Damien wore a confused expression as he asked Ela, “What do you mean?” Ela, in turn, looked astonished. “What you just did shouldn’t be possible, Damien. While it may not seem like you did much, in reality, you accomplished a lot.”
She paused to gauge his confused look, then sighed before continuing, “Okay, so look, you blew my hair back, right? But you did that without knowing how to do it. What I mean is that you managed to figure it out entirely on your own, without my guidance or any wind affinity.”
“Doing what you just did is like me reversing time without having any understanding of how to do it or possessing any relevant skill.” As Damien slowly grasped what she was trying to convey, he looked at his status to see the new skill he had somehow acquired.
Name: Damien Atlas
‘Age: 200 years’
Level:30
Race: High human/Shade (F rank)
Bloodline - High shade
Titles: The first to awaken, Storms Child, Shades primordial.
Class: Origanls descent
Stats:
Health:265 —> 300
Mana:265 —> 300
Strength:180 —> 215
Agility:165 —> 200
Defense:140 —> 175
Intelligence:160 —> 195
Perception:140 —> 175
Willpower:130 —> 165
Skills: Mana breathing (Divine), The original (Primordial), Storms blessing (legendary), Lightning fast (rare), Samurai (common), Flicker of the original (epic), Originals knowledge (legendary), Pure mana manipulation (Rare -NEW)
Points to distribute:35
Looking at his skills, he noticed the name ‘Pure mana manipulation, huh? The system shows me the description of my new skill’
Pure mana manipulation - Allows the user to manipulate PURE mana in whatever way the user desires, whether it is in the form of an attack or the form of crafting.
The details of the skill did not allow Damien to deprive much, but what he did know was that this was surely a good skill, as Ela had not said anything about someone being able to attack using pure mana. “Ela, did you get a skill when you learned how to use free-form mana?”
Nodding her head, Ela looked out the window and said, “Yeah, everyone gets a skill called ‘mana manipulation.’ This skill allows the user to manipulate mana according to their desires, but the type of mana they can manipulate usually depends on the user’s affinities.”
Damien smiled, appreciating her explanation. ‘If that’s the case, then this skill must truly be something special… but if it’s so special, why is it so rare?’ he thought to himself. He felt that mana manipulation was a significant achievement that many had yet to explore. He decided to put this thought aside for now, planning to test it out later.
“Alright, so what do we do now that I’ve learned how to manipulate mana?” he asked. Ela glanced back at him from the window and narrowed her eyes, noticing how he avoided her earlier question. “Well, now that you have that knowledge, we can move on to physical combat.” Looking at Ela, he saw a mysterious smile appear on her face, reminding him of something from earlier.
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“You don’t mean…?” he began, but Ela cut him off, laughing. “Yes, I’m going to get Ruby over here, as we agreed she would be your teacher.” ‘That’s what you get for not answering my question,’ she thought to herself.
Damien sighed but ultimately didn’t complain. After all, having someone more skilled in combat teach him wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. He just hoped that the eccentric woman wouldn’t go overboard.
Over at the guild, Ruby could be seen lounging on a couch with her eyes closed while the three guys in the group sat at the bar, drinking. After a few minutes, she jolted up a wild smile appearing on her face before she bolted out the guild door. Watching their leader leave, their expressions turned to pity. “Hopefully, that boy survives,” one of them said, getting nods from the others.
“Ela, is this an arena or something?” Damien asked, looking around with curiosity. “Yeah, Ruby had it made so people could practice and spar with each other. It also serves as an area for the guild to test people to see if they qualify to rank up,” she explained.
As he looked toward a corner of the arena, Damien noticed a weapons rack filled with a variety of swords, axes, staffs, and just about every weapon he could imagine. Approaching the rack, he examined a staff, recalling it was what he would have received had he still been in the simulation. ‘I wouldn’t mind using a staff,’ he thought.
While he was fiddling with the weapons, Ela stepped into the center of the arena and spoke up, “Damien, before Ruby arrives, let’s have a practice spar. What do you say? Interested?”
Upon hearing her words, Damien felt a rush of excitement at the prospect of sparring against someone strong. Without responding, he set the staff aside, made his way to the center, and drew his sword. “Ready when you are,” he declared.
“Good. Before we start, let me just say this: no relying on your shadow form, Damien. I’ve noticed you tend to depend on that in tough spots. You need to learn not to rely on that skill, especially since it weakens you after use,” Ela stated seriously.
Thinking it over, he realized she was right. Every time he faced a challenge that made him struggle, he would resort to that form. While the shadow form was useful, it should only be a last resort, not something he constantly depended on. If he became overly reliant on it, he could end up in serious trouble if it failed him in a fight or escape.
Nodding in agreement, he indicated for Ela to start the spar. Seeing him take her words seriously, she smiled and took out a mana stone. “Once the stone hits the ground, we fight.”
Focusing intently on the stone, Damien prepared himself. After a few seconds, Ela placed the stone on her finger and flicked it upward, counting the seconds until it landed.
One… Two… Three… After a half second more, the stone hit the ground, and the sound of swords clashing echoed throughout the arena. Jumping back, Ela circled around him before swiftly attacking Damien’s side with her sword. He raised his guard, ready to block her strike.
Unfortunately for him, Ela smirked and redirected her attack toward his neck, catching him off guard and forcing him to concede this round. “Wow, I suck,” he admitted, lamenting how quickly Ela had defeated him.
“It’s not that you’re not skilled, Damien. It’s just that your attacks and defense are quite basic. While I’ve seen you throw feints before, I was genuinely surprised each time you did because you have no formal combat training. Now that we've had a spar, I can tell those feints came from your instincts in the heat of the moment, rather than from any calculated strategy.”
“Not to mention, you leave yourself wide open, and your stance is terrible. Your only saving grace seems to be a passive skill that gives you some understanding of the sword you’re holding, allowing you at least to not look completely clueless about your movements.”
Finally finished with her critique, Damien frowned. “That seems a bit harsh. What should I do to improve?” he asked, focusing his attention on her.
“Well, for starters, you need a proper stance. You should be balanced, lean slightly forward, spread your feet shoulder-width apart, and lower your center of gravity by bending your knees.”
After Ela explained the stance to him a few more times and corrected him, he finally grasped it. Nodding her head, Ela said, “This is the most basic stance for using a katana. While there are likely better stances, this one will suffice for now.”
Just as Ela was about to continue, a loud crash echoed from the edge of the arena. As the dust settled, a figure emerged from the cloud. “Good luck, and remember what I told you: don’t rely too much on that ability, and maintain your stance at all times.”
‘What do you mean good luck?’ Damien thought before refocusing his attention back on the figure. Laughter could be heard as the figure walked out of the cloud and upon seeing it was Ruby Damien immediately became nervous.
Looking over at Ela, he was about to speak, but before he could, his instincts screamed at him to dodge.
Focusing back on Ruby, he saw the crazy woman two feet away from him an insane smile on her face right as her fist connected with his arms, sending him flying back into a barrel roll.
“Never take your eyes off your opponent.”