Chapter 141: Abilities

“I am finding it hard to believe that you lot are the students of Namda.”

The instructor raised his hand to touch his heart in a dramatic gesture of disappointment, though the smile on his face had never dimmed.

“How could you accept defeat just after a measly warm-up?”

Hearing the word measly, all the students did their best to stare at the instructor in disgust.

Calling a hundred and thirty laps a measly warm-up was an insult to their existence itself.

Though none of them could voice out their thoughts, as their bodies were sprawled on the ground below.

“I was thinking of taking the training session after the warm-up, but seeing your current… state, I don’t think it would be possible.”

Many sighed in relief at the instructor’s statement.

“Alright! Listen up. Tomorrow your first lecture will be in the training facility. Get your weapons ready, and make sure to stay in proper form. You all will be allowed to fight against each other using mana, but no spells or… abilities will be allowed.”

The instructor’s voice had died down at the end.

It was near to impossible for mere bronze and silver cores to be able to use any spell, but considering the status of many of the students here, the instructor couldn’t deny the possibility.

As for the abilities, they were the fourth medium of attack that an individual could use in battle.

The most basic way that a cultivator could attack his enemy was by using his body as a weapon—that was by fighting in close combat using fists and legs to attack.

The next method, or the more refined one, was to use any type of weapon as an extension of your body to defeat your opponent. The various weapon techniques were included to make the attacks more deadly and unpredictable.

These two were the most primal ways of fighting that all the intelligent races had learned from their very beginning.

The third one was attacking the enemy using spells.

Though learning spells was too difficult for lower-ranked cultivators, as their experience in handling mana was limited, primarily due to their rank and age.

Only individuals with a stronger mana core were able to handle the burden of mana expenditure on their cores after repeatedly using spells in combat.

That was why it was the elites who mostly used spells, that too the basic ones.

Only after becoming a Diamond ranker was a cultivator able to learn several spells, as his mind, body, and mana core had evolved to be able to understand the complex mechanics behind a spell, modify them to suit his body, and sustain the spell without draining his mana core.

As for an Immortal… reaching that rank meant becoming something more than a mere mortal.

All the limits that were placed on the mortal body became non-existent on becoming an Immortal.

So the difficulty of learning and using a spell was reduced by several magnitudes after becoming an Immortal-ranked cultivator.

It was this difficulty that made the use of spells an apex of fighting prowess for many people.

And that might have been true if another form of power didn’t exist.

The Abilities.

These were innate capabilities gifted to individuals from their birth. Not everyone had them, but for those who did receive an ability—it meant that their power had surpassed the normal limits.

An ability could be easily used without having detailed knowledge of spells or mana mechanics.

It could be anything ranging from fast healing to being able to instinctively use certain types of spells.

Though every ability had a natural limiter placed on its use.

It could vary from an instant drop in mana, or being placed in an unconscious state from the overload that the body always went through after using something that was far beyond the normal capabilities of the individual’s mind, body, and mana core.

That was the case with abilities gifted from birth, also called The Original Abilities.

Then there were abilities that individuals could create on their own, similar to creating a new spell and engraving that ability on their mana core.

They could also teach these abilities to other people by explaining the entire mechanics behind it and turning it into something similar to a spell.

Though learning a new ability was far more difficult than learning the most difficult spells.

That was why everyone was always engaged in learning new spells rather than learning an ability that they didn’t even know whether their body could support.

And as difficult as it was to learn, creating an ability was even more difficult than creating several spells from scratch.

If thought carefully, abilities and spells always felt similar in theory, but their application was completely different.

A spell was using mana and completing a circuit of mana to create the desired effect. That only required learning the mechanics behind the formation of the circuit and making the mana flow according to its predetermined path.

Abilities, on the contrary, meant making the body produce the desired effect from within its core.

They were like spells engraved on the core and could be activated at a moment’s notice, similar to how breathing was for all living organisms.

You didn’t have to actively spend effort on it, and that increased its effectiveness in battle, as an ability could be used in less than a second, in comparison to a spell for which you always had to constantly focus on completing the circuit while at the same time fighting the opponent before you.

I too had learned an ability from Arthur, but still had a lot to work on before it could be used in real combat.

These abilities that weren’t gifted from birth, but were created from scratch by an individual, were called Perfect Abilities, as they were perfected to be used by your body on instinct.

“You all may leave now.”

The instructor’s voice brought me out of my thoughts.

Even if abilities were rare, I knew that many of the students here had them, though the actual power of those abilities differed, as not every ability was meant to be used in combat, and not every combat-driven ability was strong enough to compete with others.

I mean… how could every ability be of the same strength if the individuals owning them were totally different?

But as the heirs to major powerhouses, some of the students here indeed had some crazy abilities.

The only exception being Noah, whose ability was off the charts.

There was no real comparison for his Mana Sword.

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