Langa charged, thrusting Tonare forward, wondering if the spirit was corporeal or if his glaive would pass right through it. However, that question was answered when it parried his attack with such force that it sent him stumbling back.

The Legacy twirled its translucent spear, eyeing Langa with a critical gaze. "You call that an attack? Are you waving a stick at a passing glitterfly? Put in some strength!"

Breathing in once, then twice, Langa took on his basic stance again. He could feel the solid ground of the track under him, as he lowered his stance to get more power before leaping at the Legacy, both hands on his glaive as he tried to slash the Legacy's ghostly chest. However, his glaive collided with the Legacy's own, and he was pushed back.

"Again!" it said.

Langa gritted his teeth, attempting another slash, but the Legacy effortlessly parried it, and shook its head, unimpressed. "You're just swinging it, there's no technique to your movement. Hell, you haven't even done any mana infusion. That's a unique glaive made with the essence and passion of a strong, legendary thunderbird, yet you treat it like some common pike?”

Why would he be using mana infusion for a simple spar like this? Wouldn't using Thunderbird's Stunning Strike make the training kind of redundant? “I don't want to use Thunderbird's Stunning Strike just yet. Didn't you want to see my technique, so that you can know how to help me raise the skill?” Langa asked, confused.

The Legacy stared at him as if he'd said the most ridiculous thing that it'd ever heard. “Do you not know that you can strengthen the glaive with mana without activating Thunderbird's Stunning Strike?”

"No," he said honestly. That was news to Langa. The only times that he had ever infused his mana into the glaive was when he was activating the skill, so he had no idea that he could just infuse mana into it regularly.

The Legacy analysed him, its eyes looking deep into him as if searching for something important. It shook its head once it was done and then sighed. “You don't have a mana core. That explains a lot. Alright, let us deal with that later; for now, let me see your pure technique.”

For some reason, Langa got the feeling that the Legacy was disappointed in him, which made no sense to him. What reason did it have to be invested in him or his mana anyway? It wasn't really alive, it was just a temporary, passing essence core, right? He did not appreciate the way that it was acting towards him right now. How did it expect him to know all these things when he came from a lost world without any mana?

Frustrated, Langa used Flash Step and swung the glaive hard, but the Legacy sidestepped his strike effortlessly. "Pitiful. You're not the leading fire dancer at the festival of lights, Langa! Where is the power in your swing? Stand firm in your stance and learn to control your strength. Combat is not just about speed, it's about technique!"

Langa, panting, tightened his hold on Tonare, hoping to put more power into his next swing. He tried to attack again, but the Legacy's stern voice stopped him, "Footwork, boy! Footwork! You're stumbling like a drunkard. A spearman needs to have a solid foundation, and when your feet are on the ground, move them effectively. Watch this, and follow me!" The Legacy's feet moved in a pattern: left, up, back, and then right. It showed him the different steps that went with the Legacy of The Tonare Thunderbird Spearmanship skill and demonstrated the exact motions, without a single mistake.

This was different from the general steps that Liv had taught Langa, as these were specific to his skill. He watched attentively as the Legacy continued to demonstrate it for him until he felt like he was ready to try them himself. Langa stumbled the first few times that he tried to follow the Legacy's movements. However, it was surprisingly patient with him, perhaps because it saw his willingness to learn. Training had always been something that Langa gave his all to, and this was no different.

While he didn't like the way that the Legacy criticised his movements, after an hour, Langa could see why it had been so hard on him. Now that he understood how he was supposed to do it, moving didn't feel like a chore. He did not have to use his agility all the time to keep up, instead, he was now able to move in a way that reduced the number of actions he took. After a while, he was able to barely match the way that the Legacy moved, and it nodded at him.

"Your footwork is now passable," it said. "I can at least be assured that you won't die from stumbling over your own feet."

Langa looked up into the air. "I get it, Lackadaisical Herald, it is a decent teacher, but couldn't you have given this essence core a nicer personality?"

[The Deiwos Clan god: The Lackadaisical Herald of The Lightning Storm, says that the personality of the essence core is rooted in the heart of the Legacy, and he cannot change it.]

"Awesome," Langa muttered sarcastically.

"Are you done whining? Shall we continue? Now, let's talk about the grip," the Legacy continued, adjusting Langa's hold on his spear. "No, not like you're holding a common broom. Your grip must be firm, but not rigid. The weapon is an extension of yourself, and you must treat it as such."

Langa attempted another attack using the new grip, but the Legacy easily blocked it. "You strike, then retreat, strike, then retreat. Is that all you know how to do? You won't win any battles that way.”

“What am I supposed to do?” Langa asked, his temper flaring. “It hasn't even been ten days since I first held a fucking spear!”

"I see," the Legacy said, and its eyes softened a little. “You must use the spear's reach. Always keep your distance and control the opponent's engagement. Your other problem is that your shaft is too short."

In spite of himself, Langa snickered. “That's what she said.”

[The mid-tier constellation: Tarquinius, laughs.]

"Don't worry, there are plenty of potions in the Tower that can help you with that problem," the Legacy said, surprising Langa by getting the joke. “Anyway, if you have time to fool around and make bad jokes, then you have time to practise. As I was saying, a standard short spear has to have a shaft of at least 1.5 metres. You are keeping Tonare's length at only 1 metre, so you're severely limiting your range, which, with your subpar technique, is the only advantage you currently have.”

Damn, did it have to be so fucking rude? Wasn't this thing supposed to be helping him, not insulting him? “The glaive becomes heavier the longer it is, my strength is not high, so if I kept it longer, I'd just be slowing myself down.”

“If you want a lighter weapon, you're welcome to use the short sword version of the glaive,” the Legacy said derisively. “Extend the shaft.”

Muttering insults under his breath, Langa did as he was told, extending Tonare’s shaft to 1.5 metres. The glaive felt heavier, but he was still able to hold it well as he ran at the Legacy once more. This time, he tried to consciously incorporate the footwork that the Legacy had shown him into his attacks. Their spar started to become less like a one-sided beat-down and more like an actual teacher-student lesson.

As Langa continued to get better thanks to the increased learning speed, the Legacy's gruff voice gradually became milder. "Not bad. You've got potential, Langa, but potential won't save you on the battlefield. What's important is discipline, technique, and seizing as many opportunities as you can. Now, let's go again!"

The spar continued, with the Legacy's unending critiques filling the training grounds, above the constant clash of both of their spears. Persistent in its guidance, it seemed determined to mould Langa into a warrior worthy of carrying on Tonare's Legacy.

Within the next few hours, his Legacy of The Tonare Thunderbird’s Spearmanship skill increased to Beginner level 5. It went up two whole levels in such a short time! It had to be both because of the increased learning speed and because he finally understood the skill and wasn't just blindly following the stances. Langa was very happy with the result, as, despite the Legacy’s constant snark, insults and criticisms, it had taught him well.

By now, his stamina had fallen below 20%, though, and he was really tired. Langa plopped down on the track to rest and recover his stamina. "What's a divine nexus?" he asked.

The Legacy watched him as it stood above him, "It's a connection between a mortal and a deity. It can happen through items, artefacts, skills, affinities—it's uncommon, but it can strengthen the bond between a mortal and their deity massively. The more connected you are to your deity, the more effective your divine skills are, and the higher your faith."

Langa decided that he would read up on it more when he went back to the library. For now, there was a pressing question that he needed to ask. “Hey, Legacy, about what you were saying before, how do I form a mana core?” he asked, panting, as he lay on the ground. “A lot of people have mentioned it to me now, and it seems important.”

“I'm here to teach you spearmanship, not magic,” the Legacy told him in disapproval.

Langa raised his eyebrows, “But I need to learn some magic in order to infuse mana into Tonare. It would be helpful for me to raise my skill level. Surely, that falls within the limits of your duties, right?”

It closed its eyes for a moment as if it were thinking. This essence core was a Blessing, but it acted like a living person, and it was very intelligent too. Langa found The Lackadaisical Herald's powers fascinating. Was he able to do this because he was a god of life, or could all deities do this?

The Legacy seemed to decide that it was going to teach him after all. “You must feel the mana in the air and absorb it. The mana will then condense it near your heart or wherever is comfortable for you. That's how you form a mana core,” it told him. "Your mana core will create and be connected to a series of pathways in your body called the mana channels.

Langa looked at it blankly, still not fully understanding this whole thing. “Okay, but how do I do that?”

“I just told you,” the Legacy said with a frown.

“I mean, how do I feel the mana in the air? That's what I'm asking,” Langa clarified.

A look of surprise and disbelief crossed the Legacy’s ghostly face. “You can't feel it? You can't sense the lucents in the air?”

Langa shook his head and sat up. He did not even know what lucents were, was it related to the lucent crystals and stones? “Not really. All I can feel is the mana inside of me. Before, it was just like a normal energy that I could infuse into things that required mana infusion. But after I got my full affinity, I could feel the mana more intensely and it felt electric, and it's always sizzling inside me. “

"That's strange. All mortals have the ability to feel lucents and automatically form a mana core with time as long as they have a Mental Affinity and Resistance of at least 0 each," it said.

Shit. This negative Mental Resistance just loved fucking him over, didn't it? He needed to find an item that would increase his Mental Resistance as soon as possible.

"There are other ways to form a mana core besides the automatic one, right? Tell me about them," he said, not wanting to dwell on his weaknesses.

"Why?" the Legacy asked, clearly baffled.

"Does the reason matter?"

“I suppose not. At least you're well-attuned to your mana. Lucents are the individual particles of mana that occur naturally in the multiverse. To utilise magic, mortals absorb lucents in the atmosphere, concentrate them together into usable mana, and store the mana in their bodies. Every mortal has a finite amount of mana that they can hold, determined by their mind stat," the Legacy explained.

"Mortals can condense those lucents into a mana core, which is a container holding all the mana inside their body. Inside the mana core, mortals can do many things, as each mana core is formed according to the individual's magic. It can be a core of energy, a wheel regulating their magic, it can be in the shape of a body part or anything really. It can be located inside the heart, the brain or the stomach, the feet..." it said. "Anyway the mana core regulates the amount of mana that a mortal uses and creates mana channels for mana to easily move within the body. All Mages have the special stat: Wisdom and that synergises well with their mana manipulation. For those skills that require it, it makes it so there is no need to draw a magic circle every time you have to use a skill or cast a spell."

"Right, okay," Langa said, pretending that he understood. "What's the difference between a skill and a spell?"

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

"One skill can have multiple spells to invoke it, and spells can be Inscribed onto a scroll for once-off usage. Not everyone can do that, though, only those with an Inscription skill or those skills with Inscription inherent to them, like enchanting, runecraft and many others," the Legacy said. "You said you're not adept at using mana, right? Well, each magic skill is activated differently, depending on the spell used to activate it. Others just require simple mana infusion, others need incantations, others require the user to draw a magic circle, and others only need a single word to activate. Magic skills are controlled through many methods, including physical actions or hand signs. Tools help to make the process faster, like staves, sceptres or wands. Most people prefer to have the magic circle or incantation Inscribed in their mana core or elsewhere in their bodies, so they don't have to always draw the magic circle. However, that method has its own disadvantages."

This, Langa thought he understood to some extent. "Then, Thunderbird's Stunning Strike is activated by a magic circle, right? Whenever I infuse mana into the glaive, I see something lighting up on it."

"Correct."

"Then, as you said, having a mana core would regulate the mana I require to activate the skill?" he phrased it as a question to ensure he fully understood it.

"Precisely. Let me test something. Close your eyes and try to envision the same thing you feel in your body, all around you," the Legacy told him.

Langa sat in the lotus position and closed his eyes. He tried to feel the mana in the air, but all he could feel was the mana inside him. It was electric like it would explode at any moment. He could only feel the air, but nothing in it felt like the mana inside him. He continued sitting on the training grounds for over ten minutes, his spear held firmly in his grip. Bored, he opened his eyes and watched as the Legacy paced back and forth, a thoughtful expression on its face.

"Legacy, I still can't feel the lucents," Langa admitted, frustration in his voice, not from the lack of feeling it but from how uncomfortable this position was. How long would he have to stay like this?

"It's okay." The Legacy paused its pacing and turned to face him, its eyes filled with understanding. "Not everyone has the same connection to lucents. It's an uncommon gift to be able to feel them, but that doesn't mean you can't fully harness your mana. There are other ways for you to infuse it."

Langa nodded, he trusted the Legacy's guidance, as it had not let him down yet. The Legacy approached him, its cold, ghostly hand resting gently on his shoulder.

"Since you don't have a mana core and mana channels, we have to do things the old-fashioned way and go in raw," the Legacy said.

Langa wondered if he was being baited into another that's what she said joke. "What's that?"

"Close your eyes again, Langa," it instructed, its tone softer than before. "Focus on your breath, feel the mana flowing through your body. You said that your mana feels like electricity, right? You have a full lightning affinity, but it doesn't mean that you can emit lightning or create balls of lightning magic, just that that is what the properties of your mana are. Without mana channels, you won't be able to use your full affinity to its greatest potential, so if you want to give your mana a physical form, you need a mana manipulation skill."

"Wait, can I like, use my lightning mana to disrupt mind control? Like correct the electric signals in my brain to resist?" he asked eagerly opening his eyes. He was sure he remembered something about thoughts and actions being governed by ions or something from school.

"No," the Legacy said shaking its head. "How advanced is your world? Your mana is electric, and what you are talking about are electrochemical pathways, add in mana to the equation and it's a whole different game. I would explain it to you but I fear I would be wasting my time considering how hard comprehending this seems to you," it told him.

Langa wanted to argue but the Legacy cut him off before he started talking. "Since you don't have a mana core, you need to use natural pathways of your body. For lightning, it's best to pass it through your nerves. I am going to stimulate your mana a bit, and you will be able to feel how the nerve impulses move throughout your nervous system. Try to move it slowly."

This felt a bit weird. Would he be able to control his nerve impulses now? Neurologists on Earth would be salivating over him. Langa took a deep breath, allowing himself to sink into a state of calm. From what he remembered from Life Sciences in high school, nerve cells were long elongated cells with connected branches at the end. He visualised the mana as electricity within him, thinking about it travelling through the interconnected branches of his never cells. Slowly, he began to feel a tingling sensation, as if his very skin was alive with energy. The energy did not have a beginning, it was a part of him, as if it had always been there. For a moment, Langa was lost in his own world, seeing with his mind's eye. The visual of being able to see his own nerves in his body was breathtaking—something that would never have been possible on Earth except perhaps with some advanced machines or something.

"Those who follow the path of lightning must move the way it does. Stay calm and only strike at the right time," the Legacy told him. "You can allow both the negative and the positive energy inside you to build up when you're excited and once the electric energy is all charged up, let it propel you forward."

Langa was afraid it would hurt, but his nerves pulsed with the electricity of his mana as he saw them, and then suddenly, in a bundle of nerves in his heart, he saw something black against the stark contrast of his yellow lightning mana. The black fluid object was like a small ball the size of one sugar bean. It seemed to be connected to his veins, as if it were emitting a black ooze into his heart.

What the fuck was that? He moved the lightning mana around the nerves surrounding his heart, trying to get to that black thing, but his heartbeat suddenly intensified in a way that reminded him of the weird phenomenon that his attribute had done when Perinda had karma-pressured him yesterday. Was this black thing the cause of it? Langa felt antsy as his heart started to beat even faster, and he was worried about losing control of his attribute again when a cold hand on his shoulder jerked him awake.

"Hey, Langa, what are you doing? Are you trying to give yourself a heart attack?" the Legacy said. "I said move your mana through your nerves, not try to control your nerve impulses!"

He breathed out heavily. The Legacy could see through him, right? Then it should have seen that black goo inside of him too. It had to know what it was. "Legacy, did you see that thing on my heart, that black-"

"Concentrate on what I'm teaching you!" the Legacy shouted over him, but it did not look angry, just panicked. "If there is anything about yourself that you don't understand, you can ask The Lackadaisical One when you speak to him, alone."

While Langa did not understand why, it seemed as if the Legacy was telling him that he should not ask about what was in his heart out loud. He could disregard its warning of course, and still ask, but this was a Blessing from the one who might be his future god, so Langa figured that a little faith wouldn't hurt. There were a lot of deities' eyes on him right now, and he could feel the intense eyes of the clanless, nameless god on him. "Ah... okay, yeah, let's continue."

"Good. Now, imagine that energy of your mana flowing from your body, down your arm, and into your spear," the Legacy continued, sounding relieved that Langa had not pushed the matter. "Tonare was made with the purest elechorichum, and it will conduct your lightning and respond well to you. Build on the connection between your mana and the glaive in your hand. Let the electricity merge with the metal, infusing it with your power."

Langa followed the Legacy's guidance. He could feel the surge of mana as it travelled, and then it seemed to intensify as he felt the electricity pass through a large group of nerves below his neck, close to his shoulder and it felt like his whole body had just touched a fucking live wire as the electricity buzzed inside him, and he gasped, the power disappearing.

"Yhoo! Oh, my gods!" he gasped. "What the hell was that bunch of interconnected nerves? That was too much!"

The Legacy gave Langa a pitiful look. "Lost worlds are really awful. They don't even teach you your own kind's basic anatomy," it said. Langa nodded, pretending that it was Earth's fault, and not his own for not listening in Life Sciences classes. "You're human, so that's where your brachial plexus is located. For now, let's just concentrate on the nerves of your lower arm and hands, I don't want you accidentally losing control of your mana and overloading your brain with electricity. You might die."

Langa stared at the Legacy incredulously. That was a possibility, and it was only telling him now? Well, maybe it wouldn't be too bad, it would just count as electroshock therapy and he would wake up cured of all of his mental issues. Wouldn't that be nice, Langa laughed to himself. He closed his eyes once more and allowed the electricity to pass through the nerves in his lower arm, through his arm, down to his fingertips, and into the spear. Tonare began to glow faintly, responding to the infusion of his mana.

A smile spread across the Legacy's face as it witnessed Langa's progress. "Well done, boy. You're beginning to understand the art of infusing mana. Remember, it's not just about the technicalities, but also about the connection you forge with your glaive and magic."

Langa opened his eyes, his gaze meeting the Legacy's. "Thank you, Legacy. That was fun, and I think I may be able to use this to induce my attribute as well. Once I can form a mana core, I'll be even stronger, right?" His attribute activated according to his heartbeat, so if he could control his nerve impulses, forcing his heart to beat even faster, he would be able to perceive time much slower than he did now. Of course, the attribute did warn him that too much stimulation of his heart could kill him, so there was that as well.

"Magic is a vast and ever-evolving art, Langa. There's always more to learn, and I don't doubt that you will continue to grow as a spearman." The Legacy looked at him pityingly. “But it's good that you didn't choose a Mage class. Sorry. It looks like it will be difficult for you to form a mana core naturally. You have trouble sensing lucents, so you don't have a lot of magic potential, it's not uncommon, but it's not something that just happens either.”

That didn't sound good at all to Langa.

“This is strange, though,” the Legacy said. “Your ability to control and form your mana core is dependent on your mental aptitude since that's the main disciple governing general mana control.”

Langa listened intently as he needed this information as soon as possible.

“The higher your mental attribute or resistance, the better your general mana control, but it shouldn't be a problem to form one. As long as the average of your Mental Resistance and Affinity is at 0% or higher you should be able to-”

It paused and Langa held his breath, the truth dawning on him. He was never going to form a mana core.

“Yeah. Mine’s in the negative.”

“Ah.” The Legacy wasn't quick enough to turn his shocked expression back to neutral quickly enough. “That's well...You can harness mana without a mana core, but the core regulates your mana usage and helps prevent wastage. Without it, you will have limited control over your magic.”

Langa let the words sink in and nodded. He had never lamented things that were not meant to be his. If magic was going to be hard for him to do without a mana core, he'd just find other ways to boost it. “Okay. Are there unnatural ways to get the core?”

The Legacy smiled at him, “You have a good attitude at least. There are; you can temporarily use boss monster mana cores, or for something more permanent, you can go and train in a Magic Castle for years, or you can apprentice under a Grandmaster Mage or, if you have a complete maestril boss’ karma core that is compatible with you, you can use it to help form your mana core or as a pseudo core instead of absorbing the karma.”

Listening to that, Langa agreed, and then with a start, he remembered something that he'd forgotten. “I do have a maestril boss’ karma core! I got it as a reward for the final tutorial quest! It's not a full one though. I can't believe I forgot to use it, hold on.” He checked his inventory and frowned.

He couldn't find it. The core was just not there in his inventory! How the hell did that happen? Did someone hack the system? No, the system was a part of The Unrivalled, it couldn't be hacked.

“It's not here,” he said, checking all the slots again. Could someone have stolen it from his inventory? No way. “System, what happened to Karisha’s karma core in my inventory?”

[System checking. Please wait.]

[Item - (1/3) Karisha's Karma Core was consumed by Divine Artefact - Void Star]

What? How could that have happened? What the hell was the Void Star, anyway? How could it consume his reward? Langa immediately made to take it out of his inventory, intending to scan it again, but the air around him suddenly felt cold, and his hand froze for a second.

[The Deiwos Clan god: The Lackadaisical Herald of The Lightning Storm, closes your karma channel and hides you from all the deities operating within the Deiwos Tower, besides him.]

[System Alert! The Lackadaisical Herald of The Lightning Storm has used his Authority as one of the Tower Administrators of The Deiwos Tower on you! A deity who is not your patron deity has assumed control of your karma channel, and no deities operating within the Deiwos Tower can see you. If this action violates your free will, please report it, and the system will impose a hefty punishment on the deity, and reopen your karma channel.

Report: Y/N?]

It all happened so fast that it took a second for Langa to understand the message. “What? What's going on, Lackadaisical Herald?” he asked. Had his free will been violated?

[The Deiwos Clan god: The Lackadaisical Herald of The Lightning Storm, says, “Do not, under any circumstances allow any constellation to see that you own a Void Star before you have the protection of a powerful deity.”]

Langa frowned, he had done all this because of the Void Star? What was this thing? The Lackadaisical Herald had hidden him from the other deities before he had pulled it out of his inventory. It was in his hands now, and he scanned it. Nothing had changed in its description.

[Void Star (Fragmented)

Artefact Rank: Divine (Chaos: The Onslaught of The Dark Void)

Sacrifice: ?

Effects: ?

Total karma: ????????????

Charges: 4/???]

“What is this thing?” he asked, returning it to his inventory.

[The Deiwos Clan god: The Lackadaisical Herald of The Lightning Storm, tells you that it would be better to speak about this in his domain, where there are no other eyes. He tells you to complete the Challenge first so that you are granted passage into his domain.]

[The Deiwos Clan god: The Lackadaisical Herald of The Lightning Storm, reopens your karma channel.]

[Many deities are displeased with The Lackadaisical Herald’s action, and hope that you report him to The Unrivalled Tower Master.]

Langa, of course, chose not to report him. He had obviously hidden him from the others to protect him, but this whole Void Star business was giving him a bad feeling. What the hell kind of artefact was it? It had saved his life back in the tutorial, sure, but it was an artefact from Chaos. There was no way that it was a good thing. He sincerely hoped that The Unrivalled did not mark him as a voident because of it.

“Let’s go and make preparations to kill some trollimps, Legacy.”