The dragon looked down at Noah ditating in silence. Mana flowed around him with each breath, filling Noah’s body and spirit.
“Can you feel the mana?” the dragon asked.
Noah opened his eyes, letting go of ditation. “I don’t know. I always could, but you keep saying I can’t.”
“Do we need to explain again?”
Noah thought about it, before giving a nod to the dragon.
“The way you feel mana is like your sense of touch. You can feel it around you and inside you, but only vaguely. What you need to do is sharpen your senses, clarify it.”
“Sure, but I’ve been ditating for so ti now and nothing has happened.”
“That is because you still do not understand. You rely on the Astral scripts to do the work for you, instead of using it as a tool, you depend on it, like a crutch.”
Noah humd in thought to himself.
“This is a precise art, one only true spell casters utilize. The Astral scripts are a great tool, perhaps too great, and you allow it to do the heavy lifting for you. But if you ever wish to truly reach great heights, you must understand how your magic works, to control it.”
“So like the difference between driving an automatic versus a manual,” Noah said to himself.
“We do not understand what that ans.”
Noah took a few minutes, explaining the concept of cars to the dragon, finding the creature fascinated.
“So you utilise a different fuel source. Interesting. These gears are fascinating, we believe the celestians and the Depth-dwellers use sothing like that in their tools and weapons. Your example makes sense, it is indeed similar. You must shift the gears from automatic to manual, and take control.”
“Okay. So… again. How do I do that?”
“Hmm, take any ability you’d like, one with an external manifestation. Say, like a ball of fire.”
“I’ve got one,” Noah said, raising his hands as nether flas began to coalesce around his arms in a ball.
“Wonderful. Now make it a cube.”
“Umm. Okay…” Noah said, before looking at the ball of flas. He frowned, trying to alter the shape of the ball of flas. The action felt strenuous, and the ball of nether fla crumbled apart at Noah’s prodding.
“Alright. That’s annoying,” Noah said, summoning another ball of flas. He tried once again, but found the ability not taking any shape other than the one his instincts told him it could.
“Noah, do you understand the purpose of Tos?”
“To unlock abilities, yeah?” Noah asked.
“Yes. But how do they do that? How can you summon that ball of flas? How is it, that you can turn your mana, into this specific kind of fire?”
“Well… because… the To taught how?”
The dragon shook its head. “No Noah, it did not teach you. It imprinted the spell onto your soul. When you use your magic, it’s akin to pulling a lever. There’s a neatly created spell already there on your soul, and you can feed it mana and it will create exactly what it needs to. That is how an ability to works.”
“There’s skill tos too though, aren’t there?” Noah asked.
“Slightly different, but roughly the sa principle. Skill tos impart knowledge directly onto your soul as well. It’s often less efficient than learning that skill on your own, since you do not develop the right muscle mory. Though with practice, one can mitigate that disadvantage.”
“Hmm, okay. So how do I learn how to do the thing that the ability to taught on my own?”
The dragon snorted, lightning crackling a round its body. Noah had learned to read the different kinds of lightning bursts as different degrees of amusent. And this was the equivalent of holding his gut and doubling down laughter in human terms for the creature.
“It will take you your lifeti to learn how to do that. There is a reason why the Astral script exists. The era of Celestian dominance ca entirely from this. They figured out how to impart the knowledge of creation and magic onto the souls of people. The astral scripts is rely the summation of all their accumulated knowledge over thousands of years. Do not hope to attempt that sa on your own.”
“Alright, I’ll believe you there. So… what am I learning to do here?”
“Hmm. Taking your example of these… cars yes? These devices had the gears you ntioned. What you currently have is simply a push of the button, a thod to activate and deactivate an ability. To use it, or to not use it, and with how much mana. What you want, is multiple gears, to dictate how intensely the mana should be applied, how much of it should transform into the spell, and how much of it should be used to alter the spell itself. Rember, the further you move from the shape of an ability, the more mana intensive it becos.”
Noah nodded, focusing once again on his Netherfla Burst ability. With a simple will of mana, the black flas manifested in a ball around his palm, and Noah let them remain there, slowly gathering in strength. As he did, however, he began to focus on the mana itself. The way it flowed through his body from the insides, and out into the spell itself.
“Now we return to the start. But perhaps you will learn better by doing it. Start ditating Noah, but keep your ability active.”
Noah followed the dragon’s instruction, focusing on the ability as he began to ditate. His focus sharpened, his sensations heightening as he began to feel the flow of his mana.
To his surprise, it was not his palms that were gathering the mana. There was no single part of his body that was assisting the flow of his abilities, but instead the mana was coming out from all around him, flowing into his aura, before being directed towards the spell equally from all directions.
You’ve learned the skill [Mana Sense]!
[Void Hunter’s Senses] has increased [Mana Sense] to level 3!
His awareness expanded instantly, as the flows of mana turned into millions of tiny streams moving both inside him, and outside his body through his aura. There were pathways that the mana flowed through in his auras, and for brief monts, he could see flickers, similar to the runes he read within the Tos themselves. The mana was mimicking those shapes, as it flowed inside the spell, almost like it was passing through an invisible sh.
“Good. You see now. Finally. Now change it Noah. Change the ability you use.”
The black ball of fire continued to float above Noah’s palm, slowly growing in size. And Noah began to slightly alter the flow of the mana going into it. At first, he slowed the mana down to a trickle, stopping the ball from growing. And then, he did sothing that his mind struggled to grasp.
Noah began to reverse the flow of mana, the black flas slowly beginning to shrink in size as the mana he had put into it began to flow back into it.
You’ve learned the skill [Mana Reversal]!
“We’re surprised. You are draining your own spell of mana.”
The black flas slowly winked out of existence, as Noah opened his eyes, realizing he’d lost track of ti. “That felt… weird. But in a good way. Almost natural in so regards.”
“You are very peculiar Noah. To learn reversal before control is… abnormal to say the least.”
“Is it? It felt… very natural to .”
“It is. Reversal is a much more difficult skill than control. To find it natural is abnormal.”
Noah shrugged.
“Regardless, we think you might be ready. Try to alter the ability one last ti, and once you have, we will begin training your resistance.”
Noah nodded, summoning the netherfla ball again. He felt the sensation of mana flowing around, but this ti, instead of reversing the flow, Noah began to alter it. The act felt much more difficult, but slowly the mana streams began to shift, as the ball changed shape, becoming elongated, before spreading outwards into a shape resembling very vaguely that of a cube.
You’ve learned the skill [Mana Control]!
Skill Fusion unlocked.
[Mana Expulsion], [Aura Control], [Mana Sense], [Mana Reversal], and [Mana Control] can be fused into [Mana Mastery].
Would you like to combine these skills?
Yes/No?
“Uhh, I got a skill fusion. Mana Mastery.”
“The reversal seems to have completed a set. Regardless, refuse it. If you’re capable, then we can take a day or two more to get you the greater variant.”
Noah nodded, selecting No.
“Very well, now let us work on your resistance. Once you have that unlocked, we will focus on your mana mastery.”
“Sounds good. So, what am I supposed to do here?”
“It’s rather simple. We will use our mana to attack you. You must utilize your newfound control and understanding to resist us.”
“Alright,” Noah said, bracing himself for the attack. A mont later, he felt a pulse of mana hit him, flowing inside his body as a sharp piercing pain struck his chest.
You’ve been inflicted by [Mana Poisoning - III]
You’ve been inflicted by [Mana Paralysis - IV]
You’ve been inflicted by [Migraine - III]
Noah felt his body be wrung from the inside out, simultaneously feeling like he had too much mana inside him and he would explode, and like he had none and was being drained of everything.
Gritting his teeth, Noah pulled his attention together, and began to focus. The mana was flowing from outwards, into him like waves, and he began to focus on where it was coming from. As his senses expanded, Noah found streams of mana, piercing his aura. Like tiny threads with needlepoints poking holes into his spirit and soul, as they made their way in to poison him.
With a pulse of his will, Noah pushed back on the mana, closing the seams in his aura, preventing mana from entering. Once that was done, he focused on the mana inside him. A giant pool of mana was swirling inside, disrupting his own mana and ability to use any spells or focus.
Noah pushed with his will, focusing on the mana inside as he began to pull into it. The mana began to swirl, slowly being gathered around in a collected knot. Forming a focus pathway from inside of him, Noah let the mana gather in his abdon, and then let out a long deep breath.
The mana poured outside of him, as his body found itself clearing the remnants by abosoring it into his spirit.
You’ve gained the skill [Mana Resistance]!
The dragon started a second attack within monts, this ti with even more force, and Noah was forced to repeat the cycle. Without even realizing it, he activated ditation, as his focus increased, his attention entirely on the mana flowing inside of him. Ti flew by in a daze, as Noah continued to purge the foreign mana from inside of him, stopping any more from entering.
With one final deep exhale, Noah felt his spirit clear out, as his aura stopped any extra mana from entering his body.
[Mana Resistance] has reached level 10!
[Mana Resistance] has ranked up to Interdiate!
Skill Fusion unlocked.
[Mind Resistance], [Terror Resistance], [Soul Resistance], [Aura Resistance] and [Mana Resistance] can be fused into [General Spirit Resistance].
Would you like to combine these skills?
Yes/No?
Noah opened his eyes, looking at the prompt in front of him.
“Accept it,” the dragon said.
Noah selected yes, as the prompt vanished.
You’ve unlocked [General Spirit Resistance]!
[General Spirit Resistance (Interdiate) - level 10]
Your spirit has endured through much, having grown in strength by trial and tribulations, it has beco capable of resisting most forms of spirit attacks. Find your will unbending. May no chain ever bind your spirit.
“It has been exactly fourteen days since we began,” the dragon said, looking down at Noah. “Normally, we would ask you to start breaking these chains, but we have grown curious. It has been a long ti since we taught anyone, and you are an interesting student. We appreciate your companionship, Noah. And if you wish, we can continue. But if you are in a hurry, we can proceed ahead as well.”
“Geez, you’ll make blush,” Noah said, before thinking for a minute. “I’d love to continue learning, but ti is of essence here.”
“We understand. The teachings can continue once we have accomplished the task you arrived here for.”
Noah nodded, ready to try and work on the chains, but the dragon held him back.
“But first, we believe you have a familiar to take care of.”
At the dragon’s words, Noah felt his bond, and opened his dinsional pocket and saw a creature with runes marked upon its face, two horns rising from tis skull, wings that shone in the light and white fur that extended into a slick tail, slowly opening its eyes from a long and deep sleep.
Bun Bun had woken up.
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