บท 6: Affinities!

Having confirmed the power of his magic now that it had been improved Ark really wanted to try and get the other affinities, even though he was still a bit uncertain. Having decided to at least try it out, Ark thought that the best to start with would be the fire element, for a pretty obvious reason really, water could restrain fire, so if it got too out of hand he could still manage. Looking around a little bit for a good tree he found one at the edge of the clearing that he decided to sit under whilst absorbing the fire elements.

Activating his [Mana Manipulation] the fire particles around him started to slowly vibrate, Ark had to spend quite a deal of effort before one of them started to slowly drift towards him. When the fire Mana finally entered his body it was neither good nor bad, Ark thought that it kinda felt like his entire body had been on fire for a single second, which wasn't really that bad because the pain disappeared before it could even manifest itself. Thinking that it wasn't that bad Ark started to pull as much on the ones that were closest to him.

This went on for quite a while before something finally happened, this time Ark had been sitting under the tree and absorbing nonstop for about 1 hour. This time was a little different than the first one though, the power still burst forth from deep within his marrow but instead of just spreading to every corner of his body, the fire started to intertwine with the water in his body. It was forming a relationship with the water, a bit like yin and yang, two polar opposites restricting and supporting each other. Even though Ark didn't know it himself, the thing that had just happened was a thing that was in fact incredibly difficult.

By the time the water and fire had perfectly fused together multiple dings sounded out in his head as the monotone voice once again began speaking.

[Due to hosts deepened connections to the fire spirits host has obtained "Minor Fire affinity"]

[Due to the fire and water affinities in the host's body having perfectly fused together host has gained the "Yin and Yang" body constitution]

Hearing how he had gained something called a constitution which Ark had never heard before he decided to use "Inspect" on it.

[Yin and Yang]

The fire and water in the host's body have reached a harmonious stage, making the host able to draw out the hidden power of fire and water by combining them.

Combining water and fire will multiply the power released.

Grants host [Small water affinity] and [Small fire constitution]

Arks eyes went wide upon reading this, he had apparently done something amazing without even realizing it himself. Just that both affinities themselves had evolved was enough to make Ark ecstatic, but now he would be able to fuse them together in an all-out attack that would be able to multiply the power output. A thing that Ark hadn't been able to notice in all his hysteria was a pair of red eyes silently staring at him from the shadows.

What he did notice though was the fact that some of the dark particles in the air were slowly but surely converging above one of the bushes on the edge of the clearing. He decided that he would check it out since he might find something interesting there, probably some darkness attributed plant. Walking over giddily and leisurely Ark suddenly felt his hairs stand on end as he was within a meter of the bush, feeling that something wasn't right he took a step back, something he wouldn't regret for the rest of his life as he saw something flash before his eyes.

Even though the mysterious creatures attack had clearly missed the air still violently twisted and the air pressure the move had created was ridiculous, especially considering the fact that Ark hadn't sensed any sort of magic at all. Having survived such a deadly attack, Ark instantly jumped 15 meters back, creating some distance. Seeing that it's attack had missed the attacker slowly revealed itself from the bushes. Since he was panicked Ark hadn't been able to see what it was that attacked him, but seeing the creature that came out of the bushes made Ark freeze.

In front stood a majestic stag, it was more than 3 meters tall when it stood completely straight, making it towering over Ark even though he was over 15 meters away. It would have been a majestic sight if not for the fact that the creature that was in front of him was as black as the night, its eyes were menacing and cruel as it stared Ark down. The horns on its head also seemed incomparably sharp and had a dark aura. The stag even released a bit of fog-like dark aura that was spreading out around it.

Comparing this to the Goblins was like comparing the heavens with the earth, this time Ark was truly scared, he didn't know if he was gonna be able to escape from this beast, let alone fight it. But he hadn't given up all hope just yet as he was quickly scanning his surroundings before turning towards the stag again. He silently chanted "Inspect" in his head as his gaze was fixated on the stag.

[????]

Lv.???

Stats: ???

Seeing this scared Ark even more, as it clearly meant that his opponent was beyond him at the moment. Suddenly his eyes tensed as the stag before him suddenly flashed and was already before him, dropping to the ground as fast as he could react the stags attack didn't fully hit him, it had tried to headbutt him with its giant horns. Fortunately, the horns missed but Ark still got hit by the stags head as he was sent flying through the air until he got stopped by a big tree, snapping it in half.

Getting through the dizziness in his head Ark stood up, the stag was sneering at him, obviously not considering him an opponent. Ark was suddenly infuriated, his entire life he had been sneered at for being an orphan, always being looked down on even if he was above, now that he had gained a new life he wasn't about to let history repeat itself. And he would not let a mere stag look down on him!

But Ark was patient, he started to gather all the fire and water Mana in his body that he could find, he even started to make use of the Mana in the air, even if he could only affect a small bit of it. A vortex of Mana was quickly created, with Ark in the center.

The stags intelligence wasn't that high as it failed to notice the changes in the Mana surrounding them. It suddenly dashed forward at full speed towards Ark. Ark didn't have much time before the stag was upon him, the vortex around him condensed a bit before turning into a huge tornado made out of both fire and water, since the fire and water was madly clashing against each other creating chaos with neither of them trying to give an inch, the power of this tornado could be imagined.

The stag suddenly found itself right in the middle of this destructive tornado, sending it flying, it wasn't anything weird since ark had put almost his entire reservoir of Mana into this one attack, he wasn't stupid so he saved some Mana in case of an emergency. Which would come in quite handy right now, because once the fog of war was cleared and Ark was visible again, there was a dangerous-looking hole in the middle of his underside. The stag wasn't weak and managed to still give out a devastating attack considering the circumstances, luckily for Ark the horn missed his vitals.

Since he had some Mana left Ark instantly used it to cast [Minor Reinvigorate] on himself which helped him a little bit with his wound. Since Ark didn't dare to stay a single minute more he quickly rushed back to his little hiding spot, enduring the pain for now. The reason he didn't stay and rest was that the monsters nearby were sure to have noticed the battle and come to check it out. And if he was still there then he might as well ask them to end it quickly.