As I continue along the path on the second day I start to see more aggressive monsters, I even see a razortooth tiger pacing back and forth along the side of the path almost like it's debating whether it's worth it to ignore the herbs to attack me. I make sure to ask Nox about the cultivation method and why that happened.

  “Essentially the way we form our mana paths is so that it gets narrower which builds pressure speeds up the rotation even faster than if you put all your effort into rotating at the fastest possible speed you could. It's an exponential effect so the faster you rotate on the first half of the circuit, the faster it will come crashing back to your core. which is why only speeding it up a little bit caused you, the idiot who doesn't listen, to almost die!”

  “You're still mad about that? I already apologized”

  “Of course I'm still mad about that, you fool! In case you've forgotten the moment you die, I die too! So if you wanna commit suicide do it yourself and dont drag me into it! Hmph”

  There's not much i can say to that but really, how does he expect me NOT to try it, i need to get stronger as fast as possible and cultivating slowly like this is taking forever. If i could at least cast some spells it would be better but the only spells mages can cast until they reach rank 4 are spells within their body like strength enhancement and im not what one would call a melee fighter, at best im a decent street brawler because i can take a lot of hits and the only weapon i have is my hunting knife.

  Even still, when we take our breaks Nox teaches me the basics of spells and I learn how to cast strength enhancement, speed enhancement and enhanced senses. The three basic physical enhancement spells. Spells themselves are divided into ranks like cultivators, but higher rank spells are far more difficult to use, rank 2 spells cannot be used until you reach rank 6 as a mortal mage. There are also different attributes for spells as well as some that dont have an attribute at all, enhancement spells for example dont have an attribute and merely reinforce your body with mana.

  While passing over another mountain saddle, Nox is explaining the attributes to me, after last night he seems to have stopped thinking about whatever was keeping his mind half occupied, most likely to keep an eye on me since i think i slightly broke the little faith he had built up in me over the last few days.

  “Attributes are divided into two types, the 6 prime elements that everyone can use, these are the elements easy to understand as they are all around you and you can directly feel them, Water, Fire, Earth, Wind, Wood and Metal. Then there are the 7 abstract elements, these are the elements that are hard to grasp due to their non- physical nature, Space, Time, Gravity, Lightning, Sound, Light and Dark.”

  “So I can use any of the prime elements and the remaining 7 will require me to grasp them”

  “I don't recommend trying to master all 13 elements, there isnt a mage alive who can confidently say they have mastered all 13”

  This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

  “Whys that? I thought you said mages live for a very long time, so how could they not master all of them in that long of a time?”

  “Because everyone has talents in some but no talent for others, while everyone can technically learn the 7 abstract elements they will never be able to reach the level of mastery in the ones they have no talent for. Instead most just focus on trying to become the best of the best with the element or elements they have the aptitude for, even the strongest mage alive can only say he has mastered 5 of the abstract elements”

  “Oh? Which 2 could even he not master?”

  “There are 2 elements which practically no one has a talent for, about 1 in a billion people will have a talent for one of them and ive never heard of anyone having a talent for both of them, Time and Space. Speaking of which, I'm looking at a 1 in a billion person right now” Nox says as he glances over at me.

  “Me? Which element do I have a talent for?”

  “I can't tell all of your aptitudes without an element stone of that attribute but there's 1 element that I know of that always causes a reaction due to something they are born with, you were born with a pocket dimension in your core so you definitely have a talent for space magic!”

  “A pocket dimension in my core…”

  “All space mages have that pocket dimension, you can store items in it and even mana, most will keep the mana in their pocket dimension for emergency use like in a fight. Think about it, if you are at a standstill against an opponent but can instantly refill your mana core, you would win without a doubt. Or if you are heavily injured the mana can be used to heal you” Nox looked extremely excited about the fact that he found someone with talent in space magic, enough to forget about last night it seems.

  “When can I open that pocket dimension? Dont tell me ill need to wait until spirit Level for that too”

  Nox chuckles at that.

  “Its already open, it's been open since the day you were born! Why do you think that city was in such a rough shape? You've been absorbing all the mana in the area for years. Its pulling power out of and closing it that you need to learn how to do, as for that i have no way to help you, i have zero talent in space magic and a spacial dragon hasn't been born in millions of years to the point where most think spacial dragons are just a legend.”

  “So I really was the cause of all of that…”

  I couldn't believe they were right, even more so I now feel regret that I didn't know sooner so I could do something about it, not that I know what I would have or even could have done.

  “Yeah, I've been debating whether to tell you that, well that and one other thing but even I'm not 100 percent sure about that second one so I think it's best not to tell you for now. As for the city, don't feel too bad about it, if the mana in that area hadn't been so low in the first place your pocket dimension would have filled up long ago and nothing bad would have come from it”

  That makes me feel a little better but still I did cause a lot of trouble and death for Arbourne… I shake my head, ‘No, what' s done is done’ theres no point moping about it now, instead i think back to the other thing Nox was thinking about.

  “Hey about that second thing…”

  I start to speak but Nox cuts me off with a shout

  “Ren! Down!”

  I also have a bad feeling and duck my head down practically on instinct, just in time for an arrow to fly over my head.