One Last System

I started with a tiny bit of mana and infused it into the formation.

This wasn't the first time for me to apply mana to those particular formation stones, but it was the very first time for me to try doing it in a completed project.

The first stone lit up in one color. Then the second one. And then a third color appeared, proving that all the formations within worked out correctly.

Then, the second stone lit up. And then the next.

In just a few moments, all the stones within the formation lit up. Next, they all started to blink one by one, proving that the mana circulating through the arrays continued to flow without any issues.

"I still don't think it will work," Levi commented while looking over my shoulder at the formation displayed on the auction house's stage.

"I'm not going to argue with you," I replied. "Showing you that I'm right will be easier," I then added with a shrug of my shoulders.

I could see that all the fail-checks went through from how the stones flashed their lights in the correct order and without missing even a single one.

So, unless adding the treasures that would fuel the formation would end up causing too much mana flow through the arrays and burn the stones out, there wasn't anything that could fail anymore.

"Once I prove my words, I might explain where I source all my confidence," I then added.

So, instead of wasting time, I simply pulled out all the fake treasures I prepared in advance before placing them all down in their spots on the formation.

Another nudge of mana later, and the entire formation started to work as I designed it.

The arrays within the stones sucked all the energy from the fake treasures before accelerating them all the way to the point their tolerance allowed.

"It's almost painful to watch…" Levi sighed with a disappointed expression on his face.

Yet, his disappointment was soon replaced by a sudden bout of surprise and his entire body juking to the side, escaping the powerful nudge aimed right at his side.

I didn't do anything to cause such a reaction, though.

Only when Levi moved out of the way I could see Mia's elbow right where Levi's side used to be.

And once a new kind of light appeared, I reached out with my hand toward the very center of the formation.

'Absorb,' I thought, sucking in all the free-flowing mana within the formation's center.

The mana surged… and just like that, I ended up recovering the great majority of all the energy that I invested into creating the treasures in the first place.

'First time?' I thought to myself, slowly retracting the hand while staring blankly at the stones of my formation.

I knew that it would all work fine. I did all the checks in advance, testing every part on its own before putting them together in every possible combination and then testing them again.

And yet… there was a small part inside me that didn't want to believe that I could actually complete this monstrosity of a formation on its first try.

Just like an IT coder finishing up the alpha stage of the program and then sending it to compile, I expected some unforeseeable problem to appear and lowkey prove Levi right.

"First try…" I then muttered again as the realization slowly lodged itself in my mind. "I actually did it on a first try…" I gulped my saliva down.

"FIRST TIME, GOD DAMN IT!" I shouted, startling the few cultivators busy cleaning the other part of the main hall of the auction house.

"What's there to be so happy about it?" Levi asked, genuinely confused if not even concerned with my outburst. "It's a miracle that this mess of a formation worked… but it's not something that you should be so damn happy about!"

"Master, listen…" I shook my head and muttered. Then, I placed my hand on Levi's shoulder before leaning over his ear and whispering, 'do you really think I took so long just to complete such a simple formation?'

Levi's body twitched a little.

But rather than letting him figure out the rest on his own, I continued to whisper.

"It took me all this time only because I intentionally made it look as bad as I possibly could. I also had to limit what it was capable of achieving so that no one would bother me to come up with impossible stuff if the first formation I gave them was already on a high level."

I released a deep sigh and shook my head.

"To be completely honest, if I made a perfectly organized formation on the same level of complexity as this one…" I smiled. "It would be a national treasure all on its own… For the split of a second, it would take for the materials I would use to make it to burn out and turn to ashes due to its power."

"I…" Levi hesitated. He then shook his head before hanging it down in a gesture of surrender. "I see," he muttered.

And for the first time since the topic of the formation started, his expression became that of genuine respect. A respect that soon gave birth to a satisfied, proud smile. "And here I was worried my teachings all flew out of your head," he added as his lips added a slight, ugly twist to his smile.

Levi then shook his head again, depriving his smile of all the unsavory notes.

"I guess you are all within your right to celebrate," he admitted while spreading his arms out wide.

"Yeah, I am," I agreed shamelessly. Yet, with the formation working just as expected, I had the necessary confidence to act the part.

Yet, rather than just jumping to create the 'yupikayey' gesture, I reached out and grabbed Mia by her waist before lifting her up and turning myself on the spot.

"I did it!" I exclaimed again, "first try!"

I swung the girl around, accepting the smile that she graced me in return…

Only to hear an ugly crack from right below my feet!