Mana Manipulation to create Fortification

Isaac stares at the waterfall in anticipation while anticipating the dangers that might befall on him as he enters under the water of the waterfall. Though the waterfall looked like any ordinary waterfall that you might see in tourist spots back on Earth, this water was different, but it's not visible to the eye. Isaac's mana sense which was improved due to his breakthrough as a tier 1 lower mage couldn't show him all the qualities that was instilled in the water, but he could sense the great presence of magic, alongside the pressure it emitted. The waterfall felt more like a path to hell than a tranquill attraction of nature. Isaac walked closer to the waterfall, and when he got close enough, he stuck out his arm, and when he did, he felt a great resistance pushing his arm down, making it very difficult for him to keep his arm up. Isaac pulls back his arm before starting to contemplate his next course of actions.

As Isaac is formulating his plan, the same robotic voice appears telling him about the waterfall. "The waterfall is called the Pressuretide Waterfall, it is used to help participants show off mana manipulation and strength, if you try to use your actual body to resist this water, you will end up in a clinic or hospital for months, and that is the most lucky consequence, please demonstrate your mana manipulation capabilities within the next 10 minutes or you will be disqualified". The voice ends as Isaac reveals a very sullen look on his face.

"Mana Manipulation"? Isaac thinks with a annoyed look on his face. "I have not learned any mana manipulation techniques, so how in the world am I going to pass this test"!? As Isaac is panicking over how he will complete the test, in the spectation box of this test room, lays two females with blonde hair. One has their hair in a ponytail and gave off a vibe of being very serious and mature, her armor was silver with highlights of blue fabric mixed between in the joints. The other female who looked as if to be her twin, looked very opposite to the first female. She also had sported silver armor, but it had green fabric woven into it and she had twin tails. She had a big smile on her face and gave off a radiant glow that opposed the serious demeanour of the woman next to her. They both could be considered at the level of beauties though. The two females didn't look past the age of 18. If Isaac could see them right now, he would be wondering if it was possible if he was living in an anime with the fact that two females that didn't look past the 18 was helping giving him his test.

The girl with the single ponytail begins to speak. "It is unfortunate that this Isaac won't be able to progress any further than this, most commoners aren't taught the basics of mana manipulation because they simply can't afford someone that will teach them". She says in a deadpan tone, as if Isaac's failure is essentially assured up to this point. The other girl with an almost sarcastic but radiant grin on her face replies, "Sister, don't count him out just yet, I believe in the little guy". She says and then proceeds to chuckle herself to death while on the seat, while her sister just rolls her eyes at her sister's antics.

Back with Isaac who is pondering about what to do, he suddenly remembers an event that occurred while he was training with Kanade at the library. It was a very short event but, it would be the key to whether or not her could pass this test. Isaac begins to remember about the memory that occurred while training.

SUMMON DUAL BLADED POLEARM

Isaac shouts as he summons his dual bladed polearm and begins to gather energy into his weapon's blade before slashing it on the block of ice. Isaac sits down exhausted. " I've tried to use 3 percent of energy for 30 minutes now and I'm still not making headway". Isaac says while resting and recovering his energy to resume training as soon as possible. Just as Isaac lays down, a heeled foot kicks him in the stomach before launching him a few feet. Slowly getting off the ground after being kicked in the stomach, Isaac stares at Kanade who is now looming over him. "W...w..why did y..you k..kick me"? Isaac breathes out in pain. Kanade who has a stoic expression on her face, instead of answering Isaac's question, slowly raises her heeled foot above her head, before white and cyan magical energy gathers around her leg, almost like a membrane, before she stomps her heel down, incredibly close to Isaac's head. The impact of her heel hitting the ground left a small crater where her foot had stomped down on. After demonstrating this raw strength, Kanade begins to walk away before saying, "You think too linear Isaac". Isaac who was still on the floor, didn't understand what she was talking about, but continues to recover his magic energy and stamina to continue training.

*In the present*

Isaac closes his eyes and begins to concentrate on his body. Magic begins to gather in Isaac's hands, and a minute later, Isaac's entire body begins to glow with purple magical power. A small and thin membrane begins to coat around his feet, before going up towards his chest, spreading to his arms, hands, legs, and finally to his entire head. Once the process is complete, Isaac rushes into the waterfall with no held bars, and begins to immediately resist the pressure of the water. While standing in the waterfall, a timer appears above the area counting down from 10 minutes.

The pressure on Isaac's body is currently stronger than the magical pressure that Kanade exerted on him for the first time when he trained in the library. It felt like as if he was getting slammed on every portion of his body, but his only saving grail was the fortification currently around his body. Isaac who has currently been under the waterfall for two minutes now realizes a startling fact, in that the fortification he had put up was beginning to crack ever so slightly. Isaac was using mana to repair the cracks at his fastest speed, but the pressure created cracks and weak points faster than he could patch them up.

"I can't keep going on like this, my mana fortification is too subpar, by the time it breaks, I will still have about 1-2 minutes to go". Isaac thinks while continuously resisting the pressure pounding on his body. Slowly but surely as the time went on though, the amount of cracks developing on Isaac's mana fortification lessned, not by much, but it was lessening. Though Isaac's mana was becoming stronger from the constant pressure, like a blade being sharpened on a grindstone, it wouldn't amount him everything in this test for his mana capacity couldn't keep up with the constant repairs. At the 9 minute mark, Isaac's body was heavy and he could feel a sense of dizziness overtake him, his mana fortification finally ran out, and now he was only resisting with the pure strength of his body. Seconds ticked down, as Isaac continued to endure, blood starting to rupture out of his mouth, eyes, and ears. Gritting his teeth, he continued to endure till the very last second, for if he didn't, he would die here.

"Come on! Come on! The time is almost up, I can make it"! Isaac shouts in fury as the time ends, but he is then washed away by the waterfall as the strength leaves his body, under the water. Isaac once again saw light fade away from his eyes, and darkness begin to settle, as his body drifts under the water slowly, like a lifeless doll.