"Sriya what is the difference between spells and skills?" asked Virin while looking at her with curiosity.

Sriya moved on the bed and tapped the space beside her, gesturing him to sit.

Virin followed her instructions and after he settled down she began.

"Mana is the foundation around which this world is built."

"Everything has mana, be it flora or fauna or even minerals, etc have mana inside them."

"What makes the major difference is, the amount of mana which is concentrated in such things."

"The living being on Aarna can be categorized into two segments, Mana and Non-mana beings."

"Mana-beings are an existence that has very high mana concentration in their bodies like spirits, Magic-beings, or even Faeries." 

"These mana-loved existences, can even bend and control the natural mana present outside of their bodies, as if it was an extension of their own body and perform miracles."

"They could light the fire, decimate rocks or whatnot, without even batting an eye while using the mana present in nature."

"The art of using and bending the mana, present in nature to do your bid, we call these miracles, 'Magic."

She stopped speaking and looked at Virin to see whether he was able to contemplate the information given so far.

He looked at her face and nodded. It was quite basic and many mana-related stories had a similar plot. So, he gestured to her to continue.

"On the other hand, Non-mana beings mainly consist of Humans and some other sub-races of beast-kins and demons, etc."

"Remember, we just call them Non-mana beings on a whim but it doesn't mean that they don't have mana in their bodies. Rather, they have a very small amount of mana."

"They can't manipulate free mana around them like 'Mana Beings' and can only rely on the mana present in their bodies and so, are naturally weaker to their counterparts."

"So, these 'Non-mana beings' relied upon hard work and training. They trained in basic skills from scratch and would spend years honing them to perfection."

"Basically, after realizing their shortcomings in the field of Mana and Magic, these beings relied upon other sources of power."

"Maybe, God took pity on us and started rewarding our hard work and the sheer desire to stand toe to toe against the 'Mana-beings."

"The non-mana beings were granted new attributes, which we now know as 'Skills' or it was just the result of our hard work. There are many theories."

"Many believe that we get new skills as God's blessings, who are observing us from the heavens. Meanwhile, others believe, that it's our sheer desire and hard work that manifests skills."

"Take my 'Clean' skill for example. When I was young, all I ever wanted was to become an idol housewife. A wife, who could keep her house clean and maybe that desire manifested my 'Clean' skill."

"Hahaha! Maybe, God gifted me that while laughing at my childish desires. The same thing applies to my 'Cooking' skill another skill for a good housewife."

Then she looked at the platinum band on her finger with a shy smile and thought, 'Maybe, love can also manifest skills.'

"Skills can be further divided into active and passive skills but we can discuss them later if you want."

She said while winking at him with a smile, in response to which he nodded.

"Although due to whatever reason 'Skills' manifest, they have very limited scope."

"First of all, Skill uses the mana present inside the body and not what is present outside in nature. Mana, present in the body is always limited in quantity, no matter how much one has."

"Secondly, the 'Skill' only be used to perform a singular rather limited task. Let's take the example of your 'Sword Art.' This skill will only be effective and further enhance your fighting when you're using a sword and sword only."

"Pick up a spear or dagger, you'll be swinging them like a complete rookie."

He nodded. A few days ago, he tried to throw his sword at a rabbit that was running away.

He had a basic understanding of Swordsmanship and good control over it, so he thought that maybe, the sword would pierce the rabbit but it wasn't even anywhere close to it.

While he was mulling over his thoughts, she further explained.

"Magic is Limitless, there are no bounds in how it can be used. It's only restricted by the individual's imagination."

"The 'mana beings' are closest to the Gods or that's what they claim," she said while shrugging.

"They can bring on calamities and disaster while tampering with mana."

"That's the sole reason why Humans, although having the largest population compared to other races, have never been able to dominate this world."

'It's quality over quantity,' thought Virin inwardly while nodding.

He then frowned and questioned her, "So, what is a Spell?"

She smiled and said, "Spell is basically a chant, prayer or to make a request to the 'Divine Spirits' or the 'Elemental Lords' we like to call them."

"There are 6 Natural Elements; Fire, Water, Air, Earth, Light, and Dark. All other elements are variants or combinations of these six elements."

"The 'Divine Spirits' or 'Elemental Lords' are the existence who has authority over these natural elements."

"Think of each of a Natural Element as a Kingdom and these divine spirits as their Kings governing them."

"It's again believed that these 'Lords' or spirits, love being praised and relied upon."

"So by reciting a spell, you can simply invoke the assistance of these lords to help you, in exchange for mana in your body of course."

"However, spells also have limited usages like skills and don't give you command over natural mana present."

"While singing chants, you only borrow a fraction of the authority of these Lords and it helps in manifesting some weapons or any other thing that can help in attacking or defending. For example 'Fire Ball' and 'Water shot,' are quite renowned spells."

"Spells come in three tiers. Starting from Low, Intermediate, and High Tier. Although some legends claim there were more tiers let's just follow the books shall we?"

"People can learn low-tier spells from scrolls which can be brought in exchange for gold coins. The ascending tier can only be learned through grimoire and research in universities."

"Once you understand the concept of a particular spell and mesmerize it, the spell is imprinted in your soul and then is visible in your status as well."

Virin nodded and interrupted her, "Then won't just spend money to buy a spell scroll to make you stronger. Why train for skill then?"

'If you could buy a bunch of spells and add them to your arsenal, you're good to go. Why waste time training,' he thought to himself.

She shook her head while smiling. She was feeling like a teacher, who was about to explain his stupid student reality.

"There are several factors involved which make the difference."

"First!" she pointed a finger.

"Spells use large amounts of Bodily-Mana which is already limited to begin with, compared to skills. So in a fight of endurance, you're good as dead once you run out of mana."

While raising her second finger she said, "Secondly!"

"Although in the starting spell might seem stronger, compared to skills. But one has to remember that spells don't scale up with training as skills do."

"One can enhance their skills by leaps and bounds, but to increase the effectiveness of the spell one has to buy or learn a new tier spell, which comes at the cost of more mana and money."

Then she raised her third finger and said, "Third and most important rule!"

"You need to have an elemental affinity to learn spells."

"Take my case, for example, I have a 'Novice water affinity.' So, I can only learn Water-based spells. Other elemental spells have no use for me, no matter how hard I try."

"Now imagine, how limited the number of spells I can practice with my selected affinity, low levels of mana, and finally my financial crises."

"On the other hand, if I started practicing martial arts, I can achieve better results at lower cost, and mana and finally I won't be restricted to a single field."

"I can train in armed or unarmed martial arts. I can even use any weapon to start my training without being restricted."

"Although, there are always certain factors that can limit my growth in these they can never restrict me," she finished with a grin.

Virin was looking at her with wide eyes and questioned her, "You knew everything and you never told me earlier?"

"Hahaha!" she let out a chortle while shaking her head.

"Of course not. I don't know everything, I just know what I know."

"And, I read about all these things in the guild library. To help and aid you, in every way possible," she said while blushing and then smiled.

Her smile was as dazzling and blinding as a bright sun during the summer season.

'Aooww gowd! My weak heart! It can't take any more,' he thought while clenching his chest.

Then with a grin, he questioned her, "Can I also learn the Magic Spells?"

She couldn't look at her face anymore and while looking the other way she started laughing dryly.

"Ha ha ha. You know, there are so many legendary figures around the world who never rely on magic. You can be one too," she said.

Virin's grin changed to a frown as he looked at her. She was definitely avoiding looking him straight in the eye.

He asked what was wrong with learning a few spells. It's always good to have a Trump card that could help him catch his enemies by surprise.

She then looked at him and after hugging him close to her breast said, "You don't have any elemental affinity, Vir!"

"Without any affinity, you can't use any spell. So, there's no need to learn one. I'm sorry!"

Virin nodded of course he must suffer from a handicap. God can't play favorite no matter what. 

Every mortal is given an equal amount of pros and cons.

With a dejected look, he accepted the fact that his future would be devoid of cool spells.