He was almost finished with the third step. It was a mere one session from starting the fourth step and he was very expectant of what it would bring. The pain he was feeling was still pretty intense, but he didn't care. He was pushing his body into overdrive to do his best. Little by little, he was advancing to a stage that most people his age could only dream of. His muscles rippled as they changed and a pressure began to exude from his body. It caused things all over his house to begin to vibrate ever so slightly. Then, all at once, a powerful wave passed through his body and into his surroundings. His house shook like it was an earthquake and a few books fell from shelves all over the house along with a few glass items that shattered when they hit the ground. He had finished the third step and his body was still changing. *Ding* *Status updated* Matthew Hart Level - 2 Titles - none Constitution - Stone body (third step) Sk

His mana core look a little different now that he had fully refined his body. It looked tough like stone and the strange patterns that had already been on it looked more defined. The crack was still there, but he could sense that it was closer to being closed now. He decided to consult the book on what to do now since that was his next step. He still had the rest of the day, but he was unsure if that would be enough time to fix his cracked core. "The process of fixing a cracked core can be initiated after the third step has been reach. To do so, draw mana into the core, which should have begun to heal on its own to some extent. Once the core is filled, use the mana to create a patch over the crack. Then use the core refining technique to compress the core. As the core is compressed, the crack will close up. The only disadvantage to this is that the core will become much smaller due to the compression. A word of caution, after the core is healed, be wary

Matthew spent the next few days before he would have to attend the finals for his classes working on his affinity. He couldn't hold anymore mana in his core at the moment and it wasn't strong enough to be enlarged yet. The book he had purchased was very vague to say the least when it came to the skills he could learn for the gravity affinity. The majority of the book was just the theory of application and not the actual use of gravity. This meant that he was basically on his own. The first thing he would have to do is convert his mana which was fairly simple. He started like he always did with a pin sized dot. This dot would draw in his mana and covert it naturally now that it was stable. As long as he had mana in his core, it would be converted and kept separate from the rest of his mana and show up on his Stat page by itself. The skill he was currently working on was called Push. The theory behind the skill was to direct his converted mana out of his body a

The finals had concluded and Matthew was ready to head home. However, he wouldn't get his wish right away as it was time for the prize ceremony. Third place received a medal and two days in a meditation chamber. These chambers allowed someone to advance rapidly since they enhanced the strength of a mana core and the absorption rate of mana would be increased due to the concentration of mana. Second place received a medal, four days in a meditation chamber, and personal training from the head instructor. This was rather good since the head instructor was at the peak of the mage level and could give many pointers. Matthew received the first place medal, a week in the meditation chamber, personal training from the head instructor, and a manual of his choosing. If he had known this he would have waited to buy the gravity manual. At least he could aquire more advance mana techniques that would allow him to rapidly increase his strength and make him more ver

A ways away from the town, in a desolate part of the wilderness that featured no life, something stirred. It was a large humanoid creature with random pieces of armor attached to it. This creature was once human that had died and become one of the monsters that it once sought to destroy. The undead were not that uncommon in the world since the vast number of humans that hadn't been able to adapt to mana had died. Some became unholy creatures of the dark even to include vampires. Generally speaking, vampires and the werefolk were much more rare than the standard undead and usually want to live in peace versus seeking out humans to devour. This particular undead was on the move and was headed in a particular direction. It was a peak pawn grade existence that was only a step away from the knight grade. If it advanced, it would become an unstoppable force of nature for most. Soon, it would reach its destination and wreak havoc. * * * Matthew stood