Otherworld Adventure

Even in this world, Cecil still couldn't escape training. He once thought that maybe he could skimp a little on his martial arts training and relax a bit since his family isn't around to monitor him.

Seeing the children of the village having fun and playing with friends made him envious, at their age, he was training in the middle of his family's private island.

Mrs. Anna continues her explanation.

"It's pretty hard to control mana like that though. In fact, it's so hard that it'd be much easier to just stop using mana altogether than risk turning into a monster. The only people I know that could actually control mana to such a refined level are those people who were born with elemental constitutions."

'W-why not say so in the first place!'

"I-is there no hope then?"

Even after having his expectations dumped with cold water twice already, Cecil still had hope that the cold water dumping angel in front him would have a solution.

"Well, the fastest way would be if you could actually see mana but –"

"See mana?"

"Well, most mages can only feel the mana in the atmosphere, no one can actually see it like how you described in your theory."

"Oh, well, that's a given."

If mana was like a particle in the air, then no human eye could see it. Even on earth, there wasn't any sort of equipment that could let a person see a particle or element in the air. The most was a microscope that could let people see micro-organisms, cells, and such.

"But! There are people who were specially gifted since birth. They have eyes that could actually see the mana in the atmosphere."

"Huh? If there are, then how come the theory I had earlier gave you such a surprise?"

"That's because you described there being a method using a tool instead of being able to do so innately. Also there's no precedence of a person with the mana sight being able to live past 10 years."

"Eh? So all the people who could actually see mana never made it past childhood?"

"Yes. But, the children who had mana sight displayed a high degree of control over mana. Research showed that these children could control mana as easy as breathing."

"Wow, it's like they've been blessed and cursed at the same time."

"Yes, it's a blessing, but at the same time it's also a curse. The reason they couldn't make it past 10 years old is because by the time or even before a child is at that age, the elemental property of their mana would have finally changed in nature."

"What?"

"Children with mana sight are basically children that have a small crystalized orb of mana in their eyes since birth. Basically, they have 2 mana cores giving them an advantage in both quantity and control over mana."

'What the hell. That means researchers have already dissected a child with mana sight before? If Mrs. Anna has this kind of information...'

That was a frightening Cecil thought.

Cecil concluded that the researchers on Alterna would practically do anything, even border-line inhumane practices, to further their research.

"So? They have mana cores in their eyes, how is that fatal?"

"Well, just think about it. What would happen if the neutral non-elemental mana crystal suddenly changed attribute to fire?"

"Wouldn't that just mean the crystal would– Oh my god!"

Using the knowledge he acquired about mana elements, he arrived to a frightening conclusion.

'Wouldn't that mean the fire mana crystal would burn up their eyes? Maybe not just the eyes, but it could affect their entire bodies?'

Cecil immediately paled at the thought.

Seeing Cecil pale up, Mrs. Anna was a bit shocked that he could come to a horrible conclusion just from the little bit of information he's studied.

'What a sharp boy, he would make a good researcher,' thought Anna.

"If the element turns into fire, the transformation would burn up the individual's eyes, but don't forget that when the mana attributes change it's always accompanied by a small surge of mana which signifies that their attribute has changed and the mana capacity of their bodies have also increased. Remember, these individuals have mana crystals not the initial mana gas in their eyes."

"That would mean not only their eyes, but their entire head or even body would burn up or outright explode."

"Exactly, if its water then they will freeze or liquefy immediately, lightning would mean they would be electrocuted although some survive, but then they would have to live the rest of their lives as a vegetable. Wind would mean decapitation, disembowelment, or implosion which is really gruesome, but the worst would have to be earth. At least the others would die right away without having to endure any pain, but for earth, the child would start turning into stone or disintegrating into dust from their feet, slowly and painfully."

Cecil thought that the results were horrifying, even Lucia on the side started to pale and tear up after hearing her mother's explanation.

These were things that would eventually happen to children who had mana sight. Mana sight was more like a curse to these children.

"Ugh, all those sound horrible. Since I'm not born with it that means this isn't even a solution at all!"

"You may not be born with it, but you and only you, can actually acquire mana sight!"

Cecil was confused, what did Mrs. Anna mean by that?

"Huh? So you want me to infuse mana into my eyes? Isn't that dangero–"

Cecil stops abruptly and started thinking.

'With my innate mana attribute being non-elemental, I wouldn't have to worry about the dangers. This could work!'

Seeing him think, Mrs. Anna thought 'This child really is brilliant.' She then continues to explain giving confirmation to Cecil's thoughts.

"Like I said, the children who have this are people who have mana crystals in their eyes, so that just mean you would have to condense one in your eyes too."

"Sounds simple and I also don't have to worry about my mana since it's inherently non-elemental, but that doesn't sound so easy!"

"Ara? Did you already forget that you have a mana quantity that rivals a person that has stepped into the crystalized mana stage?"

"Eh?" Cecil replied dumbly.

"You have mana at the gaseous stage that could rival a person's mana in the solidified or crystalized stage. Normally a person can't even acc.u.mulate that much at the gaseous stage because the mana would only disperse, but it seems that your body was well trained to be able to have such the capability to hold all that mana without it dispersing as per norm."

Cecil thanked his two seniors for giving him such rigorous training in his heart.

'Grandfather, father. Your bullshit stories and unreasonable training was actually a blessing for me on Alterna. Thank you.'

This was the first time Cecil actually thanked the two for all the suffering he went through.

'Since my brothers and sisters have also gone through the same training, wouldn't they also have a good aptitude for magic? I just hope that their mana attributes aren't like mine.'

His family has also gone through the early training since childhood. Cecil came to a conclusion that just like him, his family should also have an edge when it comes to mana capacity and aptitude.

For once, Cecil thought that his family's martial inheritance was actually awesome.

While Cecil was rejoicing in his heart for him and his family, Mrs. Anna's explanation continued.

"You have the ability to crystalize mana in your eyes quickly with the amount of mana you have. Of course, this could only happen gradually with training."

While other people would experience bottle necks with their training, Cecil on the other hand, wouldn't experience any of those until the mana core stage because his mana quantity already rivals individuals at that stage.

Mrs. Anna continued.

"Others can't do this because of their mana attributes. Not to mention it's impossible to condense elemental mana into your eyes for prolong periods of time without any side-effects. Many have tried and faced the consequences of doing so, at worst they end up with losing their eyes or just impair their sight. Not for you though Cecil, you can crystallize your mana into your eyes without worrying about any potential side effects or harm coming to you since your innate attribute is non-elemental, at least in theory."

"In theory... I still want to try and crystalize mana in my eyes and gain mana sight! At least, in theory, I wouldn't have to worry about the side effects since my innate attribute is already non-elemental to begin with! Mrs. Anna, thank you!"

Cecil bowed deep towards Mrs. Anna.

'As I thought, she really is an angel~'

"Fufu, like I said, this can only happen with more training."

"Yes! I'll be in your care then, Mrs. Anna!"

Although there were some hiccups along the way, Cecil finally found a way to use mana and magic. For him, things weren't any different from back when he was on Earth. He still had to train, train, train, and train!

'Let's train hard for magic!'