"Yeah...I know. I realized that after my fight against Jaden. But I hit a bit of a wall a while ago, I reached the limit of how much pressure and force I can exert with my attacks," Aarav sighed wistfully.

"Hm, maybe you're going about it the wrong way? Unless I'm mistaken, you're trying to improve your attacks by trying to force them out more intensely, right?" I asked him.

"Huh? Uh, yeah, pretty much."

"Ah, that's where you're going wrong. Use physics to your advantage...for example, what if you try creating a bone bullet with a more spiral shape to it, and impart some intense spin onto it before firing?

Kinda like a drill...if you just try to force a drill into a wall without switching it on, it isn't going to get very far, but when it spins, it tears through the wall with ease," Explained Jaden with a grin.

"Oh, and with your blood, what if you make something like a gun barrel over your hand using bone, but with a needle-thin nozzle, and force the blood out through the nozzle?" I added as I gave it some thought.

"Holy shit, those are good ideas...you guys seriously came up with those off the top of your heads? Got any other ideas?" He asked us with a sheepish smile.

"Hey, no fair, do me too," Huffed Iseul, a slight slur in her voice.

The others joined in as well, as we brainstormed and shared some creative ideas. The suggestions started to get broader as we began discussing the rest of our various kinds of Magic too, it was a pretty fun conversation.

Of course, it was only a matter of time before we ran out of ideas, the last few suggestions not particularly worth mentioning, let alone trying.

"Awesome, this was super helpful," Smiled Aarav gratefully.

"Yeah, for you...I didn't get much, I guess that's to be expected of a standard Class. If anyone had any super creative ideas, they would've tried it already," Muttered Iseul with a slight pout.

"Oh, what about, like, electromagnetism? That could be useful," Suggested Aria in response.

"Hm? How do you mean?"

"Well, I don't know if it's actually possible, but I've seen it in retro anime and stuff, characters using lightning or electric based abilities to conduct electromagnetism. Maybe you could, like, pull yourself towards metal structures, or draw metal objects towards yourself?"

"That does sound pretty cool, it could help you move around better. But, well, I've never come across metal in a Dungeon," Pointed out Jaden.

"Yeah, that's true...but I suppose I might as well look into it and give it try, can't hurt. I'll also start working on channeling my Mana at will," Declared Iseul, before letting out a slight hiccup.

"Man, wish we could just go to a training room and try all this stuff out. I bet that'd be a lot of fun," Grinned Jaden with a gleam in his eyes.

"Huh, this could actually work...," Muttered Aarav, as he formed a mass of bone over his right hand, with a long, narrow barrel.

"Woah, don't go firing off your Magic in here," Responded Jin warily.

"Hm, actually...it should be fine if you shoot it into this. <Drain>," I chanted, before spreading the jaws open wide as they manifested.

"Cool, thanks...let's see, I think I can narrow the opening a bit more," He replied, a look of focus on his eyes as the barrel grew thinner, the hole at the end of it barely visible.

"Be careful not to miss," Remarked Beatriz wryly, the others watching in anticipation as Aarav nodded and took aim.

We waited as he locked on, curious to see how much of a difference this technique would make to the force of his-...

"Woah! That was crazy fast, I didn't even see it!" He suddenly exclaimed, his face lighting up.

"Huh?"

"Wait, did you do something?"

"I was watching really closely, but I didn't see a thing."

Yeah, me neither.

Ai?

<It's slight, but yes>

<You just consumed a small amount of Mana through Drain>

"I didn't see it either, but I definitely just swallowed up a bit of Mana," I remarked in bewilderment.

"Seriously? Then-...," Began Jaden, before trailing off as a thin trickle of blood ran down the end of the barrel and dripped onto the table.

"I really didn't think that'd work so well. I just concentrated and pressurized a mass of blood, before forcing it through the narrow barrel," Explained Aarav, looking pretty pumped and encouraged.

"If that attack was so fast that none of us saw it, then...," Trailed off Aria, as a brief silence ensued.

"He could kill a target instantly if he aims at a vital spot. That's dope as hell, wow!" Grinned Beatriz in response.

"Hm, a super-fast projectile, huh? That's certainly one way to make a Ranger feel even more redundant," Jin sighed wistfully.

"I think you're being too hard on yourself. Sure, your Magic isn't the most flexible or versatile, but you definitely make the most of it," Responded Jaden, reaching over and giving him an encouraging pat on the shoulder.

"Yeah, I agree. Those arrows of yours are no joke," Nodded Aria in agreement.

"Thanks, guys, didn't mean to get all mopey," He replied with a sheepish smile.

"Okay, we should definitely try to all meet up again like this. I mean, think about it, how often do any of us actually face a real challenge?

We have very few genuine threats to us, which basically gives us no real reason or motivation to keep pushing ourselves, which could end up being costly if and when real threats start appearing more frequently.

But look at us right now, our battles today served as the ideal motivation to push ourselves, we're literally thinking up ways to get stronger," Pointed out Jaden with a gleam in his eyes.

I mean, Aria and I have been facing genuine threats on a pretty exhaustingly regular basis.

But he makes a good point, getting to spar against a variety of opponents who can give us a real challenge is valuable, it'd be a waste if we didn't try to make full use of that...

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