Reincarnation Of A Swordsman: The Omni Mage

The sky was already dark as Kyle and Nate emerged from the dense forest. Their steps were weary but their spirits were high. They had been hunting for hours, encountering a variety of mana beasts, including another Tier-4. Both were satisfied with their haul, though Kyle had handled most of the beasts with little effort.

As they reached the edge of the forest, Nate turned to Kyle. "Unfortunately, I won't be joining you tomorrow," he said with some regret in his tone. "I've got to go with my dad and the rest."

Kyle nodded. "Sure, it was nice hunting with you, though."

"Nice for you, maybe. You didn't even need me. I can count the number of times I had to cast a spell," Nate said. "You'll be fine on your own."

Kyle grinned but stayed quiet, letting Nate continue.

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"Are you planning to climb the tower too?" Nate asked.

"Yeah, I will," Kyle replied confidently.

Nate smiled wryly. "You're lucky. You'll be tested as a beginner mage even with your strength."

"I'll give it my all, then," Kyle replied with a wink.

They exchanged a wave, bidding each other goodbye before going their separate ways. Kyle decided to head straight home to rest.

When he arrived, he found Riya sitting on the couch in the living room, reading the technique he had given her.

"You're back," she said, setting the scroll aside. "You went to help my mum?"

"Yeah, I went there. But I later went into the forest with a friend."

"A friend?" Riya asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes, his name is Nate. He's a second-year, also from Frulia."

Riya tilted her head slightly and her expression became thoughtful. "Nate... Oh, Nate. I think I've heard about him before."

"He's a good guy, pretty skilled too. We took down quite a few mana beasts together." Kyle added.

Riya gave him a faint smile. "Sounds like you had a productive day. I made dinner, by the way."

"Thanks, I'm starving," Kyle replied gratefully and his stomach growled at the mention of food.

As he headed to the dining table, Riya continued with the book. Kyle uncovered one of the plates and dug in, savoring the flavors. There were two plates on the table, and after finishing his, he glanced at the other.

"This one must be for Grace, right?" he called out to Riya.

"Yeah," she confirmed from the living room. "She hasn't come back yet."

Kyle nodded, finishing his meal quickly. Afterward, he headed to his room, finding Void already curled up and fast asleep on his bed. Smiling at the sight, Kyle grabbed a towel and went to bathe.

Once clean, he stood before his bed and summoned his inventory info.

[Inventory: 1034* Tier 1 mana core, 14* Tier-2 mana core, 71* Tier-3 mana core, 2* Tier-4 mana core...]

He glanced summoned his status next.

[EXP: 19,530/40,500]

'I'll need 20,970 EXP to break through,' Kyle analyzed.

34 Tier-1 mana cores would give him 1020.

14 Tier-2 mana cores would give him 840

71 Tier-3 mana cores would give him 8520.

'It'll be safe to use them all then,' Kyle thought, not even considering to use the Tier-4 mana cores for cultivation.

'I'll get Orion to make me something good with them,' he concluded with a smile before summoning all the pile on the bed.

"It's time to gobble," Kyle muttered before picking up a core and throwing it into his mouth.

...

[Beginner Lightning Mage: Lv 9]

[EXP: 29,910/40,500]*

[Beginner Chaos Mage: Lv 8]*

[EXP: 11,919/27,000]*

"Not bad," Kyle muttered before embracing the bed to sleep.

***

*Thud. Thud. Thud*n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

The sound of knocks continued on a door. It had been going on for some minutes already but the door had refused to be opened.

The person raised his fist for another round of knocking, but before he could strike, the door creaked open just enough for Orion's disheveled face to peek through.

His glasses were crooked on his nose, and his hair stuck up in wild tufts, as if he'd been dragged out of bed.

"You derive some perverse joy from interrupting my precious slumber, don't you?" Orion grumbled with irritation.

"Precious slumber?" Kyle said with a light laugh. "It's almost afternoon. Don't tell me you're still on last night's project."

Orion opened the door wider, revealing a rumpled robe and ink-stained fingers. His glasses reflected the light, hiding the dark circles beneath his eyes. It looked like he hadn't slept in days, though Kyle knew this was par for the course with him.

"You're one to talk," Orion muttered, attempting to shut the door.

Kyle, having dealt with this routine before and anticipated the door's movements. He slid his foot into the gap and stopped it cold.

"Not this time," he said with an amused smile.

Orion glared at the obstruction and tried to close it eitherways, but aftrt it refused to budge, he glared at Kyle before sighing in defeat. "Fine. What do you want?"

"Just a little favor," Kyle said nonchalantly.

Orion narrowed his eyes. "I don't do favors."

""I need you to craft something for me," Kyle added with a grin, making Orion's tired demeanor to vanish in an instant, replaced by a spark of interest.

"Craft something?" he repeated, stepping back and gesturing for Kyle to enter. "Come in. Let's talk."

Kyle followed him inside, settling onto the couch while Orion disappeared into the next room. A few minutes later, he returned, his face washed and glasses adjusted properly. His appearance was slightly more presentable now, though the ink stains on his hands remained.

"Alright, where is it?" Orion asked, sitting across from Kyle with eagerness.

Kyle chuckled and summoned two glowing Tier-4 mana cores into his hands. The bright red hue of the cores filled the room with a faint, fiery glow.

"By the goddess!" Orion exclaimed, his voice laced with disbelief. He stared at the cores, his mouth agape. "How in all the magical realms did you get Tier-4 mana cores... again?!"

"Welp, I killed two Tier-4 beasts yesterday." Kyle replied with a grin.

Orion didn't even bother questioning the absurdity of what Kyle said as his focus was solely on the glowing cores.

"What do you need?"

Kyle studied the cores thoughtfully before considering: "How about a bow?"

Orion rubbed his chin, examining the cores closely. "A bow, huh? That's doable. I can even use two cores for the bow's frame and another for the arrows."

"Three cores for one weapon?" Kyle asked, raising an eyebrow. "That seems excessive. The Aurora Fang only used one."

Orion rolled his eyes in annoyance.

"First of all, the Aurora Fang was an upgrade, not a creation from scratch. Second, that mana core was corrupted, that's effectively a fusion of two cores. That's why it had such immense power."

"Fusion?" Kyle repeated.

"Yes," Orion said, adjusting his glasses again. "Dual-affinity beasts like that have two separate mana cores, just like humans have dual affinities. When corrupted, the cores merge into one, combining their energies."

Kyle's eyes widened slightly. "I didn't know that."

"I'm not surprised," Orion said with a faint smirk.

Kyle ignored the jab, looking back at the cores in his hand. "Makes sense now. These cores do feel weaker compared to that one. Fine. I'll get you the extra core today. Can you have it ready in three days?"