It was 9:00 p.m. and Yuki was currently sitting his bed in deep concentration. He was trying to do what Akira had instructed and remember the “sensations” he had felt in that grassy field. But Yuki couldn’t remember any sensations or feelings.

 

‘Let’s try something else,’ Yuki decided.

 

Refocusing, Yuki searched for his mana and began to circulate it. He could do this much easier now as he had been practicing his control whenever he was free. As he moved the energy along the pathways of his body, Yuki searched for something.

 

He had a theory as to where this dimension of his was. That realm was connected to his mana, the large status crystal that lied within it was proof of that. So Yuki observed the swirling mass of energy that rested in his chest for any signs of that place.

 

And there in the center of the mana, Yuki could feel it. It wasn’t the sensation of a grassy field or the a cool breeze. What Yuki felt was Akira. He could sense Akira on the other side, waiting for him somewhere in that turbulent mana pool. Yuki latched onto that feeling and pulled himself toward it.

 

Opening his eyes, Yuki saw green grass all around him as he sat and the brown eyes of a girl in a white dress with cat ears smiling at him.

 

“You did it,” Akira said.

 

“It seems so,” Yuki replied. “Hello again.”

 

Akira sat down beside him.

 

“You had some questions for me?” she asked him.

 

“Yes,” Yuki answered, turning his head to look at her. “I was wondering when I can start my training. I want to learn how to use magic.”

 

“Have you tried to use magic already?”

 

“Of course, but I haven’t been successful. I’m still missing something.”

 

“What have you tried to do?”

 

“I did try to create a fire yesterday, but I couldn’t do it. I don’t think I pictured it well enough or didn’t properly channel my mana.”

 

Akira laughed lightly.

 

“Of course you wouldn’t be able to create fire if you just pictured it,” she said. “You need to fundamentally understand what fire is first. In order to create fire, you must know what fire is in terms of magic.”

 

“How do I do that?” Yuki asked.

 

“The best way is to see elemental fire yourself. Touch it. Feel it. That’s the fastest way. That’s the reason why I said that the instructors in Aether would be able to teach you fire. I can’t teach you fire but I can teach you earth since that is the element I use.”

 

“I see,” Yuki said. “Then can you help me understand the earth?”

 

“Of course, what have I been telling you?” Akira replied. “Do you want to learn right now?”

 

Yuki nodded and Akira took his hand.

 

“I’m going to give you a little warning before I begin,” she said. “The way I’ll be teaching you is completely different from how the humans will. So when you get instruction from Moyasu, accept it without a word no matter how stupid it seems.”

 

“I understand,” Yuki said.

 

“Then let’s begin. Brace yourself,” Akira warned.

 

Yuki felt the mana inside of him explode out with a gasp and spread out across the land. The world around Yuki bent and folded upon itself and the next moment he felt as if he was drowning. On his chest, an enormous pressure was pushing down upon it. Shoving harder and harder, pushing the air out of his lungs.

 

When Yuki tried to inhale he felt as if knives were stabbing him. The air was replaced with dirt and he began to choke. Feeling as if he was dying, he tried to reach out with his hand to grab anything. Anything that could save him from this earthen sea that was drowning him.

 

But what moved was not his hand but rather a mountain that sprouted out of the ground. After the mountain came a river that twisted through a forest that was born simultaneously. And with the creation of these natural monuments Yuki began to feel an intense pride and joy that replaced the suffocating and drowning, freeing him.

 

The sound of thunder rang in Yuki’s ear and he turned his head. In the distance the black clouds of destruction could be seen rapidly approaching the forest that was just created. At the sight, Yuki felt intense panic rise within him and raised his arms, the ground rising with it to create more mountains.

 

The mountains tried to defend against the storm but to no avail. From the death clouds, lightning flashed and struck the forest, lighting trees on fire. Tornadoes fell from the sky and tore up the ground. Then the clouds left just as quickly as they had came.

 

Looking at what was left of his creations, Yuki felt sadness well up in him. The trees that he failed to protect, now on fire or torn up. And Yuki began to cry, large droplets of tears that fell onto the devastated land.

 

Where the tears landed, miracles occured. The fires were put out. The land was smoothed. The river began to flow again. The land was reborn.

 

At last, Yuki understood what was happening. What it was that he was experiencing. Right now, Yuki was the earth. The earth that destroyed. The earth that created. The earth that protected. The earth that healed.

 

Yuki understood who the earth was. What it wanted.

 

Yuki accepted it. He would help the earth, help it fulfill its purpose.

 

And the earth accepted him. The earth would help Yuki, help him grow and become stronger.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Yuki reopened his eyes and realized that he had actually fainted during the whole ordeal. And now his head was resting on something very soft. He glanced up to his right and saw the sleeping face of Akira close to his.  

 

He was resting on Akira’s lap. And for quite awhile for Akira to have fallen asleep. Getting up from his comfortable position, Yuki felt no embarrassment from having just been given a lap pillow from a girl. He was just grateful that she had caught him when he had fainted.

 

Feeling the weight on her legs disappear, Akira awoke and saw that Yuki had came to.

 

“Welcome back. How are you feeling?” she asked him.

 

“I honestly feel better than I have in a while. Thank you for giving me a place to rest,” he replied.

 

“Not a problem, it’s only natural for your partner do things like this. But you owe me one in return,” she said with a mischievous smile.

 

“That’s fair,” Yuki replied with no reaction.

 

“So, how was it?” Akira asked.

 

Yuki was momentarily confused but soon realized that she was asking about what he had saw and experienced when he was knocked out on her lap.

 

“It was interesting to say the least,” Yuki answered. “I was the earth and the earth was me.”

 

“Good, good,” Akira said. “So did you understand it? The earth?”

 

He thought back to the end of his vision and the agreement he had made with the land.

 

“Yes, I believe so,” Yuki said with a nod.

 

“Then you should be able to use earth elemental magic now,” Akira announced happily. “Why don’t you give it a try? You won’t be able to do anything big so don’t be disappointed with the results.”

 

‘Use earth magic?’ Yuki wondered if he would really be able to do it after such a short time. He didn’t actually do anything what he would consider difficult.

 

Unbeknownst to Yuki and Akira, what he had just experienced was something that a normal human would never be able to withstand. The intensity of the emotions that came from the earth and the realistic experience of being crushed and stabbed to death were normally enough to severely damage the mental health of a person. And that person wouldn’t have understood a thing about the earth after that. But due to Yuki’s personality and his abnormal mental strength, he was not only able to survive the experience but also absorb the meaning of the earth.

 

Not knowing this, Yuki skeptically began to reach for his mana and circulated the familiar warm energy to his hands. He remembered what the earth felt like and tried to reach for it, half-heartedly spread his mana out toward the earth. He wasn’t expecting anything.

 

The mana left Yuki, touched the earth and a connection was formed. Yuki inhaled sharply at the sudden bond. He could feel the earth, every part of it. Within his mind he instinctively knew that the earth would obey his command and tried to create something to experiment.

 

Yuki began to imagine a wall while he pushed more mana into the earth and it slowly listened, the dirt sluggishly compacting and rising. When the wall was at a height of two inches, a heavy wave of exhaustion washed over Yuki and the connection was broken.

 

Panting, Yuki assessed the little wall that had taken most of his mana to make and was thoroughly disappointed with the results. The wall, if it could even be called that, was much shorter than Yuki wanted and on top of that it wasn’t very hard. The dirt had not compacted tightly and broke at the lightest tap.

 

Seeing Yuki’s expression, Akira gently laughed.

 

“I did tell you not to expect anything,” she reminded. “No matter how exceptional you are, no one can master elemental magic in a day.”

“I know, but I didn’t expect to do this horrible,” Yuki complained.

 

“That’s because you have no experience. Combined the fact that you are only a level one beginner in earth magic and a novice at mana manipulation, this is normal,” Akira explained. “Your mana usage is inefficient and your control of the earth is lacking. That’s why your wall was so slow to form and was of poor quality. It’s also why you ran out mana so quickly.”

 

“You’re right,” Yuki sighed. “I still have too much to learn.”

 

“That’s why I’m here. To teach you magic properly,” Akira said proudly.

 

“Speaking of which, when can we begin?”

 

“Whenever you want. We can even begin tomorrow.”

 

“Then tomorrow it is,” Yuki decided and began to walk toward the crystal ball in the middle of the grassy field. He wanted to check his status.

 

“Where are you going?” Akira asked, puzzled.

 

“I want to check my status,” he replied.

 

“Then why do you need to go to the crystal?” she said.

 

“Isn’t that the only way I can check?” Yuki confusedly asked.

 

“No, silly,” Akira giggled. “Since you have already checked once, it should have already linked up to you. Just think about wanting to see your status and it’ll pop up.”

 

This was news to Yuki. He thought that you needed a crystal of some sorts in order to view one’s records. He never considered that idea that you could bring up your status anywhere just by thinking about it.

 

‘Show me my records,’ Yuki commanded in his head and a line of text appeared before his eyes.

 

[Do You Want To Activate Notifications?]

‘What is this? A game?’ Yuki thought. ‘Whatever, yes.’

 

[You Will Now Be Notified Of Any Changes To Your Records]

 

Then the text disappeared and Yuki’s status replaced it.

 

「MAYUMI YUKI (Rank D / 1 Star / Tier 3)

   Title: None

   Class: None

   Passive Abilities: ??? , ??? , ???

   Stats: STR - (D 1S / T3)  DEF - (D 1S / T2) SPD - (D 1S / T3)  STA - (D 1S / T2)

               INT - (D 1S / T3)   MP - (D 1S / T3) HP - (D 1S / T2)

   Skills: Analysis (Lv. 1)   Mental Fortitude (Lv. 2) Perseverance (Lv. 1) >

   Techniques:

             Magic - Elemental Magic: Basic Earth (Lv. 1) >

                                                             Fire (Lv. 0)

                            Mana Manipulation (Lv. 2)

             Physical - Beginner Hand to Hand Combat (Lv. 6)

                                Intermediate Swordsman (Lv. 1) >

                                Intermediate Dagger Arts (Lv. 2) >

                                Meditation (Lv. 1)              」

 

“Umm, Akira?” Yuki asked.

 

“Yes?” she replied.

 

“My status looks completely different,” he said. “Do you know why?”

 

“Send it to me and I’ll see if I do,” she said. Yuki obediently sent the mental image of his records to her.

 

“Hmmm,” she said when she received the message. “Ah that’s right, you worked out right? So now the UR has recorded your physical statistics and you have been given a rank.”

 

“A rank?”

 

Akira nodded.

 

“Think of it as the equivalent of personal levels in the Human Records. But ranks are more of a possible range of a person’s power rather than a specific number like the Human Records. There are five ranks, D being the lowest and S being the highest.  Within each rank there is a star level up to five stars for each rank. In each star there is a total of ten tiers.

 

“Your stats are shown the same way as your rank with your rank being the average of your stat. Your strength is rank D one star tier 3. Once you reach tier ten, the star will increase by one. After five stars the rank will increase to the next letter.”

 

“Then what about the arrows?”

 

“If you try to open it with your mind, it will show you the skills that encompass that technique. Some techniques don’t have a menu like that such as your meditation and mana manipulation. Others have a menu but no skills in them because the person hadn’t learned them yet.”

 

“And my fire magic?”

 

“It hasn’t been awoken yet so it’s level zero and has no room for skills.”

 

Yuki processed this information and came to two conclusions. The first was that the UR system was much better than the HR system. It was more accurate and informative than the HR system. The Human Records seemed to be a dumbed down version of the Universal Records.

 

The other conclusion Yuki came to was that he was an incredibly weakling with only the lowest rank stats with the lowest stars.

 

“I need to get stronger,” Yuki said out loud.  

 

“That’s why we train,” Akira responded. “And why I will teach you.”

 

“Then let’s begin,” Yuki said with conviction. If he wanted to avenge his parents then this was the only way. “Let’s train and become stronger. Together.”

 

“I wouldn’t want it any other way,” Akira said with a smile.