News of how Haelan had broken the "Cursed Stone" had spread, but the volunteers had also seen with their own eyes how Kenzo's lever "trick" had multiplied their work speed. The mix of revered ancient magic and the stranger's odd logic created a new optimism in the village. Kenzo supervised, ensuring the trench's depth matched his calculations and the slope of its walls was precise. However, his mind wasn't fully present. Like a background process, his thoughts kept replaying the previous day's events: the dim light from Haelan's hand, the murmur of his chant, and the cold analysis from Prometheus.
His awe as a man witnessing a miracle clashed with the curiosity of an engineer seeing an inefficient system. He had to know more. He had to understand the rules.
After the day's work was done, Kenzo didn't go straight back to Elara's hut. With some hesitation, he took some of the best orange fruits Borin had given him, wrapped them in a large leaf, and walked towards Haelan's secluded hut. The old mage was sitting on his porch, carving a small piece of wood, the air filled with the calming scent of cedar. He looked up as Kenzo approached, his sharp eyes seeming as if he had been expecting him. Kenzo bowed slightly, a universal gesture of respect, and placed the bundle of fruit on the porch steps. Haelan observed the gift for a moment, then nodded and gestured for Kenzo to sit.
Kenzo started by pointing to himself, then to the distant fractured bedrock, and finally to Haelan, clasping his hands together as a sign of thanks and admiration. Then, driven by his purpose, Kenzo tried to explain what he wanted. He cupped his hands, trying to imitate Haelan's gesture from the day before, and mumbled the few Tragam words he vaguely remembered. Of course, nothing happened.
Haelan let out a small chuckle, the sound as dry as rustling leaves. It wasn't a mocking laugh, but the amused laugh of a teacher watching a clumsy yet eager student. He understood.
"You wish to learn," Haelan said, his voice sounding like foreign music to Kenzo's ears. Kenzo just stared, trying to grasp the meaning from Haelan's tone. "Sigh... I don't understand what he's saying," Kenzo muttered to himself. 'Prometheus, analyze,' he thought. [Analyzing vocal intonation, hand gestures, and previously recorded words. Based on the collected data, there is a high probability he understands your intent to learn but considers you unprepared. I surmise he is attempting to explain the first step.]
Haelan extended his wrinkled palm. "The first step is not to speak, but to listen. Close your eyes. Feel the air around you. Feel the earth beneath you. Feel the warmth of the fading sun. Among all of that, there is something else. Something that flows like an unseen river. That is mana." Kenzo frowned in confusion. 'He's saying so much. What's the point?' [Translating keywords based on context and stored data... Repeated word: 'feel'. Gestures indicate the surrounding environment. Hypothesis: He is instructing you to close your eyes and try to feel something around you—an energy he calls 'mana'.]
Though it was only a rough translation, the message was clear enough. Kenzo hesitated for a moment, then followed the instruction Prometheus had deduced. He closed his eyes, trying to filter out the sound of the wind and the scent of the forest. At first, there was nothing. 'Prometheus, can you detect anything?' [Scanning environment. Detecting high-concentration ambient energy particles. Their flow patterns are consistent with Master Haelan's description of 'mana'. I can project a visualization of this data to your visual cortex.] 'Don't. I have to feel it myself.'
Kenzo refused the AI's help. This wasn't a problem of logic, but of perception. He continued to concentrate, trying to feel the "river" Haelan had described. Slowly, something began to register. A faint sensation, like a tingling at his fingertips, or the hum of static electricity in the air. It was incredibly weak at first, but the more he focused, the clearer the sensation became. Prometheus was right; it was everywhere, flowing around him, and... inside him.
He opened his eyes. "I... I can feel it," he whispered, more to himself than anyone. Haelan saw the change in Kenzo's expression and nodded in satisfaction. He understood that his student had succeeded. "Good," he said in Tragam.
Now that Kenzo could feel the mana, his curiosity peaked. He wanted to test the limits of this system. He stood up and, remembering his lesson from Elara, pointed to a water jug near the porch. He spoke the only relevant word he knew with clarity, "Akva." Then, to clarify his intent, he mimicked Haelan's hand gestures for using magic, looking at Haelan with an expectant expression. The message was clear: 'Can you teach me water magic?'
Haelan's expression changed instantly. Not to anger, but to a sort of amused regret. He shook his head firmly, a universal "no." To explain why, Haelan performed a simple demonstration. First, he pointed to the ground beneath his feet with both palms, then patted his chest with pride. His posture radiated power and mastery. Then, he made a small fire gesture with one finger, his movement hesitant and his expression plain. Finally, he made a flowing motion with his hands as if to mimic water, then shrugged and showed his empty palms, as if to say, "Nothing. I can't."
Kenzo watched the visual demonstration intently. 'Prometheus, analysis.' [Analyzing gestures and refusal... User 'Haelan' indicates high mastery of the 'earth' element, low mastery of 'fire', and zero mastery of 'water'. Hypothesis confirmed: The magic system in this world is based on an innate elemental affinity that limits the user's potential.]
It was then that Prometheus completed its internal analysis. [Analysis of the Host's mana pathways and biological system is complete. There is no indication of any innate elemental affinity limitations. Your theoretical potential across all observed elemental spectrums is 100%. You are a fundamental anomaly to the rules of this world.]
Kenzo understood the situation. Haelan couldn't teach him water magic, and it seemed fire was the only other option available. He looked at Haelan, then pointed to the small fire gesture the old mage had just made. He pointed to his own palm with a renewed look of entreaty. 'Alright, then teach me that.'
Haelan smiled, this time with full understanding. He would teach him the most basic offensive magic, a test to measure a person's elemental affinity: Fireball.
"Watch," he said, more as a marker for himself. He then began to chant in a low, solemn voice. "O spark from the mountain's heart, O breath of ancient dragons, lend me your fury. Gather, form, become a projectile of searing heat."
In Haelan's palm, a ball of fire appeared. It was only the size of a baseball, its light a flickering reddish-orange and slightly unstable. After a few seconds, Haelan exhaled and the flame vanished. He looked slightly tired. He then looked at Kenzo and gestured for him to try.
Kenzo tried. He mimicked every word (which sounded like nonsense to him) and gesture meticulously. But it was no use. His hands remained cold. "Why can't I do it?" he thought. [Hypothesis: You are merely mimicking the user interface (the spoken spell), not processing the logic behind it (the magical formula). Stop mimicking. Let us build the formula directly.] "Formula?" [Correct. The 'Fireball Formula' consists of the following core commands: 1. Define spatial coordinates. 2. Draw ambient mana. 3. Convert mana into thermal and kinetic energy. 4. Contain the energy in a spherical field. 5. Execution command: 'Fire'.]
The explanation was like a lightning strike in Kenzo's mind.
He took a deep breath, ignoring the poetic chant. He raised his hand, closed his eyes, and with the help of data projections from Prometheus, he began to "build" the formula in his mind, step by step, logically and efficiently. Once the formula felt solid in his mind, he just needed an execution trigger.
He opened his eyes and uttered a single, concise command, filled with intent and focus: "Fire."
What happened next was beyond anyone's expectations. It wasn't a small, baseball-sized flame. From Kenzo's palm, a basketball-sized sphere of fire erupted into existence. Its color wasn't reddish-orange, but a blinding bluish-white, spinning with perfect stability and radiating such intense heat that Haelan took a step back in shock. And most importantly, Kenzo felt almost no fatigue.
Haelan was aghast. He stared at the massive fireball in Kenzo's hand, then at Kenzo himself, his usually sleepy eyes now wide open, filled with shock, disbelief, and something else—admiration mixed with a hint of fear. The old mage, for the first time, spoke to Kenzo as if he were an equal. Through broken gestures and words, he asked, "Who... are you?"
Kenzo didn't understand a single word, but he could read the expression on Haelan's face perfectly. It was the expression of someone whose entire understanding of the world had just been upended. Kenzo had no answer, even if he could speak the same language. He could only meet the old mage's gaze in a tense silence.
The silence was shattered by the piercing sound of a horn from the village watchtower. It was the danger signal. Borin ran towards them, his face pale with panic. He shouted in Tragam, words Kenzo didn't understand but whose tone was laden with terror. "They're coming! The Stone Boars! More of them than usual!"
Haelan's and Borin's eyes finally landed on Kenzo, the stranger who had just demonstrated impossible magic. The real test was about to begin.