I arranged the branches into a mound-like structure, then tore off the bear's left arm with mana coating my hand. I still had to skin and clean it but that unfortunately wasn't one of the things I knew how to do.
"Haha, if only I could dismantle this... o-oh?!"
My mana suddenly drained to about a tenth of my maximum, leaving me momentarily lightheaded. As I recovered only three-tenths of it, I realized that whatever I had done had consumed a whole third of my current mana.
Looking down, I saw the bear's arm, which I had been holding, now neatly separated into fur, flesh, and bone, each piece falling to the ground in an organized manner. My initial shock was quickly overtaken by confusion. How the hell did this just happen?! 'First "Trace," and now something like "Dismantle," how did this work?'
"Is magic in this world truly different from how I imagined?" I mused aloud, my thoughts spinning.
"The way I activate these abilities feels odd, almost like what I saw with the bear and panther. I speak with intent, and something happens. They performed actions, so maybe words aren't necessary. Perhaps, any deliberate action paired with intent works! Speaking is an action, so it might simply substitute for physical movement," I reasoned, voicing my analysis to no one but myself. If anyone were around, they'd probably think I was strange but who cares!
'I wonder if this means I could perform a physical action, like waving or pointing, and channel the intent to make it wordless, like the beasts did. I should try it and see.'
I pointed my finger at the mound of sticks, channeling mana and focusing on the intent for it to ignite. Nothing happened. Frustrated but undeterred, I stepped closer, placed my hand on the sticks, and repeated the same process. Again, nothing.
"Tch! Ignite!" I growled, but still, nothing happened.
'Why isn't it working? Maybe I'm using the wrong word?'
"Ablaze! Flame! Burn!" I tried every word I could think of, yet the result was the same—nothing. It began to dawn on me that this might be an affinity issue. Still, as someone with creation magic, a higher-order affinity, shouldn't I be able to use anything under its domain? Creation encompasses all things, so maybe I was approaching this the wrong way.
'I need an action paired with intent, but since my affinity is creation and not fire, maybe I need to compensate for what a fire affinity would naturally handle. Carbon dioxide is flammable, and I exhale it when I breathe. What if I combine my intent with that process? It's worth a shot.'
I took a deep breath, focusing my mana and intent simultaneously. 'Ignite!' I exhaled sharply.
"HUFFF... HOOOOOF~!"
A small orange flame wave burst from my mouth, instantly igniting the mound of sticks. Relief washed over me, but it was short-lived as I realized half of my remaining mana had vanished and my throat felt like it had just been scorched.
"Haha... Cough, cough... W-w-w..." I tried to speak, but the words refused to come out. The burning sensation in my throat was unbearable.
'Did I just burn my throat?! Of course, I did. I wanted the CO2 to ignite, and since it came from within, it makes sense that this would happen. I should've thought this through!' I groaned internally, chastising myself.
'This just shows how much more practice I need. At least I stopped before doing something fatal. Any longer, and I might have killed myself by accident.' I shook my head, both at my own recklessness and at the fact that it worked. The fire was burning now, but I'd clearly need a better method in the future.
This lesson was better learned now than in a life-and-death situation, so I didn't freak out too much. I'd just need to figure out a better way to go about this in the future and with other elements! However, I needed more mana and control over my mana before I could truly think about all that.
I grabbed the now dismantled meat and stuck a sturdy stick into it, which I then roasted over the fire to cook it. Unfortunately, I didn't have any spices or whatever to enhance the flavor, but it didn't really matter as I burned my entire mouth and some of my throat. I couldn't taste anything and swallowing was even painful!
In an hour, I ate the entirety of the bear, and the moon had reached three-quarters of its complete cycle. 'I should take the bones and fur before I head back.'
The bones and fur wouldn't degrade in just a few hours, so there wasn't much to worry about unless it started raining. Even then, both would still be salvageable. Once back at the base, I rinsed the fur in the pond to clean it off and then laid it out like a makeshift rug, letting it air dry. Unfortunately, drying under the moonlight took far longer than it would have under the sun, but it didn't really matter as I wasn't planning on sleeping just yet.
Four hours passed like that while I just relaxed and took in this new world peacefully, and the moon had fully set while the sun had risen. Life returned to the forest, and I could hear all types of different beasts and insects sing! All the while, I deemed this a perfect opportunity to test my limits.
I went back to the battle site from earlier and took multiple heavy boulders, bringing them back to base. I couldn't tell you how much each one weighed; I just know that the width of most of them was four meters and the height five meters of solid earth, of course! What I noted was that I still didn't feel exhausted or tired from carrying such things back and forth over a distance of 75 meters (246 ft). This also included any complicated obstacle in the way!
Again, I didn't feel near exhausted, which meant that being a high-human and only at the black-stage brought massive benefits. If I was full earlier I could have definitely carried the bear back to base! I didn't test my speed, but I figure it's pretty fast, at least compared to others of the same stage, except for other races most likely. In no time, it reached near noon, and I sat outside of the cave opening, laying back on one of the boulders outside!
I closed my eyes and resumed my meditation from the beginning of the night, but this time felt smoother. I could feel more and quicker; however, I couldn't pull anything in like in other novels, so I just continued observing; learning whatever I could!
A soothing sensation was water, a shocking feeling was lightning, a breeze was wind, a hot feeling was fire. Even further was a freezing sensation, which correlated to ice, a hard, viscous liquid related to magma (presumably), a piercing heat was light, and a piercing cold was darkness. Then, after that, I could feel the unique or higher elements like blood (what I assumed was blood) because of my own body, and a neutral mana, which floated around everywhere. If anything, it was the closest to creation I had come to sense.
'What is neutral?' I figure it's something like barriers or runes, something of no element that requires a certain talent to access, but this was all hypothesis until I could truly confirm. It could even be like a reinforcement that makes one stronger or things of the individual's choosing stronger.
For some reason, I felt a strong tie to this energy, so I willed for it to come to me, and unlike any of the other elements, this one did! At a fast pace as well, so fast that I discarded sensing anymore and focused on this single element.
Swoosh Swoosh~
Energy rushed into my body right where the floating white orb was located, which now I could more accurately feel was overlaid at the sternum or the center of the chest. I could only tell because of the heat emanating from it now that mana was flowing into it so fast and roughly. Thankfully, I practiced slightly with my mana throughout the night, or else I'd have blown apart, but I still struggled to control this energy.
I felt my body dry and hunger approaching. My breaths became more and more ragged while my willpower was starting to wane! This was truly my first-ever test against this level of pain for the first time, since my original death was instant and painless. If I had to compare it, then maybe it was like a thousand needles poking the body endlessly while being heated!
"U-UGH!" I didn't give up, though. I held out, and I don't know for how long, but all I heard was a "Ding~" sound. This sound paired with a new yellow surroundings and a red core, but I only caught that for a glimpse. This meant I had jumped to the yellow stage all the way from the black stage! The red-stage was even closer in sight!
Pa~
My vision turned black and I couldn't do anything else.