With mana possession far above a basic wizard, and maybe, an awakened wizard, the twins no longer feared or hesitated when using magic.
Their mother had given her life for them. Her core that could save her, she used it on them instead. She saved her children. That core, a vessel for mana, is the only thing that keeps them alive. The only reason their heart keeps pounding.
The day their bodies get drained of every single mana cell is the day they die.
It is an exploitable weakness.
They do their very best to overcome it.
Half the number of beast cores they got from magical beasts they slay, they would absorb its mana. It wasn't just beasts alone, those who thought it wise to cross them also had their ability to wield magic stripped from them with just a single thought.
Power. Their bodies were swarming with it and they made sure to absorb more every now and then. Moving it, controlling it. Making sure to not exceed their limit. Adding bit by bit into the pool slowly, extending its limits but never pushed too hard that it broke them.
Of course the often absorption had nothing to do with the pleasurable feeling of absorbing mana. Ahem.
"Don't you dare." Kiyan said with his eyes still closed as Raten made an attempt to tap into his circle and absorb from him.
"Just a little? A teensy bit?" Raten begged, not opening his eyes either while still trying to break into Kiyan's walls.
"Keep pushing and I'll take yours in a second." Kiyan replied.
Raten pouted knowing fully well Kiyan was better at breaking, entering and taking than he was. Just by a little bit though. Still, it made a huge difference. If he tried to take, Kiyan would take double what he took before Raten would even realize it.
As the power flowed from the core into them, the beast cores vanished into nothing and after a while, the light dimmed. Their bodies were the only things still glowing. The blue was replaced with green covering the entirety of the body before dimming slowly.
Once the light left they opened their eyes.
"How nice." Raten smiled. He got up and went to the bag they brought with them.
"It feels more evenly shared now." Kiyan said as his hair turned into flames burning with intense ferocity. He turned to his brother who had lightning streaks from his eyes to his chin like tears. They were in a solid form on his skin and had a clear blue colour.
"Every element." Raten replied.
********
The next day, they sat in class listening to Chadwick's words as he talked about the different levels of wizard mastery while still on the topic of mana focus. Although today was the last day he would talk about it and they would move to something else the next day.
"Ahav jelarese - Ahav ke lareza and Ahav ke daraza. A lot of the earlier generations used mana focus to tap into the world's mana pool. An infinite source. In your third year, you'll understand the level of power this topic can give you." Chadwick said. He wasn't with a cane this time, but still had on his hat.
"As we all know the levels of magical beasts, the basic tier, greater beast tier, soared tier, crowned tier and celestial tier, all of which have Kings which are the evolution stages. The same can be said for wizards." Chadwick continued.
"Base level, Awakened, Crowned and Celestial levels. These four are the different stages of wizard growth. Most of you seated here are at base level. A select few have already awakened and may I say, are good enough to be called Kings and Queens, close to evolving." Chadwick smiled.
Whispers came from the seated students. Most of them were shocked that there were students on that level seated with them.
A first in his years of teaching, Chadwick witnessed this much number of students close to being Crowned.
'If they get their cores, the world will be looking at an incarnation of the Pre-generation.' Chadwick thought. Anyone on the level of being Crowned has a very high potential to grow up to Celestial level.
"The Celestial level has only been able to be reached by generations one to six. The Pre-generation was said to have surpassed that. Since no one else could reach that level, the title is left blank. Tell me, generation 20, are you going to return power to the wizards? The knights have gotten very cocky." Chadwick said to the students.
"Power never left the wizards. They were merely resting." A student said proudly.
"Indeed." Chadwick nodded and carried on with the lesson.
After class, Enoe jumped on Kiyan, strangling him from behind. A new habit of his.
"I have a gift for you!" He sang the last word.
"What is it?" Raten asked.
"Quit strangling me first!" Kiyan shouted and Enoe let go.
"Sorry." Enoe stood between them both and slid his hand over their shoulders. He was a few inches shorter than they were.
"Come with me to claim your gift!" He grinned and pushed them into the library.
The three of them sat around a table with an orb in its middle that blocked others from hearing what they were saying. Quite helpful indeed.
"Here it is." Enoe pulled out what looked like a file from his bag. Two files. Kiyan took them and handed one two Raten.
They glanced through the pages. At first they looked bored, but their expressions soon changed to one of shock.
"How were you able to find all this?" Kiyan asked, still looking through the papers.
"I told you I was going to go through every link." Enoe replied with a cheeky smile. "You'd be surprised by the numbers that are willing to hand out information even though they think you're crazy."
What the twins were looking at was vital information about The Anchor's power.
The Anchor - army of the sovereign.
In Kiyan's hands were their abilities as well as the block they had against other races, especially theirs. Their estimated fighting prowess.
In Raten's hands were their stationed headquarters and nations they had close relationships with. What kind of businesses they dealt in and of course ways to infiltrate them.
"I'm amazing, aren't I?" Enoe smiled with his chin resting on the palm of his hand and the elbow placed on the table.
"Enoe, what was it you said you wanted to see again?" Kiyan asked, placing the file on the table.
Enoe gasped in shock and then smiled with joy.
"You're going to show me?!"
"We are," they nodded.