleaned the freshly machined components before placing them on a clean table for storage.
He then retrieved new blocks of aluminum and inserted them into the CNC machines before Nova initiated the machines once again, and they resumed their work, efficiently machining the newly added parts.
He then returned to the room where the plate with the beautifully drawn mana circuitry awaited him. Taking his previous position, he resumed his focus, settling into the familiar posture he had maintained while creating the pathways. Once again, he directed his attention and concentration toward the task at hand.
After re-establishing his concentration, he proceeded with the second phase of his task. Guiding his two fingers to a specific section of the mana circuitry, intentionally left open-ended for this purpose, he began the meticulous process of engraving runic letters.
Each stroke was executed with the utmost care, deliberate precision, and unwavering focus, ensuring that the runic inscriptions were etched onto the open end of the circuitry with absolute accuracy.
Letter by letter, the runic script was meticulously engraved into the plate, forming a beautiful and intricate word. However, Aron didn't cease supplying Mana to the runic word. This time, he closed his eyes, delving deeper into his concentration, fully aware of the significance of the moment.
As he was using runic intent for the first time in the real world, it demanded every ounce of focus he could muster, and he immersed himself completely in the task at hand.
The runic word, now radiant with a gentle glow, pulsated rhythmically at various intervals as Aron continued to pour his intent into the flow of mana directed towards the word, guiding it with purpose.
Slowly but surely, his focused intention instructed the mana, defining its purpose and the desired outcome he expected it to achieve. The pulsating glow of the runic word became a manifestation of the instructions embedded within and a testament to Aron's intent.
The pulsations continued relentlessly, intensifying and diminishing in varying intervals, persisting for over four consecutive hours. However, as the fifth hour approached, an unprecedented transformation occurred.
The pulsating runic word accelerated its rhythm, the speed doubling with each passing second. Its pulsations became so rapid and intense that they appeared to vanish entirely, leaving the word motionless and still. The once dynamic and vibrant display now gave way to a serene and static presence.
This state persisted for more than five minutes, during which an enormous amount of mana was being drained from Aron with each passing second. As the tenth minute approached, the runic word began a gradual shift in color, transitioning from its original golden hue to a gradual whitening.
Simultaneously, visible blood vessels started appearing on Aron's concentrated form, indicating the strain caused by the immense mana expenditure. Aron's runic heart worked tirelessly, absorbing and collecting mana from the surrounding atmosphere, preventing his body from entering a state of mana deprivation.
"Trrrrrrrm." A resonant sound echoed through the room as the runic word reached its final state, transforming into a pristine shade of white.
Aron's eyes slowly opened, revealing a mixture of anticipation and excitement as he beheld the outcome of his arduous five-hour endeavor.
"Whew." Aron exhaled a long sigh of relief as his eyes beheld the runic word, now completely transformed into a brilliant shade of white. A smile began to spread across his face, a reflection of his deep satisfaction and joy at witnessing the successful completion of his laborious task.
"I suspect that I would have fainted if it had continued for just a few more minutes," Aron remarked, the smile still gracing his face.
Nova playfully chided Aron, [You know, you could have started with the easier ones that required just a few instructions. But no, you had to dive straight into the hardest one from the beginning!]
"I felt it was necessary to tackle the hardest one first," Aron explained, a proud smile on his face. "If I had saved it for last and made a mistake, I would have had to start the entire process from scratch. But now that I've succeeded with the most challenging part, the chances of the rest failing are nearly zero. It was a calculated risk, and I'm glad it paid off."
Nova voiced her disagreement once more, stating, [I still believe it would have been wiser for you to begin with a mid-level rune before venturing into using runic intent on the hardest one.]
Aron remained silent, his gaze fixed upon the radiant white runic word, a proud smile adorning his face. Deep within, he knew that he had every reason to feel immense pride for this remarkable achievement.
[Sir, you need to replace the machined part with new blocks,] Nova interjected, instantly dispelling the prideful expression from Aron's face. Her reminder served as a stark reality check, reminding him that he had barely made progress and still had a long way to go to achieve his ultimate goal.
Aron stood up from his seated position, made his way back to the machine room, and repeated the familiar process. He removed the completed parts from the CNC machine, carefully cleaning them before placing them on the designated table. In their place, he inserted fresh blocks of aluminum, followed by Nova initiating the machine once more. Satisfied that the process was underway, he returned to the room, ready to resume his work.
Upon his return to the room, Aron settled back into his familiar position, seated and ready to continue his work. Just as before, he focused his efforts on regaining his concentration, allowing his mind to settle and his focus to sharpen once again.
Once again, Aron positioned his finger on another open section of the mana vein and began the meticulous process of engraving a new runic word. With steady precision, he carefully etched the runic symbols until the word was fully formed.
As usual, his task didn't end there as he continued infusing mana into the runic word, imbuing it with his intent to ensure that the runic word would serve a specific purpose, tailored to his desired outcome, rather than functioning solely based on its inherent properties.
Aron diligently continued the process of writing runes on another open end of the mana circuit, infusing them with intent, and allowing himself a short break to rejuvenate. After a few minutes of respite, he would rise from his seat and proceed to the machine room. There, he would carefully remove the completed part, replacing it with a fresh block of aluminum, before returning to the room to resume his work.
This singular task consumed Aron's time unfalteringly for an entire month without any interruption.
To maximize his productivity, he used the VR headset, enabling him to experience five hours of restful sleep within a single hour of real-world time.
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