A Dangerous Art: The Cleansing Ritual.

Mammon's eyes were closed, and yet, he could see everything in the cave in a swirling spectrum of colors. Every particle, every piece of loose rock, everything contained traces of mana.

From that point of view, Astranor appeared like a blazing sun in the middle of the cave. Mammon could see all the mana contained within him, clearly. It briefly terrified him, but he shrugged it off.

Then 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 heart. As his senses became accustomed to this, he heard a notification.

*Ding!*

*You have mastered 'Absolute Mana Sense'*

"Master! I think I got it. What next?" Mammon asked excitedly.

"Now, you draw the mana around you. Slowly pull it in. Not directly to your mana heart, spread it through your body first, then send it there. It'll make it more in sync. And don't rush it in. Do it slowly!" Astranor instructed.

Mammon did as told. He sucked in a bit of mana, let it rotate twice to be careful, before sending it to his mana heart. He repeated the action many times until he felt saturated.

Two other notifications rang simultaneously.

*Ding!*

*You have learned 'Mana Breathing'*

*Ding!*

*You have learned 'Mana Siphoning'*

"I think my mana heart is full, Astranor," Mammon declared.

"Do not stop! Continue taking it in."

"Why? The heart is full enough," Mammon replied.

"I know, but it's for your own benefit," Astranor said.

Mammon followed his command and continued drawing mana from the environment into his mana heart.

"Wrong! Send the mana to your body instead, to every muscle fiber and every cell. Don't rush it. Do it slowly," Astranor said.

Mammon did as instructed, filling every part of his body with mana. After a while, it started feeling cool, like he was in a stream, until a searing pain kicked in.

"ARRGH! What's happening!" he yelled in pain.

He felt as if all his body was on fire from within, the temperature steadily increasing.

"Yes. Continue. Don't stop," Astranor urged.

Mammon could barely hear him as the pain he was feeling was unimaginable.

*Blergh*

Thick black liquid started pouring from his mouth and nose at the same time.

This went on for a while before it stopped as Mammon passed out from the pain.

'At least he managed to pull that off,' Astranor thought, smiling.

Mammon woke up a few minutes later, looking at Astranor with a death glare.

*Ding!*

*You have successfully cleansed your body*

"God, that hurt like hell."

"Sorry, I was so immersed in you accomplishing it that I forgot to tell you," Astranor said, chuckling.

"Not funny, old man. This is the second time something like this has happened," Mammon said, fuming.

"At least it was for your benefit."

"Also, what is that stench?" Mammon asked, closing his nose.

"That is the residual smell from the thick liquid that poured out of your body, which was burned not long ago."

"Yeah, I remember vomiting out a thick black liquid. What was that?" Mammon asked.

"That was body cleansing. It is the process of purifying the body through mana purging. As your body takes in mana, it also gathers impurities. It eventually reduces mana affinity and control, leading to smaller mana capacity and weaker magic," Astranor explained.

"That is why you must purge it every time you upgrade your mana heart. Every time you cleanse your body, the mana you accumulate becomes purer, resulting in stronger spells and less wasted mana. Do it every time you upgrade your mana heart," he added.

"Now, if you don't mind, let's get you out of here and cleaned. You reek, and you need to sleep too. It's already late," he added, turning around and walking up the stairs.

Mammon just followed. Now, he felt very tired and just wanted to sleep. He left the library and walked to the stream for a good bath.

When he was finished, he proceeded to his residence and collapsed on the bed, logging out immediately.

Miles ate, took a shower just to stay clean, and rested for a few hours before logging back in. He went back to the library to see what Astranor had for him.

"Now that you've gained mana and everything, I think this is the best time to know which element you will resonate with most."

"What are you talking about?"

"There are items, or let me say orbs that are used to determine which kind of element or energy a person is attuned to."

"So if I'm right, you're saying these orbs will make me know which element or energy I'm attuned to?"

"Exactly. Follow me," Astranor said.

He approached a bookshelf and felt the books before pulling one out. The other books shifted to the side, revealing a hidden compartment filled with different orbs.

"How?" That was all Mammon could say.

"That is a higher level of magic that you cannot understand," Astranor replied.

"As I was saying, how many elements do we have?"

"Let me see… the basic ones: fire, water, wind, and earth. Then others like lightning, lava, metal,and mist," Mammon answered, counting on his fingers.

"Close, but we have more than that. We also have Ice Magic, Nature Magic Shadow magic, Time magic, Psychic magic, Light magic, and Dark magic, which leaves us with the energies," Astranor said, looking at Mammon.

"Yes, I got that. Continue."

"I know, but energies are much more powerful and also dangerous. Anyway, we have Spiritual energy, Necrotic energy, Astral energy, Life energy and lastly… Demonic energy," Astranor said, emphasizing 'demonic energy.'

"Crazy. So how am I going to know which one I'm attuned to?" Mammon asked.

"As you can see, there are Twenty orbs. Place your hand over them. The one that draws in sharply to your hand and fuses with your hand is the one you are most attuned to," Astranor said, sitting down on a nearby chair.

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Merry Christmas to you all.