Inside a room within the mansion.
"Air, Ground, Electricity, Plant, Water, Fire, and Ice—these seven elements are the primary elements of magic, but if they are to be fully mastered, one can perform magic of even higher elements such as sound for full mastery of air, lava for full mastery of ground, and such and such."
"Sigh. I can read these characters without even knowing what they mean. You sure are a handy tool." Aiden muttered as he looked at the book.
Ding
[This little thing is nothing.]
A window appeared, but Aiden dismissed it as he looked at the book.
Looking at the book in his hand, it had the title [Magic and Skills] written on it.
'Are you sure you can pass the test just by reading some books?' Eden, who was looking at the pile of books collected beside Aiden, asked as he wondered what those books were even for.
'Obviously not. That's why I called that tutor for help.' Aiden replied as he continued reading the other sections of the book.
"Skills are the blessings and also the mysteries of the world that provide one with strength, knowledge, wisdom, and others."
"Skills differ from quality. Two star skills are the most common, while five star skills are the most rarest and legendary. The human civilization has been known to own only ten five star skills throughout history to the present…"
"…I feel like I just read something utterly bizarre." Aiden muttered as he went through the same sentence again.
"The human civilization has been known to own only ten five star skills throughout history to the prese—"
Thap
Closing the book, Aiden wished he could forget what he just read.
'…If people find out that I have a five star skill, the whole world will be my enemy.' He thought as he caught his head with both of his arms.
'Stop thinking all the negative stuff, will you? Nothing will happen as long as you stay cautious and don't talk about it.' Eden said as he frowned at the negative nature of Aiden.
Clack
As they were having a conversation, the door opened up as a robed figure walked in.
"Were you looking for me? Young master." Louis said as he walked towards the table Aiden was sitting on.
They were currently inside a library that Aiden found while walking around the mansion.
"I have decided to proceed with the exam." Aiden said as Louis remained silent for a moment.
"I understand your wish, young master. Then, I will also do my best to make it so you pass the exam no matter what." He said this as he clenched his fist in determination.
"Thank you. I need some items for my test. I don't know where to get them." Aiden said as he gave a list of items to Louis.
Louis looked through the list but didn't question any items.
"Oh. Please don't worry; I will manage it for you." Louis said as Aiden nodded his head.
"And do you have any idea about what the exam might be?" Aiden asked as Louis shook his head.
"Unfortunately, this time the city lord himself will be taking your exam, so I don't know." Louis said.
"I see," Aiden said.
"Then let's go. We don't have much time before the exam comes." Louis said as Aiden frowned.
"Where?" He asked as Louis looked at him.
"Your memories might have been lost, but your muscle memories should still be with you. Let's go. I have prepared a training session for you to remember." Louis said as he looked at Aiden with full of expectation.
"…Lead the way." Aiden said this as he agreed with Louis's decision.
'He's a tutor after all. It should work.' Aiden thought as they left the library and walked outside the mansion to the garden.
…
In the garden, sitting in a lotus position, Aiden focused on his breathing as he frequently breathed in and out.
"Focus young master focus. You did it pretty easily on your first try. You can do this again." Louis hyped Aiden.
"Mana control is the base of everything." He said this as he went silent to let Aiden focus on his meditation.
'Mana is the base of everything.' Aiden focused on those words as he started to think of the core that was in his heart.
Fuuu
Slowly breathing in and out, he focused on his breath, as it also helped him interact with the core.
'…I can see it.' Aiden thought as a vision of a small marble appeared in his mind.
It looked exactly like a marble. The marble was small, just as big as the tip of one's pinky finger.
There were various colorful particles inside the marble.
Looking at the various colorful particles, Aiden's first thought was to clean the marble off those particles.
As he thought so, the particles within the marble shone with a colorful hue as they started to emit from the marble.
'…Is this mana?' Aiden thought as he controlled his breathing.
"You are doing great, young master. Now, try moving them through your whole body." Louis, who was happily observing Aiden's development, smiled as he guided him on what to do.
Breathing in and out, Aiden tried to move those hues that were surrounding his core around his body.
As if the hues heeded his command, they instantly started moving around his body as he wanted.
'Hmm? What is going on?' Aiden felt something strange as he tested something.
He imagined the hues swirling on both of his palms.
He started to feel something strange in his palm as it tingled for a moment. He stretched his palm because of the tingling, but
Whoosh
As he did so, a gush of wind appeared from both of his palms as his hands were strained.
'Argh. What was that?' Aiden felt some pain as he opened his eyes and looked towards Louis, who was silent.
"Unbelievable." Louis muttered as he noted what just happened.
"What was that just now?" Aiden asked as he drew Louis's attention.
"Did I successfully control the mana?" Aiden further asked as Louis smiled within his robe.
"Yes. What you just did was successfully control the mana. But, not only that, you jumped a step ahead and also converted those manas into an element." Louis explained.
"Jumped a step ahead?" Aiden muttered.
"Yes. I'm very happy to see you grow, young master. Before you lost your memories, you were barely able to control your mana. In fact, magic wasn't your forte at all, but looking at what you just did, it feels like you were reborn as a new person." Louis said as he happily praised Aiden.
But, contrary to Louis's expectations, Aiden felt more uncomfortable than confident with those words, as he felt like he was being read.
'I should be careful.' He thought as he scratched his head.
'But… From what I had read, I thought learning these things would be hard. What is going on?' Aiden thought as he looked at his palm.
Just then, a window appeared to answer his questions.
Ding
[It's because of your race; Energy beast.
Energy beasts have the inborn talent to control mana. In addition, energy beasts are favored by mana and magic.]
'Woah. That's cool.' Aiden thought, as he felt relieved, that he wasn't born a human.
"Ok, let's practice some more, young master. It's just the start." Louis said as Aiden nodded his head.
"When will the items arrive?" Aiden asked as the sword, the elemental orbs, and the other items he had ordered still did not arrive.
"Uh, the young master, the sword is already here, but the elemental orbs are a little difficult to find for the moment, so it will arrive tomorrow." Louis said as Aiden nodded his head in understanding.
"Then, what are we learning next?" He asked as Louis smiled inside his robe in satisfaction.
"Today, I will be teaching you all about magic, mana, and skills. And tomorrow, you can practice with your sword. Unfortunately, I am only knowledgeable when it comes to magic, so I can't help you much with your sword practice." Louis said as he let out a helpless laugh.
"…Was there another tutor who taught me sword skills?" Aiden asked as he remembered the title [Sword Master] on Aron's [Personal sigil].
That title was 38% mastered; there must have been a tutor who taught him for it to be of that percentage.
"Not at all. I was originally assigned as your mage tutor by the city lord. There wasn't any sword lesson, but your interest in sword art drove you to practice it on a daily basis on your own." Louis said as he scratched his head.
He was trying to keep the information as simple as possible.
He didn't want the current young master to know that the city lord had opposed his learning of sword art too.
Being from a family tree of great mages, Aron Belur was always expected to be a talented mage, but seeing how incapable he was of mana control and always showed interest in sword art, his family members became disappointed in him.
The main reason Louis was appointed as his mage teacher was exactly because of that.
But Aron Belur never showed any improvement or big development in magic and always trained on his sword art alone.