Chapter 97 First Stage [ 2 ]

-Gloriana Mengral's point of view.

Abilities and mana that are unique.

Among them is the strongest affinity, of course, the affinity that mages in the current era know as the most powerful.

This is the "Time" affinity, however, Gloriana thought so too.

But it is not really the strongest affinity of all the unique affinities.

The affinity of Light and Darkness are, in fact, the true strongest.

A power that can reach great heights, up to being considered "gods".

But, of course, in the present age no one knows these affinities.

The affinity of light was lost in the war with the gods, and the affinity of darkness, only the direct descendant of Encrid could have the affinity of darkness.

So how does Gloriana have the Light affinity if she is not a descendant of a light mage?

The answer is simple.

"Light affinity needs no descendant."

It's more like something innate, a power that chooses its new owner, it's like a dog choosing its new owner.

This applies with the Light affinity; it cannot be obtained or inherited, the same affinity chooses you and you don't choose it or obtain it.

"So, the Light affinity chose me as its new owner."

"Exactly, the affinity of light is not inherited and cannot be obtained by some means or sacrifice."

"Rather, an affinity with its own rules by choosing its correct owner."

That means the affinity of light chooses you whether you are the good guy or the bad guy, kind of like choosing the hero and the villain in a story.

Gloriana looked at the white sphere floating in the palm of her hand.

She kept her fine eyes on the spinning sphere floating in her hand, however, at the moment it only has that form.

She had only just manifested it and did not yet have an ability related to light; however, that would soon change. Eliza, seeing that Gloriana managed to manifest the light itself, her next step is to teach the skills.

Of course, the skills that for the time being Gloriana can use, she herself will have to create her own skills or inherit skills related to light magic.

However, she has no way to obtain skills or create one of her own; however, Eliza has some skills that she will teach her.

"Now you must learn the following skills, for the time being there will be two. After that, you will create your skills yourself."

"I understand."

At that point, Eliza proceeded to explain the following skills to Gloriana.

She, of course, kept her eyes open and listened intently to Eliza's explanations.

She knew that achieving to learn a skill might take her a long time; however, if she is talented in understanding the skills perfectly, then it will be easy to learn the skills that Eliza will teach her.

But, of course, she must pay full attention and analyze every single thing Eliza does.

"Let's begin."

***

-Scene change.

-Asher Frostblade's point of view.

Asher lost his vision.

All he could see was the mere darkness itself, he had come to that blank space and yet suddenly he lost his vision and everything became dark.

A very annoying darkness for him; he was used to it, but it was annoying to be in such a place.

Even though it felt pleasant and there was nothing to bother him, this was annoying.

Floating in the place wherever he was, it was just dark.

Was he lost within his consciousness?

However, that soon changed when he felt his body, it felt like he was lying somewhere, something like lying on the ground lying down.

However, something was different now; despite not feeling like he was floating somewhere, and now feeling like he was lying on the ground somewhere within his consciousness.

Other than that, his mana.... It was as if he was suddenly much stronger, stronger than normal and in clearer control of it.

However, it was still looking dark.

Who knows why, but that didn't take that long when he opened his eyes and found himself looking up at the stars and a dark sky.

Lying on what appeared to be an earthen floor, however, upon looking, it wasn't that; he was actually floating in a dark space.

So why was he giving the sensation of lying on solid ground?

"What the hell is going on, where am I?"

However, none of that would be answered.

Asher then tried to understand his situation.

First was that he felt a ground on his back and, to check if there was some invisible ground or something, he tried to stand up.

Tap, tap.

It made an echo that echoed all over the place, but he was surprised to see that he was standing on something hard and yet, when he saw the ground, he was simply looking at stars; it was like the night sky above him.

But Asher left that behind and tried to see or know where this space of his consciousness was.

"How did I get here?"

"There doesn't seem to be anything."

Everything was just empty and void, yet then why did his mana feel stronger and more controllable?

Then Asher thought.

"This is... the world of consciousness."

It might actually be where his mana lives within him, the place where mana really is always all the time.

However, his question was answered when he felt a chill.

He looked around and it was then that mana soon appeared before him.

They were simple waves of mana, they ran around him as if they recognized their owner, but then the mana parted, took a distance and then, as if looking at Asher, the mana stood still.

"What's going on?"

Asher wondered.

Asher understood that this same mana was his, but it was acting as if it had a life of its own and a will of its own; it was really hard to understand his situation.

Tap.

Asher took a step.

Tap.

Then another.

He decided to tap his own mana and see if anything happened.

His heart pounded harder, it was like something he never felt, his whole body tensed.

However, he didn't stop and then, in an instant, he was in front of his mana, he stared at it and then he felt a look.

It came from the mana itself.

Then Asher spoke.

"Mmm, hello."

The mana then moved around him, it seemed to recognize its owner, however, again it stopped in front of him.

"Where am I?"

Nothing happened, however, the mana, as if it had eyes, stood still.

It gave the feeling that the mana had life and was looking at him with eyes. Asher did not understand this at all; however, he knew he was in the world of consciousness.

Exactly, the place he himself was thinking about before.

But he never believed it would be a real thing; however, he soon remembered why he had come to this place.

"You can take the form of a spear."

"..."

Nothing happened.

Then Asher held out his hand.

Crunch.

He felt it touch him, but his mana went through the mana.

"It's strange; however, I feel like I can touch it."

Then Asher thought of something, tried to think of a spear.

"If I think of a spear, maybe..."

Dull sound.

At that moment, the mana began to glow with a purple hue. It began to move uncontrollably, and suddenly the mana began to rush in Asher's direction.

He opened his eyes and looked at that instant when the mana suddenly began to enter his body. He didn't feel anything different; it was as if he was absorbing mana as he normally did.

However, he could tell that something changed, not his power, but his own mana felt different.

It was as if Asher had better control, as if it was the same mana in him; however, he didn't know how to explain it in simple words.

"What's wrong...?"

Suddenly, his vision dimmed and then everything went dark; again, the same thing happened as before.

However, this time Asher didn't think about it so much and concentrated more on understanding what was going on with his mana.

Why was it different this time?

From one moment to the next, it felt as if he could suddenly use his mana in a completely different way and with a better use; however, would such a change really affect anything?

Asher simply thought of a guess; however, it was hard to tell.

After that, everything was dark and he simply felt as if he was floating somewhere empty in the middle of a black space.

***

-Scene change.

-Encrid Frostblade's point of view.

Encrid didn't look away from Asher; he felt as if something was about to happen.

However, he didn't know exactly what was about to happen.

But he knew that something really impressive would happen in a few minutes; he felt it, after being inside Asher's head for over a year and understanding his thoughts.

Encrid felt that he could slowly even feel what Asher was feeling.

However, it was not an easy thing to understand.

Muffled sound.

At that instant, Encrid raised an eyebrow. Suddenly, Asher's mana was different; however, he knew what it was.

"This is... the first stage."

Exactly, just like the other affinities, the affinity of darkness also has three stages.

Encrid reached the second stage; however, it was unknown to him what the third stage was.

He only knew the third stage of all the other affinities except for the affinity of light and darkness. These two affinities still had a secret in their third stage.

An even greater power, an understanding above all in the mana of their own affinity.

The absolute control of the affinity.

What really was the third stage of the affinity of darkness?

The first stage was the mastery of darkness; the second stage was a mastery in all respects over the mana of darkness and a mana that could be said to be infinite.

However, this also depends on the mage who unlocks the stages.

Some who unlock the first stage have a different concept, just like in the second stage.

"So what stage will you have?"

Encrid wondered.

Asher's mana was different; he had never felt that the mana of darkness had this different feel to it. It was like darker, more dominant and stronger than before.

By the time Encrid reached the second stage, his power had exceeded the limits of all his power, becoming even stronger than the power of the seven gods.

So what different stage will Asher have?

"It's possible that the new dimensional rift will be resolved much faster."

Encrid thought about it and considered that Asher could do something he would never have expected.

His potential was decided; Asher was to be the one to close the dimensional rift.

However, he needed immense power; even Encrid, who had infinite mana and immense power in every aspect, was close to shaken when he closed the dimensional rift through which the seven gods came out.

It was really hard to close that rift.

Muffled sound.

Encrid saw that suddenly Asher's mana was controlled; that meant he was close to opening his eyes.

Although his mana became stronger, more aggressive and darker than before, it didn't actually increase his mana level; it just became stronger, as if it had received some enhancement.

At that moment, Asher opened his eyes, looked at his hands and quickly surveyed his surroundings.

"You're fine..."

Soon, however, Encrid was interrupted as Asher made his mana come out of his hands and accumulate into a sphere, giving the mana mass.

Again, Encrid looked at the sphere that was changing shape.

"I already told you that you can't shape mana..."

But that too was interrupted when the sphere spinning in Asher's hands stopped moving and, in an instant, began to act differently.

"Impossible."

It was then that Encrid's eyes widened.

It was simply impossible; even he couldn't give the mana mass, let alone give it a shape he wanted.

However, right before his eyes, the once spinning sphere was now in the shape of a spear.

It was not the creation skill; the creation skill only allows one to create weapons with mana using the skill's spell.

However, the spear changed again; it was now a sharp blade. Suddenly, it changed again and was now in the shape of a hand.

"So... Now you can shape mana without using creation skill spells?"

It was simply something that could not be believed so easily, but there was mana changing into different shapes and sizes, not just as weapons....