Chapter 14 - Non-Elemental

As the sphere was gradually lighting up, the light emitted grew brighter and brighter.

It grew so bright that Cecil and everyone couldn't even see his hand that was placed on top of the sphere. Cecil shut his eyes and he could hear Silver barking while Lucia and parents raising a surprised voice.

"Uwaaah!!!"

"Is this supposed to happen???" He asked worriedly.

He was worried if this fits the criteria of being able to wield magic or not.

"Keep your hand on the sphere Cecil! It's almost finished!" Mrs. Anna yelled excitedly at the side.

'This should be a good reaction, no?'

Cecil held his position for about 2-3 minutes before the light started to fade away.

"Was… was that good enough?" he asked worriedly, still not sure if it was a success or not.

Mrs. Anna walked over to him with sparkling eyes and shouted.

"That was more than enough!! Fufu~ to think you could actually make the orb shine so brightly like that! It was even a silvery white glow too!"

'What a relief that means the test results was good.'

"So? So!? Can I use magic?!"

"Yes!"

"AWESOME!!!"

Not even having 5 seconds to be happy about the news, Mrs. Anna had a 'but'.

"But, you do have a problem…"

"Eh?"

"The shine from the orb was really bright, much brighter than Lucia's when she first tested her aptitude. In fact, that kind of shine is only found on people who have reached the solidified mana stage."

"What? So doesn't that mean it's a good thing?"

"Yes and no."

'If I have more mana doesn't that mean I could similarly use more magic? What's so bad about that?'

"You see, the attribute that you have is a silvery white, which means it's a non-elemental attribute."

"What!? Really!???"

'Woah! Doesn't that mean I can go Super? How sick is that!'

"See, that's the problem."

"Wh, what problem?"

"It's because you have a high amount of mana that means the amount of mana you could infuse into your body would correspondingly be high as well."

"Isn't that a good thing? The more the better right?"

Cecil didn't see the problem with having more mana as a non-elemental attributed user. Mrs. Anna then continued.

"Did you forget the side effects of what happens if you have infused too much mana into your body for even for just a short time?"

"Of course, I still remem–"

Remembering the consequences of using non-elemental body enhancement, Cecil soon arrived at a horrible conclusion.

"NO WAY!"

"Yes, way. With the amount of mana that you have Cecil, the mana you infuse into your body for even just a second would cause you to enter the first stage of the side effects. 5 seconds would turn you into a mindless devourer."

"What!!! How come?!"

"That's because most– No. All non-elemental mana users, even the ones from the Non Continent, would only cultivate to the liquefied mana stage to keep themselves from being affected from the side effects of non-elemental body enhancement. Even then, they'd still be able to fight against a master or perfect stage enemy."

"NO WAY!"

"This is because no individual on the planet have any sort of delicate mana control to be able to control the amount of mana they are using in a spell or technique…"

In Alterna, the might of a magic spell would increase depending on how strong your stage in mana cultivation is. The higher your stage, the stronger your magic spells and techniques.

This was something still being researched by most magic researchers. This knowledge was something the mages and spellcasters of this age, desperately needed to find and confirm if they wanted to improve or have a major breakthrough in their magic.

This was especially important to the sages and other individuals who have cultivated all the way to the perfection stage.

Just having strong magic wouldn't make any of these people truly strong, in a sense. Being strong doesn't just mean having highly destructive spells, since it could also be a hazard instead.

If these individuals had a way to better control the mana they use, then the advancements in magic that they could bring to Alterna would be near limitless. Just think, if these individuals could control mana so delicately and with the knowledge they have, what would happen to the current magic knowledge and magi-tech?

The innovations and advances would change the people's current way of life on Alterna. It's just like back on Earth. If humans never learned how to control fire or any of the elements in nature, would the current Earth's lifestyle be so pleasant?

Of course, it's not like the people couldn't control their mana at all. It's just that, the higher the stage you have, the difficulty in controlling the mana would rise as well. Some sages have a hard time controlling their mana that even the simplest of spells, basic spells such as fireball, aero blade, or even water bullet, would cause wide spread destruction.

That's why most researchers are actually people who are in the later stages of mana cultivation.

As Cecil was despairing, he suddenly remembered that non-elemental mana users could still cast magic imitating the elemental magic systems.

"Wait! What about using non-elemental magic without the body enhancing part!?"

"That's… also impossible. You see, to shoot non-elemental mana like a fireball for example, it still requires the user to infuse mana into their body."

"N-no… my dream…"

Cecil collapses on all fours dejectedly.

How could he not despair? Having been fed fantastical bullshit from his two family seniors ever since he was a child, using something as mystical as mana would be a dream come true for Cecil.

But now, knowing that he had the mana quantity, magical aptitude, and having such a rare mana attribute, he couldn't use it? If he forced himself to use it, he could potential endanger his own life and everyone's life around.

Just the thought of being the cause of his loved ones deaths made Cecil determined to not use mana ever in his life.

'Crap, my dream... haaahh... nevermind, I've still got my martial arts.'

Cecil came to a quick decision and promised himself that he'd never try and train to become a spellcaster.

"Like I said, that's only a problem for now. There are still plenty of ways you could train and eventually use mana in the future."

"Really!?" said Cecil excitedly, his blank eyes now brightening up like the rising sun overhead.

Oh how weak your resolve is Cecil. Not even 5 seconds after your resolve, your heart has already wavered.

Cecil brightly turns his gaze up at Mrs. Anna and thought,

'Angel, she's an ANGEL!'

To Cecil, the fox woman in front of him who could grant him his dear wish of using mana was an angel.

'Please miss angel, please have the solution to my problem!'

With his resolve thrown to the wind, Cecil asks hopefully.

"So, what do I need to do?"

"You just have to be able to control the amount of mana that you could infuse into your body!"

"Eh? How do I do that?"

"Practice, train, meditation."

"…"