"Mana manipulation, it is the ability to reshape the pure mana that comes from inside your body creating alterations to your abilities and skills which increases your overall power depending on how you utilize it
Pure mana acts as the anchor of the body and is directly interconnected with one's own life force which acts as the anchor for the soul"
Albert proceeded to explain as he flipped me into the air again.
" The very fact that you are able to focus your darkness coating to increase specific tasks such as speed and strength in intervals means that you are showing the basic signs of mana manipulation something unprecedented in the history of the empire for someone of your rank "
" Aren't you getting things mixed up? All I did was change how I used it a bit by increasing the mana concentration in certain parts many others have different variants of their spells as well "I said while taking my breath
" Think about what you have said master, variants of spells not the same spell while the concept itself originates from the original spell the way it is deployed is different on the other hand what you did is change the working of a spell even after it has been deployed "
Hearing his words I stopped for a second which was a mistake having found a punch right in front of my face.
" Darkness coating is a spell that distributes power evenly throughout the body one aspect cannot be increased or decreased after, however you are able manipulate the very mana in the spell after deploying it changing the distribution of power depending on the situation like how you increased your speed at first then strength after "
" Even so my mana sensitivity is only at E rank how could I possibly be able to do such a feat then?"
' If even the genius protagonist had to wait till he reached the B rank before he was able to manipulate his mana, how is it possible that I am able to do so now'
Well, my question didn't go unanswered for long as albert stopped the spar and sat me down to continue explaining.
" What you said is rather a common misconception mana sensitivity is a person's affinity to the mana abundant in the world not the pure mana that is in the body, that very same mana is mixed into the spells that is deployed which is why when its form is changed later on so is the form of the spell "
"Like I said Pure mana and life force are interconnected which is why a normal person has to reach B+ rank to be able to distinguish them trying to do so before that would normally lead to failure and in the worst-case damage to their very own life force "
''You however don't seem to have that problem instinctively being able to use pure mana as a separate entity''
Having finished his long lecture albert simply stood silently perhaps to give me time to think things over to give him an answer for this unusual phenomenon, racking my head using any useful knowledge I got from the novel along with the information inside Nicholos's memories I drew up small theory of why such a thing occurred.
' The soul is anchored by life force while the body is anchored by pure mana which is the main reason people die when they break their mana oath however in my past world there was no such thing as mana, the sudden inclusion of it may have made me instinctively aware of it as another entity '
'However, that's all there is to it a foreign feeling if I truly want to get stronger then I must get better at handling it '
" Look Albert I don't know how nor do I care to find the answer but for some reason I am able to do something no one else my age is able to do, and I am not going to let this opportunity go so for the next three months I am going to have you turn me into a master mana manipulator "
I said speaking in a way no different from the original Nicholos
" So are we going to continue talking or are you going to actually teach me how to grow stronger "
Standing silently for a second, he took a breath before finally replying
" That wasn't the answer I expected, nor does it answer any questions of how this came to be, but it was a good answer nonetheless "
Heaving a sigh albert walked back to the centre of the room
" Come on now master if you wish to master your new ability then there is much to do "
Hearing his words I jumped right up and took a battle stance and for a faint second, I could swear I saw a smile spread on the monstrous old man's face.
...........
The following couple of days were a mixture of training, overseeing the transportation of the businesses and paperwork lots and lots of paperwork.
' No wonder the desk chair was custom made anything less and I would have had to deal with permanent back damage '
standing by my side was none other than albert as always, though it would have been better if he was not at the moment, I couldn't endure any more looks of pity from him anymore.
" How much more do I have to check again? " I asked while rubbing my eyes
" Not much left really simply the stack you have in your hand right now "
Heaving a sigh and encouraging myself with a promise of a goodnights sleep I powered through the final stack of papers hoping to finally rest for today.
" Good work master having finished this, all of the current major problems should be under control for now " Albert said as he collected the scattered paper around the desk
" There won't be any training tomorrow so you should be able to get some rest "
" Yeah, I can't wait to take a day off "
However just as I was going to open the door to leave multiple ringing noises came from the communication crystals wired at the desk looking at the caller id it was none other than the 5 heads.
' Ah, a week has already passed hasn't it ' as my face paled with that thought I turned to see that albert started giving the same looks of pity he did before
"No...." even when I tried to deny it albert continued without any hint of mercy
" It seems there is still some work to do"
' Damn it all '