I looked out my room's window in melancholy. My mind was digesting what had just happened.

Leaving aside mother's hatred for Devas...

…I think I should focus more on how I should proceed to upgrade my techniques.

It's better not allow all the random knowledge I had accumulated about modern science to go to waste.

Let's go through everything step by step.

First things first: I needed to find my current limit and search for a new way to use my reinforcement.

I didn't feel tired right now. Maybe it's better not to waste any opportunities to train. Especially when the task I was supposed to complete was near impossible for a Universal Specialist.

My hand released internal energy, then it started to mimic the five elements I knew of… one by one.

The diamond-like glow of my Mana, which was layered with the golden hue of of my Sun Attribute, manifested itself into the reinforcement. It was transformed into the colour of rubies…

I practiced controlling my Fire Mana… before using it to increase the strength of my muscles.

The Fire Mana enchanted onto different parts of my body. It switched to all other elemental attributes until I reached the point of unleashing my Lightning Affinity to increase the 'charged' power of my attacks. The difference was as I'd expected.

Lightning Mana had better speed, but Fire Mana gave my muscles a higher 'upper limit' of strength.

My hands shadow-boxed the air in front of me. My mind raced with countless ideas on how to improve my multiple body techniques. I couldn't help but curse myself. It was for thinking I was the only talent to have ever existed in this vast world…

The Sword Emperor of the past was rumoured to have been an F Rank Magical Talent.

Yet still… he was a man who could slay Gods using only his Sharpened Mana of the Sun Attribute...

He was madman who trained to the pinnacle of swordsmanship with great hardship...

All to one day reach the summit where only divine beings could stand!

Why is it that I became so lazy after arriving in this magical world? Forget it... I should be focusing on creating a new Burst technique, rather than uselessly worrying and asking the air for answers...

I needed to reevaluate my strengths and weaknesses on a much deeper level.

My strengths were my martial arts and scientific knowledge from Earth. My experiences…

Contrarily, my greatest weakness was my low yet extremely pure Magical Talent.

If I was to pick the weakest strength among what I have, it would be my scientific knowledge.

I probably shouldn't rely on it too much to defeat enemies that are way stronger than me.

My biggest strength was the martial arts I'd honed on the battlefield, so I should be using that quality as a base of my newer techniques. My Arts needed to be close-combat orientated instead of versatile.

I actually used a lot of knowledge regarding anatomy when I created the abilities of different Elemental Affinities using Mana Clad. This was because that knowledge was necessary to me.

My past life's physique always needed 'maintenance'. So that knowledge was a must…

My Water Mana mixed with my immune system and circulatory system. This was in order to increase my natural rate of regeneration. The purpose of this complex technique wasn't 'healing' though.

Of course, it boosted the strength of those two bodily systems. Even giving me poison resistance.

However, the true purpose of this new Art was to monitor my insides. Updating me all the time.

As soon as something changed, I would already know. Muscle stress, strain, hunger, etc…

It was just so I didn't need a doctor to check my health. I didn't trust others to maintain myself.

Anyway, this allowed me to create my first secret technique: 'Circulatory Regeneration'.

A support Art not used for attacking whatsoever.

It was a good start, but… Hmm…

As an extension to my poison resistance, I wanted to boost my body's resilience to physical attacks.

The most imaginative way I thought of doing this was by matching my Earth Affinity with my internal body. What else could connect to my immune system? What was 'Earth' related in the body?

The answer I came with happened to be… 'carbon'.

With my circulatory system under control of my Water Mana, it was possible to increase and control the content of carbon dioxide within the body. The Earth Affinity would then turn transform it again.

Usually, the circulatory system removed waste products like carbon dioxide. I just needed to tweak it a little using Circulatory Regeneration, then adjust it so Earth Mana would be infused into it.

The result was different from what I'd expected…

It was the first time I'd seen Earth Mana successfully fuse into an gas substance. Carbon Dioxide was a type of 'Carbon', but it was a gamble whether the Earth Affinity would recognise it.

And my gamble paid off…

Now, it was possible to improve the immune system further along with being able to harden carbon on top of my skin. With mastery, I might even be able to make the substance like diamond.

Just needed to improve my proficiency with time…

This allowed me to successfully create my second secret technique: 'Carbon Immunity'.

Still a support Art, but had a bit more versatility.

Next, my Fire Mana mixed with my muscles and tendons in order to increase its overall physical power up by manifolds. It was the most simplistic enhancement focused solely on my musculature.

By controlling the 'explosive force' when flexing and contracting my muscles, it improved my strength much more than simply coating energy over my body would do. It was kinda straining…

This allowed me to successfully create my third secret technique: 'Muscle Ignition'.

My first attack related Art…

But as soon as I though that, my usual paranoia kicked in about whether I'd need to run or not.

My Wind Aura melted into the breath circulating through my organs… before enchanting my body in order to decrease my weight. This Art became intrinsic to managing the 'Carbon' output of my Earth Art and oxygen consumption of my Fire Art.

This allowed me to successfully create my fourth secret technique: 'Respiratory Weightlessness'.

Without this, the others would fall apart…

Not only did trying to direct and control my bloody carbon dioxide difficult, but the amount of oxygen consumed by Muscle Ignition was no joke. It could even incapacitate me if I overuse it recklessly.

'Breathing' was essential to living, after all.

And lastly, my Lightning Mana infused directly into my nervous system to increase my mind's overall cognitive capabilities. It altered my brain so I could have a more 'intuitive' understanding of my senses.

This allowed me to successfully create my last and final secret technique: 'Cognitive Drive'.

Simultaneously using these five unique Arts wasn't a feasible option though. This was partly due to their sheer complexity, but also since they needed a good amount of Mana to keep on running.

Maybe mixing them together to create a new technique would work, who knew...?

Cognitive Drive was most useful when fighting stronger opponents. It gave time to plan and react.

That's why I was going to use that as the foundation of my new Art. Others would be weaker.

Though the Arts wouldn't have much output, their synergy should multiply the overall effectiveness.

I decided to cast my 'Cognitive Drive' Art before adding some of my Water Mana to enhance it.

My hands stopped punching air…

After closing my eyes, my body relaxed in order to feel the Lightning Mana I integrated into my nervous system. Then continued to connect it with my Water Mana. The result I was looking for was to create a magical 'Battery' within my bloodstream.

I didn't really understand how particles of ice could gather electrical charge, but I did try to recreate than phenomenon using my bloodstream. I didn't need to smash anything together to create the electricity in my veins. That would only kill me…!

Instead, I used the 'green sparks' of kinetic energy I'd been researching as the ignition switch.

'Green Lightning' was a variation of Purple Lightning that seemed much more attuned to nature. I wasn't sure what it was, but it had the mysterious ability of kinetic energy manipulation.

It was dangerous to experiment abilities in such a way, but I have my Water Art ready to heal myself from any internal injuries. Hopefully. I wouldn't suffer backlash and get any internal injuries.

Those were a bit hard to heal from…

The Lightning Mana within my nervous system successfully connected to my immune system, but I wasn't done. The reinforcement headed towards the skin covering the entirety of my body as well.

I connected every part of my body one by one using every one of my Elemental Affinities.

Once I was done integrating them into one, all four of my Secret Arts: Circulatory Regeneration, Carbon Immunity, Muscle Ignition and Respiratory Weightlessness were super-charged.

They intimately connected to my Cognitive Drive.

The foundation of this makeshift Art of mine was fragile. Bodily nerves weren't exactly 'strong'…

Still… they had been enhanced using my Lightning Affinity properly. Its 'branches' that extended out of this Art to every other part of my physique. The effect of the new Secret Art also increased the amount of enhancement on my whole body.

This had caused an interesting 'synergistic effect'…

Each of the four Secret Arts were granted an additional magical effect. From how it looked…

Firstly. the circulatory system that was enhanced by my Water Mana gained the ability to store the purest Dark Mana. Like how the further you got deep into the sea, the darker and 'heavier' it was.

Within it, was a strand of silver…

When thinking about this first extra ability, I couldn't help but feel a little stunned.

Unlike the other three abilities I obtained through creating a new Secret Art, this one was definitely unique to only myself!

The reason I was able to guess such an obvious fact is because true 'Dark Mana' belonged to the Beast Race. Us humans couldn't even make proper imitations… All we had was 'Shadowlight Mana'…

Dark Specialists could hardly make use of even the first Saturation Rank of the Dark Affinity properly…

It just wasn't made for humans to use…

There were many people on Gaia who could transform their Light Mana to try and imitate true Dark Mana, but even they were unable to control truest form of the Dark Affinity like I did.

Perhaps this was a blessing in disguise…

Hopefully, no one would sense my inner body…

The most surprising thing about this revelation was my Secret Art actually connecting to the Moon Mana within my 'Mana Flame'. The gift Enigma gave was showing its worth at this occasion.

I already knew that the 'Eclipse' Attribute within my body was a mixture of the Druid Race's Sun Attribute and the Fiend Race's Moon Attribute, but I'd never been able to control the small amount Moon Mana within my Mana Flame until today...

The connection between my 'Circulatory Regeneration' Secret Art and my Moon Mana made it so I was unable to completely deactivate this new Secret Art. It now passively activated all the time.

This was due to my Mana Flame uncontrollably giving it a constant supply of Moon Mana.

Which was then transformed into Water Mana…

I was unable to control the energy that was being drained out of my Mana Flame by my new Art.

My body already kept it working unconsciously.

I wasn't even TRYING to keep it activated...

This meant that the cycle within my body would continue to be activated even if I were to sleep.

I don't know if I should be thankful for this situation I was in. Both Dark Mana (and its superior: Moon Mana) had the unique characteristic of being able to drastically alter the user's physical qualities.

The Beast Race might not have had the power to control elements like the Human Race, but their powerful constitutions were envied by even those of the Blood Nation. They were simply… 'strong'.

No other word could describe them better…

It was hard to tell what benefits having Moon Mana circulating my body would achieve, but it was best to move onto comprehend the rest of my new Secret Art. I would later start an in-depth analysis on my physical capabilities without holding back.

After studying the new Secret Art for a bit, this small 'realisation' that I gained was my first insight.

The cycle was about to continue from here…

My second insight into this new secret technique was that the carbon dioxide, which was reinforced by my Earth Mana, gained a new ability. It could to store the purest forms of Ether that it touched.

Only after hardening and transforming carbon dioxide into a material defence would this apply…

It made me think of a question…

Was this still 'Carbon'?

Maybe I should think of a better name for this substance later on. It seemed like a useful asset.

Though I found it more of an add-on to be honest…

It was a little disappointing…

Anyway, my third insight was that the muscles that were enhanced by my Fire Mana gained the ability to store an ethereal and… 'controllable' form of kinetic energy. The form of it looked like electricity.

This was actually the most strangest ability among the four enhancements to my new Secret Art.

This light green energy seemed special somehow…

As for my last insight: I realised that my bones had their weight altered by my Wind Mana somewhat.

No, perhaps this was the effect of my Wind Art…

Rather than altering weight, it felt more like the Light Mana imbued into them became permanent.

Like the difference between a Passive Ability and an innate power closely tied to one's existence.

…It felt similar to the 'Hidden Depths' of Circulatory Regeneration. It had already existed within.

My secret technique just brought it to the surface.

A skeleton the ability to stockpile and condense my an extremely pure Sun Mana within them.

My Lightning Mana had transformed after it was fused into all other four Elemental Affinities.

It seeped into every fibre of my very being… An amalgamation caused by creating a 'cycle'.

The new energy kept moving from my immune system, to my skin, to my muscles, to my bones, circulatory system, and then back to my immune system again. There was a 'rotational motion' to it.

It was a cycle that used my nerves as a foundation.

This wasn't something I had expected would happen... This Art bordered on being a miracle.

Did Enigma have a hand at this…?

…What was this new energy?

The new, abnormal power I created didn't revert back into Lightning Mana regardless of my will.

This was even after going through the revolutions in the cycle I created within me with great care.

This powerful volt-like energy, which was neither Purple Lightning nor Blue Lightning, only settled down into my nerves. The power seemed to strengthen them an expanded my five senses.

This meant that as long as I used this new Art more often, the limit to how much energy I could put into it also would increase... Not only would the ability's efficiency go up, it would stay passively applied.

How unusual...

My iris turned purple once again, but that was the only external change in my appearance.

It would be hard for others to figure out just what was happening inside my body.

After stabilising my ability, I put on the 'Warlock Hand' that Mark gifted me with a look of interest.

My first experiment was using up the Mana stored within. There was something I wanted to try…

I didn't release a Spell, but instead moved the four slots of stored Mana into my 'Sun'-infused bones.

This allowed it to quickly process the external energy and converted the power into its cycle.

The four additional abilities were interconnected with each other and created a balance of energy within me. The four Mana Slots were 'devoured' by my technique. It felt like a whirlpool of energy…

If I was to absorb too much Mana within my skeletal frame, my new all-purpose/health-related Art would convert that excess Mana into kinetic energy within my muscles. This would move onto becoming Moon Mana within my bloodstream.

The cycle would continue by converting my blood's Moon Mana into Moon Ether within the hardened external carbon layer, then back into my skeleton's stored Sun Mana if even that was filled to the brim.

As a precaution, I also made it so my body wouldn't overload by expelling the energy I couldn't convert and store within. The power would turn into either an attack, or just wastefully release it into the air.

The more time passed, the more familiarity my body gained regarding this new ability of mine.

The night passed and the sun had already risen, but I still trained my new Secret Art diligently.

Why was I so excited that I couldn't lay down and rest? The reason was extremely simple:

The new Secret Art I created actually had the potential for growth!

Perhaps right now my Secret Art could only give me the strength of a First-Tier Combat Art, but in future… this Art might grow to the point I could wave one finger in order to level a mountain!

The amount of potential my new technique I showed was astounding to say the least...

Perhaps only the Sword Emperor's 'Mana Sharpening' Art could rival its magnificence...!

"Simon, what are you doing?" My mother asked after entering the room out of nowhere.

I jumped. My abilities were turned off.

It seems my previous promise to mother had brightened her mood. Making me sigh in relief.

She didn't seem to wanted to bring up yesterday's promise. I was sure not to mention it.

My mind was calm…

"I've almost created my own version of 'Burst Manipulation' Art. I'm sure I won't ever have to release my Mana as a reinforcement around me ever again!" I replied with a smile. This newly formed Art was my greatest achievement yet!

"Almost complete...? That quick?!" My mother's mouth hung a little after believing my words.

…Was it just me, or is she a bit gullible?

Or was it just because she's talking to me?

"I just need to adjust it a little before it's actually ready for use in combat. I have now decided to name it 'Combat Body' temporarily."Her shock made me more pleased about my achievements.

Right, there was also a few things I needed to experiment as well.

"Where's Merilin?" I suddenly remembered I hadn't seen my Magic Spell obsessed sister in a while.

I wondered what she was doing now that the girl was unable to use her Spells for the time being?

"She's in our room. Are there other dangerous Spells you wanted to teach her?" Mother said this scary question with an expression that said: 'Have you not taught her enough strange Spells?'.

"I just wanted to test something." I avoided her gaze for a good while. My heart felt ashamed of causing her trouble all the time. I should probably stop letting Merilin join me in experiments...

"Then it can wait. There's someone who wants to meet you." My mother smiled knowingly.

She tacitly deciding to change the subject.

"Hmmm? Who?" I couldn't think of anyone in particular who would want to meet me.

I mean, there wasn't much to say towards a guy like me…. who didn't like kids my own age.

As someone with the memories of my previous life, it was awkward to socialise with 'children'.

They weren't even thinking about their future yet...

"The Young Miss, that's who~!" I couldn't help but feel a little shocked after my mother responded.

However, she didn't give me time to react and pulled me to the training grounds specifically made for the Young Miss. The place was specifically made to train her Arts, which were unique to many.

I felt like I was thrown off my feet and casually pushed to enter the room of the girl 'my age'.

A person who would be the successor of the most powerful Art I've ever heard of: 'Infinite Swords'.

"I have work to do. Have fun~" After leaving behind those words, my mother quickly left.

A mischievous smile etched across her face as she laughed. Though this was better than before…

Fine. Let's just say I lost this time.