"First 2 down, now for the main thing."
In less than 30 minutes, Blake was surprisingly done with the least troublesome arrays and was about his two arch enemies. He was up against the alarm and trap arrays, but this time Blake felt more confident in himself.
He connected to the system's mana vision and began conjuring the mana needles. Straight off the bat, Blake conjured 15 mana needles that made him feel a slight pounding in the head, but that was nothing to him.
He went ahead and conjured 15 more mana needles of equal dimensions, but this time he felt a mind quaking sting that made him grit his teeth in pain, forcing him to pause for a moment.
The more mana needles Blake conjured the more concentration he needed to stop them from dissipating and also to form new ones meaning the mental strain was only increasing geometrically the further he went.
Although Blake was determined he wasn't stupid, He had conjured 30 mana needles out of 45, and with the amount of strain on his mind, he knew that if he conjured the last 15 at once he would collapse due to the instant overwhelming stress and that would spell death for the three of them. So, he decided to take it easy and split it into 2.
After more than 30 minutes, Blake had conjured 38 mana needles out of 45, but he was already on his knees and his clothes were drenched in sweat. He felt his mind was being torn apart, but compared to the last time it was much better.
It took him another 30 minutes to conjure 4 more needles and close to an hour to conjure the last 3.
At this point, Blake was incapable of forming thoughts due to the hellish pain that made his eyes red and teary, but since he had come this far there was no point in going back.
Using the last ounce of energy left in his body, Blake summoned lightning energy from his stars and channeled them into the mana needles.
Thud!
After the system had signaled that it was a success, Blake dropped to the floor, but unlike the last time, he was still conscious but was unable to move and an inch.
When they confirmed that Blake was breathing, they returned to their cultivation because they knew that all he needed was rest.
'I was at least an hour faster and it didn't hurt that much compared to the last time.' If not for his inability to move a muscle Blake's face would have been brimming with a proud smile.
[It was expected. The key to the strength of one's mana control lies in his/her willpower and mental strength.
The last time you disabled these arrays, you broke past your mental limit, therefore improving your mental strength just like when you exercise and when you couple that with your absurd willpower, it is bound to be easier.] The system said.
Back in the magic school, the system had been giving Blake ways of improving his mana control, but they were all quite slow.
Now that they were in a facility entirely rigged with different arrays, the system saw it as a perfect opportunity to train Blake's mana control and improve his knowledge of arrays and so far, the level of progress was astonishing.
'If that is so, then I better get back to work.' Blake was thrilled after seeing that disabling arrays increased his mana control at a quite fast pace and was eager to continue the 'training', but a shockwave of pain assaulted his body when he tried to get up.
'Rest it is…' Blake thought as his body gave in to sleep.
…
After getting 4 hours of sleep, Blake returned to disabling array, but as he was about to connect to mana vision, the system spoke up.
[I know you are eager to get stronger, but keep in mind that if your mind experiences an amount of strain that it can't handle, there is a high chance that you will lose your sanity. So, you have to be careful and know your limit.] The system warned him.
'I understand. It's just like weightlifting, if you are to lift weight levels above you, you might get dislocations and muscle tears that could even cripple you.' Blake was well away of his limits and knew when to stop.
Blake quickly resumed disabling the last array and after close to 3 hours of trial and error, a click was heard from the double door and after a few seconds, the doors automatically opened.
Having learned that they were in a research facility and not a dungeon there was no need to be on guard, but when the doors opened they were stunned for a moment.
It looked exactly like the last laboratory, but this made them wonder what happened to the concealment space trap.
"Let's check out what was being researched here…" Blake said as the trio walked into the laboratory.
They checked all the cabinets, but they couldn't find any journal or any form of records about the research going on behind the glass doors.
"Are we just going in there without any information on it?" Brian was flabbergasted when he saw Blake standing in front of the automatic slide glass doors.
"Of course, as you can see everything is intact, there are no error messages on the machines, and the tubes protecting the experiments are in perfect condition." Blake said as he walked into the next room.
…
On the surface of the Bulian hills…
The rampage caused by the malfunctioning of the research facility's core was over and the tens of golems along with other mechanical contraptions were returning to the facility with beasts and herbs they were tasked to gather.
All over the Bulian hills, similar warp gates that teleported the trio into the research facility began appearing and bringing the golems directly to their charging pods at the center of each floor of the facility.