05. THE NEW WORLD (2)

The new world was filled with many things that, his former world couldn't dream of having. For example; the fact that there were individuals, who possessed godlike powers or the system that was still a mystery, and most especially monsters!

"Oh...you mean magical beasts," Gerald answered.

"hmm....hmm," he replied.

"Magical beasts are animals that have been integrated with Mana, and evolve with it," he explained.

"So you mean there are normal animals," Noah promptly asked.

"Albeit not many, there are.

Magical beasts are evolved animals, you will hardly find normal animals, since Mana is everywhere, and no organism wants to remain at the bottom of the food chain," he explained.

"Most magical beasts can control specific elements. We use the term 'Elemental Affinity', which makes them very dangerous. Although they are usually more powerful from tier 2 up," he continued.

Noah pondered about the words he heard, it was easy to understand. But he had a question.

"Can humans control elements too?." he asked.

"Yes, we can," Gerald answered, seemingly getting used to the fact that Noah was asking questions that he considered common knowledge.

"Like me, I have an affinity for fire, so I am called a fire mage," Gerald explained.

The more Noah heard, the more this world sounded like a fantasy novel.

"So humans can control elements," Noah muttered. "How do I check which element I have an affinity for." Noah continued.

"You can take a test in the town. All towns have an elemental affinity test guild, and it's for free." Gerald replied.

"Why is it for free, shouldn't stuff like that be worth money?" Noah asked his expression that of surprise.

"It is for free because not many can afford to pay for it, and the royal army is looking for recruits with good affinities. If no one takes them, how will they know?" Gerald explained, with a light shrug.

Noah was sincerely happy that he could take a test, and for free at that, as currently, he didn't have any money.

"Is it possible, for humans to have an affinity for more than one element?" Noah asked.

"Oh yes, it is, though extremely rare. People can have an affinity for multiple elements, the rarer the elements the more powerful it is." Gerald answered.

"Can you tell me the rare and common elements," Noah immediately asked.

"I knew you would be asked that," Gerald said with a light fascinated smile.

"The primary elements, which are water, fire, earth, and air. Are the most common, since they are everywhere. While an element like 'metal, is rare, but not that rare. Then we have elements like ice, lightning, light, and darkness, which are extremely rare to find, and if someone is found to have an affinity for them, they can immediately get accepted into one of the three great guilds of their choice, or even into the royal army for proper training," Gerald explained.

"Great guilds?" Noah asked.

"Yes, the great guilds. They are the most powerful guilds in our big nation because they have many powerful experts," Gerald explained.

"Dayum," Noah explained. he kept learning more interesting things by the minute. 'Powerful experts,' he said inwardly.

"Exactly what is the power system, and how do people get more powerful," Noah asked.

He wasn't sure how people got stronger, since it seemed that unlike him they didn't have the mysterious system that let him advance through levels and get stronger fast.

"Young man; slow down. I know you want to know more, but at least let the ones I have told you sink in." Gerald advised.

Unknown to Gerald, Noah's mind was way faster than normal.

He could think over ten different thoughts in mere seconds due to his slow-motion skill that seemed to affect his mind too.

"Ah I'm sorry," Noah said. "I'm just excited to know more. Please forgive me. If I was rude or pushy," Noah apologized.

"Don't worry young man, I understand. Although I am not sure why you don't know all this. Honestly, I find it weird, but don't worry," Gerald replied.

Noah was starting to like this man more and more. Firstly he brought him into their camp, and now, though for a price, he was answering all of Noah's questions, he seemed a good man.

"There are six tiers of power currently known to man, and all living beings have to go through them. Tier 1 to Tier 6."

"You may be wondering, how do we know when a person advances or is in a higher tier. Well, that is easy. First of all the Mana flow, we feel from the said individual or magical beast.

When a person is in a higher tier the Mana flow coming from them would be enormous, that it becomes an aura, especially if you are weaker than the said person, or beast."

"You may also be wondering how do we feel the Mana flow?, well that is as easy as breathing.

Think of Mana flow like the aroma of a meal. The higher the tier, the stronger the intensity of the aroma," Gerald explained.

He also paused to check if the person he was talking to, was following him. Seeing Noah's eyes shine with understanding, he nodded his head and continued.

"That is why a tier 1 can never defeat a tier 2, the gap between tiers is like the sky and the ground,"

"Second, and lastly. There are things we call magic circles, the higher the tier the bigger the magic circle is. We don't know where magic circles come from, but they appear when one casts a spell after it is learned," he said with a small frown.

"Now. On how people advance through tiers. Firstly you have to understand what advancing through tiers means. When one advances through tiers, they are not only having more Mana, their body also gets stronger, and they have powerful minds, capable of inspecting their environment even without looking, though that starts from tier 3 according to records."

"To advance through tiers, you have to draw the Mana from the environment, and let it circulate through your whole body. You will feel the Mana when it's moving inside your body," Gerald explained.

A wave of a surprise hit Noah. He expected Gerald to say something like, you will have to kill a magical beast to advance, but surprisingly, there was a different method to advance.

"Though it is a slow process, it took me ten years, to go from tier 1 to tier 2, and I started when I was twenty years old, but the effort is worth it. According to records, and witnesses. When a living being advances, their life span also increases, and they age slower. A tier 2 can live for around one hundred and fifty years, while a tier 3 can live for a few centuries, a tier four, and upwards live even longer, maybe up to a thousand years, or more," Gerald explained.

Noah was even more astonished by what he had just learned, he was shocked at how long it took Gerald to advance, and even more surprised about the fact that the higher the tier the longer the lifespan of the person.

"What tier are you currently?" Noah asked. Even if he knew the answer.

"Tier 2," Gerald said. "I reckon that in a few years I would advance to tier 3" Gerald explained.

"Can you teach me how to circulate Mana," Noah asked

"hmm..hmm", Gerald replied.

"It might take a while. learning to circulate mana isn't that easy for a starter. Though it isn't part of our agreement I will teach you," Gerald said. Although inwardly, he wondered how Noah was strong, to begin with, he didn't say anything.

Then he sat, in what earth called the lotus position. Noah immediately imitated him sitting in the lotus position.

Then Gerald opened his mouth to talk, "To circulate mana through your body, you have to first learn how to feel it. Seeing that you are not finding it hard to breathe, even though you are in a lower tier than me, confirms that you can't feel mana".

Noah nodded. Gerald was right he couldn't feel an ounce of Mana.

Seeing that Noah nodded Gerald continued. "To feel Mana an exercise has been made. Close your eyes and breathe in. Try to focus on your environment. Mana is like the wind, you will feel it wash over you, and when you do, that would be the first step."

Noah did as he was told. He closed his eyes and tried his best to focus on his surrounding, trying to feel the breeze that was Mana.

For a few minutes, nothing happened, but he continued to breathe in and out, and before he knew it a panel popped up, he opened his eyes to check it

[New Skill: Mana perception [Passive]: gained]

With that, Noah immediately began to feel it, at first it was just a whiff, but then it began to blow like the wind, then it's intensity increased, after a while, breathing felt hard, like he was suffocating, he stopped the practice but he could still feel it.

This wasn't Mana from the air it was coming from somewhere, then he looked, and saw the only person with him.

He hadn't noticed before, since he couldn't perceive Mana, but now that he could. He could feel that Gerald's power was currently much higher than his!!