"Young master, please be careful and don't lose your focus while connecting your mana link", Lira anxiously said, her voice filled with concern.
Lira and Ericka were standing a few meters away from Noctis as he sat on a complex formation underneath him inscribed into the floor, glowing with a faint white glow.
Ericka was dragged away by Mary despite her pleas. A few days later, she returned using the excuse of Nox was about to reach E rank.
"Nox, you already have the experience of connecting your heart link to your core; this is a major threshold for many people." A serious and firm voice reminded him, calming his nerves as Ericka continued.
"Remember, when linking, the link in your heart will naturally resist the new connection; you'll have to manage both and ensure they stay intact."
'Yeah, yeah, I know. Anyways, thanks Aunt. I have already done my research and read various books. Be confident me I've got to do this—wait, no I need to do this.' Noctis was actually a little nervous; encouraging himself a little, he got ready to connect the right hand's link to his core.
Taking a quick glance at his mana.
[900/900]
It's been around 1 month or more since he succeeded in casting his first magic spell. Under the vigorous and grueling training along with those disgusting diet, his mana reached its limit for his current rank.
Feeling the Link present inside his heart, he let mana flow across his right hand, trying to find the mana link.
Mana Links in the four limbs could be found anywhere; they don't have a fixed position for each individual. It might be present in his right palm, and on his left hand it could be found near his elbow or somewhere else.
The variation in the placement doesn't alter anything, but none were able to discover the reason for the randomized mana links' position.
As the mana spread across his entire hand, it took him a while, but he quickly sensed a reaction from the elbow area.
Having found his mana link faster than he had expected, he sighed mentally, There are people who were unable to sense their mana links or were not born with them.
The next step was to form a mana thread and connect the link to his core.
He shaped his mana into a tiny thread and secured one end with the link; he moved his other end towards the core slowly and steadily.
The subsequent stage would be the hardest; he has to join the thread to the core while also controlling his other connection to prevent it from going awry.
Noctis wondered why, a previous link would disrupt the process of connecting new mana links. He found his answer while browsing through the internet: a transcended ranker personally researched and incorporated past findings into his research.
Mana Flow Equilibrium, In short, when a mana link is connected to the core, it establishes a stable flow of mana pathways between the core and that link, creating a balanced circuit.
This circuit becomes the body's default mana pathway, with the core acting as the central hub that regulates mana distribution.
So, when introducing a new link to the core, it disrupts this equilibrium because the core must now split its mana output between two links, causing a sudden shift in the established flow.
'Shit, I have to focus on this now.' Noctis used his mana to move the thread and attached its end to the core.
The second the thread connected to the core, his mana link in his right hand glowed as it started to absorb mana from the outside, using it to solidify the connection, and also sent some mana through the thread.
The Heart Link rioted the instant the mana from another link entered the core, breaking its equilibrium Flow, the mana flowing inside the pathway started to riot.
Sensing the disruption, Noctis used some of his mana from the core to isolate his heart link.
Making sure it wouldn't affect the process, he maintained the constant flow of mana to calm down the rioting mana in the pathways between his heart link and the core.
'they weren't kidding, this is little hard to manage and while trying to focus on two different things', his body started sweating as the mana pulled in by the magic circle below him entered through his right hand.
The thread connecting the mana link and core- started to turn into proper mana pathways as the linking was nearing its end.
Ericka was using her mana sense to her limit, as she was ready to jump in and intervene if there wa any problem.
After a few minutes, She let out a sigh of relief, watching the linking come to an end.
Lira didn't use her own mana sense, since Ericka was present here to oversee the rank progression, the entire time her eyes were on Noctis.
Eventually she noticed the glowing blue spot on Noctis's right hand started to fade away slowly. 'Young master did it, and the process was actually quite fast, it's been like what only 30 minutes or so'.
'i recall correctly, it took me around an hour.'Lira smiled.
Noctis felt the linking coming to an end, he cleared his mana around the heart link letting it gradually stabilize and form a new equilibrium flow.
The next second, the two mana links absorbed mana at very fast pace and filled up his mana core.
After being filled to the limit, the mana inside his core started to get compressed and became slightly denser, his mana core grew a little bigger.
Signaling his successfully Rank progression to an E- Rank.
He opened his eyes and let out a deep breathe, Just as he wanted to check his Status, he was lifted off the ground.
He felt something soft pressing against his face, as Ericka had lifted him and hugged him tightly.
"Congrats, little nox not only did you succeed, you also completed it in 30 minutes, I am so proud of you," Ericka beamed happily, as she continued to hug him.
Noctis thought, 'it's soft hmm—-, wait shit I can't breath, I need oxygen', He began to tap his hand quickly, trying to free himself off.
He was hugged the second he had breathed out, which led to lack of oxygen inside him.
Thankfully, lira was besides them and Noticed noctis's tapping his hand aggressively.
"lady Ericka, young master seems to be unable to breathe!" she spoke quickly.
Hearing Lira words, Ericka quickly let go as noctis fell to the ground panting heavily.
"Hehe, My bad, didn't notice it", she spoke nervously while her hand scratched her neck, little embarrassed at her mistake.
Noctis spoke through his deep breaths, his face turned red "You almost sent me to afterlife,".
After calming himself, he stood up while still glaring at his aunt before he dropped it and smiled,"Anyways, it was quite hard".
Ericka slapped him on his head, letting out a chuckle, "of course it is hard, congrats again nox".
"Congrats Young master",Lira spoke after Ericka.
"Thanks aunt, Lira".
Noctis spoke again before he walked away towards his room, "I will take a day off for today, I am too tired after that rank progression".
Having entered his room and he jumped onto his bed, turning around he stared at the ceiling, "Status", he murmured.
[Status]
Name: Noctis Nightryn
Rank: E- (Adept)
Mana: 1000/1000
Resonance Elements: Zephyr(B), Umbra (A)
Unique Skills: Fate's Gambit(T)
Skills: Basic Mana Manipulation (D), Zephyr Mastery(E+), Umbra Mastery(D-), Sword Mastery(E+), Marksmanship(E)
Weapon Arts: Nine-Thunderstorm Gale Strikes (Beginner)
Corruption: 0