Chapter 16: Mana

Following Master, she continued walking until we were a decent distance away from the house before she stopped to turn around and look at me; after rummaging through the pouch, she retracted her entire arm while holding a transparent crystal sphere in her hand.

"How does that even work? The crystal ball is bigger than the pouch!?" Exclaimed Alexander in astonishment while constantly glancing between the crystal sphere and the old pouch.

"It's just a pouch engraved with runes imbued with the space element, also known as a space or storage pouch. However, mine is very old and has been quite damaged, so its storage capacity is incredibly limited." Remarked Lavender calmly as she dropped the pouch on the ground while holding the mana crystal.

"Anyways, enough about space pouches; they may be impressive to you right now, but they are widespread in this world, and you'll quickly get used to them." Added Lavender as she signaled Alexander to sit on the ground, which he did after he regained his composure.

"So, now that we have the mana crystal, how will it help determine my mana affinities? Do I just hold it while it scans my mana?" Asked Alexander while eagerly eyeing the mana crystal.

"Not exactly, but it might as well be as simple as that. All you must do is hold the mana crystal and allow it to absorb your mana; like this." Said Lavender as she pointed toward the mana crystal, which was slowly getting filled with a mist-like substance.

Once the mana crystal stopped absorbing Masters mana, the mana inside the crystal began to separate in two: blue and brown. When the two were fully segregated, they compressed themselves into a small yet evenly sized clump of mana, allowing anyone to clearly differentiate between the two elements.

"Two different colors, which means two different elements; I'm assuming blue represents your affinity for water, and brown would be earth?" Said Alexander as he glanced at Lavender, who responded with a nod.

"Yes, you're correct; it's as simple as that." Replied Lavender lightly with a slight smile while looking at the pondering Alexander.

"Hmm, if mana crystals operate like that, couldn't I just expel my mana from my body like you did when teaching me?" Asked Alexander curiously while looking at his hands with a focused expression.

"You could indeed, but as you can see; you don't have enough control over your mana to force it out of your body, and while we could wait until you've increased your command over it; that'll take quite some time. Expelling mana from your body could be considered the first step on the path of a Mage." Explained Lavender while Alexander eyed his hands with a strained and focused expression before suddenly releasing a sigh.

"You're right; I can hardly command the mana that is present inside my body; I can't imagine how hard it'll be once it leaves my body." Stated Alexander with a frown while shaking his head and sighing.

"Hehe, no need to worry about that; with me here, it won't take that long, my class is a mage, so I have deep insights into mana and how to control it better. However, before we do any of that, let's find out what you're mana affinities are; I'm sure you're equally as eager as I am." Said Lavender with a slight chuckle while tossing the mana crystal to Alexander, who, in turn, caught it.

When I caught the mana crystal, I inspected it using [Heroes Gaze]; though I don't know what I was expecting, the description was concise.

////////////////////

Name: Mana Crystal

Rank: Common

Description: A crystal that has been bathed in mana for a substantial amount of time; Allows one to see pure mana.

////////////////////

After reading the information, I stopped suppressing my mana, and allowed the crystal to absorb it, which didn't take that long; once the crystal was filled with my mana, it separated into four different colored clumps of mana before they began compressing themselves while also gaining color.

"Gray, red, purple, and green? I know gray represents neutral, and I'm assuming red represents fire, hopefully; however, what do purple and green represent? Also, does the different sizes matter?" Questioned Alexander as he eyed the mana crystal, which consisted of four different clumps of mana, though the red and purple spheres of mana were much larger than the other two.

"Haa, I should be surprised with this result, yet I can't bring myself to feel much after I finished inspecting your Status panel last night while you were asleep." Remarked Lavender with an exhausted and dry expression as she glanced between Alexander and the mana crystal, though her words caught Alexanders' attention.

"Since you've fully inspected my Status panel, can you tell me about my class rank? I've also fully examined my Status panel several times before, so I have an inkling of how powerful my class is; I just find it incredibly hard to believe that the rank of my class can be above Mythical, the supposed highest rank in existence." Stated Alexander with a doubtful expression while eyeing Lavender.

"You and me both, Alexander; however, I've read through your Status panel roughly ten times, just to make sure I wasn't misreading, and I can say for certain your class and title are both above the Mythical rank. Whatever that means." Said Lavender with a sigh while looking at Alexander.

"That's good to know, I suppose; anyways, can we not mention that anymore Master? Whenever we talk about this, I always feel my heart tighten in fear for some reason, and the longer we speak on this subject, the worse it gets." Said Alexander with a frown which displayed how anxious he was, as he looked at the sky while his heart was beating rapidly, something Lavender noted.

"Agreed, it's probably for the best if we keep our mouths shut about this topic; who knows if someone could be listening." Replied Lavender seriously as she shook her head before they both focused back on the mana crystal.

"Anyways, returning to the mana crystal, as you can see, you have been blessed with four different mana affinities. You were correct about the first two, Gray is the neutral element, and red is the fire element." Added Lavender while nodding her head as her demeanor returned to normal.

"Yes." Said Alexander with slight enthusiasm, still feeling very uncomfortable from the previous topic.

"Now the purple mana represents the space element, a scarce and difficult element to master, though the power and versatility it offers are only matched by the time element. Lastly, the green mana is wind or air mana; not as powerful as the fire element; however, it's versatile and easy to control, a great element for beginners." Declared Lavender as her words brought a slight smile to Alexander's face.

"So, I have the neutral element to strengthen my body, the fire element to cause damage, the wind element to increase the damage I can create with the fire element, and the space element will allow me to be very maneuverable in combat; not to mention this is just the shallow information I have about each element's capabilities." Stated Alexander with excitement that washed away any fear and nervousness he had previously felt.

While I was in my own happy little world, imagining myself controlling my four elements, I suddenly heard a cracking noise, which managed to snap me out of my thoughts as I searched for where the noise originated from, only to see that the mana crystal in my hand had a large crack on its surface.

"Umm, Master, I think I broke the mana crystal?" Said Alexander somewhat timidly as he dropped the mana crystal out of reflex, causing the mana in the crystal to escape through the crack and vanish.

"Don't worry; the mana crystal didn't completely break; I can fix it, though if you continued to hold it, you would've certainly broken it. Speaking of that, this brings us to something you said earlier, and yes, the size of the mana does indeed matter, as the bigger your clump of mana is, the greater of an affinity you have toward that specific element." Declared Lavender softly as she grabbed the mana crystal from the ground and stored it in the old pouch she had previously picked up.

"Well, considering how the fire and space elements were bigger than your two elements, while the wind and neutral elements were roughly the same size, I must be incredibly talented, no?" Said Alexander with a slight smirk while indirectly complimenting Lavender, which she noticed but merely smiled.

"You're not wrong; I already have a pretty strong connection toward the water and earth element, not to mention it has been bolstered because I'm a Dryad." Said Lavender as she nodded her head in agreement.

"Hmm, so certain species have a deeper connection with certain elements? That's not too surprising, nor is it surprising that Dryads have a more natural affinity toward the water and earth elements. Do Humans have a natural affinity toward a specific element?" Stated Alexander with a pondering expression before glancing at Lavender.

"Yes; however, like Humans, not all species have a natural affinity toward an element. Although you're a High-Human, and I don't know much about them; however, by the information I have about High-Elves, you most likely don't have a natural affinity." Declared Lavender with a thoughtful expression while rubbing her chin.

"Haa, that's lame; humans are always at the bottom of the totem pole." Muttered Alexander under his breath, though Lavender easily heard him and merely chuckled at his antics.

"Hehe, stop being sour, Alexander; while it's true having a natural affinity toward a certain element is nice, it's not like it comes without its drawbacks. As I'm a Dryad, I have a natural affinity toward the water and earth elements, yet that also means it's harder for a Dryad to have an affinity toward any other element, not to mention it makes it several times harder for a Dryad to learn any other element, as you don't actually need an affinity toward an element to use that specific element, it just helps immensely." Explained Lavender with a slight smirk while looking at Alexander.

"Well, I suppose it's not that bad when you put it like that, though I've only seen you use the water and earth elements. Can you use any other elements, Master?" Said Alexander with a sheepish expression as he rubbed the back of his head.

"Yes, I can use every major element, and other than the life element, which I'm quite proficient in, I don't have much mastery in the other elements; not only was it challenging and time-consuming to learn them, I never really had a strong desire to master them. So, I can help you while you're in the beginning and intermediate stages of mana; however, once you start to learn the more advanced applications of mana, I won't be able to provide much help, if any at all, considering we don't have matching affinities. Then again, you won't need to worry about that; you'll be well into your twenties before you even start approaching the advanced stages of mana." Stated Lavender as she showed Alexander her usage of every single major element.

"So, now that all of that is out of the way and we've determined what your mana affinities are, let me teach you a few exercises that, while difficult and painful, will greatly increase your control over mana." Added Lavender with a slightly evil smirk, one that caused Alexander to shiver in fright.

"Umm, I appreciate the thought, Master; however, I-I've already created-" Said Alexander nervously as he stood up while slowly backing away, though Lavender wasn't having any of that.

"Fufu, don't worry, Alexander; this is the same training my teacher forced upon me, and when I was a child, I promised myself that If I ever have a disciple in the future, I'll have them go through the same hell I experienced." Remarked Lavender with a smile as she dragged the struggling Alexander into the forest.

"Nooo! I want to live!" Exclaimed Alexander as he and Lavender disappeared into the forest, never to be seen again, well at least until it was time for lunch.

___

Created a discord server, so if anyone wishes to join, also it works this time; I've reset it, https://discord.gg/eX83nz2q

___

___

Elven Legacy (Chapter 142: Shelia, Echo, and Goliath's Time to Shine!) || Hero of Harmony (Chapter 21: Level-up!) || One Piece: Chaos Kong (Chapter 31: Competitors) at [patreon.com/Ozonelayer691]