Chapter 852: Spiral Positioning

When it came to lime and cement, Liszt honestly didn't understand them well. He only knew they were made by burning/calcining and were very common.

But he didn't really know their exact relationship or composition.

"However, if I recall correctly, I once watched a documentary about China constructing the Mombasa-Nairobi Railway in Africa, which mentioned cement production issues. Due to a lack of raw materials, Chinese experts eventually chose local volcanic ash as one of the ingredients for cement?"

At the time, Liszt felt immense pride watching that documentary—it was a huge accomplishment for his country. What left a deep impression was the fact that cement could be made using volcanic ash.

So,

With this in mind, he immediately went to inspect the Fire Dragon Brick Factory and suggested to the craftsmen working on cement development that they try mixing lime with volcanic ash and see if they could produce cement.

As for volcanic ash, Dodo Island had tons of it, but the 800-kilometer voyage was pretty far.

Coral Island also had a weathered, dead volcano. Liszt had once searched for signs of magma there, so they could dig out volcanic ash from that location.

These day-to-day stuff didn’t require Liszt’s personal attention; he only needed to provide a general direction.

In the following days, while playing with the spirit bugs and inspecting his territory, he waited for Acheronides to assign experiments to the mages of the Magic Guild and prepare magical materials. Meanwhile, the officials had readied ten frame ships, loaded with supplies and personnel, to transport them to Ember City.

December 10th.

Time to go.

"Wuwah! Wuwah!" The Grand Sprite Jie La was very reluctant to see Liszt leave.

"Behave in the castle and don’t pick on the little ones. Once I’ve built a new castle and plantation at our new home, I’ll move you there."

"Don’t be gone too long."

"Mm."

"Wuwah!"

Jie La let go and watched as Liszt departed.

Among all the Grand Sprites and spirit bugs, it wore its heart on its sleeve. Whether it was because Liszt’s way of thinking differed drastically from the people of this world or because Jie La herself was unique, among all his oddball spirit bugs, Jie La remained the most special.

The ten frame ships set sail, including the one that had been docked below Thorn Fort all along—its hold containing the Jade Dragon’s hind leg.

Now that Ember City was firmly established on Flame Island, he decided to take the Jade Dragon’s hind leg there and store it in the cellar of the nearly completed new castle. Since it was crucial for the Soulfruit Tree and Milon Mind Fruit, keeping it close would let him rest easy.

...

Returning to Ember City, he found the Invisible Dragon Bard, who had already come back.

Wasting no time, Liszt rode Bard and transported his bonded Fire Drake Rio, the Grand Sprite Ai Ni of the Phoenix Perch Tree, and the three Flame Dragonbirds that had followed them to the Endless Volcano Range.

Rio swiftly transformed from a magical form into flesh and blood before plunging headfirst into the churning magma of Doom Volcano’s crater.

Meanwhile, Liszt took Ai Ni around to search for a suitable spot, eventually settling on the mountainside of a dormant volcano. Satisfied, Ai Ni planted its symbiotic grass.

A towering Phoenix Perch Tree rose from the ground, and after placing a nest on it, Xiao Huang, Xiao Hong, and Xiao Zi immediately began chirping and fluttering around the tree.

"Ai Ni, I’ll make sure Rio comes here often to rest so you can freely touch it."

"Liszt, you’re the best." Ai Ni was genuinely grateful. Without Liszt’s help, it would never have been able to get close to its favorite dragon.

"Please look after these three birdies for me."

"Don't worry, Liszt. Xiao Huang, Xiao Hong, and Xiao Zi listen to me very well," Ai Ni said confidently, and this wasn’t just bragging.

Back when the two adult Flame Dragonbirds were nesting peacefully on the Phoenix Perch Tree without harming Ai Ni, her ability was clear. Now, the three young birds rely heavily on Ai Ni—aside from Leo, they are closest to her.

Perhaps it was fate, or perhaps their natures simply resonated.

"Protect yourself. My influence hasn't extended here yet... Even with Leo’s Dragon Fear blanketing the Endless Volcano Range, you should still be cautious."

"Xiao Huang, Xiao Hong, and Xiao Zi will fight for me!"

Though still fledglings, the three Flame Dragonbirds have already mastered the fire-based magic engraved in their bloodline—Flame Slash. With a flap of their wings, they can condense flames into blades, their power is startling. Handling low-level magical beasts is easy, and they hold their own even against mid-tier beasts.

As for high-level magical beasts, within the range of Leo's Dragon Fear, none would dare trespass.

So Ai Ni’s safety isn’t a concern.

……

"Bard, let's go."

"Woo-yah!"

The invisible dragon flapped its wings, swiftly entering the material boundary before forcefully tearing through it, crossing into the world beyond. With Crystal White Trace active and Mana Positioning online, they flew while searching for any natural nodes.

Just then.

Liszt suddenly had an epiphany: "Can the effect of Mana Positioning be enhanced?"

The mana technique Magic Eye, after merging with the dragon, had given him the detailed Dragon Eye Trajectory and the tiered Crystal White Trace. He then recalled that aside from Magic Eye, he had two other mana techniques—Mana Fade and Spiral Operation.

Mana Fade, at the Dragon Knight stage, was practically useless and was long abandoned.

Spiral Operation, too, was shelved due to its negligible combat support for Dragon Knights.

"Spiral Operation is a technique for circulating mana. What if I apply it to Bard's Spatial Magic, using spiral mana radiation to search? Would that allow for finer feedback from the material boundary?" No sooner said than done—he immediately began practicing Spiral Operation with Bard.

After all, it was just an experiment. Failure cost nothing, but success would bring great rewards.

Soon.

Spiral Operation merged with Mana Positioning, the Spatial Magic now radiating in spirals. However, the effect didn’t seem significantly different. The void beyond stayed quiet, its feedback nearly identical to before.

"Did it fail...?"

Just as he was about to give up, a faint, odd ripple appeared in the distance. Man and dragon both stiffened—they had found a natural node!

Yet Liszt didn’t urge Bard to approach. Instead, he motioned for Bard to stop Spiral Operation and locked onto the node using standard Mana Positioning.

Comparing the two, he realized the odd ripple from before was now undetectable.

"Bard, try Spiral Operation again!"

"Woo-yah!"

Once Spiral Operation was activated, the faint fluctuation was picked up again by Mana Positioning. Though weak, the lock-on was sharp.

"Let's go!"

Liszt was overjoyed—he really was a genius, unlocking another powerful skill. He promptly named this upgraded version of Mana Positioning "Spiral Positioning." The birth of Spiral Positioning meant mana techniques were back in favor.

When the Magic Eye merged with the dragon and unleashed its powerful effects, he had once felt an immense craving for mana techniques.

However, the dispensable nature of the fading aura and spiral flow made him doubt their worth—aside from the unique Magic Eye, other mana techniques seemed barely useful for a Dragon Rider. Thus, his drive to hunt for mana techniques gradually faded.

Now, Spiral Operation had restored the immense value of mana techniques.

"I should snatch up more mana techniques in the future, slowly merging them with the dragon—perhaps I can develop even more new skills!" Imagining their potential, he flew toward the natural node.

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