Chapter 48: C48 – Anger

Dirk went through his enchanting class with the burning determination to enchant the rune onto the leather. But for half the class, nothing came to him. 

After a while, frustration began to come over him. Feeling this, he forced himself to take a step back. It wasn't often he felt frustration, so it spoke of how determined he was. 

Dirk stared holes into the leather, envisioning in his mind the different ways to go about enchanting. It was this very situation that was the reason why there were so few enchanters. There was no set technique to enchant. One simply had to find the feeling that indicated the interaction between mana and material. Most couldn't find this feeling, and only a few could. It was considered a gift to be able to catch this feeling. 

Dirk didn't know if he had this gift. Nobody did until they found it. So until they found the feeling, they were basically searching blind. But Dirk didn't like searching blind. He thought about the very concept of enchanting and the reasons he couldn't touch the mana to the leather. This didn't give him many ideas though. Luckily, a lightbulb lit up the next second. 

Dirk looked to the front of the class where a piece of paper was plastered. It showed the runes for each of the elements. Technically, one could enchant using any element, and Dirk had three at his disposal. Since the earth element wasn't working out for him, he decided he would move on to fire. 

Picking up the leather, Dirk pulled the fire mana out of him and formed it into the rune. However, the process was quite a bit more difficult than using earth mana. 

Dirk always used earth mana since he was forming his first mana heart using earth mana. His heart was almost fully formed, and it made using earth spells much easier than with his other attributes. He also had a much larger earth mana pool while his fire and dark mana pools were much smaller. Basically, earth was his best element. But it wasn't working for enchanting, so he had to try different avenues. 

Luckily, a bit more difficulty didn't mean he had any trouble with it. Dirk formed the rune and tried to make contact with the leather. Since fire was inherently more chaotic, it was harder to get under control. Using his supreme willpower though, he was able to solidify it, bending it how he wished. 

But even then, nothing came. He held the mana in place for 20 straight minutes, going through all the different tricks like with his earth mana. He solidified the rune, pumped mana through it, waved it around, spun it around, and even went on to activate it a bit. The only result he got was lighting the practice piece of leather on fire, forcing him to ask the teacher for another piece before going back to work. 

In the end, Dirk didn't get anywhere. By the end of class, he was standing in front of his desk with his head hung down, glaring at the leather. Every other student was as well, and nobody, not even Dirk, felt like leaving. 

So he didn't. Dirk stayed another half an hour, thinking. However, something snapped him out of his reverie. All of a sudden, one of the students shouted in glee as a rune formed on their practice piece of leather. Dirk's head snapped over, as did all the others. The teacher quickly stood up and walked over. 

"Hmm..."

Taking the leather from the excited student, the teacher examined it front and back. He then nodded, causing the student to smile even wider. 

"Good job. Now, do the same thing on the official piece of leather, and you will have passed the test. That should be easy though. You've at least shown that you have the gift of enchanting. Keep up the good work."

"Yes sir!"

The student almost shouted as he picked up the blue piece of leather. Everyone watched as he then enchanted the rune onto it. Especially Dirk. He went so far as to record the scene with his AI while watching his mana sense. 

And what he saw surprised him. Dirk saw the boy's mana weave into the leather before shaking a bit and turning solid as a rock. The mana was bound to the material. Seeing this, Dirk suddenly felt his mind light up, and he instantly turned back to his own leather.

'Resonance!'

He felt enlightened. The mana shaking looked exactly the same as when he resonated his own anima in his anima resonance destruction technique!

Thinking that far, Dirk went to stream his mana into his piece of leather. However, before he did, he decided to use his dark mana. In his dark class, his teacher Garel always had his students control streams of dark mana and make large runes with them, enhancing their control over it. If it was for this, he felt like it would be the good choice. 

So he streamed it in. The dark mana flowed into the leather like a snake as it took on the shape of the dark rune. Then, Dirk applied the same logic as with his anima to resonate the mana. He applied a frequency to the mana. 

Unfortunately, it didn't work. However, Dirk was able to feel something ever so slight. He could feel the mana make contact with the leather, and it filled him with joy. He kept resonating at the same frequency just to grasp this feeling that he had been seeking for hours. 

Then, he went on to search for the frequency that the leather resonated at. If he could match the frequencies of the mana and leather, he could bind it. Thinking that far, he realized that this worked in exactly the opposite way as his destruction technique. When anima resonated with material, it destroyed it. When mana resonated with material, it bound to it, enhancing it. He felt even more enlightened, but this brought him to another question.

Why wouldn't the people of this world understand this? If he were right, then would that mean he was the first to discover this? That was highly unlikely. It was impossible that nobody had attempted to study enchanting and its fundamentals. But then, why did the teacher make it so difficult to understand? Why did he only say to search for a feeling and not describe the system of resonance that it worked off of? Could it be that he didn't understand, or that he had something to hide?

Dirk was skeptical, but he decided that he shouldn't worry about it for now. He focused his attention on first completing his test. He searched through many frequencies, trying to grasp the exact one that would bind the dark mana to the leather. However, coming to this point, he found himself with another difficulty. The dark mana didn't want to listen to him. 

This was a problem that Dirk always had in his classes with Garel. It was like dark mana had a mind of its own and would actively resist Dirk's commands and control. It took him forcing its compliance with sheer willpower to get it to work. And as he used it with enchanting, it was no different. It was a good thing that he had lots of practice, otherwise it might be impossible for him to work with dark mana. 

But it did make the process take longer. After another hour, Dirk still hadn't found the frequency, but he felt himself getting closer. He also tried using a different element, but he found that if he used a different element, then he would have to find a different frequency. For the sake of a quicker success, he decided to stick with dark mana that he made progress with. 

At this point though, he decided to go home since it had already been almost 2 hours since class ended. Taking the practice piece of leather, he left the class and started walking. Upon opening the door to his home, he found Ava already there. 

"Hey! You're home late. How was school?"

"Rather good, actually."

"What's that?"

"Leather."

Dirk spoke and smiled.

"I've figured out enchanting. I'm thinking I can complete my little test by tomorrow."

"Wait, really? You can actually enchant? That's amazing!"

"Not really."

"What do you mean? Enchanters are the richest and most highly valued craftsmen in the world! Only those with the gift can enchant, and you actually have it!"

"It's not a gift. There's actually a way to enchant, only they don't seem to tell anyone. All I know is that it's not a gift. Anyway, I haven't actually enchanted a rune yet. But by tomorrow, I should have it figured out."

Dirk spoke while rubbing his chin, the excitement in his voice clear. Ava nodded.

"Interesting. Well good luck. Just remember that we leave in two days. I would make sure that your classes are settled before we leave."

"Of course. Oh, I also made this knife today."

"In your forging class? Well, aren't you the talented craftsman?"

"Not really talent, just figured it out. Here."

Dirk went on to show Ava the knife. She admired it for a while, tracing its smooth curves and razor sharp blade. Then she remembered something and walked over to a bag of hers, pulling out a flask and handing it to him.

"Actually, I also succeeded a bit in alchemy. This is a healing potion, although it's the least potent one an alchemist can make. It'll barely heal a scratch."

"Really? That's cool. Good job."

Dirk praised as he took the flask with a swirling blue liquid in it. Ava let out a breath.

"Eh, it's nothing. I can't really make better ones anyway."

"Huh? Why not?"

"Because I don't have the light attribute."

Ava scratched her head with a depressed sigh.

"The good healing potions can only be made by those who can handle the light element since the light element can inherently heal. I only have the water attribute, so mixing potions with ingredients is all I can do. If I had the light attribute, then I could add properties to the potions, enhancing their effects. I had wanted to make better healing potions, but it looks like that might be impossible unless I get high quality ingredients."

"Oh. Well, there's no need to get bent out of shape. It's fine that you don't have the light element. Why did you want to make healing potions anyway?"

"Well, that was hopefully how I was going to repay you..."

She scratched her head again, a bit embarrassed. Dirk just shook his head though.

"I've told you before, there's no need to repay me. I don't need it."

"Hey, those healing potions you drink are valuable. They're some of the highest quality potions you can get and cost a few hundred gold each. Those things are basically liquid gold, and you not only gave some to me, but took care of me. I can't give you nothing in return, so I wanted to see if it would be possible for me to make them myself. But, well..."

Ava drifted off. Dirk shook his head. 

"Look, please don't worry about it. Those potions are from my parents, and they neither asked any questions about the little increase in potion consumption nor require me to pay them back. Even if they did though, I would figure it out. Those potions were my compensation for injuring you."

"My injuries could've healed naturally."

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"As can my own injuries from my destruction cycles. But I have the luxury of receiving potions from my parents, so I use them as I see fit. What I did was within my jurisdiction, so don't worry about it."

Dirk spoke a bit sternly, ensuring he got his point across to Ava who couldn't seem to accept it. She was a bit surprised in return though. 

Back on Earth, Dirk had access to literally billions in resources in the form of weapons and gear. He himself was the result of billions in investment, and he had caused billions in damages throughout his career. Needless to say, Dirk was no stranger to the concept of handling expensive resources. He didn't hesitate in using the things given to him since he had already done so for years. His drinking potions that cost a few hundred gold each didn't even faze him. He was simply using a resource available to him. In that way, he was a bit spoiled and insensitive when it came to money. 

It was only when he had come to this world and developed relationships with people like his family and Ava that he came to be conscious of what was given and taken. It was why he didn't want Ava to be concerned with paying back something that needn't be. It was also why he used the potions in the most efficient way while recovering from his destruction cycles. He wouldn't hesitate in using the resources, but he also wouldn't be excessive.

He wanted Ava to understand this so she wouldn't be concerned with a minor issue. However, he was unaware of how she saw it. Ava went silent, her face looking a bit hurt. The next moment, she snatched back the potion from him.

"Fine then, I won't worry. And since I'm not worrying about it, we don't need this."

*Crash!*

Walking over to the sink, Ava dropped the glass flask. It shattered, the potion spilling down the drain. Dirk's eyebrows raised, a bit stunned. He didn't understand why she would destroy her first successful alchemical potion. He was confused as to why she suddenly flipped a switch.

"What are you doing?"

"Not worrying about repaying you! This potion was made for that purpose, and since it serves no purpose anymore, it has no value. Why would I want it anymore?"

"Because it was your first alchemical success."

"So? You think I cared about that? Whatever. I'm leaving."

"Huh? What the hell is going on? Where are you going?"

"To my dorm! What, should I not do that either?"

Ava shouted at Dirk, causing him to recoil a bit. The next moment though, he suddenly felt a surge of anger as she spun around and grabbed her bag. As she walked toward the door, black tendrils extended from Dirk's fingertips. His emotions flared, and his hand twitched.

She opened the door, speaking without turning around.

"I'll see you the day after tomorrow when we have to leave."

*Slam!*

She walked out, the door closing behind her with a bang. Dirk stood there in silence as his figure oozed the aura of violence. He gritted his teeth. He didn't know what had gotten into her, but this sudden hostility from her pissed him off.

"Haah!"

With a yell, he clawed at the air. The black tendrils that extended from his fingers turned into claws and launched a salvo of destructive black streaks. They instantly tore at the door that Ava closed, but surprisingly did no harm as a magical barrier lit up with defensive power. The streaks were blocked, leaving behind black mana marks on the magic barrier. 

Seeing this, Dirk snarled before turning around and walking to the sink. Looking down at the glass fragments, he reached out his hands and scooped them into a pile. The fragments began to disintegrate under the destructive power of the dark tendrils around his fingers. Soon, all the glass had evaporated, though it expended a lot of energy. Dirk didn't care though as he closed his eyes, attempting to reign himself in. 

"...Whatever."

Deciding that he was too mad to care about his body's odd magical reaction, Dirk walked up the stair to his bedroom, going to bed for the night. 

................

The next morning, Dirk got out of bed. His mind was now clearer, though he still wasn't happy. At the very least, he wouldn't have any violent outbursts. 

His face bore a frown as he walked downstairs. Even after he went through his morning routine and ate breakfast, Ava never showed. He headed to his classes, still in a bad mood.

Surprisingly, his bad mood was apparently very obvious. The students in his first class all glanced at him with slightly fearful faces, and the two people that sat next to him shifted uncomfortably throughout the class. 

Then came his anima class. It was here that Dirk saw Ava since she had the same class. However, she looked at him from afar before ignoring him. The two went through the class separately. This caught the attention of the instructor since those two almost never separated. After looking at the two though, he smiled as if he understood. He left them alone, but that was to the detriment of the people who had to spar with Dirk and Ava. Those unlucky souls felt themselves under very real threat, especially those who fought Dirk. 

As Dirk spared, his mood actually worsened. He felt irritated at how weak his opponents were. He cursed their incompetence as he punished them with pain, only stopping as they screamed. It took the instructor sitting him out for the day to save the class.

That class ended quickly, Dirk's classmates receiving a newfound fear. The man himself then entered his fire class, and it was Alec who immediately noticed the change.

"Whoah! You are positively bristling with violence. Did someone kill your pet?"

Alec spoke with surprise. Never once had he seen Dirk so angry. He had never seen him display hardly any emotion for that matter. This situation was about as foreign as foreign gets. 

Also surprisingly, Dirk didn't feel irritated near Alec. He calmed down as he sat next to his friend. For once, he also responded.

"No, I don't have a pet."

"Well maybe you should get one. My parents have one, and it does a good job of calming nerves."

"I don't have the time for a pet."

"Eh, I guess you don't. So what's got you all wrathful?"

"Ava."

Dirk answered, garnering wide eyes from Alec. He didn't actually expect Dirk to give him the real answer. Usually he brushed off his attempts at conversation. 

Alec quickly recovered though, taking it a bit seriously. For some reason, he really wanted to help Dirk out, and this was the perfect time to grow closer. 

"Tell me what happened."

"She got mad at me for some reason. I don't know why."

"What caused her to be mad?"

"I just told you. I don't know."

"No, I mean what happened before she got mad. What were you guys doing?"

"We were talking."

"About?"

"I told her not to worry about repaying me for some potions I gave her after the tournament last year. The potions are expensive, but I told her that it didn't matter."

Dirk huffed as he spoke. Alec went silent as he seriously pondered. 

"Hmm... I'm not sure what it would be then. How did you talk to her?"

"I was stern since she couldn't seem to get it through her thick skull."

"Then that might've been it. She probably got defensive since you spoke harshly. How you say things to a girl means a lot, my friend. I don't think it's anything an apology can't fix though."

"...Maybe."

"Don't worry, it'll pass. Even then, you should cheer up a bit. We leave tomorrow, and we can't have our best fighter grumpy in the dungeon. We all gotta be sharp."

"Right. Thanks."

"Of course!"

Alec smiled, euphoric over his success in assisting Dirk. Dirk also calmed down, returning to his more rational self. He seemed to have understood Ava's anger, and with this solution, he could solve the problem. Or so he thought.

 

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