“Hey dad, using mana doesn’t seem like a hard thing, but you also referred to elemental magic. What would the differences between the two ultimately be?”

He made a big smile at the great question, responding promptly, without a shred of hesitation. 

“For starters, extending the mana from your body towards an object or outside your body doesn’t require casting time. All it takes is the speed of it flowing to such places. A good usage would be to delay the impact of... for example, a fireball could be great since you might not have enough time to protect yourself with ice as it would require conversion. But you’d still need to run for your life as the fire would slowly absorb the mana.”

My head nodded after absorbing all the information.

“And elemental one?”

“That one, you need to convert your mana to the element of your choice, aim the skill, and invoke it by its name, or mentally, but that’s a lot harder.”

After checking the confused expression on my face, he began a practical example. First, I felt energy consistently gathering in his palm, from a light blue mana circle on his feet. Second, a golden elemental circle appeared in front of his hand, causing the surroundings to be gradually lightful and warmer. 

“This is my element, the unique graded light. With these two steps, I’ve successfully turned my core blue mana into my golden affinity. Similar to the elemental barrier, but more intense.”

“That looks amazing, dad! And warm too...”

We traded smiles. And then he resumed his words.

“Look at my hand and do your best to keep track of what will happen next, Iris!”

“Alright!” 

As my gaze shifted to where my father referred, a few words came from the man’s lips after it condensed enough mana on the circle. Something my eyes noticed was that its size would increase the more energy condensed in it. In comparison, causing the blue circle under him to reduce in size.

“Ray of light.”

A brilliant laser expanded from his hand towards the rock. 

I looked at the yellow elemental aura increasing and then shortly after; it ceased. My feet approached the target curiously and shouted, surprised.

“Hum!? Nothing happened?”

Upon hearing those words, Luke giggled, knowing beforehand the consequences of his skill.

“Yes, some skills are effective towards some elements and not so much against others. Thus, light is pretty bad against earth.”

With a confused expression, and a doubt originating from being taught the three grades, basic, rare, and unique. I voiced out a question, “but isn’t it a worse element than yours?”

“There is no such thing as good or bad. Just some are rarer than others, each with their own weaknesses and strengths.”

“I suppose it depends on how well we can use them then...”

“Yes, that’s right. In this world, control, mastery, and talent are everything!”

“Can’t wait to get some elemental skills, too!”

“It is too early for that, especially since you need to improve your mana control a lot, and then, when I feel like it’s good enough, we’ll try out a couple of things. The system restricts most skills, therefore no matter how much one may try, the chance of acquiring class skills is zero. The ones you could learn are ice-related ones.”

“So we can learn how to use mana and element since birth, but gain skills only when the system unlocks?”

“Yes, the system without sounding like a heretic has a couple of flaws for our race. A baby wouldn’t possibly learn how to mingle with the energy within it enough to convert it to its element. Without the ceremony we did to you, they wouldn’t know the affinity or affinities they have. At the same time, even if we taught you from the age of five, you still wouldn’t get an ice skill, as the system only unseals their usage when we’re seven years old.”

My father sighed as I went into thought.

‘It’s a good thing he explains things properly, despite everything sounding a tad complicated,’ I looked at my hand craving for an ability. ‘As much as I’d like to learn good skills, it sounds like it may take a while...’

He then interrupted my mind with a heads-up.

“It’s a good thing you’ve gained mana control skill. Worse comes to worst and you get a magical class. It’ll help you a lot.”

“Which one should I get?”

“The system will show you some and you’ll be able to select the one you like most. They are also graded the same way elements are, but once again, it really depends on how well you master it.”

My father scratched his chin, and then he looked pensively at the ground.

“What’s wrong, dad?”

“There are some important things in what comes to classes...”

“Don’t tell me grades in this one actually mean something different, unlike the rarity of the elements.”

I laughed lightly upon joking around, hoping for things to not become more complicated.

“They actually do, and the difference of the grade, in this case, is the number of skill branches one can learn.”

“Uh? Trees? Why would the skills have layers of wood in them?” 

These words caused him to burst with laughter, finding my words to be silly and causing me to be confused.

Once he regained his composure, Luke smiled and then shifted his gaze which had strayed away for a bit.

“You can consider skill branches as different paths, but it’s basically a group of skills belonging to a certain class, and each class tier will give you access to one more. The hero one, for example, has a blessing from the goddess Aria.”

Those that have a touch from the superior being usually have something special to them, not necessarily an additional skill branch.

“How many skill sets would a magician and swordsman classes provide?”

I asked that, seeing as those were the closest ones that I was most likely to unlock.

“Since being a farmer is a job, it provides a single set of skills. As for the initial classes like the two you mentioned, they also give one, but they’re combat-oriented.”

“So they would only give me access to one set...”

“Yes, the class I have is called healer, a rare type. It contains two sets of skills, one towards offensive, which is very specific about what it affects, mostly useful against the dark type of monsters and the second is towards supporting those around me.” 

“Helping others...”

I remembered one of my talks with Rosaline.

“Mother told me about the Saintess. What kind of class does she have, and what skills?”

My father looked at the sky, recollecting the day he met her. It had been one of the coldest of the moon season. A snowy one where they requested the Saintess to be positioned closer to the front lines in the south, but in a safe camp in its rear, as a monster horde caused countless soldiers to become injured.

Luke, as an adventurer, was also hired to help those people, mainly because of his class. While being close to her, he could feel the gigantic gap between the two of them. As one who wielded a special existence to the kingdom itself, the golden elemental aura of hers shone beautifully grasping everyone’s attention around as its intensity created a pilar of similar toned light above the Saintess’s head, which then befell those around, healing them greatly.

A skill that no matter how much hard work Luke would go through, he could never get, as his class was of a way weaker grade. Full of respect as a fellow healer, the young man looked at her back, at the long green wavy hair that extended close to the floor, of a similar toned octagram symbol centered on the back of her white robe. And, of course, her presence regained the hopes of humanity. 

A woman capable of meddling with the surrounding temperature, simply for being there. A vast amount of mana dwelled inside of her, impressive enough for it to become a natural warm light of her divine element, a unique graded one given only to the ones directly serving the goddess Aria upon a contract. Some even entitled it as a blessed element.

She was the owner of a special class inherited by her mother, who was the past saintess. A ceremony executed from ancient times since the system implementation. It allowed these women to serve a certain purpose in keeping humanity safe, but more than anything, to anticipate the enemy invasions through visions and celestial messages.

My father then spoke calmly as soon as he shifted the gaze back to me, who remained quiet, eagerly, yet patient.

“She’s called the Saintess, as that is her class, a woman capable of wonders and miracles. Towards that person, no wound or curse can hope to resist being treated and cleansed. Her skills? I honestly have no clue.”

My father laughed with a defeated expression, as that was one of the greatest secrets of the church. As I was about to question him, he added with a serious expression.

“But her power? If it was an offensive class, I’d say strong enough to make a difference in the front lines, certainly more than any human could ever hope.”

After a long wait, and lots of thoughts, I pondered something peculiar, voicing it out loud.

“Couldn’t she just be on the front lines healing everyone so our enemies would lose?” 

To that, my father’s expression darkened, and bitter words followed.

“Kraus the Pope, would never allow the church key figure out of his sight.”

“Isn’t he a devotee of the goddess? If that helped humanity do what must be done, wouldn’t that be much better?”

At these words, he shrugged, responding cautiously.

“If I were in his shoes, I wouldn’t do it either. Imagine the Saintess got assassinated since she’s powerless in combat. Not only would we lose her blessings, but also our connection to the goddess Aria. If that were to happen, I can’t possibly imagine the consequences that could bring to the entire kingdom.”

To those words, I gulped while lowering my uneasy expression. It made me understand that perhaps what I thought to be a reasonable tactic was actually not that brilliant. Perhaps it was a good thing I wasn't interested in attempting to become part of the army.

Silence reigned within us for a bit and then my father broke it with a more warmful tone.

“I’ll be heading to work now. Another time I promise we’ll try out some more interesting stuff, as we’ve gone astray with the conversation, alright?”

A bright smile appeared on his expression while he caressed my cheek, adjusting my face by raising it, which allowed both our gazes to match.

A lively tone then followed through my lips, creating a radiant smile.

“Sure dad! I’ll be looking forward to that!”

The man got up, leaving the box on the ground, and then headed home with enormous steps, breathing heavily to not be late. 

Meanwhile, I remained behind, appreciating the sunny day. My eyes eventually caught the sight of the cubes inside the square container, grabbing a handful, and taking them with me closer to the river.

“As much as I love my parents, I’m not quite interested in getting a weak class,” I muttered a few words, filled with hidden determination.

“I need something... power... a way out...”

I gazed down upon my reflection in the clear river water, focusing on the cold blue eyes that didn’t match my own. Then pocketed the different wooden cubes, leaving but a single one in my left hand. I placed it on the ground and focused my mana in an attempt to flow it through the target while keeping it stable, as my father showed.

After many unsuccessful attempts, I picked and squeezed it tightly, feeling upset, followed by a scream containing my fury, directed at myself while falling on my knees.

“How am I supposed to do anything useful if I can’t even do something basic like this!?”

Controlling mana was one of the most basic steps that required undertaking months of training. Not something a beginner, no matter how talented they were, would learn out of nowhere. Even more so for a child who had no experience in control.

“Are you just going to stand there and remain the useless doll you were!?”

I complained to myself, remembering the deep trauma that despite having improved after living with loving parents for seven years. It remained entangled in my scarred heart, almost like a bracelet of thorns around it. 

“Isn’t this the new chance you sought after all that pain and despair!?”

Despite my words, I felt defeated. My tears joined the river, allowing for soft splashing sounds on the trembling surface.

Time passed, and I returned to my room, picking a peculiar old book that appeared on my bed a few years ago without a title to address it. One with white pages where everything written in it disappeared completely after a while, and always when I closed it.

I used it as a diary to hide my deepest thoughts and emotions, which I didn’t dare share with my parents. Not that I distrusted them, as it was just a self-defense mechanism and healing procedure towards the past my heart went through. Every once in a while, I would write, sometimes a few words, and at other times a couple of pages.

Today I wrote about how powerless I felt and how much changing it was important to me. Once I closed it, the book shone mysteriously in tones of black like the cover itself, returning the pages blank. At first, I found this to be suspicious, but after using it over and over, and seeing as nothing bad ever happened, I ended up treasuring it as part of myself. After all, if there was something in both worlds that I treasured the most, it was no more and no less than books.