First Lesson

"First and foremost, I'm going to introduce you to the three known types of power. Do you know what it is?" Sera asked.

"Uhmm, I-I only know Aether." Zeus scratched his head in embarrassment. From Sera's expression, it seemed like this thing was common knowledge that even 3 year old kids know.

But what can he do? His father didn't teach him anything. The books he has only contain survival tips and basic knowledge about the world.

Sera nodded. "Well, that's understandable considering you have lived away from civilization. Anyways, listen. Aside from aether, there is the 'intent' that many warriors use. You told me your father was a knight, right?"

Zeus nodded.

"If you have seen him slash beasts like nothing. Then he should be using intent."

'So that's the intent huh?' Zeus thought as he recalled how his father slashed a wild boar into two with a kitchen knife.

"And lastly we have 'talent' which is only possessed by those people called geniuses or prodigies or whatever they are called."

Zeus listened attentively, afraid of missing a single piece of information.

"Talent is an innate thing so you don't have to worry about not having one. But if you want to know more about talent, just ask Mari, he has one."

"But for now, we will focus on aether and as for 'intent' and 'talent', we'll discuss it in the future. You got that?"

"Yes, master!" Zeus replied cheerfully.

Just hearing those three powers alone was enough to make him excited.

'Aether, Intent, Talent.'

He doesn't have the first two right now but talent, he has one. It's the ability to understand any language.

[Talent: Language, ??]

"Do you have any questions?" Sera asked calmly.

"Uhmm, I actually have one. I once heard from my father that aether is a type of mana. I haven't asked him much about it because he's always at work but I'm really curious about that."

"Well, your father is only half right. Aether is not a type of mana but rather, the combination of the three mana energies. Mainly, the physical, spiritual, and the natural mana."

With a wave of his hand, a cyan orb floated around Sera's palm. It's bright and gleaming with power. Just by standing a few feet away from it, Zeus could sense the air around him gathering around the orb.

'This looks familiar…' Zeus squinted his eyes and a technique suddenly popped out in his head. 'Rasengan!?'

"This is pure aether. A brand new type of energy that is different from mana."

Zeus was about to ask a question when the orb suddenly scattered into three parts.

Shu—

"...and this… is what you call mana."

Different from the cyan orb earlier, the mana orbs looked smaller and they have a colorful hue imbued around their surface. They danced around Sera's palm, like trapped fireflies, before combining once again.

"The combination of these three mana energies creates aether in which you can cast numerous spells."

Sera aimed his hand at a large boulder.

At that moment, a silver magic circle full of geometric lines and unknown characters condensed in his palm.

[Shock.]

Bang!

As if hit by an earthquake, the boulder got smashed into pieces.

"Is this magic?" Zeus gulped his saliva, trying to process what he had just witnessed.

This was the first time he had seen one!

The blood in his body boiled and he couldn't wait to grow up and learn many skills.

Seeing his enthusiasm, Sera laughed. "Hahaha, how is it? It's cool, isn't it."

"Is that the skill you're going to teach me?"

"Uhh no, that requires aether. What I'm going to teach you is how to control mana."

"What? But I can't use the aether."

"You're not going to use aether. We're going to use the physical mana."

Zeus was baffled. Isn't physical mana one of the components of aether?

Sensing his doubt, Sera explained, "Although aether is inaccessible, you can use the physical mana. Mana is everywhere and anyone can use it at will without age restrictions. Of course, not all people can use it. Only those who have trained to their limits can hope to sense it."

"And those who can manipulate it have better aether control than others. You've been training your body for years, right? If not for physical mana, you won't be able to break through the limits."

"So in a sense, I'm already using physical mana without my knowledge?"

"Indeed. Let's start now, shall we?"

…

"First, I'll show you what the skill looks like."

Sera cast the skill and the next moment, his skin slightly reddened and a sense of oppression enveloped the surroundings.

Zeus stepped back. He could vaguely guess the skill function after seeing it at a glance.

"This is the Physical Art called Enhance. It boosts your overall physical capacity albeit your stamina would be consumed fast, however."

Sera's reddened body reverted back to normal and he continued, "In order to use Enhance, you must have a strong body to the point where you can sense the physical mana. We're going to train your body and…"

At that moment,

[Enhance.]

Zeus' body heated up and an unknown force spread from his fingertips until it shrouded his body in it.

He closed his eyes and savored the energy flowing inside his veins.

'This should be the physical mana.'

"As expected, just a little guidance and you can already use it. To be honest, I'm not surprised. Your body is strong enough to withstand the skill so congratulations." Sera said nonchalantly.

However, Zeus was slightly disappointed.

'At least, be surprised!'

He thought he'd be able to show off at least once but it seems like he'd have to pass this time.

As soon as Zeus turned off the skill, a transparent screen appeared before his eyes.

< You have learned the skill 'Enhance'. >

[You have completed the quest.]

[Reward: 100 System Points.]

[As you have learned a skill, you can view it in the skill section.]

< Ding! >

<A new quest is being generated. >

[Quest: Train, train, train!]

[Description: Now that you have your first skill, train it to its maximum level.]

[Time Limit: None.]

[Reward: 1,000 System Points.]

'Hooh, fortunately, this one doesn't have a time limit. But seriously, what are these system points? How can I use this thing?' Zeus asked inwardly but the system didn't answer his question.

"Even if you have already learned it, you still need to train your body to use it to its fullest. It might be useless to you once you awaken your aether but for now, this should be enough to give you more protection."

Hearing his master's words, Zeus nodded. As long as there is an improvement, he won't stop training.

"However, don't think that you're a genius just because you can already use it at a glance. You still cannot control the physical mana which would be our goal for this year so always be ready."

"Yes, master!"

…

Meanwhile, from a distance, Limuel and Mari stared at Zeus with a look of disbelief. The shovels on their hands momentarily felt heavy despite the fact that it was almost as light as cotton.

The two exchanged meaningful glances before Limeul broke his silence.

"Mari, did he just use 'enhance'? I'm not seeing something else right?"

"H-how is that even possible? I couldn't even learn it and this kid just cast it in a glance? But how could he even use it when 'enhance' is a skill that could only be used by those madmen?"

"Maybe, it's just a variation? But if it's really 'enhance', just how strong would he be by the time he awakened his aether?"

"Maybe, he's going to become a monster?"

"Haha, a monster huh? That would be a sight to see. Look at boss, although he looked unbothered, Zeus surely shook him to the core."

The two exchanged a few words before they eventually continued to dig the ground.