Gaining Knowledge about Mana

"Wait, doesn't that mean that this power you feel is the Heroism I gather through quests?", asked Dave curiously.

Now Dave finally understood what happened. He could somehow gather through his hero quests an energy that was even greater than the mana he normally used. If he thought back to the fight against Rock then he always wondered why he even had a chance to go head to head with someone, who was already rank 2, even though of course he himself wasn't the normal rank 1 guy...

'That must be the reason why my [Apprentice Hero's Punch] and [Strong Movement] are that much stronger than other people's abilities. Ayano and I noticed earlier already that it was much easier and faster to level up my hero skills than my bubble control. The only hard thing about them was that I first had to gather a huge amount of Heroism...', thought Dave finally understanding some of the principles behind his hero powers.

"What do you mean with quests?", asked Taurin with a quizzical look.

The following 5 minutes explained Dave to his master the principles of his abilities.

"Okay, that seems to be a high-grade ability you got your hands on. I personally never heard of someone with that kind of power. Even the power to control an energy form that is stronger than mana as a rank 1 is as far as I know unheard of.", said Taurin with some jealousy in his words.

Taurin was part of the monster world. The strong ruled and the weak followed. Since his birth, he lived after this rule and he like every monster yearned for greater power. Telling the truth Taurin was already quite high in the monster world's ranking.

Having two stats at the Ultimate rating was something that only very rarely occurred. In fact, you could count the monsters, who managed to achieve this on two hands. As soon as Taurin's rank would rise so would his position in the monster community.

"So I guess if I want to learn your ability, I can't rely on my [Apprentice Hero's Skin].", said Dave and deactivated the skin returning to his normal appearance.

"Wait... You forget something important. You still managed to create that bubble around the ax. So maybe you shouldn't completely give up the hope of mastering these two forces at the same time. If you can combine them to strengthen yourself that is the moment your power will rise dramatically!", explained Taurin to Dave.

"But those bubbles were outside my body. So they weren't suppressed by the Heroism on my inside. Is there a way to strengthen my power with my mana from the outside?", asked Dave curiously.

"Yeah, but that is normally impossible as a rank 1 though you might have a chance because of your [Bubble Control] ability. As rank 1 it is normally impossible to control mana that was sent out of your body in its pure form. But those bubbles seem to be something like an extension of your body... The mana you put in there seems to be still under your control. That might enable you to give it a purpose even though it is not directly connected to you."

"Wait... I met some people before, who were able to shoot flames over big distances and things like that... Isn't that the same?", asked Dave confusedly.

"No, it is completely different!" Taurin shook his head. "Take a look."

He raised his hand and shot a flame against a nearby tree.

"I wanted this flame to circle around the trunk of that tree. But I can't control it after I lost connection with it."

"So you are telling me the fact that I can control my bubbles even after they are far away, means that I might be able to increase my strength from outside my body. Is that correct Master?"

Taurin nodded.

"Yes, this technique is called Halo. You surround yourself with your mana and strengthen your power.", explained Taurin.

"But why would someone do that? They could just keep the mana in their bodies... Why would they want to surround themselves with it?" Dave scratched his head.

During this conversation with Taurin, he noticed the first time that his knowledge about abilities and everything around it was extremely limited. Ayano never explained to him the principles. Most likely because she thought that right now he didn't need to know them.

As Taurin explained earlier, Halo, for example, was an ability for those, who were of a higher ranking, and the fact that Dave could trigger his abilities through the system made further knowledge about abilities not the top priority of his training.

"There are a bunch of reasons, why that can be useful. First of all, it strengthens your defense. Everything, for example, the fireball I used before, would first be weakened by your Halo before it touches your skin. That is a real life-saver.", said Taurin pretentiously.

"Another main point why people use this is like you to boost their strength. Their mana is so strong and immense that their body can't accommodate it."

Dave looked confused.

"Why would their body suddenly be unable to accommodate their mana. They can't make it appear from nowhere, can they?"

"You really don't know even the basics. How the hell could you get this strong? You are lucky to meet me, my stupid disciple!"

Dave looked embarrassed to the ground. It was true. He was kind of stupid. Why didn't he ask Ayano after all this stuff before? If he didn't meet Taurin, he wouldn't even know the basics before he went to the mainland. This was a really fortuitous encounter for him.

"Whatever... Doesn't matter explaining even that to you. Every ability user stores mana in their bodies. But after you rank up to rank 2 your body is filled to the brim with mana and the mana your body can hold is limited..."

Dave nodded understandingly.

"So to counter that loss of mana, you create a mana storage inside yourself. We call that storage essence or seed! It contains the essence of your power. If you collect that from someone else, you can turn part of that into your own power.", explained Taurin.

"Aaaahhh, I heard of that before. I got a [Lightning Rabbit Essence] before.", said Dave excitedly. "But I don't get why I got its essence. It was only rank 1. You told me that only when you rank up to 2 you gain an essence... Can you explain that, Master?"

"Wait, wait, wait! What do you mean you got a [Lightning Rabbit Essence]. You, managed to kill a lightning rabbit? How did you do that?", asked Taurin flabbergasted with round eyes.

"Well, I did the [Agility] quest before and broke through with that stat already. While doing that I had to fight it and managed to kill it...That's why.", explained Dave unsure how to interpret his Master's reaction.

"You are really unnormal! Even in the monster community, you could be a special existence. You should think about joining us.", said Taurin laughing loudly.

"Yeah thx for the praise. But can you tell me why it could drop this essence for me?", asked Dave again.

"That is pretty simple. You call it the Ultimate ranking or? Did you ever ask yourself why you couldn't break through before you ate the Limit Breaking Mushroom?"