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Chapter 300: A test of ability

"Still it..." Eldrian wanted to argue, but Pelaros quickly interrupted.

"It is more complicated than you think. Especially for other races, such as us. You, or rather the race you are part of, are naturally inclined towards Dynamic Magic. For others, it is a much harder path to follow."

Eldrian did not at all agree with this, his path so far has been plenty complicated and hard.

However, upon thinking about the fact that most people would take the first 20 or so years of their life to reach Tier 4. With only geniuses managing to reach Tier 5 or higher by age 20, Eldrian decided to not complain about him being Tier 2 after just a few months.

Instead, he refocused on what they were originally talking about, "In any case, you should understand why I want to see what happens with the mana," Eldrian hoped that Pelaros would understand without him needing to spell it out.

"You want to see if you can learn from it, and possibly even control the mana directly," Pelaros replied, causing Eldrian to smile.

"I understand what you are aiming for, but it isn\'t that simple. Even for High Elves in the Elven Empire, their focus is on reaching higher Tiers. Much like us, Tier 5 is still a breakpoint that many struggle to overcome."

"Most focus and push all their effort to reach that point, only diverging once they have reached it."

"But why? That makes no sense. How do I even go about reaching the next Tiers?" Eldrian countered, causing Pelaros to falter.

"Right... Your method is different." Pelaros paused and looked at Eldrian, "Did the books I give you help at all"

"Ah..." Eldrian paused, trying to gather his thoughts. "There is still plenty I do not understand."

"Give it time, for most understanding the meaning of such things is difficult. Even when they just tackle certain spells in their Tier. Trying to understand the entire volume will leave you overwhelmed."

"Then, what else am I supposed to do while I wait for inspiration?" Eldrian questioned, causing Pelaros to finally understand where Eldrian was coming from.

"I see, then it makes sense. Haru, let\'s go for a walk." Pelaros said, Eldrian quickly following. During the walk, Eldrian asked Pelaros some questioned, mostly about where they were going.

Finally, he received his answer as they arrived at a cave. They stopped around 200 meters from this cave, next to an old Centaur who was standing guard.

"Is everything still the same?" Pelaros asked the old centaurs, who nodded. "Good, I believe us trying to be stealthy hasn\'t worked, but that is fine. I do not think the undead have realized we have realized this."

Saying this the man, and Eldrian, looked at him in confusion.

"Perresio, you guys can go back." Pelaros said.

The old centaur was confused, but he did not try to ask for an explanation. After whistling a command to the others nearby, he started moving out.

"What are we doing here?" Eldrian asked after a while. The entrance to the cave was strange, it looked man-made. On the side of a small hill a hole had been dug, the entrance kept open by massive rocks.

"I want to see what you can see and find. Much like the others, I had dismissed you at first. While you showed great promise, you just know too little." Pelaros started out saying.

"However, it seems that your lack of knowledge can actually be beneficial. For example, your modified spell. If you had a teacher, he would tell you to ignore the spell. You might have argued and not listened, however, that would have been in your mind as you studied it."

"Instead you had no preconceived notion of its usefulness. And your determination in trying to make use of it is clear."

"I want to see if you can see something we cannot. While I have told everyone to learn it, most won\'t understand why. They will feel like I am wasting their time."

"Even if you can\'t find something we missed, if you can prove to me that you can discover anything. Be it something I already know or not, then it would not make sense to keep you as our plan F."

"Try and be as stealthy as you can. If you are discovered I will help you escape, however it would be best if you aren\'t discovered."

With that Eldrian got another quest notification. Causing him to seemingly mull over Pelaros\'s words, when he was actually reading the quest description. Hoping for a clearer goal.

[Player has been offered a unique quest, Accept or Decline?]

[Quest Name: Test of ability]

[Quest Giver: Pelaros]

[Quest Rank: B]

[Quest Description: Show Pelaros what you are capable of. Mind that the quest is not one of strength, nor speed. But rather one of mind and spirit. Creativity will be of great use.]

[If you show promise, the quest will be considered completed. Else it will be failed.]

[Quest Reward: 1 Level]

Huh, what a strange quest.? Eldrian thought, looking between Pelaros and the cave.

"What type of undead are in the cave? Are there any of those undead birds?" Eldrian asked, having again forgotten the name of the birds.

"Mostly zombies and skeletons, however, there is also an unwilling in the cave. As such you should be careful, I am sure you know how strong they are."

Eldrian nodded heavily, recalling the stats of the Flaming Reanimate. Its agility had been in the 300\'s, almost twice as fast as himself. That was just icing over the cake when compared to its damage which was in the 100\'s.

Not willing to directly walk closer, Eldrian first cast Mana Examination and looked at the area.

"This?" Eldrian exclaimed, turning to Pelaros. Having lost focus immediately.

"It seems your spell is effective even from this range." Pelaros was impressed, however, this was more because he was surprised at how quickly Eldrian could use the spell.

"Is this how caves should appear?" Eldrian asked, receiving a no in answer.

"This is a special case, the unwilling\'s aura affects the local undead. It isn\'t just any unwilling, but a revenant. Their aurae are the closest to that of the corruption."

Eldrian swallowed heavily hearing the type of Unwilling. "What are you hoping I find?"

"Idealistically, the solution to our problem. Or maybe a way to counter the aura of a revenant. Or maybe a way to detect it, anything really." Pelaros replied, transforming into his centaur form and laying down.

"You must know that Katania, while effective against undead, isn\'t here just for that. Thesolis is also here for a specific reason, and that is to try and decipher what the corruption is. Show me that you should work with them, instead of as our last-ditch plan for when things go bad."

No pressure, Eldrian mumbled while taking a deep breath to calm down.

Focusing and now prepared for what he was going to see, he cast Mana Examination again.

What appeared was completely unlike any time before. There was no mist surrounding him, instead just a few meters away, the gray smoke started. A miasma covering the entire area before him, he could not even see ten meters into it.

I wonder...? Eldrian extended his hand and cast Floga, trying to see if the same thing would happen. Back in the fort, the surrounding fire mana had been attracted to the spell.

However now... There is none,? Eldrian mumbled, he could already feel that the spell was not the same. It somehow felt heavier, keeping it active Eldrian waited for the initial mana he had supplied to run out.

As soon as the spell started needing new supplements, Eldrian could clearly feel the difference. Before it was like he was holding water in his hands, and somehow it stayed there. No water slipping through the gaps in his fingers.

Now, these gaps were very clear. The spell was hungry.

The initial cast of Floga required 6MP, and normally it could sustain the spell for around 10 minutes. Now it had just been five, and to boot, the consumption was more than doubled once it ran out.

Normally he could keep it active indefinitely since his passive mana regen was more than the cost. Now he found that the cost was around 1MP per second, nearly double his regen rate(0.67MP/s).

What is it like inside?? Eldrian wondered, moving the few meters so that he would be inside of it. As soon as he was, it felt like his energy was being robed. It felt like he suddenly became lethargic, like back when he still needed to sleep.

That feeling when the alarm was just too early, when sleep called to him.

At the same time, Eldrian could feel that the cost of keeping Floga active doubled again. Feeling this he quickly tried to cast Mana Examination, this taking him a few attempts.

Once he succeeded he saw that the gray smoke was feeding on the mana he supplied the spell. Not the spell itself.

His mana had to reach his spell somehow, and to do that it moved through the air. This was why back when he first tested this he could see a red mist moving out from him.

This mist was now being surrounded by the smoke. Not even half of it making it to the spell, where it seemed to be safe.

Canceling both spells, Eldrian stepped back and looked at Pelaros. His face slightly pale.

"That... How is that even possible?" Eldrian asked, this ability, this aura, seemed far too powerful.

"You have to be a bit more specific, I just saw you casting a simply Tier 0 spell. Then waiting nearly five minutes, before walking a few steps and returning." Pelaros said, not wishing to possibly shift Eldrian\'s viewpoint. He wanted raw feedback, feedback unhampered by previous knowledge.

This was a test of ability; after all.