Several hours had already gone by, and Orion had just finished his small hut.
'This hut is pretty small and basic, but it'll do until I upgrade.' Orion crawled inside the small entrance of the hut and lay on a makeshift bed, which was basically a couple of sticks tied together using vines.
'My back is going to hurt tomorrow morning. But at least I won't freeze to death tonight... Hopefully, my body is strong enough to endure, right? Hopefully... but before that!'
Orion sat cross-legged inside the moss-covered hut and closed his eyes. He focused and noted multiple things which gave him confirmation of his father's teachings.
Firstly, there was technically no such thing as a full-fledged mana core in his body at all times. If he could describe it, it would be something like an illusory pool of mana at the level of his abdomen. Stemming from it were hundreds, if not thousands, of vein-like circuits—mana circuits. However, these circuits were not something physical, which was logical since mana itself is not a physical substance. From what he could deduce, this 'pool' of mana depended on his physical capabilities. Meaning, the stronger he was, the more mana he could store. However, he could also guess that there were other factors, as no one was equal. Talent was a thing, and even if 2 individuals were of the same rank and stage, it was unlikely that they had the same mana pool.
And secondly, he confirmed that what his father said was true. Which was the fact that after death, the mana in a being's circuits converges towards the 'core'— or rather the illusory core— and condenses to form a mana crystal or mana core depending on the circumstances.
Essentially, since the mana pool of a being was where the mana was stored and the mana circuits was the path through which the being circulated the mana—whether actively or subconsciously depending on the situation. While Orion was alive, his mana core was basically his mana pool and as well as his mana circuits. And if Orion were to die, the mana from his circuits and pool would fuse to form the real mana core as his body was now inanimate and could not subconsciously circulate mana.
For instance, Rogue Beasts and Rank 1 humans can form full-fledged cores after their death as Mana converges without the inherent circulation of small quantity of mana in their body. However, since rank 1 beings—creatures and chosen of any race— have relatively little many after a fight to the death, only shards of mana are produced. If a rank 1 being were to die without having time to use a speck of its mana from its 'core', a proper mana core would be formed. Due to all of the above, it was simply more convenient for people to use the term "Mana Core" instead of overcomplicating things and being technical about whether the subject was alive or dead.
Furthermore, consuming mana crystals or mana core is what allows a person to progress along their path. There is another way, which is to absorb mana directly from the surroundings; however, it is currently not optimal for Orion—a peak stage Novice—since the zone he is currently in does not possess high-density mana to make proper advancements. Nevertheless, it is still better than nothing.
Both of these methods resulted in the same thing. Increase of the amount of mana in one's pool. Why? Well, Orion quickly thought of the answer. It was simple really— it was that a mana core was similar to a muscle. Adding mana while the core was full strained the core. Forcing it to strengthen itself and increase in minor or major ranks. However, in the higher ranks—4 to 6— purely relying on this would probably not be enough to rank up. If each individual had different limit of mana, what prevented a talented Chosen from simply powering through the ranks and stages? Orion knew there had to be more to it.
Orion manipulated the mana in his surroundings and promptly made it converge towards him to enter his body. The process of manipulating mana was second nature to him; however, the action of absorbing is what took some time, but he quickly got the hang of it in mere minutes.
'Graves wasn't wrong when he said I was talented.'
The strain was not restricted to the pool but extended to the circuits as well. Passively strengthening his body. This was one of the major reasons why Rank 6 conjurers, who rarely trained their body as compared to Augmentors, were not as frail as twigs in front of high level attacks.
Half an hour later.
Orion finished absorbing mana quite a bit of mana and ate dinner, which was basically a couple of fish he fished using his sword as a spear.
After dinner, he lay on his bed and thought of the things that Graves said to him.
'What is my first memory? He made it sound like I was not supposed to answer how I did. My first memory was of coming out of my mother's womb. If this is not normal, then what is normal? One day 'waking up' and being 2 or 3 years old? That didn't make sense. But what if it was true... what if that was why my father was scared. I remember uttering my first words around a few months after my birth. If a baby did not have a properly developed brain till a year or two, then they certainly wouldn't be able to make proper long sentences in a new language, as I did. Argh!'
Orion had the urge to pull his hair out at the moment. 'Why didn't I hear about anything like that when I grew up? Am I that different from normal?'
Orion sighed and closed his eyes slowly. 'Tomorrow, I need to try using Lightning.'
The Next Afternoon
Orion had constructed a fairly normal morning routine which consisted of waking up, finding food, drinking water and upgrading his hut where he could before doing whatever he wanted. And right now, what he wanted was to learn how to use his affinities.
Orion slowly gathered the mana from his body towards his fingertips and touched a small leaf. As soon as he did, the leaf contracted suddenly and wrinkled.
'Hm, pretty easy. It's similar to learning how to use a new limb. Luckily, if my hypothesis is true about me being 'conscious' from my birth, I should have an advantage in learning how to use a limb without instincts. Still... that was quick. I don't know if I was supposed to struggle more before figuring it out...'
Orion tried to use his second affinity but failed as expected. The affinity was still locked and unusable. Judging from Elisa's explanation and from the events which occurred inside Orion's sea of consciousness, he could deduce that he was more than extremely talented in the Lightning affinity, so he was not rushing to use his second affinity yet.
'Practice makes perfect, as they say'