A Bug In Fate

As Alden thought about how to bypass these restrictions, he began checking every detail of his skills and abilities. He was trying to find something that could lead him toward his goal.

A gentle breeze passed through the field, causing the flowers around them to sway slowly while the leaves of the nearby trees rustled softly. The enormous lake in front of them remained calm, its surface reflecting the clear sky above.

A silence settled between the duo as Alden searched through everything he had, looking for something only he could do as the only person with the system.

Ravenna, meanwhile, gave him some space. She took out a few papers containing information about something and soon became immersed in reading them, occasionally turning a page as the peaceful surroundings remained undisturbed.

Alden continued going through the descriptions of every skill and technique he possessed, carefully looking for anything that could help him.

The smell of flowers mixed with the cool breeze as time slowly passed, but Alden’s attention remained completely focused on the system in front of him.

Suddenly, his movement halted.

A skill description appeared before his eyes, visible only to him.

Mana Sense

⟦ Mana Sense (Unique) ⟧

⟦ Allows the user to perceive the surrounding world through mana.

Current Range: 400 Meters

Living beings, mana-rich objects, and active energy sources can be detected within the sensing radius.

The effectiveness and range of Mana Sense increase alongside the user’s Mana and Soul.

Higher mastery may allow the user to distinguish individual signatures, affinities, emotional fluctuations, and hidden presences. ⟧

The description was impressive, but that wasn’t the reason Alden had stopped.

His attention was focused on one particular detail.

The range.

Or, in other words, the current limit of the skill.

*..400 meters... hmm.*

His eyes narrowed slightly as a thought began forming in his mind.

* ...Wait a damn minute.*

Alden’s eyes widened slightly as he stared at the skill description again.

*..How does this skill even work?*

*If it allows me to sense mana and mana presences within a radius of four hundred meters, then somehow it has to interact with the mana outside my body, right?*

His eyes slowly widened as another thought followed.

*Which means...*

His breathing stopped for a moment.

*Could it bypass the restriction on my body?*

Alden’s expression changed as he quickly went through the description again, reading every single word with newfound excitement.

*..I can’t manifest mana outside my body because I’m only at the Spark Realm... but this skill is already allowing me to perceive mana outside my body.*

His heart began beating faster.

*..Then maybe I don’t need to control the mana directly.*

He suddenly sat straighter, his eyes shining with excitement.

*..What if I use Mana Sense as a bridge?*

The more he thought about it, the more excited he became. He had been trying to find a way to force his mana outside his body, but perhaps he had been approaching the problem from the wrong direction all along.

*..I don’t need to break the restriction.*

*..I just need to find a way around it.*

A grin slowly appeared on Alden’s face.

*..Hehehe... I might actually be able to do this.*

"Hehehe... hahahaha!"

The silence that had settled over the field was suddenly disturbed as Alden began laughing like a maniac, causing his teacher to glance at him while she was busy reading.

"Have you gone insane?" Ravenna asked with a sigh. "It seems you’ve found a way."

An exhausted smile appeared on her face.

Even she couldn’t believe what she was admitting. If it wasn’t Alden standing before her, she might never have believed someone claiming that they could use spells before reaching the Rupture Realm.

But the young man in front of her had already done things she once thought were impossible. Not only had he accomplished them, but he had also raised her expectations of what he might be capable of.

"Teacher Ravenna, do you want to make another bet?" Alden asked with a mischievous smile.

"You wish."

She wasn’t going to bet on something that even she believed was possible.

"Well... I’ve found a way, but whether I’ll actually succeed or not, I don’t know," Alden said.

"Well then, it’s worth a try. So what are you waiting for?" Ravenna said with a soft smile.

Alden’s eyes lit up as excitement and anticipation coursed through his entire body.

He stood up from the table, as it might get destroyed during his attempt, and it wasn’t exactly a suitable place for experimenting anyway.

He walked some distance away, followed by Ravenna, and then closed his eyes as he activated Mana Sense.

He wanted to memorize the entire process of how Mana Sense worked.

One might wonder how he could possibly memorize something as complicated as a sensation or perception, but that was where another skill came into play.

⟦ Skill Description: Perfect Memory ⟧

⟦ Every sight, sound, word, sensation, and experience perceived by the host is permanently etched into memory. The host can recall any recorded memory with flawless accuracy, immune to the effects of natural forgetfulness. ⟧

Perfect Memory was immediately put to use as Alden focused on the sensation produced by Mana Sense.

He carefully memorized how the range expanded, how the surrounding mana was detected, and how the information reached his mind.

The flowers on the ground, the trees around the field, and even the air itself contained mana. Alden could feel their presence and the subtle fluctuations within them, spreading throughout the entire four-hundred-meter radius.

He remained completely still as he memorized every detail of the sensation.

If his theory was correct, this might be the first step toward finding a way around the limitation of his realm.

His attention then shifted from the outside world to the inside of his body, where his affinities lay dormant.

Inside his body were two crystals, one blue and the other completely colorless.

The blue crystal was slightly larger than the colorless one. His Ice affinity was ranked A, while his Void affinity was only ranked D, so the difference in size was understandable.

He tried to awaken them by following the sensation he had experienced through Mana Sense, but there was no reaction.

Guess it’ll take some time, huh... but I trust my physique.

Ultimately, Alden had to sit down on the field as he continued his attempt, while Ravenna’s gaze followed his movements.

She remained nearby in case anything unexpected happened.

The inside of a cultivator’s body was a complicated domain, and interfering without understanding what was happening could potentially cause more harm than good.

For now, all she could do was watch and wait.

And just like that, several hours passed as Alden continued trying to awaken his affinity.

He focused mostly on Ice, as the connection he felt toward it was far stronger than the one he felt toward Void.

Again and again, he tried to follow the sensation he had discovered through Mana Sense, attempting to reach the dormant crystal inside his body.

But nothing happened.

At least, that was what it seemed like.

Alden remained seated on the grass with his eyes closed, completely unaware that something deep inside his body had begun to change.

Would he succeed in awakening his affinity before the tournament?

Or was he trying to break a limit that even his special physique couldn’t overcome?

Only time would tell.

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