[Chapter 4: Earth Magic] 

•Austin's POV• 

 

I had finally finished it after many painful and boring hours! I knew it would work—ok, I didn't, but let's not go there. I could feel Mana coursing through me. It almost felt liberating.

With some effort, I was able to control and shake it to my liking. My Mana Channels–which allowed Mana to flow freely through my body–were underdeveloped, as was my command of it.

 

However, I would correct it later. When I opened my eyes, I saw Fiona eating a fruit in front of me.

"Finally!" She shouted, chucks of the fruits landed on the grass in front of her. "It's been a week, you know? I was start to think you were never going to succeed." 

"Wh–" I stumbled over my words. "Thanks for the vote of confidence." 

"Your very welcome!" Fiona puffed out her chest. 

I wasn't praising her and the sarcasm was clear when I spoke, but I wouldn't comment about it. Just let her dream within her own little world, and she was doing just that. 

"Moving on," she said, becoming more serious. "You need to absorb some elemental energy now that you have your core."

"Can you explain why?" I inquired. Elemental Energy is one of the requirements for using Mana. You can use Fire Magic if Elemental Energy for fire is combined with Mana.

Someone with a water affinity cannot control or see the red partials, let alone control them.

"Well, because of your... strange awakening, you'll need to absorb some of the elemental partials in order to gain an affinity."

"Doesn't that imply that—"

"Yep! You have the ability to gain ALL affinities! Isn't that fantastic!?" She yelled, clearly excited. "This also means that I can use all types of magic as well!"

I let out a small chuckle. I shook my head, unsure what I should do first. Fire was an excellent choice, but air might be more enjoyable to experiment with. I intended to get them all at some point, but one would suffice for now.

"Which should we choose?" I wanted Fiona's opinion because she might have some useful information.

"Fire! Let's get fire and burn some shit to the ground!" Fiona stated with a slight smile. 

You know what, forgot what I said. Her insight is terrible, and I will never be asking for it again. I sighed and let my companion fantasize about arson.

While fire is the most dangerous direct element, it is also the least versatile. There isn't much you can do with it, whereas the other three, especially earth and water, have endless possibilities.

I think I'll stick with Earth for the time being and see where things go from there.

"No! Please, let's get fire!" Fiona begged, her puppy eyes trying to persuade me. "Let's burn some stuff down, because we both know you want to burn some shit down. Let's go burn down some shit!"

Okay! I'm really worried about your metal health now. We need to get out of this forest so I can get her professional help—before she sets fire to the forest. She may not. I doubt she'd actually do it.

  

"I would absolutely do that!" Fiona gave a nod.

Her reading my mind is becoming increasingly irritating. I need to find a way to break the link between us temporarily or otherwise, because this can't go on. I don't have any privacy with this girl.

"Because you don't have any." Fiona laughed and turned away from me.

I sighed and stood up to stretch my legs. Mana made me feel so much lighter than I had previously. I felt like I was floating on my feet. However, I needed to cultivate my Mana Channels because they are currently underdeveloped.

But first, it's time to eat something. I sat back down after picking a few fruits from the tree. Fiona and I could share our memories, so I asked her to send me an email about what happened while I was away.

I can't send her my memories or look into hers on my own—and, unlike a certain contract beast, I wouldn't look into her memories without her permission. Because I actually respect other people's privacy.

"I value your privacy!" Fiona appeared to be offended by my statement. I remained silent. I just sat there waiting for it to sink in. "Oh~! I see what you're saying. Sorry, I'm going to stop now."

"Hm." I hummed, biting back the almost unbearable irrigation.

My eyes darkened as I fell back into the void. I probably shouldn't be doing this so soon after gaining a core, but who cares? The quicker, the better. I'll go to bed later.

Fortunately for my sanity, the green particles—the earth particles—were much easier to move. Within the first few minutes of starting, I was able to gather them into my core.

It didn't need to collect nearly as much as I did when forming my core. A small white orb could be seen floating within my Mana Core after half an hour. Was this how others perceived your affinity?

It made some sense.

I'm surprised and relieved that it was so simple to form an attachment. My core, on the other hand, is unique. I opened my eyes to find a very disappointed Fiona.

"Hump! We can't go burn something down now."

"What a tragedy!" I said this without even trying to hide my sarcasm.

"You're right!"

I'm sure I'll go deaf if she continues to scream for no apparent reason. This girl is going to make me look much older than I am.

I looked down at the ground beneath my companion, who was spinning around for no apparent reason, and tried out some magic. It's not like I'm going to hurt anyone, especially since no one else was present–other than Fiona, of course. 

With a bit of focus and willpower, mana from my core moved into the ground, the earth beneath her head shifted and turned her away from me. A small yelp came from her because of the sudden action.

"Pffff-Haha!" I rolled onto my side, laughing. "Who'd have thought the o'so confident Fiona would react so strongly to my minor use of magic!"

"Shut you damn mouth, dumbass!" She yelled, her small paws striking my face once more. "I was simply caught off guard. Yeah! That's it! I'd never be afraid of anything you or anyone else did."

I sat back up and ate the fruits I had gotten after taking a minute to calm down. They were actually quite good, better than I expected.

When I rotated the ground, I think I used a little too much mana. I definitely need to work on my control, but on the plus side, I have a good understanding of how spells are created.

The mages will mana from their bodies to combine with Elemental Energy to form a spell. So I tried combining ambient mana with Elemental Energy, but it didn't work for some reason. They simply rejected each other.

I was able to figure out why it worked with Fiona's assistance. Elemental Energy can only be combined with Mana that has been signed by someone. Essentially, the mana produced by your core.

Every person has their own mana signature; no two people have the same mana signature. That is, until we arrived. Fiona perfectly embodies my mana signature.

I'm not sure if this has any advantages, but we did find one. We can each control the spells of the other. I can think of a few good applications for this, but they are limited to very specific situations.

Apart from that, we didn't do much. Fiona's tail has changed slightly, with dark green tips instead of pink. That had to have something to do with our affinity.

We were both physically and mentally exhausted after today. We'd have to go out tomorrow and try to find some people and gather some information.

I need to learn more about magic and the what, and I'd also like to establish some sort of base. I'm still not sure how to proceed.

Meh! I'll think about this after a few hours of restful sleep. I should go look for a river tomorrow as well. Uh! I'm far too irresponsible for this nonsense.