-Main Quest: [Reach the Age of 5. Reward: The [Wisp] Mana State.] Completed!
Reward: [Wisp] Mana State-
Donis had just received this notification in the middle of the night, waking him up. Immediately a searing pain shot through his veins.
'SYSTEM WHAT IS HAPPENING,' screamed Donis.
-The [User]s Body is Undergoing Changes to the Mana Pathways. This Will Subside Momentarily-
Before Donis could even fully comprehend the message, the pain dissipated. His eyes no longer blurring from the pain, he could see a new world before him. A world full of flowing mana, a gentle aura emanating from within. He looked around the room he was in. His sister Priscilla was also emitting a similar glow, but hers was tinted white while his gold. He had awakened his first steps towards magic!
-[Main Quest]: Reach the [Breath] Mana State. Reward: [200SP + 1,000 EXP]
[Side-Quest]: Use Mana for the first time. Reward: ? -
As excitement built, Donis quickly went into the [System Shop]. 'System, show me magic skills I can buy with my [Wisp] Mana State!' A small list of skills popped up. Donis's excitement only took a small hit, as the list of only six abilities came into view.
[Mana Breathing] – [40SP]
[Innate Elemental Knowledge] - [120SP]
[Mana Charging] - [40SP]
[Innate Void Knowledge] – [190SP]
[Basic Mana Control] – [50SP]
[Innate Etheric Knowledge] - [200SP]
[Mana Breathing 1/40]: Imbues the casters breath with mana, allowing for more precise control from within and outside the body.
[Innate Elemental Knowledge]: Gives the [User] basic knowledge on all aspects of elemental magic.
[Mana Charging 1/500]: The caster can charge up mana in their system, storing it away for later use.
[Innate Void Knowledge]: Gives the [User] basic knowledge on all aspects of void magic.
[Basic Mana Control 1/100]: The caster gains a basic control of the mana surrounding them and within them.
[Innate Etheric Knowledge]: Gives the [User] basic knowledge on all aspects of ethereal magic.
Thinking to himself Donis realises that he'll probably need all of them anyway so the decision for which one to take won't matter too much. Though one thought did emerge. The [System] update was an entire [1,000SP] and all of the basic magic knowledge barely broke past six hundred.
'Maybe upgrading you will take some time.. System will it matter if I upgrade you later as opposed to now?'
-No, the [User] Can Upgrade the [System] Whenever it Suits. The Functionality Will Remain the Same.-
With that cleared up, Donis didn't have to worry too much about it for now. He'll cross the bridge when he'll need to. As of right now, be had to make some choices.
With [70SP] he wasn't able to get the Innate Void, Innate Etheric or the Innate Elemental Knowledge. They all seemed like the best choices so it sucked a bit, but he had to get over it.
Perusing all of the options the Basic Mana Control seemed like it made the most sense as he had no use for stored mana right now and he had no idea what mana breathing is really going to do for him right now. 'Maybe later it'll give me fire breath or something!'Donis wondered once again, losing himself in imaginary epics of stories not yet told.
After far too long of a pause, he finalized his choice and locked it in. His mind and his body enveloped in the similar but long not felt euphoric feeling. It's been nearly four years since he last felt it. He'd almost lost hope in progressing further into magic.
He'd hurt himself, voluntarily inhaled peoples coughs, and never stopped consciously breathing in the most precise manner. This was all in the efforts of possibly reaching a new upgrade path for any of his abilities he'd already purchased.
His work wasn't entirely in vain as his breath training had hit level five and gave him two options.
[Antioxidant Breathing] - Your breathing now has antioxidant properties, expelling poisons, gasses and harmful substances from within the body.
[Constitutional Breathing] - Your breathing greatly increases the vitality of the body, increasing the natural healing factor by 10 times.
He ended up taking [Antioxidant Breathing] as being basically immune to poison gases or even toxic fumes was too good to pass up in his mind. If he were to learn healing magic, the latter wasn't worth the upgrade.
His basic skills had obviously risen, but there was zero progress towards his ultimate goal: casting a magic spell! Tonight, on his fifth birthday, he had achieved what he had been lusting after.
The knowledge of controlling mana had rushed forth and filled his greedy mind with new senses, instincts and even minor memory-like fragments that showed Donis how to operate his new mana.
With all of this information now perfectly clear in his mind, Donis got up from bed and slowly snuck over to the door. With a light click behind him, the door closed. He eyed his [Soul Bonds] status window and saw that Etheria was asleep, and not aware that they had started moving.
A few years back Donis wasn't a fan of the idea that Etheria would never sleep as she was a pet bound by the [System], so he placed her into forced hibernation mode whenever he slept. It was mostly to ease his own mind, but to also not bore the bird out of its wits.
Once outside Donis then summoned Etheria, who had now grown into a regal bird. She was still level one and Donis was not yet allowed to leave the vicinity of the mother to go out and hunt wild monsters to level her up. Yet Etheria was now one-foot in height and had a wingspan of at least three-feet. The golden splotches that dotted her body were now elegant streaks that brushed her wings like they were the canvas before an artist.
The azure eyes were now like gems that shone so brilliantly they were almost trance inducing. The claws that protruded from her feet were the most jarring aspect of Etheria. Her abnormally royal figure was conflicted by the murderous looking inch long talons.
Donis had spent so much time with her that he didn't really notice the slow growth of the bird, so to him she was just Etheria. Their relationship had blossomed as she grew over the years. Etheria became a chatterbox, much to Donis's surprise, she was constantly chirping and talking to him.
She looked up to Donis who was a good bit taller than her and created a link between minds. 'Yes? Why sneak out?' This had pulled him out of his reminiscent trance gently.
He smiled at her, put his finger on his lips and told her to watch quietly. He then focused his mind on one thing; casting the mana within.
The knowledge flooded his mind, slowly guiding him through the process of controlling his mana. He could probably do it quickly, but he wasn't sure if there were any possible side-effects. It all started off with his will. He first had to believe that he could do it, and he had to believe in the result. Then he had to imagine what he wanted to happen.
The knowledge in his head told him that there were a total of six 'elements' to magic. Imbues the casters breath with mana, allowing for more precise control from within and outside the body. Most people could only cast and use two, or three of them. It wasn't because they were restricted as such, it was because learning multiple ways of casting the elemental mana required an incredible amount of study, practice and time. Each individual element was good, but the true beauty of magic came from when you combine multiple elements to produce dramatically different results.
Donis not knowing what element he was predisposed to didn't worry about such things just yet. He was focused entirely on the summoning of his very own mana into the physical world.
After a tense moment, Donis felt tendrils of indescribable nature within his body move, slowly at first. Picking up momentum they coalesced into his hands, where it rested at his command. His palms becoming slightly warmer, his brow garnished by a slight sheen under the moonlight.
Ever so slowly, tiny droplets of gold started to form on his fingertips, the pores of his hands 'sweating'. They then slowly started to rise into the air, dispersing a few centimetres above his hands. This effect lasted a total of five seconds before the mental strain overtook Donis. It wasn't that the act of it was that mentally exhausting, it was the fact that he had run out of mana.
That didn't stop him though, he was far too happy. It was magic! Even Etheria was lost in the beautiful reverse rainfall of golden droplets that emanated from her masters hands.
Ding!
-[Side-Quest]: Use Mana for the first time. Completed!
Reward: [Serene Mana]-
[Serene Mana]: The [User]s mana flow can no longer be interrupted by mental strain.
A calming sensation overtook Donis, akin to a ripple in water settling. The ability was very true to its name, he felt serene. Donis still didn't quite understand the ramifications behind this ability, but he definitely felt better having it.
After a few wordless moments, he yawned and recast Etheria back. The night was incredibly productive but he was still a boy, he needed his sleep. Sneaking back into bed, he thought to himself that he just might make his dreams a reality.
With the sweetest thoughts of casting spells and saving damsels Donis drifted off to sleep. Yet there was still someone else awake in the house, completely aware of Donis's shenanigans.
Korrin had sat in his study with his eyes shot wide open. He hadn't moved since he saw the whole ordeal with his eyes. His very own son summoned a huge bird, and then used some sort of magic! He was both ecstatic and terrified. How is he going to tell Morissa?
Worried thoughts flew through his mind. How could his son at the age of five not only tame a wild beast, but summon some sort of magic. Even the brightest geniuses couldn't summon any sort of magic power until the age of 10. This was definitely going to be a cause for celebration. Yet he still had to figure out a way how to explain everything to his wife - without giving her a heart attack.