∼ Manifestation ∼

Chapter - 082

"You did it!" Nyx was nearly throttled as Aria who had been sitting from across him during his meditation lunged at him. She enveloped him in a firm hug. "It is incredible! I can feel the mana around you being sucked in. Almost as if you are a high-level mage! I was not sure it would work, but you really did it!" Aria was ecstatic, to say the least. These last few days leading up to the mission in which Nyx had been enlisted by the Orphans, both he and Aria had been doing nothing but training and experimenting with the special nature of his situation. To explore his dual systems and magical mediums.

While it had been a process of wandering about in the dark as Aria had assured that no recorded history of anything remotely similar to Nyx existed, it would seem their efforts had finally borne fruit.

Although his mana pool had not grown from this accomplishment, his mana regeneration was unlike ever before. Sourced from his mind, of which had no tangible grasp on the mana it beckoned as the mind drew on the mana in the world around it, this tether functioned as a gateway directly into his core. If he was to make an estimation, he had just quadrupled his passive absorption of mana. Of course, meaning his regeneration was four whole times faster. A critical advantage that only Nyx had access to because of his dual mana pools.

Not just that, Nyx had even gotten [Mana Manipulation] from [Moderate] to [Superior] on top of it - one of the harder skills to further, which was also saying something when the bottleneck separating those two levels was generally considered the biggest. Pulling up the other results of his additional training of purely expanding his mana pool these last few days, he was more than satisfied with all his progress.

[Through dedication and hard work, your mind has expanded, and your reservoir with it]

∼Mana: (+3)∼

Letting go of Nyx, Aria smiled warmly. "You have gotten a lot better at this, Nyx." Looking at the small demon, she found pride in Nyx having furthered himself on her teachings. Whether Nyx blushed at the praise underneath his crimson skin or not was heavily up for debate. But he could not deny that he felt oddly satisfied by otherwise simple words. Then Nyx remembered something. "I saw... a place."

Aria's cocked her head in confusion. "A place? What do you mean?"

"In my head - or mind's eye. Whatever you call it. There was this... place?"

For a moment, Aria just looked at him uncomprehendingly before her freckled expression turned more and more incredulous. "Y-you did what?! You really saw it?!" Her eyes darted around as if not really sure whether to be panicked, amazed, or excited. "B-but, that is not something that you should be able to do before you reach your second state of mind. H-how is that possible?! Nyx?!"

"I don't knows! S-stop shaking me!" Nyx screeched as the small elf girl was almost trying to shake the answer out of him.

"I-uh, yeah, sorry." She apologized sheepishly.

The second state of mind as Aria called it was a transformation of his mana pool. To that of a greater level, much more powerful in its use and efficiency. It generally would then reveal what was called his "Manifestation". A representation of his consciousness and the mana it wielded. Like with his core, that too could be enhanced. To that of a second-stage core which only powerful magical monsters usually possessed. Though to reach either of those, it would require an incredible amount of time and effort. For his mind, he would have to keep meditating and training. And for his core, he would have to consume cores from other magical monsters and evolve.

So far, he had only managed to train and expand his mind. This was because finding magical monsters with cores he could absorb was a rarity far too great as they were generally much more powerful than him currently. Even simply buying cores from already slain monsters would be a greater undertaking as the price was outright ridiculous. It was something only nobles could afford - using them to have magical artifacts created or their magical abilities enhanced.

"I just... I still cannot believe it. " Aria said, breathlessly. "Being able to see your manifestation before having chosen your specialization or even before achieving your second state of mind - it is just... incredible."

"So what can I use it for?" Nyx asked in his scratchy voice, curious now that he had seen how intense her reaction had been.

"When you meditate, Nyx, try to find your manifestation again. There, you need to attempt to project yourself onto that place. There, you can meditate."

"Meditate within my mind?"

"Yes, it will allow you to regenerate and accumulate mana rapidly, and allows for your mind to expand much faster than what you were able to do before. You can think of its as an... optimal training ground, like with some places that have higher densities of mana - just within your very own head. It also has other uses. But as it stands now, you will not truly be able to make use of your manifestation in any other way even if you can see it. That you will need your second state of mind for. Maybe your second stage core needs to be completed too before you can. I am not entirely sure since this is breaking new ground. Nothing like it has ever been recorded."

Interesting in this manifestation-thing, Nyx attempted to search for it. Seeing if he could feel its presence. But as he did, he noticed Aria's strange expression. Aria appeared pensive as she was biting her lip absentmindedly. Looking at Nyx without really seeing him.

"What?" He asked.

Suddenly snapping back to reality, she took a moment before letting out a held breath. "Ha... it is just that... you are growing so fast." She shifted a bit closer, letting her hand rest and Nyx's arm. "You have almost reached both your second evolution and next class advancement. You might not realize it now, but... you will become incomparable to your previous self once you do. Much more so than others when merely advancing their classes or a monster evolving their race."

Nyx pondered on that. Something within him was lusting with unrestrained desire for this power, but so did a different voice at the back of his mind whisper that he'd also never be the same. The change from an impling to an imp had an incredible change on his mind and sense of self. So, what laid before him now? From an imp to whatever his evolution brought him next.

He was both feverishly excited and mortally terrified to witness the outcome.

"My class... you mentioned something about the two first thresholds. What did you mean by that?" Nyx asked, remembering back to their journey to Boreas.

"Ah, yes. I mentioned it because, in the system of classes, levels ten and twenty-five are the two most determining thresholds you will meet. At ten, you are faced with choosing your class, on which path you will walk. Of course, due to your special circumstances, you were not privy to any choice. But when you meet the requirements at twenty-five, you will be faced with your specialization and the first advancement of your class. Met with divergent roads on ultimately the same path. Whilst the outcome of each road is ultimately the same, every road is wildly different. But after your class selection and specialization, you will not be offered any divergent paths from there."

"So, my class won't change after choosing my specialization like my race will keep changing as I grow?"

"No-no, your class will still advance, or evolve for that matter, at each threshold. Ten, twenty-five, fifty, and so on. However, you will no longer have a choice presented to you after the thresholds ten and twenty-five. At fifty and higher, your class will merely change into a higher grade. Let us take the class of elementalist for example, which is an epic mage class specialization. After its specialization into the elementalist archetype, it will then simply advance into greater elementalist upon successfully crossing the threshold of level fifty."

"And what's after that? After fifty." Nyx asked with curiosity.

"Unfortunately, that is something I do not know. There is not any comprehensive knowledge or recordings of someone in Argon having reached level seventy-five with the elementalist specialization in many centuries. So as to what it is exactly called, I cannot say with certainty. However, I have reason to surmise that its title is; arch-elementalist. Since most basic mage-classes follow the scheme of greater to arch."

Nyx was itching to explore which specialization he would be offered, so he took a moment to wonder what requirements he might have to meet when reaching level twenty-five. Nyx pulled up his status sheet, looking through just how much he had achieved from his early days of scavenging as an impling in the internal wastes of the Netherworld. Hoping, all of this was enough since he had neither a heritage to rely on nor a trainer in the arts of a warlock.

Status Information

Attributes Name Nyx Health 80/80 STR 30 END 5 Race Imp (Prideborn) Stamina 18/18 DEX 13 INT 40 Level 19 - (92%) Mana 18/18 (20*) VIT 8 CHR 2 Class Main-Class Warlock Rank Apprentice Grade Rare Sub-Class None Rank None Grade None Traits Demonhide - (Racial), Fire Resistance - (Racial), Mark of Pride - (Demonism) Titles Bearer of Pride - (Demonism), Slayer of Humans (Slayer) Skills Demonbolt - [Superior], Drain - [Inferior], Inspect - [Inferior], Impfire - [Moderate], Summon Familiar - [Inferior], Wither - [Inferior] Masteries Proficiencies

Techniques Demonology - [Superior], Hand-to-Hand Combat - [Moderate], Mana Manipulation - [Superior], Riding - [Inferior], Words of Power - [Inferior] None

"Nyx," Aria prompted with a hint of trepidation, bringing him out of his introspection. She was looking to the side towards a man who stood at the entrance to the dilapidated courtyard in which they had been training.

"It's time." Nyx smiled.