Kael?

The mana stones are endless, with dozens of tunnels all around. Kael and Ryua find themselves in a predicament.

"Are we just gonna choose a random tunnel?" Kael sighs, scratching his head. 'There are no signs, clues, or puzzles. I don't know what floor we're on, but we're likely on a deeper floor. There's so much mana around here, it's driving me crazy.' He looks back and sees Ryua staring at a tunnel.

"This way?" she mumbles, unsure of herself. 'There's something strange. I've felt it before...' She walks forward but suddenly stops. "Wait here, I'll be back," she commands coldly, leaving no room for debate. With a single step, she's gone.

Kael rolls his eyes and walks towards the center of the cave where the mana density is the highest. 'Hmhmhmhm~ Normally, I would follow her, but right now I've found what I've been looking for.' Taking a deep breath, he takes a seat, crossing his legs. "Ilka, can you come out real quick?"

"What's up?" she grins, materializing on his head and swinging her legs back and forth. "Are we finally training?" She asks with a sly, devious grin.

"No, I need you to watch me while I advance to the next rank. With the amount of mana here, it shouldn't take me too long." 'With my circulation method, it would've taken me a couple of weeks to get enough materials for my next stage advancement.'

"Lameeee, why are you so fixated on magic when you can't even cast high-level spells?" Pushing herself up, she walks on air and raises her fist. "How about I teach you a new technique?"

With a smirk that rivals hers, Kael lifts his finger in front of her before flicking her across the cave. "I've been studying magic for a while now. At first, I was doubtful I'd use magic in the long run, but I was able to back up my theories in the elven library, so I need to do this." With that, Kael closes his eyes, takes a deep breath, and increases his circulation speed.

"Tsk, this bastard started it before I could say anything." Ilka groans, lying down mid-air. 'I hate how similar we are,' she exhales, rolling her eyes.

'In martial arts, there's no definitive way to measure someone's rank. Martial arts is about techniques; you can't measure the strength of a technique, but the technique itself can be ranked by how in-depth it is. That's why competitions and tests are regularly held. Without these tests, martial arts would be 100 times more confusing.' Kael exhales and starts absorbing the mana around, circulating it in his core.

'When it comes to magic, it's different. Since mana is the core of a mage, all that needs to be done is to determine the rank of the core. I've had so many sleepless nights trying to understand how it works. My magic is lacking compared to my aura and martial arts, and that's all thanks to Ilka. She's a goddamn walking encyclopedia. Thanks to her, I doubt I'd lose to any current martial artists.' Kael starts to sweat as the mana around him spirals, the mana crystals on the wall starting to crack as they lose power.

*Cough cough*

He spits out some sort of black mucus. 'Fuck. I need to slow down a bit. After so long of studying and questioning Isabella, I've finally realized how to properly use magic. "The core," the place responsible for containing mana. At first, I thought it was a sort of imaginary sphere. I was wrong. When I wrote the novel, I left the details vague since I planned to revise the power system when I finished my first draft. I finally figured it out: the core is both real and imaginary. The core is both the body and soul. The soul and body mix together to make a "core." After so long of asking myself "where's the core?" I finally realized the core is the body itself. To be more precise, part of the core is the entirety of the body.'

"Ah shit..." Ilka scratches her head, looking around. 'He eats more than a damn dragon,' she floats, rubbing her chin and looking at him. 'Maybe that's why I'm stuck with him, 'cause he's so fucking stupid.'

Kael's mouth starts leaking blood. 'The soul itself absorbs the majority of the mana, and the body is like a vessel. And like any vessel, the state of the body dictates how one is able to use mana. For instance, everyone has affinities. Now one of my theories suggests there are multiple types of affinity types. By that, I mean some affinities are given based on the body while others are given based on the soul, which can go both ways. Low connection to certain affinities can also occur based on the body and soul. And then because of this, there are rare affinities that both the body and soul need to be capable of. A good example would be me. I have a strong connection to both mana and aura. Both of these are forms of energy that connect to the soul. I got lucky to get stuck with this body, which happens to have an affinity to both mana and aura.' Taking a deep breath, Kael starts adjusting and directing the rampant mana in his core.

'I've soul-bonded with both Umbra and Ilka. If they're soul-bonded with me, doesn't that mean they're connected to my core one way or another? Mages have 11 ranks; these ranks are based on how many times the core evolves. Once I reach rank 7, I'll be able to peek into my soul domain. If our souls are connected, there should be a passageway or at least some strand that connects us. Now what would happen if I fed Ilka enough mana? Right now, I think she's unknowingly absorbing a small amount of mana to materialize herself. But if I feed her enough, would she be able to interact with the world?'

"Damn!" Ilka floats around with wide eyes and a smirk. "I know you have a strange circulation method that absorbs mana, but this is insane. Any normal person would pop like a balloon by now." She floats down to see Kael with eyes closed. "Hey! Stop it! You've broken through 8 stages! Don't try to break through your rank!" she watches as he continues. "Fuck!" She punches his face, but it does nothing. "Dammit, listen to your master for once." She puffs her cheeks with anger.

"You damn bastard, stop being greedy!" She gets more agitated, pulling his hair. "You've already reached rank 4 within like 8 months! You know that's already insane. It takes years of studying and preparations for anyone else to do that!" She grunts, pulling his hair back. "Stop being greedy, please! You're going to blow up!"

Kael takes a deep breath, focusing on his circulation. 'Having Ilka interact with the world would be insane, but at the same time, it's a great trump card. Even if she lacks aura and mana to fight, her martial arts alone would have masters on their knees.' The density is slowly disappearing, the cave continues to sweep in more mana, but Kael absorbs it at a faster rate.

'How long has it been now? It's taking longer than expected. The mana keeps getting tangled up. I can feel it, I'm going to reach rank 5. I think Isabella should be reaching rank 5 right about now. Tsk, even though we'll both be the same rank, because of this damn curse, at most I'll be able to cast rank 2 spells. I hate these damn high mana-cost spells. I'm going to start creating my own. Maybe if I create a series of rank 2 spells that connect to each other, I might be able to create a rank 3 or possibly a rank 4 effect. The only thing I'm excited about is the noise I'm hearing. I know damn well what the system panels say, even though I can't read them.'

[Charisma +1] [Charisma +2] [Charisma +1]

[Charisma +2] [Charisma +3] [Charisma +1]

[Charisma +5] [Charisma +7] [Charisma +3]...

'Hmhmhmhm, I can't wait. Just like when ranking up my aura, once my core reaches rank 5, all the impurities will be gone. I can feel them sweating away. It's gross and sticky, but I'm fucking happy. I realized this after a proper body inspection; whatever or whoever messed with Brey's body made him look like shit. The system doesn't include it in the information panel because it's not an effect, but I think during the process of whatever ritual Brey was involved in, a bunch of impurities were absorbed, which made this body look like a pile of shit. I bet he managed to get a bunch of them out before I took over his body. To think that poor guy had to live with this horrible body. Once I rank up, I'll be able to see what he actually looked like before he got cursed.' Taking a deep breath, Kael smirks.

'I can feel it, my core is going to evolve. I need to circulate my aura and prepare just in case my mana tries to take control.' The area around Kael is dark, no hue to light up the cave. All the mana crystals and stones have been sucked dry, and by now, they've crumbled to dust. The walls slowly crack and shatter as the mana holding them together is absorbed.

"Fucking hate you, I'm going to train you till your bones break," Ilka calms down, puffing her cheeks before dematerializing herself.

BOOM!

Kael expels the chaotic mana from his body, sending a shockwave throughout the area and then silence. 'I did it... I did it!' "I fucking did it!" With an exhale, he opens his eyes. "Ahh! Fuck!" He falls back as his heart rate increases.

Ryua simply blinks, sitting in the same position that was an inch apart from Kael a second ago. She doesn't say anything, her expression blank, like she's trying to understand a very complicated book.

"H-hello? When did you get back?" Kael asks, clearing his throat.

After a minute of silence, she gets closer. "It's been 170 hours," she mumbles.

'Oooh... that's a whole week,' Kael scratches the back of his head with an awkward smile.

"What was that? You absorbed all the mana around... You went through all 10 stages and broke through your rank in 170 hours... how?"

Kael slowly stands up. 'Fuck, I'm numb.' Struggling to stand, he turns around. "What makes you say that? You know that would kill a normal student. I didn't break through, I managed to get rid of a seal my professor placed on me."

"A seal. Why would you have a seal?" She stands up with a blank face.

"It's for training. But right now is not the time for training. Now please excuse me, I need to get myself clean..." Kael mumbles, looking down to see his disgustingly dirty body. 'Fuck, this is gross. Good thing I'm prepared for anything.'

"There's no clean water, how do you plan..." she stops herself, scratching her head in utter confusion as she watches him reach into his pouch and proceed to take out a whole bathroom set and a water tank. The package comes included with a sink, bath, curtains, and nothing but high-end market equipment. 'Am I too old school to understand why a kid has this prepared in advance?' She sits on a rock, chewing gum, brushing her hair with her fingers while questioning herself and the guild for never preparing a bathroom.

'It feels nice... my skin is clear, I'd say it's perfect.' Closing his eyes, he submerges himself entirely, cleaning any remaining impurities. 'Okay... okay, here goes nothing. System... what is my rizz at? I need to know before I look in a mirror.' His heart races, his anxiety through the roof.

[Charisma: 43]

'H-huh? No, that doesn't make sense. It shouldn't be higher than Isadora's.'

[I showed you Isadora's charisma after your island exam. When you asked for it, she was dirty, unwashed, covered in blood, etc. The fact is that her charisma was low due to her condition. Currently, her charisma is at 55, which is the highest number a human can have.]

'Wait... so right now I'm...'

[Are you a moron? You're acting like a child. Yes, by beauty standards you are considered handsome.]

'Yeah! Let's gooo!' Kael grabs a mirror in a flash. 'Hmm... I definitely look great, not as good as my original body but close enough.'