Chapter 4: The Supreme Existence
"Raise the Village security level to Maximum!" Lord Fenris announced just as we reached the village, "And call back all the scouts right now, we're having a meeting tonight!"
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AETHER'S POV:
I heard Fenris and his men yelling and shouting
"So they're finally back" I went out to see what was going on. As I stepped outside, Uzui approached me
"Sorry to keep you waiting, Aether. We ran into some troubles"
"Oh, no it's alright, but can you tell me what's going on?"
"It's nothing too serious. The roar you heard was the roar of the Minotours, they are a stubborn and egotistic creatures. Sadly, one of our men was slain by them, it's a shame but still, Poro did his job—he was a good man.
Anyway, we're raising the village's security to prepare ourselves for any attack that may come, so there's no reason for you to worry"
So creatures like Minotour exist. Looks like this world is much more richer in variations than my old one, "Thanks for always answering my questions Uzui"
"No problem. And I can see that you finally wore the Leather Coat, a fitting coat for the number 2, haha.
You should go and train with Lord Oloris now, the sun is still high up so you should have plenty of time"
"Thanks again Uzui, then, I'll head to old man Oloris now"
The breeze of the forest passed through, and the sun shone with its perfect heat. It was calm and comforting—unlike my old world which was filled with anger, war and death
I walked past quite a few people on my way to the training field, and the village was as calm and lively as ever, "The people of this village sure are productive, I have not seen any of them slacking off.
Kentaki, the one who ranked third in the festival, he told me: 'We are very short in numbers, so we try our best not to dwell on the past. Even if our friends die, we can't be depressed and stop working, instead we have to honor them by working even harder and try our best to be happy for them'
So even though one of them just died, they continue to work their hardest while putting on a happy face… You have my respect, the people of Wolfvillage"
Upon reaching the field that lay near the river, I found Aria sitting alone on the ground.
The soft roar of the splashing river beside me was both calming and refreshing, it was the only sound that I could reminisc from my past life.
"Uh, hello, little Aria can you hear me? Where can I find your teacher?" She did not answer me.
"Are you angry little Aria? Are you ignoring me?"
"She won't be able to hear you boy genius" That voice, it was old man Oloris. I glanced around, then saw him sitting on the branch of a tree
"Old man Oloris, do you enjoy the tree that much? And why can't she hear me?"
"She's using all her concentration on refining her mana core, so that's why"
"I...have no idea what that actually means but okay. So what are we training today?"
"You look pretty confident Aether, I guess we can start right away" He jumped off the tree, "First, to help you truly grasp the concept of Magic, I'll show you a fight—then we can continue from there"
He walked over to Aria, and gently tapped on her shoulder, "Sorry to disturb you my sweet potato, but I need you to have a short magic battle with me"
Aria's eyes widened, "Hey! D-Dont call me that Grandpa!"
"Hmm but why? You're such a sweet little potato"
"No I am NOT!"
Watching them laugh and fight, I finally saw what a normal family relationship looked like. As a person who was trained and shipped away the moment I was born, in a way, the sight of them playing amazed me.
"Okay, are we all ready?"
They prepared themselves for the battle.
"If you're ready, then let's start the battle my sweet potato!"
Aria made the first move, "Here I go grandpa! {Flamethrower}!" She grabbed her right wrist with her left—then fired a beam of flame toward old man Oloris
"Hahaha, to be able to use a B-Grade spell at that age, my sweet potato is truly a genius, okay now, here I go—{Water Ball}!"
Old man Oloris shot a ball of water, charging straight at the incoming the beam of fire, "FRRWSSSSHHH!!!"
"T-This heat…" I could feel the waves of heat bursting from the two spells as they clashed. It was an intense and fascinating sight for me, as I have never seen magic spells before
The colliding spells finally reached their climax, "FFRRRSSHH-BOOOM!" The explosion resulted in a huge burst of steam that enveloped the whole battlefield
"So that's what they call a magic spell—It's amazing"
The smoke started settling down, and through the blurry steam, I saw Aria running towards me, "Did you see that Aether? Did you see that amazing spell I just used?
It was indeed very flashy and amazing, "Yes yes, it was veeery amaaaaazing" But I decided to tease her anyway
"HEY! Don't talk to me like that! Grandpaaa, come and beat up Aether he's annoying me again!!"
Oloris chuckled, "Now now, just forgive Aether this one time okay? Aether will apologize, right Aether?"
"Sighs, I am veeery sorry Aria, pleeeeease forgive me"
"Grandpa he's doing it againn!"
"Hahaha, alright both of you let's stop now, we're here to train Aether.
My sweet potato is very cute and smart, haha. Now go back and continue to refine your mana core, you'll be even stronger if you keep refining"
"Hmph—"
Oloris sent Aria back to train by herself, then he continued his lecture with me
"Okay Aether, now that you saw the magic spells, let me tell you about classification.
There are five grades of spell, the highest grade is 'A', and the lowest grade is E"
I asked, "So that means you use the same grading system for spells and mana beasts?"
"That's right. The spell I just used was a D-Grade spell, the second lowest among the spell class.
Now, do you know the reason why my D-Grade spell could match the power of Aria's B-Grade spell? It's because of the difference in the mastery over our mana and mana core"
"Excuse me old man Oloris, but what exactly is a mana core?"
"It seems like you really don't know anything.
Okay, everyone in this world is born with a mana core, and for most of us, it awakens when we turn six years of age.
There are different mana core colours, and the colour of our core determines the stage we're in"
"I see" Compared to my old world system which was complex and mixed with politics, this was extremely easy to understand
"There are 7 mana core colours:
Violet, Indigo, Blue, Green, Yellow, Orange and Red.
Violet is the weakest, and Red is the strongest. If you have a violet mana core, that means you're at the Violet stage"
"I understand. Then let me ask you again old man Oloris, how exactly does a stronger mana core make you stronger? I mean doesn't everyone learn the same magic spells anyway?"
I attempted to clear all my doubts. I had to know everything about the world system, or my ignorance would come back to bite me later
"Hmm, lets say I, a person who has a green mana core fought a person with a Violet mana core, if both of us use the same amount of mana and fire the same exact magic spell— 10 out of 10 my magic would overpower his.
A stronger Mana core provides a stronger body and a more refined mana. That is why it's important to have a breakthrough"
His explanation was clear and made complete sense to me, and I figured out some important details myself
"So that means the higher our Mana core stage is, the stronger our magic and physical body is.
That must mean the reason why your D-Grade Spell stalemated Aria's B-Grade spell is because you're a veteran that has stayed in the Green stage for years, but Aria had only just awakened, so her mastery over mana cannot be compared to yours."
"That's exactly right Aether, good job figuring it out" He patted on my back as he smiled.
In a way, the core system was really similar to the Ki system, which was the main source of strength in my old world.
Oloris revealed a gold coin from his pocket, "Look here Aether, let's say this side of the coin represents Magic and all its variations—it would not be false to say that you could become the strongest by studying only one side of this coin.
But it's important to learn about what exists on the other side of the coin"
"The other side of the coin?"
He raised his hand quite abruptly, then a second later, two men suddenly appeared before us.
"Hello there Aether" He smiled, "My name is Ulric, and this is my friend Lycus. Lord Oloris himself requested us to show you a battle between a Kaidan user and a normal magician, so make sure you watch closely okay?"
They walked to the middle of the field, and stood at a distance apart, readying themselves for the battle.
I felt a certain pressure spreading across the battlefield. The two men before me were no ordinary men, they were warriors capable of exuding their aura
Lycus made the first move, "{Water Bullet}!" A splash of water emerged out and began condensing into the shape of a bullet.
"That magic spell… even I could tell that it's more powerful than the Water Ball old man Oloris used a moment ago"
"Fwoooosh!" He released the bullet, and it flew straight at Ulric
"I am already used to that move buddy, {Mud Wall}" A wall surged out from the ground and stood in front of him—guarding him.
"{Enohan}" Ulric yelled out right after the wall appeared.
"BOOM!" The bullet crashed directly on the wall, resulting in an echoing loud explosion
As I was watching from the sides, I noticed something, "He shouted Enohan just now. And the moment he did, the Mud Wall was enveloped in an energy"
Ulric yelled out, "Now that I have stopped your attack, here I come!" He drew his blade as he lunged towards Lycus
"CLANG!" Their blades met, ringing through the air
"{Enohan}" He used it again.
While their sword grind against each other, Ulric quickly jumped upward, and as his body was spinning mid-air, he threw a downward kick—landing directly at Lycus's head
"THUD!"
Lycus, unable to block in time was knocked down on the ground
"It's my win this time Lycus, that makes it 53-50 in my favor. Good fight my friend" Ulric grabbed Lycus's hand, helping him to stand. The two of them smiled as the battle concluded
"One side of the coin holds Magic, and the other side of the coin holds something special, and that something special is known as Kaidan"
"Kaidan, it must be the one Ulric used just now, right?"
"Yes, good for you to figure it out all by yourself, boy genius.
Kaidan are powers that are beyond elemental spells. They use mana, but do not utilize the four classic elements known as Fire, Water, Wind and Earth.
To use Kaidan, one must be compatible with it, so it's rare for a person to have more than one Kaidan"
Ulric and Lycus approached us, "Aether, did you watch the fight carefully?"
"Yes, it was amazing. And if I am not wrong, is your Kaidan called Enohan?"
"That's right! You're a smart kid Aether, glad to know you observed us that closely.
My Kaidan is called Enohan, it allows me to enhance anything within my range. I used the spell Mud Wall which was a D-Grade spell to block against Lycus's Water Bullet which was a C-Grade spell.
If I hadn't enhanced my spell using Enohan, Lycus's spell would have gone through and hit me. I also used Enohan on my leg which allows me to knock down Lycus in a single hit. It's pretty useful isn't it?"
"Yes, your Kaidan is amazing. But I want to ask you, how exactly did you obtain your Kaidan?"
"Hmmm, back when I was younger, I was travelling land from land, exploring the world as I always dreamed. During those times, I trained with someone and he taught me the move"
"I see"
"Well then, sorry for my short answer but we have some work to do so we'll excuse ourselves now, best of luck on your training Aether"
"You too Mr Ulric, and thank you for troubling yourself to educate me and showing me your Kaidan" They left and headed to the village
"Hahaha, you're quite the fast learner, boy genius. Now, let's go ahead and test the colour of your mana core"
He pulled out a white crystal, "Now Aether, I want you to place your hand on this crystal. It will absorb a little bit of your mana, and the glow of the crystal will show what colour your mana core is."
I placed my hand on the white crystal, "So like this?"
The crystal glowed in violet, "Hmm, it seems like you're at the lowest stage, the Viole—
"CRACKS!"
"What the!" Oloris eyes widened
Out of nowhere, the crystal glowed extremely bright—so bright that it was blinding my eyes in white.
With every passing second, It kept glowing brighter and brighter.
Oloris exclaimed, his face obviously shocked, "Don't tell me, this is—"
"BOOOM!!"
The crystal shattered…
End of chapter 4.