It had been a few days since the incident with the Ravensong family, and Aldrich was currently inside his room, sitting in posture, trying to circulate the Mana around his body.
Creating a mana star was necessary to grow strong, as he could not gain a mana attribute without creating a star. A mana star was a medium to refine the raw Mana into different attributes.
This was why Big families utilized specialized techniques so that their Mana star aids the refinement of a specific attribute.
As for the Drakewind family, The Mana Technique Aetherflow was not specialized to aid any attributes, but the Mana created by these stars was especially deadly to non-human races.
"As for The Soulstream one, I could never feel any changes, except that it suited me well. That man never told about its effects, well he did pass it to me on his last breath",
Aldrich thought about the man he had fought alongside with. Kael was Aldrich's teacher in a past life, who taught him how to slay dragons.
Aldrich always considered Kael to be a mysterious person. Mainly because his memories turned fuzzy whenever he tried to remember the time he had fought alongside Kael.
"It's like pieces of my memory are missing".
"system, can you help me with it?",
[Insufficient Authority]
"I could guess that" The system had already told him that Aldrich was too weak to know the answers to most of his questions. He tried to think about the parts he did remember about the Kael.
"I still remember the curse he was inflicted with took his life. "he had decided that he would help Kael lift the curse.
"He must be imprisoned in the Holy Empire right now", Aldrich grinned before returning to focus on creating his Mana star.
He circulated Mana throughout his body, trying to condense it near the Heart.
It was a painful process, as vast amounts of Mana entered the body to fill the star.
Aldrich closed his eyes, focusing on slowly condensing the Mana near his Heart. He carefully created the star, condensing it bit by bit.
He gritted his teeth, enduring the pain from the process.
"KUGHH, just a little more" Aldrich could feel he was close to reaching the first star.
Suddenly, a large amount of Mana entered Aldrich's body, rushing straight towards the star being created.
Aldrich stumbled on the ground, unable to bear the intense pain he was going through from refining his Mana.
The Mana inside his body raged as it slowly condensed near his Heart, taking the shape of a star.
"Just a little.. more", Aldrich roared as Mana violently raged throughout his body.
Suddenly, his twin swords started to shine as Noct and Luna came out, rushing towards Aldrich.
Noct touched Aldrich's chest with his little paw, absorbing the excess Mana raging inside his body, whereas Luna licked Aldrich's hands, healing his internal wounds slowly.
"You two-"Aldrich noticed that the pain intensity reduced as he focused again on completing the star.
The three of them worked together for hours when finally the process was completed, as Aldrich was greeted with a notification by the system.
[You have reached 1-st Mana star]
[Your Summons have gained an Attribute]
"Haah" Aldrich panted as he lay down on the ground, holding Noct and Luna.
"Thanks, you two", He held them close. He could sense that the two were exhausted, helping Aldrich throughout the arduous process.
"I don't remember it hurting this much. Maybe it's because this technique was a combination of two different ones. That bastard didn't warn me about it", He cursed the Beast King
Aldrich opened his eyes to find that Noct and Luna were sleeping peacefully beside him. He gently stood up, trying not to disturb them.
He closed his eyes, trying to sense the changes in his body.
Aldrich could sense a golden star revolving around his Heart. He was curious to see the effects of creating a mana star by combining two techniques.
"Will it take on the effects of both the individual techniques? Or transform It into something completely unique ?" Aldrich hoped that the system would provide him with some answers.
. Aldrich, He looked at Noct and Luna, who had undergone a transformation. Both of them now had a golden stripe running through their body.
"Is it related to them absorbing my mana?",
Aldrich knelt, thanking the two for their help.
The two woke up, happy to see Aldrich healthy. They rubbed their head against Aldrich before returning to their swords.
Aldrich sat on the bed, opening the system to check the changes in his body.
"System, can you show me the effects of mana star created through this technique?",
[
Technique: Aether of Soul
Description: A powerful Technique created by merging two techniques.
Effect 1: Deals increased Damage to all living beings.
Effect 2: Sealed
…
Your summons have gained the same effects
]
"Increased Damage to all living beings", Aldrich looked at the system again. "That will boost my power , as I will deal increased damage to humans as well."
He noticed that there were some locked effects . The system notified him that he will access them when his body can control the power of these effects.
"I need to create more stars to fully utilize their potential" Aldrich clenched his fists, motivated to grow stronger.
"What are my mana attributes in this life" Aldrich excitedly closed his eyes.
A new warrior could sense the Attributes he had high affinity to, but for an experience one like Aldrich, he should be able to sense all the attributes he had an affinity with.
"What the? "Aldrich couldn't sense anything.
"System, what the hell is going on" Aldrich shouted, unable to believe his eyes. Aldrich couldn't feel a single attribute his body was attuned to. Even the warriors with lowest potential had some affinity to mana.
[This body doesn't have an affinity to any mana attribute]