2 years since the start of training...

The sun had just risen over the small village of Hakvill, casting a peach-pink glow across the sky as a light breeze swept through the streets of the marine village. Though it was early, the first fishermen were already setting out to sea, hoping for a bountiful catch that would provide for their families.

Ron, unlike the fishermen, had a bar to manage. Despite having all the time in the world before opening his small inn, he woke up early every morning. At dawn, he meticulously cleaned his bar, washing the floors and scrubbing every corner of his tavern. He wanted everything to be perfect for his customers.

After cleaning, Ron followed a routine he had kept secret from Erwin for over ten years. He would head to the back garden, away from prying eyes, and train with his beloved sword, ironically named "Cyrus." Practicing an imaginary fight with precise, clean, and elegant movements, his blade moved as swiftly and deceptively as a fly. It was an incredible dance between Ron and his sword, a dance hidden from everyone.

Suddenly, the dance became faster and more brutal, with sudden shifts and increasingly violent strikes. His eyes were focused, as if battling a formidable enemy, and any distraction could mean death. After several minutes of fighting against the air, he delivered a final, violent slash that raised a cloud of dust. Despite the elegance and perfection of his style, a note of melancholy lingered in his gaze.

Ron then returned to his house, carefully hiding his sword before heading to the shower. He paused to look at a photo on his bedside table—a young, beautiful woman with red hair, smiling brightly. But Ron looked away, his expression one of anger, before stepping into the shower.

As he washed, he tried to cleanse himself of the melancholy and anger he felt. After drying off, he put on a tight white T-shirt and black pants, tied on his apron, and walked out of his room, ready to start another busy day.

As he descended the stairs towards the inn, he sensed someone's presence. He quickly realized this person was an awakened individual like himself, with impressive control over his mana, though not at a high level. Ron was not worried; in case of an attack, he could easily overpower him. Still, he was surprised to encounter another awakened person in Hakvill. When he reached the bottom of the stairs and came face to face with the stranger, his mood shifted from slightly annoyed and cautious to happily surprised, though he tried not to show it.

"You're late, idiot... You took it too easy." Ron said with an almost neutral expression, although in reality, at that moment, he was as happy like a kid with a candy;

The boy in front of him had now become a beautiful little man: Ron could see that he had gone through the pains of hell, seeing his clothes completely dirty, shan and ruined, but judging by the physique and mana he perceived in him, he realize that the hard training to which he subjected him had excellent results ...

"Damn Ron...You could at least pretend to be happy to see me, couldn't you? "Erwin replied with a dazzling smile, happy to finally see his master...

-------

Ron observed the boy in front of him, noting how, beyond the mutation he had undergone due to his "full" awakening, Erwin had now become a little man, and that he no longer resembled the 13 year old boy he had abandoned on that cold night two years ago, throwing him into the chasm of a mountain;

Over the years, Erwin's hair had become dirty, unkempt and long, as had his clothes, which were so ruined that they looked like they could crumble at any moment. Looking at the condition he had arrived in, he felt a little of remorse for throwing him down the cliff like that, even though in the end, it had turned out to be the best of solutions for the boy;

" ...It seems that now you can control your mana decently..." said Ron, who in addition to sensing his mana, was pleasantly impressed by the boy's control over his energy, slightly exceeding his expectations ;

" Well, it wasn't easy, you know?" replied the young boy, pleased for the fact that Ron, somewhat in his own way, recognized his efforts.

" Well, you'll tell me later how your training was" – said Ron, who headed towards the part of the house dedicated to the inn – "Your smell is making my nostrils go haywire. While you wash yourself, I'll I'll prepare the breakfast."

" Hehehe, I didn't miss your attitude at all!" said Erwin who, despite his words, couldn't contain his smile: he was too happy to be back with what he considered almost a second father;

--------

Erwin's POV

I filled the wooden tub with water and an essential oil with a unique scent, and I jumped in without thinking twice;

Inside that damned mountain, I was so focused on training and perfecting my control over mana that I didn't particularly miss things like a nice hot bath. It was only when I finally emerged from that wretched pit that my senses reactivated, and I began to feel the absence of everything I had taken for granted, like eating, for example.

" Ahhhh...what a wonderful feeling" I said in a satisfied voice, relaxing until I almost fell asleep inside the tub.

But then, while I was relaxing, I remembered the last difficult months inside the mountain: in the end, I hadn't managed to reach my goal, and this thing made me lose my mind; I spent months and months trying to figure out what I was doing wrong, but I just came up with a huge blank.

"...Ron won't be particularly happy about it..." I whispered in a low voice: I wanted to prove to that old man that I could do it, that I was capable of accomplishing everything I told him; instead, admitting that I had partially failed in my training gave me a certain sense of embarrassment and anger.

" ...Let's not think about it for the moment..."

At that moment, even though I was disappointed by what had happened, I intended to spend my day immersed in the tub, to enjoy some well-deserved holidays, to recover both mentally and physically. However, a very pleasant smell passed under my nostrils: at that point, my stomach began to rumble heavily;

"...!"

Without waiting a moment longer, I leapt out of the tub, finally heading towards my room to change;

------

When I went down to the inn, one of Ron's specialties awaited me: bean and game meat stew, accompanied by freshly baked bread. The sight and smell of the dish made my mouth water, and I practically lunged at the counter where it was placed. I began devouring the stew with such speed that I nearly choked several times. Thankfully, there was water nearby, allowing me to wash down the food and continue gorging like a beast.

"You're disgusting..." said Ron in a low voice, who was looking at me out of the corner of his eye, but at that moment, I didn't care about his constant glares.

After that, the old man sat down in front of me, but I could detect a certain note of disgust towards me: I must have been unwatchable at that moment.

"Tell me, how was your training?"

I waited to finish my plate before speaking to Ron: it took me about 5 seconds before answering; after which, after taking a sip of water, I finally answered him.

I told him everything in detail, from the moment I fell into that strange magical lake, until I woke up in that strange hole that violated every physical law; I told him about the first difficult days of training, I told him about the happiness I felt the moment I saw the first improvements, about how, day after day, I felt stronger and stronger.

I hesitated for a moment before telling him that in the end, and to be honeste, i didn't want to tell him about "that". But I think that sooner or later, Ron would have at least noticed my failure.

So I also told him about the difficulties of the last few months, how I couldn't find a solution to my problem, and how, exasperated, I decided to abandon the mountain.

I thought that Ron would be disappointed to hear such words, but I was quite surprised to see that he wasn't angry, but seemed more confused than anything else;

"Strange..." - Ron began, starting to ruminate on himself - "You said that at a certain point, no matter how hard you tried, you weren't able to make any progress, right?"

"Yes. It was as if I was completely wasting my time here: at first, I believed that the training had lost effectiveness, but then I realized that if everything had been ineffective, then I wouldn't stop to improve so abruptly. So, I came to the conclusion that the problem was me..."

Ron, at a certain point, had a sort of epiphany, and the first thing he did was to go to the back of the garden, ordering me to follow him;

"I know you just arrived and want to rest, but I want you to start circulating your mana..."

I don't know what this had to do with my problem, but if it would help Ron understand what was causing my sudden difficulties, then I would do anything;

I circulated my mana, as I had learned to do: but as soon as Ron felt my mana, his look became surprised, very surprised, making me feel nervous, since Ron is not someone who is easily surprised.

"This is..."

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

*End of Erwin's POV*

-------

"This is...unbelievable." Ron said, surprised by what he was sensing.

"Do you understand what's happening?" Erwin asked, nervous and at the same time curious to know what Ron had found in such a short time;

Ron approached the boy, then resting his hand on his chest;

"Eh, as I thought" – said Ron, who after a few moments, removed his hand from the man's chest – "Your body is in transition between mana and aura."

Erwin remained in silence for a couple of second, not understanding what Ron was talking about, since the only energy he knew was the mana.

"W-What is aura? What does it mean?"

"Well, to be short, aura is nothing more than a power deriving from mana; the two powers are very similar, but the peculiarity of the aura is given by the fact that unlike mana, it is a power much more suited to combat, and in fact, some magical knights do not possess mana, but rather aura: this is because the center of the aura is not located in the nucleus, but rather in the heart: being positioned in the heart, it optimizes the physical abilities of the body to the maximum. The reason you didn't improve was mainly due to the fact that the two forces clashed inside your body, destabilizing you without you even realizing it. It's a good thing you didn't notice, because this problem helped you to improve your control other the mana, and unconsciously, even over the Aura..." Concluded Ron, understanding why Erwin had improved beyond his expectations.

"Wow! So, thanks to this new power... I'm getting strong!" Exclaimed the boy, who began to flex his muscles in front of Ron, who began to glare at him;

"...Yes, but actually, no." - Ron said, nipping Erwin's enthusiasm in the bud - "First of all, the reason why you couldn't improve yourself is not exclusively due to the transition, but also due to the fact that the aura and mana requires various training: mana, for example, improves and increases thanks to meditation and purification of the core, while aura requires rigorous physical training to improve, and training does not always lead to the desired results. And while now your control other the mana is good, if we not resolve this problem, your latent potential will always be limited.

"Moreover, the aura has several disadvantages: the biggest of all is the fact that it makes it extremely difficult to carry out long-distance magical attacks: sure, some top-level magic knights manage to overcome this problem, but it takes years of experience and perfect control of your power and of your element to reach that kind of level."

Erwin, who was happy that he was unlocking a new power, and happy that the sudden difficulty he had in the mountain wasn't his fault, was somewhat disappointed and disheartened to discover that the aura seemed to have more flaws than streghts. But one thing, however, caught his attention;

"Ron, stop for a moment..." – said the boy, interrupting the man's speech – "What is an element?!"

Ron looked at the boy with an astonished look: he was aware of the fact that Erwin was an half-idiot who, despite wanting to become the best among the wizards, knew practically nothing about their world; but the fact that he didn't know the most basic thing of all shocked the man so much that he began to wonder if he was just wasting his time.

"...You really don't know anything about the elements?"

"No!" Erwin said without fear, as if it were something to be proud of.

[...Damn.] - Ron thought, shaking his head – [Well, what could I expect from an empty head...He's like his father to the core...]

"Listen to me carefully, you ignorant kid! In this world there are 4 main elements, and they are the element of fire, earth, water and wind"

With that said, Ron put his hand in front of him, showing Erwin his fire element by literally sending his hand into flames, leaving Erwin stunned, who jumped back in amazement.

"T-That's an element?!" Erwin said, being astounded by what he saw;

"Exactly; i can control the fire element" – said Ron, who after a few seconds, made that hot and glittering flame that had enveloped his hand disappear into thin air;

"Wow..." Erwin said amazed: he was aware of the fact that magic could do many things, but still seeing something like that for the first time had a certain effect on him;

"In addition to these elements, there are elements similar to the latter, called "deviant elements", but for the moment, this is not important. For unknown reasons, every race present on this planet has a "default" element with whom they are most akin, but denying them the ability to develop others elements: elves, for example, are blessed by mana, but the elements that they can control are the element of wind and water; dwarves, on the other hand, have a high affinity with the element of earth and fire, while orcs have a high affinity only with the fire element.

" As for humans, we have the possibility of being able to manipulate all four elements, but not only is it extremely difficult to control 4 of them, but unlike other races, we don't have a strong affinity with any element and we are not even blessed by mana ; furthermore, it is impossible to control 4 of them perfectly because it creates imbalance within the mana core; For this reason, humans usually only enhance the element most similar to them, trying to unlock the deviant elements... is that clear?" - Ron finally said, after his long explanation;

Erwin, at that moment, was beginning to understand how vast the world he lived in actually was: From an early age, he believed that with passion alone, he could achieve everything he wanted, but after leaving the mountain, and with everything he Ron said, although he hadn't met any other wizard besides Ron, he realized that he had to work hard if he wanted to achieve his goals. Then, while he was lost in thought about him, a curiosity occurred to him;

" Ron, how much elements could Dad control ??"

"Your father? Well, your father is what we call a "Singularity": he was able to control the elements of fire and wind with almost perfect control, including 5 of their respective deviant elements; so, he was like he was able to control 7 elements... honestly speaking, I've never seen such a thing... Well, There was a reason people had started calling him "The mighty One". Ron concluded with a slight smile, starting to recall the old times spent with his first and only student until 'Now.

"Woah..." Erwin silently exclaimed, who at that moment began to imagine how powerful he could be. His dream was to become like his father, or rather, even bigger! But if these were the conditions, certainly, he had to sacrifice more than he could imagine at that moment. -"So, what do you recommend I do? Follow the mana route, or follow the Aura route?" - asked the boy, thus trusting in Ron's experience and wisdom.

"It's your choice, I don't want to influence you... However!" – said Ron, who wanted to say something that could help Erwin in his decision – "The elements are closely linked to mana, therefore, when the mana becomes aura, the related element is consequently lost. But there is a way to overcome this problem, a method used by almost all Aura users, possible only when you are in the transition phase, that is to "baste" the aura with your element. In this case, the aura and your element will become one, and when you go to use the Aura, the energy around you will manifest through your element. Obviously, now it's up to you to decide what you think is best for you-"

"Okay! I want to follow the path of the aura!" The boy exclaimed, without even hesitating.

"...Yes, given your abilities, this choice makes sense.." said Ron, who despite being impassive, was very happy with the progress made by the boy: in fact, going from mana to aura was a difficult thing, very difficult, and above all, it is not something that can happen spontaneously, but is carried out through some "special" wizards; the fact that the boy had entered the transition phase alone meant that his body was already predisposed to this type of change.

[Maybe... he's a genius like his father] Ron thought, fantasizing about how phenomenal Erwin could become.

"Well, now that you've chosen what to do, we need to find out what your kindred element is. Follow me, there's someone who can help us."

******

Erwin's POV.

When he said there was someone who could help us in this little godforsaken village, I was skeptical; in fact, in this village, there was no one else awakened besides me and Ron.

I was amazed when we went to the home of the administrator of the 21st district, namely Mr. Ludwig, a middle-aged man friend of Ron, who used to frequent our Inn; I thought that he, like Ron, was hiding the fact that he could use mana, yet, although I could now clearly distinguish the awakened from the non-awakened, I realized that he was not awakened: how could he help us?

"H-Hey... is that Erwin?!" - said Ludwig in amazement, who took off his glasses to see me better – "How much you've grown, boy!"

"Hi, Uncle Ludwig!"

"That grumpy old man near to you told me you went on holiday... hell, after a while I thought we'd never see you again! What the hell were they feeding you?"

Ludwig, surprised and at the same time happy, gave me a friendly pat on the shoulder, but the moment he did so, his look remained rather astonished and perplexed; he started looking at me strangely, and next thing he did, was to look at Ron, who didn't say anything except shrug.

"Damn boy... now everything explains: you have "awakened" your mana, right?"

I was surprised to hear that question; since I had set foot in the village, many villagers greeted me and were surprised that I had changed so much; yet, none of them thought that I had awakened my core, which was also normal; yet, not only had Ludwig seen things through, but in his eyes I read the confidence in his affirmation.

"I see you are confused, and that's normal." - said Ron, who had stood aside - "Ludwig is not an awakened like us, but in addition to having studied mana in its complexity, he has a higher affinity for mana than a normal people, which makes him sensitive to any type of magic or energy arising as soon as it comes into contact with him... It is what we call Psychic."

Now it was explained how he was able to understand that I was an awakened person! But if he had an enormous affinity with mana, how was it possible that he wasn't an awakened one like us?

"Ludwig, we need your help" – said Ron, who approached his friend – "Do you still remember how to draw?"

A few minutes later...

"Okay, everything is ready!"

We had entered his house, and he made us sit around a table; he had his servants sent away, so that we could remain among ourselves; after which, he took a brush, and after dipping it in a strange purple-red liquid, he began to draw a strange circle on the table, with symbols and letters inside that I had never seen in my life: the perfection of the signs and the drawing however, they bordered on perfection, to the point that I wondered if it was really possible to do something like that, and in just a few minutes;

After that, he poured a strange blue fluorescent liquid over the entire drawing, and as soon as the liquid touched the drawing, it suddenly lit up, leaving me a little taken aback, because in those strange symbols, I perceived mana.

"This is alchemy" – said Ron in a low voice, probably aware of my amazement – "It's a type of magic that is used solely to activate talismans, high level spells and much more. The interesting thing is that everyone can use alchemy 'alchemy, you just need to know what you are doing, enormous precision in writing alchemical circles, the right tools and enormous knowledge about talismans and runic symbols. It's not incredible..."

[Easier said than done...] I said softly almost angrily, seeing the way it belittled what I was witnessing.

"I hear you, you bastard..." Ludwig said, glaring at Ron, who pretended nothing happened. - "Anyway! Erwin is ready!"

"What should I do?" I asked Ludwig, curious about the next step.

"Well, you just have to put your hand inside the triangle next to you; when your mana flows inside the alchemical circle, the latter will light up according to the type of related element: it will be purple red if you are related to the fire, sea blue if you are similar to water, dark orange if you are similar to the element of earth and finally emerald green if you are similar to the element of wind. Come on, put your hand!"

"..."

At that moment, I don't know why, but I had a moment of hesitation; it was like i was afraid of not meeting Ron's expectations...

After gathering my courage, I slowly placed my hand on the spot indicated by Ludwig, and as soon as the palm of my hand was in full contact with the table, I suddenly felt my mana being drained without my will; I was scared for a moment, remembering what happened when i went inside the mountain for the first time, but judging by Ron and Ludwig's expressions, it must have been something normal.

After the initial scare, I began to get an idea of what element I would be able to use: I would liked to manipulate fire so I could roast those damn monsters in the woods, or the control over the wind, so I could fly around!

Suddenly, however, the alchemical circle began to light up intermittently, increasing its brightness with each passing second, until, having reached a blinding light, the latter began to gradually decrease, until it disappeared, leaving me stunned: why had it not taken on any color?

"Hey... Is this normal?"

I looked at Uncle Ludwig, and noticed how his face was surprised by what he had seen; even Ron, who was usually impassive, had a wide-eyed look. I began to think about what was happening, when, however, I had a sort of epiphany; perhaps, I was similar to all the elements, just like dad!

I was about to exult with joy, but it took Ludwig to destroy all my hopes with a few, but heavy words...

"Erwin... you are not akin to any element."

END OF CHAPTER 3 - ELEMENTS