Change

Arno watched Leus with mixed feelings

Interest, Excitement, Elation, Confusion, and Puzzlement

The phenomenon that Leus has just gone through wasn't fully understood.

'Because of the obscurity of information the Crimsons do, I'm lacking a precise understanding of what occurred and the reasons behind it.'

'But now, With all this information ... Perhaps this is my first step in comprehending this matter.'

'If it can be done once, then it can be replicated.'

'That's my main goal.'

Arno spent his time researching and noting down all the important data for later use, and a few hours later, Leus got up

Arno noticed that, so he put his note in one of his pouches and called him

"Leus?"

"Huh? Ah - Yes?"

"How do you feel"

Leus stood up and stretched his body, then he focused on his surroundings

'Everything feels different, Even the air'

Leus closed his eyes

'My mana changed again'

Leus tried to sense the World Mana around him, And he felt a different kind of clarity

'It's as if my mind has evolved ...'

He couldn't tell exactly, but he sensed everything clearer than before

'I need to cast something, that will help me understand my situation'

And so Leus decided to activate Advanced Mana Vision

As the mana around him transformed into Light Mana, Leus realized that he was able to feel the mana itself, Not just sense it, But it actually gave him a physical feeling

'Interesting, It's as if I can feel the properties of the Mana'

It was as if he was seeing numbers, and each number had a specific value that did a specific thing

'Hmm, Well, I don't understand what any of that means, but if I keep researching, I'm sure I can figure it out'

But Leus wasn't interested in that now, The Light Mana entered Leus' eyes and he looked at Arno

'Beautiful'

Leus was enchanted by what he saw

Arno's Aura was calm, Tranquil blue 

'It's as if he's surrounded by the clearest water I've ever seen in my life'

Leus was also able to recognize that the blue aura had specific characteristics, But he wasn't able to discern them from each other, Nor was he capable of understanding their meaning

'I think the clarity and strength of the blue aura indicate the quality of Arno's mana, which basically shows how powerful he is'

'Perhaps the characteristics indicate his personality?'

Leus focused harder on those characteristics in front of him, but then something interesting happened

' ... It's as if I zoomed in on his aura, Then everything became blurred'

Leus instinctively knew why everything had become blurred

'Because I'm not powerful enough ...'

So he zoomed out, or at least that's what he thought of, and inspected Arno's aura again, This time he focused on Arno's body, and when he did that, he was able to see something else

He clearly saw a white light coursing through Arno's body, That light was concentrated in his heart, as if his heart was the source of it all.

'Is this ... Life Force?'

Leus focused harder, and what he saw worried him

He spoke in a worried tone

"Master .... Your Life Force ... It's weak? Corrupted? Something like that"

Leus was able to see many black spots all over Arno's body, weakening his Life Force or

' ... Consuming it?'

Hearing that, Arno smiled bitterly

"That's normal, I'm too old.

It's interesting that you perceived that already, That's not something anyone can take note of. But I assume that you can't perceive my aura, It's too complicated for you now, Am I right?"

"... I think s"

"If your mana quality surpasses that of your target, you can sense their aura, getting a basic grasp of their personality.

The more people you encounter and experiences you gather, the better you become at deciphering the characteristics. However, my mana quality is too high for you to grasp my aura; you can only observe it."

Leus nodded but he was still worried

"What can we do about your Life Force?"

"Nothing lasts forever. Everything eventually comes to an end, including life itself.

I've never been able to overcome my bottleneck and progress further.

It's just a natural part of the journey.

Now, given that there's nothing we can do about it, I'd prefer if you don't talk about this matter and focus on yourself."

Leus wasn't comfortable with avoiding the matter, but he felt that if he talked more about it he'd only annoy Arno, so he changed the topic

"Master, What happened to me?"

Arno stuck to his previous decision

"I don't know exactly, but I know that your mana has gone through a qualitative change."

Arno quickly changed the subject and spoke in a (Profound) tone

"The information you provided is invaluable.

In the coming months/years, I plan to test every aspect of my knowledge.

There's a possibility that we could reproduce the process. If successful, we could sell the data to the Crown, securing not only wealth but also influence and power.

Although the discovery is complex, its current generic nature makes it nearly worthless. I must delve into further research and find individuals for experimentation."

Out of all of Arno's words, Leus only cared about one

"Gaining a fortune would be indeed nice, Master"

Arno chuckled

"Don't count your chickens before they hatch.

As I said, YEARS of experiments, But since we have clues, It shouldn't be impossible"

Leus nodded and left the matter at that

"So, What happened to me exactly? How much of a change?"

"The quality of your Mana now equals the quality of the Mana of an average Elite, Or at least, Almost an average Elite"

"Is that ... Good?"

"No, It's phenomenal.

Theoretically speaking, you can hold your ground against an Elite Knight - if he never lands a hit on you -

or against an Elite Mage - if you manage to kill him first -.

Sadly, Because of the difference in Life Force and bodily strength, You won't be able to win in an endurance battle or a more direct confrontation.

The enemy would simply be able to both damage you more because of your weaker defense and regenerate their body parts more because of the Life Force difference.

Still, That doesn't make the change any bad, That'd also make you a lot more powerful than average when you evolve."

Leus now had a rough idea of what happened

'So it's again the quality of the mana ... Maybe mastering all the common elements unlocks something unique or something like that?

Whatever it is, It's good'

"However, That's the good news, Leus"

Arno's words confused Leus

"Is there bad news?"

Arno said in a solemn tone

"Yeah"