It was fairly late when they arrived. Jill had teleported them into the training area directly. His brother was the only one awake at the time, and he had checked on them once they arrived. They talked a little about what had happened, and Mash mentioned what they had done to test his skills out. The others immediately went to bed, but he spent some time with his brother working on his new affinity. His brother used ice magic and Mash was able to practice freezing things with his magic. It was a little different than how his brother’s magic worked, but he managed to freeze a couple of things. The affinity was weird, and he found it a lot easier to heat things up.

After a little over an hour, his brother left to get some sleep. Mash still wasn’t tired and continued to mess around with his new affinities. He even tried doing things with his spirit affinity. The soul affinity sounded like it could be risky to just try, so he decided to test the spirit one out. He didn’t know what to expect but hoped that Priscilla could help guide him.

That proved to be an effort in futility. No matter what he tried or what Priscilla suggested, he just couldn’t make anything happen. It was like his energy refused to do react to the affinity in the slightest. It wasn’t a matter of quantity or quality. No, it just felt like he was missing something. There was some requirement for the magic, and it was something he apparently didn’t meet. Was it his race? Red suggested that elves were the only ones that could do it, and he didn’t think he was an elf.

He had an idea but wanted to make sure no one was around. His head swiveled in a full circle. He repeated the motion and made absolutely certain of his privacy. Then he transformed. It wasn’t a big transformation, but he tried changing to become a half-elf. He probably couldn’t become a normal elf, but he should be able to do this. Not much changed about him. He may have shrunk an inch or so and his ears might have become slightly more pointed, but he didn’t notice any other changes. Mash checked in with Priscilla too.

[Did the affinity improve?]

[It did, but it was an insignificant improvement.]

Her message came flatly like she was somewhat bored. It was as if she expected it. How could she know? As he thought about the question, her answer appeared in his mind. Unlike the message, this was a more direct thought. She simply believed that his species was inherently worse at utilizing mana. Even if Mash was talented, it wouldn’t have amounted to anything without the class. They were reliant on it for all of their abilities. Mash had his own thoughts on the matter. One that was prefaced by the fact that he had beat her despite having far less time or experience.

[That is because of your ability and talent. Not the class system. I suspect you would have managed with any avenue.]

Mash was unprepared for the genuine compliment. Priscilla didn’t really lie to him, and she was blunt when conveying information. Praise like that from her would be her literal perception. He felt a little more confident now and tried again with the magic. Nothing changed. The minor improvement in the affinity didn’t really help him with the magic. However, it did make him wonder what it meant to have an affinity.

[Can you use magic without an affinity?]

He received a reply as soon as he asked the question.

[Yes, but only a specific kind. Mana itself is an affinity; one that all creatures possess, though it may be small in some. However, anyone could accomplish simple things like moving the ambient mana in the air. To change the properties of mana requires an affinity.]

He thought about what she said but knew that there was a contradiction in there. In the past, Priscilla had suggested that she could do more magic than what she had an affinity for. Not to mention that he knew that there were mages long before the class system had been created. There had to be a way to bypass affinities.

[There is, but it is not reasonable. It is a matter of understanding and alteration. For example, I know how to perform fire magic despite lacking the affinity. Fire and lightning magic is similar in the way that mana is manipulated to perform them. I manipulate my own affinity to emulate that of another.]

That was what he was hoping for. He had known about his life affinity for a while, but he hadn’t yet tested it. After the flesh thing that had formed within the orb that Daniel had given him, he was hesitant. The life affinity wasn’t dangerous, but he didn’t want to create anything that he would need to kill. Or worse yet, something that just died as soon as it came to life. He shivered remembering how he had given life to the flesh when he learned of the affinity. It would remain a nightmare within his mind. He tried to ignore it as he sent Priscilla another message.

[Does that mean I could heal with my life affinity?]

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They discussed it for a little while, and Mash learned that the affinity was different from what he was thinking. When Priscilla and Daniel had said life, they meant it in a literal sense. His magic was all touched by his affinity. His wooden creations, the imitations, and even his forms were made alive through his magic. They were connected to his life and gained one of their own. Even if it was hard to tell sometimes. Did all humans have the affinity? Was it something he gained when his race changed?

The conversation ended with a rather firm belief that he couldn’t heal with it. Although he could try giving his imitations more life or making them of things other than just Priscilla. That sounded like it shouldn’t be too difficult, and he tried making an imitation of himself. He couldn’t make it as accurate as the ones of Priscilla. The wood simply didn’t have the right color or texture. His wood was naturally scaled now, which helped when he was copying Priscilla, but it made his human replica distinctly inhuman.

Mash’s wood had slowly changed with each of his advancements, and now it was entirely scaled. It still felt like wood, but it was black, and the bark overlapped itself making the scales look more real. Thus, the imitation that he had made of himself, looked nothing like him. The problem was that it didn’t look like any of his forms either. There was a surprising amount of detail on the imitation, but it was of his human body. When he transformed his body changed to become very human. Plus, he couldn’t replicate the clothes right either. He made sure to give it clothing, but it just made it look blocky. Well, the appearance didn’t really matter. He was trying to impart it with life, whatever that meant.

Mash tried to comprehend what life magic was, but he didn’t know how to apply it practically. Priscilla gave him a good explanation, but what did it mean to give life to something. He didn’t really know what else to do. He could control it with some effort, but that wasn’t exactly what he would call life. This was just a puppet. What was the next step, how did he make it more like the imitations of Priscilla?

[How do you usually control the imitations? Actually, how do you control your bodies?]

Mash decided asking Priscilla was the best method for this.

[The bodies I create with the capacity for replacing my own. That way if even a single body lives, I will survive. I can tell that is not what you want. As for the wooden imitations, I simply connect them with mental mana. Your skills unconsciously do that when you alter your body or grow additional limbs.]

Priscilla was really a fountain of information. He would bet that her understanding of magic was far greater than anyone in his world. Or at least among the very best. It was something to take note of. He wondered what it would be like if he spent years just working with her knowledge. It would probably take him a while to learn everything she had to teach, but it also wasn’t necessary. She provided him with the relevant information when he needed it, and he could ask her for specific things when doing his own tests. He would gradually build on the knowledge that she could offer.

[Decades to understand everything. You greatly underestimate my age.]

Her comment was surprising. He knew that she had lived a long time and assumed that she had lived for hundreds of years. It seemed like his scale was too small. Mash couldn’t help but ask.

[Why did you join with me? Aren’t you stronger?]

The question hovered on the edge of his thoughts whenever he thought about what exactly Priscilla was. Mash bet that she would probably be considered a legendary monster like a dragon. Even if her power didn’t match with those beings. Mash didn’t doubt that there was something restricting her when they fought in that dungeon. Nor did he doubt that she could’ve won that fight if she had really wanted to.

[You were given a mark by a being that would not even acknowledge me. I had lived upon those beings back for ages and yet could never hope to earn anything from it. Even my long life was nothing to the World Carrier. Yet, you who had lived an even smaller amount of time had earned not one, but two of those marks. I joined with you to gain a taste of their power. I wanted to understand what made them so great.]

Mash listened, trusting that she would be direct with her words. She was not the type to hide her intentions. This was no different, and she continued with her blunt words.

[Truthfully, I expected you to die. Even if you had lived for hundreds of years, it would mean little to me if I could glimpse a path to further evolution. Perhaps you will absorb me at some point. It was a risk, but one I took to break the cycle that had trapped me. Nothing would have come from me remaining in my own world. I was already at the apex, only the World Carrier was above me. That was an insurmountable gap to me before. That is why I choose to join with you.]

Priscilla hesitated slightly as she sent the messages. He wasn’t sure why she had chosen to reveal so much, but it made him feel better. The honesty was something he had wanted. Even if she revealed that she hadn’t really cared for him. As she shared more, he felt his confidence rebuilding.

[For the first time, I am unsure. If you die, I might also die. Though it may be that I will simply transfer to one of my other bodies. This pressure of death was something that I had lacked. I am unsure if it is beneficial. However, I have already gained more than I would’ve expected. The many affinities you have taken, I have gained as well. That alone would have taken me thousands of years to develop. Even your envious talent is benefiting me. Whether I live or die, I would not forget the human that had granted me so much.]

Mash was stunned by her words. His response froze on his tongue. He was going to thank her for the honesty, but that felt inappropriate. Instead, he committed the words to memory. Mash’s dwindling confidence had been bolstered. The word’s reminded him just how much time he still had left. Although it was not a reminder to take things slowly but to continue with confidence. It felt like she was encouraging him to do more. He placed his hands on the wooden replica of his own body and imagined connecting to it as if it was another limb. Its arm moved smoothly, naturally, and landed gently on his shoulder. The connection had formed.