"Grandpa, what's inside this pouch? I can feel that there's mana surrounding it."
As soon as Raizen came out of his room, Vincent asked him curiously.
He felt like he knows what was inside but he can't identify it exactly.
"Haha… Does it feel familiar?"
"Yes."
Vincent nodded as even though he hadn't seen it yet, the aura is reminding him of something.
"If you're interested I can give it to you. However, you need to pass a test."
"Test? Sure…" Vincent agreed since he knows that his grandfather is just teaching him about his reward system.
You do what I tell and I reward you.
This is probably what Raizen wants to establish while teaching him all about mana.
Vincent doesn't hate it at all so he'll just go with the flow.
"Alright… I will test you then… First, control a bit of your mana and cover your hands... or palms. Make sure to maintain it for at least 10 seconds before we continue."
Raizen instructed as he gave a meaningful smile.
To be honest, he wouldn't dare ask him to do this if he doesn't know that Vincent has terrifying talent. After all, he himself only learned how to properly control or shift his mana around his body after several weeks of practice.
Others even take months to do it.
However, he wanted to see Vincent failing for a bit so he can comfort him with his practiced words!
That's right, he has been practicing some comforting words ever since he learned almost a year ago that Vincent is very curious about the existence of mana.
He expected him to desire to be a mana practitioner. However, he recalls that when Vincent's mother came to him, he was told that the young Vincent has the lowest grade on his aptitude test.
Though his parents confirmed that Vincent was still blessed since he would be able to wield mana, they are expecting him to be at the lowest rung in the society of Mana Practitioners.
However, it turned out that the Aptitude Test result that his mother mentioned to him was a lie!
Vincent was just too good at it that Raizen can't use his practiced words of comfort! He even asked Clara for it.
'I just have to push your limits then…'
With that in mind, Raizen went to find a seat to watch how his grandson would fail.
He watched Vincent hold his hands as he tries to move his mana according to his instructions.
"Hmm? You're doing great… Keep it up."
Raizen praised Vincent after seeing some progress in how he shifts his mana.
However, he can tell that is still quite awkward and wouldn't last for long.
This technique he's teaching is the same method he used to protect his hands when handling Kai's mystical items. This is the most basic Mana Application and the most important as well.
After all, once he perfectly grasps how to do this, he would be able to learn how to protect himself from attacks coming from mana as well.
"Once you're tired. You can stop doing it. It's not like I'm expecting you to do it so easily—"
Raizen stopped speaking as he found out that Vincent managed to maintain his 'mana gloves' for three seconds!
"This…"
He knows that Vincent now only needs to learn how to continuously pour his mana from his core to his hands.
As long as he managed to maintain it, Vincent would be able to successfully grasp the technique…
"Whew! This was harder than I thought! Shifting mana to your body and controlling it to coat your hands is quite tricky… It's not just about shifting my mana to my hands." Vincent muttered as he tried doing it again.
'Oh…'
After five more minutes, Vincent finally managed to perfectly grasp the technique! Unfortunately, he was only left with 0.20 units of mana as he wasted a lot of them in his trial and error.
However, it was still successful!
This is the first proper application of mana that he learned except the system's application!
"Grandpa, did you see that? Though I almost emptied my mana… I did manage to maintain it for ten seconds!"
"Hmm? W-well… That's incredible. You did well, Vincent. You will be able to use that 'mana gloves' whenever you encounter a mystical item or anything that you may find difficult to hold. Right, as you noticed during your previous attempts, most of your mana was just leaking out and wasting your energy. So you always have to practice how to maintain your mana and avoid it from gushing out."
Raizen can only try to remind him about his flaws to ensure that his grandson wouldn't get too conceited by easily learning all the things he's teaching.
"Yes, grandpa! Can we see what's inside the pouch now?" Vincent asked in excitement. Even though he's a bit tired, he still wanted to see the item that his grandfather took so much effort to get.
"Hmm? Sure." Raizen then picked up the pouch.
He then untied it easily before he poured its content on the table.
Clank… Clank… Clank…
Five small blue rocks rolled on the table.
Vincent has no idea what it is but he can tell that they look pretty. They can be some kind of gemstones and perhaps, his grandpa is planning to sell them once the merchant caravan in the south passed by their village.
"These are Beast Cores, Vincent. They contain a good amount of mana and life energy. They can be acquired from Savage Beasts, or maybe you can also call them mutated animals."
"Beast Cores…" Vincent nodded as he finally learned another thing about this world. His eyes lit up as he can't wait to touch it.
'Eh?'
He wanted to see whether he could enhance the beast cores.
However, there is no notification from his system that he can enhance this object at all!
'So there are objects I can't enhance, huh…' Vincent curiously thought as he decided to use his appraisal ability instead.