Elijah's gaze pierced Calvin.
Beneath the surface, a network of mana pathways revealed themselves—threaded like glowing veins, all connecting to a central mana core.
Elijah's suspicions were confirmed.
Calvin undeniably had a mana core.
But how?
'He shouldn't even know what a mana core is, let alone have one. That's impossible.'
But—
Despite all odds, he did.
His earlier triumph now felt cheap. Elijah tried to swallow the bitterness rising in his throat. He had hoped to savor being the sole possessor of a mana core just a bit longer.
However—
The boy genius was ever the overachiever.
"Voices?" Elijah finally addressed him. "Tell me more about that. Start from the beginning."
Calvin took a deep breath, calming the hurricane in his veins.
"After your sparring match with Bella, I became fixated on magic. My goal? To uncover its mechanics and explore them—push them further than what you've demonstrated. That led me to something I deduced the night before: magic is conjured from somewhere deep within."
He paused for a moment giving Elijah time to digest. Then continued.
"That realization made me see the flaw in your usage. You've been relying on magic from the surroundings. While I'm sure there are applications for that, Bella was right—it's impractical for the pace of real combat. At the very least, it has been so far. That's when it hit me. What if there's another way to draw on magic but instead of the surroundings,from within?"
He paused.
"With that in mind, I started from scratch. What if mana could be used to not only ignite flames outward, but to ignite something within an individual? Or What if it could be stored inside the body? Eliminating a step in the process by having mana on hand and ready to use"
He leaned in slightly.
"I experimented with different approaches for 2 days. Until, I finally made a breakthrough And that's when the voices started."
[ MANA CORE AWAKENED ]
"Weirdly enough, it wasn't exactly a voice. More like… it was more of a feeling or an understanding than anything else, or a…" he scratched his head as he struggled putting his experience into words.
"—a conscious confirmation, of something happening deep in my subconscious."
Elijah relaxed slightly. Finally, someone else could relate. Someone else was mind boggled about the whole situation
"Worry not," he said, slipping into his Magic Advisor persona. "Just think of it as, your existence acknowledging it underwent changes. It's not something you'll experience too often."
"See… that's the issue. Once or twice would be no real cause for concern." Calvin replied, clasping his head in both hands
Elijah's eyes narrowed
"What are you saying?"
"As I said before, that was only the beginning. Immediately after that, more 'voices' followed."
[ INNATE SKILL: "WORDSMITH" UNLOCKED ]
[ INNATE SKILL: "QUICK STUDY" UNLOCKED ]
"And that's when everything went haywire. I couldn't even process the first before the second kicked in. Suddenly—"
A wave of information flooded in.
[ Instantaneous, detailed, analysis and conclusions about targeted— ]
[ carpet made from silk, useful for interior decor… ]
[ Book… ]
[ Oak wood chair… ]
[ Stone wall… ]
"Wherever my eyes landed, detailed descriptions rushed into my mind."
Elijah froze.
'Wait wait wait… innate skills? And two of them?! I didn't even get one!'
He shoved down the rising jealousy and started formulating a theory.
'Okay, the second skill resembles an appraisal ability, but this one seems passive and appraisal is not. Unless…' he paused for a moment letting his thoughts savor
'it's not passive at all, and he just hasn't turned it off yet. Hmm. But how would he deactivate it?'
He chuckled. ' That's obvious'.
Thinking about his own skill—[ WEAPON ENHANCEMENT ]—Elijah commanded it to deactivate. The mana powering his blade immediately receded. He thought of it again, and mana flowed from within him on its own and embraced the blade.
Interesting. A skill is just an automatic recreation of mana application?
He dismissed the skill and addressed Calvin, smiling knowingly.
"Remember, Calvin—intent is the spark. You triggered the skill with intent. All you need to do now is intend for it to deactivate"
Calvin blinked a couple times at the simple solution presented to him, then he was silent for a moment.
Soon after, a wide grin filled his face. "Ahh. Back to normal. Just me in my head again."
His eyes drifted toward Elijah and scanned him momentarily.
"You seem… different." His eyes then found the sword In Elijah's hand. "…And that sword—it's quite interesting."
At that statement, Elijah had a lightbulb moment.
"Speaking of the sword" he began with a cunning smile. "I'm curious what your skill says about it?"
Calvin raised an eyebrow, then responded:
'Failed magical weapon—Unnamed sword.
Forged from the fangs of a steel wolf.
Slight affinity to fire.
No enchantments or skills
"I see," Elijah mused.
Edmund's voice chimed in from nearby. "So it was a failure after all… Still, it brought me one step closer."
A grin spread across his face. "I just need to reassess my findings and perfect the process next time."
Then he wandered off, already lost in thought.
"Oh right—you mentioned another skill?" Elijah prompted.
Calvin opened his mouth to respond, but—
"Young lord!" Rohan's voice rang from the hallway.
"Come quick. There's trouble."
Calvin and Elijah exchanged a look before rushing out.
"What's the problem?" Calvin asked as they ran.
"Some unknown knights are gathered at the gate. They demand to duel the strongest." Rohan's response echoed as they entered the hallway.
"So? Let Alazard— Wait, if you came to me, that must mean he's absent."
Rohan nodded.
"Right. He went to oversee the deliver of the royal incentive to the emperor."
"And Bella?"
"Took some knights north. Evolved beasts got too close to the settlement."
Elijah narrowed his eyes. "That's… coordinated. Too convenient to be mere coincidence."
Calvin added "Either way—let's go."
They moved swiftly through the castle corridors, and soon found themselves through the exit and outside.Being his first time outdoors, Elijah gawked around at the scenery
Planted at the heart of a tall stone wall encirclement, stood a magnificent castle.
It was a titan built from brown stone, with dark and gold accents forming intricate designs up its tall walls. Golden spires glistened In the sunlight atop its peaks, housing navy blue flags dancing in the wind with a golden lion at its center.
As they Walked through the courtyard of the castle, the chime of a bell drew his attention to the chapel on the left. However, the bake house on his right swiftly stole his attention after enticing his nostrils.
They continued walking along the stone paved path passing a vegetable garden. Then their destination came into view— the gate house. Situated adjacent to the stable.
As they approached the gatehouse, Rohan called out to the guards for them to release the bridge. Soon, there was a groan, followed by the rattling of heavy chains. Then, they watched as the fortified drawbridge slowly laid itself over the moat moments later. Followed by the iron portcullis rising.
Below the bridge, water filled the deep moat that that curled around the castle. Across from it, all clad In armor, stood a dozen men in formation.
"Well," Elijah muttered to Calvin, "what's the plan?"
"A plan?" Calvin tilted his head. "What do you mean, plan?"
Elijah tried to clarify when Calvin cut him off.
"You're the plan."
Speechless, Elijah stopped in his tracks as Calvin and Rohan continued forward.