LVI

  Two messages appeared from his [ Archive ], and he decided to just let his [ Archive ] guide him through the messages, not caring anymore for its intrusions. The first message was:

  You have discovered your Affinity for your Mana Core. Your Mana Affinity is Lightning - ? ?.

  Lightning. That was an affinity that he was not expecting, never personally hearing about it. He always wanted a Fire affinity, but if he were to be honest, Lightning was a lot rarer, and unique in its nature. Kaz couldn’t stop the grin from spreading across his face. Another starred variant of his talents. It was still a shock to him to see stars accompanying any updates to his Calling. Once he confirmed with his [ Archive ] that he was ready for the next message, it rolled out his [ Skill Abilities ] page, displaying:

  — [ Skill Abilities ] —

  [ Mana Burst ] > [ Lightning Burst - ? ]

  Rank 23 > Rank 28

  Manifest a burst of lightning mana and attack an enemy, up to 35 yards. Uses 10 Mana Points per use, dealing 37 damage to Health Points. By spending double the Mana Points (20), the attack travels to the target at twice the speed.

  [ Mana Shield ]

  Rank 29

  [ Mana Siphon - ? ? ? ]

  Rank 50

  Another pleasant update to his Calling, and this one was for his [ Mana Burst ], well, now [ Lightning Burst ]. It was no surprise to him as this Ability previously was just a pure form of mana, but since his affinity now was Lightning, it would be tailored to it. Being one star was quite lackluster, but he assumed since this was just the first evolution of the Ability, he shouldn’t hope for an immediate jump to multiple stars. Kaz couldn’t get lucky with everything now.

  “You know, Kaz, Lightning is an affinity that isn’t seen often, especially this side of the Cosmos.”

  Startled by Aelon’s voice, he physically flinched, getting lost in the moment with his changes. He quickly faced the Elder, who was still sitting on the patch of grass, beaming at him. He motioned for Kaz to join him, and Kaz promptly sat in front of the Elder, waiting for another lesson, hopefully.

  Instead, the Elf said, “For now, I have nothing to teach you, or at least anything that you should know prior to getting ready for your first Revelation. If I were to guess, you will without doubt go experiment with your new affinity. If I do not see you before you undergo your first Revelation, I strongly recommend thinking carefully about whatever is offered to you. Your first Revelation is the most important, as this decision will shape your whole future.”

  Kaz nodded solemnly, taking to heart what Elder Aelon was saying. He understood that his first Revelation will provide him with options for his Calling, but the rest he wasn’t sure of. He felt like he should ask what to expect, but he felt himself getting choked up, unable to ask about it. His Mana Core flickered, as if sending him a warning, and Kaz understood that the specifics about the Revelation is personal.

  Aelon continued, “There is no wrong choice in your decision, but keep in mind that the stars and rank of each have no impact currently, as the further you advance, they will evolve to even stronger variants than what the other options would have progressed to.”

  With that, Aelon slowly got up, and Kaz felt himself panic, not wanting him to go away just yet. Before he could think properly, he blurted out, “Er, Elder, I know what to do for my [ Lightning Burst ] to Rank, but what about my [ Mana Shield ] and [ Mana Regeneration ]?”

  Chuckling, Elder Aelon ruffled his hair, and merely told him, “Just follow your Mana Core, it has all the answers you need. Now go experiment with your Mana Core.” Following that, Aelon started walking away, not looking back or saying anything else.

  Kaz called out to him, “Thank you as always, Elder Aelon! The next time I see you, I will be a different Mage!”

  Aelon turned around briefly, flashing him a genuine smile before turning back around, and disappearing from his view. Kaz blinked to make sure he wasn’t going crazy, and he could barely see the Elder now barely outside of his vision. Was that an Ability of some sort?

  Not wasting his time wondering, he set off into the forest, knowing that there would be Stonerock Goblins in these parts. He doubted they would be difficult to fight, given that in his early stages he fought them with relative ease. But now, he just merely wanted to get some repetitions done with his new updated Ability, [ Lightning Burst ].

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  If he was to take away anything from his training with Wylana, is that repetition makes his mind and body work together without needing to align both himself. During his sparing, his body would react before he could think while he was under pressure, allowing him to think about what to do in his next move, working in tandem.

  Now, instead of Wylana being the one to guide him throughout the process, it would be his Mana Core. He felt a small wave of mana surge throughout him, giving him the assurance he needed. With a confident stride, he marched on until he came across an enemy.

  It took him about half an hour before he came across a duo of Stonerock Goblins. He closed his eyes, and following his Mana Core, he cast [ Lightning Burst ], letting it flow throughout him and shoot out from his fingers. Kaz opened his eyes the moment he felt the construct leave his fingers, and with awe, he saw a small bundle of wild Lightning streak towards the unfortunate goblin.

  With a thundering sound, his attack impacted against the goblin, sending it flying a few yards, dead before it even hit the ground. He saw a small trail of smoke coming from the body of the Stonerock Goblin before it disappeared. The other goblin stared at him, frozen in disbelief and most likely fear.

  Without any hesitation, he sent out another [ Lightning Burst ], wickedly smiling as the mana rushed with ease throughout him and then out towards the stunned foe. A similar fate awaited the goblin, a quick, painless death. Well, he wasn’t sure if it was painless, but that wasn’t important to him.

  After the small test, he checked his [ Skill Abilities ], and saw he went up four Ranks with this small test, now sitting at Rank 32. This should be quite simple to Rank now, and he realized that Elder Aelon was quite literal with his advice. He plainly let his Mana Core take over the process, letting it control the constructing and power of the Ability.

  For the rest of the day, he continued experimenting with the Ability. It also worked perfectly for him because opposed to fighting with his glaive, his mana Abilities required Mana Points. Which he burnt through quickly constantly firing his Ability, which resulted in him needing to replenish his Mana Points through [ Mana Regeneration ]. He gained many Ranks in both Abilities, with him reaching Rank 47 in his [ Lightning Burst ], and Rank 45 in [ Mana Regeneration ] by the end of his experimenting.

  As he was making his way back home, he noticed something with his Lightning affinity, as it directly correlated to his state of mind. The visual aspect of his [ Lightning Burst ] changed slightly depending on his emotional and physical state. Earlier in the day, his mana constructs were more lively, full of vibrance with impressive forked constructs. Now as he grew tired, his constructs were more muted, still silver but not radiant, and the construct would flicker weakly in straighter arcs.

  There was no change in the overall damage from his understanding, because the Stonerock Goblins and Timberfang Wolves were defeated with one singular attack. But it was still interesting to think about, and that was probably a factor he would have to consider if there actually was a change in his overall damage output.

  He made it back inside the walls of Sarus before the sun set behind the mountains, barely dragging his feet along as he was exhausted after his day of experimenting. Opposed to his experiments with his [ Mana Siphon ], this time he actually felt something with his Mana Core and channels. They felt sore and there was a slight burning feeling when he was casting the last few [ Lightning Burst ].

  Kaz finally lumbered into his new home, and was greeted by the group eating dinner at the table. He reluctantly sat down by the table, not wanting to eat anything, feeling a bit nauseous by his long day of pushing his Abilities and new affinity. The group asked him what was wrong, and he explained his day which resulted in the state he is in now.

  It was Elmdiara who spoke up, explaining to him, “What you are feeling is mana fatigue. It is when someone cycles through too much mana in too short of a time. This is especially common when someone keeps on downing mana potions during a drawn out battle. A proper recovery through sleeping is needed in order to get rid of the feeling.”

  He bobbed his head, hearing her out, already feeling himself falling asleep. It was Mera who urged him, “Go to bed, Kaz, don’t wait for us to finish up.” With another bob of his head, he dragged himself up the stairs and passed out on his bed.

  ? ? ?

  The next day, Kaz decided to visit the Guild, thinking that he should pick up a rather difficult Quest to challenge himself. His reasoning was that he would be able to progress further in his Ranks if he was pushed harder during his encounters. For his [ Mana Shield ], he hoped that he would run into some monsters that he could practice more with the Ability, and if that was difficult to Rank, he could spar with some Adventurers in the training yard in order to Rank it.

  Approaching the Adventurer’s Guild, he strode into the main area of the Guild, taking it all in. He wasn’t here that long ago, but something was different today. He wasn’t here strapped for Tokens, looking for shelter, or completely clueless in what he needed. For the first time, he truly felt like he was an Adventurer. He was here to pick up a Quest to build his foundations, hoping that he would be gone for a few days at most, not having to worry about anything.

  He grinned when a certain Elf was waving at him, trying to get his attention. He walked up to Lealara’s desk, and greeted her, “Hi Laelara. What’s going on?”

  With a serious tone, she leaned closer to him, whispering, “Stuff is happening with the Kobolds. The Guildmaster left a couple days ago in a hurry, and we’ve had visitors from the Capital. High Ranking Adventurers.”

  He could feel his heart dropping a little, his previous good mood slipping away from him. That was not a good thing to hear, and the visitors were most likely here to investigate themselves to confirm if he was telling the truth. Kaz wasn’t offended by this in the slightest, but at least he was taken seriously.

  Deeply sighing, Kaz replied, “Well, it’s out of our hands, Laelara,” and she nodded solemnly. He continued, “On the other hand, could you help me pick out a Quest that shouldn’t take too long but contains quite a lot of combat? I need a challenge to push my Abilities.”

  Her eyes lit up, and she swiftly stood up, guiding him over to the Quest Board. It was quite interesting to see how quickly her mood could shift, and it was no doubt that she enjoyed her profession. They approached the Board, and she scanned over all the posted parchments containing various tasks. He also decided to take a look for himself, and none of the Quests really stood out to him.

  Kaz noticed one that requested aid from a Farmer whose land was under constant threat to some bears, and that piqued his interest. He mentally noted that one, and found another one, to investigate a tunnel near the mines as some Miners noticed Stonerock Goblins taking over a section. That was more like it, and he stood by that Quest, about to call Laelara over to ask about this Quest.

  Laelara grabbed a parchment that was right on the edge of the Wooden and Stone Stage. He didn’t get to see what the parchment contained as he wasn’t expecting something so far over on the Board. She hurriedly brought the parchment to him and ordered him, “Kaz, take out your Badge and see if you are allowed to take on this Quest.”

  Following her order, he brought out his Wooden Badge, and she placed the parchment over his Badge, and he felt a ding go off in his head before Laelara spoke up, informing him, “What a surprise! The [ Archive ] let you accept this Quest.”