Back in his private suite, Adrian sat in silence, replaying the day's battles in his mind. Every movement, every strike, every surge of mana, it all replayed in crisp detail. One question consumed him: How had his Fireball evolved during the fight against the Shadow Panther?
Dissecting the memory, he noticed two truths. First, his understanding of fire had deepened. Each time he cast the Fireball under pressure, the patterns within it sharpened.
His knowledge of fire, of heat, of explosive ignition, had accelerated far beyond what should have been possible. When he first cast it in front of his parents, the Fireball barely scratched into E-rank. But now, after one battle, it had matured into a genuine E-rank spell capable of wounding E-rank monsters.
Normally, defenders required months or years of repetition for such progress. Yet Adrian had achieved it in hours. The realization sent electricity through his veins.
The second discovery stunned him even more: his mana pool. During the battle, he had felt it stretch, then expand. Measuring carefully, he realized it had grown by nearly twenty percent.
That should have been impossible. Mana capacity only increased slowly, as a side effect of long-term comprehension. For it to surge in a single fight? Unheard of.
The conclusion became clear. The Source. His affinity wasn't merely allowing him to replicate. It was accelerating comprehension itself.
Faster growth, faster understanding, faster evolution.
"If fire alone could do this… what would happen if I comprehended multiple affinities?" The thought electrified him.
If each new affinity expanded his mana pool, then one day, "perhaps infinite mana itself is possible." His pulse quickened at the implications.
His gaze fell to the skill book that had arrived in his suite. Gravitic Snare. This was an E-Rank skill book. He pressed his hand against the parchment embedded with runes.
Mana flowed into it, and knowledge flooded his mind like a tide. The geometric intricacies of gravity folded into his consciousness. What would take weeks or months for others, settled into place in minutes, as if he was remembering something long forgotten.
The gravitational equations unwound themselves before his mental eye. Space-time curvature, mass distortion, localized field generation, concepts that should have required advanced theoretical study became intuitive. His connection to the Source translated the abstract mathematics into pure understanding.
Twenty minutes passed in what felt like seconds. The basic framework had crystallized completely in his mind. Harder than Fireball, yes, but still far too easy compared to normal standards.
He extended his palm toward the suite's marble floor. Gravitational force sparked to life, invisible but undeniable. The air itself seemed to thicken as reality bent around his will.
The marble cracked under the pressure. Dust particles froze mid-air, caught in the snare's grip. Adrian released the technique, and his mana pool surged again, another twenty percent expansion.
The theory was no longer speculation. Every affinity he comprehended expanded his reserves. The more he deepened his comprehension, the more his mana would increase.
The implications left him breathless. His mind was racing with possibilities. Four days until the mission. Four days to test the true limits of what the Source could grant him.
That night, he allowed himself rest, but dawn brought no hesitation. He stepped into the forest, determined to test his new skill.
The beasts lurking there became his sparring partners. A Thornback Boar charged through the underbrush, tusks gleaming. Adrian's hand swept upward, and gravity coiled around the creature's legs.
The boar stumbled, momentum carrying it forward as invisible force dragged at its limbs. Adrian's other hand ignited, compressed fire spiraling into existence. The Fireball struck true, and the beast collapsed.
At first, the Gravitic Snare faltered, the strain of concentration scattering the effect. A Razorclaw Lynx slipped free of his grip, claws raking across his shoulder before he could react. Blood stained his academy uniform.
But hour by hour, battle by battle, his control sharpened. The lynx's packmate found itself suspended three feet off the ground, paws scrambling uselessly at empty air. Adrian's follow-up strike ended the hunt cleanly.
Soon, he was pinning creatures mid-leap, freezing them in the air just long enough to land a killing strike. A Shadowmaw Wolf materialized from darkness, only to find itself trapped in gravitational chains. And always, his mana stretched further, capacity growing in tandem with understanding.
The four days became a cycle of battle, recovery, and study. He fought until exhaustion drained him, sweat mixing with monster blood on his clothes. Then he would retreat to a clearing, letting his expanded mana pool refill.
The endless repetition honed both spells beyond recognition. His Fireball now burned with compressed intensity, refined heat spiraling at its core like a miniature star. The flame's color had shifted from orange to brilliant white-blue.
His Gravitic Snare could lock down even larger beasts for precious seconds, enough to dictate the rhythm of combat. An Ironback Bear, twice his height, found its massive frame held motionless as gravity bent to Adrian's will.
By the fourth day's end, Adrian stood in the clearing, breathing steady, his mana flowing like a river instead of a trickle. Carcasses littered the forest floor around him, testament to his relentless training.
Both his Fireball and Gravitic Snare pulsed on the verge of transcending into D-rank spells, their structures refined almost to breaking point. The knowledge patterns in his mind had crystallized into something approaching perfection. His mana pool had expanded so far that he could cast both repeatedly without fear of collapse.
He looked down at his hands, hardened now from days of combat. The quiet fire of certainty burned in his chest. Four days ago, he was a fledgling who had barely awakened.
Now, he stood reborn. The mission ahead would not find him unprepared.