Swirling thoughts (3)

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH."

Sebastian's laughter echoed through the air. He had achieved the impossible, recreating a system's skill without even awakening.

As he reveled in his success, a sense of realization washed over him like a wave crashing against the shore.

He had tapped into the arcane currents of mana, harnessing its power without the need for the system's guidance.

With a fleeting sense of disorientation, Sebastian watched as the flames dwindled and eventually vanished, leaving him in a state of bewildered exhaustion.

As Sebastian pondered the perplexing turn of events, a cascade of questions flooded his mind like a relentless tide.

Why had he been able to wield a system's skill without possessing the system itself?

And why had the flames, which had blazed with such intensity moments before, fizzled out so abruptly?

The most concerning matter was that he knew well what that weakness he felt was. That was the same feeling he had whenever he used all his mana.

He realized his manipulation of mana had been the key to unleashing the skill, but such an ability should have been beyond his, or anyone else's, grasp without the aid of the system.

The skills were a gift given by the forces behind the system, not something that could be accessed through sheer force of will alone.

"Is it possible that is not the case? That what humanity thought until now was based on wrong assumptions? It is not the system that gives us power, but maybe…"

Maybe the system only helped to harness what was already there. That was what Sebastian was thinking.

Lost in a labyrinth of questions, Sebastian found himself delving into the depths of speculation, searching for answers that seemed to elude him at every turn.

"There is much more to all of this than I, no, that everyone could have ever imagined. For sure, the fact I was able to use a skill means I have some mana to use, but I don't have much based on how short the skill lasted."

Based on how fast mana replenished. Sebastian thought he could use Cinder blast once every 2 minutes. It wasn't much. In Somnium, two minutes were enough to be not only slaughtered, but even devoured whole.

But here, on earth, among the Auditors, those who didn't awaken, it was like having a concealed and untraceable gun.

"But what is the point if I can't gain Mana Clusters? It's not like Auditors have one. Damn, not even most of the Thespians have one."

Mana Clusters resulted from compressing certain amounts of mana. As time passed, after awakening, Thespians accumulated mana into their body. However, there was a limit to how much the body could contain.

However, the system had a way to solve that problem, and that gave, at least in theory, the ability to store infinite amounts of mana. That was by making Mana Clusters.

Mana clusters were compressed and tangible beads of mana. The smaller it was, and the higher was the Thespian's Compression level, which showed how many Compression Processes the Thespian made.

In Somnium, Fangeds had mana clusters, which could be absorbed by the Thespian.

That mana would become his or her, increasing their mana reserves, and allowing the Thespian to fight more or to hit harder.

Mana also fundamentally changed one's body, as it made them stronger, faster, and smarter. That was true both for Thespians and Fangeds.

Sebastian understood he could make skills without having the system. He also realized he had a bit of mana and that he could use some skills, even if with some limitations.

"Now, I can use skills. I have a little bit of mana. But how do I get money? The question doesn't change."

Sebastian pondered for a bit. "Should I resort to the simple and plain muggings? Yeah. yeah, yeah, yeah. Mugging people would be easy and useful."

Then he grinned. Sebastian was used to such things. To survive for 30 years, while being chased in the real world and hunted in Somnium, he, of course, had to do some morally despicable stuff.

Well, not that he cared, he burned to ashes an entire city, what would robbing people be but a mere drop in the ocean?

However, somehow, and weirdly enough, despite trying to convince himself, that idea didn't sit really well with him.

It was from some time already he noticed, some of the thoughts he normally had, like murdering or torturing, seemed… distant. No. Repulsing at times.

"Could this be an effect on my regression? Did it influence my mind?"

That was a chance. However, what really mattered was that now Sebastian felt some… moral constraint. Of course, there was a limit to which he was going to follow them.

"Seb! Aren't you done already?" his mother asked. Sebastian had been in the bathtub for quite some time now.

"I'm done!"

Sebastian tried not to scream to avoid waking up his brother. He then rinsed and dried himself. Then went back to his room.

"So... I can conjure up the systems skills without even having the system, huh? Pretty neat, pretty neat. And if I can use the pyromancer's skills, who's to say I can't dabble in the other professions' skills too, right?"

Sebastian kept thinking. A pensive look appeared on his face.

"Theoretically speaking, of course. I mean, if I can bend fire to my will, why not raise the dead as a necromancer? Oh, the possibilities, the possibilities! Who needs backpacks when you can raise a corpse to bring the stuff for you? Marvelous! Absolutely marvelous!"

However, while Sebastian knew well the pyromancer's skills and could somehow recall how mana behaved when he used them, he didn't know those of the other professions.

For that, he had to at least observe some Thespians before even attempting to replicate the skill. But that was a problem he was going to solve later.

For now, he would at least try to see if he could use the other pyromancer's skills.

"I can't wait!"