Chereads / Ragnarok's Beginning / Chapter 18 - Talented Geniuses

Chapter 18 - Talented Geniuses

"What's wrong with my Mark?" Fen kept flicking his gaze from Raisen and his wrist and back, wary of the old man's sudden interest in the golden sapling wrapped around his limb.

At the same time he inwardly noted to purchase a magical Lesson as soon as he gained enough points; there was too much he didn't understand about magic. He couldn't tell what was normal and what was abnormal because of the lack of understanding he had regarding Mana and its uses, leaving him completely in the dark regarding magic.

Raisen reached his hands towards Fen, gesturing to ask if he could touch the Mark. After seeing him agree, the old man started prodding around his wrist, turning it every which way to see how the changes in light affected it. The old man's fingers glowed for a brief moment and Raisen opened his mouth wide in joy, closely resembling a little kid when they got a piece of candy. His mouth opened even wider when he saw the faint trails of light that followed his exposed wrist when it moved.

Fen finally stopped the examination when he saw Raisen reach for an oddly shaped hammer. Before he could start doing whatever with the blunt tool, he pulled his wrist away.

"I hope that wasn't for nothing." Fen felt slightly violated after having his wrist examined in such a thorough manner, but he could endure such light harassment if it meant he could understand the Mark better, or even better, why Raisen was so excited.

However, his expectations of receiving a response for the many questions that appeared during his examination vanished almost as fast as they appeared; Raisen completely ignored him and ran over to his desk, mildly shocking Fen with his agility despite his old age. Then, he started madly typing into the interface, listing all of his observations before he forgot, describing it with vivid details.

When Fen walked over to see what the old man was typing, he was astounding at the speed at which Raisen's fingers nimbly input his descriptions into the interface, but he was able to catch a few lines before it zoomed off the screen.

[Notes on Vitul Subject: Fen Altairus]

[...appears to absorb my diluted Mana in a process that should be excruciating.... Fen experienced no pain when moving his wrist, although some energy was lost when the Mark was rigorously moved... That energy was quickly regained through sucking the Mana in the air...]

[There does not appear to be other abnormal formations of the candidate's body, but a more rigorous physical examination is needed to draw a formal conclusion....]

[....hypothesize that because his nature is still developing, his body took advantage of the already existing function of the Mark to jumpstart the process of absorbing Mana...]

What Fen did see didn't help him understand anything; what he did manage to grasp only made the number of questions he had increase in number.

'I'm absorbing Mana? Is that healthy? Well it must be, I feel fine. Scratch that, I actually feel better than usual.' It was only when he was examining his own body and how he felt did Fen notice his unusually energetic state, as if there existed an energy current underneath his skin giving him a boost. But, he didn't think he felt like this before Raisen examined his Mark.

The reason for Fen's energetic state was because during his examination, Raisen injected some of his own Mana inside of the young candidate to see how the Mark would react. Typically, doing such a thing would result in permanent or serious injuries for someone without protections but the Mark quickly absorbed the dense Mana as if it was drinking water! This observation was one of the many outstanding discoveries that Raisen was currently inputting into the interface for future examination.

Knights would be able to absorb an enemies Vitality when in combat through contact, but they wouldn't be able to sap away their Mana which was essentially a Mage's lifeblood because it was diluted by foreign energy and would poison their bodies.

Mana could be used to replace a Knight's Vitality through an assortment of techniques and processes thus extending their natural lives by replacing their lost stock of Vital energy, but there was no known method to turn Vitality into Mana, which would theoretically produce an almost unlimited amount of Mana.

By being capable of absorbing foreign Mana, which was very different than the undiluted Mana produced by the universe, Fen had access to much more Mana than his peers, allowing him to perform better in various ways.

If Fen's ability to absorb his Mana evolved and improved as the candidate grew inside of the Program, then there might be countless ways for the young Opfer to utilize this skill inside combat. And if his ability to manipulate Vitality transformed as well because of his nature as a Vitul, then it might be possible for the boy to understand how to turn Vitality into Mana, thus tapping into a nearly endless supply of energy! Of course, there was the price to pay of using his own Vitality, but he might not even be capable of doing it so Raisen didn't delve deeper into the matter.

Raisen took a deep breath to calm himself down. He didn't want to assume anything and give himself false aspirations that might end up crushing his old man spirit. He'd rather be happy with what Fen could achieve through his own work rather than hope for a miracle to occur.

The old man vowed in his heart to nurture the youth as much as he could while he stayed in the Training Hall; although he wouldn't make any false hopes, that didn't mean that he would lack in his teaching.

In order to properly utilize potential, training and education were essential. It just so happened that Raisen had both the proper knowledge and training for Fen, no ulterior motives at all. Yep, he definitely did not want to horde the only Vitul he's ever seen for himself, lest someone else with more power and authority than him takes away his only source of a potential breakthrough in his Vitality manipulating skill that has been stagnating for years...

Ok, maybe he had some reasons that weren't directly related to Fen's benefits and growth, but they were not the main reason! They were quickly buried deep down in his heart to dig up later, when this gold mine- *cough*, student was all grown and ready to help his teacher after he graduated.

"Oh, you're still here. Oh! Yeah, there's a Lesson today. Well, the other guy isn't here yet so lets just start." Raisen finished inputting the data into the Interface and spoke to Fen after he checked to make sure he wasn't missing anything on the glowing screen. Inwardly, the old man was hoping the other Opfer who purchased his Lesson didn't show up, so he could have Fen to himself without any 'distractions'.

The sound of feet hitting the ground came from the entrance to the Training Hall, and a bad feeling quickly grew in his chest. Making sure that Fen wasn't watching, he sent a quick prayer to the multitude of supreme beings he didn't believed in hoping that his sudden show of faith would change reality.

Meanwhile, mild curiosity filled Fen's face as he watched the entrance. He was interested in the type of person who would sign up for this Lesson; not only was it extremely expensive in points, which begged the question of what exactly this Opfer did to gain so many points, but the Lesson also didn't seem very appealing. Unless you possessed an extremely high confidence in your talent or skill at manipulating Mana, which he thought was impossible at this stage of the Program for any Opfer, then there was no reason to buy this Lesson.

He didn't miss Raisen grasping his hands together and say a few words under his breath however, and witnessed this event out of the corner of his eye. Fen kept silent however because he didn't see the point in questioning the old man's actions.

A male youth came running through the door, panting and grasping at his sides for air. He had red hair, and, if Fen's eyes weren't mistaken, purple eyes. Eyes that color weren't common on Earth, but they wouldn't be considered extremely rare either. It was a genetic trait passed down from before Heaven's Virtues left the planet behind, taking their abundant Mana with them.

Now that his mind was on the subject, he wondered if people with that genetic trait were supposed to have any talent with magic and Mana. From the little history that he knew, the original humans who fought against the Sin's influence didn't have very many members like the current state of humanity but they did carry purple eyes and incredible powers... At least, that was the rumor taught in history.

Nobody on Earth that he had met knew if that rumor was true or not so Fen slowly forgot about it until now. That was another question to ask Raisen, who was now depressed that his quick prayer was left unanswered.

"Am... I... Late...?" Every word was articulated with a gasp for air, and the boy revealed a very masculine voice that contrasted with his clearly exhausted body.

'I wish you were...' Raisen mumbled under his breath where the new boy couldn't hear him. Fen was apparently fair game however and heard his words clearly, and wrinkled his nose at the lack of a welcome. Fen thought that the old man would be happy for every Opfer he roped into buying his Lesson, not knowing that his presence of a Vitul had long since wiped clean every though in Raisen's mind of wanting more people in the Training Hall.

"No, you're actually perfectly on time, I was just talking with your peer for a bit," was what Raisen actually said to the skinny teenager.

"Great, now that everyone is here, lets begin." Raisen clapped his hand, sending formless Vital energy around the Training Hall. In reaction to his energy, the windows that showed the endless Void outside closed, or rather, merged with the wall which quickly expanded it's energy inscription into the new space.

'Shit, I can't escape if Raisen goes crazy again. I'll have to dodge if he starts throwing stuff again...' Fen thought, desperately gazing around the room for anything that could be useful in case the worst happened. At the same time, he glanced at the youth beside him, who was slightly recovered from his running, and inwardly vowed to prepare his funeral and take care of his family if he had any.

At this point, sealed off from the rest of the facility, they were basically comrades. They were both going to endure Raisen together, so this was the most basic friendly gesture Fen could give him. This was the extent of his fear towards the old man. Although the Archon scared him too, at least he wouldn't have to ever meet the perverted lady as long as he wasn't forced to.

Any intelligence and thought processing capabilities were instantly destroyed from the high-pressure environment. Already, his mind hallucinated and saw Raisen eyeing him like juicy morsel.

This was all in his head. Most likely caused from the high levels of stress that was building up within him from the environment. On the outside however, Fen still had his eyes narrowed, and almost looked calm as long as you ignored his shaking hands.

The youth besides him broke him out of his trance by introducing himself.

"I'm Erik." He extended a hand towards him, which Fen accepted as his comrade.

"Fen." Erik smiled at him, before shifting his attention to the change occurring in the Training Hall.

"Wow, that's super cool..." He was staring at the shapeshifting walls in wonder, gazing at where the walls were being replaced by the energy pathways inscribed into the walls.

"Almost like a living creature, don't you think?" Fen's ears perked up at Erik's words, which very closely resembled his thoughts when he was examining the interface and the energy veins.

"Yeah, they do." Fen's opinion of the youth rose slightly, making him very glad that he became his comrade. He had worried that someone with an annoying personality- for some some reason Amelia's face popped into his mind- would be taking the Lesson with him.

Raisen clapped to get both of their attention, stopping the two from conversing any more.

"Ok, now that the walls are sealed in the case of any 'accidents'," Raisen knocked on the wall a couple times to confirm its authenticity, "we can begin and not have to worry about destroying the place."

Erik raised his hand.

"Sir Raisen, why would we have to worry about destroying the place?" Fen's eyes widened at Erik calling the old man 'sir'. Anybody with more than five braincells would be able to process that Raisen didn't deserve any respect. To be even clearer, he deserved the opposite of respect. Just maybe not directly to his face; Fen didn't want to risk being electrocuted or even worse.

"First, don't call me sir, it's disgusting," Raisen was almost as disgusted as Fen with the usage of the term 'sir'. "and I'm not worried about you two destroying the place, you don't even know how to use Mana or Vitality yet."

Raisen cut of Erik before he finished raising his hand again, stopping him before he could speak.

"Accidents don't have to mean that something happens inside. The Void is right outside the facility, and its always watching. The inscriptions on the walls help block it's vision."

Erik nodded as if this made complete sense while Fen's world view shifted again, for the second time in the Program.

'The Void's... alive?' He tried comprehending such a unique existence, but his efforts to understand the scale of such a being were laughable. Many questions flooded his mind, but he managed to store those thoughts away for now.

Maybe someday there would be a time when he didn't have any questions about anything, but that day would not come around anytime soon. If such a time existed, it would only exist after the Program ended.

"Alright, I'm tired of talking and answering dumb questions, we're starting. Hold these." Raisen grabbed two glowing metal balls and handed them to the both of them.

"Think of these as Vitality training balls. They're made to mimic the beat of Vitality within a living creature. Today's goal is dedicated to being capable of sensing this pulse of energy. You may begin at any time."

'...What?' thought Fen, still confused and not fully capable of understanding what was being asked of him. 'What pulse?'

"Oh! So we find the pulse of energy inside this thing," Erik held up his metal engraved ball, pointing at it with his other hand, "and manipulate it's core to explode it, right?" As he was talking, the ball pulsed, changing colors from yellow to blue, before the ball started to emit a high pitched whine.

The old man quickly took the ball from him, stopping the whine and the explosion that might've blown off Erik's hand if not his entire arm. With a warning glance shot at Erik, Raisen glanced back at the metallic ball in his hand.

Even Raisen looked surprised at the amount of knowledge and skill Erik possessed. It appeared that the late Opfer wasn't as simple as he looked. Although the old man didn't know where the youth obtained such knowledge he didn't see it as a problem. For now, it looked like he had two unique Opfer in his Lesson; a unique Vitul and a genius Opfer.

He turned his eyes to Fen, who was standing still in the same spot as when he got the ball. Seeing his gaze, he simply shrugged his shoulders before tapping the ball as if gesturing, 'I can't do that, so don't expect much.'

'It's just a regular ball. Except... glowing. It's warm, if that matters.'

In his hands, the ball exuded a small amount of heat as it glowed, but he couldn't feel any other energy besides the heat. Closing his eyes, Fen focused on the ball, wrapping both hands around the heat to see if he could feel a pulse.

His brows furrowed when he felt nothing, and he grabbed harder at the ball, feeling around for anything he could sense.

Inside his hands, he felt a warm heat emanating from the metal ball despite it's cold metallic nature. It felt almost like a miniature sun. There was nothing inside the heat however, no pulsing energy that he could sense, or energy pathways inside the metal.

To describe the warmth, Fen would describe it as the opposite of what the Void was. While the Void was cold and unfeeling, the ball was warm and friendly like a long lost friend; the Void was empty, and the ball was compressed... something. That didn't help him, but it gave him some relief that he could at least understand a part of the training ball.

Sighing, he let go of the ball and allowed it to stray to his side with his hand. Raisen felt a massive surge of relief when he realized that he couldn't do it the first try. If both of these Opfer could, then why was he even teaching them?! They should get an instructor actually capable of teaching geniuses then.