During our journey, I learned that the young girl's name was Yue. Despite the difficult circumstances, Yue displayed a remarkable talent for cooking, which she had learned from her late mother. Unfortunately, her mother had passed away during the incident, and her father had lost his life in a beast tide a year earlier. I felt a pang of sadness for bringing up these painful memories, as Yue couldn't help but cry while recounting these events.
About a month into our journey, while we were resting at a temporary camp set up by the ice mage Orus, Yue unexpectedly asked about magic. I was taken aback by the suddenness of her question, but I proceeded to answer her. "Magic is the fundamental power that sustains life, encompassing both living and inanimate things. People can interact with mana on three different levels, while some individuals cannot interact with mana at all, which makes them normal. The first level is that of physical augmenters, which can enhance their physical abilities by utilizing mana. They are naturally much stronger than normal individuals. The second level includes magical augmenters, who possess the powers of physical augmenters and can also infuse their attacks with elemental energy. I fall into this category," I explained, drawing my sword and infusing it with magic. The blade emitted a red glow, followed by the emergence of light blue flames. After extinguishing the mana fire and sheathing my sword, I continued, "The third type are mages or external augmenters. They have the ability to manipulate mana outside of their bodies, but haw fiscal power that of normal humans the ice mage, Orus, falls into this category." As I spoke, Orus demonstrated his power by conjuring a mana ball the size of an orc's head. She was amazed lucking at the floating ball of blue magic power.
I placed my hand gently on Yue's shoulder, and she turned to look at me. I asked her how old she was, and she replied that she would soon be turning 12 years old. A memory from my own childhood resurfaced, and I cleared my throat before speaking. "In a few months, if you have a good aptitude, you will develop a magic core. If that happens, I will ask Orus to assist you in accelerating the formation of the magic core," I told her. A smile spread across her face as she asked, "Does that mean I'll be able to use magic?" I contemplated her question and responded, "Yes and no. It depends on your definition of magic. With a magic core, you will be able to gather and condense mana, which will enhance your strength, speed, and reaction time if you channel it to the muscles or the brain. However, if you mean flinging mana around to create fire or ice and similar things, then no. Controlling mana outside of your body can take anywhere from a few days to a few years after the mana core creation, and you would need to form an ether crystal in your head." As I finished speaking, I noticed the excitement in her eyes faded. Suddenly, I remembered an important detail I had forgotten to mention. "I forgot to mention that during the formation of the magic core, you will experience intense pain for a few days and possibly vomiting bl..," I started to say, but before I could finish, Orus used a weak ice lance to interrupt me, effectively silencing my words and throwing me off the cart backward.
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Yue began to cry, and I felt an overwhelming sense of guilt for saying something so bad to a child. Orus swiftly continued by hitting me in the stomach with a blunt ice spike, catching me off guard. Although it didn't cause any significant harm, the pain was excruciating.
After approximately two and a half months, we finally approached the edge of the impact crater. However, just as we were about to reach the edge, Yue suddenly screamed and clutched her solar plexus. Orus and I recognized the significance immediately—she was in the process of forming a mana core. Orus gently guided her hands away from her chest and placed his own hand above her solar plexus, channeling pure mana into her. While all mages could channel mana, Orus had a particular talent for it. He directed the clean mana into her developing mana core, but he had to make a decision as his own mana reserves were depleting rapidly, and the explosion two months earlier had affected the rate of mana collection.
The formation of a mana core is a peculiar process, with mana spontaneously appearing and coalescing at the solar plexus. However, this time was different. The mana radiating from Yue's body was so powerful that even I, who couldn't perceive magic power, could see it. It shimmered like a radiant aurora, displaying a multitude of colors. As the mana emanated, the surrounding area began to heat up. Unfortunately, the intensity became too much for Orus to handle, and he had to cease his efforts, unable to withstand the immense temperature. Yue had passed out from the pain, her screams subsiding.
As we retreated from the scene, we witnessed the cart we had been using burst into flames and crumble to ash in an instant. The horse, now with its mane on fire, bolted away in panic. Surprisingly, Yue floated in the air, and her mana core continued to glow, unaffected by the destruction of the cart. I noticed the ground below where the cart had been standing starting to glow and then crack. Within moments, it transformed into lava and then evaporated. Orus spoke amidst our hurried retreat, "I can't comprehend what's happening. The sheer amount of mana she possesses could vaporize the shields and an entire capital city, yet it's not exploding. Instead, it is condensing within her body." Even though we were over a kilometer away, we still felt an intense heat, which abruptly dissipated. Above Yue, a rift in space appeared—a fissure of impossible darkness. we stopped and started paying close attention to what was happening. Nothing happened for what felt like multiple minutes but then a ball of light existed from the crack and slowly floated down when it touched Yue everything went dark