To use any magic it required the ability to perceive magic but it was very limited. In learning to use his totems he did have to make the skills more robust but it was still more just tracking something that was familiar to him. Something that started inside of him that he moved outside of himself. So he decided that his best bet with learning the magic of the water will be to try to study it as it flows through his body as he drinks it.

He knew now with his intrinsic connection with the lightning aspect that it was mana altered to have a certain feel. Which made the earlier blunder in his excitement all the more stupid. Lightening aspect made the mana feel like it couldn't stay in one place. That it had to race forward.

He cut his hand before dunking it into the pool. As the mana of the water flowed through him he tried to grasp its feel. He could feel it give strength to his body. The mana wasn't making his body be well so much as it was giving it the ability to make itself well. He felt his hand stitch itself together at the behest of and with the nourishment from the mana. The mana became whatever the body needed it to be to be whole.

Feeling he had a start, he pulled his now healed hand from the lake and cut it again. This time instead of dunking his hand he pooled some of his mana there. He focused on making the mana infuse his flesh and encourage it to replicate to replace the damage. After several minutes and several different perspectives but the same premise something finally clicked and his flesh healed.

Damn it took most of my mana but I did it. I mean my mana is full again already but still that was a small cut. I better grind this out until I'm comfortable with replacing limbs or some such.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

He truly had no idea how long he had been training skills. After learning Life aspect and proceeding to break it so he no longer ever needed to eat, drink and rarely needed to sleep, he started to grind.

The clearing looked like an apocalyptic scene. The pool was the only part of the landscape that remained untouched. The ground misshapen and scorched was now covered in frost. Discarded stone weapons laid everywhere as he started training physical skills simultaneously as his magical ones.

After gaining the elemental affinity for Life, and gaining a confidence that only being able to repair your body almost instantly can grant, he started working on fire. After chidding himself for almost blowing himself up with Mana Fusion he spent a lot of time thinking about what he should have done so it came easy. Instead of foolishly trying to force mana together he used the mana to excite the manner around it causing it to ignite.

Casting spells took very little conscious thought once he figured out the aspect. He made extra spells like a fire aura but since he mostly just needed to spam the spell like crazy he decided he might as well work on physical skills. Running in circles and jumping wildly. By the time he finally got the elemental affinity for fire he felt like a master acrobat along with being a marathon sprinter.

The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

Next was earth, so he could use it to make weapons and learn weapon skills. Air followed because why wouldn’t he want to fly. Lastly was ice. He could have learned more but after years if not decades working on this in seclusion the loneliness was starting to get to him. He couldn’t find the energy to throw into another project. It was finally time to leave the tutorial area.

The exit of the clearing was through a stone archway leading into a mountain. He was always very careful to not strike the stone archway, fearing what might happen if he broke it, so it was the only pristine thing left at ground level. He never actually crossed the barrier of the entryway but it was the only opening in the mountains that surrounded him. He supposed that maybe he could be expected to climb up one of the cliff faces, but he doubted it.

He stuck his leg through and waited. The distortion hid the end of his leg from him. What was left of his pants never reached the distortion, instead draping off his thigh. The rest of his cloths were in a similar level of disrepair.

Now should I make myself clothes before I go? Like I feel like i should probably not look this haggard if im going to try to find people. But it might also just be me trying to stall again. If i do make clothes for myself, what do i make them out of? Can I grow clothes?

His leg still outstretched in front of him, he began growing himself clothes. The only plant nearby was grass so that is what he began to cover himself with. He started by making a blade of grass so slender and long it could have never have existed without the benefit of magic. It climbed up his body until it got to his neck, circling it as the blade of grass started to weave around itself.

He decided as a mage he should have a robe. He was in the wilderness though so he would keep the hem short. The grass continued to weave. Once done, the robe was a vibrant green, with a length that went down to his mid calves and had long flowing sleeves. The blade of grass used to make it so thin you couldn't tell it was alive.

Ok I hella dig this color

He finally lowered his leg so he could hop around. His first attempt to hop ended in failure as he didn't give himself any slack in the blade of grass so his magic had him pegged to the ground. After actually giving himself the slack he needed to do so, he began jumping and jogging in place. And a single flip just for fun, not that he thought that would be necessary to do so in the future in this robe.

Yeah, good enough. I don't look like someone that should be turned away by the city guard now I hope. Though I should probably make sure it doesn't die. That's totally a reasonable concern im sure. Everyone on this planet probably has living clothes they need to nourish.

Chuckling to himself, he began to do what he does when he makes a totem. Take a piece of his mana from his body with the instructions to keep the robe healthy and whole. He made sure to separate the blade from the ground right at the collar where it formed. Not bothering to tie it in but instead trusting that the mana nourishing it to also maintain its shape.

No more stalling

He stepped through without anymore hesitation. What greeted him on the other side was not what he expected. He assumed it would be the start of a tunnel, but now he stood in the middle of a forest. He turned around and the gateway was nowhere to be seen. He waved his arms through where the gateway should have been but felt nothing.

Bye lake, was kinda hoping to be able to backtrack.