Dungeon of Pride, Laplace

Simon thought over the question for a while and remembered the sensation of the mystical energy that was rushing rampantly inside his body. At that time, he had to expend all of his mana to circulate the energy within him.

"It was extremely difficult. The energy felt as hot as magma when it gushed inside my body and circulating it was exceedingly challenging. There was even a moment when it felt immovable no matter how much mana I poured to circulate it. It was as if it had clogged somewhere".

Simon described the exact feeling he had back when he was soaking inside the pond. To his surprise, Irene looked completely unfazed and acted as if it was according to her estimation.

"That is because you are yet to establish a mana line" Irene pointed out before adding "Alright, your training will be focused to acquire a mana line as soon as possible".

Simon asked in curiosity before Irene could continue any further "This [Mana Line] that you are talking about what kind of skill is it?".

He did not know why but this skill sounded oddly familiar to her. Thinking for a while Simon suddenly remembered that he had seen a skill that resembled the [Mana Skill] in Irene's status before.

"Did you ever observe the flow of mana inside your body while casting a magic of any tier?" Irene answered his question with a question of her own. Simon mused over it before simply shaking his head. Most of the time when he cast magic, he was too focused on materialising and controlling the power of the magic to pay attention to anything else.

Hence up until now he never had any chance to observe the flow of mana inside his body. Irene extended her jade white hand, the instant she spread them an azure blue lotus made completely out of ice bloomed in her hand.

"Mana Lines determines how fast and effectively you cast a magic. For example this ice lotus. It didn't even take me a second to cast it but if I were to cast the magic without using the Mana Lines, it would take me a few more seconds to cast it. Not only that, the output and power that can be brought forth is far greater than usual".

Simon widened his eyes in surprise. What did it mean to have a skill such as [Mana lines]? Didn't it mean that he would be able to cast magic many times faster especially when it comes to using wide-area intermediate tier magic and above which needs an enormous amount of time to cast?

The same goes for amalgamation magic which takes the same amount of time that you need to cast an advanced magic. In a life and death situation where even a fraction of a second counts, being able to cast magic even a millisecond ahead is a great advantage.

That was how much of a difference acquiring the skill [Mana Lines] would make.

Seeing Simon caught up in his thoughts, Irene explained "Normally you would acquire this skill when you rank up to a Demon Earl. What we are trying to acquire is not just an ordinary [Mana Lines] but the superior tier of it [Innate Mana Lines]".

Simon nodded his head in excitement, he couldn't wait to see the effects of the skill.

"But it won't be so easy to acquire this skill. [Mana Lines] is a Rare skill that makes it hard to acquire and even more so to evolve its tier. You who are trying to go up three ranks in a row in just seven years, this skill is absolutely necessary as it would bolster your prowess and help you reach your objectives".

"All the strong people of this world have this skill at the legendary tier. Your goal should be to acquire the skill before you increase your rank to Demon Earl and evolve it to a superior tier when you reach the next rank and so on so forth.".

Hearing the intricate details that Irene had laid out for his training, Simon was overwhelmed. He was amazed to find that Irene had thought so far ahead when she said that she would help him train.

The plan that she laid out to train him, was elaborate and Simon could feel that Irene had put quite some thought into it. At first, he agreed on the training only because he thought that he could learn something from her top-notch skills.

But it seemed that it was naïve of him to think like that. Irene had already prepared herself to train him and even laid out the carefully thought out plan for his sake. He did not know what her motive was behind training him but seeing the determination in her eyes, it couldn't help but light a fire inside him.

Now that he knew which skill to acquire, Simon couldn't help but wonder how to acquire it. According to Irene, one can normally acquire the [Mana Lines] skill when they rank up to a Demon earl. But it doesn't mean that one cannot acquire it before that.

'A skill that can normally only be acquired after level 500… what kind of a skill is it' Simon wondered as he thought about acquiring the skill.

A Demon Earl was a rank that could only be reached by those demons who have a fairly pure bloodline. When a Demon Viscount reaches the peak of his level that is Level 500, he has a chance to rank up to Demon Earl given that he has sufficient skills and bloodline.

Those who are born with impure bloodline, are forever stuck in the level 500 barrier never to take any more steps forward. Although there was only a level difference between level 500 and level 501 but the gap was insurmountable for many.

One could imagine what kind of skill the [Mana Lines] was for it to be available only to those above level 500. Simon was currently on the verge of breaking through the level 300 barrier and step on level 301. His pace of levelling decreased quite a bit compared to before and it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that it had completely stopped after he reached level 300.

Each hundred level barrier represents a huge milestone that one needs to achieve before levelling further. The milestone that one needs to achieve can be mastery in skills, magic or techniques. In his case, it seemed to be his skills as Simon could already feel that he was one step away from breaking through level 301 after evolving the tiers of some of his skills during the trial set by Aldebaran.

The higher the level, the tougher the milestones are. Simon was a little excited to acquire a skill that was normally only possible when he breaks through level 500.

Irene carefully observed Simon's reaction and nodded her head when she saw his enthusiasm. The skill was definitely not going to be easy to acquire therefore she needed him to maintain this level of enthusiasm.

"That being said, [Mana Lines] is not the only skill we are going to focus on. You need to increase the tiers of your normal skills too. Though they are normal skills, but when evolved to the highest tier they can enhance your strength by a few fold. Increasing the tiers of your normal skills is by no means a waste"

Irene said to bring Simon out of his delusion. He was so concerned about acquiring [Mana Lines] that he almost lost track of reality.

Taking a deep breath, Simon snapped himself out of it. There was no point in being so focused on acquiring a skill that he neglects all the other skills. No matter if it was a Normal, Rare or a Lost skill, he needed to increase them to their highest tier to increase his strength.

Simon knew that it was easier said than done but if he couldn't even achieve this much, then there was no way he would be able to keep the seven years agreement with Aldebaran.

Seeing that his face had finally become serious Irene added "Your magic and Normal skills is what your current strength is based on. For your training in the future, we would focus more on evolving your Normal skills to their highest tier and gaining new ones in your consecutive ranks".

Simon nodded his head as he looked at Irene. It might be him but Simon thought that Irene had a knack for teaching.

"Alright, for these coming weeks focus on acquiring the [Mana Lines] skill" Irene knitted her crescent brows as she deliberated over his training regimen.

"About that… how do I go on about acquiring the skill?" Simon asked. Although he now knew which skill he must acquire to move forward, he was totally clueless on how to acquire it.

Irene was not surprised by his question and calmly answered it for him. "Acquiring the [Mana Lines] skill when you are not even a Demon Earl yet would be extremely difficult. Even if that [Main menu] skill of yours allow you to surpass the restriction placed on you, the fact that your bloodline is still impure would make it quite challenging for you to acquire it".

After saying her piece, she carefully observed Simon whose determination had not faltered even after listening to the limitation placed on him.

A rarely seen smile bloomed on her face as she pointed "Although it is extremely difficult, it is not impossible especially when you have the perfect skill to practice on with".