Return and Change

After finishing their meal, Arian, Shadowwolf, and the third member resumed their journey and chose the route back to Calustia. Along the way, Arian and Zinarphil discussed the proper use of the elements.

"Look, Arian—just as you yourself said, to use any element you need a specific concentration and compression of mana. But the more important condition is whether your mana veins absorb that element or not! In fact, to be precise, mana in the environment isn't only present in one form—it exists in various states. Each person, based on their mana nucleus and veins, only absorbs the state that carries the primary element they need. However, since you have all the elements, your mana veins are capable of absorbing every form of mana!"

"Now I understand! It makes sense that if concentration and compression were the only factors, then a mana-user of the fire or earth element would have started using magic much later!"

"Bravo—exactly. But I won't teach you too much now, because your schoolteachers already teach you about mana and magic much better than I can. However, let's modify your training over the remaining time!"

"How, Master?"

Zinarphil flashed his devilish smile once again, and that was enough for Arian to grasp how challenging this training would be.

"Well, using mana even for protecting your body is forbidden!"

Just that one sentence made Arian collapse to the ground; he was so astonished he didn't know what to say. In a world where even plants use mana, its use for self-protection was off-limits to him.

"Master, have you lost your mind?! What do you mean, 'using mana is forbidden'?"

"I didn't say you wouldn't use mana at all—precisely the opposite! Listen, Arian: mana is indeed an important element, but it isn't everlasting. In the midst of battle, you might run low on mana at any moment, and then you're done for! As a mage, I have a supporting role at the rear in battles—so my exhaustion comes only from mana consumption and not physical strain. But you, as an enhancer specializing in close combat, must be at the very front line. That means you'll tire both physically and magically, so you need to strengthen your body!"

"Master, what you say is true, but I can't even defend myself without mana!"

"I know you can—but I'm not saying you'll never go to war. From now on, your training will include running, weightlifting, and doing push-ups!"

"If that's the case, then it's nothing... Why are you laughing like that?"

"Well, you'll understand later. Today, I'm giving you a break; tomorrow, training begins! Now, enough about you. Let's move on to this little one! Shadowwolf, come here—let me inspect you first. Hmm... It's obvious you've absorbed a lot of mana from Arian, and as is typical for your kind, your primary element is already set. Well, you need to eat more to become stronger, so you must go hunting!"

"What do you mean, Master—can magical creatures become stronger by hunting? I wish I were a wolf!"

The discussion among the three continued extensively throughout the journey.

The next morning, Arian began his training. At first, he simply did ordinary exercises: jogging, dragging Shadowwolf along, sitting down, and standing up repeatedly. But after several months, Zinarphil started training Arian using gravitational magic. Poor Arian was forced to climb trees or rocks along the route!

"Master, what should I do today?"

"Let me see... hmm, today is battle day. It's been four months now, and during these four months you only used mana at night to level up—even though you're still stuck in the red, it's good for tradition!"

"Yeah, finally—I'm not a loser anymore. But then, who am I supposed to fight?"

"With me!"

"What?! Don't be ridiculous!"

Arian and Zinarphil moved apart and prepared for battle. Zinarphil, calm and serious with a penetrating gaze, stared at the nervous Arian standing opposite him.

"Alright, Arian—I'm standing my ground. You attack; if you can do something that makes me move, then you win!"

"Okay, that makes it a bit easier!..."

Arian focused intently. Over these four months he had undergone many behavioral changes—he was no longer the kid who always babbled nonsense; a newfound seriousness had set in. He took a deep breath and increased the flow of mana in the veins of his legs. Thanks to all his constant running, his muscles were more conditioned. With just a small injection of mana into his muscles, his movements grew much quicker. Rapidly, he closed the distance between himself and Zinarphil and launched a powerful punch toward him—yet Zinarphil effortlessly deflected the blow. However, the punch's force and pressure caused Zinarphil's magically whitened hair to ripple in the sky.

"Bravo, that was a good punch—but it's still weak, kid. Your ability to channel mana isn't fully developed yet. Not a problem, though, since you haven't been seriously trained in this area."

"I know, because you never let me be—but this is just the beginning."

Arian's punch still lingered in Zinarphil's grasp. Then, with a slight jump and an arched motion of his body, Arian delivered a hammering kick to Zinarphil's flank. But Zinarphil, being more alert, pushed the kick back before it could land, disrupting Arian's balance and causing him to fall.

He got up again; this time he advanced slowly toward Zinarphil, gathering all his mana entirely into his fist with each step.

"Alright, just like before—this time increase the compression even more: increase, increase, increase! Feel the heat, let the wind flow—hurry up!"

Arian's punches charged the space around him; a stream of warm wind formed around his hands. He had combined the elements of wind and fire. Zinarphil, inside, was so astonished he didn't know what to do—the combination of elements can only be effectively used once your mana nucleus has at least attained a blue level.

"This boy is getting stranger every day, generating warm wind! Imagine, if he gets even stronger, what won't he be able to do?!"

Arian concentrated all his mana into the punches he hurled at Zinarphil. With the aid of the hot wind that emerged, the speed and power of his punches increased, forcing Zinarphil to retreat to deflect the blow—he didn't want his clothes to catch fire from the wind's heat.

"Yay, I did it!"

"Bravo, kid—you did well, but when did you learn to combine elements so effectively?"

"Well, I don't really know. Honestly, I only set one condition: if I heat up the environment, it will naturally generate wind. I never expected to inadvertently harness the element of wind within my mana flow!"

"You see, you haven't understood anything—but that's fine! You'll grasp the real principle later. Now go get ready, because it's time! By the way, where's Shadowwolf?"

"I don't know," he replied, "he said he's going hunting—though he isn't very far, just around the corner. Let me call him."

After Shadowwolf arrived, they continued their journey. Then, after about eight months, on the 23rd day of the Dambul month in the year 23001, they finally reached the capital, Calustia