Grandmother chuckled in amusement. "Everything I know? That's a little too muc–"
A globe of golden light sprung out of my hand, the concentration of particles was arranged in a tetrahedral array. The globe began to enlarge until it completely covered the room.
"Okay! Okay! Stop! You're going to make the tower collapse!"
The mana dissipated in a dazzling explosion of particles.
My determined gaze never left Grandmother's now shocked face.
She sighed and got up from her chair. "It seems you've been holding back on me, boy."
"I'm sorry for hiding this from you," I apologized. "From now on, I'll put my everything into training."
The woman eyed me, and after confirming my unflinching resolve, she nodded. "Good. That's what I like to hear," She said, walking to the door. "Come along. One month should be plenty of time to beat you into shape."
I followed behind her and we left the tower.
…
In a newly renovated training room, I stood a distance from Grandmother.
She had told me that the new room was reinforced with mana and that we wouldn't have to worry about it collapsing any time soon.
"Now that you've completed your spell form training, we can move on to something more exciting."
Her statement caught my attention.
"With the three spell forms, you can finally learn elemental magic," She said. "So we need to find what element you have an affinity for so we can start."
'Emy, do I have any affinity for elemental magic yet?'
[No, master. You have not unlocked any of the elemental mana arts yet so you will not have any affinity.]
'How much does one cost?'
[The four fundamental mana arts are fire, wind, water, and ground. Each of them costs five mana points to unlock the first tier of proficiency.]
'Any suggestions for an element?'
'All four have the same potential to be very powerful. But wind and water are weaker than fire and ground in the initial stages.'
'Unlock Fire Proficiency.'
[Commencing upgrade of -Fire Proficiency I- at the cost of five skill points.]
Suddenly, the mana inside me turned from a warm collection of particles to a blazing inferno that raged through my body.
Grandmother pulled out a small cylindrical device with a sharp point on one end. "To test your affinity, this will gather atmospheric mana into itself and test your body's reaction to the different elements."
She walked over to me and I held up my arm. Then she injected my shoulder with the device and pressed a button.
An iridescent light shone from the other end of the tube, phasing through different colors.
I turned on my mana sense and looked at the device. Particles from the surroundings were being funneled through the middle of the cylinder and into my arm.
It caused slight pain, but to me, it felt like nothing.
When I saw red particles being funneled through, I watched in anticipation. When they hit my skin, the blazing mana in my body reacted and flared up inside me.
The small device instantly stopped the process and I turned off my mana vision. On the glowing light at the end of the tube, a bright red light shone.
"A fire affinity. And a strong one at that," Grandmother said while pulling out the sharp end of the device. "It suits you. But I am surprised you didn't have more affinities."
She put the device back into her pocket and walked away from me.
"Elemental magic is different in nature from using pure mana. The techniques to control it are similar, but that's where their similarities end," She said. She then raised her hand and a small ball of fire sparked into existence above it. It crackled and flickered as it hovered over her skin. "Right now, the mana in your body is pure. You need to somehow produce fire mana as well. To do that, the nature of your pure mana particles comes into play. Fire has an explosive and ferocious nature. I'm sure you can feel it inside you. The way the mana wants to burn everything around it."
I nodded and she continued.
"Humans have the advantage of being the only species capable of having pure mana in our bodies. Pure mana can be turned into any elemental type, meaning that humans are the only race capable of using every type of magic. To turn that pure mana into elemental mana, you have to fuse your mana with the surrounding fire mana. The similar natures of your mana and the fire mana will connect and cause them to fuse together into fire mana that you can control."
"How do I fuse the two together?" I asked.
The fire above her hand dissipated. "To fuse your mana with an element, you must expel as much mana from your body into the atmosphere at once. In the surroundings, the fire mana in the air will be attracted to your pure mana and connect with it. Then, start to absorb the mana back in from around you. The pure mana that is returning should bring along fire mana with it and once it enters your body, they will completely fuse together."
"Alright, I think I understand," I said.
"Good. Gather every bit of mana you can on the surface of your skin and once I tell you, expel it."
"Okay."
I began to flood my body with mana. Golden tendrils covered where skin was visible and my arms and legs started to glow a bright yellow.
"Keep going," Grandmother said.
I kept gathering mana as sweat began to roll down my face.
'If I didn't have Mana Control at tier two I might not have been able to bring out this much.'
The yellow glow from my body began pulsing and getting brighter. I looked like a light bulb at this point.
"Just a little bit more."
My limbs began to tense as more and more power flooded through my body. My muscles began to stretch and tear as the power overwhelmed my body's capacity.
"Alright! Release it!"
I pushed out all the mana at the surface of my skin. A bright explosion of golden mana burst out from my body, causing a small shockwave to spread through the room. I immediately turned on my mana vision and looked at the surroundings. The golden mana I had just expelled was connecting with the red particles in the air.
Before my mana could fully dissipate and merge with the surrounding mana. I pulled my mana back in toward me as hard as I could.
Another shockwave burst through the room, kicking up a layer of dust.
"Argh!"
The mana was resisting my pull but was gradually converging on me.
"Don't let up! Keep pulling!" Grandmother yelled.
I closed my eyes and outstretched my arms around me and commanded the particles back to me with all my strength.
Mana began to flood in toward my body but I didn't stop until everything I had lost was replenished. At this point, my hair was damp and I was panting from exhaustion.
Eventually, all the gold and red particles entered my veins and neurons and I stopped my struggle and collapsed on the ground.
Inside me, I could feel my mana undergoing a change. The golden particles were devouring the red as my body gave them strength. All of the mana inside of me was then converted into something new: fire mana that I could control and use.
I lay there, gasping for air as all of my stamina was spent.
A shadow loomed over me.
"Great work! You almost completely recovered all of the mana you expelled! Only true geniuses have accomplished that!" Grandmother exclaimed with excited eyes.
I smiled softly. "This is just the beginning."
After a few minutes to recover my stamina, I got up from the ground and stood up. I sent mana to my hand and condensed it. A bright flame completely enshrouded my hand. The fire convulsed and waved as I moved my hand back and forth.
[Congratulations! You automatically unlocked the first three spells in Fire Proficiency I!]
'Oh?'
…
Mana Arts
Fire Mana Arts → Fire Proficiency I
{Fire Proficiency I}
[Able to control fire mana to a certain extent.]
{ -Fireball- }
[Creates a ball of fire. Power and speed are reliant on -Mana Capacity- and -Mana Control-.]
{ -Flame Weapon- }
[Conjure a weapon made out of fire. Power and durability are reliant on -Mana Capacity- and -Mana Control-.]
{ -Fire Shield- }
[Creates a shield made out of fire. Durability is reliant on -Mana Capacity- and -Mana Control-.]
{ -Engulf- } [Locked]
[Collapse fire mana on a specific point. Speed and power are reliant on -Mana Capacity- and -Mana Control-.]
…
The fire surrounding my hand changed shape into a long, curved blade.
"Now that you have formed your element," Grandmother said with a dangerous glint in her eyes. "How about we train a little?"
My eyes went from the flame sword in my hand to the white-haired woman in a black jumpsuit. The look of wonder that was once in my eyes was gone, replaced with hardened resolve.
"I'm not going to hold back this time," I said.
"You think I'm scared of you?" The woman asked as her eyes sharpened and her muscles tensed. "It's a hundred years too soon for me to fear you."
Grandmother disappeared from where she was standing, reappearing by my side.
My eyes swiveled to her and dodged an incoming fist. Mana flowed through my body and empowered the sword of flames in my hand.
I swung the blade upwards, releasing a flood of fire.
Before my attack reached her, a bright orange blade intercepted the flames.
*FWOOSH*
My fire was cut in half and extinguished.
The woman held a blade of fire very similar to mine. "Two can play that game."