Lightning Essence

One day before the duel, I was currently in the middle of a session of opening my mana capillaries, assisted by my master behind me, with his hands on my back. Although he couldn't force his mana through my body, as my inner seed rejected it, he could still help guide my purple mana around my body, speeding up the circulation.

After I managed to open a few more, out of what felt like thousands or maybe even tenths of thousands, he stopped me and sat in his chair, taking a cup of tea from the small table beside him.

"So, are you ready for tomorrow, little hare?", he asked while bringing the cup to his mouth.

"I don't think it's a question of whether I'm ready or not master, I have to win tomorrow, no matter what."

My master was also aware of what was at stake. If I lost, I would have to somehow not only change the way I fight but also change the way I approached them. Although these might seem similar, they are far from it. It would be much harder to change my relationship with battles than just stop aiming at vital spots on my enemy.

We both already knew that it would be the end of my career, whether it would be as a hunter, adventurer, or even a hero. My value wasn't in controlling fights, being able to go toe to toe with an enemy, or supporting from the side, I could only kill. That was my purpose.

Stroking his beard a bit, he didn't wear his usual warm smile. Instead, his face was inexpressive, not showing what he was thinking about at all. "That seems to be the case, doesn't it? And you haven't been thinking if you made the right choice? After all, it was well within your rights to let James get expelled."

I looked him straight in his eyes as I responded to his question, "I made the right choice, I am sure of it." There were no doubts in my mind that getting James thrown out of the academy would never be the right choice. The world would need him, and it would need him at his most powerful.

Seeing my reaction, his smile returned a bit, and he brought out a purple orb from his inventory, "This is an old keepsake that belonged to the same friend that the brothers belonged to. He was quite similar to you, young hare. Impulsive, reckless but he always had a purpose, ambitions, and a dream."

The purple he held in his hand appeared to contain a different world in it, a world of lightning. I already had some idea about what it was. In this world there existed powerful natural essences, theorized to be derived from mythical creatures that could only be called gods. But there was one problem with the orb in his hand; these could never be of a combined element, at least according to the books.

Essences could be used as mediums to enhance one's mana cultivation. A person carrying the fire element could utilize a fire essence and absorb the mana, then reverse the conversion process, as to then finally integrate it into one's seed. Depending on the quality of the essence it could be an incredibly effective tool for the progression of the M.G. and it was supposedly something a lot of people used to break through major steps in their star rating.

"As you might have noticed, just like your daggers, this essence is also very special, unique even. I have no idea where that idio... where my friend got it from, but he gave me this with the words that if I find someone I find suitable, I shouldn't hesitate to gift it to them."

There was no time to worry about his little misstep, the rest of what he was saying was more important right now, that was until I realized something, 'Wait, didn't he say we were similar? Did master just indirectly call me an idiot?'

"This essence is of the pure lightning attribute, something that theoretically shouldn't exist, but it does. As you are my disciple now, I will gift this to you. To some extent, I already knew that you would be the one to inherit his will, as you carry the same purple lightning, but I didn't want to give this to you before I was certain."

That was also something I had realized was different about me. Although all elements could differ in color, when I read about the lightning element, there wasn't a mention of anyone using purple thunder. 'But if there is no record of anyone using the purple version, who is the man master is talking about?'

It wasn't something that I would ask about right now, as this was not the time or the place, but it did catch my interest. There was, however, something else I had to ask, "Is it really safe for me to absorb the mana from that essence, with my condition?" I knew that the principal had studied my body rigorously while we were training, it was the reason he had managed to find a way to guide my aggressive energy, so I assumed that he would have some idea whether it would be compatible with my body.

He stopped stroking his beard, and his eyes turned serious. Even a little bit of his pressure slipped out, making the air heavy. "No idea."

"Stop fucking around old man!" I couldn't stop myself from flying up into the air, getting onto my feet, and berating the old coot for his stupid jokes. Acting all serious in order to set the mood just to then destroy it with a silly comment.

The pressure instantly fainted and he couldn't hold back his laughter at my reaction, "Hohoho, now calm down young hare. It isn't good for your heart to get so agitated."

'You are bad for my heart, you stupid lizard!'

I kept that thought to myself, not feeling like continuing this idiotic discussion, "So you have no idea then? Not even a theory about the possible outcomes?

The old man simmered down and explained himself, "Miren, I truly have no idea what will happen when you try to absorb the mana of the essence, but in theory, it should be possible. The problem that might arise is that as your body only inhabit pure lightning-attributed mana, you might not be able to control the rate of absorption. For most people, the speed of absorption is automatically controlled by the fact that they have to convert the elemental mana into pure mana, blending it with the energy around them."

Sitting down cross-legged on the floor again, I sharpened my ears as he carried on.

"So the problem comes that you can't do this, or rather there is no need for it in the first place. Instead, the energy will most likely flow into you without any resistance, and if you ingest the energy too fast, your body might blow up."

Wrinkling my brows, I had to ask to try and clarify what he meant, "So you mean that I will experience a severe mana overload?"

He just shook his head at my naïve words, "No, I meant that your body will most likely literally blow up, popping like a balloon. It would be quite awful really, blood and guts flying around as your.."

"STOP, I GET IT. FUCK!"

I didn't want to hear the rest of what he was about to say, it wasn't hard to understand the implications. If things went wrong, I would die a miserable death, repainting the walls as a side effect.

A mischievous smirk emerged on the face of my master, as he finally asked, "Are you willing to risk your life to get more powerful?"

It wasn't even a question for me. I had already endured pain that no human should ever have to feel just to use my skills and Battle Art. It wasn't something foreign to me that I would have to gamble with my life as the stakes in order to survive.

"I want it. Please gift me the essence, master."

Still wearing his little smirk, he added another condition to my gift, "Then, I will give this to you as soon as you win the duel against James. Hopefully, it will give you some motivation before the fight."

It was a tough condition if one just looked at it shallowly, but in reality, it didn't matter. If I lost, I wouldn't have a need for it anyway.

"Thank you, master!"