Chapter 24: Tier 4

Paragon of Mana

Ember froze as a spasm of electricity ran through his body. His mana surged through his channels as a wild flood of energy rushed through his blood and veins.

Perhaps Desir was a place of luck for him, as even his last advancement had come here, albeit in much better circumstances. He barely caught his breath when the Tier 4 evolution brought another strum of trepidation to his heart.

Remembering what his mother went through during her advancement, Ember sat up quickly and set his jaw, trying to enter a meditative state.

“What's wrong, nephew?” Sunny asked. “Did the bear scare you too much?”

Ember didn't bother to reply. His whole attention was spent on the upheaval unfolding in his body. But the boy had taken the wrong cue, slapping him on the shoulder to awaken him.

Ember glared at him. “Leave me be!”

The boy still didn't seem to get it until Zephyr came to stand next to him, alerting all the other kids. “Everyone, move away a little. He seems to be going through an advancement.”

“He's ascending to Tier 4?” Talon asked. “That can't be. It must be his mana foundation.”

Ember paid their talk no heed, and closed his eyes, slipping into a meditative state. A searing swelling rushed throughout his body, but the torment was not yet unbearable. His mana charged through him wildly, flooding all his apertures and channels in waves, adding to his pain.

A muffled groan escaped his lips as tears rolled from the corners of his eyes. Even remaining in the meditative state became arduously difficult, if not impossible. Ember tried to guide his mana. His Will was painfully insufficient to quell the wild energy, but at least he could channel it in the right direction and make way for his mana circuit and apertures.

Thankfully, with his young age and mana foundation, Ember hadn't accumulated as many impurities as his mother. He had never taken a single elixir, so there was no fear of potion toxins either.

Yes, it wasn’t a complete advancement to Iron, as he lacked a class and his mana foundation was lagging behind, but his body was still being forged in accordance with his skills.

It was still half an hour of unbearable pain. If he hadn't had heightened focus to concentrate on the important things, he might have already fallen unconscious and let nature take its course.

At least the pain was not for nothing, he told himself. His body was becoming more attuned to his various skills.

[Congratulations, you have reached Tier 4. Your aptitude and potential have risen.]

[+18 skill slots.]

Ember sighed in relief when another notification opened.

[You have reached Tier 4 in your race and Tier 1 in your mana foundation before your class ascension.

Title acquired: Gifted.

Merit: +3 skill slots.]

Then there was also another slot from Knight Squire.

A total of 22 skill slots, Ember counted through his exhaustion. Perhaps the advancement could have come in a better place, but his enthusiasm knew no bounds. He had finally reached Iron. He was finally Tier 4.

He immediately summoned his status page to glimpse all the benefits his attributes had gained.

It was more than he had even imagined. All his attributes seemed to have almost doubled. And there were months of progress in his mana apertures, which half an hour of pain brought. If that didn’t bring a smile to his lips, looking at the skill slots certainly did.

The evolution points requirement had once again doubled, but with all the skill slots, Ember had no fear. He wondered about all the skills he could get with those slots.

Alas, five more skill slots and he could assimilate the silver skill stone his father had brought him.

There was no easy Title out there that could get him those required slots either. But he had been prepared to wait for his next advancement.

He was more concerned with all the skills he could learn on his own. He’d have to leave nine slots for the silver skill, but that would still leave him with thirteen slots. He could get two of his copper skills to Iron Rank.

Heightened Focus could evolve right away, whereas his Sprint Burst would probably need a month or two of dedicated practice.

“Congratulations, little flame.”

Ember looked up to find Aunt Zephyr smiling at him.

“You’re certainly Cliff’s son, already reaching Tier 4 before 10.”

Even Ember could not control his smile. All the other kids, even the copper-class guards included, shot envious glances at him from a short distance.

Yes, his body hadn't incurred too many impurities in these few years, but there was still a layer of dark, oily substance on his skin. With the thick hunter's attire wrapped around him, Ember was even more uncomfortable.

“Congrats, nephew,” Sunny said, springing up to slap his shoulder, tousle his hair. “Don't worry, I won't let you wait for long. I’ll join you in Tier 4 soon.”

While everyone either appreciated or hid their envious glances, Ember quickly began to strip off his thick leather jerkin and the shirts beneath. He wiped the muck off his skin, rubbing fiercely with a wet towel. Only after spending a quarter of an hour mopping did he feel satisfied. The bath was still far away; he’d have to be content with this.

“Now that you have more skill slots,” Zephyr said, “have you thought about what skills you will learn?”

Ember told her about his focus and running skills as he put his hunting costume back on.

Aunt Zephyr hummed, deep in thought. “Considering your mana foundation, you got the Gifted title too.”

“Yeah.”

“So you’ll have enough slots for another Iron skill, even after upgrading two of your copper skills.” She eyed him perceptively. “With your skills, something like Mana Skin or Mana Augmentation would be perfect for you.”

Ember nodded along without saying anything. He had heard of both skills and would likely learn them in due time, but for now he’d save those slots for the silver skill.

“I'll give you a rundown of the skills after we get back.”

There was also the Kinetic Release in his status log. Sadly, Ember would have to count his days before he would have enough slots for all his desired skills. He let out a forlorn sigh.

I’ll never have enough slots, isn’t that right?

His stamina recovered much quicker, and Ember spared no effort in testing how good it felt after reaching Tier 4. He was so much swifter now. Just one movement of Sprint Burst took him ten metres. As for his lunges, they were better than any monkey’s. His body was light, dexterous, and brimming with energy, though it would take a few days to get used to it.

Ember couldn’t imagine how much faster he could be once he upgraded Sprint Burst.

On that note, he opened his status once again to eye the options available to Heightened Focus. He probably shouldn’t go through evolution in the wild, but taking a peek never hurts.

[Please choose one of the two options:

Singular Focus: pours all your concentration into one bag to enter in a trance-like state.

Split Focus: divide your cognitive abilities into two or more portions to focus on multiple tasks.]

Once again, the system provided him with two diverging paths, with neither sounding worse than the other.

Why can’t I have them both? He cried inwardly.

If it were always like this, perhaps Ember would prefer one decent option and one poor option each time. At least he wouldn't have to torment himself over the choice.

In all honesty, here, Split Focus sounded kind of awesome. But then he recalled some articles he had read about splitting one's focus having a detrimental effect on the mind, as you aren’t actually concentrating on any of the tasks. But that was back on Earth, without magic or mana. Here, it was different.

While Singular Focus sounded like it could help his skills, Ember's current needs revolved around implementing more than one skill simultaneously, which gave another point in favour of Split Focus.

Besides, he already had Keen Mind.