Luminous Iridescent Body: Rainbow variation

In front of Iono's Quantum eyes, a complex structure of energy channels spread out in Clarissa's body. What made Iono unable to speak, was the fact that the energy channels where iridescent. The colours of the rainbow, gracefully wrapped themselves around them, creating a colourful coating for them.

"To think that this little brat was hiding such a secret...", Iono thought.

Luminous Iridescent Body: Rainbow variation

This was a phenomena caused by a body variation, an evolutionary miracle that had only one in a million chances of happening.

The energy channels that the people with the Luminous Iridescent body were born with, had the ability to absorb the light that surrounded them, and coat their energy channels with said light.

Depending on their variation, they had a different affinity with a different wavelength of the light spectrum, and their channels were coated by that colour of light.

The Rainbow variation was one of the rarest and meant having an affinity with all of the wavelengths of the light spectrum, and therefore, people with this kind of variation gained an overwhelming advantage in their control of the light element itself.

Because their energy channels absorbed light, they could literally absorb energy from their surroundings and infinitely supply themselves with it.

"This is amazing. I thought I would simply be wasting my time here, but she might become quite the force to be the reckoned with in the future. A comrade is someone who can watch your back, and you can never have enough. She's worth training!", he thought.

It was a wondrous ability, but good things always come with a price.

People called body variants, "Cursed Children".

Their colourful channels made it possible for the body to absorb energy involuntarily. Meaning, they didn't have to actually control the energy in the surroundings to enter their body, but the energy would enter their body on its own.

This, of course, meant that they had an endless supply of it, meaning their core refinement was much faster than the norm, and they even had a reduced need for food, although they still needed the nutrients.

But, at the same time, if the energy entering their bodies was not controlled properly, it would recklessly fill up every nook and cranny of their bodies. Their cells wouldn't be able to take the amount of energy supplied to them, making them work much faster to keep up and therefore deteriorate much faster than the norm. In other words, these people aged very fast. Most people with the Luminous Iridescent Body wouldn't live past 25, as for those with the Rainbow variation, 20 was the maximum.

The only way to escape their inevitable doom, was to train their bodies; temper them using the energy that circulated inside them.

*Sigh*

Iono's sigh was filled with dread for the future. He had to train her, and fast, otherwise she wouldn't be able to deal with the energy entering her body. He was always curious about the origin of the infinite amounts of spunk this little girl possessed, and now he got his answer.

"I didn't think that she would have such potential. It would be a tragic waste not to train her.", he thought.

Clarissa also heard his sigh, and turn to glance at him, feeling a bit anxious.

"Well, the good news is that your channels have opened. The bad news is that we have to train even harder than I thought we would, because you're very weak", Iono said, casually making up an excuse to satisfy the 8-year-old.

He wouldn't reveal the truth to her because it would only make her scared, she was a child after all.

"I am ready!", she said with resolve shining in her eyes.

"Okay then, let's start. First things first, you have to make two decisions. The first one, is wether you want to be a Brawler, or a Sorcerer.

Brawlers fight with Aura, up close and personal.

Sorcerers fight with Mana, high destructive power and distance, but weak in frontal confrontation.

Also, you're choosing not only a class, but also the type of energy you want to train in. The second is the your weapon of choice, a comrade you are going to carry with you for the rest of your life. Pick one and master it to the maximum.

My recommendation, after checking your channels, is that you should become a Sorcerer because you have a better compatibility with Mana than the one you have with Aura. While, regarding your weapon, well, pick the one that feels just right when you hold it.", after finishing his sentence Iono opened the pouch of Avarice and threw a different variety of weapons on the floor.

These were slightly different that the type that his father presented him with; most of them were oriented towards the Sorcerer class.

In front of Clarissa lay: a wand, a scepter, a dagger, a quarterstaff, a shortsword, an orb and a mace.

Clarissa watched Iono drop the weapons on the ground in a daze.

She held her chin in thought, seemingly trying to decide which class would suit her best and the weapon she should choose.

She lifted her tiny head and asked,

"What class did you choose, Iono?".

"Well, in truth there's more than those two classes. Some of them are production classes like Blacksmith or Alchemist, others are sub-classes of the main two, like Tank or Assassin which fall under the Brawler class, and Mage or Summoner which fall under the Sorcerer class. Therefore, when you decide the energy that you want to train in, you branch out from there and focus on certain aspects. There's also the Healer and the Priest classes but those classes only work with Ether, which you can't really train or increase in any way. As for me, well, I picked a couple of these classes to focus on.", Iono quickly explained, avoiding the question.

"I see...", Clarissa replied.

"Which one would make me someone you can both protect and attack?", she asked.

"It depends; have you decided on an energy to focus on?", Iono replied.

"Before I do, how do I get Ether?"

"Well, you need to gain the attention of a God, and even if you do get it, you need to have a core that can support it, plus the resolve to wholeheartedly devote yourself to that God. Additionally, you won't be able to use neither of the other energies, unless the God allows you to, which almost never happens.", Iono explained.

"Why wouldn't they allow me to use the rest? And if they don't, how could they stop me from using them?", she asked perplexed.

"You see, Gods are all-powerful. They have reached the pinnacle of Mana and Aura.

But at the same time, to reach that pinnacle, they had to discard their mortal bodies, and become spiritual beings.

Therefore, they increase the quality and amount of Mana and Aura in their bodies. But Ether is different.

No God has ever reached the pinnacle of Ether, because Ether cannot be increased. And the only way to acquire it is to become a God. The Karmic ties you form with the cosmos create ether inside your body. And even then, it cannot be refined or increased.

But when placed in mortal bodies, it can be nourished and polished. Therefore, the Gods that have reached the pinnacle of the other energies are searching for the pinnacle of Ether too, and to do that, they need to place it inside mortal bodies, to be nourished. When the mortal dies, the Ether returns to them, stronger than before."

"I see...", Clarissa replied deep in thought.

"I pick Mana, Iono.", she said with deep resolve.

"I believe it would be better for me to pick something that can both and support, defend and attack at the same time. What do you think?", she asked.

"I think you made a great choice. Your body is very compatible with Mana and given your weak constitution, that is the best choice you can make right now. Don't worry, if in the future you decide to train your Aura too, you can do it, although it will be considerably harder. When you reach very high levels of controlling Mana then you won't even need Aura.", he explained.

"Now that I picked the type of energy, what class do you think would suit me best?", she asked.

"Hmm... Support, defense and attack at the same time... That would be an Alchemist or maybe a buff-type Mage? Well, you can do both really, although the workload doubles. How about you pick your weapon for now and we decide on a class a bit later?", Iono said, pondering.

"Okay!", she replied excitedly.

She stood over the weapons Iono had pulled out of his pouch, and stared at them with wonder.

She picked up a few, trying them out, and check how they feel.

After a few minutes, she picked up a weapon that felt just right in her hands.

She waved it a few times and felt that it suited her perfectly.

The weapon she picked was the wand.

A 15cm long, simple wand, made out of oak wood. The handle was 8 cm, making the whole thing 23cm long. The handle was curved to look like the maw of a dragon. This was Yusef's great craftsmanship.

"Iono, I think this is the one!", she said excited.

"A wand, huh? It does suit you. Great choice. Wands are great for mages and alchemists since you can use them to help you control the flow of Mana. Energy rings, which you are going to learn about later, are inscribed inside the weapon to accelerate and refine Mana as it flows through them, and therefore increase the power and accuracy of your spells. It suits the class you're thinking perfectly.", Iono answered.

Clarissa looked at the wand in wonder. This would be her weapon from now on.

"Alright, since you picked the energy you are going to focus on, and a weapon, let's start by the important bit... Foundation.

To be able to yield Mana and Aura your body needs to be able to accommodate these energies. And most of all it needs to be able to contain a core, so you can actually control these energies.

Think of your body as a machine, and energy as electricity. For electricity to flow through your body, you need a circuit, your energy channels.

You also need a power supply, your core. And finally, in order to be able to handle electricity, the circuit must be made by a conductive, strong material, which means we need to make your body able to conduct energy and strong enough to handle the energy travelling through it.

The Foundation stage is very important because, the more solid your foundation is, the stronger and more conductive your body becomes, and therefore the more the amount of energy it can handle.

If you skip through your foundation stage hastily, and not go through each stage thoroughly and carefully, you might end up with a weak body, unable to push further than Energy Gathering.

In order for a building to handle the weight of its height, strong and solid foundation is required. Do you understand now, Clarissa?", Iono explained in painful detail to the 8-year-old.

"Machine? Electricity? What are those?", she asked perplexed.

"Oh, damn! I forgot this continent is still rather primitive. Electricity doesn't become a thing for a couple more decades. I messed up!", Iono realized his mistake and tried to correct it, but no idea came to mind so he chose to simply ignore it.

Get a load of this guy!

"Very well, now sit down in a lotus position, and close your eyes."

"What do you mean very well? I still don't get it! And what is electricity?", Clarissa confused at his behaviour.

"It doesn't matter, you'll understand later! Now just do as I say, or no dinner for the unruly student!", Iono tried to scare the girl into forgetting.

"What!? You're not my mom!", she yelled flustered.

"No, but I am the young master...", he replied with a wide grin, taunting the little girl.

"Why, you arrogant-", Clarissa grit her teeth and didn't finish her sentence.

Clarissa quietly followed his instructions and sat cross-legged on the grass.

"Now, simply listen to my voice, and follow my instructions, ok?", Iono said.

Clarissa replied with a nod.