Saryn sat cross-legged in the middle of the fine-carved ritual circle, the cyan glow from beneath the stone slowly dimming down and emitting a slowing hum which mimicked a cooling engine.
"And that's the fifth ritual done…" He muttered over a sharp breath.
He had read "The Human Headstart" which was essentially a much higher-end explanation of regalias, then he moved on to "Semblances for Dummies", which had blessed him with countless basic semblance recipes, merely used for utility and were quite cheap.
The first semblance was simply called storage, and was listed in the book as a semblance that only idiots wouldn't obtain at first thought.
And you would similarly be as stupid if you couldn't tell the purpose of the semblance from the name. The storage semblance gives Saryn access to an extradimensional storage compartment, where he could house whatever he wants, and pull whatever item out at the activation of the semblance and a thought.
The book also explained other things about semblances, such as how they all can be upgraded from tier one through eight, eight being the best, while tier one being the lowest, and the level they are at upon creation.
In its tier one stage, the storage semblance could only store about a tiny lockbox-sized area worth of storage, so about a cube which spans twenty centimetres in every direction.
Saryn had advanced it to tier two with another ritual, meaning it could house a space spanning eight times the size of the tier one version's, expanding the storage to a forty centimetre cube, finally large enough to be useful instead of a glorified drawer.
He got up from the center of the ritual circle as it died down, the materials used for the upgrade of the storage semblance burned into echoes which forged the mark for the semblance on Saryn's chest, while the remaining materials which powered the ritual circle remained floating quietly at the edges of the space.
Saryn approached the obsidian orb and greatsword, before picking both up in each hand, trying to store them away in the storage semblance.
The obsidian orb rippled like water, before fizzling out of existence and into the storage semblance which lit up, where Saryn could view it as if his eyes entered another plane of existence. However, the greatblade vibrated slightly, staying in place, despite the advancement of the semblance, it still couldn't house the obsidian sword.
'Of course, why would anything ever be convenient.'
This meant Saryn would have to carry it around, which elicited a momentary expression of disappointment from him. He can't advance storage further either as the book didn't contain the tier three recipe, nor did he know if he had the quantity of materials required.
'What was I thinking anyway, the storage semblance stores a cubic space of forty centimetres in each direction, whereas the greatsword is way larger, maybe the foreign memories affected my intelligence just to even me out with those idiots.' Saryn thought, before gently placing the sword up against the corner between the wall and bookshelf.
Other than storage, Saryn had also obtained tier one Bending semblance, which simply allowed for more intricate use of mending matter, such as increasing his control over hydroform, which would help him bend the water to more complex shapes with far more efficiency.
He activated hydroform on its own, attempting to form a spear or sword.
The semblance mark faintly glowed, emitting a slight warmth that flowed through Saryn's forearm.
The water formed before him, twisting and turning, becoming an object which barely resembled a blade, before hazing up and separating itself. Saryn could only barely turn the water into the drills he had before, which in reality, were just spinning cones of water.
'Figures. Even my piss would bend to my will easier.' Saryn kept trying to form detailed designs with the blob of water hovering in front of him.
'Now let's try this…' He thought before activating the bending semblance along with hydroform, causing another surge of heat as the semblance flared to life on his left elbow.
The water bent to his will with greater ease, the mental burden Saryn received trying to shape the water lessened as it followed his commands much quicker than before.
He tried turning it into several objects he had in mind, being met with quick results.
The water turned into a crude sword, it was mildly sharp but not very intricate, looking more like a flowing transparent cross.
Afterward, the water bent into a book, its hazy deformed pages flapping by one by one.
But no matter how hard Saryn tried, the pages wouldn't straighten, nor would the sword sharpen.
'I'm going to need to upgrade this semblance once I get my hands on the recipe, only then can I begin forming the water into more intricate shapes and applying more pressure.'
Saryn kept melding the water in the air until it resembled a swirling liquid arrow.
Two other basic semblances that he had executed the rituals for were the tier one push and pull semblances.
Both, as the names implied, either pushed or pulled matter accordingly, they required direct contact with the target to be used, and could be used in any direction.
Saryn could already control the water telekinetically, but the force with which he moved the water was limited, with these two semblances, he could output a much higher pressure on the water with the downside of having to make contact.
The arrow of water spun slightly, moving toward Saryn's hand in accordance to his will.
He reached out, grabbing the arrow, before pulling his arm back. The push semblance glowed brightly on his right palm, which had grasped the arrow, before he tossed it at the opposite wall from him like a javelin.
The arrow flew out like a bullet, a whizzing sound reverberating in the air as it travelled, before splashing against the stone wall. The water formed a tiny puddle where it landed, leaving a shallow crack in the wall's surface.
'Works beautifully.' Saryn grinned slightly at the sight, before treading toward the wall where the crack resided.
His feet clacked against the hard ground, coming to a halt as he squatted down, his fingertip submerging itself in the shallow puddle.
The pull semblance glowed on his left palm, as he willed the water to pull and condense itself back around his hand, before he stood back up and shaped the liquid into another arrow.
Saryn turned around, facing back toward the direction he came from, as the mirror on his left fluttered to life, rippling and indicating Marduk's arrival.
…
"Saryn, I see you ha-"
The mirror was obliterated. Thousands of its shards flew in every direction as Saryn's gorgeously crafted water arrow pierced through it, directly splitting the entire thing in half along the central width.
"Oopsie daisies…"