13 Lightning

[Two weeks later]

Finally...

{Additional Quest completed}

{Practice mana release 2000/?}

It took longer than I expected, but I'm sure this will pay off.

{Quest Reward}

{Passive skill 'Master of mana' added}

Passive skill?!!! You mean to tell me, that I can freely absorb and release mana as much as I want, as long as my mana reserves hold up?

{The passive skill 'Master of mana' allows the user to freely circulate mana through his body. Mana can be absorbed passively. The skill allows the user to freely release mana from his body, without the need of concentration.}

This is insane. If I got an active skill from this, I would've been happy already, but this is on another level. This combined with my future reserves of mana...

"Art, do you mind telling me what this training is that you've been doing for the last two weeks?" Sylvia stood there with a curious look.

"I know that you are training in swordsmanship, as I am your sparring partner for that. But if you possess magic affinities, why haven't you used them in combat? Especially considering that the strength of mana you release has already surpassed that of a mage at the light orange stage. What affinities do you have? Also, what stage are you at? Even if I try sensing your core, all I see is black. Why is that?" The more time Sylvia got to spend with Art, the more questions she had.

"It's hard to explain, but it will suffice for you to know, that I am not a typical mage. Also, I am not really able to use magic the same way as others. I have a different mana core, and I don't have elemental affinities either."

Sylvia and I have gotten close, but not close enough for me to tell her my entire story. Not yet at least.

"Also, the training I'm doing is because I'm hoping to develop some lightning magic. But I don't really know how to do that yet."

"Lightning magic. I see. Lightning magic is quite a powerful deviant affinity. But you want to create it yourself without having the affinity for it... that would only work if you were some kind of genius, or if you were a higher being... But it seems like you're pretty confident that you can achieve it nonetheless."

*Puff*

An idea popped up in Sylvia's head.

"What if I infuse lightning into you, as you train?"

"Wait what?" I'm confused. She was just so fast with her words. I couldn't keep up. I noticed her becoming strangely excited whenever my abilities came up.

*zap*

Lightning started to manifest around Sylvia's hands.

"I have an affinity for lightning, you see." A smug grin formed on her face as she said that.

It might actually work. If I can absorb her mana, while it's in the form of lightning, I can maybe use it to change the nature of my mana. Let's give it a try.

...

"Ok I will now slowly touch you with my hands." Sylvia said.

"Alright."

I was currently sitting in a meditative position. I sensed Sylvia approaching me with her hands. I felt mana coming from her hands, although I wasn't looking. I felt the lightnings violent nature getting closer, until she finally touched me.

It stung a bit at first, but it was bearable. Okay, now it's my turn. I started by slowly absorbing her mana. It felt really agitated. Strong.

I felt how I slowly absorbed it. My passive skill made this easier than anticipated.

The mana felt faster than the mana in my body. It was also moving very randomly compared to my mana. Was this the nature of lightning magic? A violent, but efficient power, that was faster than any other element.

{System notice}

{Due to the player's understanding of lightning's nature, the passive skill 'Lightning' has been created.}

{The passive skill 'Lightning' allows the user to transform the nature of mana around and within him into lightning.}

What the hell? This fast? I stood up, to Sylvia's surprise.

"Is something the matter?" Sylvia said with a worried undertone.

I just really don't understand how the system works. It never created skills for me before, but since I came here, it seemed to help me achieve things that certainly wouldn't have been possible before.

It's not like I'm mad about it. It's really a lot of help, but I just can't wrap my head around why it would do so.

"No, I'm fine. I need to test something though."

I released mana from my hand. It got so much easier through the skill. I guess I just need to think about the mana transforming into...

*crackle crackle*

Before I could finish my though, the mana had already transformed. My hand was covered in blue lightning, but it didn't hurt at all.

I looked at Sylvia, just to see that her jaw dropped.

"How did you do that so fast? And without a chant or concentration? And why is it blue?" Sylvia was baffled. She had never seen anyone learn anything this fast. And it seemed as if the colour confused her as well.

"It's because of my abilities. It helps me learn and stuff." I tried to stay as vague as possible.

" 'and stuff' is that so?" Although Sylvia knew that there was a lot more to it, she decided to let it go, as she didn't want to pressure Art.

"How much can you do with it?" Her expression changed back to curious mode.

"Help me find out." I said with a slightly smug look.

{Player Arthur Leywin, LVL ???}

{Job Shadow Monarch}

{Titles}

{Demon Hunter, (and 2 others)}

{Abilities}

{Quicksilver [sealed], Bloodlust [sealed], Stealth [sealed], Dagger Throw [sealed], Mutilate [sealed], Shadow Extraction [sealed], Shadow Save [sealed], Shadow Exchange [sealed], Domain of the Monarch [sealed], Ruler's Authority [sealed]}

{Passive skills}

{??? [sealed], Kandiaru's blessing [sealed], Advanced Dagger Arts [sealed], Perseverance [sealed], Swordsmanship LV.1, Master of mana LV.1, Lightning LV.1}

[Another two weeks later]

...

I can't believe a month had passed. My time with Sylvia was about to come to and end, as today is the day the portal will be finished. It might seem strange for me to open up to someone this fast, but Sylvia was different. She felt like a maternal figure, comforting me and saving me from the loneliness I would've been lost in.

We spent the final two weeks sparring. I used this to practice my lightning magic in combat. It actually suited me well. Everytime that I ran the risk of getting too close to Sylvia when we fought, I used lightning magic to create distance. This became my fighting style for the time being. I closed in on her, attempted to strike, and then retreated while using lightning as a secondary attack.

This routine I trained while fighting helped me improve my combat senses. Because with my fighting style, it was crucial to possess spacial awareness and foresight of what the next attack might be.

My lightning magic is really useful. I can release lightning strikes from my hand as well as cover my body with it as defence. I should also be able to cover my future sword in lightning... that will make it look like Baran's sword. Just the thought of it made me excited.

...

Sylvia was now working on the portal again. She said she would finish it now, which means that we will part ways...

A weird feeling came over me. It's only been a month, but I really started to like having her around. She encouraged me while training, she fed me the fruits that she picked, she told me stories of monsters that inhabit this continent to entertain me and needless to say, she is helping me get back to my parents.

She was truly a gentle soul. But I suddenly felt that same gentle soul panic. I looked at Sylvia. She was suddenly starting to shudder a bit.

"It's too early..." she said under her breath. "They can't be here already..."

I felt a sudden surge of mana in the atmosphere. An intense aura appeared at the entry of the cave. My training has helped me regain a portion of my heightened senses, but that portion was enough for me to know, that I didn't stand a chance.

"Art! You need to hide!"