POV: Brance
Sitting on the ground with his eyes closed, Brance went over everything that had happened. Albeit brief, Cynrik had, for the most part, informed him of what was going on as he worked through the complicated process of locating the Dongle.
Cynrik left as quickly as he arrived, leaving behind an oppressive silence aside from the soft snoring of the Head Dean, who was still sleeping.
Luckily, while he waited, Brance had a lot to review. Before he had begun his Advancement, Head Dean Rimsfel had given him a lot to think about when it came to feeling and controlling Mana.
It took him nearly an hour to thoroughly saturate the room with the proper amount of HolyFire Mana. Even then, unlike everyone else in MyrkLys, who could release their Mana like a surging tidal wave, Brance could only muster a slow trickle, like a leaky faucet.
But as time went on, and Brance started gaining more experience in harnessing his HolyFire Affinity, he realized his shortcomings. If before he only thought of Mana as his blood flow, now, after being carefully guided by Head Dean Rimsfel, Brance finally understood all of his older brother’s lectures.
His insight stemmed from a single question posed by the Head Dean. Thinking back to before he began his Advancement, Brance remembered his previous conversation with his chaperone.
—
“Student Björn, what is Mana to you? I am not asking for the answer you learned in primary school. I want to know what YOU think it is.”
Brance had sat quietly for nearly thirty minutes before answering.
“To me, Mana is Magic, something that gives me the ability to wield powerful attacks while simultaneously being so gentle that I can heal the injuries of my friends.” He said while meeting the concerned gaze of Head Dean Rimsfel.
“Magic, huh? You aren’t wrong in that aspect, but you aren’t correct, either. To some, Mana is a tool to aid them in whatever endeavor they wish to partake in. Meanwhile, to others, it is everything, life, death, happiness.”
“To me, Mana is everything. Not only does it make up every living and inanimate object we interact with, but it is also present in the air we breathe, the food we eat, and the skills we wield. From the largest Beast to a minuscule existence, Mana is the essential item we can not live without.”
—
After that conversation, Brance realized he had been going about everything incorrectly. Instead of viewing Mana as a mystical item that gave him superpowers, he needed to view it in the same vein as Atomic particles back on Earth.
After enlightenment, something seemed to click in his mind, and for the first time, he understood the meaning behind Cynrik’s words. He could feel the Mana moving through his body, separate from what he had confused with his blood.
It was like a dam had burst open, and Brance had spent his free time experimenting with his HolyFire. Strangely enough, it was as if the Mana had a consciousness of his own, and after being acknowledged, it allowed him to control it more freely.
Snap, fwoosh, Snap, fwoosh, Snap, fwoosh.
The sharp sounds of Brance snapping his fingers, conjuring a ball of golden flames, and then dousing them sounded off every few seconds.
‘Sigh, now I get why Cyn does this all the time; not only does it work as a form of training, but it also is a decent way to curb boredom.’ Brance thought as a bitter smile crept onto his lips.
‘All those times I hazed him and talked shit about how annoying it was, and I never once stopped to think about the WHY, only about how annoying it was.’ With that thought in mind, Brance used his thumb to snap the other four fingers on his right hand, manifesting four flames in sequential order.
Opening his hand and waving it a few times to put out the HolyFire, Brance leaned back on his hands and observed Head Dean Rimsfel.
‘Anytime now, Head Dean, how long do you plan on sleeping? Cynrik and Lord Ackworth must have finished what they were doing.’
Fweuuummm
Just as Brance was about to go back to playing with his HolyFire, he heard a strange noise from under the Aether Capsule and quickly activated [Mana Sight].
What greeted his eyes was a rainbow of color being emitted from the same box Cynrik had previously been working.
‘What in the fuck?’ He questioned as he laid down on his belly, looked under the Aether Capsule, and watched as a coin-sized Blackhole came to life.
Through his ocular skill, Brance was treated to a magnificent display of pure power, one that only a being way above him could pull off, and it clicked in his mind that Norik was making his move.
Feeling no sense of danger from the skill, as it wasn’t targeting him, Brance sat back up, got to his feet, dusted himself off, and walked around to the opposite side of the Aether Capsule, where he knew the panel to open it existed.
‘It won’t be long now, Head Dean Rimsfel should be waking up, and I doubt Lord Ackword would overlook the fact that we need a cover story. He has already proven that he can alter people’s memories, and with that being the case, he should have implanted some kind of plausible reason for why the Head Dean fell asleep.’
As he had predicted, 10 minutes later, Head Dean Rimsfel suddenly jumped to his feet and stretched his stiff body.
“It took you longer than expected; I apologize for the unsightly sight you had to witness; you see, I have been kept up for weeks because of those spies and the tasks assigned to me by the Headmaster. Seeing you sitting still without speaking for so long was too much for me to handle.” Walking over and joining Brance by the Aether Capsule, the Head Dean explained its use to him before stepping back.
Placing his hand on the large recessed palm print on the rocky device, Brance channeled a bit of all his Affinities into the Aether Capsule, opened it, and laid down swiftly.
“Good luck; no matter what challenge you face, remember what you have learned here at the Academy and your previous experiences, and you should come out on top.” Giving a few words of encouragement, Head Deam Rimsfel sealed the Aether Capsule and sat back on the recliner.
“Activate the Passing Down.” Saying the start-up Phrase with a forceful and clear tone, Brance was soon brought to the empty white room, and just like with Selene, Tobs took over from there.
-You have entered the Passing Down Virtual Realm.-
-Linking The Over-Break System to the Passing Down Interface.-
-Scanning Biometrics.-
-Peak Tier-2 Human Male Located, testing proper parameters for the Passing Down.-
-Bloodline has been Detected.-
-Bloodline: 90% Human, 10% LightBringer.-
-All Tests Completed.-
-Brance Jetlensr, Tier-2 Paladin, Tier-2 Basic Gemsmithing.-
-It has Been Detected that your Strength Stat has reached its Cap.-
-It has Been Detected that your Vitality Stat has reached its Cap.-
-Generating Tribulation Quest.-
– Tribulation Quest Generated.-
-You have received the Tribulation Quest: General Of The Light.-
-Tribulation Quest: General Of The Light.-
-A Call to Arms has been Issued. You will assume the role of a High Ranking General in the God Of Light’s Army. Your Goal is to defeat the opposing Army of Fallen Angels; the Timeframe and amount of enemies you face to complete this Quest are determined by the Difficulty Setting you Choose.-
-Please choose the Difficulty Setting you wish to partake in. *Reminder, a higher Difficulty Setting will result in better Rewards.-
-Difficulties below Master will be removed since you have a Bloodline and have multiple Stats that have Reached their Cap.-
– Master, Grandmaster, Legend.-
POV: Cynrik
‘He…he absorbed them…how is that even possible?’ The whole event lasted less than a minute. In the end, Norik had converted the power of the explosions into his own, rendering Cynrik speechless for several minutes, even after Norik bid him farewell and good luck on his Evolution.
Moving on autopilot, Cynrik picked up Professor Morningdale and placed her in the recliner before walking over and standing by the Aether Capsule, lost in thought.
It wasn’t until half an hour later, when Professor Morningdale woke up wondering how long she had been asleep, that Cynrik snapped out of his daze.
‘There is no way that old coot didn’t give me a proper story to adhere to, so I just have to play along when Umbridge wakes up.’ Cynrik thought to himself as he dropped to the ground and rolled under the Aether Capsule, the last place Professor Morningdale had seen him.
Without knowing what kind of tale Norik had spun, Cynrik felt the need to create one that wouldn’t seem strange to himself. His last conversation with the Professor centered around his theories regarding why there was such a low failure rate. Thus Cynrik went ahead and pried open the component box’s door and shoved his hands into the cabling, giving him the appearance of a hard-working Engineer.
Rustle rustle rustle
“Mm, oh my, where did the time go? I appear to have gotten so stressed out that I fell asleep.”
Cynrik heard Professor Morningdale mumbling to herself as she woke up and grinned.
‘Not bad old man, kind of week, but it is something I can work with.’
“I am all done under here, Professor,” closing the component box, Cynrik pulled himself out from under the Aether Capsule and then dusted off his hands and butt.
“Done? Please tell me you didn’t break anything under there, Student Ivar; the Aether Capsule is a Quadrillion Dollar machine.” Hopping up from her seat and padding over to help Cynrik up, Professor Morningdale scolded him with panic apparent in her eyes.
“No, I didn’t do anything other than straighten up a bit of a mess inside. Unfortunately, I couldn’t locate anything that may interfere with the device; it seems I am still too green regarding the Engineering World.” Cynrik said absent-mindedly as his eyes flicked to a wave of notifications from Tobs.
For now, he swiped them away, as it was time to get down to business, only this time it WASN’T to defeat the Huns.
“Right, although it is a shame, we must continue moving forward. For some reason, I have a good feeling about your Advancement. It’s just I can’t put my finger on why.”
Knowing it was time to get a move on, Cynrik opened the Aether Capsule and hopped in.
“I got this, Professor; the next time you see me, I will be a Tier-3 powerhouse.” Smirking as he laid back and watched Professor Morningdale Close the Aether Capsule, Cynrik felt a sudden rush of excitement.
“Come on out, you two; I will need your help this time; let’s finish this shit together.” With the words leaving his lips, two small blue flashes of light appeared on either side of his body, and both Sie and Vii appeared just above his shoulders.
“Cheepcaw,” Sie happily chirped as she rested her head against Cynrik’s cheek.
“Cawchiip,” Vii, on the other hand, ruffled his feathers, puffing up his body in anticipation.
“Activate the Passing Down.” In a flash, he and the two Ravens appeared in the world of white; soon after, Cynrik was innodated with notifications.
-You have entered the Passing Down Virtual Realm.-
-Linking The Over-Break System to the Passing Down Interface.-
-Scanning Biometrics.-
-Peak Tier-2 Human Male Located, testing proper parameters for the Passing Down.-
-Bloodline has been Detected.-
-Bloodline: 90% Human, 10% Æsir.-
-Two Tamed Beasts Located.-
-Tier-1 Male Nátt Hrafn Located, testing proper parameters as an Assistant in the Passing Down.-
-Tier-1 Female Nátt Hrafn Located, testing proper parameters as an Assistant in the Passing Down.-
-Tamed Beast Bloodlines: Legendary Beast.-
-Tamed Beasts Accepted as an Assistant.-
-All Tests Completed.-
-Cynrik Jetlensr, Tier-2 Rogue, Tier-2 Tamer.-
-It has Been Detected that your Agility Stat has reached its Cap.-
-It has Been Detected that your Dexterity Stat has reached its Cap.-
-Generating Tribulation Quest.-
– Tribulation Quest Generated.-
-You have received the Tribulation Quest: Mirror’s Image.-
-Tribulation Quest: Mirror’s Image..-
-Confident, cocky, intelligent, and arrogant are all attributes necessary when fighting tooth and nail to become the best. However, these aspects of yourself have become a wall you must pass to advance. As such, your opponent for this Tribulation is yourself. The Timeframe and Strength of your opponent are determined by the Difficulty Setting you Choose.-
-Please choose the Difficulty Setting you wish to partake in. *Reminder, a higher Difficulty Setting will result in better Rewards.-
-Difficulties below Master will be removed since you have a Bloodline and have multiple Stats that have Reached their Cap.-
– Master, Grandmaster, Legend.-
-This series is exclusively published on NovelFull if you are reading it anywhere else…You Wrong, Fam. PS Check out the discord, https:///dcxKNJEMwg-