George slapped his feet on the concrete of the porch, and expressed his thoughts. "Everyone! Please get inside and do not damage your eyes! The darkness has made us sensitive to the light. We must slowly recuperate ourselves by viewing the light through the glass."
Elijah knew this from the get go. It was as if the kingdom was moving through a darkened tunnel straight into the light of the day.
Everyone's sleep schedules were incredibly messy, and due to this, the King told everyone to put their effort into falling asleep at a normal time when the light returns, no matter what. The kingdom needed to get back on its feet, and with everyone operating at half power, time would be lost.
With it being dinner time based on the position of the sun, George explained to the household that a buffet style dinner will be served in one hour. Steaks, cooked greens, gelatinous soups, and fruit. The amino acid profile of the dinner will help all of the guests ease their way into sleep. Although Elijah was the only person who knew of the specific reason, the fact that the kingdom had come to this conclusion had impressed him.
Elijah grabbed a salted glass of water, and left the group after conversing with Novius and Alexia about his plans to continue absorbing his affinity. The glass of lightly salted water coated his dry mouth that was only dry due to his mouth breathing while he slept. Mouth Breathing was something he tried his best to avoid, and to build proper muscle memory early on in his life, due to the problems it caused to the bone structure of his skull in his past life.
Surprisingly, one hour quickly passed by as Elijah let his mind wander during the absorption process. Already, the affinity crystal had dimmed signifying that the absorption had progressed significantly. His theory was that since he already has a basic control on mana, absorbing an affinity crystal will take much less time compared to being a beginner, which he never was…
A delectable dinner was served as the people of the Weltor Estate joined at different times, overlapping each other.
"Ahem, I hear Alexia was able to obtain an air affinity. Was that your doing Elijah?" George somehow found out of the affinity situation, and Elijah had no honest way of explaining its origins other than his solo "trip to the inner city", which never actually happened.
"That was the other half of the reason why I was gone. Novius has already turned ten years old, and is waiting for me to turn ten, and Alexia to get an affinity so we can take the hunter exam together."
George lifted his head in sadness, which was not surprising as he knew what was coming. "Listen very well, young ones. Life is not so simple right now to where you can simply wait for your friends. Novius, please take the hunter exam as quickly as possible. Once you succeed, pass on the information to Elijah and Novius, which will help them greatly. You shouldn't allow yourself to be held back by your peers."
Elijah was too comfortable in his past life, and still not used to the harsh reality of this world. Practically everyone in the kingdom was training to kill or be killed. I am trying to hold onto ideas that can disappear with a wave of a hand, or a slash of a claw. He needed to overcome this barrier, a barrier he probably wouldn't fully understand until he is truly at the brink of death, a cornered rat. "I agree, Novius. Please take the hunter exam, and do not tell us the details. I understand that Julian's intel of a battle with a caged beast no longer applies, and I already have a good guess at what it will be."
"Oh, do tell!" George replied as he sat up in his seat.
"Obviously the reason why hunter exams are being held almost every day is because they need all the help they can get with dealing with the beasts outside the walls. So the simplest solution to weed out the trash, is by having the exam be an exploration into The Catacombs. With a party of course…"
"You are absolutely right. If the older children were here, they would be thoroughly impressed by your deduction. I assume this myself as well." George was rather impressed by an almost ten year old's thinking. Elijah, however, was not. Julian, along with Novius' and Alexia's siblings had just left for a three day exploration in the early part of the catacombs, to manage the beasts that could potentially reach the settlements.
Elijah's time was inching closer. As dinner settled, the trio went for a short walk while they talked about their plans for helping Alexia improve as fast as possible. Dark bags were underneath the eyes of each child as they theorized every possible spell that can be created with the element of air.
"So to recap, the names are as follows, which are there only to help you remember what each one does. Air blade… air shield… air wave… tornado… and wind torrent, which is a large amount of different air currents that collide with one another. That spell should be your last resort as it will take a very large portion of your mana."
"This all sounds great! Thank you for the help. I do wish I had a staff, maybe I could use my air magic on the staff to create strong spells?"
Novius was surprised by Elijah's imagination. He had never heard of the word "tornado" before. "Good work Elijah. I leave tomorrow, so by the time I get back, I expect to see these wind spells you came up with! Also, Elijah, I wanted to tell you some time ago, but the invisible suit is working again. However I won't let you use it again until you become a Junior Hunter."
The trio retired to their rooms and focused on absorbing their affinities.
A cold and humid wind erupted from Elijah's body after another two hours of losing himself in his mind, while absorbing the affinity crystal. However, inside his soul, sat two affinities, which he was only able to "feel" due to him absorbing a second affinity. The space and water affinity did not mix, but instead appeared overlapping each other an uncountable number of times.
Elijah's blue eyes opened, and seconds later, a ball of water appeared in his palm. With a single thought of his mind, the ball of water rippled, and separated as Elijah manipulated the space in the environment. The potential!
The principles of water that come to mind are to be always flowing, everchanging, malleable, and absorbing. Elijah created a slim barrier of water that floated in mid-air. While focusing on the continuation of his spell, he struck the floating puddle, and watched as fist simply rested on the water, while at the same time, ripples eluded from the water. Elijah understood that this was not reality, as the quality or strength of the mana meant everything almost one-hundred percent of the time. However, there had to be a way to use water magic in a similar way to get the same effect as his portal of transference, which is what he calls a redirection spell using two connected portals. A spell that differentiates itself from the harsh differences of magical power.