Billy's friend's eyes were wide open. Even the few elementalists that saw what he did couldn't help but be shocked. Billy had awakened his magic powers by himself… or so they thought. They didn't know that he could use Earth Manipulation from the very beginning.
"What the hell… how did you do that?" Lily asked.
"20% luck and 50% skill," Billy replied. "Plus, one hundred percent concentrated power of will."
Billy didn't waste time and began to train Water Manipulation. The remaining elementalists saw that, and everyone confirmed that Billy didn't learn it by struck of luck. He had understood things about magic completely... he didn't learn by chance like them.
"You… How did you do that?" The black-haired girl asked.
Billy wondered if he should spread the things he learned… basically, he just had to infuse his mana into the elements. His level of magic, the mana used, the manipulation level will also determine how much and for how long he can control an element. Still, while that solved many mysteries, it would take a while for the others to pull that off since he was the only one who had mana close enough to the elementalists.
"I just became more aware of my mana and after meditating and increased it for a while, I could feel the magic presences near me," Billy replied. "Just like you said, I just have to be able to control mana and then envelop the elements with it and then control them with my will."
"I didn't understand a single thing that you said…" Alexander said.
"How did you learn Water Manipulation even before Earth Manipulation?" The black-haired girl said.
"You said that it would be easier to learn Earth Manipulation… so, I should be able to," Billy said and then used Earth Manipulation, making the sphere of water fall.
While he could do a lot more, Billy decided to make them think that he had just learned that as well. The word quickly spread to the guards that Billy had learned magic, and the youngest ones thought that they could learn as fast as him. They made a mistake. Even when they followed the exact instructions, they didn't feel the mana of those around, but Billy could see their overall mana and magic increasing after a full week.
"I thought it would be easier," Lily said.
"It is easy… so easy like copying the multi firing technique of your tribe," Billy said.
Although it sounded like sarcasm, Billy's friends understood the meaning of those words. To master the techniques of another tribe, they would have to put the same amount of effort they put into learning the techniques of their own. In any case, Billy spent that week teaching his friends and those who didn't give up. In the meantime, the elementalists decided to stay away from him, not to reveal any more secrets of their tribe. Still, no one blamed the black-haired girl since they also assumed that it was impossible for others to learn their magic.
"I am impressed that you learned that, Billy," Camilla said. "Still, don't go on showing that magic to others because the veterans still looked troubled over it."
"Got it," Billy said. "I have a feeling that you can learn that pretty easy, mom. You should try it."
It wasn't feeling. It was just the fact that she had more mana than most of the warriors of the tribe. In any case, Billy thought that his father would be against that, but since he had a lot of free time recently, he began to meditate and increase his mana as well.
"Is Billy here?" Nikola suddenly appeared and asked.
"Yes, I am…" Billy frowned.
"Lord Edward wants to talk with you about the recent events," Nikola said.
"Is he mad?" Billy asked since Nikola was the one delivering the reports for him.
"No, he looked pretty excited in fact…" Nikola said while forcing a smile for some reason.
Billy thought that he would be angry due to the lack of progress, but it seemed he wanted to learn more about magic… he was probably like the others that thought that it was something that could be learned instantly. In any case, Billy headed to the mansion to talk to him the next day, and when he found Edward, he looked like a kid who couldn't calm down.
"Oh! You came earlier, Billy," Edward said and pointed to a chair. "Sit down, sit down… I want to hear more about your recent discoveries."
"Sure, but… I don't think that we can build the bridge without the elementalists," Billy said.
"Oh… you realized what I was thinking," Edward said. "Is that difficult to teach that kind of magic to others?"
"It isn't difficult… but the practice is complicated," Billy explained. "The elementalists awaken those powers naturally because they see those around them using the same magic hundreds of times when they were kids. Thanks to all that, they grow more sensitive to the mana in their surroundings… to people like us, we would need a certain level of mana to be able to forcefully awaken those powers."
"I see… I imagined that their powers were a lot more convenient than that," Edward said. "I suppose they have a limit, just like our stamina and they need to learn and control it with constant practice."
Billy wondered if he was the only one who thought that the elementalists weren't blessed people for being able to have those powers. More and more, he was confirming that the others were thinking like that…
"Regardless, do you think that with the numbers we have, we can build the bridge in one year without the elementalists?" Edward asked.
"That is unlikely, even the kids who wanted to learn their magic didn't last more than five days with the practice I came up with," Billy replied.. "The adults clearly disliked that… unless you force everyone to only focus on increasing their mana and training Earth Manipulation, it won't happen."
