Chapter 59: [Mana Manipulation] Evolution

Edgar POV

Edgar and his friends were hanging out in Derek’s dorm together, just spending time with each other before the semester started. They wouldn’t have much time once it did. At the moment Lily was telling Kyle and Derek about their interaction with Liam earlier this morning.

“Yeah, he tried to use his aura on Julius. Can you believe that ass? A tier 3 trying to pressure a first-year…unbelievable.” Lily explained to them.

“But you stopped it?” Derek asked.

“Yep, batted it aside before it could reach Julius,” Lily said.

Edgar never liked Liam, he was the perfect example of a pompous noble brat. It just sucked that he had perfect ice affinity. Goldencrest wasn’t supposed to play favorites, but that wasn’t how it was in reality. There might not technically be “favorites” but it was a meritocracy and those who did well were rewarded. When it came to pure combat power Liam was on par with Edgar and Derek. The three of them were all likely to go to the Inters at the end of the year.

Lily, Aubrey, and Kyle also had good chances, but Goldencrest could only bring sixteen people as their representatives. It was more than some of the other smaller schools were able to bring, but Goldencrest was also one of the top schools on the continent, which meant that almost every single fourth-year would be able to get a spot if they went to an average school. That was why they had more slots than others.

The competition was insane at Goldencrest, and the rewards for succeeding were just as crazy. Edgar had done well enough that he had been taken into personalized rifts many times over his years at Goldencrest. There weren’t enough rifts to go around, but everyone fought for entry rights.

Every student understood the value of these opportunities. There wouldn’t be many chances in the outside world to find rifts that were completely scouted down to the last pebble. There also wouldn’t be a professor who makes sure you don’t die watching your back.

There were only several hundred students in each class at Goldencrest and those at the top half were able to have more access to rifts and resources than the lower half. That didn’t mean that the students at the bottom didn’t get anything. They just received fewer resources than others. It might not seem like a lot, just a few extra delves or resources over a month or so, but after a year, those opportunities start accumulating and adding up.

Once you get into your third year, the gap widens significantly. Those who sat at the bottom for their first two years ended so far behind, that it was almost impossible to catch up. Hard work paid off at Goldencrest, as long as you were strong enough, the school treated you well, noble or not.

Edgar thought about the young first year that the five of them met yesterday. It was odd, they all agreed to get there early to sign up for classes and avoid the rush of new students, so they were surprised to see Julius sitting at their table alone.

Derek hadn’t cared and still sat down at their regular table, in typical Derek fashion. Edgar was surprised to find out that Julius was a close combat fighter, and quickly got friendly with the first year.

Edgar liked him, he didn’t talk a lot but seemed genuine and Edgar had learned that sometimes that’s all that mattered. Julius was an odd boy though, he didn’t talk like a first-year, if he didn’t look so young, he would think he was older, he found himself forgetting that the boy was a first-year multiple times when they were talking.

He also was planning to get a life spirit as a familiar, which was weird considering his affinities to kinetic and fire. Not unheard of, but it wasn’t optimal. Also, Edgar didn’t think the others knew, but he suspected Julius had an aura skill. He didn’t know for sure, but yesterday Julius signed up for an aura elective. That could have been easily explained by someone curious about aura, but today he saw Julius react to Liam’s aura. Edgar was next to him, so could feel Julius not only sense it but also flexed his own aura just barely. Someone without a skill would not be able to move their aura with purposeful intent like that.

But he seemed to be keeping that a secret so Edgar wouldn’t say anything. Everyone was entitled to their secrets. He had bigger things to worry about. This year was his last and he wanted to make his presence known at the tournament.

Everyone had already decided what they were doing after they graduated, Derek was apprenticing under his grandfather, Lily was taking over some of her family’s assets, Aubrey had already accepted an invite to a top-tier guild, and Kyle was staying at Goldencrest to research, and possibly teach later. Only Edgar hadn’t made a choice yet.

He had gotten offers like the others had, but he hadn’t decided. He felt pressured that everyone else seemed to know what they wanted, but he didn’t.

He felt someone lay a hand on his arm. It was Aubrey, her beautiful face showing concern, “Hey, you feeling okay?”

Edgar smiled at her and placed a hand over hers, “Yeah, I was just thinking about some things.”

He didn’t have time to waste, he would need to get stronger if he wanted to win this year’s Inter-School Tournament.

Julius made sure he was comfortable, he was sitting down and was about to choose his skill. He took a brief moment to look at the notification again.

Skill [Mana Manipulation] is evolving… possible advancements: [Advanced Mana Manipulation], [Mana Hardening], [Mana Overload], [Mana Weaving], [Mana Absorption], [Mana Saturation], and [Mana Layering]

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

Now that he had time to research some of the available skills he could confidently get rid of most of them. [Mana Hardening], [Mana Overload], [Mana Weaving], and [Mana Absorption] didn’t seem like the path he was trying to follow.

[Mana Saturation] had sounded very tempting when he first saw it, and it still was. The only problem was that he now had [Kinetic Augmentation] and [Empowerment of Will], which already tore his body apart when used together. He didn’t think he would need another physical enhancement ability, which was what most versions ended up being. And looking back on his own experiences, was what he had been doing.

He wanted to focus on close combat, at least for now, but he also still wanted to have the versatility to use magic at range like a mage. Most people might say that he was stupid, but most people also didn’t have several times more mana than a normal Tier 1. He felt like he could handle it.

Julius was still thinking about just taking the general [Advanced Mana Manipulation], it was an overall good skill that covered everything. But in the end, [Mana Layering] was too enticing. He believed that if he chose it, it would make learning about mana layering much more efficient, and he would not have to waste a lot of time learning how to do it manually. He was sure he could eventually, but time wasn’t exactly on his side. Not to mention, just because he chose it didn’t mean the skill wouldn’t help other aspects of mana control. The books all said it would, just to a lesser degree of [Advanced Mana Manipulation].

Congratulations, you have learned the skill [Mana Layering] (Uncommon)