Chapter 22
Just before Kaian's volcano(?) erupted...
Before Amber had even fully understood what was happening...
Another incantation left Eldarin's lips.
"[Lux Shell, Guardian.]"
The particles of mana Eldarin had prepared around herself shot forward.
They surrounded Kaian, Amber, and Eldarin, forming a rounded turquoise barrier.
The magma erupted immediately afterward.
BOOOOOOM!
A pillar of fire shot all the way to the cavern ceiling.
Amber's mouth fell open.
Kaian...!
That's a volcanic eruption!
The shockwave and scorching heat slammed violently into Eldarin's turquoise shield.
RUMBLEEEEE...!
HISSSSSSS...!
The entire cavern screamed.
Behind the endlessly erupting pillar of fire, the silver vein melted into a shining silver waterfall.
Still dazed, Amber called to Eldarin.
[Eldarin...]
[Are you sure what you picked up was human...?]
Eldarin maintained [Multi-Control] with practiced ease while wearing an odd smile.
[Who knows?]
[But I certainly seem to have picked up something extraordinary.]
[Look at his left hand.]
Ever since changing his posture, Kaian had been gripping his right wrist with his left hand.
[He recognized how powerful his Mana Matter was and came up with a way to increase his control.]
[Even before his reawakening, mana gathered more easily around his left wrist.]
[So he chose that hand as his control axis.]
It had been a fast judgment based entirely on instinct and intuition.
Only then did Amber understand why Kaian had changed his posture and gripped his right wrist with his left hand.
[If he'd placed his left hand on the ground instead, he might not have been able to endure his own firepower.]
[Considering what he's producing with only his right hand, yes.]
Eldarin watched him with growing satisfaction.
[That child certainly has the qualities required for Thought Power.]
Kaian had independently reached the conclusion that he needed water mana to withstand the fire energy he was about to unleash.
He had also realized that fire would weaken the metal mana in the silver vein, so he needed earth mana to restore it.
[Teach him one thing, and he understands ten.]
But neither Eldarin nor Amber believed Thought Power was Kaian's Alpha Mana.
For Multiple Mana Users, the strongest magical power was called Alpha Mana.
The second strongest was Beta Mana.
And the third, Gamma Mana.
A mage's thought process and magical style changed dramatically depending on which power served as their Alpha Mana.
Amber stared at the pillar of fire, which still showed no sign of weakening.
[Still...]
[His Alpha Mana has to be Creativity, doesn't it?]
"Absolutely."
Eldarin stared at the endless eruption in admiration.
[How many people could be sent to a volcanic region once and carve such an absurd image into their soul?]
RUMBLEEEEE...!
[That brat wanted to see Ignis Mons erupt.]
[I can't say for certain whether he's human.]
[But I can say with certainty that he's not entirely sane.]
The talent Kaian had displayed today far exceeded Eldarin's expectations.
A mage was someone who manifested their inner world into reality.
Therefore, a mage's strength was determined by the depth, stability, density, and other qualities of their inner world.
In other words...
A powerful inner world created a powerful mage.
Idiots obsess over the amount of mana they're born with.
But an inner world can be expanded as much as one wishes.
Unfortunately, to modern mages, that idea sounded like absurd nonsense that violated common sense.
A High-tier Mana User would forever remain High-tier.
A Low-tier Mana User would forever remain Low-tier.
Mages themselves branded one another that way.
That was why they poured so much effort into receiving a high initial mana rank during the Awakening Ceremony.
To Eldarin, they looked like fleas trapped inside a glass bottle.
A flea kept inside a bottle eventually became unable to jump higher than the bottle even after being released.
Because it believed that height was its limit.
If they studied even the foundations of magic properly, they'd realize mana ranks can change.
To raise one's mana rank, one simply had to build a larger and stronger inner world than before.
And to achieve that, four abilities had to be trained.
First...
The ability to accurately sense invisible mana and read its flow.
[Mana Perception]
Second...
The ability to draw external mana into the Core Area and store it as Mana Matter.
[Mana Absorption]
Third...
The ability to synchronize the vibration of one's inner world with the vibration of reality.
[Mana Resonance]
And finally...
The ability to efficiently operate the necessary amount of mana and accurately manifest the image inside one's inner world.
[Mana Control]
It's difficult to believe...
But this child is outstanding in all four.
If Eldarin had merely heard rumors of what she was seeing now, she would have dismissed them as exaggerated nonsense.
For example...
I heard there's a child who awakened mana at eight years old.
An elf? Beastkin?
Human.
Come on. At least make your lie believable.
I'm serious! Apparently the child's perception, absorption, resonance, and control are all exceptional. A once-in-an-era genius!
You actually believe rumors like that? Unless you've seen it yourself, don't bother telling me.
If she had overheard a conversation like that in some tavern, Eldarin would have sided with the skeptic immediately.
Human exaggeration hasn't changed even after several hundred years.
That was exactly what she would have mocked.
And yet...
Kaian's talent was reality.
Reality she was witnessing with her own eyes.
I already knew his absorption was high.
He had survived with an enormous inferno contained inside his inner world, even before he could properly Materialize it.
If his absorption had been weak, his body would never have endured it.
And I expected his perception to be high too.
Kaian himself had complained that he could not understand what she meant by "feel the mana."
Yet the earth spirits had accepted him almost immediately.
He had even persuaded an Obsidian Boar to let him ride on its back.
Someone with high spirit affinity can't possibly have low Mana Perception.
Still...
