《Teacher of Mana》


 Tower of Nurture

    Eve awoke from her deep sleep and quickly got ready for a new day. it was the first day of term. Her days were finally going to be filled with teaching, and dealing with teenagers.


    Eve could already feel a headache coming along as she entered her car on the way to work.


    It was always important for teachers to be earlier than usual on the first day of term. Organisation was key to this profession, books had to be out, supplies had to be ready and more importantly, teachers had to be mentally ready.


    Teaching is an difficult yet rewarding job, and if anyone asked Eve, she would tell you it was an amazing job. She truly loved it with all her being. Someone had to do it, and Eve would gladly do so.


    It was coming up to her five year anniversary of securing her first teaching job.


    ''I feel old''. Eve internally complained about being 27. It felt like her life was just passing her by and she was a spectator. Time just moved too fast for her liking.


    ''Well, thats life. Everyone has the same complaints''. Eve chuckled to herself as the children walked in, preparing her speech of new term new you. It almost felt robotic.


    "Okay then!". She clapped her hands together as everyone sat down. 12 blank faces stared back at her.


    "I understand everyone''s qualms, however the two weeks of term are now over, and school life will be restarting". Eve glossed over the same 12 children she has seen for the past 7 months. She spent so much time with these students, and they slowly wormed a place into Eve''s heart.


    Having a class of 12 was quite unusual in the great scheme of schools, but this was just a small school. One form entry, with around 10 - 20 students in each class. Eve obviously had no complaints, it meant that she would be able to do her job to the best of her ability.


    Jackson sighed. "Miss you do this speech every time. We get it. You get it. Sir gets it. Lets move on". He rolled his eyes whilst speaking.


    Evan, otherwise known as Mr. Smith slowly looked at Jackson. "Enough of that please Jackson. Let''s not be unnecessarily rude". Evan was pretty ready for Jacksons'' attitude, and Eve was not surprised either. Routine is important for students, so after every term she would say more or less the same thing.


    The other teenagers let out a chuckle, but that was all. It was the first day of term, and obviously nobody could be bothered in socialising.


    Eve readied the maths books, but just before that, something out of the ordinary happened.


    Something that 5 years of teaching couldn''t have prepared her.


    The class of 14 were warped into a white room.


    Eve was shell shocked, and if she, a 27 year old woman was shocked, then God knows how a group of 15-16 year olds felt.


    Before anyone could react, a bright yellow figure appeared, and spoke instantly.


    [Welcome to the Tutorial Tower. Today is the commencement of the tutorial towers across the world. Every individual on earth will need to complete 100 floors to be allowed back onto earth. This Tower is known as Tower of Nurture. You will face consistent danger in order to be reassimilated back onto earth. There will soon be a greater in-depth explanation about the specifics of your tower, but for now, can everyone please choose a class.]


    Thinking under pressure is something that has been embedded within Eve throughout her career, however her instincts completely took over when she saw 2 pieces of floating equipment.


    You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.


    One was a long staff with a crystal on top that had Mage in writing underneath it.


    Yet, the other was a shorter staff, with a crystal on top of it also. Other than the shortness, and the different colour crystal. This one was green, and the other was a deep blue, there really was no different.


    The writing read Support.


    Eve chose Mage without even thinking and purely based upon instinct.


    She quickly looked around in bewilderment, just like the other 13 people did. They were met with equipment that was identical to what they chose.


    Eve had a long staff with a blue crystal in her hand. She looked around and saw Evan who is the teaching assistant with a shield and sword.


    Lee, a young boy in her class had a shorter staff with a green crystal. Eve instantly knew that it was the Support class. Lee was also joined by a girl named Kimmy. She also held a shorter staff with a green crystal. Kimmy looked at it with great interest as the orb sparkled off her huge glasses.


    As she scanned the room, she was met with different objects, but also some similar objects.


    She saw a young boy with the same exact staff in her hand. This was Grant. He was a lovely lad who was always quite outgoing and was quite intelligent for his age.


    A unique item she saw was held by Grace. She held a short wand of sorts, that had a blue crystal on the end she is holding. Eve had no clue how that was any different, but never really questioned it as she continued looking around.


    Jackson was holding a sword, along with Amy, Alex and Lement.


    Louise and Dexter held a bow, and had a quiver strapped to their back.


    Another unique item was held by Finn, who for 16 years old was huge in comparison to everyone else. He held a long hammer that was a bit more than half his size. Eve simply looked over and felt intimidated by him. But she knew that wasn''t the case. Finn was a caring boy who simply didn''t match how he looked.


    And finally Rose. Who Eve just didn''t see due to her height. She was stood next to Finn, and she simply overshadowed completely by him. She also held an item that was identical to Eve''s.


    It only took a couple of seconds for Eve to scan the room until she suddenly heard the same robotic voice again.


    [Everyone has completed their class selection. As previously mentioned, this is the Tower of Nurture. Quite simply, you will be facing constant fear of death due to monsters across the floors. They are simple, they will always be hunting missions to move onto the next floor. Although in some cases, for you to move upwards you will need to progress. But that''s for later! Before you get thrown into Floor 1, you will be given 30 minutes to recuperate. But before I go, one piece of advice - follow your innate talent. This will be the cornerstone of your path].


    The robotic voice faded, but Eve felt like his head slowly turned her way as he faded into nothingness.


    ''Innate talent? I wouldn''t even know how to find that''.


    And with that single thought, Eve finally saw the system. It was almost too game like.


    Name: Eve


    Race: Human (F)


    Level: 0


    Class: Mage


    Innate Talent: Affinities (B)


    Recognised Title:


    Skills: Mana Manipulation (F)


    Eve saw her Innate Talent called ''Affinities'' with the letter B, which could only be assumed to be the grading system.


    She took a heavy sigh.


    ''I can work with this''. She was almost delighted. Almost. How could she be delighted when she could only see terrified children surrounding her. They needed her protection.


    "Everyone! Gather round. We need to stick together no matter what". Eve shouted out to everyone, and suddenly the 12 teenagers as well as Evan came walking towards Eve,


    "It''s okay to be upset. But unfortunately you need to wipe those tears and save them for later. I have no idea what is happening and to be honest, I am just as scared as everyone here, but we need to just survive. Survival will always be our priority". Eve''s voice could be heard cracking almost throughout her talking. It was obvious she was just as scared as everyone else.


    Everyone just stared at her until Kimmy said something.


    "Miss Jenkins is right. We cannot crumble under pressure". Kimmy pushed up her glasses as she was speaking.


    Eve wasn''t sure what she was expecting, but it surely wasn''t that. How was Kimmy so calm?


    Eve instantly suspected that it was an innate talent.


    The hour came quickly, but after reassuring everyone Eve had a quick look at her innate talent closer.


    [Affinities: B


    Is able to master more than one affinity. In fact, it would be harmful to this mana core if more than one affinity is not incorporated. This mana core has the ability to consume multiple different affinities].


    Affinities? Mana?


    Eve didn''t really have a clue what this meant, but for some reason she sort of knew. It was a weird sensation. This mana core was deep within her body, but she felt it quite clear.


    There was multiple colours swirling around, assuming these were the affinities.


    But alas, Eve had to discard these thoughts for later, because now was time for Floor 1, but nobody knew what it would entail.


    [Floor 1: Slay 20 Goblins.


    0/20].


    Everyone was teleported outside of the white room, and was met with being inside of a forest.

 Chapter 2

    The forest was covered huge amounts of ground, almost the size of an island. However, this forest was unique, it was home to goblins.


    These creatures are not native to earth, but Eve slowly came to the conclusion that the old standards of earth would no longer be applicable in this tower.


    Before Eve could even look around at her surroundings, she heard a similar sound to that of an arrow, whizzing past her head. She looked towards where the arrow landed, and was filled with horror.


    A young girl, with bright orange hair that had freckles covering her entire body who usually had bright blue eyes. Anyone in the class would recognise this girl as Louise. She was a girl who didn''t speak much if often, but you would always hear her snickering away.


    Instead of snickering, you could hear a body fall down. If one looked at Louise. Her face was unrecognisable. Covering her freckles was now a pool of blood, and the light in her eyes dimmed completely.


    Now all they saw was a dead body of a young girl.


    Eve didn''t have time to register what she just saw, instead she shouted at everyone.


    "Run!". With that said, everyone ran behind Eve as fast as they could. Sure, they have newfound power, but they were still young and did not want to fight.


    Eve slowly looked behind her, and saw another body fall. Alex.


    It was a bullseye shot and Alex fell straight down, his belly facing downwards.


    Another death, and they have been in this forest for not even a minute. As Eve turned though, she saw two little green things in the trees.


    These things that had shark like teeth which was a disgusting yellow. Their ears protrude outwards being that of an alien. The strange thing about these creatures is that the only piece of clothing they had on covered their genitalia. They almost resemble cavemen in how primitive they were.


    They prepared another arrow with their short bows. Only one of the goblins held a bow, the other simply handed the arrows.


    Eve knew this couldn''t keep up, she hadn''t even consciously taken in the fact that two children are dead. Murder simply wasn''t something she had to worry about in her daily life, and now suddenly it seemed like it would become an occurrence she couldn''t avoid.


    She turned towards the goblins, and stopped in her tracks.


    "Everyone move forward, Evan you need to keep moving with them".


    Eve hadn''t even turned to look at her class, and before the goblins could fire another arrow, she conjured a piece of mana along that resembled a spear.


    Before Eve conjured her mana bolt, she knew it was something she could do, simply because of the existence of her mana core. Her mana core pulsated, creating a heartbeat as she willed her mana into the real world.


    Eve kept supplying the mana towards these conjurations, and two deep hued spears appeared before her. She could almost feel the intentions of these two spears, they wanted to shoot forward and inflict harm.


    Eve willed it. She let both of them loose and aimed for the goblins. The goblin readied its bow, and before it could even fire it, it was met with a single mana spear.


    Both goblins fell to their death out of the tree. Eve sighed heavily, she felt exhausted. As she was about to start running she heard a ding sound.


    [New ability required!


    Mana Bolt: F


    The basics of all mages. It''s a simple conjuration skill that wills mana from your mana core into existence. It flies towards the designated target.]


    Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.


    Eve read it as she ran behind the class.


    ''Simple.'' Eve was glad that she stayed behind, they were now not being chased, and had room to breath.


    "There''s a cave!". Evan jumped straight into the cave without thinking, and everyone followed including Eve.


    As soon as everyone got inside the cave, the floodgates came out.


    Every single individual in the cave was crying and screaming, including Eve.


    Two children, Alex and Louise are dead. Everyone saw their dead bodies. Sure, it could be seen as a painless death, but it was just too gruesome.


    The tears just couldn''t stop. Eve felt it was too much. All of this was just too much. This was supposed to be the Tower of Nurture, what is nurturing about this? This just confirmed that death was waiting at every corner, and that they would constantly be fighting creatures.


    No words were spoken, yet the cave was filled of loud noises for hours on end. Everyone completely forgetting where they were.


    Grace, the youngest of the group held something in her hand. It wasn''t the short wand, it was quite round and made weird noises which could only be heard by Grace. It was a purple small thing, that almost resembled a cloud if it wasn''t for it''s weird mouth.


    ''I''m scared, I''m really scared''. Grace was able to communicate with the purple cloud through her thoughts. She kept sniffling and sniffling. The weird sounds of the cloud comforted her somewhat. Whilst being comforted, she looked at her status page once again.


    Name: Grace


    Level: 0


    Race: Human (F)


    Class: Mage


    Innate Talent: Spirit Extension (A)


    Recognised Title:


    Skills: Spirit Magic (E), Mana Manipulation (F)


    She zoned in on her Innate Talent once again.


    [Spirit Extension: A


    Your spirit has extended itself outside of your body. It has its own consciousness, and able to level up individually to yourself. Despite that, you are in complete control of it, since it is your spirit. As it grows, it will be able to learn its own form of magic and it''s body will change based on your will. If you die, the spirit dies. If the spirit dies, you die. As you grow, you can obtain more spirits.]


    Grace once again just didn''t understand it. She didn''t even know what Spirit Magic was, and yet she has the skill. Tears just kept streaming down her pale face. Her eyes quickly became irritated as she constantly rubbed them.


    Everyone was effected to their core. This was simply something that they wouldn''t forget.


    Especially Lee and Jackson. The two twins were very close with Alex, and spent a lot of time with him, both outside of school and inside. They comforted each other and hugged each other hard whilst crying into their shoulders. They also looked at each other strangely from time to time.


    Ever since they gained their innate talents, their eye colour changed. Lee''s eye colour turned to a rose quartz colour. It was actually quite pretty, whilst Jackson''s eye colour turned to a jet black in which was downright creepy.


    Lee finally said something. "Jackson, why has your eye colour changed?". Lee''s voice sounded croaky because of all the tears that were shed.


    "I think it''s my innate talent, I have a Dark Attunement, whatever that means". Jackson''s voice didn''t really reflect that he had been crying. He was definitely crying, but it was more out of the reaction of seeing his brother so upset.


    Lee tried to chuckle, but nothing happened. "That''s quite funny, I have a Light Attunement, what is my eye colour?". Lee answered inquisitively.


    "Rose quartz. It was almost white, but with a hint of pink". Jackson answered as he wiped his brothers tears. Respectfully, they both looked at their own status page.


    Name: Lee


    Level: 0


    Race: Human (F)


    Class: Support


    Innate Talent: Light Attunement (E)


    Recognised Title:


    Skills: Light Manipulation (F), Radiant Recovery (E)


    [Light Attunement: E


    Your mana core is entirely made up of the affinity Light. Your entire being is attuned to light. This is inherently different to an affinity, as you no longer have access to any other forms of mana].


    Lee had no reaction to any of this, as he simply didn''t really understand the implications of this.


    Whereas Jackson was a tad different.


    Name: Jackson


    Level: 0


    Race: Human (F)


    Class: Warrior


    Innate Talent: Dark Attunement (E)


    Recognised Title:


    Skills: Dark Manipulation (F), Shadow Movement (F)


    [Dark Attunement: E


    Your mana core is entirely made up of the affinity Dark. Your entire being is attuned to Darkness. This is inherently different to an affinity, as you no longer have access to any other forms of mana].


    Although the mood was somber, Jackson couldn''t help feel excited. Life to him was boring and too mundane. He always wanted to experience a change, and well this was the perfect opportunity. But for now, he wanted to comfort his brother. Jackson will always prioritise Lee over anyone else.


    The somber mood stayed this way throughout the cave for hours. Conversations weren''t common and most sat there in silence, staring.


    Overtime, everyone realised this is it. This will be there life for the foreseeable future.


    And with that realisation, Eve sat there and wondered what to do. She wondered how could she ensure that these children can be safe.


    There was only conclusion she came up with.


    And that was teaching.


    [Floor 1:


    Defeat 20 goblins to progress.


    2/20 defeated].

 Chapter 3

    Teaching at its core is imparting knowledge. That knowledge can be literally anything, whether it be maths, or simply learning how to tie your shoes. Although that in itself is simple, there are strategies which need to be used on a daily basis to reaffirm new knowledge and allow it to stick with the learning subject. One of these strategies is modelling, otherwise known as the bread and butter of teaching.


    Modelling is its most simplest form of demonstration. The teacher demonstrates knowledge, and the students copy whatever was demonstrated and apply that into their own work. For example, a simple math equation of 2 + 3. Any adult will instantly know that 2 + 3 is 5, however what about children who have never been shown maths? Resources would then be used. Demonstrating using concrete objects is an amazing way for students to learn. In this math equation, you could simply have two counters next to each other and three other counters separated. The teacher would add up the counters, and then the students do it next. That in essence is what demonstrating is.


    Now how can this be applied to mana?


    Well, Eve simply doesn''t know. Sure, she used mana bolt once when shooting at the goblins, but she simply doesn''t know the intricacies of mana and it''s origination. Heck, she wouldn''t even know the first thing of explaining mana to others. She needed to look inward. She had to have a clearer look to see what was happening to her body. Obviously changes have been made, but to what extent?


    Although this may be hard as Eve looked around, she saw traumatised children. It was hard to just ignore them, but honestly she doesn''t know what use she could be to them at this moment. Everyone was on an insane time crunch, as the goblins could be anywhere at the moment, and they hadn''t exactly been quiet when in the cave.


    Until suddenly she started feeling calm. Eves nerves settled, and as far as Eve could tell, so did everyone else''s.


    Eve noticed a bunch of flowers sprouting ever so slowly across the dingy cave, but thought nothing of until she saw Rose smiling intensely at them.


    Rose was a quiet teen, and didn''t really have a lot to say unless it was about one of her hobbies.


    ''They''re just so pretty''. Rose thought to herself, completely ignoring everything around her. She hadn''t even registered the pure anguish everyone was experiencing, not even recognising her own emotions. The flowers that were there was a result of her innate talent.


    Name: Rose


    Level: 0


    Race: Human (F)


    Class: Mage


    Innate Talent: Flower Road (F)


    Recognised Title:


    Skills: Mana Manipulation (F)


    [Flower Road (F)


    Flowers will continuously sprout around you, and will sprout on any ground you stand on no matter the environment. These flowers have a small calming effect on anyone surrounding them].


    Anyone else who would''ve gotten this Innate Talent would be completely downtrodden simply because of what they were exposed to. This new world suddenly needed combat abilities, and flowers sprouting around you simply did not cut it.


    But not Rose, in fact she was over the moon. Flowers represent much more than something beautiful to her. They are her life line, and her constant reminder of how life is worth living. Someone wouldn''t expect something so deep to be thought of by a 17 year old, but hey, the world is obviously full of surprises.


    Rose was glad she would always be in the company of flowers. She would spend the rest of her days surrounded by beautiful flowers which naturally make her calm. This was Roses weird version of heaven.


    Eve smiled while looking at this. She knew the profound effect this would have on Rose, and she was glad to have someone thriving in this new world.


    However, despite the flowers giving her a sense of calmness, it did not get rid of her urgency. Eve simply had to get on with figuring out what ''mana'' truly is.


    Eve closed her eyes, and focused on her entire being on whatever this multicoloured mana core was. As Eve was doing this, she slowly came to the realisation that this orb is connected to these small, yet vital blue essence in her bloodstream, her heart, and even her veins. She could only suspect these this blue essence to be mana.


    Eve slowly figured that this mana wasn''t some foreign being, it was simply awoken by whatever this Tower was. It had always been there, and now it was active. It didn''t seem to have any intent, it just was. Completely undisturbing any of her vital organs.


    In her mana core, Eve noticed how these blue essence were trying to connect to each individual colour, and Eve tried to count how many streams of essence there were, but there truly was too many to count.


    ''I think I get it. These blue streams are obviously mana, whilst these colours in my core are my affinities. Despite having these affinities, I cannot access them because these mana streams can''t connect to them, probably because they didn''t have the correct mana affinity?''


    Eve was working on a lot of assumptions, but with how she believes her core to work, it made the most sense in her mind.


    ''Now how the hell do I access these different types of mana? I''ve got the affinity, but not the correct mana corresponding to these affinities''.


    But with that, her thought process was interrupted by a ding


    If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    [New skill required!


    Meditation (F): Meditation allows someone to be in focus when in a set position for a few seconds].


    Eve nodded to herself and looked at her status page.


    Name: Eve


    Level: 1


    Race: Human (F)


    Class: Mage


    Innate Talent: Affinities (B)


    Recognition Title:


    Skills: Mana Manipulation (F), Mana Bolt (F), Meditation (F).


    Eve hadn''t even registered her level up earlier, but that wasn''t her main concern for now, it was time to teach her students.


    "Guys, can everyone sit around me for a second?". Eve calmy spoke to everyone granted the situation. She knew there was no point in even raising her voice for everyone to gather. They were in a small cave, she could whisper and everyone would be able to understand that she said something, just probably not the intricacies of her words.


    Before Eve spoke, she saw a purple cloud follow Grace. That was for another time as she felt like she needed to move on, but she made her facial expression known to Grace that she was interested and wanted a conversation.


    "Okay so I know this situation is far from ideal, but we need to get on with it. I''ll gladly speak to everyone here, but for now, I''m going to try and teach everyone something. This is going to be in relation to mana and meditation. Whoever has access to mana, or has a skill called Mana Manipulation can you raise your hand?".


    4 hands were raised, which belonged to Grant, Rose, Kimmy and Grace.


    ''Lee hadn''t raised his hand for some reason even though Kimmy had''. Eve pondered and wondered why this was the case. It was obvious they both had the same class.


    "Lee do you not have access to mana?".


    "Well yes, but it''s not just mana, it''s Light Mana. I''m attuned to it and everything mana related is automatically turned to the light affinity". Lee answered with his croaky voice, obvious that he had been crying until recently.


    "I''m the same, except mines dark attunement". Jackson raised his hand as he spoke, seemingly used to being in class.


    Eve nodded her head and didn''t push further despite her obvious interest.


    ''Affinity and attunement were obviously linked, I need to speak to them later''.


    "For now, you two join the mana class later". Eve felt weird referring to it as a class. How did this represent a class at all? This whole scenario was just so weird.


    "Everyone close your eyes, and look inwards. Focus on your body. Imagine your organs, seeing your heart pumping blood, and look at your mana core". Eve threw the last part about a mana core on a whim. She hoped everyone had access to one as she assumed every skill relied on mana based on her limited knowledge.


    Silence filled the cave, as every student was sat there, eyes closed and cross legged as flowers surrounded them.


    Eve thought to herself that it was a beautiful scene. But the circumstances were anything but beautiful. There was a constant nagging at the back of her mind that she needed to see every child to the end. All of them needed to get out of here - alive.


    One by one the teens, and Evan included, opened their eyes to a ding sound.


    Everyone had accessed to Meditation. Even though it was an F skill, which everyone assumed was bad. Eve felt this would be the cornerstone of progression.


    "Before we move onto mana, hands up if you have a mana core". This was an important answer that Eve needed.


    Everyone put their hands up, although some hesitated. Amy, Dexter and Lement all hesitated. Eve once again pondered but swiftly moved on.


    "Okay, now we will be moving onto mana manipulation. Everyone has probably guessed what it is by now, but  let me explain. This skill is the foundation of all mages and support classes as to conjure any form of mana into existence, mana manipulation is needed". Eve scanned the class once again and saw a lot of eager children. Some more deflated than others and she understood why.


    There was an undertone set, and with the children and Evan who picked physical classes, they had no hope in learning mana manipulation, and Eve was impartial to agree. If they could, then what would be the point of picking classe from the get-go, and there was obvious limitations to individuals based on the fact that everyone had different selections.


    For example, Eve was not offered a single physical class, whereas Jackson was offered both a physical class, or a magical type class. This was probably due to Jackson having talent in both areas, whereas Eve wasn''t.


    Eve looked at Evan with a pleading look. He understood after spending almost 3 years of working together.


    "Everyone who doesn''t have mana manipulation come with me, we''ll just talk about our innate talents for a while". Evan smiled at Eve who looked tense and he knew why. She didn''t want to crush any hopes of survival, but being a mage was not the end all be all. In games, warriors were just as valuable, Evan knew that, but Eve didn''t seem to.


    Despite everyone without mana manipulation moving to other side of the cave, Eve gestured for both Jackson and Lee to stay. Despite them not having the mana manipulation skill, they still had a manipulation skill, it''s just that their mana was too pure with one affinity that it holds different properties to that of basic mana.


    "Okay so I''m going to demonstrate what is called a Mana Bolt. It''s the most simplest forms. The skill is even referred to as simple".


    Without further ado, Eve summoned a mana bolt, and held her staff towards the conjuration. The mana bolt just simply floated, and had no intention of flying off like the one she used to the goblins.


    "Now, this Mana Bolt will not fly anywhere, because I don''t want it to. It follows my orders because I willed it. You can all do this, but it could take a few tries and that''s okay". Eve addressed the kids, but didn''t look at them. She was too focused on the mana bolt.


    Grace looked at Eve and attempted it immediately. The purple cloud, otherwise known as Violet by Grace wanted her to use mana as quickly as possible, so it sent some encouraging words.


    Grace concentrated, and suddenly a blue hue appeared and slowly shifted itself into that of a spear, just like Eves. It was probably the same size as Graces wand, if not a little longer, with a sharp tip on the end. Grace stared at her own conjuration, and back at Eves. They were pretty much identical until Graces mana bolt disintegrated.


    Before anyone spoke, Grace put her thumbs up and smiled whilst sighing.


    She had also gained the new skill. Eve was ecstatic. Pure joy was plastered on her face as she saw others trying, including both Lee and Jackson.


    This is why she loves teaching. Seeing children''s curiosity bloom as they learn new things.


    Around 5 minutes past, and everyone had achieved mana bolt, with the exception of Lee and Jackson.


    Lee conjured a mana bolt with his rose quartz coloured mana which was identical to his eye colour. He was able to conjure it. It''s just that this was named Light Bolt, and instead of it''s piercing capabilities shown by Eve when she fought the goblins. Lee stated that it''s description burnt enemies instead, which was new.


    Whereas Jackson messed around with his mana for a while, but realised that using range attacks just didn''t fit him. He was a warrior after all, so he just messed around with it for a while, and his Shadow Movement skill.


    It was a quite a simple skill. His feet turned jet black, and he was able to move faster. That was all it did. But it felt nice to Jackson.


    Eve was trying to slowly move away from the talk of mana, and more to do with Grace''s cloud, however before she did, she heard a ding.


    [New skill required!


    Conjured Demonstration: You have willed your mana into existence with the intent of teaching. Any demonstrations using mana in the future will allow others to gain further insights into their abilities, and allow any mistakes made to be more prominent to yourself. This skill requires no activation].


    Eve could only smirk as she read the notification in front of her.


    Her passion was always teaching, and it will still be teaching.

 Chapter 4

    On the other side of the cave, there was Evan speaking to the warriors of the class (and Dexter), minus Jackson who had a weird attunement which nobody knew a lot about, even himself.


    There was a sweet voice speaking, and that belonged to Finn. He was speaking about his innate talent. His innate talent consisted of:


    [Gravity Field (C):


    In a 1 meter radius, a gravity field can be activated that allows for all opponents to feel heavier than usual, whereas the user and any objects he is holding will be seen as lighter than usual].


    "It''s just amazing! Any objects that I touch feel lighter when I activate the skill. This hammer, which I even think is quite heavy, is so easy to hold when I use my talent!". Finn was beaming from ear to ear. Who would''ve thought that he had just been through a traumatic event?


    Evan was glad that Finn was in a good mood, as he didn''t want to see traumatised children surrounding him, but he did wonder why he was so unaffected.


    Everyone else in the group except Evan and Lement sighed.


    Amy complained to no end about her useless talent.


    It was called [Strengthen (F)] and literally did as it said. It strengthened her muscles. That was it.


    [Strengthened (F):


    Strengthens your muscles. Allows them to be more durable and deal explosive damage. Potentially has side effects if overused].


    "It''s just so pointless, it even has a downside to using it for God''s sake. I mean it''s supposed to be a talent. Does this mean I''m just not talented then?". Amy''s anger slowly turned into sadness. She couldn''t help but wonder what Louise and Alex had, could they have had a more useful talent, if so would they be able to contribute more?


    Dexter was indifferent about his ability. It was quite a cool ability and would definitely be handy, but it just didn''t resemble the fantasy-like abilities others have. Other than letting everyone else know his ability, he didn''t really contribute to the conversation.


    [Forensic Sight (F):


    Able to see warmth through walls and able to see further away. (PASSIVE)].


    Lement on the other hand was very vocal about his talent, and he was actually quite pleased.


    [Sword Dance (E):


    When dealing continuous damage with a sharp blade, the damage will increase passively. If interrupted or attacked in between, this effect will cancel. (PASSIVE)].


    Lement has a past of playing competitive fencing, and his hobby has shown fruitful to him. He looked at his sabre and smiled. He had the option of two different swords but they had the exact same class. There was the ordinary sword that others were holding such as Evan, Amy and Jackson.


    The only explanation can be chalked up to have different experiences with weapons, but what experience does Lement have with a huge hammer like that? Lement just chuckled to himself with that thought.


    Evan also spoke about his own innate talent.


    "It''s actually quite interesting, but also very simple. It literally just makes whatever I''m holding bigger". Evan went on to recite his own innate talent.


    [Expansion (D):


    Anything held by the user can be expanded. Weight is affected when expansion is used on the object].


    Evan also spoke about his class being Guardian which was inherently different to everyone. He had a shield and sword so he just assumed his role was made for protecting people, and his innate talent pushed this thought forward.


    Evan really wanted to ask them how they''re holding up, but after using their innate talents as a distraction to the two murders only around 30 minutes ago, he didn''t want to see the teens cry all over again.


    Eve for now, wanted to move on with mana, and speak to Grace about whatever was following her.


    "So Grace, is that purple cloud your innate talent?". Eve spoke with vigur. She wanted any form of distraction to get away from reality.


    "Uhm, well yes it is. It''s called Spirit Extension and Grade A. My spirit is separated from my body and allows it to have a consciousness, levels and it''s own skills. My talent also tells me that I can gain others in the future".


    Eve was absolutely astounded. Grade A. It seems like Grace has the highest innate talent.


    "That''s amazing well done!". Eve gave her a high-five. Eve knew that Grace was often times uncomfortable with physical touch, but high-fives were always reciprocated well by Grace.


    "Oh, here''s my innate talent too, I don''t think I''ve told anyone". Grant suddenly spoke and wings protruded out of his back. This was clearly his first time seeing these things as he looked completely shell shocked when he looked behind.


    They were huge wings that resembled butterfly wings. The weird thing about these wings though is that they were covered in weird symbols that nobody seemed to understand, including Grant. The description was as followed.


    [Runic Wings (C):


    Once these wings are activated they cannot be dispelled. These wings allow access to runic magic and allows for a deeper understanding of this school of magic. The wings also work as usual, and allow for flight]. Grant was completely impressed, and he felt like he could fly like a bird if he was outside and not in a flower cave. He instinctively knew how to fly with the use of these wings. Also, he gained a new skill called [Rune Magic (F)].


    Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.


    Eve was utterly confused, but she zoomed in on ''school of magic''.


    ''I''m assuming this means that there are multiple ways of learning magic and can be applied to different things?''. Eve wasn''t sure, but that wasn''t what was important right now.


    "Before we move on, I would also like to say my piece". Kimmy raised her hand as she spoke.


    "Now, I have the talent of Analytical Mind. People''s vitality is converted into numerical data, and I can see something called health points above everyone''s head". Kimmy was speaking very quickly like there was suddenly something they had to be weary of.


    "Anyways, we need to formulate a plan on what we''re going to be doing. Everyone! This way please". Kimmy went straight to ordering people about, and surprisingly people listened.


    This was no surprise to anyone in the room. Kimmy loved being the ''voice of reason'' and would often call herself the mediator of the class. Everyone let her be as she always meant well even if she was a tad invasive. Obviously, Eve had to set boundaries for Kimmy and she has made some great progress, but she still has little quirks that are quite innocent.


    "We need to set up a wide formation, and in the future, we need to set up teams as currently there is simply too many of us. The most basic formation we will use right now is warriors to the front, supports in the middle and mages in the back. Specifically, Sir needs to be in the centre of the warriors has he has a much wider health pool". Kimmy wasn''t done, but the last sentence made everyone on the physical side confused, but they left it be.


    Kimmy continued on, and didn''t even let Eve speak.


    Dexter also started drifting off, and looked at ceiling to see if there was any warmth above them, and he also looked at the entryway. His distance eyes suddenly shot open and he screamed a jumbled up sentence. "HEAT ENTRANCE GOBLINS!".


    Evan twisted his head to the entrance, and ran towards it directly putting himself in front of everyone and into the centre of all the warriors.


    Nervousness filled the cave as everyone assumed positions from Kimmy. Everyone was nervous except Jackson who was waiting in anticipation.


    Eve readied herself and had two mana bolts waiting above everyone. The others followed. Right now, four mana bolts were floating above everyone, and one light bolt from Lee. When these mana bolts were prepared, there was also a purple mist going towards the entrance.


    Violet took it upon itself to go into the front lines and be a part of the warriors, plus the guardian Evan. The mist directly came from it, and Evan could smell it. It smelt wonderful. It was the sweetest fragrance he had ever smelt. It took everything in his power to not run straight into it. But he was glad he didn''t, as he saw goblins surrounded by this aroma seem intensely sluggish.


    As soon as the goblins were seen, a mana bolt came directly into it''s head. Eve smiled.


    ''Bullseye'' she said to herself, relaxing.


    [You have slain a Goblin. Experience has been gained].


    Eve gained some experience, but she couldn''t even think about that as other mana bolts started flying, and the warriors finally engaged in combat.


    It was absolutely carnage. There was a boy with shadow boots, running around like a madman, stabbing his sword straight into their guts, and when he did that, a sabre went into the goblins head. This was Jackson and Lement. They were fighting together, and tried their best.


    There were a mix of goblins. Some had nothing in their hand and charged forward. Others stayed back and used a crossbow, whilst others had a small dagger in their dirty hands.


    Eve kept supplying mana bolts as the best she could, but most of the time the most she could do was support as these mana bolts didn''t oftenly kill them in one hit.


    Lee stopped using his Light Bolts and used Radiant Recovery on Evan.


    Unfortunately for Evan, he was getting the brunt of the attacks, from both arrows and random goblins with daggers. His cuts were building up and unfortunately getting the better of him. He didn''t feel confident enough to use his talent so it was unused, however suddenly a bright light surrounded him, and any goblins near him screamed in pain.


    Lee used Radiant Recovery and when he did Kimmy smiled as she saw Evans healthpoints increase, and the goblins health points decrease.


    ''Amazing'' she thought. It was a beautiful sight, seeing someone be covered in a rose quartz glow.


    Amy saw all of this, and shrank backwards. She was scared, and the goblins took advantage of that. When the bright light surrounded Evan, the goblins stopped shooting at him, and aimed directly at Amy.


    Eve saw this in realtime, but she couldn''t do anything other than scream, and so did Amy. There was noise of stabbing sounds, blood dropping on the floor from humans and goblins. But there was a loud screech which took over, that came from a young girl.


    Amy saw an arrow aim straight for her, and landed straight into her eye.


    AAHHHHH! Amy screamed and screamed. She fell straight down, withering in pain, rolling across the floor. Every mage was affected by this, including Dexter who was sat with the mages saw Amy shriek in pain.


    The warriors at the front could only hear it. Kimmy was unable to use her recovery on Amy as she literally had just used it on Jackson. She was exhausted. Kimmy and Lee went pale. They had to wait a few more seconds, but suddenly, they didn''t need to use it on Amy.


    Another arrow shot straight into Amy''s head. The cave, that was filled with screams, suddenly fell silent and could hear the snickering of five goblins at the back.


    Eve could''ve been sick. The smell, the sight, the sounds. It wasn''t something she should be hearing. She needed to vent, and she saw her targets.


    Five goblins turned into four, and four goblins turned into three.


    [You have slain a Goblin. Experience has been gained].


    [You have slain a Goblin. Experience has been gained].


    Almost immediately after the death of Amy, Eve summoned two mana bolts and willed them straight at the backline.


    "Grace! Get that purple cloud into the backline now!". Eve even ordered Grace.


    Grace just nodded, and Violet zoomed into the enemies backline. Jackson and Lement also joined. The goblins saw this and wanted to run, but unlucky for them, Lement had yet to be hurt.


    Lement had the strength to cut a clean hit on one of the goblins, and it''s head came flying off.


    A goblin with no bow and just held arrows looked in despair as Violet came charging at it. Purple mist, almost the identical colour of Violet, went straight into the eyes and the mouth of the goblin, and it''s head exploded.


    Grace winced at the sight, but was glad to see Violet levelling up. Grace herself wasn''t slacking off. She had killed three goblins so far, her kill count only being behind Eve.


    Rose was trying her best and had only killed one, aswell as Grant. They found it hard to keep up, but they kept trying.


    It took a while for them as they needed to aim their mana bolts, whereas it came easier to Lee, Eve and Grace.


    The backline of the goblins were all gone, and now there was only 6 left. 12 goblins already dead.


    These goblins shrank back, but they were stuck. If they were to go into the mist, the sluggishness would only get worse but they were completely outnumbered.


    Jackson went around with Lement slaying as many goblins as possible, whilst having the constant supervision of Kimmy, who tended to heal eitther one of them, whereas Lee focused on Evan as he simply took more damage than anyone else.


    There were still 3 burnt goblins waiting to be killed.


    Two fell to Evan, and the final one fell to Dexter.


    3 goblins were left, and they were all surrounding Finn.


    Finn spent a lot of this battle testing out his talent, and he was surrounded by the same goblins who had originally gone for him.


    They were facing flat on the floor, unable to get up.


    Finn just shrugged and swung his hammer above his head, squashing one of the goblins, and the other two followed.


    Vile. That was the only word that could be described to this scene.


    A young girl laid there, one eye wide open and two arrows protruding from her head. Beheaded, squashed goblins surrounded the cave.


    The once beautiful flowers in the cave, had blood covering them.


    Eve sighed whilst she looked at Amy. She suddenly threw up. She threw up everywhere and she couldn''t stop.


    The image plastered her mind, until suddenly the room changed, and she heard a ding


    [Well done! Floor 1 is cleared.


    one hour until Floor 2. This floor will be used as a recuperation place. You will always have an hour apart between every Floor].


    Eve had one hour until she had to be in a new nightmare.


    She had no choice but to do this.


    She had to do this.

 Chapter 5

    Eve took the death of Amy hard, probably harder than both Louise and Alex.


    Eve worked a lot with Amy in school and Amy showed immense progress throughout the year in her studies. Her newfound love for history meant that she actually urged Eve to start a history club.


    ''They don''t deserve this''. Eve cried to the point Evan had to console her. Yes, Evan was upset and so were the kids, however no tears were shed on their part. If anything they were distracting themselves with level gains from the ordeal, and newfound vigur that they hadn''t experienced before.


    Eve was still the most levelled out of everyone, being at Level 3. Whereas she was followed closely by Jackson, Grace, Lement, Lee and Kimmy who were all Level 2. Kimmy and Lee got experience from healing wounds which was a boon in itself, it meant once they got out of this tower, they didn''t need to go out onto the battlefield.


    Dexter, Evan, Finn, Rose and Grant were all Level 1. It meant that everyone had at least killed one goblin each.


    ''This is it. No more deaths''. Eve sighed deeply to the point her lungs were full and screamed. She screamed aloud for everyone to hear although not her intention.


    A smile then protruded from her face. ''Survival is a must''.


    "Grace, your purple cloud thing is really creepy, you know that right? When myself and Lement got closer to it, the smell almost dragged me in". Jackson was bewildered as he eyed up the cloud.


    "It''s not a cloud! It''s a spirit! Also I''ve told you once already, it''s called Violet, so stop referring to it as a cloud. And if you must know, that is Violet''s skill called Miasma". Grace swiftly turned her back to Jackson and started speaking to Rose instead.


    Grace, and practically everyone in the class had a short fuse when it came to Jackson. He was simply too boisterous at all times of the day. There was just too much energy radiating from him, but Jackson knew not to take it personally especially as Lement would always give him the time of day. They were both birds of a feather and if anything they acted more similarly than his own twin brother does!


    Grace turned to speak to Rose, however the young girl was sat there in a meditation state with a smile on her face. Grace loved Rose as a friend, although she always wondered what went on in her brain. Rose was sweet, but it always felt like she was away with the fairies. Seeing Rose staring into space was a common occurrence, but now, it Rose was either staring at her flowers, or in meditation.


    The hour finished with everyone recuperating and mentally preparing themselves for whatever they had to go against next. Rose and Grant spent this hour to themselves in a meditative state. Nobody really questioned it, but their innate talents seemed to be the most random out of everyone. Grant somehow has wings now that had constant weird symbols on them, and from his description he gained knowledge that he had to decipher? Nobody really knew what he was talking about.


    Whereas Rose had the most useless talent out of everyone yet she only spoke great things about it during their downtime in the cave. Yet, when everyone entered the white room, she entered meditation and did not speak to anyone. Sometimes she opened her eyes to look at the flowers like she was cracking a code. Yet in a way, she was. Rose just like every other person with mana manipulation and meditation have the ability to see mana particles in the air. Rose slowly came to the conclusion it was mana because every person radiated different mana particles some stronger than others, but they were still there. Everyone had certain mana particles surrounding them, including her flowers.


    Now, mana manipulation is purely a skill that allows people to use their mana creatively outside of skills, it has nothing to do with their interpretations of mana. However, people who have mana manipulation already have the entry requirements to see finer mana particles.


    WIth that, Floor 2 was upon the class, and now had to fight their way through once again.


    [Floor 2:


    Slay 20 Goblins, and 2 Hobgoblins


    0/20 Goblins


    0/2 Hobgoblins].


    Everyone saw the requirements and had a sigh of relief. Yes, they lost three people, however when fighting them, nobody truly struggled against the goblins. Dexter who was arguably the weakest out of the bunch, had killed two goblins independently.


    Evan and Eve looked at their surroundings almost immediately, to find themselves in the exact same forest as last time. However, the only difference is that they weren''t attacked from the get-go.


    ''We were just unlucky then...''. Eve continued to scan the area despite the sudden of urge of sadness.


    They truly had been unlucky throughout the entirety of Floor 1. They had randomly been given a location, and there were already two goblins waiting there.


    Eve shook her head.


    If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    ''What''s done is done''. They couldn''t reverse time, and they definitely couldn''t reverse death.


    With that, a group of 11 walked through the forest with a trail of flowers following behind them.


    "Rose can you turn your talent off?". Despite the trail of flowers being stunning. It was exactly that - a trail. They had no idea what a hobgoblin was, but they had to kill two, so they could only assume it was much more powerful than a small goblin.


    "Unfortunately not. It''s constantly activated no matter what I desire". Rose was deflated because there was obviously a time and place. As much as she loved the flowers, they were becoming a disturbance to their survival.


    Despite that, they plodded on with Evan in front, and Eve in the back. Obviously, Evan had no idea where they were going, they were just moving.


    Until thankfully, they came across a small group of goblins. There were around 7 in total and no hobgoblin in sight.


    Nobody was nervous as they were already in their positions from walking. Because of this, it made more sense for the mages to take each one out, including the supports.


    The disgusting, green goblins hadn''t even seen their deaths coming, as they were all shot in the head, except one which was swiftly finished off by Dexter. They quickly scanned the dead bodies of the goblins, and Dexter pocketed one of the small daggers the goblins held.


    It had a sharp metal end, but the handle was wooden. It had crude craftsmanship, but that was to be expected. The item reflected information, which is something that just didn''t happen with their equipment gifted by the system.


    [Blunt Dagger (F): A simple, blunt dagger. If stabbed, harder to recover bleeding].


    This was a huge gain, and Dexter showed everyone. Although, it was not the only gain during this little scuffle if it could be called that. It was pretty much a massacre. Grace had also gained a level, and was now on par with Eve with 3 levels. Although unfortunately for Violet, it had only just levelled up once despite it killing quite a few goblins during the fight on Floor 1. It seems like killing things for Violet was an inefficient way of levelling up.


    "Gosh it truly is like we''re living in a video game". The giant chuckled to himself as he swung his hammer around in his hand. Finn seemed like he was getting agitated having not be able to kill any goblins.


    The others could only think the same as it was literally like an item in a game.


    Still, they went on, until finally it became nighttime. It had only been 12 hours since they were back into the woods, and nighttime fell on them.


    ''Weird, it seems like this tower has a different cycle to Earth''. This was just an observation and didn''t necessarily mean it was a good or bad thing.


    Evan and Finn slowly set up a campfire, however this was in no way a campsite. There was not a single tent in sight.


    Everyone had to make do using leaves as covers and pillows as they slept on the floor.


    Evan and Eve took 3 hour intervals of watching camp as they hadn''t been on Floor 1 that long so they had no way of knowing if goblins operated in the night. During Eve''s intervals, she meditated as when she did, it felt like she was watching the world through another set of eyes as she could see all around her.


    However she noticed something strange when she meditated. There were green wisps in the sky, matching the colour she sees in her mana core.


    ''Why is there mana in the air?''. Eve was perplexed by this as she previously didn''t notice this in the cave. This was a revelation, as always the thought at th back of her mind of how to gain access to magic with spells that are elemental. She obviously has the affinities in her mana core, but the mana inside of her had no connection to these affinities.


    Eve was ecstatic. She also noticed affinities that exudes from people. Some fainter than others, but for Jackson and Lee, their mana affinities, or attunement in their case was thick and looked almost very pure like there was no other affinity in the mix.


    But alas, she unfocused from others and focused on the atmosphere. She needed to make a connection of the mana stream going into her mana core and make it the same mana.


    She once looked inwards at her mana core, and saw these mana streams trying to connect to certain colours, however these mana streams were a deep blue, and simply were unable to make connections with everything.


    She wanted to literally grab out at this green mana in her surroundings but she couldn''t. She simply didn''t know the means in absorbing them.


    Then Eve squinted. ''Absorption. I need to somehow absorb the mana in my surroundings and then replace the mana stream trying to connect to the green colour.


    Eve sighed as frustration was building on top of her. ''I simply don''t know where to begin''.


    She tried to physically grab the mana, however when she moved, her meditation broke and therefore couldn''t see the mana particles.


    ''That was a bust''. She quickly looked around her to see if anyone saw.


    She entered meditation and once again was met with a green hue everywhere. What she noticed though, is that the green hue was ever slightly different to what Rose''s flowers emitted. Rose''s flowers emitted a very light green, almost a pale green unlike the dark green mana in the environment. Eve paid little attention to this as she assumed that was more to do with Rose than herself.


    Eve slowly felt herself get more exhausted, and she had one last ditch attempt.


    She tried to use her mind to move the mana. Obviously didn''t work.


    She tried to stir up the mana inside her body using mana manipulation. Something worked, but it wasn''t what she was looking for.


    Then, her final attempt had something to do with her mana core. She tried to stir up the mana streams surrounding the mana core, and something happened. They slightly moved but other than that, nothing happened. She focused in on the mana stream that connected to the green mana. The stream moved, however Eve hasn''t got a clue on where it should be moved.


    Sweat slowly poured down her forehead, and decided to give up until her next watch. She felt exhaustion fell over her body, and woke Evan up as she spent the last 3 hours in meditation.


    ''I''ll try again when I''m partially rested".


    Eve gave Evan a sorry look as she slept, and Evan sat there staring into the woods.


    Evan also wanted to progress with his skills but didn''t use meditation. He had a skill called Shield Arts and wanted to practice it, as currently it was at F grade and assumed the only way to progress in these sort of skills was to actually progress with a shield.


    For the next three hours, Evan swang his shield around aimlessly with no goal in sight, as he had no prior experience with a shield.


    He looked at his status page.


    Name: Evan


    Level: 1


    Race: Human (F)


    Class: Guardian


    Innate Talent: Expansion (E)


    Recognised Title:


    Skills: Shield Arts (F)


    No progress were made.


    For a few minutes he stared into the sky, debating what the hell was happening on Earth. He missed his family, his home, and his pet dog.


    With that, he awoke Eve, and she again was on watch.


    Eve felt rested enough, and was pumped. She was going to crack this new system, and gain more insight for her pupils.

 Chapter 6

    Eve was able to make the connection that she has already acquired these affinities, however she can not use them as she simply doesn''t own any mana of that affinity. The blue hue mana, is that. Mana. It is the basic mana that early mages use as their main source of power. However, these different coloured mana, such as the light mana that Lee uses has different properties, and only certain people can use it, although Eve completely breaks these barriers as she has access to every mana affinity.


    Eve moved the mana stream towards the green mana, which she can only assume is a form of nature mana mainly due to it being in the atmosphere of a forest.


    She moved it in the opposite direction of her mana core, and wanted to see if the mana stream would go outside of her body, so she kept extending it outwards, until finally she made progress.


    A stream of mana came out of the right side of her chest where her mana core is located.


    Eve''s forehead glistened under the moonlight, and she had to stop. Instantly, the stream of mana protracted inwards, however before it did, a small particles of nature mana followed it.


    Excitedly, Eve looked inwards, and saw the smallest set of particles integrating into a set mana stream. Eve was just a spectator in this moment, as she currently had no control over this process. The deep blue mana was still there, however a tip of it turned green, just like the mana in the atmosphere.


    Then, a familiar ding was heard.


    [You have gained experience because of progression made down your path].


    ''Down my path?''. Eve sat up straight as she read the notification. It was sounded like the system was using a path as a metaphor for progression, however Eve was unsure whether that was the case.


    ''It doesn''t matter, it''s obviously a good thing. No need to overthink''.


    Eve was still completely chuffed and glad she finally made progress. However she progressed purely on intuition.


    ''Not to be big headed, but I don''t know if everyone would be able to follow along with this process''. Eve, trying to be humble thought that some of the class won''t be able to progress a long with the others, primarily those without a mana class as their focus as well as Rose and Grant.


    Grant mainly because runes were something completely unheard of, and from the mana particles surrounding him, there isn''t much to see. There was the same colour mana particles that he had on his wings, so one could only assume it had something to do with runes.


    Rose, well again she was a unique case too. She radiated quite a lot of mana particles, but was only one colour meaning she had one affinity and it was the exact same as what her flowers radiated. It was quite beautiful, but again quite unique, but alas, Eve could assume that it''s the same process as anyone else''s mana.


    Eve didn''t understand how Rose only having one affinity was different to an attunement, but she guessed it was.


    ''Hmm, I guess an attunement has a deeper meaning than only having one affinity''. Eve pondered and only got more curious.


    Looking at other people''s auras, Eve got curious and wanted to zoom in on her own mana particles that surrounded her. She hadn''t really cared before as she assumed it would just replicate what she saw in her mana core, and she was exactly correct.


    She saw a bunch of colours that have no real meaning to her yet, but she would soon find a way to utilise all of these affinities.


    ''The mana particles that surround me are quite different though. They have quite a high viscosity to the point it''s almost like slime, as well as the colours being more pure. Though it could be directly related to my innate talent, or maybe I just have a knack for mana?''. Eve''s mana aura was inherently different to others, especially because the viscosity, as well as the particles being equally distributed. There wasn''t one affinity controlling the other unlike some others like Grace for example. She had three affinities, however one dominated the other two completely. Whereas Eve''s affinities were sort of coexisting, there was no competition between them, and they simply existed with the other.


    Eve stamped these thoughts out of her mind, and simply moved on, right now she had one objective, and that was to gain a new source of mana. Eve decided on making the tough decision that sleep was for the wicked, and didn''t bother waking up Evan.


    ''I guess by morning I should have access to something new?''. Eve got excited just thinking about it.


    Eve plodded along, and heard a consistent stream of dings.


    Eve took a break every now and then only for a few minutes mainly to see her progress and give her mind a small break.


    But she knew that if she stopped for the morning, that is another day that her class won''t be able to explore their powers fully. Sure, they could most likely grasp it within a few days without Eve, but why was that necessary? She had the means to do it in this moment, so she would.


    ''Well, by the looks of it Rose and Grant had a head start yesterday, they were definitely day dreaming whilst looking at their mana''. Eve simply thought that she had to guide them down this new path. That what her role as a teacher had been for 5 years, and she simply couldn''t shake the habit within a day despite these strange circumstances they''re in.


    With minimal hiccups on Eve''s progression she heard consistent dings until suddenly the sun rose and people were waking. She sat there in awe at her developments.


    [You have gained experience because of progression made down your path].


    [You have gained experience because of progression made down your path].


    [You have gained experience because of progression made down your path].


    Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    [You have gained experience because of your substantial progression!]


    [New skill acquired!


    Nature Manipulation (F): Because your affinity and your mana core being exposed to nature mana, you are capable of conjuring spells with the affinity of nature.


    Nature all emcompasses that of self preservation and natural growth. Is used offensively and defensively ].


    [Skill evolution!


    Meditation (F) -> Mana Meditation (E): Due to the strives down your newfound path, and using meditation for the progression of mana. You will now be able to see mana particles easier in the atmosphere, and easier to comprehend new schools of knowledge].


    Before anything, or even addressing the awoken students, she looked at her status page.


    Name: Eve


    Level: 5


    Race: Human (F)


    Class: Mage


    Innate Talent: Affinities (B)


    Recognised Title:


    Skills: Mana Manipulation (F), Nature Manipulation (F), Mana Bolt (F), Mana Meditation (E), Conjured Demonstration (F)


    As she looked at her page, Eve suddenly felt like she was in pain. A pain she has never experienced, and could only be described as peculiar. Yes, it hurt, but it also felt satisfying, and the pain was coming from her mana core.


    As she looked inward and saw her mana core she saw a connection made, and now there was a mana stream of nature mana going towards her mana core, and also throughout her body just like her base mana. However, the pain started getting worse and less bearable.


    She looked inside of her mana core and saw that the nature mana was starting to solidify, but it was disturbing her other affinities. The coexistence started to change, and nature wanted to take over. With obvious reasons, Eve couldn''t allow that, or her innate talent becomes useless.


    With rash thinking, Eve takes over control of the half solidified mana, and moves it. This was actually a very simple process, and the mana simploy allowed her to do this. The mana was becoming more solid, and Eve was scared that if it completely solidified inside her mana core, disastrous consequences would be upon her.


    Eve swiftly moved the mana out, and let solidify just outside her mana core. Eve didn''t really know what to do with it. Where could it even go? For now Eve left it as it replicated a smaller mana core, but just with one mana stream coming from it, and instead of having the swirl of colours, there was just the green colour that was hardened, similar to a marble.


    With that, the pain completely subsidised, and it was time to get on with the new day and to mess around with her newfound power.


    Eve wanted to make a nature version of mana bolt. As she attempted to do this it felt almost wrong. With her newfound ability, she gained a bit of insight of the characteristics of nature, and Eve zoned in on the use of self preservation and natural growth. If one put two and two together, she could probably sprout something like branches from the ground, or even summon a branch bolt.


    With that, Eve decided to experiment before even addressing the class, as they watched in awe.


    Eve pointed her staff, towards the ground, and urged her nature mana to come forward. She was able to grow branches from the ground, and even materialise branches in the air. However, the strange thing was that Eve never got an individual skill for this. With the systems pattern so far, you''d think she would obtain a skill to do with branches.


    However that never came. But Eve wasn''t mad or annoyed. In fact it didn''t really matter. Sure, if she had a skill the activation would be easier, but that didn''t matter for now. She kept practicing with these branches, and even covered Evan in branches which got a giggle out of everyone. But as she did this, she gained inspiration. What if, she wrapped an enemy up in branches, and kept growing them. Would they assimilate with said person? She put that thought on hold, as she thought about using vines instead of branches.


    Sure she was able to make these branches malleable, however vines just seemed like they would be way more malleable and usable than branches. As she grew vines from underneath Evan, they instantly lingered on his feet, and with that a ding was heard.


    [New skill acquired!


    Vine Trap (F): Able to manipulate vines from underneath somebody as they will instantly grab onto whatever is in their radius. These vines are weak and flimsy, however they are easily controlled.]


    Eve started laughing out loud, everyone thought it was at Evan, but no.


    ''Isn''t this like very easy?''. Eve was honestly astounded. This all just felt too simple. Magic and mana came to her like walking. It was almost like she was destined from the get-go to become a Mage.


    Others would''ve relished in these newfound powers and instantly tried to make themselves advance. However, this was not the case for Eve as she instantly started thinking on how she can teach her classmates to awaken their dormant abilities.


    "Miss Jenkins that was so cool!". Lement looked at Eve with eyes that seemed to idolise her.


    "Urm Lement call me Eve now please, we''re not in school and frankly I doubt we''ll ever be going back to school''. Eve didn''t even address what he said and instantly changed Lement''s thought process.


    Sure, Eve would try and give these teens a headstart by imparting knowledge just like she would in the classroom as their teacher. However, despite their ages, everyone had the same starting point. Eve didn''t necessarily know more about this new world more than anyone else, so how could she still expect them to call her Miss?


    No, infact Eve would go as far to say that she is a peer now and should be treated like one. Sure she''s one of the few adults in this situation, but how would being an adult allow her to be one to call the shots constantly?


    "Okay guys can we huddle round please". Although Eve would still try to take a leadership role if possible. Being in a leadership role among your peers was completely different than being referred to as the teacher. The title of a teacher simply held a lot of weight.


    With that, everyone listened.


    "As you can see, I''ve able to use another mana form known as nature mana and gained the skill for it. I think it''s best for everyone to attempt this, including those of warrior variations. However, I would like people to voice their opinions. What would you rather do. We can stay here and learn more, or we could go out of our way to fight more goblins, and even those hobgoblins". Eve wasn''t pleading with them, however she truly did want differing opinions. It wasn''t fair for her to always take charge.


    Everyone else was deep in thought as some wanted to be selfish and learn more, whereas others wanted to kill the goblins.


    One by one, everyone spoke of their opinions.


    "I think we should at least try to kill one hobgoblin then learn new skills. Combat may even be more of a learning experience". Jackson voiced his thoughts, and his opinion was viewed quite highly to everyone as he had best of both worlds. Access to mana, aswell as melee combat.


    "To add onto Jackson, I believe those with warrior variants would gain more by hands on experience. During the night I tried to advance my Shield Arts skill but to no avail, simply because I have no prior experience with using a shield". Evan agreed with Jackson.


    Physical combat was entirely different to the practice of mana, and Eve couldn''t help also agreeing. You could progress through the arts of magic simply by sitting there and comprehending different types of manas. However this wasn''t the case with combat as one would learn way more than actually fighting something, or atleast sparring.


    How would Lement know the best way of killing a goblin with his sabre if he has never killed a goblin before? Sure, he has prior experience with using a sabre and that was shown when he practiced his forms on his own, but it was in no way the same as real life combat.


    Eve was stuck between a rock and a hard place. Most of the magic users wanted to stay and comprehend their affinities, whilst those with physical skills and classes wanted to hunt.


    "Well, I have a solution to this problem. But it will require people to make sacrifices".


    And with that, Kimmy saved the day once again. Eve smiled at the suggestion Kimmy made and couldn''t help but smile.


    ''Gosh she truly is a life saver''. This was the second time Kimmy came up with strategies whilst taking into account people''s abilities, and it surely wouldn''t be the last.

 Chapter 7

    "The solution is simple really, we should split off into our own groups and have shifts. For example group 1 goes off to hunt, whereas the other groups will stay here. When group 1 comes back, group 2 goes, and so on". Kimmy didn''t understand why she was being gawked at, as this truly was a simple solution.


    "But how are we going to decide groups?". Eve asked with the intention of almost testing Kimmy. Eve had a rough idea of who should be paired with who, based on their classes but also personalities.


    "Again, that''s pretty simple. There should be two groups, group 1 and group 2. For obvious reasons myself and Lee need to be separated. However, Lee''s healing capabilities far surpass mine, so I need to be on Evans group so damage is concentrated onto one person making it easier for myself. There''s 11 of us, so Grace should be on the group with the lowest numbers because of Violet".


    Grace blushed at the mention of her name. She still felt awkward about the fact that she has the highest graded talent, although Eve has yet to go public with hers.


    "Jackson and Lement may need to be separated due to those two being the main damage dealers of the warriors although Finn has yet to properly showcase his abilities. So far, Group 1 should consist of Eve, Lee and Lement. Group 2 should consist of Evan, myself, Grace and Jackson".


    Kimmy felt distance for a second as she was calculating who should be placed where. Kimmy was hesitant in showcasing her thought process mainly due to not wanting to hurt anyone''s feelings.


    "Dexter and Grant should be separated also. Grant can use his wings as a scout, and obviously Dexter with Forensic Sight, but I''m unsure of who should go where. Rose should be in Group 1 no matter what though, as I still believe it makes more sense for Group 2 to have lesser numbers.". Kimmy for a split second shone a smile on her face as her thought process was eloquently explained, and no feelings were hurt which was confusing for everyone. Kimmy used to be blunt about her dislikes about everyone in her class, and often came across as too blunt.


    A strange change, but a welcomed one.


    Despite that, Eve felt like she should input.


    "It would make more sense for Dexter to be in Group 1. As if Grant and Rose were in Group 1, there would be too many mages since I believe Dexter would benefit from having opportunities using the dagger he picked up to learn a new skill. Also, Finn should definitely be in Group 1, as everyone would be too reliant on Lement to block hits. To be honest, Group 1 is probably going to struggle as there is no designated tank but I guess if Finn is up for it he can do it".


    Dexter was pleasantly surprised that he was mentioned. Since joining this tower, he was in a sort of limbo as he was the only one with an Archer class, and it probably didn''t help that he had an F grade ability although it served its uses. Dexter could see himself falling through the cracks, and honestly had no clue how to catch up. Grace and Eve were making fast progress with their abilities. He just felt alone as he had no one to help him. Eve couldn''t help him with mana as he didn''t even have a skill that relied on, as he literally only had one skill other than Meditation (F) and it was Archery Mastery (F) which gave him mastery of the bow, but that was it. It''s not like he had explosive attack power like Eve, or even consistent damage like Lement as he had to aim his bow and that took time, he needed confidence that he would be able to hit a moving target so he took his time preparing his bow.


    He needed target practice asap, Dexter knew that but there just wasn''t enough time as everything was moving at such a fast pace.


    "Yeah, I''ll try and be a tank I suppose but would it work If I kept aggro instead of constantly blocking? It theoretically would work the same but it limits what Lee needs to heal and he can attack instead". Finn swiftly agreed.


    "That would work better even". Eve nodded her head. It would be great for Lee to be able to attack with the everyone else too.


    "Well that''s dealt with then, I propose we go in an hour as I would like to teach the basics of accessing your affinity. It may take a while, but it should be okay". Eve sounded confident, however in the back of her mind she was worried.


    Eve was only able to gain a new affinity because of her innate talent. She was able to go straight from the mana in the atmosphere and didn''t use the mana particles that people naturally exuded.


    "Okay, so everyone watch me and look at what I do".


    Everyone except from the warrior variations, Lee and Jackson didn''t pay attention to this mainly because this was surrounding affinities, and they simply couldn''t access it. Obviously Lee and Jackson could access their affinity, it''s just that they already have access to their affinity.


    Eve entered a meditative state, and opened her eyes.


    "So in my view I can see mana in the environment, and also in my vicinity there are mana particles that radiate from myself. You try and give it a go".


    With those instructions, all the students did so, and some were more shocked than others. For example, Grant and Rose wasn''t shocked at what they were seeing due to already looking at all this before. Grant already had access to Rune Magic however he still hadn''t cracked the code of how to access it, but he assumed it was different to other affinities, so he got up and meditated alone.


    Eve saw Dexter alone, and she wanted to quickly see what affinity, or affinities he had as she hadn''t looked at his. She wasn''t very shocked to see that he had only had to access to one, however it seemed quite strong. There were tons of mana particles surrounding him, and Eve wasn''t sure if she was imagining it, but they exuded some heat.


    If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    Eve smiled and left it at that.


    "Okay, now that you''ve looked at these affinities, look inwards to your mana core and see the mana streams connecting to the certain colours. Observe what colour you have the most of and it should resemble the same on the outside surrounding you. For example, Rose only exudes one colour, so there should only be one colour in her mana core".


    Rose simply nodded her head with her eyes closed, obviously concentrating.


    "Now, move the mana stream into the opposite direction of your mana core and extend it. This should come quite easy as it''s just using the skill of mana manipulation which has already been embedded into our knowledge".


    Eve was starting to sweat. Meditating and talking actually took a lot of concentration. It was exhausting.


    Eve saw a mana stream extend out of Grace, Grace directed it into the one colour that was dominating the other two. Slowly, the mana stream turned a different colour, however it the stream disintegrated but Grace just smiled as she saw that actually, her mana stream had slightly turned a different colour.


    Everyone had accomplished the same feat as Grace, but nobody felt downhearted, as this was simply the process.


    Instead of progressing on their mana, they instead worked on recovering as one of the groups will be hunting in 30 minutes.


    30 minutes were swiftly up, as everyone sat in a circle once again.


    "Okay, so which wants to go first?". Eve didn''t care whether they went first or not.


    "It''d make sense for Group 1 to go first as they simply have more warrior variants". Kimmy added her two cents.


    "Righty then, we may as well not delay anything and go now". Eve stated as they went off.


    Everyone said their goodbyes, but it was a weird atmosphere. There was an elephant in the room that nobody addressed. What if they came across hobgoblins? Would they be okay?


    Three deaths have already happened and they haven''t been here long, so it was very possible that another death could occur.


    Group 1 dispelled these thoughts as best they could, there was no point in jinxing themselves.


    With that, Group 1 went straight north in hopes of finding goblins. This floor has been surprisingly kind to everyone, and everyone was able to have a good sleep, and some would think that hunger would start becoming an issue, however everyone truly was not experiencing hunger at all.


    Finn took the lead followed by Lement who was next to Lee, with Eve, Dexter and Rose at the back.


    Dexter kept his eyes peeled for any movement through the trees, learning their lesson from previous experiences. Thankfully they didn''t have to look far, as finally they came across a group of four goblins.


    Finn took the initiative and instantly charged at the goblins followed by Lement as Lee was preparing his Light Recovery on Finn. Although Lee purposefully held it until Finn got closer, so he could burn the enemies. Dexter readied his bow, and after a few seconds of Finn fighting and Lement starting the scuffle, vines were followed and trapped the feet of two goblins who were swiftly impaled by Lement and squashed by Finns blunt hammer.


    [You assisted the death of a Goblin. Some experience has been gained].


    [You assisted the death of a Goblin. Some experience has been gained].


    A deadly smirk smiled across Eve''s face as she heard the dings and bashfully took her eyes off the battlefield for just a second. She was still happy despite probably gaining less than actually killing them outright, but hey, Eve was in charge of nurturing the next generation, so who cares?


    The other two goblins fell to a mana bolt by Rose, and an arrow by Dexter.


    "Aye, I levelled up!". Finn looked pleased as he was now finally Level 2, catching up to Lement. It seems like a healthy competition has been formed between the two.


    "Nice! But I''m starting to wonder why these goblins are rogue though? It''s almost too easy, despite gaining level experience, how am I supposed to level up any of my skills?". Lement was a tad dejected, as these goblins truly didn''t put up much of a fight, and there seemed to be no pattern in their appearence. They just seemed to appear randomly.


    Eve knew this would become a problem, as everyone adjusted to this new environment too easily, there was truly no nurturing involved from the tower. The experience so far has definitely been traumatic for all participants, however physically there really hasn''t been much of a challenge. These goblins were weaker individually and for the most part these goblins seem to be split up.


    [11/20 Goblins slain


    0/2 Hobgoblins slain].


    They were making steady progress but it was still going at a snail''s pace until Dexter suggested something.


    "Why don''t we hang around the dead goblins for a while? They may have heightened smell, so any goblins in the surrounding area may rush to the scene?". Dexter spouted out random words of wisdom as he crouched down to pick up another dagger from one of the goblins. He surely didn''t need any more than two and put them into his quiver.


    "Oh also, can you save one goblin for me next time? I want to try learn a dagger proficiency skill".


    "That''s quite smart actually, we should hang around for a while then and sure, if it''s safe I don''t see why not". Eve simply agreed as flowers sprouted around the group.


    With that, Rose slowly sat down to meditate, and initiated what Eve liked to refer to as absorption. It wasn''t fancy but it explained the process quite well as you are literally absorbing the particles in the atmosphere, or particles that you create naturally.


    With that being said, 15 minutes past with Rose advancing the absorption process as well as Finn and Lement sparring with eachother trying to get a feel of their newfound powers. They felt their bodies grow stronger with every level, but it was hard to be certain.


    Another 10 minutes past, and an unexpected visitor came.


    It was something they had never seen before but eerily resembled a goblin. It was humongous, taller than Finn who by human standards was abnormally large for his age at 6"1. It had smaller ears than a goblin, and carried a hammer that had two spikes on either end. It looked like it could pack a punch. Although, the huge monster still resembled a cavemen in the sense that his armour was completely primitive and only covered genitalia.


    Obviously, everyone recognised this thing as the Hobgoblin, and were instantly nervous. They hadn''t expected for there to be such a huge discrepancy between goblins and hobgoblins, and to be honest they were nervous. Specifically Lement, who tried to alleviate the tense atmosphere with a joke.


    "Hey Dexter, there you go your sparring partner, grab your daggers". Lement didn''t even chuckle at the joke as he eyed down the hobgoblin as he got into position, except this time he was next to Finn instead of behind.


    There was something at the back of Eve''s mind and it was eating away at her.


    It was a picture of Amy, except it was dead Amy with an arrow through her eye and head. Eve couldn''t let these children die, she had to protect them at all costs.


    She sighed, and Finn and Lement rushed in, slowly followed by Lee who felt like he had to keep a closer distance this time round.


    This battle would be something they have never experienced before.


    ''How nerve wracking''. Eve shook her head and prepared her vines.