"Wh… What is this? Is this the benefit you were talking about?" The taste was stunning enough when it hit his tongue, but what followed immediately after is what stunned him. His mana core was filling up with each bite he took, and he could feel his body changing.
His teacher smiled and said, "That is correct, the body of every mana beast is rich with mana. That is why their skin is so tough and they are so physically dominant. When you eat their meat, your body gets flooded with mana, meaning that your internal organs, bones and all other parts of your body get strengthened making your body tougher and it also replenishes your mana core."
"Although this elk has a core, it does not have any affinity. If you do manage to find a beast core with the same affinity as you and absorb it, your connection with your affinity is enhanced."
"Wait, does that mean that every beast doesn't have an affinity?"
"That is correct, especially since mana was just introduced to the planet. It will take a while for beasts that have affinities to appear. Not even all of the humans have affinities although most of them do, there is still a small percentage that do not have affinities. Those that have a mana core with no affinity are called faux rankers. I am not sure how they rank though because I never got that close to anyone that had no affinity. There are also those that have no mana core at all, however they don't have a name as they are deemed not worthy of a name."
Havok nodded as he listened to his teacher's explanation.
"Now that you are a ranker, once you get that feeling that you are hungry, that feeling is from lack of mana. You will not truly be hungry as you don't need to eat food to survive like you did before, your body sustains itself with mana. When you lost control of your mana and it flared up earlier, combined with learning to control your mana while breaking down the elk your mana should be close to running low. Now, take your time and enjoy your meal, you are going to need all the mana you can get for what is coming next." His teacher laughed as he disappeared into the darkness.
Havok ignored where his teacher went and just enjoyed the taste of this delicious elk meat. He savored it exactly like someone who never had a hot meal would. Twenty minutes later he finished eating all the meat on the plate. When he was done, he looked around for his teacher, but he couldn't find him, so he just sat down and focused on using his affinity. He heard his teacher say that he would need a full mana core for what was next, but he felt that he should familiarize himself with his darkness.
He didn't do anything too fancy. He just materialized darkness, it was just a black blob and moved it between his hands. He played with it, he would try to change its form, but he was unable to as he was just a beginner. However, it still felt nice to be holding darkness in his hands. He was doing that for about an hour and was feeling much more comfortable with his affinity, then two techniques appeared in his head. Havok was freaked out as he didn't understand how these just popped up in his head for seemingly no reason. He calmed down and read through the technique, the technique looked like the page of a very old book in his head.
Havok read his first technique, it was a movement technique, and it was called 'Darkness Dash', there was a description. Utilize your darkness to increase your speed in an instant. The user needs to wrap themselves in darkness to activate the technique or the user could use the natural darkness around them. The speed of your movement and the length you can use it is reliant upon how much mana you use. The more the user masters the technique, the less mana they have to use.
He read the next technique. It was a concealment technique, and it was called 'Hidden Presence'. Allows the user to move without releasing any mana fluctuations, the more the user masters the technique the better you are able to conceal yourself. If the user is not moving, standing in areas with shadows or darkness will make you close to invisible and hard to be seen by others of around the same strength. However, if the user is moving, then they are able to be seen, but the user would seem like someone without a mana core. The length the user can hide their presence is based upon how much mana the user has. If you use hidden presence against someone who is significantly stronger even if you are standing in darkness and they search for you with mana, the technique will be negated, and you will be found.
Havok finished reading the techniques and they went down towards his mana core and disappeared inside. Havok didn't mind as he had already memorized both of them, he was just wondering why they went there. He also wondered if he could remove them and physically touch them. His teacher walked out of the darkness, startling Havok. Havok's hands shot up and he was ready to fight, "Shit, you scared me."
Havok dropped his hands and relaxed. The only reason his response was so extreme is because of how he grew up. If someone just popped up like that, you make sure that you were the first one to throw a punch. His teacher chuckled when saw Havok's response to his arrival, "I can tell, but that's good, you should always be prepared to fight for your life because you never know when someone will attack you. There is actually a skill that goes along with your reaction. Once you go through this next part of my training, I will help you train it, it will benefit you greatly."
"Teacher, I just got two techniques!" Havok was excited as his eyes seemed to sparkle when he told his teacher the good news. His teacher nodded and said, "That's good. Every time you rank up you get either one or two techniques. No one truly knows how it works or how to determine if you get one or two techniques. Or what type of technique you receive. It seems completely random, and you don't always get your techniques right after you rank up like you did this time. Maybe one day when you get strong enough you will get to know the answer. So, what are the names of the techniques?" Havok nodded when he heard what his teacher said about getting the techniques.
Havok responded, "They are called 'Darkness Dash' and 'Hidden Presence' they both seem great." Havok was just about to explain what they did, but his teacher interrupted him as he waved his hand back and forth.
"No need to explain what they do, the first few techniques in the lower ranks are the most common techniques for that affinity. The ones you get later will be stronger and let you know what your specialty is. I have heard of both of those techniques before. I have even seen someone use them before, I will provide you with any guidance I deem necessary after you finish this next part of my training. The reason I won't teach you now is because everyone is different. Their affinities and techniques can be utilized in a number of ways. If I just told you how I saw that person use it that might limit the way you think you can use a technique. Use your intuition. You're young and your mind should be at its imaginative prime. Those techniques appeared to you for a reason. Now for the next part of your training, it's survival." He continued.
"Based on me watching you fight that elk, well, fight is overstating what happened."
"Fuck you, old man. I am still alive and it's dead, so it's still a victory." Havok interrupted, pissed that his teacher was downplaying his achievement.
"Well congratulations. As I was saying, I can tell that you have some fighting experience, but I also noticed that you have no experience in killing. Fighting without killing is for children. This next lesson is to get you to attack with the intent to kill as efficiently as possible and with the least amount of effort. That is the nature of your affinity, deadly quick strikes. That might be the strength of your affinity, but you can adapt your fighting style to what you think is best for you. For example, you can strike from the darkness to kill your opponent. Or you can fight straight up and use those quick strikes in close quarters."
"Killing intent is what your other focus will be during this lesson. Killing intent is something a ranker develops only through killing. If you kill enough, you can harness your killing intent to use it as a form of attack against an opponent. For example, if two people at the same rank are fighting and one had killing intent and the other did not, the one with killing intent would easily defeat his opponent. Part of the reason is because someone who has killing intent has experience with killing and not just fighting, which are two completely different things. The other reason is because just like when you release your mana fluctuations revealing your rank you can release your killing intent. The feeling when someone has a strong enough killing intent is similar to the feeling of standing in front of a bloodthirsty demon. You felt a small portion of mine earlier. It's as if the weight of those deaths is now weighing down on you. You can release your killing intent as a surprise in the middle of a fight at just the right moment or you can keep it released the whole time you are fighting."
"However, if you kill too much you won't be able to release your killing intent by choice as it will always be released affecting everyone around you at all times. If it is strong enough it can kill weaker rankers, which is not what you are aiming for. This is a weapon that you need to control, you should not just let it run wild or you could draw the attention of stronger rankers. When I say "too much" it is relative to how much you can control your killing intent. There is no set limit. It is different from person to person. The way to control your killing intent is similar to how you control mana. After all it is an energy, you need to condense and refine it to use it properly. Keeping control of it is mostly reliant on your will, if your killing intent does get out of your control you could end up losing your mind and just become a mindless killing machine. As you felt earlier your affinity is already prone to madness and killing, so make sure that you are always in control."
"It's a never-ending cycle, you kill because you need to enhance your killing intent and as it grows it kills more people. Once that happens you are better off dead because those in the upper ranks will join hands to hunt you down because it is bad for every race if there is lunatic running around slaughtering everyone in sight. There will be no place to hide, and it is likely that anyone that knew you would turn their weapons against you as well. Your will must remain strong as you get stronger. There are faster, more evil ways to get stronger, but what is the point of getting stronger if you lose who you are?"
Havok nodded "I understand, thank you."