Damned System

Chapter 50. Exchange (4)

‘A mage in the academic world…’

This world had been researching the field of mana for a long time. Naturally, mages who specialized in it existed.

When I had just discovered this new fact, Ahel extended his middle finger after pointing with his index.

“Next, we have the rank 2 mana with specific attributes.”

The very basic four elements fell under this category: water, fire, wind, and earth.

‘Does this world have the Four Guardian Gods concept? I think Hyunmoo was water, wasn’t it?’

I stopped trying to apply concepts from Earth and shifted my thinking. I couldn’t understand this world through my common sense.

According to Ahel’s explanation, one could only use magic that matched the attribute of their mana. A mage with an earth attribute couldn’t use a fireball.

‘Was that what it meant to interfere with or defy nature?’

I could now reconsider the parts I hadn’t questioned until then.

‘Come to think of it.’

Some skills required attribute mana each time they were implemented. While it only needed a little compared to other mana, attribute mana was necessary for using skills like Invisibility and Barrier.

“Hmm…?”

Linking attributes to skills brought to mind posts I often saw on the community boards. Many posts said that despite purchasing skills, they couldn’t use them.

‘There were only about a dozen or so posts.’

I had thought it was because those individuals lacked mana manipulation.

But if it was an attribute issue?

‘That doesn’t make sense, does it?’

I had never been unable to use a skill due to an attribute. Besides, if this hypothesis were true, there should be more posts in the community.

I thought seriously about it.

‘The magic Ahel refers to is definitely the same as the system’s skills.’

In that case, only those who passed the Promotion Test should be able to use skills.

Items required to have attributes came from passing the Promotion Test or buying them from the shop.

This meant that the majority of players couldn’t use skills at this current stage in the system.

So why were there so few posts about skills-related problems?

The answer was found quickly.

‘Most players are still low-level.’

The majority of players had only entered missions after being reluctantly pushed from behind.

It meant that most were still at Level 1.

They might have cleared missions a few times or once, if at all.

Those who completed missions voluntarily, without system prompts, were stepping up to Level 2 sequentially.

‘They have just about accumulated enough mana to purchase skills.’

Since few people purchased skills, naturally, there were fewer posts about not being able to use them.

One question was resolved, but another remained.

I busily sent chat messages to players I knew, including Kim Yul.

– K: Seems like there are conditions for using each skill. You’d better hold off on buying any skills for now; I’m looking into it further.

Especially Ethan. Since he had already used a Low-rank Attribute Stone, he needed to be cautious.

‘It was definitely rock, right?’

He seemed to be set on a defensive attribute conducive for a tanker role.

But since the skills presumed to be for defensive roles were quite expensive, he had been holding off and saving mana.

If this wasn’t confirmed and he purchased skills that didn’t match his attribute, it would be a loss.

I confirmed Ethan’s understanding and noted Ahel calling for me.

“K? Is there something wrong?”

“No, not at all. Could you continue with your explanation?”

His gaze, which had been observing me in a peculiar manner, shifted slightly to the side.

An involuntary twitch came to my eyes.

Ahel’s direction of attention was towards the tabs I had been using to operate both the community and chat windows.

In this game, you could click the system interface merely with your gaze and thoughts, without even using fingers.

So, when using the system features, your pupils moved frequently.

Ahel had keenly observed those movements.

Why? His eyes seemed to sparkle.

The unease I felt when he first spoke to me with a pale smile resurfaced.

“… What are you looking at so intently?”

I asked, trying to divert Ahel’s floating gaze towards me.

“Oh, there was no ill intent. Think of it as an occupational habit.”

His smile grew deeper as my gaze narrowed.

“Hmm… where did I leave off? Ah, the rank.”

This time, he extended three fingers.

“Now, onto rank 3, right?”

“Yes.”

“When more than two elements overlap or when an existing element is further intensified into a new one, the mana is classified as rank 3.”

This meant that attributes such as lava or ice corresponded to rank 3 mana.

“Lava, being a combination, allows the use of both fire and earth magic. Do you understand?”

“Then what about the space attribute you mentioned…”

“Even within the same category, there’s a variety of ranks. I am of the basic rank 3 in the space category. Since air fundamentally fills space, the space category falls under a higher hierarchy of the wind element.”

The explanation wasn’t particularly tangible.

I had never considered distinguishing the hierarchy of elements until now.

Whether he noticed my struggle, Ahel elaborated further.

“Lava is overlapped by more than one element. Do you understand?”

Magma solidified into granite over time.

So, understanding a connection to the earth was logical.

“Yes.”

“In contrast, attributes like ice or my own space attribute are more complex, enriched forms of a single element.”

“Well…”

“Overlapping and intensification are basic concepts necessary to understand the study of mana attributes. If you delve into it professionally, it becomes complex.”

“What do you mean by complex?”

I regretted counter-questioning as soon as I asked.

“From the outset, the existence of fire without air doesn’t make sense, does it? Hence, there are quite a few claims that the four elements classification itself is flawed.”

“…”

“There has never been a cessation of arguments among mages advocating for different elemental classifications. Of course, reasons vary, so consensus hasn’t been reached to produce any new classification method. Consequently, a total of eight classification methods established to refute the four elements exist now, and—”

“Let’s skip over those.”

A voice firmly interrupted Ahel as he continued his uninterrupted speech.

“You made a wise decision.”

At last, Ahel flashed a bright smile and stopped explaining.

“I would like a detailed explanation on the higher hierarchy aspect, though.”

Nodding in understanding, Ahel clenched both his hands into fists and offered his left hand first.

“Water is lower-tiered.”

Following was his right hand.

“While ice is higher-tiered.”

He spoke while stacking his right hand over his left.

“Ice naturally includes water, but water doesn’t naturally include ice. The element of low temperature is additionally necessary. However, that’s not one of the four primary elements. Hence, it’s classified as intensification instead of overlap.”

“…”

“A higher rank of mana encompasses more magic that can be used.”

This implied that there were more avenues to interfere with and defy nature.

“Of course, as the mana concentration and scent grow higher, it becomes richer, and the power is naturally stronger compared to lower-ranked mana.”

The calm voice added that less mana was needed to produce tremendous power.

“As for rank 4 and 5, you can consider them as more elements overlap or intensify than rank 3.”

Theoretically, a rank 6 exists, but there has been no practical discovery.

“In result, the mana classified within nature tops out at rank 5.”

“Does stating it pertains to nature’s grade imply there are grades that do not pertain to nature?”

“Debates arise over whether divine realms should be included in the rank.”

“… You mean people like Rashar.”

They seemed to consider the power that those referred to as apostles held as beyond standard norms.

“Well, it’s hard to consider such power as merely natural.”

While much remained unknown about the apostles, I understood mana just a bit more.

‘The broad classification is the four primary elements.’

This was the foundation, and elements piled on like steps to increase the rank.

Based on Ahel’s explanation, I tried analyzing my attribute.

‘Not one of the four primary elements, so I’m definitely rank 3 or above.’

It seemed to lean more towards overlap than intensification. So, which elements were overlapping?

‘Since lightning is ultimately light energy, should I think of it as fire, perhaps?’

Should wind also be included?

‘No, maybe it’s just an intensification of fire?’

Confused by this unfamiliar concept, I hesitated.

‘Why pose such dilemmas to a humanities student?’

I briefly wrinkled my brow in contemplation.

Suddenly, Ahel picked up a stone from the ground.

“Since we’ve covered the ranking, shall we now explain magic?”

I deferred my thoughts, focusing on Ahel’s actions.

Suddenly, with a flash of brightness from his moving mana, the surroundings lit up.

Shortly after, the stone, which should’ve been in his palm, appeared hovering about 10cm from it.

It wasn’t moved by someone picking it up or Ahel throwing it.

Without any transit process, its position merely changed.

‘This is it, spatial movement.’

After confirming the stone on the ground, I raised my head.

“Hasn’t it been said that mana can interfere and defy nature?”

“… So magic, in essence, refers to phenomena that disrupt and defy nature.”

“Correct. Attribute mana pays the price for deviating from the natural flow.”

Ahel’s explanation still mystified. It seemed understandable yet perplexing.

‘Indeed, it’s not natural for an object to shift without any interference.’

I listened intently to Ahel’s continued discourse with an uncertain expression.

“Of course, not all magic requires a cost.”

He purported there were spells capable of being performed with even rank 1 mana, without any attributes.

These were mostly tied to the inherent property of mana itself, associated with vitality, classified as low-grade magic among academia.

“Does this clear up your curiosity?”

“To some extent.”

Ahel glanced briefly at my hands as he said.

“So, what do you think?”

“Yes?”

“Would you like to exchange it? My mana can be used for movement magic, refraction, slicing magic, and such.”

Exchanging mana would enable utilizing the space category of magic that I otherwise couldn’t not supposed to use.

‘Similar to different types of vehicles needing distinct fuels, it seems.’

Just as there are electric cars and diesel cars, each type of magic required a specific source material matching its type.

So, is it that mana bearers developed by exchanging with each other to use various magics?

‘The presence of Skill Stones must have stemmed from this context.’

It was a sensible hypothesis.

“How exactly does one exchange mana?”

I questioned, intrigued, as Ahel pointed at my left hand.

More distinctly, the sapphire ring on my left pinky finger.

“A storage magical tool… I’m not familiar with this.”

I nodded in agreement, and Ahel then displayed the pendant hanging from his necklace.

“This is storage.”

Wispy vapors seemed to siphon into his necklace.

My eyes widened slightly. I was aware of the phenomenon.

“It’s mostly depleted at the moment, though.”

Ahel explained with a smile, promising to initiate storage once returned to the garrison.

I was beginning to grasp the use of a storage magical tool.

“Would you like to exchange?”

Upon Ahel’s repetitive question, I hesitated, fiddling with the ring touched by his gaze.

His offer didn’t unsettle me.

I simply suspected there was more to exploit from him, causing my pause.

‘Given Ahel currently holds no stored mana, exchanging now isn’t possible anyway.’

The one at a disadvantage was Ahel, not me. This opportunity called for extracting further insight.

“How does one access the stored mana here?”

I tapped lightly on the ring while I asked, watching as Ahel licked his lips as if tasting them.

Feigning obliviousness, I anticipated his reply.

“Hmm… May I take a closer look?”

My hesitation was brief.

‘There are at least 2,000 stored mana here.’

Gathering bit by bit, every free moment without battle was spent infusing mana.

Just materializing it would be enough to cover the area with lightning.

‘I’ve painstakingly gathered it; I must learn how to use it.’

I handed the ring to Ahel.

Damned System