Vol. 1 - Chapter 10 - Arcane Awakening

The pain he felt while dying was substantial, but with the notification of his death, the pain dispersed, and he felt nothing anymore, then he arrived in a dark world. Here he could feel his body and walk around, unrestrained by some unknown rules.

'So this is how the death mechanism works? It wasn't as bad as I imagined. The pain is something I could get used to with time. I think it would be a good idea to familiarize myself with the feeling of dying until the game goes live, then I will move like a fish in a river among the bunch of beginners.'

Slowly the dark world started getting illuminated by a bright light, and quickly he could hear the voices of many different people.

Opening his closed eyes, he found himself in a large square in Titan, to be exact, it was the place where he first spawned with the game start.

"Hah, this feels much better than the dark place. Should I go directly to Fayrene or let her sob a bit? Maybe by waiting, I can give her enough time to cook something for my return?"

"Hey newbie, how was your first death?" asked a player who wore leather armour that looked kind of cheap, but compared to the rugs beginners had, it was pretty decent.

"Decent, a bit weird, but is not something to be left awed by." replied Mathias while looking at the player that asked him, who was surrounded by two other players. (E/N: so this is how you describe your first death J lol)

"You called it decent? Damn, are you some masochist who enjoys pain? This is one of the worst experiences I ever felt. It is like the developers made this process as painful as possible. Not even the attacks of the monsters are that painful." recalled a player among that group, looking weirdly at Mathias, who uniquely described his death perception.

"Brother, it might depend from person to person. It is all in our heads with this VR technology. Maybe you are just a little bitch crying from the smallest wound." said the third player in the group while looking at the first one who talked.

"Piss off. If you make fun of me again, I'll make my way to Spain and beat you up." said the first guy to open the discussion.

"Ohho, I am so scared." laughed the third player with a funny laugh.

Meanwhile, Mathias smiled briefly at their funny interaction without taking too long to interact with them, leaving for their hunt.

After talking with those players, where he asked them about the monsters outside of the city, he found that there were primarily wild beasts roaming around the forests surrounding Titan and some points about specific farming locations that drop some items.

Leaving the square, he walked through the wealthy streets of Titan and looked around at the shops and sights of the city, from the Opera House to the Theatre Amphitheatre used for people to stage plays. He saw many fascinating buildings, such as a University or Hospital, but everything was only from a distance because the guards didn't allow him access because of his low status.

It could be said that they still didn't treat him as a Saharan Empire citizen.

Not feeling offended by such treatment, he was glad to admire these grand buildings from a distance. Like this, minutes passed for Mathias, who filled the map with the newly discovered places in the Empire's capital city. There were some buildings that were off-limits for the common citizens of the city, The Imperial Palace towering over the city, The Celestial Palace where the mysterious Grandmaster resided, The Tower of Eternity where the Great Mage protecting the empire lived, and last but not least the Garrison of the Knights.

Nevertheless, he still adventured towards the Garrison of the Imperial Knights since it was close to his location. While walking toward the garrison, he couldn't see a single person stroll around, but this didn't discourage him from finding out more about this location.

As he got closer, he could see a complex of buildings and a big gate denying people's access. Getting closer to the entrance, for a short peek inside, he noticed many people training, swinging their swords and weapons in an orderly fashion.

"Hey you, this place isn't allowed for citizens. Go away before you get in trouble!" called out a man standing on the top of the gate after noticing Mathias peaking inside, visible suspicious of his act.

"Okay, I will leave. No need to get agitated." responded Mathias before turning away from the garrison.

Along with his departure, just when he was about to exit this alley, he encountered a young lady wearing red knight armour, who had long dark blue hair accompanied by an entourage of knights wearing the same type of armour.

"Lady Vaintz, that person is suspicious. Could it be that he is an enemy spy, a Yatan zealot planning something in Saharan?"

The young lady who had golden eyes shining a bit with the knight's reminder. She later turned her head to look at Mathias's straight back and rag clothing. She felt something slumbering inside of Mathias and decided to stare deeper with her gaze.

Quickly, her eyes began hurting a bit with the vision of an icy shadowy figure of a being unknown to her, that instantly pressured her from stopping looking at Mathias back.

"No, you are wrong. That person isn't a Yatan member. There's no darkness inside of him, similar to those who are embracing Yatan. Let's continue. It's been two years since Captain's betrayal and his banishment. We still have a lot to work on, especially now that Duke Limit has taken over the role of Captain."

"Understood, Lady Vaintz," replied the knights following her in a serious tone.

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Meanwhile, Mathias had a weird notification and felt someone stare at him intensely.

[Lilian's deep eyes have looked at you] – (A/N: I added another name to Mercedes character and she will be called Lilian from now on because, Mercedes is not a name for a woman, it feels like she is some gypsie woman)

[Some of your stats and skills are forcibly revealed to Lilian.]

[You can't resist.]

'This is weird. So that girl with blue hair is Lilian. She seems to have an ability that allows her to inspect people's skills and stats. Impressive, but none of my concern. I have my lady mage to worry about.'

'I should go back to her by now, or she will think I forgot about the promise and what we talked about. I started a dance. I will make sure I got to end it properly.'

After shorting out his thoughts, he followed the route to the periphery, and after 20 minutes of walking, he arrived back at Fayrene's home.

Knocking on the door once again, this time rather than waiting, he got welcomed by Fayrene, who got hold of his hand, and with a firm grasp, she took him to her private room.

"Wait, wait. Isn't that quite early?" asked Mathias, taken by surprise by this bold move coming from Fayrene.

"Shhhh, there's no time for jokes here. Come, let me seal the house and room, so no one can spy on us. There have been already four gazes that search around my house from a distance with bad intent." replied Fayrene with a faint blush, letting go of Mathias's hand after taking him to her room.

Next, she began chanting a spell in a language, language unknown to him that covered the entire house in the white-purple light from inside.

"Good, the spell didn't backfire like it used when I learned it. Come to my desk, Mathias. I made some eggs for you, eat while I prepare the home and notes. Also, you should brace yourself because we will spend a lot of time here."

Hearing her comment while staring at the room shining with a purple light, impressed by the sight. He later murmured slowly, as if asking Fayrene a question.

"Will I be able to do this in the future?"

"What? [Isolation] this is something any apprentice of arcana arts should learn first to hide from those dangerous people gazes. To quote the Archmage, "We are just pups who need protection until we grew into dangerous predators." which I fully agree with him. How fast will you be able to learn this spell? I don't know, I learned it in one week. Maybe you will do it faster since you seem smart."

"So that spell is called [Isolation], it uses that energy to protect the house?"

"Indeed, I still don't understand the entire process, but the Archmage the tome belongs tells that it is used to protect us, apprentices, once we start our study. You should eat something before starting to read the tome."

"Ahem, thanks for the meal. But if you feel awkward because of me, I can move to the front of the shop and read the magic tome there."

"You still need my guidance because many things are ambiguous, such as the world's energy surroundings us and the energy inside us humans."

He could only nod his head and settle down on a chair on a smaller desk that had a lot of scattered paper along with a fairly large book with a cover made out of a mysterious(?) material on it.

"Is this leather?" asked Mathias while touching the book cover and some pages.

"Yes, but I don't know exactly what kind of leather it is, since the one who made it didn't talk about it. However, from my experiments, it feels similar to lizard's skin, but way smoother and also has some magic attributes to it."

"Dragon skin? No way, dragons are mythical creatures, only in stories, you might find about their existence and their downfall at the hands of saints. But those are just that, stories." claimed Mathias while touching the tome, where later Fayrene agreed with his theory.

" No, maybe you could be right. But this isn't something we have to focus on. Come, let me show you the incantation for awakening your magic core."

Fayrene got a seat next to Mathias and took hold of the book. She began turning pages until she got to the book's last page and with her slender finger with red-painted fingernails to point at the content that wrote the following.

[Arcane Awakening -

This is one of the spells I created for my young apprentice's to awaken their mana core because most humans can't awaken their mana core like us High Elves, who are magically gifted from birth.

Yet, I am one of the last of my kind, and I am obliged to share my vast knowledge around the world until the next reset happens. I might not be so fortunate to enter the astral dimension and escape this second reset because of some stupid humans who got scammed by the parasites and now decided to revolt, making a mess in the Middle Earth.

For this is why I wrote the tome using this leather, to be everlasting even after the godly reset.

Listen, whoever might read this book, the arcane is the purest form of magic in this world. It symbolizes "Order" but at the same time "Chaos", and because of that, every step you make in the study of the arcane has to be balanced.

The magic cores have been categorized along eons in different types, but the most befitting one I choose to write is the following. From the letter of F symbolizing a low chance of the person who awakens the magic core to progress in his path to magic to the SSS, which only might happen to one person in one eon.

(A/N: F, E D, C, B, A, S, SS, SSS, similar to items rating)

With all said, you should follow this incantation and say each word exactly as I wrote it down. Otherwise, you will have an arcane infusion collapse with a significant chance of killing yourself. To word it in human language, you will die if you mess up.

I had to kill many Archangels and Great Demons in the process of making this book since I have the habit of saying what I think out loud. Even after being an Archmage, these small habits can't be changed.

Ahem, don't worry, I will be fine since it will take some minutes for those parasites to sent their creations for me.

There is a spell in the tome that seals off anything from them for one day. Wait, FUCK. I didn't use it.

Remember the incantation by heart, future arcane apprentice.]

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Reading the incantation slowly for himself, a notification appeared in his eyes with a new skill he unexpectedly learned.

[Arcane Awakening]

Rating: ???

The incantation uses the purest form of magic energy surrounding the Middle Earth, drawing energy from the Realm of Gods, Realm of Demons, Realm of Elements along with the earth's magic energy to infuse your nascent mana core and awaken it.

*** According to your affinity with mana, you will awaken one type of mana core without the possibility of redoing the process.

Condition of use: Citing the incantation in the purest form possible.

Effects: Ancient Mana Core Awakening

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"I need to prepare myself for the incantation. Do you have any advice to be as precise as possible?" asked Mathias, turning his head at Fayrene.

"Not really, just take your time and when you are ready tell me. I will brew a calming tea so you are relaxed on the entire process."

Hearing her, Mathias began studying the incantation and each of the words it contained. He read in his mind those words so many times they got stuck in his brain. Even if the words were in a foreign language, he had the luck to have a latin based script to guide his intonation.

It was about two hours that Mathias made other movements except for reading the Arcane Tome, quietly.

Fayrene watched from the side and asked him patiently. "Do you want me to brew that tea I talked about?"

"Hah, yes, please. I think I got the incantation down to the last word, something soothing could be the final nail for me." replied Mathias while changing his reading position to a straight one.

Without filling Mathias with questions Fayrene moved to another room in the house and after 20 minutes she came back with a hot brewed tea in her hand and gave it to Mathias to drink.

Taking the cup of tea, he noticed something on Fayrene's left arm that got unveiled by her black shirt.

'What happened with her arm? That visibly a heavy burn scar. Right, the treatment that Gabrils had to do for her should be her failed experiment. Sigh, a pity but this doesn't change who she is.'

Blowing softly on the tea, to chill it a bit, Mathias took the first sip, and all of a sudden he felt a refreshing and relaxing sensation run among his entire body.

[You've drunk a tea made from . Because it is your first time drinking a tea made by you gain the following rewards.]

[Intelligence has risen by 15]

[Increased focus by 50% for 30 minutes]

'How much is that? Did I gain 15 INT points because of drinking some tea? What are those leaves exactly?!'

"How is the tea? Made you relax enough to be able to recite the incantation without failing?" asked Fayrene from Mathias's side with a calm tone.

"Yes, but remember even if I fail, nothing will happen to me, just suffer some bad effects."

"No, Mathias. You don't have to think like this. You should always aim for the top, even if we are some commoners." said Fayrene with an encouraging tone, that had some effects on Mathias.

Nodding his head, he placed the empty cup on the table and stood silent for one minute with closed eyes.

Slowly, under the careful watch of Fayrene, inside the white-purpled lighted room, Mathias opened his eyes all of a sudden, and exhaling a deep breath he began citing the incantation.

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As he said that in the foreign language with great intensity, the atmosphere around the room changed drastically. The room began to tremble and the white-purple light that Fayrene used to surround the house began to wain down under this spell.

She was forced to walk a bit back because the pressure around Mathias was something that affected ever her, someone who passed the judgment of order and chaos.

'So this is how I looked when I awakened my mana core? No, I think it was calmer, smooth and soothing.' thought Fayrene, watching the process of Mathias, mana core awakening silently.

Meanwhile, Mathias waited as per instructions, and he could feel something stirring inside of him, giving him a chilling and at the same time, burning sensation right in his chest.

His body started to release a white-purple light barely distinguishing, it was minuscule, but with minutes it began growing a bit.

As Mathias said that, the pain inside of him began intensifying even more, that even the process of dying felt like nothing. He instantly let out his screams of pain that made Fayrene shake around, questioning if Mathias was fine.

'What is happening? Why is he suffering so much from this incantation? Did he fail the incantation? No way, he said everything as the Archmage wrote down. Then why? I didn't feel any pain in my awakening process. The awakening was a smooth process."

Yet, Mathias could barely think straight in this agonizing pain. His vision began to slowly drift away, dropping down on his knees, exhausted and dripping with sweat.

While he screamed in pain, his body intensified in the energy it released until something inside of himself was heard breaking, like glass.

[Congratulations you awakened your Mana Core (Grade C)]

'Finally, I will go sleep after this. I suffered enough for today, no more pain, please.' thought Mathias as the pain he felt began to lessen.