Imparting Knowledge and Being Imparted With Knowledge

A pair of different-colored eyes were staring straight into the soft blue eyes before them. Five seconds turned to twenty, one minute turned to two. However, the blue eyes failed to home in on the source entity behind the staring eyes. Somehow, the owner of the blue eyes couldn't quite put his finger on the reason why he wasn't able to locate the person he was trying to 'see'.

It was as if they weren't there, even though he knew for sure that they were.

Like there was an imperceptible blur that concealed their presence.

No, more precisely, it was like the blur tried to blend their presence with the surroundings.

"It's playing a trick on my mind," Markus finally spoke after the longest time. There was a deep furrow between his eyebrows, though he still maintained a faint trace of a smile on his lips.

Hearing his father's words, Magnus grinned. He then cancelled his skill, causing Markus' eyes to finally focus on his son's.

"It was strange. I could see you, but I wasn't truly able to 'see' you. I couldn't even feel your presence," the doctor remarked.

Magnus nodded. "That is exactly the intended effect of [Subtle]. It thins out the Aura around the target of the skill, including the caster, by dispersing it to the surrounding area. This also applies to the Aura around mana. Ironically, the way it works is by using mana to mask the presence of other mana.

"When you were able to sense the nature of mana for the first time, I'm sure you've seen how it really looks like, right? Originally it is attributeless. The skin is transparent, and the core is colorless. Only when we nudge it with an element mana will it 'wake up' and adopt the element's color."

He then glanced to the side, at his girlfriend who was also listening to him intently. While the others were busy practicing skills, Magnus had approached his father to teach him the skill [Subtle]. He had also invited Summer to watch the process closely if she wanted to.

Focusing back on his father, he continued, "What you wanna do is erase the 'presence' of this attributeless mana. And by 'presence' I mean this intangible stuff known as Aura. It's the transparent 'skin' you see blanketing the mana core. After that, without injecting the core with any element attribute, you can start moving the now-skinless mana core outside your body, and direct it to latch onto your target. Whether that's yourself or an object or someone else.

"Once the core's attached to the energy surrounding the target, mana or not, use the same method on it. By that, I mean erase the Aura around it like how you erased the skin of the mana. To be more specific, you're not exactly erasing it. You're detaching it from the object or energy it's originally attached to, and then dispersing it evenly to the surrounding."

Markus was silent as Magnus was passionately explaining the technicality behind the skill. He was subconsciously putting more attention to his father than he did to the others when he was teaching them. He wanted his father to be able to learn the skill on the first try.

After finishing his explanation, Magnus observed his father's face. He could feel the man was fully concentrating on digesting the information. He could imagine he was perhaps trying to simulate the whole process in his mind at the same time. He would repeat this process again and again until he fully comprehended it. Leaving his father to his contemplation, Magnus turned to Summer.

"Do you want me to use my Author's power to gift you a skill or do you want me to teach you?" he asked, already guessing her answer.

"You already know my answer, Magnus. Even I can see it on your face," she said, smirking a little.

'Darn, am I that easy to read?'

'I think we subconsciously lay bare our emotions to those we trust. But you know we can hide our feelings well in front of those we don't trust,' Magnus 2.0 pointed out.

"Okay then," he said, opening his palm to ask for her hand, "I'll teach you the skill I've used on everyone to help them sense mana."

Summer put her hand on his and nodded.

Feeling her small hand in his, he couldn't help but smile. However, he didn't lose his focus. He casted [Rejuvenate] on her. "I want you to try to see if you're able to replicate how this skill works. It's a pretty straight-forward skill, not to mention it only uses light element mana. So it should be easy for you."

He cancelled the skill and then casted it one more time to help her see how the skill was initiated. After that, he waited without breaking their hand contact. A few seconds later, he whispered, "Do you need me to show it to you again?"

Summer, with her eyes closed, lightly shook her head. Her brows were furrowed, but Magnus could see she almost got it. Besides, he could feel the mana fluctuations around her. By the time a minute was up, she was already turning some of her colorless mana into light element mana. Slowly, she then moved the mana along her arm and through her hand, causing a faint white glow that radiated off her palm. The mana continued to flow through Magnus skin and finally entered his hand, flooding his body with a refreshing feeling. He smiled as Summer's eyes opened.

There was a slightly surprised look on her face. She must have just received the notification from the system informing her that she just learned a skill.

Without realizing, Summer slowly pulled her hand out of his, much to the latter's dejection. His hand now felt lonely.

He then took a peek at her Status Window. She just gained 10 XP, the same amount TJ had received when he'd first learned the same skill. Shifting to his own Status Window, he saw he just gained 250 DP.

"I guess it's not a pretty useful skill," Summer said, a bit disappointed.

"In the middle of a battle, not really. It does help a little to someone who's recovering, though," informed Magnus. "Besides, I wasn't gonna teach you only that. That was just a warmup."

Magnus then proceeded to teach her the skill [Lesser Heal], a.k.a [Spark]. After she struggled with it for a bit, she finally got the notification from the system.

When Magnus had first been gifted the skill by Atlantis, it cost him seven mana points per second, since he hadn't had an affinity to light element. But after asking Summer, she said it only cost her five points per second. As the skill grew in level, the amount of mana consumed would become less and the speed at which the wounds healed would become faster. Eventually, it would evolve into [Major Heal], a.k.a [Big Spark].

With that, the girl gained 20 XP and Magnus gained 600 DP.

'Did we just…'

Magnus 2.0 opened up their Status Window and saw a magnificent sight.

They just leveled up!

[Status Window

…Divinity Level: 8

DP: 70/8000

AP: 800…]

'And look!' exclaimed Magnus 2.0. 'The screen for Protagonist #4 has just been created!'

However, in the middle of their celebratory mood, the system just had to come swooping in and pour cold water on the two Magnuses.

[As the hosts have managed to level up, the system judges that teaching basic skills to Protagonists will no longer be a problem in the future. Therefore, the system has decreased the DP the hosts will gain through this means from now on. Moreover, increases in Protagonists' stat points gained from training will no longer grant the hosts DP.]

Magnus inwardly clicked his tongue. 'System, you must be fun at parties.'

Nevertheless, their AP had been upped by 100 points. So that was one more thing the two Magnuses could mentally high-five for.

Pulling himself out of his thoughts, Magnus observed as his father managed to learn [Subtle]. Due to his much higher Level, Magnus was still able to see him. However, he could tell his father had succeeded due to the slight blur enveloping his body. At this level, however, the skill could barely hide the doctor's presence from people of around the same Level as him. The effectiveness would increase as the skill leveled up.

Meanwhile, Summer looked a bit downcast since she had no way to practice her healing skill. You couldn't heal someone who wasn't injured, after all. Which was why Magnus had asked TJ to be her guinea pig, at least until her skill leveled up, much to the boy's annoyance.

"You have been burning your lawn for a while now. Just help her out for a bit. Please," Magnus said, donning a 'come on, help a brother out' look on his face.

TJ scowled before saying, "Fine. What will you do in the meantime?"

"I need to put my newly-developed light element to good use."

Magnus then stood still as he fell into thoughts. He tried to recall a light element skill that he'd witnessed from the past.

'Oh! Remember that armor made of light?' asked Magnus 2.0.

Hearing that, Magnus beamed. 'Right! We know its effects, too! So we don't have to waste time learning it.'

In other words, they could use manual narration to register the skill in their system. Giving skills using manual narration wasn't as simple as mentioning their names. The Author needed to know the effects of the skills, as well.

Magnus wouldn't have any problem imparting skills to his Protagonists as he himself had an assortment of skills related to different elements. However, if he wanted to give himself a new skill, he needed to either be creative or possess the knowledge of the name and effects of an already existing skill.

'Alright, give me a second to design the narration,' said Magnus 2.0. He opened the Script and started typing.

ʳ After discovering that he had developed an affinity to light element, Magnus felt he needed to use this opportunity to strengthen himself so he could better protect his friends and family. As he pondered over what kind of skill he could learn using light element, an inspiration overtook him. He could imagine an armor made of white light that was able to defend its wearer as well increase their stamina recovery rate. In addition, the armor was able to heal them in case they got injured. ʴ

As soon as Magnus 2.0 finished his narration, Magnus was invaded by the familiar feeling of new knowledge pouring into his mind.

Meanwhile, Magnus 2.0 got a message from the system.

[The current name of the skill is [Holy Armor]. Would the host like to rename the skill?]

'Rename it to [Armor of Light], please.'

[The skill has been renamed to [Armor of Light].]

After a few seconds, the knowledge of the skill had finished fitting itself within Magnus' mind, causing him to instantly learn the skill.

[Congratulations! You have learned a skill!

Skill name: Armor of Light (Lv. 1)

Description: Uses light element mana imbued into a mix of earth and wind element mana to create an armor made of light. Protects the armor's wearer as well as automatically applies light healing upon injury.

Mana Cost: 8 points/second

Cooldown: None.]

Magnus took little time scanning over his Protagonist-exclusive system notification. It had been a while since he got one of those. He then went over the knowledge that had settled in his mind on how the skill worked. After a while, his expression turned odd.

'The heck? This is basically just a light element-flavored [Unbreakable]!'