章 9: Loved By Mana

The dark particles receded outwards to form an entrance and Austin, unable to resist, phased into a beam of light and shot through it.

The dark particles merged together again, closing the entrance.

Austin's vision went blank as he felt himself being thrown backward at an incredible speed.

A heavy sense of nauseousness rushed into him as he retained his consciousness.

Landing back on solid matter, the motion shortly came to a stop.

He appeared lying on the floor in a small room as the world continued to spin.

Seconds. Minutes. Hours. Days. Austin had no perception of time as he rolled around in soul-wrenching pain, clutching his head with both hands like he was trying to rip it apart and end it all.

After what felt like an eternity, he was finally able to open his eyes, still hosting a slight dizziness.

'What the hell was that.' Austin regretted letting his curiosity getting the best over him. That torture was something else... Even with the mental fortitude of his caliber, he could barely handle the unceasing torment of his body being split apart from inside out.

Had anyone but Austin challenged that experience, they'd have long fallen to the demons of the mind.

Now that it was over, he was trapped in another predicament... Having no idea way to escape, Austin could only rely on someone coming to the rescue.

The room had no doors, windows, or any route of exit. It was enclosed on all sides.

The only objects in here were six books laid out on a stone table each shining with a different color. From left to right they were in red, blue, green, brown, black, and white.

The peculiar sensation Austin felt before from in the library was many times stronger. Now, not only did the air feel hot, cold, heavy, and light at the same time, added in was also a soothing and evil-like quality.

Establishing the source to be from the books imbued with magic in front of him, Austin observed them closely...

Spellbooks!

Enlightened, Austin became very excited.

After learning the foundations of magic, he wanted to immediately begin training in it. Knowing that it would be a near-impossible task to get his hands on spellbooks, Austin was worried over how long he had to endure having all the knowledge but not being able to use it for anything.

Not letting his imaginations run wild only to be disappointed later, Austin ran over to the stone table, checking what was written on the books.

'Rank 0 Fire Spellbook.'

'Rank 0 Water Spellbook'

'Rank 0 Wind Spellbook'

'Rank 0 Earth Spellbook'

'Rank 0 Light Spellbook'

'Rank 0 Darkness Spellbook'

Sure enough, they were all Rank 0 spellbooks.

Austin was euphoric - a blessing in disguise!

Forget feeling regretful just then, that torture was worth it. Having the solution delivered right to him... this place was actually the testing area for Magical Attributes!

To think it was located in the Royal Library... But that made sense after all, where else would magic books be stored if not in a library.

And this was the most prestigious library in the entire continent.

Thinking about the other dark spots he had seen, Austin's eagerness grew further as several thoughts ran through his head. For now though, he discarded them to focus what was on hand.

He knew he would get into trouble for using a spellbook as they were a one-time use and it would inevitably be found out later. But Austin still decided to go ahead, not caring since the benefits easily triumphed over the consequences.

Not to mention he had two strong shields known as the Princess and the Queen!

Recollecting how to test for Magical Attributes, Austin first felt confusion, which slowly turned to disbelief... and finally utter astonishment.

'For a person with a Magical Attribute of the corresponding element, the spellbook will shine in their distinctive colors."

"One in ten thousand are born with one Attribute."

"One in a million are born with two Attributes."

"One in a hundred million are born with a maximum of three Attributes."

On the stone table, every single one of the six spellbooks was shining.

Fire in red. Water in blue. Wind in green. Earth in brown. Light in white. Darkness in black.

What this did mean?

Austin had all six Magical Attributes!

Breaking out in shrill delight, Austin took a moment to calm down before registering his thoughts. 'All six Magical Attributes. How could this be...? The books stated that the most recorded were three. Just what am I... Is it because I was reincarnated into this World? Well... I guess it doesn't matter."

"Fantasia, I will happily accept your love."

The spellbooks shone in greater intensity as Austin came closer. Walking up to examine them one by one, the sensations coming off from each spellbook could now be clearly felt upon touch. Hot. Cold. Light. Heavy. Comforting. Creepy. They intruded into his body one by one, pushing the other elements out of the way when doing so. Apart from the

difference in color of their gleaming light, all six were identical in size and shape. Opening them, Austin read what was inside.

'Rank 0 Fire spellbook: Fire Ball.'

'Rank 0 Water spellbook: Water Blast.'

'Rank 0 Wind spellbook: Air Slash.'

'Rank 0 Earth spellbook: Earth Spike.'

'Rank 0 Dark spellbook: Shadow Bolt.'

'Rank 0 Light spellbook: Light Bolt.'

Rank 0 spellbooks all start off with offensive magic and contain the most basic of spells. When one rises in rank, weaker spells will gradually become replaced by more powerful ones. At the same time, a wider range of magic can be learned including both defensive, mobility, and other utility types.

Types of magic are more concentrated in certain classes. For example, Wind Mages are focused on speed, therefore the majority of their spells consists of mobility magic. Because of these specializations, Mages will typically all have weaknesses. Earth Mages possesses heavy defensive magic but doesn't have much in terms of attack.

This is why Dual-Attribute and Triple-Attribute Mages are so game-changing. They practically have a cheat compared to Single-Attribute Mages, being able to specialize in several types of magic. But If this was the case, then just what kind of existence is Austin?

Capable of learning any spell, he will essentially be the first Magician ever to have zero weaknesses. Low defenses? Weak attacks? Slow movement? None of them apply to him!

Furthermore, Austin even had the rare Light and Dark Attributes as well. These two Attributes are far more uncommon than their counterparts of Fire, Water, Air, and Earth. The four all specialize in an area, Fire being attack, Water being suppression, Air being speed, and Earth being defense. Because of this, they have clear downfalls in battle.

Often, Single-Attribute Mages have to party with other different Single-Attribute Mages to cover for each other's weaknesses. This is especially true in the early Bronze and Silver ranks when one's arsenal of spells are small and their storage of mana limited.

Light and Dark Attributes are exceptional because they have a wider variety of spells and therefore are more well-rounded with fewer weaknesses. Dark Mages are similar to Water Mages in possessing strong suppression spells. Similarly, Light Mages have by far the strongest defense with their strong healing magic.

However, the key point is that in every other specialization, Light and Dark Mages are almost as good as the strongest Class in it. They do not have the strongest offense or the fastest movement but are still many times better than the other Classes that do not specialize in it.

Obviously, a Light or Dark Mage cannot just be found walking down a street. They are believed to be rarer than Dual-Attribute Mages, but not quite as brilliant as Triple-Attribute Mages. Throughout history, the number of Light and Dark Mages across all Regions were below a thousand. All became world-renowned.

Naturally, A Light or Dark Mage is not necessarily stronger than the other Classes, and neither is a Dual-Attribute Mage than a Single-Attribute. To be stronger than others, one has to have better usage in spells, knowing which ones to use in different situations and smartly utilize their mana. When depleted, magic can no longer be cast, but holding back can come at the cost of one's life.

A Mage's storage of mana increases as their mana purity does, which is why comprehension is so important and a great deal of time is spent dedicated to mastering one spell before beginning a new one. When it comes to the Diamond Class, Mages can take decades to centuries just to comprehend a single spellbook.

Spells also use up differing amounts of mana, powerful magic with greater impact requiring more and weaker magic, less. Fire Mages cannot just rely on their heavy offensive spells as that would quickly dry them up and leave them without any more mana. This, however, does not apply to Warriors since they don't use mana in battle, enabling them to sustain combat for indefinitely longer than Mages.

The Mage with the highest killing record of Warriors in the Northern Region - Aegor Iwyn, said this, "the third most important thing when fighting a Warrior is to always have a route of escape. The second most important is to have an abundance of mana flasks. The most important is to finish them off quickly."

Austin was standing in the room with eyes closed and happily smiling, relishing in the feeling of being able to use all kinds of magic in the world before beginning his journey.

Resulting from a sudden thought, he trembled. His shining eyes opening in an instant like lightning had struck.

'If the World's mana cannot be absorbed by Mages because it contains every element then...'

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