How does he know? I feel my heart race but keep my face stoic.
“What do you mean?” I ask back.
“Oh, you don't know. Every Mage has a Mana core but we can’t manipulate it without a Mana Manipulation Ability. True Mana Manipulation only appears from your Primary artifact at C grade. However, certain D-grade artifacts can provide you with inferior Mana Manipulation,” Dante informs me, “It’s not that big of a deal if you don’t mind people knowing you have a D-grade secondary artifact.”
I think about what he’s saying and ask him, “Why is it called inferior?”
“A proper Mana manipulation skill gives you an extreme amount of mastery over Mana, allowing you to manipulate it without any fatigue. Inferior Mana manipulation abilities like the one you get from D-grade artifacts are very limited in what they allow you to do,” he answers.
I see him move his hand out and multiple deep red flames appear on his hand. He concentrates, his eyebrows knitting, and the flames coalesce into one and become bigger. I notice multiple people pointing at us and whispering.
I tap him to make him stop but he struggles to keep control of his mana. It eventually flares causing me to summon a chunk of water mana and drench his hand. The fire mana flickers and gets smaller but doesn’t disappear. What the hell? A ball of dirt wraps around Dante’s hand, killing out the flames. I look up to see Esmar standing over us with a grumpy look on his face.
“I understand the want to use your Mana, but please not on the bus. Especially not second-order Mana with a fire attribute,” He says before sitting back down.
We both sit down and I look through my status screen.
----------------------------------------
Status
Age: 16
Name: Elijah Ashborne
Level: 57
Affinity: Void
Strength: 10
Agility: 15
Constitution: 20
Mind: 15
Aether: 94
Bonuses added:
+100% Aether
Primary Artifact:
* Void’s Pact
Secondary Artifact/s:
* Pseudo Water Mana core
* Glacial Torrent
[Stat Points: 0]
Quests: None
Shop;
----------------------------------------
I wonder what the shop does, as well as quests. I try adding a screen that shows the amount of secondary Artifacts I can bond to. My status in front of me blurs and a new one shows up.
----------------------------------------
Status
Age: 16
Name: Elijah Ashborne
Level: 57
Affinity: Void
Strength: 10
Agility: 15
Constitution: 20
Mind: 15
Aether: 94
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
Bonuses added:
+100% Aether
Primary Artifact:
* Void’s Pact
Void Secondary Artifact/s(¾):
* Pseudo Water Mana core
* Water Secondary Artifacts(1/4):
* Glacial Torrent
[Stat Points: 0]
Quests: None
Shop;
----------------------------------------
That worked well. What to do now? I look at Raven and see he’s fallen asleep holding the blonde girl in his arms. What the hell did I miss? That is not even fair. I get stuck with a bumble head and he somehow finds a girl. Wait… THIS IS A PRIME OPPORTUNITY TO DO SOME SCARRING. I put my arms around Dante and pretend he’s a girl. I feel him squirm and face me. I kiss him on the cheek. We pause and stare into each other eyes.
“I’M GOING TO KILL YOU,” He screams and summons his Fire Essence around him.
His entire body turns into flames and I feel my entire body start to burn. Damn, I might’ve gone too far. I push away from him, summoning half of my water mana from my core through my pathways and letting it flow out of my pores. Instantly, the burning pain stops and intense pressure starts to form in my mind. I open my eyes and realize I’m surrounded by a huge water bubble along with half the bus. I look at Esmar and see him swimming toward me.
He yells something causing bubbles to come out his mouth but I can’t hear him. I grit my teeth and start to suck all my mana back in. The pain in my brain triples and I keel over. I continue to absorb the water mana and eventually pass out.
----------------------------------------
----------------------------------------
----------------------------------------
I wake up in a warm bed and try to remember how I got here. I remember flooding the bus, causing me to jump out of bed. I look around the room and don’t notice anything abnormal. I remember my old clothes burning as I feel the softness of the ones I’m wearing. Maybe I should’ve invested in some nice clothes. These feel nice but who put them on me?
I leave the room and hear talking as well as the smell of food. My stomach grumbles in response and I walk down the hallway into a large room with people eating. I look around and notice the Caravan Master sitting with Esmar and Charlotte. I go up to them and sit, pushing down my hunger. It’s not like I have my money with me to pay for food.
“It's the water boy. How’s it feel to cost the kingdom tens of silver, huh boy? Have you ever even held a silver,” the brute of a girl says with an obnoxious laugh.
She’s laughing like a donkey. Learn some manners you—I stop my train of thought when I realize how hypocritical I sound. I probably sounded worse when I’ve done one of my special provocative acts. I sit down with the 3 of them.
“May I get some food,” I ask politely.
The Caravan Master waves his hand causing the waiter to come. He orders some food and turns to me once he’s done.
“‘Before you speak, I want you to know that I’m a mid-D rank. I’m among the strongest people on this planet if we exclude the Paragon and the King. The amount of Water Mana you released was almost more than my entire capacity. Mind you, your utilization of it was horrible, but still. It is beyond impressive for an E-grade,” He says, he continues but this time with a blade at my neck while leaking killing intent, “So impressive that one can say it is impossible for an E-grade to do so. I know the Paragon checked you but a lot can happen in a day. Show me your status,”
Well that was anti-climactic. I thought he would ask for something more. I guess it is pretty private but I have worse secrets to hide. I pull up my fake status and double-check it for any inconsistencies.
----------------------------------------
Status(Fake)
Age: 16
Name: Elijah Ashborne
Level: 39
Affinity: Water
Strength: 10
Agility: 15
Constitution: 20
Mind: 15
Mana: 19
Primary Artifact: Glacial Torrent
Secondary Artifact/s: None
[Stat Points: 0]
Quests: None
Shop;
----------------------------------------
I remember what Dante said about water Mana Manipulation, I altered the status to make Glacial Torrent my secondary artifact and create a fake Primary Artifact called Mana Amplifier. Seeing nothing out of the ordinary aside from that, I pretend to hesitate and think about it before meekly agreeing. I mentally allow the Caravan Master to view my status causing it to turn away from me.
I see his eyes read through the status before sighing in relief. He puts a pouch on the table and slides it toward me.
“I am many things but not a tyrant.”
He points to the pouch, “There’s an artifact in there. You will tell anyone who asks that it is what you chose from the list and that I provided it for you in advance since I took a liking to you. Does that sound good? That also means the fact that I checked your status will stay between us.”
“I agree but can I ask a question,” I say hesitantly.
He nods and shares a look with Esmar and Charlotte, who’ve both watched the scene between us play out.
“Why does everyone give artifacts as an apology for looking at statuses” I ask.
The three of them start to laugh before answering.
“It’s a tradition from the Eternal Empire to give artifacts after looking at your status. The artifact has to be the same rank as the person whose status was looked at,” the Caravan Master tells me.
I pick up the small pouch and place it in my pocket. I hear a pop as the waiter walks towards us and the common noises from the inn filter through my ear. I look in surprise at the group of 3 and see their grins.