Chapter 2 - Latent Talent
I threw palm after palm at each golem construct. With every thrown palm my stamina slowly decreased, if I kept going at this pace I knew I would lose. Reaching inside my mana pool I forcefully cast a spell. I probably wouldn’t be able to control my mana for a bit after this, but it would be worth it if I could use magic at all. After I cast my spell a thin purplish brown ripple emanated from my body colliding not only with the golem constructs but also with the gray walls. It didn’t do anything to the golems but it dispersed the blue tinge that was surrounding the walls.
I couldn’t even breath a sigh of relief before the golems surrounded me. Great, I thought now I have to survive long enough to be able to use my magic again. The spell I just cast was a unique variant of the spell ‘Magnetic Aura’. Considering this was the most powerful earth spell I could use, I put a lot of effort into mastering it. Still, even with all of my effort, I was only able to scratch the surface of what it could do. ‘Magnetic Aura’ is a spell which is ranked as master level despite its weak power because of its variety. You can use it as a magnet, pulling, or pushing foes and allies alike. You can also emanate a ripple which can cause turmoil in the surrounding ambient mana which can make a magician’s spell go awry.
I’ve figured out that the blue tinge on the wall was an enchantment which prevented a person from controlling their mana by sending the same type of ripples as ‘Magnetic Aura’. But with its collision with the magnetic ripple it dispersed due to opposing forces. Still, I only eliminated one of my problems. I was still faced with how I was going to defeat all these golems. I could no longer face them head on, so I kept ducking and retreating until I could get my mana under control. After a few close calls, a bit of control finally came back to me. Time for payback I thought. Browsing through my collection of spells in my head I settled on ‘Earth Tide’, a mid-level adept spell. Completing a series of quick hand gestures I stopped and place my hand on the ground. The earthen elemental energy condensed around me and with the casting of my spell mounds of earth headed toward the golems in waves.
The earthen waves attacked the golems which surrounded me in a circular formation. After the waves reached the golems they turned into nothing more than the earth itself, losing all the form and structure magic had given them. Wiping the sweat from my forehead I let out a relieved sigh and collapsed on the ground. That battle took all of my efforts and I was barely able to win, how will I ever beat my father I thought to myself. Even after ten years of training is this is all that I amount to. When will I ever reach my father level I thought frustratedly. Slamming my fist on the ground a small crack appeared where it. Grabbing the chunks of earth I’ve displaced I infused them with my aura instinctually and crushed them.
It wasn’t on purpose and it was probably the only time ever since I was young that my mana went out of control. My mana pool started to rumble and rolled around in waves. Unknowingly my tattoo started to glow a bright green. The small link that existed between my mana pool and the tattoo started to enlarge. My tattoo no matter how insignificant still required some mana and this was probably the only time I’ve suffered from mana exhaustion. Even though I didn’t actually use all of my mana. I still forcefully activated a spell and another one on top of it without recovering from the original. Now, the backlash was coming back twofold. Which not only meant I couldn’t control magic I also lost control of the elemental energy I’ve cultivated. Normal magicians who don’t have legacies or parents who practice forbidden magic all follow the same route.
Which is the elemental route, they absorb the elemental energy that they have the most affinity with. The elements are comprised of fire, water, lightning, earth, nature, light, and shadow. The magicians who absorb elemental energy and infuse it into their mana pools are considered elementalists. Ever since I reached the adept stage I’ve been slowly fusing my elemental earth energy with my mana pool. The more earth energy I could infuse with my mana pool, the greater the control I had over my spells. But due to the backlash the elemental energy was dispersing and separating from my mana pool. “Shit,” I yelled months of hard work was going to waste. I tried to prevent the separation but it was out of my control. Pain racked my body and I felt tremors spread throughout my body. As I spasmed on the floor my green colored tattoo started spreading to every inch of my body.
First, it covered my face then it moved on to my chest, as I raised my arm to take a better look I could see the tattoo wriggling like it was living under my skin. It formed different arrays of complex patterns all over my body and caused pain every place it went. After it covered every inch of my body in complex patterns it extended towards my eyes. With unimaginable pain, it entered my pupils, and my mind went blank. That last thing I could sense before passing out was my elemental energy going completely erratic.
**
Waves of earth rolled all around his body, the mana near him was completely erratic. At the rate, the elemental energy was separating from him. He would lose all the mana he absorbed in a matter of minutes. What kind of ability takes this much mana I thought. Looking at his body the tattoo had completely covered his body by now and was glowing an eerie green. Interesting I thought. Normally for the eldest son, it would take a shocking effect for their ability to manifest. Unlike all the other members of Kai, the ability would become one with the body and interlink with their soul. This was done so monsters or necromancers wouldn’t steal the ability. Our ancestors truly have predicted everything I thought with a smile, slowly rubbing my beard.
With a flick of my wrist, a green orb appeared in my hand. Time to end this farce I thought. It would’ve been beneficial if I could forcefully activate his ability but at this rate all that would happen would be him losing all his years of training. Considering I held back on his training speed on purpose to stabilize his foundation this would be trivial, but the elemental energy separation is a whole another matter. You can regain mana quickly with certain methods but as for the natural elemental energy of the world that was a whole another thing altogether. There may be some methods but there isn’t a sure fire way to fuse elemental energy with your mana without backlash. Trust me I’ve tried and tried nothing works. Even the famed cultivation methods of the Western Pantheon doesn’t work. So, considering the pros and cons of this I finally settle on forcefully stopping his tattoo activation. I’ll have to make some special preparations next time I thought with a small sadistic smile. As I was about to stop the mana disturbance and seal his tattoo, something unexpected occurred. He started to wake up, it wasn’t noticeable at first but I noticed his muscles twitching rapidly. A dark wave of demonic energy emanated from his body eliminating all of the mana fluctuation. What in the world I thought to myself where in the world was the demonic energy coming from. I was dazed for a second but my years of training kept me calm and prepared.
Calling upon the earth, I felt a overwhelming feeling wash over me. I felt as though I was a mountain. A mountain that withstood centuries of time, a mountain which was unmoving, and resilient. With a wave of my hand, colossal pillars of rock sprouted all around Oliver, my golden tattoo lit up and the rocks were dyed with a golden light. My tattoo ability was one that saved me from countless dangerous. It was the ability of amplification, it could amplify any spell or ability I had. Along with my impenetrable defense, it was almost impossible to defeat me head-on. With an arrogance that seemed to be bred into my bones, I cast another spell. When you reach the level of Arch-Magus most of the lower rank spells could be cast instantaneously.
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A wave of pillars emerged from the pillars I already cast, forming a prison like structure around Oliver. With another spell, the pillars darkened and became pitch black becoming obsidian. The golden glow from before still didn’t disperse and the black pillars kept increasing in denseness. After the formation of the prison, I waited for Oliver to wake up. Slowly every passing second I became impatient and pressured Oliver’s soul to wake up with my own. Boom! A large explosion occurred from inside the prison as powerful as it may have sounded it didn’t make a dent in the prison. Interesting I thought as I watched Oliver emerge from the cloud of smoke. His brown hair became long and turned into a deep pitch black, whilst his normal hazel colored eyes became bizarre. One of his eyes still remained as it’s hazel color but it was inscribed with a weird pattern. The other eye, on the other hand, changed drastically, the normal hazel color no longer remained, instead, it was replaced by a blood red that seemed contain an ever-burning fire. It glowed and flickered with an almost demonic feel to it, what in the world I thought.
**
An indescribable feeling welled up within my heart. It’s not a feeling that could be described with words. Ever since I started to tread the path of the earth. I’ve felt as though something was missing. A part of myself which needed to be restored for me to feel complete. Today was the day that part of me was restored. As I tried to sense the changes of my body, a feeling of extreme heat was emanating from my left side. While a feeling of vastness emanated from my right. It was an odd feeling but balanced at the same time. Reaching deep within my body I felt around my mana pool where an unexpected surprise awaited me. My mana pool was completely dispersed and was in a gaseous stage. Which meant I dropped down all the way from the adept stage to the initiate stage. That was still within my expectation. What I didn’t expect what the black pearl which was located in the center of my mana. The other surprise was the red specks of energy intermixed within my mana. It seemed as though I gained affinity to fire I thought. Raising my arms in wonder and excitement. I noticed my hair became much longer reaching down to my waist, it also turned pitch black. What in the world happened I thought to myself. Looking at my wrists I noticed faint black lines running under my skin. Oh great, the tattoo is now embedded into my skin I thought. While I was busy inspecting the changes to my body I heard a cold voice speak.
“I see you’ve changed Oliver. How are you feeling,” asked my father with a small smile? I swear I saw a glint of amusement flash in his eyes.
Quickly composing myself I conceal the surprise in my eyes and assume a neutral expression. Showing any feeling to father was the same as asking for punishment. Ever since I was young I was trained to have a neutral expression in all situations for political training. With a small smile, I reply, “I feel better than ever before.”
He narrows his eyes before he asks, “That’s good to hear, did you perhaps find anything unusual within your mana center?”
“Actually, I did father, I seemed to have gained an affinity to fire it seems. I also found an unusual orb within my center, the bad news would be that my accumulated mana dispersed,” I said with precise words not forgetting anything. As much as I hate my father he was a master in the art of magic. He probably had way more knowledge into the peculiarities my tattoo caused than I ever would.
“Interesting,” he said slowly stroking his beard. “That orb is probably the manifestation of your ability. My ability itself manifested in the same way so I would know. But oh my don’t you realize the wonderful luck that befell you?”
“Luck? Do you mean the affinity to fire I gained?” I said calmly but confused within my heart.
“Yes, that's extremely lucky. Do you know how many dual elementalists out there? Not many, only 1 in 100,000 can gain more than two affinities. Making you extremely lucky for actually gaining that along with your ability.”
I’ve heard that dual elementalists were rare but I didn’t know how rare they were. “So, does that mean I can use fusion magic as well?” I asked with a hopeful tinge in my voice.
“Of course, it’ll just depend on whether you can find fusion spells like that?” he said with a demon like smile.
“So, you won’t give me the spells?”
“Yes, Oliver you must learn not to just rely on me. When you arrive in Lukedonia the city of The Imperial Academy, go, and signup at the magical association. Even though my collection of spells are vast they can’t compare to the magic organization. If you work yourself up the ranks, you’ll more than likely be able to acquire any type of spell you please. Even some of the more forbidden ones,” he replied.
“I understand,” I replied letting out a sigh of exasperation. When my father made a decision there was no way of changing it, I’ve learned from experience that it was better to just let it go. Plus my father is my goal and I’ve received enough help from him. When I reach Lukedonia I will finally be able to put my plans into overcoming my father into motion.
“I’m pleased we see eye to eye on this matter,” he said coldly. “Now, we need to find out what your ability actually is. Go inside your mana center and infuse your orb with mana.”
“Yes father,” I replied automatically closing my eyes. As I sat down I crossed my legs and entered meditation. Sensing the vast energy of the world I paid it no heed and focused on my mana center. I was running low on mana so I started to absorb it, my body was like a vacuum absorbing the ambient mana extremely fast. After about half an hour of absorbing mana, I turned my attention to my center. Looking around for the orb I start to channel mana into it just like father told me. In the beginning, nothing happened but little by little that eerie green glow appeared, a bit apprehensive I kept channeling the remaining mana I had into the orb. When I was close to running out of mana lines of black light shot out of orb. They formed some weird pattern in my mana center but it didn’t stop there. My eyes began to hurt again and I could feel a connection forming between my eyes and the orb. After a minute or so of emitting beams of light the orb slowly dispersed leaving behind the knowledge of my ability.
Aura Absorption, the ability to perceive and take the auras of living beings.