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A large group of adventures could be seen marching straight through the first foothills and smaller crystal growths, which were arranged and dense like a normal forest.
Mages with more or less magnificent robes, often in the colors of the elements they had. Some robes were simple and plain, while others had decorations, runes, expensive threads and even different colors, a clear sign of the power of some wizards who had several elements.
Avan himself knew about this because he had read dozens of books on the subject the previous day. Only one in 10,000 people had the good fortune to awaken one element naturally, and only one in 1 million people had the phenomenal good fortune to awaken two elements. This, of course, does not include people who could afford to consume treasures in the form of crystallized elements or something like the [Golden Meaples] to forcefully awaken an element. If a person wanted to awaken a second or even a third element through such measures, one had to consume more elemental energy with each increasing element and this became exponentially more.
While a single [Golden Meaple] was enough to awaken the Celestial Element in someone who had none before, it took hundreds or even thousands of these ultra expensive and rare natural treasures to awaken it as a second element. With a third element, this number would increase into many many millions, or into such a high concentration in a few that one could buy all of Eos with it.
That mages possessed two elements was unbelievable, and they were usually fought over, because such people were called prodigies.
Also one differentiated again in the different elements, as Avan already from Akkalons Dungeon knew. Basic elements like fire, air, water and earth were the most common awakened elements. If someone was lucky enough to awaken two elements in harmony, such as air and fire, it automatically resulted in a third element, lightning, which was one of the advanced elements and considered ultra rare. Such persons were often married into royal families, as there was a chance of passing on these elements and properties to their descendants.
Among the advanced elements were the combinations of the basic elements. Fire and air resulted in lightning, fire and earth in lava, earth and water in plant, air and water in storm.
And then there were the legendary elements.... Celestial and Dimensional! That Avan had been so lucky with the Celestial element was still something he could only shake his head at, speechless, when he finally had the basics of magic and elments before his eyes.
There were also countless subcategories of each element that could be awakened through training or special circumstances. Simple things like someone with water who, with luck, could learn to master the blood element. Or with earth different metal elements. And not to mention the advanced elements like Lightning, which allowed you to master the Plasma element.
To the legendary elements one knew as good as nothing, except that celestial was the main element of the gods on Aorus, and Dimensional was needed for spatial treasures, which is why these items were so coveted that wars could be fought over them.
And here there were a handful of mages who each possessed two elements and displayed them openly by the colors on their robes. *Idiots* was the only thing Avan could think of, unless someone was wearing it just to mislead others, strategically it was just stupid to tell your opponent exactly which element you had mastered. Even the healers who possessed water or earth and could summon the power of nature and healing wore their profession openly on their robes. *This makes it very easy for any enemy to directly seek out the healers and eliminate them first.... tsk...*
And among the other adventurers, all kinds of weapons were represented, from flails, clubs, swords, daggers, crossbows and bows, while the commander of the quest and vice-leader of the Adventurer's Guild of Tria fought with a large double-edged two-handed sword, a huge blade 2 meters long.
Avan glanced at his own group and team members and was relatively glad to have convinced Jen to put on stronger material in the form of sturdy leather, which not only accentuated her figure as a young attractive woman, but also offered much better protection than the robe she had worn before. And not to mention the strategic advantage that not every Tom, Dick and Harry knew immediately that she was the healer of the party.
Dani herself was again dressed in a dark green leather outfit, a quiver and a hunting bow on her back, and two arm-length daggers at her belt. Patris, the troop's warrior and tank, had a new tower shield that wobbled back and forth on his back as the adventures marched through the first crystal formations, and a medium longsword at his hip that could be carried one-handed or two-handed.
Avan himself, having given Jen his old focus, had not taken anything else and was satisfied with his robe. He was walking with Jen at the end of the group, talking to her about magic on Eos and various theories about runes that they both had. Nevertheless, he was also still careful not to reveal anything of his true abilities and remained silent even with his own mind-bending theories and spells.
Avan's experiments in the last days and nights had literally opened his eyes. His magic had progressed in leaps and bounds, and last night he even made a breakthrough when he developed new rune formations just in case.
His latest breakthrough was finally, as he knew from games and fantasy novels, the passive skill [Mana Manipulation]!
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[Mana Manipulation]
Longer than I thought, but you finally got it. What usually only fully trained mages graduating from glorious academies learn to master, you have learned to grasp faster than anyone ever before, thanks to your cheat powers as a dungeon!
This skill allows you to see mana in your surroundings and affect it with a lot of concentration.
[Bronze] No pain, no gain! Your inner instincts now guide you in influencing mana in the environment.
{Silver] You can now not only see mana, but change the properties of mana outside your body with much effort and concentration.
[Gold] A flick of your finger is all it takes for the mana around you to obey your will. In a fight with another mage with the same ability, it comes down to the sheer willpower of the two opponents as to who triumphs over the mana.
[Platinum] You have achieved something legendary. The mana in your immediate vicinity obeys your will and you have learned the passive skill [Mana Domain].
[Diamond] Any mana of your own elements is like an extension of your body. If you possess an element, you have absolute control over it in your [Mana Domain]. When you meet someone who also has a [Mana Domain], a contest of will and mana takes place to decide who wins. Stronger and rarer elements always win over weaker elements, no matter how strong the will and mana of the other is!
[Mana Domain]
A simple name for an immense power. Only the fewest Sages and Grand Mages succeed in achieving this after decades of study on Mana and its effects.
Depending on your own mana capacity and your magical strength, a sphere surrounds you on all sides with you as the center. In your own domain you have absolute control over the mana in you and around you and the rarer and stronger your own element is, the more difficult or impossible it is to wrest your control in your mana domain.
[-] This passive ability has no stages, but is automatically bundled into similar abilities and can be combined instinctively.
Not only did Avan directly learn levels of [Mana Manipulation] that were actually far above his own level, but he also received the overpowered skill [Mana Domain] at the same time!
And as if that wasn't enough cheating, the Mana Domain had instantly combined with his sphere of influence as a dungeon and spawned something new there as well! The previous skill [Celestial Sphere] had evolved without his intervention.
[Dungeon Domain]
Not only are you a dungeon and your body the dungeon core, but you now have absolute control over any mana in the environment if you concentrate.
Through your first element, Celestial, you have absolute and unchanging control over any mana of the lower elements, no matter how powerful or strong-willed your opponent is. Basic and Advanced Elements kneel before your authority!
[Bronze] Range is multiplied by 5. (50m)
You are now able to store various mundane materials and keep them physically stable inside your Domain. You have unlocked an anchor point. This anchor point has 10 000% of your own defensive power and cannot be damaged with elements under your own authority.
[Silver] Range is multiplied by 5. (250m)
You are now able to store advanced materials and keep them physically stable inside your Domain.
[Gold] Range is multiplied by 5. (1250m)
You are now able to store magical materials and keep them stable inside your Domain.
You are like a demi-god and no one can hide from you; the vast majority of methods to conceal objects or beings in your sphere of influence is negated and you sense things as they actually are. Elements subject to your own authority have no power in your domain to hide.
Avan grinned to himself as he reread the skill descriptions of the three passive skills and had a little bounce in his step full of joy. Jen saw his behavior at her side, but left it uncommented and simply rejoiced when she saw the happy grin of her fellow competitor.
"Halt!" Came the commander who had walked in front with his assistant and just looked at the various adventurers behind him and raised a palm. "We have now arrived on the level. Here we make our camp for the next 2 days and meet again and again. Please note that you are required to check in every evening so that we know that no one is missing. If we have to send out a search party and you have merely dawdled, you will have to pay for the costs and wasted time of the participating search parties!"
With these words and a unanimous nod from the audience, everyone set up their tents in their own little groups. Some had come alone and simply had a lot of confidence in their abilities, while the vast majority had gone in at least pairs or even with a 5-man group.
Since it was just approaching noon, Avan's group also decided to take advantage of the daylight and explore the area today, while collecting the first crystals.
The crystal forest around them was beautiful to look at and had crystals in all imaginable colors and variations of a rainbow. However, one could not simply mine these crystals in the formations to be seen as they stood there, but it was about the highly concentrated mana crystals of the respective elements that were so hotly sought after. White crystals were elementless, while all colored ones belonged to the respective elements and could be used for the most diverse purposes.
Avan himself wondered to this day which element his pink, almost lilac, crystals belonged to. *But all in good time.*
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