The pages of a thick book ruffled. It was sitting on a boulder, in a clearing. A young man stood beside the rock and a blonde woman stood beside him. Clasping her hands she began to speak.
"Mana or essence, shapes the world around us. It is the water in our bodies, the minerals in the water, and the light from the sun. It's the fire that gives us warmth, the ground beneath our feet, and the air that we breathe."
Taking a breath she pointed to Kai,
"As a mana shaper, it is your job to control and subjugate ambient mana to impose your will on the world." She raised her hands in a grandiose gesture.
"Like this, Tempastatum Invoco." The world began to distort, and crackling green energy gathered above her outstretched hands. Her lips turned into a smile as she moved her arms. Once she flicked her wrist, the storm swirled out, rushing over the open land. It ripped the grass from the ground and sent the earth scattering.
"And that's magic."
She turned away, pointed a finger at the magic stone,
"Arcesso" and it came to her.
"With this, you'll awaken your latent mana. This crystal is firmly seated in tier two, lacking any impurities. That means that awakening with this stone will put you exactly with the elites of various noble households." She puffed her chest.
"Including me." Kai rolled his eyes at her ego and caught the crystal she promptly threw at him.
"So what do I do…" He gripped it in his hand and promptly squeezed, a rush of energy exploded out of the crystal as it disintegrated. The lady opened her mouth and closed it. Then she opened it again.
"That's… one way to do it, uh but start moving it through your body quickly or you're going to be in a world of pain pretty soon."
Kai closed his eyes and breathed, visualizing the energy inside him, and coaxed it into circulation. Then with a soft glow, it clicked into place. Each particle of mana had found a cell of its own and locked into his body; unyielding without significant effort.
Opening his eyes, he looked at the priestess. Sylvia bit her cheek,
"You're just like him, aren't you. Gods, between the two of you I'll go insane."
She forced a strangled smile.
"But since you're my charge, and I, your gracious mentor, I'll teach you anyways."
Kai squeezed his hand, feeling the small empowerment in his body. It felt oddly comforting as if his body was being scraped clean down to the last cell. A deep sense of refinement settled over him as the remaining mana was absorbed by his body. He frowned, however, noticing two points where his innate mana gathered. One settled over his heart and the other in the center of his skull, right behind his eyes.
"Ah, I see you've found the juvenile nexus."
She pointed to her temple first,
"This nexus, once developed, will cut off the mana circulation in your body and carve it only into your mind, enhancing your connection to the outside world. As well as start you on the path of the Caster. While a Caster's body may seem weak, you'll still be stronger than your average human. This is the path I chose."
Next, she pointed to her heart.
"This nexus' development will lead to a full body refinement, however, you cannot send your magic into the world as a drawback. This is the path of an augmenter or a body refiner. The resident swords master of the village is an Elite Body refiner or someone who awakened with a tier two crystal and chose the augmentation path."
She put both of her hands on Kai's shoulders and directed her gaze into his.
"It is imperative that you choose wisely, do not choose a path solely for the sake of the advantages you believe it to hold, choose the one that suits your personality."
Sylvia released her hold and straightened up once more. Her green eyes sparkled.
"And since I am so magnanimous, I've used the favor Sorin owes you to force him into a duel, where you can see both paths clearly."
Gritting her teeth slightly, she added.
"This is a very expensive lesson so do not waste this opportunity."
Kai nodded, he would be stupid to let such a treasure go.
"Since Sir Sorin is a tier three mage and Lady Sylvia is only tier two, Sir Sorin will be restricting his mana usage to the peak of tier two." A short man with a round belly stood on a floating mana circle. His position was to the side of the man and woman facing off.
Grey eyes lazily gazed across the field, meeting a pair of verdant energized ones.
"Are you worried I'm gonna finally beat you, Sorin? You were reluctant to accept this duel after all." Sylvia teased him trying to invoke a reaction, but he gave no response other than.
"It's not worth my time."
His shoulders arched back as he stretched, and a black t-shirt covered his chest, coupled with a pair of loose martial pants. Sylvia on the other hand wore white leather pants, padded for stability and flexibility. Her top consisted of a similar white, trimmed with silver. She looked towards him, her excited gaze sharpening. His dark grey eyes suddenly turned piercing.
"Gladium" The ground beneath his feet was wrenched apart as he began his sprint. A dark grey sword burst through the ground and snapped into his hand like a magnet.
Unwavering, Sylvia held her arms out in front of her and muttered two words.
"Tempest Murus" In an instant a bright wall of green manifested in front of her, and then with the second word, "Aura Celeritas" a soft green hue surrounded her body, and she began to move as well. Retreating from his attacks, she summoned a half dozen orbs. They were perceptible only by the faint distortion around them.
"Ventus bullet!" She cried out, and the magic ammunition shot off whistling. Once it reached the grim man he simply muttered and a faint silver glow covered distinct spots of his body. Six disks absorbed the impact of the six bullets, the move was perfectly calculated taking the bullets' trajectories into account. With that, he finally reached Sylvia, a giant mass of rocks mounting his sword, with a swing he shattered the barrier around her and sent her tumbling, heel over head.
"Arresto momentum" her body slowed,
"Levitas" the magic lifted her to her feet and the shattered remains of the barrier flew back and congealed together.
"Benedic mihi, deus ventorum."
Her eyes closed, and when they reopened a large gale bellowed behind her, her hair whipped around her hair. She had called upon the holy magic of the wind god.
The dark-skinned man gritted his teeth and pierced the ground with his sword, growths of earth crawled up his legs and sword, stopping him from being blown away, dozens of bullets materialized behind the wind priestess. Swarmed and battered by the assault, the gunmetal-eyed man summoned a wall of earth, once the attack subsided he rushed forward. His eyes flashed black momentarily and the priestess barrier shattered, his hand already closed around her neck. Her face was flushed and she closed her eyes, falling on the ground with a soft thud as he released her.
"My win."