Chapter 65 - The Properties of Mana

"Let's get to it, shall we?"

Margareth opened the book but it still contained Elven script that the trio didn't even understand. But, she didn't want them to read the book. Instead, the Librarian's scholarly personality came into play and eagerly started to explain what the Mana Properties were.

"Each individual has their own way to interpret Mana, some interpretations come to them easier while some harder." She then pulled the ambient Mana in the room and conjured up some images to help with her explanation.

Five different small, humanoid figures appeared out of nowhere like they were a hologram. Each of them striking a different pose, she then proceeded to explain what the Mana properties were.

She first chose the figure that was striking a warrior-like pose as if it was ready to charge into battle. "The Augmenter," she explained while the figure was spinning on her hand, "It's considered the Willful Mana. My Lord, as an Augmenter, you command Mana onto a vessel and empowers it according to your will. The abilities that you have shown so far make full use of this property."

Rynold nodded with full acknowledgment of his powers.

Next, she grabbed another figure. This time, it was a figure that was wearing a full don of armor that seemed to pulse with life.

"The Equipper," she then looked at Oliver, "The Formful Mana, the user can create equipment out of pure Mana and use them. Most Equippers tend to make armor that boosts their combat capabilities by a significant degree. Masterful ones can increase their speed tenfold with a simple pair of boots."

Oliver clenched his fist and vowed, once more, to get stronger.

Margareth took ahold of another figure. This one was holding a grimoire and appeared to be casting spells but not a single one could be seen.

"Enchanter, the Playful Mana," she smiled with willful glee, "As an Enchanter, I can send commands to the ambient Mana around me. I can command them to create images, empower spells, or even strike when the enemy least expects it. Early on, Enchanters are considered weak and useless but..."

The beautiful elf paused for a brief moment as if recalling a traumatic event in her past but she quickly snapped out of it.

She swiftly moved on to the next figure that appeared to be commanding creatures of different shapes and sizes.

"The Conjurer," she said while eyeing the figure intently, "considered as the Changeful Mana, its power often comes with a great price most of the time. Conjurers can summon creatures and even construct full weapons that would deal devastating damage."

"Lastly," Margareth grabbed the last figure.

This time around, the figure was holding a wand and constantly casting what appeared to be complete spells that are classic in the New World.

"Caster," she explained with eyes filled with determination, "the Insightful Mana. The Caster is one of the most basic Mana properties, however, its power is anything but. It's known as many different names but one thing is clear. Any self-respecting Mana user has at least one or two Caster abilities in their arsenal. Master Casters can singlehandedly wipe out an entire country if they wanted to."

She canceled her Enchantment spell and the figures disappeared to whence it came.

Rynold was pondering about what implications the explanation had meant.

Despite the relatively simple and straightforward lecture, Rynold knew that there was something more than meets the eye. First things first, it seemed as if the Augmenter property genuinely lacked overall power. While the other properties were capable of using Mana freely, the Augmenter needed a vessel for its power.

What's more is that the other properties were able to use Mana freely, as if their only limits were their imagination. Rynold cursed inwardly about how he managed to get stuck with the most useless Mana property ever. He wholeheartedly sighed from his bad luck.

After thinking for a second, Rynold raised a question.

"Thanks for explaining it to us but I've been wondering," Rynold placed his hands on the table, "Does this mean that we can only learn from one of the Mana properties?"

Margareth smiled once more and eagerly shook her head in denial.

"Not necessarily. Like I said before, these properties indicate one path but it doesn't mean that it's the only property you'll be able to learn. It just means that it's easier for you to gain insight into the one path that I've mentioned before. Gaining abilities from the other paths is completely up to you."

Rynold nodded as he understood what she had meant. He got the impression that being a caster seems easy because just using spell books that directly got them spells is a cheaty way of doing things. Meanwhile, learning the abilities in the Augmenter tree still took him a while.

"Okay," Oliver nodded, "that's good and all but how exactly do we train? You did say we can train to get stronger, right?"

Margareth nodded to confirm. "There are certain ways to train you but, if my Lord would allow it, I can personally handle your assignments that would maximize your potential and growth in a short period of time."

It didn't take long for Rynold to respond with a simple nod since he didn't know what else they could do. After all, it hasn't been long since he became the new Lord and had yet to learn anything important.

"Alrighty," Margareth adorably smiled. She hurriedly put away some of the books and clutter that were in the way and grabbed a simple scroll.

The scroll was enchanted with a thick and complex spell that made managing the affairs of the tree much easier. Even though it looked like a dainty old piece of parchment, it was capable of listing requests, missions, and the status of the different organizations within the tree itself.

Within a few moments, Margareth finally was able to deduce where the three of them should go. First up was Oliver.

Without even looking away from the piece of parchment, she approached Oliver and gave him instructions to go to the Rogue Elves division. Despite its name, it was actually an organization that focused on keeping watch of any intruders as well as conducting the occasional missions.

Receiving his instructions, Oliver and Strider left the room with swiftness in their steps. He was anxious to get to work right away and the person he was supposed to report to was an Equipper as well.

She then moved towards Jack. Her face still focused on the parchment, she considered the various options where he could go but instead ordered him to go study in the library instead. Naturally, Jack didn't want to sit around and study all day and what made it worse was her tone.

It was crystal clear that Margareth was completely oblivious to Jack.

The Librarian swiftly sent him away and to wait for her in the other room. She had even ordered him to clean up some of the books while he was in there, to which he simply slumped his shoulder and sighed.

Finally, she approached Rynold. Before she could say anything, though, he interrupted.

"What? You're gonna send me away too?" Rynold said sarcastically.

She, finally, looked away from the scroll and looked at him snarkily. Margareth gazed into Rynold's eyes before refocusing on the parchment once more. It was a small thing making Rynold think nothing of it.

After a few seconds of looking at the scroll, Margareth closed the parchment and shook her head.

"What is it?" Rynold asked with concern.

Margareth sighed deeply before responding, "I don't have a place to send you. As much as I'd like you to train your body, mind, and Mana Core, there isn't a single place in this tree that would help you do that. I... apologize."

"Not your fault, really. I guess I should check on some of the things in the Tree to better know the environment, right?"

Rynold, admittedly, was disappointed to find out that nothing seemed to make him directly stronger. But, alas, there was no point in complaining.

The Elf was solemnly looking at the floor and her eyes were closed. Even though she was an elf of high power, Rynold still respected her and trusted her to know what was best.

Noticing that she was upset, Rynold patted her on the head. She was shorter than him, after all, and even though he hated to admit it, patting someone on the head when they're feeling down was a habit he had a tough time breaking.

He didn't say anything more after that and left the room. The door closed behind him and he stepped on his personal floating platform. It was about time that he had gotten to work and the first thing that popped into his mind was to head down into the tree's underbelly.

Ordering the platform, Rynold swiftly moved out and headed down towards the forge.

It was time to get started.