When it came to the new world, where Nirko just arrived, magic was a bit thing and an integral part of it. So, Aeonis thought him about magic.
The first step was for him to make a mana link. To be able to use magic on the most basic of levels, one must first create a mana link.
A connection between the individual themselves and the magical energy known as mana, which allows them to communicate their intentions and commands into it.
Kind of like how one need certain programs to work with some coding languages, he needed a mana link to work with mana.
Magic is basically a programming language, but one that has too many variants, and way too much flexibility for it to be easily understood by beginners since it's very easy to get lost or misunderstand some of its rules.
For example, there are 3 main ways to cast a spell, those being magicraft, which is the idea of using magic circles to cast magic spells.
Chanting, which is the most common, as the method of using words to help you focus on the proper visualization of the spell.
There are two categories of chants, complete or full chants and shortened or simplified chants, their names being quite self-explanatory.
Last, there is silent casting, mute casting, or chantless, as the advanced casting technique of simply using your mind as the vessel for the whole process of the spell, not only is it the fastest casting method it is also the hardest to master, as most avoid using this method unless they are facing equally dangerous opponents since more often than not spells come out weaker than using the other methods.
The spells only become weaker because of the lack of understanding the caster might actually have of them.
When it comes to the other two methods, magicraft is literally writing the formula of the spell so it gets cast making it impossible to fail unless it gets interrupted or the formula is written out wrong...
Well, it could still be canceled but that's beyond the point. While chanting is basically subliminal messaging yourself into visualizing what you have to in order to make the spell work.
There are also more minor methods like rune casting and prayer casting, each being a subcategory. Rune casting is a subcategory of magicraft while prayer casting is a subcategory of chanting.
What makes them different? You might ask, it's that Rune casting is very fast, but also way weaker than the three main methods.
It just consists of instead of writing out a whole formula, you just use primal magic symbols of the elements to get a different reaction depending on the command given.
For example, you cast the water rune and give it the command to boil and you get hot water. Though you would still have to learn and memorize the runes to do so.
As for prayer casting, it's a bit different in the sense that instead of trying to convince yourself of something, you're literally appealing to the celestial of whatever planet you live in, so the power and all the other information about the spell is decided by them, depending on how well you bootlick.
Only people affiliated with a church or a proven Devotees can use them anyway.
Very similar to prayer casting, there's spirit casting, which is the same just instead of bootlicking Celestials, you're bootlicking spirits.
Finally, when it comes to speed, chantless is the fastest as said before, but when it comes to chanting and magicraft it depends.
Individual full chants can go up to 30 seconds for normal spells, while magicraft can go up to 60 seconds for the same normal spells, but if an individual is proficient in magicraft, they can cast even the more complicated normal spells in 2 to 5 seconds while none of the shortest chants goes below 5 seconds.
Unfortunately, you have to learn each magicraft formula individually and hone your magic circle construction with them as well as memorize said formulas.
Now back to creating your mana link, you'll have to first go through the most basic part of the whole process, train your ability to sense mana at least to the bare minimum.
When it comes to mana, it exists everywhere, it simply is more active in some places than others. As such, every sentient being should be able to sense mana if they train themselves to do so.
The first step would always be prevalent aside from being the foundation of it all, meditation.
One must start by being able to concentrate and expand their senses to the world around them before they can sense a single streak of mana. And that was exactly what Nirko did.
Unfortunately, this was also the most uncertain method to create your mana link, since each individual would evolve at different rates and have different ways to meditate, which would often lead to apprentices spending most of their beginning stage trying to figure out how to properly meditate rather than actually trying to form their mana link.
On the other hand, there is a faster method, but it requires an experienced magic user to pull off. That being the use of one's own mana to help awaken another's connection to theirs. It is known as mana guidance, and it's not something he could employ in his current position, after all he wasn't even born yet.
Focusing on mediating and expanding his mind to the world around him, he found no results even after trying for hours.
This was not unexpected, as even in the greater world, it would take apprentices anywhere between a week and 3 months to create their mana link, only prodigies being the exception and being able to do it in 2 to 3 days.
From then, his days moved on and he kept practicing meditation... And he noticed that he sucked at it. Unfortunate, but it didn't stop him from continuing to work every single day for long hours.
Time passed and it was almost a month since he started practicing meditation, and he started feeling like he was finally making significant progress as his focus had improved a lot, and he could now feel a tingling sensation whenever he meditated until living proof of it appeared before him almost like a reward for completing a quest.
[Nirko! I'm happy to inform you that you acquired the meditation skill! One step closer to the goal!] Aeonis announced with clear excitement as a silver floating screen came up.
Then following that up a purple notifications appeared.
[A new skill has been acquired.]
[Basic Meditation-Lv.(0/5): A skill that allows its user to enter a basic meditative state at will, and while in this meditative state, the user will recover from fatigue slightly faster.
Rank: I]
(Good, that's a step closer to creating my mana link.) Nirko internally nodded feeling the weight of his progress.
Though it wasn't much it gave him motivation while validating his efforts.
His training then continued for a few more days until the fated moment finally came.
____________________________________________
"Congratulations miss Exianos, it's a healthy boy.", the woman said to miss Exianos who was resting with heavy breathing. It wasn't long before she handed the baby to miss Exianos.
That was followed by all the medical staff of the healer shop leaving the room once everything was properly set up for miss Exianos to have her time with her child.
"Hi, my little Nirko, welcome to this world. Mom is extremely happy to have you." Miss Exianos said to her child, Nirko, who could help but look at her.
She had long curly scarlet hair with ruby red eyes under her similarly scarlet eyebrows accompanied by her smooth and sharp ever so small facial features that gave her a fresh look, that made one wonder about her age, but that was quickly offset by her ample chest that carried some heavy hitters that would stun-lock most into being mystified by their visage.
"Now you just have to wait a bit and your... Huh… Father? I guess, is going to be here... Eventually...", miss Exianos announced almost confused in her own statement.
(Just what does she mean by that? Does she not know who my father is? Or is there something else going on here?), Nirko couldn't help but question, as he looked at his mother with the closest thing to narrowed eyes he could muster right now.
"Awww, you're tired. Just sleep, I'll wake you up later to meet your father. Then again, should I feed him before he sleeps?", miss Exianos was infatuated with her child who she believes to be the cutest baby ever.
"And I can't even ask the doctors... Your father might know though.", she said to herself as she looked at her child.
Her baby was a chubby little one with purple hair and pink eyes.
(My life will be something if this woman will be the one taking care of me.), Nirko had a decent first impression of the woman he would call his mother, but he understood that it was too early to form any opinions.
Their small little interaction continued as she puffed her cheeks followed by her lightly hitting them to instead have her tongue out while sucking her cheeks in and making her own eyes go completely white, just before she made exaggerated duck lips while covering her eyes with her index and thumb fingers making a circle around them.
She then stopped only to find her son not amused by any of her attempts and more so almost stoic about it, or at least that's what it seemed to her while in reality, Nirko was actually semi-disappointed he had to witness that display of self-deprecation to try to entertain him, and just when he thought it had ended things proceeded to continue.
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
"Why ish mawh bewby sho angly? Awe you humgwy?(Why is my baby so angry? Are you hungry?)", miss Exianos enunciated.
(Will she stop if I laugh? Cause, I don't think I can emotionally survive her antics.), Nirko was slowly internally dying as he experienced the first glimpses into his life as a baby.
Just as Nirko lost hope in being able to keep any semblance of his sanity living like this, things spiraled even further towards it, as his mother pulled down her blouse and moved it towards his mouth. An advance that was rejected by Nirko due to how awkward it was for him.
"Sweetie, you have to drink, it's good for you... Plus, What kind of mother would I be if my child won't drink my breast milk? It can't be that he hates me, right? No, there's no way... He was literally just born from me, how could he hate me?!", these thoughts only got worse as she began to question herself.
"NIRKO YOGG SUTRA EXIANOS! You're going to drink my milk, even if it's the last thing I do!", facing rejection awake something in miss Exianos and her eyes flared with burning passion and she insisted incessantly to the point where Nirko had no choice but to accept his destiny as a baby and drink her breast milk.
(This woman is too intense, I won't survive this household...), a defeated Nirko could only obediently drink the milk as he contemplated the possibility of his future demise.
Once she was done feeding Nirko, miss Exianos began lulling him to sleep with a song in her melodic voice that soon made him comfortable as he slowly began to fall asleep.
"I'M HERE!" As the door to the room opened abruptly a voice resounded and woke Nirko up from his slumber.
"SHUT UP! You dumbass! Look at what you did?! Now, little Nirko got his sleep interrupted... You're lucky he's a calm baby, because I would end you right now if he was crying.", miss Exianos was furious and even yelled herself, somewhat contributing to the problem.
(The f*ck?!), Nirko, the calm baby, thought to himself as this commotion pulled him out of his lulled state.
The individual on the door contrary to Nirko's expectations was a woman, one with long blue hair, and pink eyes. Her facial features were sharp and smooth with a voluptuous body to complement them.
(Who is this woman? Is she a sister or something?), Nirko questioned looking at the approaching woman.
"I would nag you about how you're late, but now's not the time for that. I have to introduce you to someone.", miss Exianos said to the woman as she got closer.
"Little Nirko, I'm sorry to wake up like this, but there's someone who really wants to meet you... And though they are late and will certainly be punished for this later. Right now, I want to see your best smile, 'cause here is Loralaine Exianos, your father!", miss Exianos very enthusiastically introduced the newcomer.
As he looked at the big-breasted individual smiling at him right now, and then at his mother, he couldn't help but to have cursed thoughts.
(What?! Why is my father so hot?!) He was surprised by the reveal.
"Hi little Nirko, I'm sorry I'm late, a lot happened today, but I'm very happy to have you! Just look at him!
"He has my eyes and your nose! Oh and look his cute little chubby checks! He's the most adorable baby ever! Truly could only be my son!" She burst with excitement as she began playing with my checks.
"Your son? How bold of you to say that after coming here late. It seems someone is a bit too brave for their own good. What do you think little Nirko?
"Should we kick her out? We could give your dad a week outside to help her clear her thoughts." Mom said with a very forced smile to the point I think I could see a few veins popping out.
(So, my dad is a futa? How dastardly of a world is this?!... Amazing!) Nirko was confused as a degenerate he was well aware of this fantasy, but he never expected it would be real in any sense of the word.
"I think we're being a bit hasty here. Our son will surely be sad if his I have to wander the streets for a whole week...
"I mean, who knows what could happen? It's not safe out there." Loralaine began snuggling onto mother while caressing her hair with a weak smile on her face.
"Hmph! Of course, I'm not going to let you wander out in the streets for a whole week, you're too much of a lost case to trust with that.
"But you're going to have to reschedule whatever plans you had for the rest of the week, we're spending that time with little Nirko." Despite how she sounded, mom had a small smile on while she was being caressed, she seemed to appreciate the attention.
"Amora, my love... I understand how you feel, but isn't that a bit too drastic? The harvest is coming soon and most of the village is counting on me for this one… maybe months later?
"But I promise that by then we'll be able to spend all time we want together as a family with everyone back at home." Loralaine increased her movements as she talked and began slowly kissing Amora on her checks and slowly to her neck while her hands were being used to smooth mom's milkers.
"I... I mean... Uhm... It's not that hah... Not that bad to wait a bit of... No! What am I saying?! No! Not this time! You're smoothing me into letting you get away with this one! It's already decided and you have to choose, work or m- I mean family!" Amora was slowly being lulled into letting it go before she pushed Loralaine away and began scolding her again. It was an odd situation to be in the middle of as a baby of all things.
"How cruel... You don't really leave me with much of a choice, but you're right, I've had you waiting for long enough. One week with the family won't exactly destroy the crops anyway." Unable to retort, Loralaine conceded as she got pulled into a hug by Amora.
From then on the two of them started talking more casually and he learned that he was now part of a pretty full house. Back at home, there were four sisters awaiting.
His parents even talked about Loralaine's business as she was the famer of the village.
Loralaine seemed to avoid talking about her side of the family throughout their conversation up until he fell asleep due to his infant body.
Eventually, he woke up in a wooden cradle and a different room. Obviously, he had been taken home and put in bed.
Having nothing more pressing to worry about, he began meditating to expand his consciousness to the world around him, but this time something unexpected happened.
The moment he did so, Nirko could immediately feel the stream of mana in the atmosphere surrounding him, and just like that, the first step to creating a mana link was completed.
Now, it was time to move to the second step, Core Rebirth, which consisted of filling up one's mana core... Well, with mana to the point of re-emergence.
Doing so only requires you to use what you've learned through meditation in the first step, and let yourself open for the mana to come in.
It takes time and skill in meditation affects your efficiency, but patience is the key in these initial stages.
Normally this process happens naturally on a much smaller scale for every sentient being, though it usually takes about 14 to 16 years to fill up that way, that also being the reason most apprentices in magic schools or towers are in that age range when they get recruited.
Similar to the first step it's also possible to ease this one a bit by receiving help from a proficient mage, as it can cut the time in by a tenth to do so.
The body of every living being has at least one mana core.
One in the solar plexus.
Having organized his thoughts on the second step, he moved on to once again meditate and advance his training.
Time went by in a flash and before he knew it, 4 years went by just like that in the blink of an eye.
Nirko had grown and gotten aquatinted with every in the house for a while now. His progress when it came to training was outstanding and completely outside of my expectations, as he was already halfway through with his mana core.
Aside from that, he started getting tutored at the village school, it was honestly nothing too hard because of his previous life knowledge, all academics became a bit trivial since he had learned much more advanced subjects all over the board.
It seemed this world was more to the medival side of things, and while it was not blind to science at all, it was far behind the level of his previous world.
(In Elitera things were much more complex academically.) Nirko thought to himself as he easily solved the exercises given to him by the teacher than focused on his own thing.
From then on, he continued with his training, and more time passed. Nirko was now 8 years old and was getting very close to being done.
His daily training routine would start with the basic exercises like push-ups, sit-ups, squats, and a long run and then go on to some gymnastics, flexibility training, improvised weight lifting.
This forced him to get creative and get whatever he could in the village, which was mostly wood and rock's around to repurpose for his training.
Happily for him, even though his behavior was seen as weird, nobody there seemed to know much about magic, or physical training so he was just a weird kid, but people still praised him, because in a small village in the middle of nowhere in a forest like theirs, being strong was essential and strong man were greatly favored, so everyone had high hopes for him.
His days grew tiring and it took time for his muscles to get used to it, honestly, he wanted to give up multiple times when he started this, but he pushed through for his future as a ruler of the his harem, to protect those he loves, to have the power to be free, to build his own empire, and most importantly get revenge on the Celestials for their crimes against the Inepts.
Nirko could not allow himself or afford to be weak if he wanted those things. Vomiting a little and constant muscle pain won't be enough to stop him!
That aside, his mana training was reaching its apex and was almost complete, he was sure that in a few months, he would be able to activate his mana core.
Just as he had predicted, months later, he was able to fill his mana core and began the activation. He felt the heat inside his solar plexus as the mana build up inside, until it ultimately expanded and he felt a wave of it go through all his body.
It was now time, for the third step of creating a mana link. Unblocking your mana circuits, also known as circuit activation.
All living beings have circuits in their bodies that allow them to flow mana as if they were the blood circulation of magic, as well as fortify their body, but those are naturally clogged and have to be unclogged before you create your mana link for better magical efficiency.
The process to unclog them is pretty easy, he had to use the mana in his core to unclog the path, as his core is directly connected to his mana circuit.
The only thing about doing this was that it was much riskier than the other steps, because it was extremely painful and straining for the body's muscles, so Nirko would have to go without physical training until he finished this part, or he might seriously damage his body.
Focusing on the new part of his mana training, he continued with the same routine of lessons without physical training until he became 10 years old.
Finally! He unclogged his mana circuits completely, it was much faster than the second step, but also much more painful as he could still feel his body ache in pain.
Thanks to this, he basically burned all the unnecessary fat in my body, giving him an unnecessarily toned 10-year-old body.
It's like he never stopped his physical training at all. Aside from vomiting blood every now and then as well as the never-ending muscular pain and spasms, there wasn't anything too concerning about the process.
It was now, the moment of the truth. Time to create his mana link. This part is probably the easiest out of all the things you do, as it consists of simply meditating and opening your cores to the outside mana, completely. That being exactly what he did.
Just then a whirlwind of mana formed around Nirko as the flow connecting him to mana was established and he could now communicate with it, in other words, use magic.
[Finally! You did it! Nirko! I'm proud of you.] Aeonis who guided him through the whole process and taught him every step congratulated him.
A silver floating screen appearing as she did.
In succession to that, a purple floating screen popped up for system notifications.
[You have acquired new skills.]
[You have gained the skills Basic mana manipulation and Basic mana operation!]
[Basic mana manipulation(0/5): This skill allows the user control of internal mana on a basic level, and interact with external mana.
Rank: I]
[Basic mana operation(0/5): This skill makes it so the user maintain basic complex mana operations and cast magic spells.
Rank: I]
[Congratulations master! You have just completed the first quest!
Quest#0(Hidden)- Create a mana link
Objective: Create a mana link
Failure condition- Never create a mana link or destroy your mana core.
Reward: Mana affinity]
As soon as the second message popped up, the amount of mana flowing around him just increased a lot to the point where it was almost suffocating.
[Mana Affinity: The owner of this affinity will have a naturally stronger connection with mana. Allowing them to use less mana for spells, and progress their magic prowess much faster.]
(That's quite something…. Two skills, and an affinity. Now I can focus on trying to use magic, and also how I'll get out of this village. Until I'm 18, I have to find a way out of this village, so far nobody ever leaves and running away would be abandoning my family…) Nirko thought to himself with a smile, that soon turned into thoughtfulness as he looked at the village below him from a nearby hill.
[Don't worry, you'll be able to do it. There's no hurry quite yet, you have 8 years to do it, there's still a lot you need to learn to be ready for what's beyond, for now the village is good for you.] Aeonis responded as another silver floating screen came up.
There it was a rather small village with maybe 52 wooden houses surrounded by a high wooden wall, with 4 watchtowers one on each pole, the healing shop, and the crop area of his family.
Aside from that was nothing there, a boring small village. Even the area didn't have much in danger and you would have to venture quite deep into the forest to run into animals, monsters, or magical beasts.
"I'll eventually find a way out that works for me. For now, though Aeonis is right." He said to himself before going back to the village, it was time for him to help with the crops.