The morning came slowly.
A pale blue light bled into the elemental chamber—filtered through ancient, unseen runes carved into stone walls older than the kingdom itself. The obelisks stood unchanged, humming softly in the silence.
Yet something was different.
Noah knelt at the center—not with excitement, not with desperation, but with stillness.
His eyes, red with exhaustion, stared at his trembling hands.
Ten mana types had danced in his veins. Ten forms of elemental truth had swirled within his grasp.
He had fused them two at a time, three, four, even five—but never ten.
Every time he tried, something failed. The structure collapsed. The balance unraveled. The harmony shattered.
He had lost blood, sleep, sanity.
And yet—he couldn't find the answer.
He raised his hand again, drawing mana from each pillar. Ten elemental lights flickered around him.
They began to rotate—a perfect dance of chaos.
He inhaled slowly.
And once again, he tried.
Fusion Attempt #1 – 10 Elemental Streams
Fire. Water. Earth. Wind. Lightning. Shadow. Light. Nature. Space. Time.
They surged into his palm like soldiers answering a call.
At first, they obeyed.
Then—
RRRRRRRRRAAGGGHHHH!!
An earsplitting screech erupted—not from the room, but from within him.
His body convulsed. His vision fractured. Every nerve burned.
The mana turned volatile. Time warped. Space folded. Light flashed violently.
Then—collapse.
The fused orb burst.
Mana exploded.
He was thrown into the air—slamming hard into the Earth obelisk. His shoulder cracked. His lips split.
Blood splattered.
He lay there, sprawled on the ground.
Breathing shallow.
Heart pounding.
The ten mana types flickered back to their pillars, like disappointed spirits retreating from a failed summoning.
And Noah… lay broken.
Silence.
The chamber was still again.
Noah didn't move. He didn't cry out.
His arms were limp. His clothes, soaked in blood and sweat. His mind, teetering on the edge of collapse.
And then—
A whisper.
A thought.
Soft.
Insignificant.
But persistent.
"What… is mana?"
Noah blinked.
The thought came again.
"What… is mana?"
Not how it works. Not how to use it.
But the question he'd never asked.
What is it?
His breath caught.
He stared up at the ceiling.
"Mana is… energy," he murmured. "It's magic. It's what mages use. What fuels spells…"
But even as he said it, he knew it wasn't the answer.
Not the truth.
It was like calling blood "just liquid" or calling thought "just sparks."
He sat up slowly, clutching his side.
The question repeated, louder.
What is mana?
He looked at his hand. Scarred, burned, trembling.
Then at the ten obelisks.
Then he closed his eyes—
And sank inward.
No words were spoken.
No runes activated.
No system prompted it.
But something inside him opened.
And he was falling.
Not through space.
Not through time.
But through truth.
He saw Fire—not as an element, but a will.
A devourer. A purifier. A destroyer and rebirther.
He saw Water—not as flow, but memory.
The ocean remembers every drop. It bends but never breaks.
He saw Earth—patience made solid.
The strength of stillness. The weight of time.
He saw Wind—freedom incarnate.
Untouchable. Unpredictable. Forever moving.
He saw Lightning—judgment and clarity.
The flash that pierces lies. The wrath that ends doubt.
He saw Shadow—truth hidden.
Not evil. Just unseen.
He saw Light—truth revealed.
Not righteous. Just bare.
He saw Nature—balance and breath.
The pulse between life and death.
He saw Space—possibility.
Every choice, every direction.
He saw Time—inevitability.
The end of all things, and yet their beginning.
And then—he saw them all at once.
Spiraling around a void.
Not separate.
Not enemies.
But parts of one whole.
Each element… a fragment.
A color of the same light.
Mana… was never ten things.
It was one thing, seen in ten different ways.
His eyes snapped open.
His mouth trembled.
"…That's it."
"I wasn't fusing elements…"
"I was forcing them to be something they never were."
"I was asking ten truths to become one lie."
"But mana isn't separate."
"It's the One."
"The First Flame. The Eternal Breath. The Pulse beneath all reality."
A laugh escaped his lips.
Not out of joy. But from the pure, overwhelming weight of understanding.
His shoulders trembled.
Tear slipped from his eyes.
He whispered like a prayer,
"Mana… is the world."
"And I was trying to master it,"
A pause.
Noah's voice broke into a whisper.
"…when I should have been listening to it."
He remained kneeling.
Not in defeat—but in reverence.
Around him, the elemental obelisks no longer hummed with challenge.
They pulsed in quiet acknowledgment.
Not as teachers.
Not as tests.
But as reflections.
He wasn't beneath them anymore.
They were… equals.
"I understand now," he said softly, looking at his own palm as if seeing it for the first time. "Mana doesn't bend to force… it responds to understanding. It flows where the self ends."
He slowly rose to his feet.
The air was heavy.
But no longer burdensome.
Instead, it felt like it was waiting.
He exhaled slowly.
This time, he didn't channel Fire first.
Or Water.
He didn't think in types, or schools, or categories.
He just opened himself—
Not his mana core.
His being.
He closed his eyes… and whispered,
"Come."
One by one—no, all at once—the ten elemental forces flowed into him.
Not like soldiers into a battle.
But like rain into the ocean.
They spun around him in spiraling patterns—threads of color, sound, emotion. They no longer crashed into one another. No longer fought.
They danced.
He extended his hand.
And in that hand—they fused.
Not with noise.
Not with force.
But with silence.
With stillness.
With truth.
A glowing orb formed—unlike anything that had ever existed in his hands before.
It pulsed softly. Not with light, but essence.
Its color was… all of them.
And none.
White, silver, blue, violet, gold. A swirl of shifting hues that defied labels.
It didn't roar. It didn't sizzle. It hummed—like the first heartbeat of the world.
Noah looked at it.
And the system answered.
[System Notification]
➤ Unique Mana Created: [Primal Mana]
— Classification: Absolute Elemental Core
— Effect: Converts all elemental energy into a singular, pure form
— Power Amplification: 10x
— Passive Effect: [Harmonic Resonance] – Attacks bypass 25% elemental resistance
— Note: This mana can overwrite, transcend, or unify any elemental type.
Noah stared at it. His eyes wide, glowing faintly.
It floated above his palm, spinning gently like a miniature planet.
"…So this is it."
He slowly lowered the orb into his chest.
It didn't burn.
It didn't sting.
It merged—as if it had always belonged there.
The moment it touched his core, a second wave of light rippled out of his body.
The air shimmered. The obelisks pulsed. The floor lit up with radiant golden lines.
Then—
Another message rang out.
[System Notification]
Due to unprecedented mastery over elemental fusion, a new ability has awakened.
Skill: Elemental Ascension
Rank: [EX]
Type: Passive/Active
Description:
Born from the user's complete mastery over all ten elemental affinities and the awakening of Primal Mana, Elemental Ascension is the path toward transcending the elemental laws that govern the world.
Each form unlocked grants the user not only heightened command over mana but a closer connection to the Source of All Elements—a force older than magic itself.
Only those who understand the truth of mana may walk this path.
⚡ Form I: Origin Sync
State: [Unlocked]
Type: Passive + Active
Effect:
Noah becomes a living conduit of all ten elements.
While active, his body, mana, and weapons resonate with perfect elemental harmony.
Any spell or technique he uses is automatically enhanced by the primal essence of each element.
Damage dealt increases tenfold due to the unified pressure of elemental convergence.
🔹 Passive Effects:
Mana Cost Reduction: Elemental skills consume 60% less mana.
Elemental Immunity: Noah gains natural resistance (up to 80%) against elemental attacks of fire, water, wind, earth, lightning, light, nature, shadow, space, and time.
Elemental Adaptation: Primal Mana automatically adjusts to the strongest opposing force. For example, against fire-based enemies, Noah's attacks subtly favor water and earth infusion.
Elemental Insight: Grants Noah the ability to instinctively "feel" the balance or imbalance in the natural world and identify corruptions in elemental flow.
🔹 Active Ability: Resonant Pulse
Cooldown: 5 minutes
Effect:
Unleashes a pulse of raw Primal Mana in a 15-meter radius, temporarily resetting all elemental energy in the area.
Cancels ongoing elemental attacks or enchantments.
Weakens enemies who rely on a specific elemental affinity.
Restores a portion of Noah's mana and sharpens his elemental sense.
Form II: [Locked]
Final Form: [Unknown]
Noah's eyes trembled.
He wasn't crying.
But he felt like he should be.
The air around him now bent subtly, like even the world was acknowledging the change.
He clenched his fist.
"I didn't ascend by climbing above mana…"
"I ascended by becoming part of it."
His voice echoed in the chamber.
No longer just a boy with ten elements.
No longer just a sword prodigy with a system.
But a man who had glimpsed the heartbeat of creation.
And chosen to walk beside it.
He had become something new.
Not a wielder of elements.
But the one who had fused them into a truth the world itself had forgotten.
He had become the First Primal Mage.
To Be Continued…