Will awoke the next morning with the woman cuddled up next to him. He carefully extricated himself and went to a small table which held a bowl of warm water and some towels. Will felt dirty, and he cleaned himself thoroughly. It had been his first time, and hers as well if Will knew the signs. Will embraced his concept to still the roiling emotions. Part of him cared for the woman, though he still didn’t know her name. He could say that part even loved her. But that was only part of him. A larger part wanted to leave this village and never return. The way these people reacted to him terrified him.

These women wanted to get pregnant by a god, if their behavior, including his companion’s behavior, was anything to go by. Will didn’t understand. Even married women had been in that room.

Typically, women in the middle ages who slept around were very much looked down upon. And while Will didn’t believe that was necessary in modern times back on earth, Will believed that the dangerous nature of the middle ages necessitated that attitude more than people wanted to admit. And so it baffled him why so many women would whore themselves out to gods. Then again, that was likely the answer. It was probably a spiritual experience for them.

Will turned around to see the woman sitting up and staring at him. She was bare to the waist with the blankets covering her lower half. He on the other hand was completely exposed. Will’s face flamed red, and he scrambled for his clothing.

“Wait!” The woman cried out, going red herself. “Do you want…”

“Uh, no.” Will said hurriedly. “I have to be on my way quickly this morning for all of the important god business I have to do.” He pulled on his clothes piece by piece, finishing with his white wolfs fur coat. He threw on his other coat for added protection.

The woman nodded and looked away, obviously embarrassed. She would periodically glance back at him while twirling a lock of hair in her fingers. She had not made any move to cover herself. Will didn’t like the look in her eyes. It was the look of adoration, but different from the other people he had met. This was something stronger.

He had to get out of this town fast.

As Will left the town, Koma by his side, he could feel the villager’s gazes on him. He could feel her gaze on him. It was to his great relief when he passed out of sight. He vowed to never return there again.

As Will walked he idly looked through his compendium, and through his inventory, as he did a lot to pass the time. He disgustedly ejected the half eaten food from the night before from his inventory, shivering at the sight of the masticated mess on the side of the road. As Will left that spot, his eyes caught on a slot in his inventory. It was the monster core from the bear. He had identified it long ago, and it had revealed that it was fire attuned. The system had given him the option to absorb it, and Will had left it to another day to consider.

Will pulled it out now, looking for some sort of distraction from his thoughts and clicked on the prompt as it came in. Fire rushed through his arm and into his chest, causing Will to fall to his knees with the pain.

Congratulations, you have gained a concept!

Concept: Inferno of the Tumultuous Mind

Type: Heat

Subtype: Turmoil

This is a mental concept.

Congratulations, you have gained three levels!

You are now level 16.

Will felt a new star form within his spirit, and when he looked inward it was red and angry. But worse was how it fought with the energy of the cold star that had already been infused into his body. Pain ravaged his body, and he felt hot and cold in turns and he attempted to turn his will in on his two concepts.

After far too long, both concepts were sealed away. Koma was nosing at him in worry and letting out a slight whine. Will stood on wobbly legs, using Koma to help himself up. Will looked inward worriedly. The two stars were blazing brightly, and for the first time ever, they seemed to fight his control. Each wanted the other gone. The worst part was that both had taken up residence in his head, very close to one another. This was not good.

Will spent the rest of that day honing his concept control. When he arrived in the next town, he didn’t go to the inn, rather he went to a storied location he had heard about many times before and after his summoning.

The adventurer’s guild was everything Will expected. There was the jobs board with requests pinned to it, a long reception desk filled with beautiful women, and a common room filled to the brim with raucous people. A chorus of oohs went up when they saw Koma, and Koma immediately padded off to a familiar robed god sitting near the middle of the crowd.

Will’s mood immediately soured. Of course, Emerys sat near her, and he shouted to Will.

“Hey, over here!” He yelled, but Will just ignored him. Instead he whistled, and Koma came trotting back to his side, leaving the female god visibly dejected. Will approached the desk, veering away from a girl who looked a bit too much like the one from yesterday. The girl he approached was a pretty girl with hair so dark brown it was nearly black.

“Is this where I sign up to be an adventurer?” Will asked.

“Indeed it is!” She said, “All you need to do is fill out these papers. There is also a small test for you to do, but it is just for information, it isn’t something you can fail.” She then stayed there and coached him through the papers. To his relief, they were general questions about his abilities and fighting styles. While it was important information, it was not the kind of information you would ask a god. He was vague in his answers, and was surprised at her excitement when he said he could make his blade stronger with magic.

“You must be a blessed child, correct?” His blank look confused her. “You are the son of a god are you not? To have magic abilities?”

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

“Oh yeah, we didn’t use that term back home.” Will said. The girl nodded in understanding and moved on. They finished the paperwork fairly quickly, and the girl brought out a crystal ball.

“This will tell how much mana you have. That will determine your tolerance for using magic items. That will be important to know in case you get in a pickle.” Will shrugged and put his hands on the ball like she directed. A small light filled the orb. A wave of disappointment came over the girl.

“I suppose you don’t have that much mana after all.” Then she snapped her fingers. “You have a magic ability! That means you have another use for your mana other than magic items. You should come back when your mana pool has filled up. It should only be a few days.”

Will looked inward at his inner constellation. The lines were dim and the stars faint. He had been practicing his spirit inscription as he walked, and had forgotten to fill the constellation with mana. Was this what she was measuring? With a simple flex of his will, he filled the constellation with mana. A fresh scent filled the room around him as mana escaped his control and emanated around him.

“We can try again now. It’s no problem.” The girl scoffed but slid the ball toward him. She was surprised by the brilliant glow that emanated from the ball, but that wasn’t what she commented on.

“Red and blue!” She exclaimed in a strangled voice. “You have two concepts!” Will was starting to get very annoyed at people easily ascertaining what he would rather keep hidden.

“I will be right back, please don’t leave!” She said, before running through a door behind the counter. Will sighed wearily and slumped against the counter. At least she had been quiet, but the crystal ball had been less than subtle. Most of the people in the guild were glancing at him from time to time. They wondered more than he would like. He just wanted a contract or two so he could kill some monsters and get some levels.

Not too long later he was invited behind the counter and into an office where an older man sat working behind a desk. The man gestured for Will to sit on one of the chairs opposite the desk.

“Lucy has told me quite the story Mr. Thompson.” He looked up at Will. “She told me about reading someone twice in a row with wildly differing results. Not only did the second reading show an incredible mana capacity, but it showed the marks of two concepts.” The man folded his hands.

“I suppose I can see why you might question those results now that you put it in those terms.” Will said. “I didn’t cheat. If I had the ability to cheat your test wouldn’t I have done it right the first time?”

“Mr. Thompson, you underestimate the number of idiots who do their best to fool our tests only to make stupid mistakes like that. That said, If you can provide proof of your mana pool and concepts, I will be happy to approve your membership. Will nodded at the man’s words.

“As long as this stays between us, I am okay with that, that said, you never introduced yourself, so I don’t know who you are.”

“Ahh, forgive me. I am Lord Cornelius Atherton of the Isles. I am the interim guild master here until they are able to recruit someone local.” He gave a posh smile and nod. “Now, Mr. Thompson, if you will demonstrate your concepts and your mana pool.” Will nodded and simply let out his cold aura. He held it back so as not to freeze the room, but Lord Atherton’s eyes widened in surprise.

“Very well, that is one concept, but you have another?”

“Yes, I do, but this one is a rather recent acquisition. I am a bit unsure of my ability to control it.”

“Very well. This room is warded against anything you should be able to do, so feel free to do what you think is necessary.” Will nodded at Lord Atherton’s words, and wrestled his cold concept back into its star. He then let out his heat concept for the first time. He did his best to modulate the power that rushed through him, but even as he attempted to take control, it felt as though a tsunami of thoughts crashed over his mind. Will lost himself in the flood as every errant thought from the past several months vyed for his attention. He had become so used to the calming effect of the ice that he was entirely unprepared.

Then his control slipped from his cold concept.

Pain raged through his body as the two concepts battled each other, freezing and burning him in turn. He wrestled with the flame, and eventually, to his great relief, managed to shut it away in its star. Ice flowed through his veins and he embraced the cold disdain that accompanied it.

“Mr. Thompson, will you please stop trying to freeze me out of this room?” Will looked up to see frost enveloping the room. He had connected the springtime star to his cold star to help him seal the flames away. It made his cold aura unbearably cold to anyone without a concept of their own. Will wrestled back control of his cold aura, turning it inward to further deaden his roiling emotions. Will looked to Lord Atherton, who was sitting with his hands folded on the desk, completely fine.

“I have confirmed that you do indeed have two concepts. And that last part where you tried to freeze me to death makes it clear that you have all the mana you could want.” Lord Atherton smiled. “I will approve your application immediately. Though I highly suggest you get that under control, whatever that was. I have never seen people have such difficulty controlling their concepts, and that will cause problems.” Will grimaced at his words.

“I know, it was a lot easier before I got the second concept. Since then it has felt like they want to destroy one another.”

“How did you gain this concept? It should be impossible for you to gain a concept so opposed to your original.”

“I got it from absorbing a monster core.” Will said. “Maybe I should have realized there would be a problem, given that the creature breathed fire and all.”

“Well, that is interesting. In the future, do not absorb a monster core directly. That is done occasionally but only with great care due to the problem you face right now. Low compatibility between concepts can pose a lot of problems, though your compatibility problems will be worse than most. In the future, absorb monster cores into your guild badge. It will purify the energies and allow you to cultivate properly without inadvertently gaining a concept.”

“What if I want the concept the core might give me?” Will asked. “It seems like an easy shortcut to more power.”

“Then it is your choice, to be sure. Just be aware that there are risks. If you wish a new concept, there are concentration arrays that will help you extract and then absorb the concept. But things can go wrong with any form of absorption.” Lord Atherton sat back. “Is there anything else I can help you with?”

“Umm, yeah, I don’t really know much about concepts in general. Is there any way for me to learn aside from trial and error?” Lord Atherton leaned back and pulled a book off a nearby shelf. Will noticed that all the ice had disappeared without a single spot of wet anywhere. Lord Atherton offered Will the book. It had no title, but was large and bound in leather.

‘Here you go, this book is complement of the guild. It is a boon of your membership. This copy may not leave the guild, but if you have any magic to copy it, you may do so, just don’t share it outside the guild.” Will took the book, which turned out to be far heavier than he expected. It was heavy even with his enhanced strength. He opened the cover to find that even from the first page the writing was dense. Will identified the book.

Concept Magic and Its Role in Cultivation

Magical Volume

This book is enchanted to hold more information than a book of its size could normally hold.

This book describes Concept Theory and practice, as well as history and methods of cultivation using concepts.

The text of the book was added to his compendium, and Will saw that it was over three thousand pages long. His stomach dropped at the thought of all that reading. Hopefully it was a lot of reference material that he wouldn’t need to comb through page by page.

Will stood up and handed the book back.

“Thanks, that will be quite helpful.” Will said. Lord Atherton accepted the book with a confused look. “I already cast a copying spell. I no longer need your copy.”

“Very well.” Lord Atherton said. “Please have a nice day.”