After dressing himself in simple but sturdy traveling clothes, Aether headed straight for the Palace royal Library.
He knew that raw power was useless without the knowledge to channel it. To make the most of his dual awakening, he needed a specific technique—a way to harmonize the physical strength of his Mana Core with the magical output of his Mana Heart.
Stepping inside the library was like entering another world. Towering shelves stretched toward the ceiling, organized into layers of history, theory, and martial arts. The air smelled of old parchment and dormant energy.
Aether moved with purpose toward the Mana Section. After scanning the titles for a few moments, he pulled a thick, leather-bound volume titled The History and Introduction of Mana was written at front cover.
He leaned against a bookshelf and began to read. According to the records, mana was an essence energy that had existed in the air for at least 10,000 years. It hadn't always been there; it appeared suddenly when a massive Rift opened in the fabric of the world.
From that Rift, mana bled into the atmosphere, changing everything it touched:
Plants gained a dense life force and developed a strange, predatory awareness.
Animals began to mutate and evolve, their intelligence sharpening into something more than instinct.
Humans were forced to adapt. They began to build systems and disciplines to utilize this energy just to survive and proparly use mana.
Aether flipped the page, his eyes widening as he read about the first Awakening Stones. Humans had discovered that rocks near the original Rift had absorbed pure mana, forming glowing, rune-like patterns. These stones were extracted and used to trigger the awakening process in children once they reached the age of 16—the age when the human body was finally mature enough to handle the strain.
Further into the book, it explained the dual nature of mana usage: it was traditionally used to strengthen the physical body (the path of the Core) or to manipulate the elements within the environment (the path of the Heart).
Aether closed the history book. The "what" and the "why" were clear, but he still needed the "how." He needed to refine the raw energy currently swirling inside him into something he could control.
He navigated deeper into the library until he reached the Refinement Section. His fingers trailed over the spines of the books until he found several manuals on mana purification.
He sat down at a nearby table and opened the first one. If he wanted to surpass the average human baseline of 10, he couldn't just have mana—he had to have the purest mana in the kingdom.
so Aether decided to ask the libarian about this.
Note:
I love the detail about the Rift. It makes me wonder—is that Rift still open somewhere in the world?
Now that Aether is in the Refinement Section, will he find a "Top-Tier" or "Ancient" refinement technique that matches his 9-Circle mothers' power? This would be a great way to use his Intelligence 20 to learn something most people find too difficult!