With a calm expression, Darius snapped his link to the mud, removing his mana tether. The next moment, the construct trembled for a bit, yet it remained in existence.
Darius' eyes gleamed as he reconnected his tether to it, and reached for the base of the construct. He then willed the bottom to separate, which allowed him to easily pick up the mini stone tower from the ground and bring it to face.
It was perfectly solid, and he performed durability tests on it once more. Darius was able to ascertain that this creation had obtained permanence, not even requiring any energy to be sustained in its current form.
Darius breathed out lightly, suppressing his excitement and once more raising his evaluation of the Material element. He made his conclusion as he still held the mini-tower in hand.
The Material element, as he was informed by the Laws of Faust, was one for development first and mercantilism second. It was not meant for combat though it could be used for such, though the results would not be satisfactory more often than not.
Taking Stone to Mud as an example. When one thought of this, you would picture a skilled mage snapping his fingers and creating stone houses to reside in, or creating defenses to contain himself or trap his enemies with ease.
That was its combat utility assuming one developed the skill high enough. That same caster might even make earthen spears that could strike enemies in the back using the mud behind them.
However, that was a waste of the spell's true utility.
With enough proficiency, one could turn useless mud into the most intricate sculptures of art. With enough proficiency, one could turn mud into stone weapons, and sabers, arming an entire town to fight against a foe.
The true power of the Material element was permanence.
Anything created using it would not disappear once the mana supply was taken away. It would continue to exist as it was till it naturally expired.
Why was this such a big deal?
After all, Earth element users should surely be able to do something similar and much more efficient and streamlined since it was their element in question, right?
Well, the obvious answer was no!
While Earth element users could do something similar, their earthen walls and the like only lasted as long as they fed it mana.
It would crumble the next moment when the energy was cut. It lacked permanence. It had to do with how both elements worked.
The Earth element took a user's mana and filled it into the earth, using it to shape and reshape whatever they were working with. Whether humus, clay, or whatever, it would stay humus, clay, or whatever, it would not change into something else.
It could only be manipulated to be harder, sharper, faster as long as the Earth element user moved their mana accordingly. Once they retracted their mana, that creation would return to its inanimate state.
In a way, you could say Earth element stuff was a special form of necromancy. You granted 'life' to segments of the earth for a while and when that power was taken back, it return to the dead.
That flow of mana was its skeleton. Take it away, and it became a bag of immovable 'flesh'.
On the other hand, the Material element took a specific item and changed its fundamental molecules/composition into another. So even if you took your mana back, it would stay the way it was.
Whether you built a stone house or a stone fort, it would exist in perpetuity even after the caster died, as long as it was not manually destroyed, rather being left to nature.
And all it took was a little bit of mana to do this.
Just like now, Darius held this mini tower construct that could sell for a good amount of currency regardless of where he sold it, especially if his targets were nobles who appreciated art.
Even if Darius had been the weakest and most useless bloke before today, he would have suddenly acquired a means to enrich himself.
Of course, the value of this would go down as more and more people would awaken to the Material element and also use Stone to Mud to create various things.
However, Darius was not bothered. Faust was far too big for there to ever be enough natural awakeners. It was like how there would never be enough lawyers, doctors, or teachers on Earth.
The scope of what they provided was so encompassing that at some point in a human's life, they would absolutely need the service of someone in that profession.
It was the same here.
If Material element users were to congregate in one kingdom or continent, then yes, business would be slightly troublesome for the individual as they would be forced to fight for their market share.
However, if one considered the entire Faust, they would be a drop in the ocean. What was important was not fighting over small areas but expanding as far as they could to create their own markets and rule them.
Darius knew what he was going to be doing for the next month. He already had the framework of a few Intermediate grade spells for the Material element in mind, and would begin work on them asap.
He now knew how he was going to handle his faction of moneymakers. He would take his own advice and assign them to various places in Faust to make use of the spells he would create to create markets and own them.
In order not to harm the faction as a whole, each of their zones would be demarcated and they would be forbidden to reach out of it unless Darius explicitly gave them permission. That would prevent internal unrest in his own faction, but competition would be allowed.
As they all would have similar starting points, values and nurturing would be given to those who were able to develop faster and earn more.
This kind of healthy competition would keep the factions alive and strong.
With these ideas bouncing about in his head, Darius casually blinked back into his room and sat down in a mediative position.
It was time to create the first new spell in the just discovered element!
