Fundamental Differences

3rd POV (A/N - 1st POV gave me headache)

Witnessing a baby crawl for the first time and experiencing the sensation of crawling oneself are two entirely different feelings. The sense of awe and accomplishment Licht felt when he received his four-leaf grimoire in his past life paled in comparison to the triumph he experienced upon first crawling after his reincarnation as the child of Alduin and Merial, the king and queen of the royal elven kingdom of Elenoir. To Licht, his parents' and grandfather's cheers seemed even louder than the accolades he had received upon acquiring his grimoire.

Licht was relieved after having learned how to crawl. Having some degree of control over his own infant limbs gave him a sense of victory. After all, no one is fond of being deprived of performing basic hand gestures and movements. He was no longer dependent on his mother or the maids assigned to him for tending to his every need, from moving around from one place to another to cleaning and replacing his soiled diapers. 

Having attained mastery at crawling, Licht would use his free hours to crawl into the royal library to immerse himself in the books and gain knowledge about the world he was born into. Within a few months of his reincarnation, he had figured out that this world was completely different from his previous one. Luck was also on his side when he discovered that he could understand the language of this world fairly well and had no trouble in reading the books present in the library. 

Though he couldn't stay awake for long hours because his body was still that of an infant and required the much-needed rest and care, Licht ensured not to stress out his body too much. 

The kingdom of Elenoir is one of the kingdoms in the continent of Dicathen and is inhabited by the elves. There also existed two other races, namely humans and dwarves on the same continent. The prince couldn't help but muse at the certain similarities shared between his old world and this new one. All three kingdoms were separated from one another by their respective borders and none of them were on the most friendly terms with one another.

The continent of Dicathen was once majorly inhabited by the magical beasts and the people of the three races lived in fear of them. But after learning how to utilize the mana present in their surroundings, the residents of Dicathen, consisting of humans, elves, and dwarves were able to drive away the beasts into the large territory of Beast Glades. The beast glades is a separate territory from the three kingdoms which were established after driving away the magic beasts and now serves as an abode to the magical beasts. The mana beasts took shelter under the surface, in the dungeons. 

Mana.

The weapon that helped the citizens of Dicathen claim victory against the magic beasts. 

This was another subject which piqued the young prince's interest. A power he once wielded to its fullest potential and a power he can still sense around himself. Despite his reincarnation, his senses as a mage hadn't dulled at all. Even in his infant body, he could perceive it, the mana present in the atmosphere. 

'I still cannot harness it.' Licht held out his hand as if to grab something in the air. He stared blankly at the well-decorated ceiling of his room, seemingly lost in thought. 'I can sense them but I cannot use them.'

Licht closed his eyes, concentrating on his surroundings. He could note very small, for a better term microscopic particles floating all around him. Emptying his mind from all sorts of thoughts he tried to focus more on the microscopic particles floating around him. These were the mana particles, representing the ever-present mana in the atmosphere. 

The more he delved into his meditation, the more he could notice the distinctiveness of each of the particles. There were the red-colored ones which gave a hot sensation, blue ones gave a cool and calm feeling, green ones were fast and the yellowish ones seemed steady. These colors probably represented the elements. Among these colored ones, there were also faint white ones which seemed different from the other mana particles around it. They were few in number, yet he could feel that the white ones floated much closer to him compared to the colored ones. 

This experience differed from what he had previously known. In his former world, a mage, whether elf or human, could only sense the mana of their innate element or attribute. Simply put, mages were born with their element, inherited from their parents or, in some cases, a blend of both parents' elements, resulting in a new variant. A mage's element was determined as soon as they began practicing magic.

After turning fifteen, the mages would receive their respective grimoires from the grimoire tower. The grimoire's color defined the elemental affinity of the mage and the spells stored inside the grimoire were the spells of that very element. Initially, a mage would receive their grimoire with basic spells known to them. More spells would automatically get inscribed in the grimoire correlated with the mage's growth and progression.

'I need to know more.' He opened his eyes, grinning with excitement and desire to gain more knowledge and insight on the subject of mana. The differences in the fundamental principles of mana manipulation between the two worlds intrigued him even more. 

Licht sat up on his bed before crawling towards the edge. He then used all the strength his infant body could muster to push the blanket down on the floor, while also keeping a portion of the blanket on the bed. He then climbed down from the bed, using the self-improvised blanket slide. The height difference between the bed and the floor was too much for the baby Licht to conquer unaided. So he had to devise other methods to climb up and down from the bed. 

After a successful descent, Licht made his way towards the library, crawling through the expansive hallways. The maids, servants, and palace guards would take note of the prince crawling through the hallways and respectfully made way for him. They had all grown accustomed to the prince's habits of frequenting the library to read books. Though they had doubts about whether an infant could even understand what was written in those books, none of them voiced their doubts and let the prince be. Even his parents and grandfather did not question his activities at all. 

On occasion, the maids would attempt to carry the prince to the library, but he would flail his tiny hands and cry, throwing a tantrum. He preferred to crawl to his destination until he could walk on his own two feet.

Reaching the library, Licht began his search on the lower shelves for any books on mana manipulation or books on subjects related to it. His search was limited to the lower shelves only, much thanks to his height. He wished he could use magic to pull the books down towards him from the upper shelves.

Manipulating mana, something that used to be like a second nature to him, he now has to learn all about it from ground zero. Putting effort and hard work into learning something has its own joys and the experience gained along the way is always fruitful. Knowledge is power and there is no harm in getting to know more on a subject they are already well-versed in. One may find out something new amidst the process of learning. 

'Found it!' Licht stopped in front of a shelf before sitting and pulling out a book titled "Mages and Mana Manipulation" with his hands. He fell on his back after pulling the book out from the shelf. 

Rolling back into his crawling position, Licht held the book in between his lips before resuming his crawl back to his room. Rather than reading in the library where anyone can visit anytime, he preferred reading in his room where he has fewer visitors, mostly his parents, grandfather, and other relatives. The maids and servants only enter when they are needed and Licht usually summons them by crying out loudly. 

He was a child, after all, and had every right to behave as one.

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"While the power to control mana is largely genetic, there are many cases where the children of magi are unable to sense the mana around them. A recent census showed that roughly 1 out of 100 children are able to sense mana, but the extent of which could only be tested when their mana core is first completely developed---anywhere from the early adolescence to late teenage years. It will be apparent when a mage first awakens by the initial repellence of the surrounding mana when the mana core manifests. This results in a translucent barrier forming around the awakened that lasts a couple of minutes."

The return trip from the library proved to be more arduous than the initial trip, mostly because of the book he was carrying in between his lips. His jaw strength was limited after all and he couldn't hold the book in for long and took occasional breaks along the way to catch his breath. Still, he was able to make his way back into his room without anyone's help.

Licht considers that an achievement in itself. 

'There are high chances of me awakening as a mage too, given that both father and mother and even grandfather are mages.' Not bothering to climb up on the bed, Licht lay down on the floor and started reading the book he had brought from the library. 'After all, I can already sense the mana around me.'

"Mana can be used in a couple of ways. The two most common methods of utilizing mana are enhancement of the body with mana (Augmenter) and emission of mana to the outside world (Conjurer)."

"Augmenters are most commonly seen amongst warriors who utilize mana, channeling it through their body to strengthen themselves and their attacks."

"The practice of conjuring is seen in mages, who after utilizing their mana can cast spells to give off a certain effect to the surrounding area or directly at a target."

Licht frowned at this information. In his previous world, a mage could utilize both these methods simultaneously without much effort, even before receiving their grimoire. The mana manipulation principles and their usage seemed rather backward compared to his past experiences. 

Weaknesses and Limitations

"While augmenters can possess incredible strength, defense, and agility, their weakness lies in their limited range."

"Conjurers possess unfathomable powers, being able to bend their surroundings to their will. However such powers come with limits. Unlike augmenters who utilize most of the mana from their own mana cores, conjurers need to borrow mana from the outside world in addition to their own mana core, to exert mana into their surroundings in the form of a spell."

"While both types of mages or mana manipulators for more specifically accurate terms, depend or are categorized by their mana core, augmenters and conjurers also have different ways of measuring their aptitude."

"An augmenter's prowess or talent is measured by the strength of their mana channels in their body, which measures the speed and efficiency in relocating their mana from the mana core to various parts of their bodies...."

"A conjurer's power and talent, comparatively, is measured by the power of their mana veins which indicates the speed and effectiveness of absorbing mana from the outside world to cast a spell."

"Mages (Mana Manipulators) are typically categorized into one of these two divisions since attempting to be proficient in both from an early stage is incredibly time-consuming and insufficient. Most are born with a skewed difference in their mana channels and mana veins."

"Augmenters do not need very strong mana veins because they mostly utilize mana from their cores while conjurers do not need very powerful mana channels because they do not release their mana into their own bodies."

Licht closed the book, having grasped the fundamental principalities and the basic distinctions between the types of mage classes that are prominent here. From his understanding, he could infer that once he awakens, he might be able to utilize mana in both the manners of a conjurer and an augmenter, all because of his own understanding of mana. It might feel like a cheat but the distinctions between the two types can be easily bridged with appropriate knowledge and insight on how to handle the mana, both internally and externally. 

In order to awaken, he had to form a mana core. If left be, the mana particles would gradually gather in the solar plexus in due time, forming a mana core later down the line. But the process of letting a mana core form by itself is tedious and usually won't be formed unless he is at least eight and above. Even among elves, the earliest recorded awakening was at eight years old.

'If I speed things up, how long will it take me to form a mana core?' He himself was unsure of whether he would be able to do it or not without having any side effects on his body by initiating a process that usually takes place naturally. 

There was only one way to find out. Trial and error run.

Licht theorized that in order to form the mana core, he would need to absorb the surrounding mana particles which he was able to perceive when meditating and guide them towards his solar plexus where the particles would gather together to form the mana core. He knew how to absorb mana from the atmosphere from his previous experiences and in order to hold them in, he would be required to apply the concept of Mana Skin, a way of reinforcing one's body with mana. With mana skin, he would be able to hold the mana particles inside his body and prevent them from dissipating. Continuously absorbing the mana particles and keeping them within his body using mana skin would eventually make the particles gather to form a mana core. 

The only drawback he would face would be his infant body. Knowing that he can't handle too much strain in this immature body, he would have to perform this process, one step at a time, and that too in a limit. It would still take him days, months, or even some years to form a proper mana core. 

'I just might be able to pull this off!' With that thought in mind, he began his preparations for forming his own mana core.