Multiple core system

*4 years later*

"Ok... one final step." Havien muttered while lying on his bed.

'This has gone beyond my expectations, but I have to do this if I don't want to die.' He thought as he started to form his last mana core.

'A deep breath... same as usual... and condense that gathered mana at once.'

*BOOOOM*

An explosion rang out in the Crimsonwhite mansion, but the residents were used to it by now as they thought the young master must be practicing magic. Nobody thought that their young master hade made another core, as the multiple core theory was a secret Havien kept to himself.

"There it is... my 9th core." Havien said to himself in satisfaction. This experiment of multiple cores had gone beyond his imagination. At first, he only thought of forming 7 cores, but he somehow ended up with 9 cores after exhausting his potential.

'This is way too much. I really risked my life at this point.

My original multiple-core theory was around the idea of a maximum of 7 cores, but things did not go according to plan.

First off, forming multiple cores casually would have resulted in my body imploding. I figured this out when my second core started to become unstable after just forming. I only had a few seconds before I died. In those few seconds, I started to drive my brain to full capacity and figured out a solution to stabilize my second core by linking it with my first. Somehow, it worked.

After that, all the cores I formed were linked to the first one. The first core made all the other cores resonate with each other and stabilize accordingly. Yet, it was only a temporary solution. I found out that even though the cores were stable, they were not independent. The extra cores were treated as part of the first core, which meant I would have to say goodbye to independent affinity. I did not want that, it defeated the purpose of multiple cores.

So I tried to look into it while forming more cores, but it was all for naught as no one thought of a radical idea like multiple cores. Maybe someone did, but I could not find any solid evidence.

But, by sheer fucking coincidence, the problem was solved by itself. When I formed my 5th core, I found out that the cores mutated from a state of dependence to a state of 5-core-'system'. When I looked into it, I found out that while keeping my first core free of any elements, the other 4 cores can acquire the elements of fire, water, wind, and earth. Just these four, no light or darkness or space. This system also reduced the strain on my body when practicing magic.

This gave me a surge of confidence as it led me to form another core. My 6th core, however, made them go back to dependence state. I was worried and panicked, but I had no choice other than to form my 7th core.

7th core made the existence of the 'system' come back. While keeping the first one pure, all the other cores could now take independent elemental affinities. At this point, I had partly achieved my goal. Fire, water, wind, earth, light, and darkness, just not space.

But I had another year left as I was 3 years old, and I got greedy.

And then, came disaster. My 8th core, not only ruined the 7-core system as expected, but it also started to drain my life. 8 cores were too much for a human body to handle, as 7 were already pushing the limits.

I now trudged further with a do-or-die mentality. I was 95% sure that a 9-core system will re-stabilize my body by reducing the pressure. I was 3-and-a-half, and it took me 6 whole months to form the 9th mana core.

Now I'm actually confused about what to do with my 1 extra core. 7 cores for the 7 elements, a pure core for stabilizing, that left one extra core. Maybe having 2 pure cores without affinity might prove to be a good decision? Elemental-less magic, while being very basic, is still very reliable due to being that basic. You have to keep many factors in mind while using elements, but you can never go wrong with basic magic.'

As Havien was pondering, he heard a voice calling him.

"Young master, it's time for you to train with Master Harmond." A maid called out to Havien who was inside his room.

Ever since Havien had awakened his core, Harmond had spared no efforts in making Havien a fine mage. Havien was a reincarnated genius, so he picked up how to read and write from a very early age, surprising both Harmond and Alesia. Harmond got Havien books about introduction to magic, basic elemental theory, and many more. Havien learned and absorbed it all like a sponge.

After Havien became able to cast basic spells, Harmond made Havien practice basic spells over and over again. Initially, Harmond thought that he was being too harsh with Havien's training, but Havien was enjoying it as he started using basic magic outside of training in his day-to-day life too. His extremely high mana affinity allowed Havien to control mana naturally like breathing.

As Havien reached the training grounds, he saw that along with his father, who had trained Havien up until now, there was another old man standing beside him. He looked extremely ancient like he was at the dusk of his life.

"Father, who is he?" Havien asked as he eyed the old man.

Harmond then took a deep breath and said in a serious voice,

"Havien, I have taught you all I can now. The only thing I could teach you further is my element, but you are still a rank 1 mage and I don't want to force my choice of element upon you. The old man beside me is-"

"Oh, I am just a wandering mage your father called for help. I heard that you are a genius mage who is at rank 1, so your father decided to call me to help you further train your basic magic. I specialize in elemental-less magic, so I think I'm qualified to teach you."

Havien eyed the old man suspiciously. He had cut off his father just as when he was going to introduce his identity, so that must mean that he is someone very exalted.

'Not that I care, I just wanna learn more.' Havien shrugged off his suspicions. It was not worth his time.

"Okay, so how will you train me, old man?" Havien asked in a rude tone, which made his father have cold sweat.

"Haha, kid, what better way is there than to use that magic in high-tension situations? Believe it or not, basic magic is the least powerful but the most practical magic to ever exist. It is quick, effective and efficient. Such magic can only be polished in real-life combat." The old man said with a grin on his face. He liked the straightforward attitude of the boy even though the boy had his suspicions.

"Combat... Sure, let's do it." Havien said as he quickly condensed 10s of mana bullets and fired them at the old man.

"Oho. A sucker punch, nice try." The old man said as he created a barrier around him and blocked all the bullets without a scratch at the barrier.