Aura and Mana

"What the hell!?" 

Fiollo cursed loudly as he urgently raised his staff and chanted.

[Basic Magic: Mana Shield]

Crack—!!!

The translucent blue hexagon that appeared in front of his staff was shattered immediately.

"What the fuck!?"

[Basic Magic: Mana Shi— Fiollo tried to chant again.

However, the barrage of Mana Missiles that went for them didn't give him enough time to repeatedly.

Woosh—

"Argh!" Moru shouted in pain as he felt something pierce his right foot.

Thud!!!

He, along with Fiollo who was on his shoulder, fell to the ground.

"What the hell, Fiollo? I thought you got my back!?" Moru looked at his companion, only to see him in a daze.

He then turned his head to where Fiollo was looking and was shocked as he saw tens of blue projectiles were on the way towards their position.

"Fiollo! What are you doing? Cast a barrier!" Moru shouted in an urgent voice.

Fiollo jolted out of his daze as he shakily raised his staff, "B-Basic… N-Magic… M-M-M…"

However, his stuttering and trembling voice prevented him from casting a magic spell.

After all, one's focus must be at its peak whenever one wants to use magic as it requires utmost concentration.

A mage who was scared out of their wits could only be described as useless.

Pow!

Moru hit him in the back of his head with a frustrated look on his face.

"Why are you stuttering!?"

Boom!!!

The numerous blue projectiles soon landed on the two of them.

'What the hell!?'

Joka cursed inside his mind as he saw what had transpired.

Initially, he was planning to curse Fiollo and Moru for leaving him behind before scurrying to escape by himself.

However, seeing the little girl that instantly casted consecutive Mana Missiles, he was appalled to say the least.

He and his companions haven't really paid any attention to her since Regis was the one who awakened mana.

Now, his entire worldview was turned upside down, 'Even Fiollo didn't notice her mana…'

Joka also didn't dare to move after seeing what happened to the two, 'I can just pretend to play dea—"

"Mister."

"Eeek!"

Joka jolted in surprise as he looked at the little boy who had appeared beside him.

"Y-Yes?" 

Regis smiled and asked, "Are you planning on abandoning us like your two companions?"

"W-Whaaaat? Of course not!" Joka said confidently.

Fortunately, his heavy armor hid the sweat that drenched his back as he stared at the little boy's innocent smile.

"Are you sure, Mister?"

"Y-Yes!"

"Then can you wait for us here? We'll be back in a few minutes, okay?"

"Okay!" 

Seeing the boy leaving, Joka heaved a sigh of relief.

'Nice. I can just esca—'

Just as he was about to plan something, the boy suddenly turned around and smiled.

This made any desires of escape instantly disappear from his mind.

"How many?" 

Regis asked as he walked over to Pandora.

"About 30…" Pandora answered as she stared at a certain direction of the forest.

Although the naked eye could only see bushes and trees, she could sense a number of figures hiding within with her mana.

It was a basic application of energy that Regis had taught her through his experience with demonic power.

Regis nodded with a satisfied expression as he said, "I'll take on the four goblin warriors. Can you deal with them?"

"I can, since they haven't formed stars. But those goblin warriors on the other hand…" A worried expression appeared on her face.

Caressing her head, Regis smiled, "Don't worry, I'm quite strong."

'But the goblins all have one star…'

Pandora wasn't able to say these words out loud as Regis had already walked away.

This was also the reason why Fiollo and Moru decisively decided to escape by themselves.

It was due to the fact that they were inexperienced and didn't dare to fight the legion of goblins that suddenly appeared.

'I can just help him if I finish fast…' Pandora thought as she stared at where the goblins were hiding.

She then raised both of her hands as thoughts filled her head.

'I'm only at the One Star Realm so I can only use Low Rank Magic. Using Mid Rank Magic like Fiollo is out of the question.'

In the next second, light blue spheres of mana silently manifested around her.

'But I can use a large amount of Basic Magic instead…' Pandora's eyes flashed with determination.

***

Meanwhile, on Regis's side…

"Well, well… how can I kill you without relying on my trump card~?"

Regis walked with a carefree expression on his face as he looked at the four goblin warriors that had stood by each other.

They had obviously recovered from the magic spell that Fiollo casted earlier.

Now, hatred shone on their eyes as they looked at Regis. They even ignored Joka who was playing dead in the distance.

'Using demonic power is a no-go since Pandora's here…'

'I'm only at the Starless Realm in both Aura and Mana while the four of them all are in the One Star Realm of Aura…'

'This might be a little troublesome, but…'

Regis's eyes sharpened as he suddenly dashed towards the goblin warriors.

'...I'll win.'

Krarrrrr!!!!!!

The goblin warriors roared as they simultaneously charged.

"It's time to put what I've been secretly training to practice!!" Regis had an excited smile on his face.

Mana and Aura have some similarities when it comes to their properties.

Aura came from a being's life force.

On the other hand, mana was present all over the world.

Aura Arts mainly consisted of techniques that reinforced the body itself. This was because it was compatible with it.

However, mana couldn't be used to strengthen the body due to incompatibility.

Like when two individuals's blood type was different and yet they chose to transfer blood to each other.

Their immune system would reject the blood and would cause certain reactions in their body.

We could look at the world having a different blood type (mana) than living organisms.

This meant that aura arts couldn't be used with mana as doing so would only result in disastrous consequences.

However, just like how aura could be used to reinforce one's body…

…mana also has its own specialty.

Mana originated from the world, so those who pursue the path of mana take advantage of this.

Regis's smile widened as translucent strings manifested as he closed the distance between him and the goblin warriors.