I'd already researched many things regarding my various Attributes and Enigma's special 'Gift'.
I was unable to tell the difference between regular humans and myself at first...
There wasn't any external changes.
It was until I began to concentrate in order to sense the Mana within other living beings, that I 'felt' it.
It was a unique ability only I was able to use.
A power that allowed me to gain a deeper understanding of Ether and Mana as whole.
I wouldn't have been able to properly utilise my Mana to mimic elements without the its deductive abilities.
It was only in my eyes that every human except myself had a pure white 'flame' within their hearts.
This 'magical flame' was what I believed to be the Internal Energy within Humans and Beasts alike.
But wasn't the important part...
The most vital information I gathered was that my own 'flame' wasn't like those of others. The flame within me might have looked pure white on the surface, but I knew through sensing it that there was a hidden darkness underneath its exterior.
From what I'd researched over the years with the help of my doting parents, this pitch black flame with blue highlights should be 'Moon Mana': The main Internal Energy used by Fiends of the past.
I felt instinctively that I could switch the positions of the white flame and the black flame hidden within it. All my internal energy needed was just a single push of my own willpower. It was a choice…
It was such an easy thing to do to the point it felt like an inborn ability... but even so, I never used this mysterious ability. There was no way I'd lose my cautiousness towards the unknown.
After all, my instincts were born from my paranoia.
It's not like I could do that fiction-like thing of sensing someone looking at me. It had a 'logic'.
If I didn't see it and feel fearful of it, then it wouldn't register. I was aware of this weakness.
That's why I didn't want to act recklessly.
If it couldn't be predicted, then it was best to let the matter rest. Better find a way to ask Enigma…
I felt at ease using my methodology again.
It wasn't not I lived a long life on Earth by being reckless enough to mess with .
Who knew what could happen if I was to unleash my Moon Mana?
Perhaps I would mutate immediately and become unable to return to my humanoid form... There may be a chance that everything would be fine, but I wouldn't draw a conclusion without evidence!
Instead of relying on a power I'm unable to understand, my first objective would be to master my current abilities to their maximin limit. This also included my Burst Techniques and Magic Arts.
There's plenty of time for me to investigate this innate ability Enigma had secretly gifted me.
No need to be impatient about this.
Trusting someone didn't mean being careless…
I previously believed Enigma didn't wish to harm me, but there were a lot of things regarding my reincarnation that don't seem to add up... or maybe it was my own mistake for not asking anything.
Nah~ It's definitely the former~! How can someone as intelligent like myself make such a mistake?
Either way, it's not like I was making a mountain out of a molehill... Enigma was suspicious anyway.
For example: Why did he reincarnate me as a servant of a noble family of swordsmen? Those who were located near the borders of their kingdom…? There were many better options than this if he wanted me to live a peaceful life...
I shouldn't have walked out without listening to Enigma's explanation regarding my special Attributes! Why wasn't I suspicious of that mysterious being like I was with everyone else...?
Well... no point complaining over spilt milk...
I should keep moving forward!
"The Lightning, Wind, Water, Earth and Fire Natures within one's Mana are mere counterfeits of the real thing. The Elemental Attributes of Gaia can't be copied so easily... The Gods only 'lend' only a bit of their power as gifts to humanity.
However, being able to use them to their fullest potential shouldn't be hard for a reincarnated individual like myself!" This may have sounded arrogant, but my words were at least backed up by my previous life's scientific knowledge.
Increasing my magical combat potential should be easier than creating powerful Spells at least.
With a single thought, I released my Mana and used it to mimic flames.
The diamond-like glow of the reinforcement around my arm turned ruby red as a result.
Their were many ways of mastering Burst Manipulation. There was no fixed path of mastery.
The creator of this flexible technique originally wanted to use it to sharpen his reinforcement, but those of less ingenuity than 'Sword Emperor' Gerald Knightly… found that adding more Mana to it was the easiest way to increase its power.
Sharpening one's magical reinforcement to the point it could cut down those of stronger Magical Talents took a lot of effort. On top of that, adding more Mana into the Art was an effective tactic.
In order to bring out greater effects was the easiest method used to control Burst Manipulation.
The most 'orthodox' way of increasing ones mastery over Burst Manipulation had changed over time. This caused the sharpening of a person's magical reinforcement to become the most 'unorthodox' way of mastering it.
From what I've researched, the Sword Emperor's method of training his Mana was crazy…
It was to the point it'd make one wonder why he had to go so far just to increase his strength.
I'm not too keen on following in that insane guy's footsteps when it comes to improving myself...
It wasn't that I was wimping out. I'd already went through hell and back training in my past life.
What was a little more strenuous exercise…?
It's just that my parents would worry. There was no need to take risks using such a dangerous method.
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I'd be fine without it…
I punched out while focusing the ruby red radiance onto my fist, then watched the result carefully.
My knuckles punched empty air.
A hand-sized amount of crimson flames shot out of my knuckles with a single punch, but vanished into thin air inches away from it. I couldn't 'extend' my fiery reinforcement out of my body any further…
"Not enough..." Although such a punch could hurt ordinary fighters using Burst Manipulation, it wouldn't be able to even scratch those that had higher Magical Talent. Those guy's who properly used Burst Manipulation to an acceptable level…
The war between Swordsman of this world under different national powers against the Blood Nation's forces was very dangerous. I didn't want my fate to be decided by others. Instead, I hope to be able to protect myself with my own strength!
This world was so beautiful, and it would be a shame to spend most of my life in this mansion as a regular servant. However, I wasn't going to leave this house without any sort of preparation.
My father might let me experience the world for myself as a Mercenary instead of a Butler.
I'm sure he'd agree and give me permission.
This was the decision I came to after my years of training to become a powerful fighter.
After strengthening my resolve, I tampered with the crimson flames of my Fire Mana and experimented different ways to put it to use. If I focused solely on Spell Conjuring, a projectile attack was possible.
I used the Tetrahedron Theory Id learnt from my past life to create three unique Spells. One that emphasised on 'Heat', while the other emphasised on an extremely 'Explosive' chemical reaction.
The third one I thought of focused more on spreading, rather than burning the opponent.
I'd put this to the side after remembering how lethal it would be if it was to hit a human target.
The power of incineration was hard to control, after all. I tried to manipulate Fire Ether the same way I'd done with my manifested flames. It was because I was still a rare Universal Specialist of all affinities.
Technically, it shouldn't have been a problem.
The result was creating a few small thumb-sized Blue Fireballs. They had the power of a Second Tier Combat Spell. An accomplishment only I alone had the wisdom to achieve with my...
…less than desirable Magic Capacity.
Looks like there weren't any problems with using my Spell Conjuring despite my Magical Talent.
It must be due to the power of my Sun Attribute.
There are many of Gaia who had improvised and improved Combat Spells and Arts over the course of history. Some created their own Intrinsic Magic that only they could use. Others sold their Spells to the Mage Association for fame and fortune.
I won't mention all those failures I had where my body was thrown off the floor and onto a wall…
Ummm… It was the result that counted.
Trying to create new Art was a lot harder than it looked. Failure was the stepping stones to success!
At least I didn't burn my room down or alert the entire household. I didn't allow the destructive potential of my personal Spells go over a certain limit. I really HAD outdone myself this time~
It was the first time I felt my stubbornly narrow mindset could be an advantage. Comprehending how to create new magical techniques was easier when you had your own 'system' of appropriation.
I remembered how I was just unable to truly believe that things like Metal Mana and Earth Mana being of different elements. This before coming to understand the affinity of Earth more deeply.
Metal Mana had nothing to do with ores from the ground and had more to do with the user itself.
It was the power to remain unaffected by most other Attributes. A topic that interested me..
But that wasn't unimportant for now…
In my opinion, everything in the world originated from the four main natural elements:
Those being Fire, Water, Earth, and Wind.
The fact that I could bring myself to imagine Lightning as a separate element was already hard to do. Especially after experiencing my previous life as a man of science. (In College, at least.)
This world is filled with a variety of External Energies of different attributes.
However, one's ability to manipulate them depended on how talented they were at visualising elements. Only aster comprehending them, could Gaia Humans become the master of their powers.
I was now able to comprehend the five elements of nature, but even that advantage it wasn't enough to match those who could ignore elemental weaknesses. It wasn't as easy as matching 'types'.
Mana could resist Mana.
Even if you tried to burn someone with higher Mana, all they had to do was spend more energy.
Even Sun Mana couldn't mimic nor copy techniques of others with such a low amount.
After all, I wouldn't be able to reproduce any of the other techniques passed down to me if my own Magic Talent couldn't properly keep up. Even being the slightest bit misguided could cause harm.
For example: Although I'd gained insight into Lightning Mana and was able to produce 'Purple Lightning', this doesn't mean I will be able to easily use techniques beyond basic Lightning Spells.
After all, there was a limit to what a self-taught Magic User could train by himself.
Well... this would be true if I had no knowledge of Earth. I'd already seen technological advancements using electricity on Earth, so creating my own special Arts and Spells was a walk in the park!
Although scientists of my past life weren't able to deduce 'why' lightning formed within storm clouds on rainy days, they were STILL able to harness its power after understanding 'how' it worked.
They ended up using batteries to store electricity...
[Spell Conjuring- Water Manipulation!]
This time, a small cloud hovered above my hand.
I used it to produce a large amount of natural lightning for a period of time.
The different things I was able to perceive in that time through actually seeing the 'Blue Lightning' myself really helped me. It allowed me to find new ways to control, harness, and convert the energy.
Unlike the lightning of Earth, the 'Purple Lightning' of Gaia had a strange ability to affect one's heart and spirit… This went hand in hand with the body and mind. Thus, it's versatility was endless!
It was as if the Attribute of Lightning didn't only contain the power to destroy anything it touched.
It also the power to affect others innately...
[Spell Conjuring- Lightning Manipulation]
The sapphire-like reinforcement around my hand slowly turned amethyst. It took in the blue electricity I created above my hand. Only then did the clouds made above my hand dissipated.
They became nothing again.
My new 'Secret Art' had come together nicely.
I saw in that moment the balance where Blue Lightning and Lightning Aura could overlap.
Now that I thought about it, couldn't I manipulate magnetism now that I could now fully control the qualities of my self-made Lightning Art? It wasn't as if there were any restrictions blocking me.
It was then that I felt I was struck by a flash of inspiration! My gaze flickered momentarily…
I extended out my Earth Mana type reinforcement to create a set of round, spherical marbles.
Then I tried adding a positive charge to one marble and a negative charge to another using my Mana.
The result almost made me cry out loud in excitement. I'd succeeded in magnetising the the spheres of Earth in my hands perfectly. Many experiments also found that a mixture of Elemental Bursts could manipulate natural forces of nature.
My eyes opened to various new possibilities…
I wanted to continue experimenting, but before I could my thoughts were interrupted by a knocking on the door. I reluctantly stopped practicing and opened the door to whoever was annoying me...!
Damn! Which idiot interrupted me?!
"Simon Rainglow, I've come to challenge you!" A big and burly guy about my age said to my face.
He was a little too close for comfort…
I looked at the unreasonably tall 'idiot' who was both arrogantly and proudly standing before me.
There was apparently a blank expression on my face after hearing his words. What did he expect?
What the hell was with this guy?!
"I refuse." My hand unceremoniously closed the door and went back to my training after answering the arrogant prick. To think he'd dare interrupt my important magic practices and experiments…!
This time, I turned the spheres into cubes and tried to stick them together using magnetism.
My new magical technique was being derived from the four fundamental forces of nature on Earth.
This unique Spell I set out to personally create had a lot of room for development….
As I continued to patiently learning the extent of my powers, someone knocked on my door once again. This time the volume of the knocks were louder. What was this guy planning to ask?
"I challenge you to a duel!" The same burly kid my age roared again after I'd opened the door to see who it was. It seemed he was more annoyingly persistent than most. Now this was a headache.
He looked like he'd repeatedly declare his challenge until I actually agreed to battling him.
How annoying...
"I refuse." I answered again without hesitation.
I'm not interested in what he meant by a 'duel'.
It sounds troublesome no matter how I hear it.
As I was about to slam the door once more, the youth reached out his large fingers and pulled.
His hand firmly kept the door open with a powerful grasp. He wasn't taking 'No' for an answer…
"You're that new scoundrel of 'Personal Butler' candidate, right? The F Rank Magical Talent who used his father's influence to worm his way to the Young Miss's side?" The giant youth asked provocatively with a glare.
After hearing his questions, I didn't feel anger.
As a respectable adult like myself, wouldn't getting angry at a mere child like him be immature...?!
I didn't know what he's talking about, but I feel like I'd lose if I asked... It was better to just go along with what he's saying. Then I could get back to experimenting with my new Spells already.
"I don't know who you are, nor why you want to take that position off me using force, but if you're looking for someone to teach you manners, then you've come to the right place...!
I accept your challenge!" With my strong words, the youth smiled slyly as if he had anticipated my strong reaction. He didn't even try to hide his disdain. His gaze held a light of amusement..
..but at the very least, he had finally backed off and let me close the door. It made me sigh in relief.
It was too bad, but… I lied~!
I just didn't want to stand near my own for a long time to argue with him. It'd just ruin my mood…
Well, time to get back to my experiments~