Chapter 4: Chapter 2 [Niel]

["...It's not fair you know. We were all from the same cesspool of sh*t, weren't we? Just a pile of expendable waste. So tell me, why is it that while the rest of us were rotting in hell, you alone get to live merrily in peace?] - (???)

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Early in the morning, while the sun was still halfway towards its ascent, a young boy dazedly walked out into the cabin's balcony. As he took a deep breath of the fresh air, his somewhat groggy state seemed to visibly recede and clarity returned within his eyes.

At this moment, a thought escaped his mind.

'Annoying.'

He usually slept lightly, never allowing himself to fall deeper into unconsciousness. Yet for some inexplicable reason, he let his guard down last night.

'Did I really get sick?'

He pondered whether the ominous chill he had felt last night constituted his current predicament. A rather strange occurrence, since his physique normally wouldn't have allowed him to get sick in the first place.

Although he previously examined himself several times and couldn't find anything amiss, it's also possible that whatever ailed him could circumvent his senses.

Nevertheless, It seems he will have to inspect himself once more later on, just in case. 

His thoughts returned towards the unpleasant dream, yet another unnecessary recollection. He frowned as a sour feeling rose abruptly before just as quickly dissolving.

'merrily, huh?'

He wondered, was he ever truly happy?

While he cannot deny that there were certainly times where sparks of joy and serenity glimmered in his life, they were always drowned by the dreary ambiance that had so thoroughly encompassed his existence.

In time, even the vague trace of what can be remotely considered 'merriment' had been utterly robbed of him.

...No.

Perhaps there was indeed a time where he really did live happily. But regardless of what that may have been, it has now become something that his own reasoning had strictly prohibited against.

"You're awake rather early today, is something bothering you?"

A voice abruptly pulled Niel from his thoughts. He turned around only to see Kartis in his usual robe, holding a potted plant.

"Just a little."

Kartis merely let out a mild chuckle at his lackadaisical response. 

"Well, if you're looking for a way to distract yourself, you can always take a walk on the forest. Some of the trees have even ripened, pick some fruits if you wish."

"No thanks, I still have a lot of things left unfinished."

As he said this, Niel walked back inside the cabin.

"All right then, suit yourself."

Kartis on the other hand shrugged, then resumed tending to the plants dispersed around the building. All the while humming an unknown song.

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It had been four years since he first emerged from that rock.

During which most of his time was spent understanding his own abilities while also learning about his surroundings. Luckily for him, Granvar and Kartis removed any issue he might've faced when it came to gathering information.

Something he was truly grateful for.

In return, he aided them with their own respective field as best as he could. Whether it was with Kartis and his study of Magic, or Granvar and his training of Physical Arts.

Magic and Physical Arts were two of the many different disciplines unique to this world. While it wasn't impossible for someone to train with multiple disciplines at once, most individuals adhere to one and train with it their whole life.

Regardless of what anyone chooses to become, there is always the base foundation that all disciplines are built upon.

[Mana]

Sometimes referred to as Magic Power. It is always present in all beings and are constantly circulating all around the world. 

The amount of Mana each individual holds and the pace at which they can grow their capacity varies significantly depending on their race, talent and heritage, with most people being doomed to have minimal. 

As such, leaning to utilize Mana efficiently is a very crucial aspect for many practitioners, especially for those who are learning Magic.

The discipline of Magic involves the study of Runes and Runic Formations.

Runes themselves are said to be the manifestation of the world's fundamental laws.

Currently there are 8 Primary Runes representing the eight elements; Fire, Water, Earth, Wind, Ice, Lightning, Darkness, and Light.

4 Special Runes each representing the four elements; Life, Death, Space, and Time.

And finally, 33 Secondary Runes, which on their own have no meaning.

While it's possible that more Runes are left undiscovered, those 45 Runes act as the building blocks for the current system of Magic that most Sorcerers and Arcane users follow.

And of those 45 Runes, the 4 Special Runes are something only a handful of Mages can utilize, as they require one to have a strong compatibility with their respective elements.

Each Runes act like the letters of an alphabet, where a different combinations of the same 5 letters can make multiple words with completely different meaning.

Typical Runic Formations use one Rune as a core and add layers of a circle made of different Rune combination. Each circle amplify or change the structure of the spell depending on the organization of Runes are in the circle. 

Interestingly, the strongest spell ever recorded was said to be a 12 circle spell.

For most humanoids, their Mana is concentrated into a pool that is normally stored within the Dantian. 

Sorcerers and other Arcane focused users generally transfer all their Mana to their brain, reforging it into a new Mana pool called the Mana Brain.

A Mana Brain allows users to instantaneously form Runic Formation using their own thoughts rather than having to write each Runes, making their actions less predictable. Though doing so can somewhat increase Mana expenditure, depending of what spell is being cast.

Naturally, this comes with the downside of their body being less durable, as their Mana is heavily concentrated on their brain which prevents it from strengthening their body. To counteract this weakness, Magic users almost always have more than a dozen layers of protection spells covering them.

As the old jokes go; A warrior has better chances in besting a Titan in strength, than to invade a Sorcerer's tower and live to tell the tale. One is unlikely and the other is practically impossible.

Given enough time to prepare, even the weakest Mage could topple the strongest beast. As such, even the most seasoned Sorcerers would hesitate to breach into another Sorcerer's territory, since there's no telling how many layers of traps exist.

On the other end, Physical Arts are much more simple than Magic.

At its most basic, Physical Arts utilize Mana to strengthen it's user's body. As such, the first and perhaps oldest method is to transfer all the Mana to their heart and reforge it to a new Mana pool called Mana Heart.

The Mana Heart is formed similarly to the Mana Brain, yet their function differs completely. Unlike the Mana Brain, the Mana Heart spreads Mana evenly throughout the body. Furthermore, it allows its user's Mana to circulate and travel around the body much more easily.

But forming a Mana Heart is considered just the beginning of Physical Arts, from here on out a warrior can take different paths, or even make one of their own.

Whether be it forming Mana Rings around one's Mana Heart, in which their power is amplified by every beat of their heart. Or perhaps even creating special Mana Nodes within specific joints and body parts, greatly enhancing the explosive speed and power of their every punch or kick. 

As long as they have deep understanding of their body and are creative enough, a warrior can reach unimaginable levels.

Outside of Magic and Physical Arts, there are discipline such as Spirit Mages who are said to be loved by Spirits, Summoners who tame and form contracts with monsters, and a multitude of other occupations that are yet to be clear.

And finally, the most important component constituting to the growth of all practitioners.

[Elemental Affinity]

All beings naturally resonate with the different elements of this world, a person's Elemental Affinity is the scale of that resonance. 

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Elemental Affinity is divided into 9 levels, which have been called by some as the stairway to ascension. Every person climbs the stairs by forging a deeper connection with their element(s) of choosing, with each level seeming to greatly amplify one's power.

Logically, no matter how talent-less a person is, forming a connection with an element is something relatively easy. It is considered the very beginning of a person's journey and a doable feat for anyone who has Mana, with some races even being born deeply bonded to a specific element.

It's theoretically impossible to find a person who hasn't formed a connection with an element, unless that person hasn't had their Mana Awakening yet.

'So... ' Niel thought to himself while frowning.

'Why can't I do it?'

From the moment he was born in this world, he was already able to wield Mana. Furthermore, both his Mana capacity and his physical qualities seem to grow exponentially with each passing day.

His special constitution allowed him to instantaneously form spells without a Mana Brain, along with being able to efficiently utilize his Mana around his body even without a Mana Heart. He was also able to learn everything that Granvar and Kartis had taught him with ease, even expanding upon those sets of knowledge.

Yet despite everything he has, he still can't create a connection with any element for some reason.

Its not as if he isn't able to sense elements. Rather, he is especially sensitive to their existence, even being able to tell where in the forest each specialized herbs would grow best at, depending on the concentration of the elements in that patch of the forest. Something that he had helped Kartis on multiple occasions.

He could feel 'something' was missing in him and whatever it was, its absence is what's causing him to be unable to connect with any element.

He has tried searching for any information about his predicament within Kartis's collection of books, to no avail. He had asked both Kartis and Granvar about it, with neither having even heard of such a problem even existing.

As of late, he isn't sure if he should give up and focus on other things. It's unknown where he can find an answer, or if he's the only one with this problem to begin with.

He thought it's possible that him being originally not from this world is what's causing this situation, it could certainly explain why he felt 'something' was missing.

Regardless, although he has yet to give up in fixing his problem, most of his time has recently been spent on something else.

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Currently lying on a table in front of him was a stick.

It wasn't any special stick nor did it have much significance, it was just one of the many branches that he had picked out yesterday.

He slowly hovered his hand on the stick, before Runes suddenly materialized around his palm. The Runes formed a sort of arrangement before attaching themselves to the base of the stick.

He repeated the several times, with different Runes forming different arrangements each time, until he suddenly stopped after the fifth turn.

"...About five, huh?" Niel mused, before falling into a deeper contemplation.

He has recently started dabbling on Enchantment, a subset of Magic. It focuses on endowing items with qualities it initially didn't have, or even enhancing a quality it already has.

He added [Toughness] and [Hardness] to strengthen durability while also adding [Heaviness] and [Impact] to increase the force of its strikes, before finally attaching [Reinforcement] to further enhance everything built upon it.

The Enchantments themselves were rather simple one circle Rune Formations, as the stick is unable to handle anything beyond that.

His past week was spent on figuring out how much Enchantments can be placed on a given material. So far he has been experimenting using rocks, wood, cloth, animal hide, bones, and other general materials he could easily find around the forest. Additionally, the materials he used greatly varied in both types and sizes.

He found that an item's innate durability heavily decides how many and how strong of an Enchantment can be placed on it, furthermore it seems Enchantments that strengthen its durability can also add a few extra slots on it. Difference in sizes and density are also able to considerably effect their capacity.

Of course everything is still extremely reliant on an item's baseline attributes, as no matter what kind of Enchantments are placed in an ordinary wooden stick, it's still nigh-impossible for it to exceed a well made steel of a comparable size.

Other than Enchantments that enhance the standard attribute of the objects, there are also ones that strengthen the attributes of its owners. Often used on rings and amulet that users wear, it can increase the status of a person wielding it.

Though Niel had been holding off on focusing on them, as he found them bizarrely useless for him.

Spells and Items that would normally enhance a person's characteristic are completely ineffective against him, regardless of whether it's cast by others or himself. Inversely, things such as curses that would normally weaken others also strangely do not effect him.

It was yet another mysterious trait of his that left Kartis and Granvar baffled.

He suddenly left his thoughts, seemingly having come to a decision.

He took the stick on the table along with the rest of the branches before leaving the cabin.

He casually headed deeper into the forest, having become extremely familiar around the area. Unbecoming of his young age, he hardly has any fear against the creatures inhabiting the woods.

Despite his rather meager stature, his body exuded a dangerous aura that warded off most potential hostiles. Proceeding at a fast pace, he managed to reach his destination relatively quickly.

It was a secluded part of the forest with a fairly open space, one that he had exclusively made his personal training and testing ground. Within it was a small simple shack he had build in order to use as storage.

After opening the storage, one could find many miscellaneous objects. Rummaging through the pile, he took out a large rock nearly half his size, filled with various inscriptions attached to its surface.

Bringing it out of the shack, he set it down in the middle of the field. After which, he placed his palm upon it inserting his Mana, causing the inscriptions to glow increasingly bright.

The inscriptions within the rock blazed dazzlingly before starting to slowly intermingle and transform. It would still take some time before it completed its change, and so Niel left it alone for the time being.

He sat down a patch of dirt while observing the rock, but just before he could completely relax he sensed something approach his location.

*Rustle*

*Growl*

What appeared was a big gray wolf nearly half a meter taller than him and double in length. It had a menacing look as it scowled, revealing a set of sharp fangs.

'A Gale Wolf? why is it here?'

Niel frowned, seeing the wolf glare at him intensely. Due to the vast expansive scale of the forest, it housed countless varieties of organisms. But each creatures have their own set of domains that they exclusively dwell upon.

Gale Wolves themselves are monsters that are mostly situated very deeply into the woods, still within a considerable distance from where he is currently.

Though, looking at how emaciated the wolf is, along with the desperation within its eyes, he can somewhat guess what lead to this situation.

'Was it expelled from it's territory?'

The wolf prepared to pounce at him, leaving him to quickly detach from his thoughts. He rapidly circulated his Mana around his body, while attentively observing the wolf.

The wolf on the other hand fiercely lunged at him, only to pass through an afterimage he had left behind. Before the wolf could realize what had happened, it felt a strong kick to its left.

The wolf was forcibly flung to the side before heavily smashing into a tree, deeply disorienting it. The wolf weakly attempted to stand, only to find its opponent standing beside it holding a strange stick.

*Smack*

The stick struck its head loudly enough to reverberate, rendering the poor wolf unconscious. Its adversary on the other hand was in deep thought.

The unique markings around its fur is most certainly from that of the Gale Wolves.

Gale Wolves, while far from being the strongest of the forest, are on the higher end of the spectrum. Admittedly, their power is not something Niel is able to deal with as he is now.

While this wolf is already large as it is, the average adult Gale Wolf is supposedly gigantic. It was also highly inexperienced as a hunter, resorting only to simple pouncing and being unable to adapt to unexpected situation.

This, along with the wolf's inability to utilize the powers of wind, evidently revealed its immaturity.

But it doesn't explain how it was able to reach this place, being a distance from the domains of the Gale Wolves. Moreover, it was even able to invade his training area despite its weakened state.

He placed quite a lot of defensive spells and barriers that prevented weaker creatures from entering his personal space. Although it can't stop stronger beings, it should've at least alarmed him that something had invaded.

It's almost as if everything he laid out just allowed the damn thing to bypass them.

He couldn't help but frown again, something he seems to have been consistently doing the entire day.

"Sigh..."

Looks like he'll have to reconfigure everything again, as annoying as it would be.

He returned his attention to the unconscious invader.

'Now, what should I do with this dog.'

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