A blob of water was floating above Viers’s hand, it was the size of a tennis ball, Viers throw it with one hand to his other hand repeatedly like juggling with only one ball. After the fourth time of back and forth, the water ball wobbled but Viers managed to hold its shape and prevented it from breaking to its liquid shape. He didn't use his Victa for this, only basic manipulation and Viers felt clearly that the degree of control was miles apart from his pre-Intio state.

He put the water back into the glass and started meditating, just because the Intio was formed, it didn't mean that his meditation routine was over. To become stronger he needed to accumulate Mana in his body then condense it again to his Intio, gathering and accumulating Mana was something Viers took very seriously. He stopped after two hours.

“Fuu...”

He exhaled his breath, the sound was containing his disappointment.

I can't keep doing this… the Mana I got from just meditating was too minuscule and insufficient. Mmm, now that I think about it, shouldn't there exist a better meditation technique than what Nakala has taught me? Meditation was about gathering Mana from nature, in the novels there should be other techniques, better techniques for gathering Mana…”

“I should look into it, and it makes sense, how can the truly valuable and great techniques be given to a bunch of trainees? How could something so precious be spread to the masses so easily? Illogical, therefore it isn’t too valuable for those on top.”

I’ve been in this world for some time and when I compare the humans in this world with those at Earth, there was no difference in their core. They feel love for their loved ones, they feel hate towards their enemies, they want wealth and power and fame, they value order and justice...

They’re basically the same, humans are beings capable of great compassion and great violence, can become a force of good or an agent of evil. Thus I concluded that all the good stuff is closely guarded by those who are powerful and they monopolize it for their own profits, it's just human nature. People want to have more than others.

Other than better Mana gathering techniques, I could use other resources to speed up my training, which means MONEY! Hmph, money again… one of the biggest source of trouble on Earth. It's true what they say, ‘money may not be able to buy you happiness, but it can buy you everything else…’

A week had passed from Viers scuffle with the trio, it was a period of peace and quiet for Viers, his plan work without problems so far. The class gradually returned to normal, Classmates JKL still gave him a funny look but he ignored them. Without the trio bugging him, Viers focused his attention and effort to his main objective, getting stronger.

Time to make some money then… other novels MC’s usually used their knowledge of Earth technological advancement to make something and turn them into money, unfortunately I don't think I have that kind of skills… then I should do things like an adventurer, complete quests.

I failed last time but I should be able to gain some money and experience on the outside world as I do some beginner's quests. The gain won't be much at first, but don't be too hasty Viers, it leads to early death… or pain the ass plots.

Viers closed his eyes, trying to fall asleep in preparation for tomorrow’s activity. His stomach made a growling sound, he was very hungry. Viers sighed and he dreamt of eating ramen until he was full that night.

***

“Class, I can see all of you have made progress to level 0 Path-seeker, congratulations for all of you,” Nakala said while clapping her hands, the trainees also started clapping their hands as if they're complimenting themselves. Sound of jubilations was raised, the kids were visibly happy after the ordeal they went through, no one had it easy when making their Intio.

“Some of you reached this stage by using Mana crystals, but did you ever wonder why you must accumulate Mana slowly and not simply used the crystals from the start?”

Some kids started to murmur with each other.

“Because there are dangers of using Mana crystals, but first we will go to a more basic topic before continuing. The reason why none of you were taught Mana-mastery before the age of fifteen. Why didn't you start your journey as Path-seeker at age ten, or at age five even? Well, that's because your mind and body weren't strong enough yet.”

“In the past, there were those that let their children train at a young age, the results were... not pretty, they developed inner and outer problems. The younger you are, the more severe the side-effects are.”

“For example, those with fire affinity children become more aggressive and easily angered as they grew. Those with earth affinity personality become too stubborn and headstrong. Those with water affinity change from being happy in one moment to deep sadness in the next... More often than not, the children's personalities become imbalanced.”

“The drawbacks were not only in their minds, sometimes their physical bodies change as well, but that case is a rarity... The sad reality is, the children who trained too young, tend to be stronger. They control their Mana more easily and use stronger power normally not possible at their age. For those of you who still think the drawbacks are acceptable, they also have a shorter lifespan than regular humans, most don't even reach the age of thirty… do you want that?”

“Our predecessors suspected that if one is too young, their mind and body was not developed enough to handle the Mana inside them. Through trial and error, careful experiments, and various observations, the age of fifteen were judged to be the most optimal age to be taught Mana-mastery.”

“Therefore the ban of teaching children of Mana-mastery before the age of fifteen was deployed throughout the entire continent hundreds of years ago... By the way, the guild also set the age of fifteen as the minimum for those who want to register as adventurer, although it was based on different reasons... this shall come out on your next history quiz so study your history well, children.”

Nakala said the last part to prevent the mood become too dark.

“Now we return to the Mana crystals, although you kids are no longer susceptible to mental imbalance because of Mana inside you... taking too much Mana in a short period of time is not a wise action. Those of you that use the crystals should know the sensation, it's like you eat too much food.”

“The Mana inside the crystals has… certain peculiarities, they are easy to use, for powering magic items or for our Mana-mastery however… there exist a certain threshold so we cannot absorb the crystals exceeding our capacity.”

“To simply put, after you use the crystals, you need a certain time before you can absorb from the crystals again, similar to how you let your body digest food before eating another meal. For level 0’s it may be several hours but for a level 2’s like me, it will take a significantly longer time, of course the amount level 2 can absorb before reaching the limit also far higher than level 0.”

“Taking Mana from the crystals is an easy matter but if you use Mana crystals too much, it will put a heavy strain on your body, in the most extreme case… you’ll die exploding, like a popped balloon. Therefore Mana-mastery cannot be rushed, build up your foundation from the ground up, carefully and bit by bit.”

“The meditation may be slower at gathering Mana and time consuming but it’s also necessary to strengthen your foundation, you will experience the difference a few years in the future… those who neglect their meditation won’t have a strong foundation. Without a strong foundation, your next step as Path-seekers will be more difficult and the gains will also lessen. Neglect this advice at your own peril.”

The class was quiet, every trainees seemed to take Nakala’s advice to their heart. The silence continued for some tens of seconds before Nakala said more.

“Finally, I have some bad news for some of you.”

“Path-seekers are people who make their own Intio, imbue it with Mana from the outside, and then combine it with your Intio to become stronger…”

“Everyone is different, everyone have different strength and weakness, everyone have things they good at and bad at. As cruel as it is, everyone is not born equal… just like your talents different from each other.”

“All of you were appraised for your aptitude or you can also we tested your talent the first day you arrived here, that aptitude is very important for your future… those with lower-tier aptitude grow more slowly and more difficult compared with those with higher tier.”

“I once said that aptitude is your talent in that particular element and the results that came out was the highest affinity of a particular element suitable for you… this was not entirely true.”

“There are attributes that the magic item, the Perceiving Crystal wasn’t able to perceive, thus it showed the highest affinity that it can recognize. It’s very rare but some of you may possess an affinity to the rare path such as space and time. Whether it is true or not shall remain a mystery until you found high-grade magic items that can tell you such a possibility… thus the chance to know for sure is low but know that you are not without hope...”

“Back to the topic, unfortunately… your aptitude to said element also serves as the hard limit of your Intio level… If your aptitude is tier 1 then you can condense your Intio once at most, twice if your attitude is tier 2, and so on. I’m level 2 Path-seeker and since my aptitude is tier 3, I can only advance one more level before I met my limit.”

Some of the trainees turned pale, the atmosphere was very heavy.

“Being an adventurer and other combat-related occupation will be a rough path for you with tier lower than 3 because… if two Path-seekers with the same level fought, one with tier 2 talent and the other with tier 3 talent, the tier 3 normally win. Even at the same level, the lower your aptitude means the weaker you are.”

“I know this is a lot to process, but it is important that all of you know this before fully deciding what you want for your future. It’s harsh but we can’t always be what we want… think about this information carefully. Class dismissed.”

Nakala left the classroom without looking back, more hurried than usual.

Viers looked at the ceiling, he took a deep breath then closed his eyes. Inside his mind, he could hear the sound of his dream of becoming the strongest, his longing for freedom... crashing down.