Near a log cabin, a young man juggles stone balls, while firing magic arrows at a huge Boulder. The arrows go half way through the Boulder, creating cracks on the surface.
"Phew! My hardwork is paying off, not only did I gain better control over my mana, I also broke through, becoming a second stage Mage Apprentice, causing my mana to become twice as powerful before, and my body also doubling in all aspects, truly marvelous!"
After pushing his body to the limits, his Mana Heart responded to the increased demand by increasing the quality and quantity of the mana by compressing the mana in his body. Which caused his body to increase in strength from the strain the compressed mana caused.
"Now, I'm strong enough to easily destroy that golem!!!"
With his increased power, it only took him a couple of minutes to reach the mountains once more. He climbed up the mountain with greater ease and reached the cave.
During his training, he discovered he had a connection with his mana and if he extended it, he could expand his five senses. He created a long mana hand and sent it into the cave, where he saw the golem buried into the ground.
Now that he confirmed its location, he devised a very simple, but effective plan, a surprise attack. Before, his Mana would not have been able to even pierce its shell, let alone destroy it, but now he had a chance. Especially since he had read about the golem's weakness from the books in the cabin. In the middle of its body is its mana core. If he could strike that, it would crumble.
After readying his mind, he formed several mana arrows his body, and started his blitz. As he rushed into the cave at his max speed, the golem emerged from its slumber, surprised by the intruder. It hurriedly stood up, but it was too late as Ver was already in front of it. Ver jumped above the golem,combined the mana arrows into one, super compressed arrow, straining his concentration to the limit and released.
He chose this spot as this was where the rock armor was the weakest and his diligence paid off. The arrow easily destroyed the outer layer and entered its body, where Ver heard a cracking noise. The golem soon went limp and the boulders that made up its body fell apart.
"Phew, thankfully that worked, or I would have been in trouble, creating the Extreme Compressed Mana Arrow is draining for my mana and mind..."
After resting for a few minutes Ver, approached the alter and retrieved his prize. The crystal appeared to be a perfect sphere with a dark amber color. When he picked it up, he felt that heavy quality press down upon his soul even more, as if he will suffocate.
"This cave should be pretty safe, and its in tune with the Earth element, this is the best place to absorb it."
He pressed the crystal against his heart and activated his mana, causing the crystal to melt into his heart. The crystal became a liquid and melted into his chest. It approached his Mana Heart and and started to orbit it, forming a mysterious connection. After the connection was formed, his Mana Heart started to pull Mana from the surroundings, integrated it into his body and fed it to the Earth Orb, strengthening the connection between his Mana Heart and the orb. After an hour, the phenomenon settled down.
He discovered that he he increased by two levels, becoming a level four Mage Apprentice. He also discovered that he felt a connection with the Earth attributed mana in the environment, as if he could control it. He stretched out his hand and formed a small ball of earth. He tried to activate the Earth Orb more but discovered he could not, as if it could not understand his commands, or he could not effectively communicate with it.
" I guess this is where Runes come into play, I cannot use my consciousness to control the elements, otherwise I would be a god..."
After consolidation of his body, he made his way back to the cabin to mark his next target and to learn elemental runes.
He started to read about level one Earth runes, and after thirty minutes, his head started to spin.
"Damn, these runes are so complex, even for a level one spell... and since I am building the Legendary Six Elements Foundation, I have to progress each element at the same rate... oh no.. I my not be very talented at magic..."
He realized in horror that even basic spells take so long learn, let alone more complex spells. There was also no way he could speed this up, unless a higher level mage was willing to impart their knowledge, and even then, that has side effects.
"I'm screwed!!!"