Chapter 54

"Ugh …"

Shien's expression turned a little bitter all of a sudden.

It wasn't that he felt guilty because he couldn't fulfill the learning requirements.

On the contrary, Shien felt that he couldn't fulfill the requirements anymore.

Leveling up a close-combat weapon skill to Level 5 and above?

Shien's [Two-handed Sword] was already at the max level.

His mana must reach the required level?

Although he did not know what the standard was, Sean not only had the growth of all his abilities reached the maximum every time he leveled up, but he also had [Magician], a skill that could greatly increase his mana and magic power. This skill was also at the maximum level. If this did not meet the standard, then Sean would not believe it.

In summary, Shien had fulfilled the learning requirements without a doubt. It could even be said that he had exceeded the requirements.

However, to those who didn't know better, Shien was still a Level 10 newbie adventurer and he hadn't even learned a single skill. No matter how they looked at it, he didn't seem like he could fulfill the requirements to learn [Demonic Sword].

It was precisely because of this that everyone in Vivian's party was surprised when Tierre said that she would teach him the [Demon Sword].

If Shien admitted that he fulfilled the learning requirements, it would be the same as telling Tierre that he had hidden the information about the skill.

If that was the case …

(No, maybe Tierre has already discovered something.)

Shien suddenly came to a realization.

After all, Tierre didn't hesitate to agree to Shien's request to learn [Demonic Sword].

If Tierre felt that Shien couldn't fulfill the requirements to learn [Demonic Sword], would she agree to it so readily?

Definitely not.

So …

(This little girl has more or less noticed something unusual about me, right?)

Shien looked at Tierre and was speechless.

Tierre didn't rush Shien to answer and waited quietly.

After a while, Shien was the first to relax his shoulders.

"Then, what should I do next?"

What these words were equivalent to was already self-evident.

Of course, Tierre understood. After a moment of silence, she replied.

"Since you've fulfilled the learning requirements, let's start with the basic steps," Tierre said. "Can you feel the presence of mana?"

"I should be able to, right?" Shien heaved a sigh of relief that Tierre didn't want to get to the bottom of it, but he said with uncertainty, "Is it the vicious energy waves emitted by monsters during battles?"

"You can say that." Tierre neither denied nor confirmed it. She just said, "Generally speaking, it's not easy to sense mana unless you learn the skill [Mana Sense]. Otherwise, most people are like you. They can only sense the presence of mana through waves, aura, atmosphere and other forms."

She just said it was the same logic as sound waves.

Those who learned [Mana Sense] were like holding a sound wave detector. They could clearly feel the existence of sound waves, and they could also see them through the instrument.

Under normal circumstances, people naturally wouldn't be able to sense the existence of sound waves. They could only hear the sound within the range of human hearing, and not directly sense the existence of sound waves.

That was how mana was. Usually, people wouldn't be able to sense it directly. Only those with sharp senses would be able to sense its existence in other ways. However, to directly sense and feel mana, one had to learn [Mana Sense].

If one learned this skill, one would be able to directly sense and even see mana.

This was quite useful.

Take Shien as an example. Although he could use [Enemy Sense] to detect the presence of hostile beings, he couldn't detect non-hostile individuals. Even if he could sense danger, he wouldn't be able to detect if someone was monitoring or following him. He couldn't use it to detect other individuals that weren't directly connected to him. Like a radar, he couldn't detect the location and movements of people around him.

Of course, monsters were an exception. They were always hostile to all humans. Once they saw a human, they would attack. Therefore, it was only limited to monsters. People with [Enemy Sense] could detect the existence of monsters at any time and anywhere within the range of effect of the skill.

Because of this characteristic, [Enemy Sense] could be used in many other situations.

For example, if someone wanted to sneak into an important facility that was heavily guarded, [Enemy Sense] could detect the location of all the patrols, guards, and even soldiers in the facility. This was because they would be hostile to all intruders at this time. Once one stood in the area of the intruders, one could use [Enemy Sense] to detect them.

Thanks to this, characters such as thieves, spies, and adventurers would learn the skill [Enemy Awareness] from time to time. This skill was quite useful.

However, [Enemy Sense]'s target was still hostility, not life reactions, so it was impossible to detect the movements of any existence at any time and place.

However, [Magic Sense] was different. It could detect and even see magic directly. Unless the opponent's magic was too low or the distance was too far, one would not be able to detect it. As the skill level increased, the perception would become more and more acute, and the range would also become larger and larger. It was the same principle as [Enemy Sense].

However, in a situation, anyone could clearly sense the existence of magic.

"That is the magic flowing in your body," Tierre said. "When the magic power in one's body grows to a certain level, anyone will be able to sense the flow of magic power in their body," Tierre said.

Tierre raised her head and stared at Shien.

"Now, focus your attention on your own body and sense your own magic."

Hearing this, Shien nodded and closed his eyes.

"…"

His consciousness sank into his body.

"Thump, thump …"

The sound of his heartbeat seemed to become very clear.

Shien concentrated all his attention and "searched" for magic in his body.

Not long after …

"I feel it."

Shien said with his eyes closed.

In Shien's senses, there was a stream of magic flowing in his body.

That feeling was as if he could see "air currents" or "water currents" flowing in his body.

In the past, Shien had felt the existence of magic in his body more than once, but not as clearly as it was now.

Previously, Shien could not be said to be sensing magic. He was just following the technique of using the skill and naturally mobilizing the magic with the skill.

So …

[Obtained skill – [Magic Sense]. Learn?] []

Shien was easily qualified to learn the skill just mentioned.

Before Shien could react, Tierre's voice came into his ears.

"Focus your mind a little more, into the depths of your body. Let your consciousness affect the magic and release it."

"Remember, don't use the feeling when you use the skill to release the magic. That way, the magic will automatically be released according to the method of activating the skill. You can't control this part of the magic, so it's meaningless."

"You have to use your own feelings to control the magic. First mobilize it bit by bit, then gather it in the hand holding the weapon and release it. Pay attention, don't release it in one go, that way the magic will scatter. You have to let the magic flow through your arm into the weapon and gather it in the weapon."

Listening to this explanation, Shien, who had unsheathed the broadsword at his waist, followed Tierre's instructions and mobilized the magic in his body.

[Obtained skill – [Magic Manipulation]. Learn?] []

The new skill was immediately obtained by Shien.