Revelations and Affinities

[Logging in]

[Welcome back Damien]

Damien opened his eyes to an unfamiliar ceiling and old man Troy scanning him slowly. 

A relieved sigh as Troy saw Damien eyes open, "I am happy to see you wake up with any complications. Although I am a little surprise to see you are an outlander although that explains why a weak kid like you with skills can reach here."

"You know what I am?" Damien asked surprise.

"Yes of course, although it is a classified information, I happened to have stumbled across it in some ancient script while trying to find a solution for this land."

"I see." Damien said but was cut off by Troy.

"You are the new subject whose world is about to be absorbed by Origin and you are currently in the Accustomisation stage, although I am not sure about the other stages I know that there are three stages."

"That is a little overwhelming." Damien said as the last doubt that he had about this world was wiped clean. 

His eyes moved to Troy and for the first time since meeting him, Damien scanned the old man.

[Name: Troy ???]

[Race: Human]

[State: ???]

[Rank: ???]

[Level: ???]

[Title: ???] 

[Health: ???] 

[Mana: ???]

While he was scanning and reading his info, most of what he could see were question marks like he couldn't even see his name.

"Don't waste your time, lad. You are years too early to scan my info out of me. And don't do that to just anybody." Troy huffed.

"Stronger people will feel it when you probe into their business. So, I recommend you don't do it to people who look stronger than you." The old man said, a look of disapproval on his face.

"Ahh. I'm sorry, Master Troy. Far from me the intention to be rude." Damien quickly apologized as he sat up bowing repeatedly.

'Thankfully I didn't try this on The old lady or Edward, or it could have turned bad for me especially with Edward.' 

"Bah. Water under the bridge. Just don't make a habit of doing it." Troy said, waving his hand.

"First we will test your affinity before I teach you basic magic." Troy said as he placed a smooth round crystal ball in front of Damien.

Damian placed his hand on the smooth round crystal ball which similar to the one used by charlatans for fortune-telling.

They both waited in silence for the results of the affinity test when suddenly the crystal started glowing and a bright orange almost red colour appeared.

The crystal stayed like that for several seconds before it finally returned back to its blank white translucent resting state.

The both of them didn't have to wait for too long, as a white screen immediately flashed in front of them displaying the test results.

[Ding: SSS grade Fire affinity]

Damien's opened in surprise as he looked at his affinity.

"I see, you are really talented in the fire department, and I have just the perfect first skill for you."

Troy waved his hands and the ring on his finger flashed and two longswords appeared as the crystal vanished.

He placed the swords aside as he said, "But before that you have to make a fire ball for me."

He then tried out his new spell, starting with a fire ball. He tried and tried to create a fire ball to no avail.

Much to his dismay, he didn't even manage a single spark. The system was not even giving him tips or anything. After a while, the mage finally intervened.

"Think, young one. What do you want to do?" He asked.

"I want to create a fire ball. But I can't do it." Damien answered.

"No but, young man. Visualize it in your head. Visualize the fire ball appearing in your hands." He said, pointing his head.

Damien went back to trying. This time, he closed his eyes and imagined the fire ball in his head.

After a few seconds of willing this vision to be true, he felt a something moving from his mana core, going outwards. He opened his eyes and saw that his mana had drained a little and a very small ball of flame forming on his hands.

He restarted the process, but this time, he kept his eyes open. It took him a little longer, but he repeated the process. The fire was now big enough to be called an actual fire ball.

"Finally! You did the first step. Now launch it at me!" The mage said.

"Yes, sir!" Damien answered, happy about his progress as he willed the fire ball to move towards Troy with a fast speed. The fire ball shot towards the old mage and hit his body without any damage.

"Try again."

He repeated the progress but before he could launch it Troy voice sounded.

"That's not hot enough. Get that flame hotter!" The mage hollered.

Damien thought for a few seconds before deciding to slowly increase the mana input into the fireball.

Thankfully just as he hoped the heat of the flame increased.

*Clap Clap Clap*

The mage started clapping his hands to the side. He was smiling widely.

"Congratulations! You have become a fledgling mage." The old mage said.

[Ding: You have unlocked the passive skill 'Magic Control']

[Ding: Your control over the mana around you and in your body has refined after much practice.]

"Since you have gotten that skill and can now control mana, we can move on to the next thing I want to teach you." Troy said.

"What am I going to learn, sir?" Damien asked.

"Mana sensing and gathering. Two concepts that push magic to a higher level. But they are also putting you at risk if not under strict control. In the next few minutes, if I feel you losing control even once, I will knock you out," Troy said, his eyes steely.

"Is it that risky?" Damien asked, doubting.

"It's insanely risky for new learners but the more you use it the easier it gets. You might die if I don't intervene fast enough." Troy said sternly.

"Now, close your eyes and focus," Troy said.

"I want you to focus on your mana core. Once you can sense it, I want you to sense the mana swirling in it. Get used to that feeling. Get used to that energy coursing through you," Troy added.

"Yes, sir!" Damien simply said, closing his eyes.

It took him some time to calm down before he could even sense his mana core.

After a while, he started feeling a slight pulse coming from his mana core. He immediately focused on that feeling and grasped it.

Troy, noticing his focus increasing, knew he had reached the first part.

"Good, now that you have reached your mana core, focus on it. Feel the energy pulsating from it. Try to breathe with the same rhythm. Feel the mana inside you and rotate it slowly in your whole body to get used to the feeling of it. Only a little at a time," Troy said, watching over Damien like an eagle eyeing its prey.

"Yes, sir," Damien simply answered.

He focused on the slow pulse, trying to match his breathing speed to it. After a few minutes, he finally synchronized his breath to the pulse.

More time passed as he tried to stay in this rhythm. Once he was confident in keeping this pace of breathing, he felt the energy.

To his surprise, it felt cool to his senses. Like fresh water on a hot summer day. He circulated it a bit within his mana core before trying to move it through the rest of his body.

He messed up the first few tries and felt the mana slip away from him. He needed to be careful or there was a high chance of dying and he didn't want that.

He tried a few more times and got it to a full circle in his body after four times. He circled it again a few more times, for practice, and then he called out to Troy.

"What now?" he asked.

"Now we expand our scope," he answered.

Damien could feel the concentration in his voice. Even without looking at him, he knew Troy was fully focused on him as well.

"You keep moving your mana inside yourself. As you do it, I want you to expand your senses outside your body," Troy explained.

"Do NOT, and I repeat, do NOT under ANY circumstance, stop rotating the mana. If you do that as you expand your senses, you might experience backlash. If you feel your concentration slip, pull back your senses. Don't let go of the channelling. Do you understand me?" Troy said, stressing every word.

"Yes, sir!" Damien responded, gulping and focusing to the max.

It took less than an hour before Damien got a hang of it and slowly but surely, he expanded further out. After another half hour of doing this tiring exercise, he had finally reached the room walls with his senses.

His eyes were closed, and yet, he could see everything in the cave in a kaleidoscope of colours. Every particle of dust.

All of it contained traces of mana. From that point of view, Troy was like a blazing sun in the middle of the room.

He could see all the mana contained within him, clear as day. It mildly terrified him, so he looked at himself. He could see the mana floating around him. He could see the mana inside him, circulating in and out of his mana core. As his senses became accustomed to this, he heard a notification.

[Ding: You have developed 'Perfect Mana Sense']

"Master! I think I got the technique. What should I do next?" Damien asked excitedly.

"Now you siphon the mana around. Slowly pull it in. Not directly to your mana core. Circulate it through your body once before sending it there. It'll make it more compatible. And don't rush it. Just a little at a time!" Troy instructed.

Damien did as he was told. He sucked in a bit, let it rotate twice to be sure, then sent it to his mana core. He repeated that action many times until he felt like he was saturated. Another notifications rang.

[Ding: You have learned passive 'Mana Regeneration']