10 Domain and Affinities
In the next few days, Amari spent tying up loose ends with the tribe, ensuring that every problem was handled before their departure.
Besides sleeping in Amari's hut, Ai spent most of her time in the forest, away from the tribe. She dreaded running into somebody that knew her that she couldn't remember.
Thankfully Amari had provided them with a watered-down version of events basically explaining it as a bad case of amnesia so that the people that were friends with Aiya didn't bother Ai.
With her dress being nothing but blood-stained cloth, she had a new set of clothes which were basically just a bunch of dead rabbits sewn together with a bear-hide cloak. Ai would have preferred a more elegant outfit but this would have to do for now. On her left arm, she had a hardened leather bracer that covered her tattoo that doubled as a defensive parry tool.
Pulling the hood of the cloak over her head, she sat down cross-legged and began to meditate.
'I wonder if I can still access my domain with this new system...' Ai wondered to herself.
Back in the old world, one's domain could be accessed through meditation. The domain was a place within one's soul where the person can observe and improve their latent mana potential, this method was also used to find their elemental affinity.
The vast majority of people would have one element that they were proficient in. It wasn't too uncommon for someone to possess two elements whereas it was rare for someone to possess three. A few over the centuries possessed four.
Having the elemental affinity didn't mean they could only use that element, however, most of the time the person would use that element exclusively as improving their affinity would enhance that element far beyond the capabilities of the other elements.
Finding herself within a void of darkness, Ai focused as her form seemed to float further inward. Eventually, she found it, her elemental domain.
Streams of mana floated around that seemed to connect to invisible spheres that acted as mana nodes, these nodes were only really invisible with low levels or pure physical classes. Larger spheres usually denoted elemental affinities.
Ai floated through the webs of mana streams and eventually found herself near the core. Her eyes widened in shock.
Floating around circling the core, she saw six large spheres, most of them were still invisible, only visible through the countless strands of mana attached to them, but two of them were active, one shined with a bright yellow radiant light, the other had an eerie purple glow to it.
[Light Elemental Affinity Discovered]
[Dark Elemental Affinity Discovered]
[Creation Elemental Affinity Discovered]
Ai blinked, she had fully expected to see the light and dark notifications, but creation?
Looking around her domain, she noted the other spheres were still formless and invisible.
'[True Analysis]'
Vibrant green energy blinded her, as her eyes adjusted, she saw a massive magic circle on the 'floor' of her domain, out of each rune engraved, strands of mana slowly flowed outward and combined with the existing streams. One could only call this sight one thing: Beautiful.
Inspecting the mana closer, Ai noticed that the mana used for channeling her analysis spell was flowing into the circle, being repaired, then released back into the streams.
'Is this what I think it is?'
She ran a hand through the strands coming out of one of the runes.
'This creation circle is constantly circulating my used mana. But what could this mean? I still use MP when I use spells, does this allow my mana to regenerate faster? Or does it prevent my mana streams from being damaged?'
She focused her amber eyes on the circle itself.
'[Magic Sight]'
Suddenly, as though understanding a different language entirely, the runes began to translate into entire lines of code in her mind, and that code became phrases, phrases became meaning, that meaning became understanding.
Ai smiled. 'Ah, the latter. With this, at later levels, I will be able to cast powerful spells without needing to worry about the strain higher level spells put on an unprepared body. This will be useful later.'
Thinking back to the ruins, she realized that mana fatigue would still be a problem, but this problem was manageable so long as she didn't use all of her mana at once.
Closing her eyes, she reopened them to the sight of the verdant forest once again. A coy smile appeared on Ai's face as she succeeded in finding and utilizing her domain already. On top of that she discovered her affinities and with this knowledge, she has a better understanding of her current capabilities.
And the cherry on top of it all? Not three, not four, but six elemental affinities!
Ai had a shit-eating grin.
"Hey sis, whatcha so happy about?" Amari said hopping down from the trees.
"Gah! Can't you make a normal entrance!?" Ai said as she jumped back, startled from Amari's sudden appearance.
"Not a chance, what goods strength like this if you can't make a grand entrance?"
Ai imagined Amari making an entrance by ripping a boulder in half and laughing maniacally.
Realizing how much worse it could be, Ai's lip twitched. "You know what, you keep doing you."
"As opposed to...?" Amari said with a confused expression on her face.
"It's an expression. Like, you just be yourself." Ai watched Amari blink. "You know what, nevermind."
"I can only be myself, right?" Amari shrugged.
Ai slammed her face into her palm. 'why was I reincarnated with a muscle-brained sister?'
"Anyways, I discovered more of what I am capable of." Ai said with a smile.
"Hou? Do share."
"It might be easier to show you. You understand how spell mana works right?"
Amari held her chin in her hand. "I think so, every spell and ability has a specific mana cost, some of it is percentage-based, some of it is a flat cost, right?"
Ai smiled and nodded. "Right, well I have an affinity for my classes element, Creation, as such, it constantly fortifies my mana. It is typically difficult for spellcasters to cast several spells in quick succession or a high-cost spell without some drawbacks, namely an early onset of mana fatigue and, in rare cases, diminishing maximum mana supply. Thanks to my constant fortification, my mana doesn't do that, so I can use 99% of my mana at once with little to no drawback."
Amari nodded thoughtfully, "Well, you seem to have been able to explain it pretty well, sis."
Ai smirked. "But it's what I can do with it that is interesting. Watch closely."
Concentrating on her palm, four magic circles formed above her hand that slowly condensed into one, imagining her spell, [Magic Missile], she condensed all 80% of the mana into one, in her mind, she started to take the forms of each missile, break them down and combine them, forming a makeshift spear, the spear was broken so she repeated the process, refining it into a perfect spear over repeatedly breaking it down and restructuring it.
Smirking with a shine in her eyes, she succeeded, now to use it.
"[Magic Spear]!" She yelled out as the spear formed over her hand, flicking her wrist, she sent it flying through the air, piercing through the several trees before finally dissipating into residual mana.
Amari watched with widened eyes, she had not expected a level 1 to be capable of this causing this much damage.
"Damn Lil sis! That was pretty damn good, I can't wait to see what you can do at higher levels!" Amari exclaimed with a grin.
Ai smiled, giving Amari a thumbs up. "And that, dear sis, is the power of mastery over domains and affinities."
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[Magic Missile] MP Cost: 20% Per Missile | Instant
Effect: Launch a fragment of concentrated mana at a target, this attack will always hit. Damage is based on mana used and up to 1 missile per level can be launched to max mana capacity (Unless max mana is bypassed and more missiles can be launched.)
Secondary Effect: User-Made [Magic Spear]: By condensing multiple missiles, a larger missile stronger than the sum of its parts can be created and launched. The damage calculated is multiplicative for each individual base missile.
