Morning dawned on the village of Hona. Shin was up early in the meadows, training on how to enhance his body with spells.
Shin stood still, trying to coat his body in shadows. Bael and the chief stood nearby, overseeing his training.
Shin cleared his mind and focused on making the shadow climb up his entire body.
As you may know, you can use the core element of your magical attribute to enhance your body. This method uses less mana than just outright coating your body with mana.
Bael's words rang out in Shin's head. He let out a large breath of air as he focused his shadow into his feet.
Shin then sprinted forward, causing shockwaves that traveled through the earth. Shin felt his body had become lighter, and he could run faster.
When he stopped, a huge shockwave followed behind and destroyed the land before him.
Bael and the chief walked up to Shin, exchanging surprised glances.
"I knew you were a natural with dark magic, but the speed at which you are picking this up is unbelievable," the chief said with genuine admiration.
"You picked it up faster than the demon prodigy over here," he added, grabbing Bael by his head and ruffling his hair.
"I actually want to try out a few spells I picked up, but I'll only be able to do two for now," Shin said, staring at his hand.
"Picked up, from where?" Bael asked, fixing his hair.
Just as Shin was about to answer, the image of the demon God's smile appeared in his head. This made Shin hesitate for a moment.
"Something that came to me during my sleep," he answered nervously.
Bael and the chief exchanged suspicious glances, then shrugged. Satel arrived just as Shin was about to cast a spell.
They exchanged pleasantries, and the three stepped back, giving Shin space to unleash his new spells.
Okay, let's see what I can do. The demon god gave me two Tier 4 spells, two Tier 3 spells, and six Tier 2 spells. I'll be able to use two Tier 2 spells, then I'm out, so let me do one of the Tier 3 spells instead.
Shin extended his hand forward.
"Dark magic: Tier 3: Void Strike,"
A black ball of darkness formed on Shin's hand and then shot out. The ball enlarged and began absorbing some of the land.
The ball moved a considerable distance away before flying up into the air. Once it was high enough, it shrunk and then exploded.
A large wave of energy burst out in all directions and then promptly returned to the shrunken ball and vanished.
Everyone gasped in shock at the damage it had done. The meadow, along with everyone in it, was a mess.
Shin fell onto the ground in exhaustion.
"That was a nice spell, Shin. But maybe stick to physical confrontations from now on. You're already drained," Bael praised as he ran and helped Shin up.
Shin panted heavily.
"Drained? (pants) That thing took out a lot more mana than I expected," Shin managed to blurt out between his heavy breaths.
Bael helped Shin onto his shoulder as they headed toward the village.
"I think I should find a way to fix Shin's mana problem," Satel said as they walked off.