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He sat cross legged on the plush rug, facing Porkchop who settled down across from him. Devoting more of his attention to True Sight, the world lit up in a wash of colours. He could still see perfectly fine, but a strange double layering of sight revealed the hidden mystic world, covering his surroundings in a mist.

Most of it was an almost eggshell blue, unaspected mana, while the rest was a smattering of the core aspects- air, fire, earth, and water. There were dozens of other shades and tints flickering in his sight, but they were ephemeral. Their fleeting forms too small, too quick, for him to really get their measure. It would have been easy with a manipulation skill, any of them, but until then he had to rely on his sight alone.

"Ready?" Porkchop asked him.

Kaius nodded, and watched as Porkchop\'s brows furrowed in focus. One ear quivering as eddies started to swirl through the atmospheric mana. Slowly, all other colours were pushed back as air mana was drawn in. Pooling into a cloud. Over time, Kaius watched the cloud grow as Porkchop started to slowly convert unaspected mana.

Once the cloud of mana had grown to the size of his chest, and had gotten dense enough to stand out amongst the background, Porkchop visibility relaxed. Though Kaius noted that he still looked at the gathered air mana with intensity. He couldn\'t imagine it was easy. All manipulation skills could influence mana, but specialised ones such as Crystal Manipulation lost a lot of their flexibility and efficiency when working with other aspects.

"There. Is that enough?" Porkchop asked.

Kaius nodded, grateful for his friend\'s help. He absolutely could get the skills he needed by himself, but it would be much much harder. Without a skill, interacting directly with mana was tough, even without having to sift for trace aspects while ignoring all others.

He stuck his hand into the cloud, watching as the creamy blue mana swirled in response to his movement. If he hadn\'t known better, he would have thought that it was shifting as his arm disturbed the air. It wasn\'t, mana didn\'t exist on a physical level. Instead, it reacted to his natural mana density, shifting out of the way.

Reaching into the centre with his will, he drew on his own internal pool. Circulating a thread of mana down his arm and around his hand, bringing it back to complete a loop with his pool. He focused on the mana in the air, letting faint traces of his own pool diffuse through his skin. Saturating the cloud of air mana with traces of that which he had branded as his own.

If Porkchop wanted to, it would have been simplicity itself for his friend to wipe away the imprinted mana. Instead, Porkchop aided him. Encouraging the air mana to mingle with his own.

He focused, trying to sense the mana that had left his body. He didn\'t need much, just to slip his hold over the thin layer of air mana around his hand. A hair\'s breadth, at most.

It felt like trying to catch a greased hog. Every time he thought he felt a trace of the foreign mana, it slipped through his fingers. Furrowing his brows, Kaius turned all of his senses towards his task.

There!

The barest whisper of a feather touch graced the palm of his hand. He leapt on the sensation rabidly. Forcing the iota of power to stabilise. His mana pool poured from his palm, burning itself at a prodigious rate to support his desires.

After the first, it grew easier, more and more motes coalescing out of the cloud that Porkchop held steady for him. Once it had accumulated to something the size of a walnut, he bore down on the small collection of mana he had gathered. Holding it in place.

He withdrew his hand from the cloud, a small gleaming orb hovering a few hairs above his palm coming with it.

That was the easy part.

Now he had to stop expending his own mana, while still keeping his grip on the aspect.

Sweat dripped from his brow. With inexorable slowness, Kaius choked off the circulating mana in his arm, the diffusion through his palm stemming.

The orb of air mana in his hand shook, quivering as it threatened to disperse. Kaius grunted, gritting his teeth as he focused on the orb. Commanding it to stay. To obey his will.

For once he thanked his experience with withstanding the call of his legacy skills during skill merging. Without that crucible to forge his will, he knew that he would stand far less chance of being successful.

Finally, the mana emitting from his palm cut out entirely, leaving the aspected ball condensed only through the power of Kaius\'s demands.

The system acknowledged his achievement.

**Ding! General Skill Available! Would you like to learn: Air Manipulation (Rare)?**

Kaius gasped, letting out a breath he hadn\'t even realised he was holding. He released his mental grip on the orb in his palm, the mana dispersing like smoke in the wind.

Porkchop still held his own, much larger, cloud in place with a look of concentration on his face. Waiting for him to be ready.

Knowing that holding a foreign aspect would be at best burdensome, Kaius hurriedly accepted his new skill and brought up its description.

Air Manipulation:

Level 1

Rare

Feel the breath of the world.

This skill enables mental control of mana, especially that of the air aspect. Other aspects, and unaspected mana, can be controlled with vastly increased difficulty.

Each level minutely increases control over air aspected mana.

Each level infinitesimally increases control over mana.

Kaius nodded as he read the skill, quickly dismissing the notification to focus back on the cloud of air mana that hung in the space between him and Porkchop.

"Ready for me to kick your ass?" Kaius said with a cocky grin, his eyes never leaving the cloud.

Porkchop snorted, his own focus remaining steady.

"You wish."

With his newest skill Kaius could feel the cloud of mana in a way he hadn\'t been able to a moment before. It pressed on his mind like a phantom limb. Like he could just reach out…

He grabbed the mana, wrapping his grip around it. Trying to yank it towards himself. The mana resisted his efforts, Porkchop twitching in concentration as he worked to counteract him. Kaius might have had the advantage with the correct manipulation skill, but Porkchop\'s Crystal Manipulation was a legacy skill, and higher level to boot.

Kaius grunted, resisting the urge to snatch out at the mana physically as he bent his whole mind to the task. His breath started to come heavier, eyes held wide as he burned a hole in the cloud of air mana with his gaze.

It wavered slightly

**Ding! Air Manipulation has reached level 2!**

**Ding! Air Manipulation has reached level 3!**

**Ding! Air Manipulation has reached level 4!**

The quick succession of dings was joined by a surge in strength, ripping a small section of mana away from Porkchop\'s control. Slowly pulling it towards him.

His friend growled, redoubling his efforts to yank the mana back. Reasserting his control. The thin sliver of mana quivered, a headache coming on with full force as Kaius yanked against his friend\'s grip.

**Ding! Air Manipulation has reached level 5!**

**Ding! Air Manipulation has reached level 6!**

His skill levelled again. The boost in power wasn\'t enough. Not only was Porkchop\'s skill simply better, the bastard had more Willpower. Being a greater beast had its drawbacks, but the fact that each stat point did more gave Porkchop a clear edge in their mental battle.

The wisp of gas that Kaius had claimed threatened to rejoin Porkchop\'s hoard. He couldn\'t let that happen. He\'d never hear the end of it.

Never taking his eyes off the prize, Kaius lashed out, booting Porkchop in the shoulder. His friend let out a yelp. As soon as his friend\'s focus slipped he ripped the air mana towards him. All of it. The weight of it causing his ears to ring.

**Ding! Air Manipulation has reached level 7!**

**Ding! Air Manipulation has reached level 8!**

"Cheater!" Porkchop growled. Kaius merely laughed, redoubling his grip on the mana.

"Set some ground rules next time!"

Out of the corner of his eye he saw Porkchop grumbling, his hackles raising. For a moment Kaius thought he would pounce. Then his friend grew focused, switching back to the cloud of mana.

A titanic force tore at his mental grip, wrenching the gathered energy back to where it had been. The sudden jar to his mind caused his ears to ring, a thudding ache settling in at the base of his skull.

**Ding! Air Manipulation has reached level 9!**

**Ding! Intelligence has reached level 18!**

Another level, more control. He yanked with all of his mental might, just barely slowing the aspected power on its inexorable journey back to Porkchop\'s embrace.

**Ding! Air Manipulation has reached level 10!**

Their battle of wills continued, Kaius desperately trying to wrench control of the ball of air mana away from Porkchop. His levels quickly began to slow, but they didn\'t stop. Every few minutes a ding would sound in his mind, bringing with it a finer dexterity and a firmer grip.

His headache started to fade, though his face still dripped with the sweat of exertion.

Porkchop was a stout combatant, refusing to give up ground. Every time he got a little better, or they became more evenly matched, he would add something new. Even capped, manipulation skills had a lot of depth to them. Kaius was a novice, completely inexperienced with making use of his newest skill. It was like he had been granted arms for the first time. Instinctually grabbing and pulling might have been easy, but delicate work was not.

In contrast, Porkchop had been inducted into the system far younger than he had. He\'d had Crystal Manipulation for years. At first it was little tricks. Spinning the gaseous orb so that his mental grip slipped off it. Then he started changing shapes. Weaving the mana into ever shifting ropes.

The pressure to keep up was immense, one that pushed him to his absolute limits. Every time he started to get a handle on it, Porkchop ramped up. Adding something new into their competition.

That wasn\'t to say it was easy for his friend. Even with all of his focus directed to maintaining his tenuous connection to the air mana, he could hear his friend panting. Laboured breathing gave away how truly difficult the exercise was.

In the back of his mind, the small part that wasn\'t absorbed in his contest for control, Kaius wondered how the hell people ever used raw manipulation for casting. He knew that it was difficult to use, and considered impractical in combat without a lot of levels and multiple supporting skills, but he\'d seen Porkchop use it.

Porkchop had coalesced that crystal shard in their fight against the Tomblord. Sure, it had taken time, but Kaius couldn\'t even begin to imagine how to use the mana offensively. He was barely able to keep up with a few basic shaping exercises, let alone something like free form casting.

Still, no matter how challenging it was, it was worth it. The levels rolled in, slowly strengthening his control. The gap between his ability and Porkchop\'s closing as the minutes bled into an hour.

He was so close, just a single level remaining. He went for the final push. He wasn\'t going to win, he knew that. Porkchop was too practised, too skilled at controlling mana. A little bit would be enough. Just a scrap of mana wrested away from his friend\'s grip.

Bending his entire will, Kaius let out a hoarse grunt as he focused everything he had on a fist sized chunk of aspected air that floated at the very edge of Porkchop\'s locus of control. Letting out a cry, he yanked. Clawing at the shard.

It broke free, rocketing towards him. Slipping free of Porkchop\'s grip, too surprised by his sudden change of tact. Arresting the mana before it could slam into his chest, Kaius shaped the mana into a ball. Marvelling at how easy it felt now that he was uncontested.

The notification he had been waiting for dinged in his mind.

**Ding! Air Manipulation has reached level 20!**

Kaius let his grip on the mana slip, throwing up his hands in victory. "Woooo! I win!"

"What?!" Porkchop spluttered. "You did not win. Sneaking away a scrap of mana for all of five seconds is not winning!"

"Don\'t be a sore loser just because I have natural talent." Kaius said, smug, as he fell backwards onto the plush rug with his hands behind his head.

"Kaius!" Porkchop half shouted in outrage, leaping for him with a growl.

He laughed, rolling away from his friend\'s lunge. Porkchop snagged him with his paw, dragging him back in to savage him with gentle swats. After a few minutes, Kaius felt as exhausted physically as he did mentally. Going limp as Porkchop placed a firm paw on his chest. Again.

"Okay, okay!" Kaius laughed. "You win. Let\'s get the fire going so we can start on the next one."

Porkchop huffed, letting him up. Moving over to the hearth, Kaius sparked the fire. If they kept pushing at this rate, he might be able to merge the skill before the day was out. He knew that manipulation skills were easy to train if you had someone to contest your control, but a day? It was ridiculous.

He couldn\'t wait.