Shadow Author

Mesmerized by the mark I completely forgot about the pain as I examined the location that it appeared on my hand.

Overall, it was quite small in size as it was only around 2.5 cm long and 1.75 cm wide. It was perfectly centered in the middle of my hand and looked exactly like how a tattoo would.

Though unlike a tattoo it wasn't created from ink rather some mysterious force that most likely made it permanent.

The half-crested moon was filled in and was black in color.

I knew almost immediately what caused it. Turning my attention back to the sword I looked at the ball only to realize that it returned to its original color shade. Had I not seen it myself it would be impossible to know that a rainbow could come out of it.

Uncertain about the reasoning behind what happened I focused on the things I did know.

The ball absorbs the mana of the person who touches it – although it might just be for me since I officially became the sword's owner. Then it creates a rainbow and forces a mark on me.

Based on this information I deduced that the rainbow and mark were highly likely to be one-time things. If I had to guess it was probably the sword bonding with me.

After all, it wasn't too far-fetched to think this way since the sword is capable of S-rank attacks. Plus it came from a tower meaning that there are a lot of unknowns about it.

From my speculation, I believed that the sword and I are now connected together through the symbol on my hand. I also suspected that for the sword to get stronger it needs to take in the mana from its master.

Since the sword had been cursing people in an attempt to get more people to challenge it. That way when they fail it can absorb part of their power now that it's free it's in need of a constant supply.

That supply will now have to come from me, that is if I want it to get stronger – which I most definitely do.

Satisfied with all that I got I looked over the sword one last time as I would have to test out the blade while getting stronger before I would be able to unlock more of its secrets.

Finished with Nightfall I wanted to return to my original plan that kept getting pushed aside… becoming a sword master.

Now that I had a blade to match the power I could expend I just needed to be capable of using it.

It would be like giving a baby a nuclear bomb. They would have the ability to end the world yet they wouldn't be able to move to press the launch button.

In this case, I was the baby. I knew this but it wouldn't be long before that changed.

The first step to becoming this stronger person was to make use of a skill I already mastered.

Before I wanted to interact with Miss Smith and start training there was one thing I needed to start taking advantage of that I hadn't been doing before.

Mana Breath.

An already overpowered skill just based on its description but the secrets it hides are what truly make it remarkable.

A bonus I found out before I went through the trial was that it was able to restore my condition.

When I started thinking about it the more sense the bonus made. Since all things are made up of Mana, adding more Mana into one's body would of course restore the body to its formal stance and improve it.

I was actually disappointed in myself for not realizing it sooner. Although it's public information that one can use mana to heal themselves and become stronger I never thought to use it in battle.

It's clear that there are few or none that can do the same as me otherwise humanity would be hundreds of times stronger.

If one could constantly supply themselves with mana while in battle they would never run out of mana to either attack or defend while also being able to keep their peak condition.

That would be incredibly overpowered which is why something like that is nearly impossible to do.

There were a multitude of reasons for this.

First ordinary people no matter their rank, wouldn't be able to create enough mana to refill what they expend. This is especially so when in combat and their attention is split.

Therefore since someone cannot naturally restore their mana in a short time there are alternative options but even they are not great.

One would have to use a relic, artifact, or another sort of device that would forcefully supply them with mana.

In theory, this would work yet the world is cruel as it's an impossibility.

Although such devices exist that could supply the user with mana they are only capable of holding so much.

Take for instance the individual training rooms. They are literal rooms that contain mana. Having something on your body that's able to hold an extreme amount of mana doesn't exist.

It would go against the natural order of the world where everything — even mana — has mass.

This becomes even worse the higher the person is ranked. Due to mana supply artifacts having to be so small the stronger one is the more mana they have. In turn requiring them to use more, which means that artifacts would be negligible at best.

However, for weaker and lower-ranked people the artifact would be useful.

But even then those artifacts are extremely expressive and if one had the money to spend on them the cash would be better used to increase their power rather than improve their current position.

As a result of these problems, mana is used to recover before and after a battle, not during.

Yet for me, I could do it.

Since Mana Breath was a skill it meant that I wouldn't have to spend insane amounts of money on artifacts, I didn't have to get a monstrous building to contain it, and it was a breathing technique so I could incorporate it into my battle strategy.

So with this highly possible theory that could put me over all others, I would just have to master it.

After all, it's easier said than done to breathe constantly in a specific way during a life-or-death battle.

That wasn't something one could do even if they had a lifetime to train. The skill would have to be engraved into their very bones and become an innate part of their life.

The simplest of mistakes would cancel the skill and mess up the whole strategy I would have prepared. That meant that I had to basically use the skill during every moment of every day, even while sleeping, otherwise I wouldn't be able to incorporate it.

Ordinarily, I would give up on this plan as it would take far too much time even if it would pay off in the future.

However, this was no ordinary time as fortunately, I had just lived through an entire century and I just so happened to have a lot of extra time to use the skill.