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nWith nothing else left to do, the players slowly split up. Some headed into the forest in search of either magical plants or monsters to slay, and others headed back to their camp. Having had enough of fighting for one day.

nEldrian joined the second group, along with Elizabeth and Nikki. The others all had personal quests that they wanted to finish before returning for the day.

nThose quests were only C-ranked or lower, meaning that there wasn't much danger with doing them. However, the rewards also weren't that good, at level 30 it would only give around 2.3M XP. Which wasn't much considering the XP needed to reach the next levels were in the 100M's.

nThe few silvers were more what these players were after.

nUpon returning to the camp, Elizabeth handed in the quest and everyone got their rewards. Sure, they had technically failed in exterminating the goblin nest but considering the situation that was understandable. They had killed far more goblins than the Adventurer's Guild had expected there would be.

nEldrian waited for Elizabeth to finish, smiling when he got the two levels, bringing his total level to 35. He then stepped up to claim his bounties. Having only remembered about them thanks to the quest's reminder.

nThe quest reward and bonus for the increased threat Eldrian let the guild take. In the end, it had come out to 200 gold due to the presence of a goblin king and folia.

nHis personal bounty for his kills was just slightly more than the total reward for the guild, and Eldrian didn't mind not claiming any of the 200 gold. He wanted the guild to grow, he was slowly making plans on working with them.

nHaving dealt with players for a while now, the guild representative knew quite well that she could call and validate Eldrian's bounties quite easily.

nWhen she did, she stared at the results on the tablet-like crystal in disbelief. All Eldrian's unclaimed bounties were there, meaning all those he had killed since leaving Phallos.

nIn total, the bounties came out to around 270 gold, with today's quest alone having brought Eldrian 190 gold. This brought Eldrian's total net worth to just shy of a thousand by a hundred, somewhere in the nine hundred, give or take a couple dozen for the wages he had to pay.

nSmiling broadly, Eldrian left the tent a happy man. Unfortunately, he couldn't claim the gold there since the representative didn't have enough gold on hand, so instead, she had given him emblems that he could hand in at any branch. Which was just what Eldrian did before returning to the mansion.

nTjan naturally was following him the entire time, and Eldrian had repeatedly tried to get Tjan to act more casual with him. By the time they returned to the mansion, Tjan had slowly started listening.

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"Can you please call Brazan for me?

" Eldrian asked one of the maids as soon as he returned, while waiting he considered his next step.

n'It is really confusing how I should proceed. I still feel using spell modules is a step back, but it is a more certain path. Making my own spells is out of the question, the math will take me years to learn, and using emotions is too draining- Which is an interesting point.'

n'It seems I don't just call upon my emotions; rather, it seems that the emotions are literally used as a catalyst and fuel. It is almost like having a good cry after hearing bad news, even if I wanted, I can't be as emotional after.'

n'Which means, along with XP, emotions are also part of magic. But that makes no sense, it is something our brains developed in response to our environment...' Eldrian paused, 'Do animals have emotions? I know some do, where is the cut-off point?'

nEldrian thought on this for a while before deciding that the question didn't matter much. 'Regardless, it seems that everything is connected. I just can't figure out how.'

nIt was about at this time that Brazan arrived.

"Are you ready?

"

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"For what, sir?

"

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"Drop the sir, please. And to show me how you control fire.

" Eldrian replied.

nNodding, Brazan asked where he should do this.

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"You can't control a flame summoned by magic, so you can't control this, correct?

" Eldrian asked, hand outstretched and a small flame the size of a candle's flame flickered in the center of his palm.

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"No, and if I attempt to control fire I also have to hold it as close. But when I do so, it burns me.

"

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"Which is also an interesting fact. Why am I not burning? This flame is hot, if I set something aflame the result will burn me. If I were to cast Volida and cast it, if I aimed it at myself it would burn me. Why does it not hurt me while I hold it here?

"

nBrazan had no idea so he simply shrugged. Eldrian however focused on the small flame with mana sense. He could see how his mana slowly fed the flame, flowing from him to it.

n'I guess that is why; the flame is still connected to me, part of me.' Eldrian thought, taking a piece of old ruined clothing out of his inventory and setting it aflame.

nUnderstanding what Eldrian wanted, Brazan stepped forward and slowly started to fight for control over the wild flames.

nMana sense showed Eldrian no mana movement, in fact, he realized something amazing. The few elements that used to be in the flame (natural flames have few elements compared to flames summoned through magic) retreated as Brazan took control of it.

nWhat he held in his hand was as non-magical a flame as one could get. Yet, somehow, he was able to keep it above his hands. More shockingly, it didn't die out after losing its fuel.

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"How strong is your control?

" Eldrian asked and Brazan showed him. Making the small flame he had gathered move about above his hand. However, he always kept it above him, having learned once too many that attempting to let it move under would cause him to burn himself.

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"Fascinating!

" Eldrian mumbled as he looked on, Brazan's control seemed to be similar to his. It was purely a mental thing. Yet, from what Eldrian saw it was most certainly not controlled through taking control of the elements (mana) in the fire.

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"Are you aware that when you take control of a flame that the mana in it is pushed away?

" Eldrian asked, and Brazan nodded.

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"Yes, but no matter how I try, I can't keep the elements with the flame. When I do, I lose control.

"

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"How did go about attempting this?

"

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"Wishing, hoping, speaking, everything I could think of.

"

nEldrian pondered for a bit,

"And you can't control the flames summoned through magic, or through spells?

"

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"I'm not sure what you mean. As you just saw I can control the flames brought forth from magic. But, if the flame hasn't been set free and is busy burning-

" Brazan paused to explain what he meant but Eldrian answered instead.

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"I understand, it needs to be unreliant on mana.

", 'Mmm, this makes little sense. However, if I know anything, then it is that it must somehow be connected with everything.'

nAN: Remember to vote to show your support and comment to share your insights!

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