Chapter 83 - Affinity Power Leveling (1/2)

The countdown timer ticked by faster than the brothers expected, and when it reached 14 hours remaining, Tobs gave them the news they had waited five long years for.

-Your Mana Codex has been fully repaired.-

-Your Mana Circuits have been restructured and repaired.-

-Crippled Debuff has been removed on Hosts Codex and Circuits.-

Even though it was 2 AM, since neither brother needed much sleep, they had been nervously watching the countdown timer, which represented how much time was left on their debuff, tick down.

Tobs's notifications put into effect the chain of events that would cause absolute mayhem during the Exams, which would be spoken about for years to come. But that is a story for another time.

Cynrik and Brance couldn't wait any longer, as they had spent the last five years without being able to use Mana; each of them pulled up a coffee table and started unloading dozens and dozens of small gems that glowed in one of three different colors.

Moving as fast as they could, the brothers divided their piles by size, and minutes later, they each had four piles of gems on their tables. The piles were organized by size and color. These gems were, of course, Tier-0 and Tier-1 Mana Codexes. The Tier-0 Codexes were about half the size of a fingernail, while the Tier-1 Codexes were the size of an adult's thumbnail.

Satisfied that their prep work was complete, Cynrik hollered for Benny and Gabby to wake up and join them. After five or six minutes, a groggy Gabby, wearing pink bunny pajamas and slippers, appeared first, dragging along a plushy pink rabbit that she had named Sir Hoppington the 8th.

Brance gave a small laugh as the sleepy little girl joined him on his couch, and it took a moment for her to realize what was on the table. Once she did, her mouth formed an O, and her eyes glittered.

Benny showed up not long after wearing plain blue flannel pajamas and sat next to Cynrik; his expression was equally as overexaggerated as his little sisters.

”OK, here's the dealio; after using a particular skill during our big fight five years ago, Brance and I both earned a negative status on our Codex and Circuits. This negative status had a timer, which made us appear to be cripples, but in truth, all we did was damage our bodies temporarily. That damage has now officially healed, but, unfortunately, we lost all of our progress with our Affinities. SOOOO to balance things out, the two of us are going to blow through all of these Affinity-soaked Codexes to attempt to bring our elements back up to where they should be.”

In one movement, Cynrik peeled off his black t-shirt before leaning forward, plucking one of the Tier-0 Fire Codexes, pressing it softly against his chest where he knew his Codex was located, and giving the go-ahead to Tobs to start the absorption.

-Tier-0 Fire Codex has been detected, start absorption? (Y/N)-

-You have absorbed and integrated a Tier-0 Fire Codex.-

-You have gained 5% Fire Affinity Proficiency.-

The small gem emitted a bright reddish-orange glow before merging with Cynriks chest.

His torso shivered as he felt a small surge of Mana rush into his body. Waving his hand sharply, Cynrik brought up his stats and noticed he had gained not only 5% in his Fire Proficiency but also added five points to his empty Mana Pool.

Tossing a grin to Brance and informing him of the results, Cynrik grabbed another Codex and started charging up. Finally, after absorbing his fifth Codex, he had enough Mana to begin using his Mana Cycling. By the time he reached the 20th and last Tier-0 Fire Codex, his eyes flashed with Red Mana, signifying he had broken through to Tier-1 with his Fire Affinity, but he didn't stop there, and he reached over for one of the Tier-1 Codexes.

-Your Fire Affinity has Evolved to Tier-1-

-Tier-1 Fire Codex has been detected, start absorption? (Y/N)-

-You have absorbed and integrated a Tier-1 Fire Codex.-

-You have gained 2% Fire Affinity Proficiency.-

Cynriks left eye started twitching when he saw that Tier-1 Codexes only gave 2% on absorption, and he took a moment to scroll through the skill notifications to double-check he had learned both of his Fire Skills.

-You have reached 25% Proficiency with the Fire Element.-

-You have learned the Tier-0 Fire Skill Fireball.-

-You have reached 50% Proficiency with the Fire Element.-

-You have learned the Tier-0 Fire Skill Burning Hands.-

Although he had never actively used his Burning Hands skill in battle, he abused the hell out of Fireball, so after seeing it show up in his expanded tab, Cynrik nodded and started absorbing Tier-1 Codexes.

Brance was experiencing the same thing as his brother. After reaching Tier-1 with his Earth Affinity, he brought up his expanded Affinities tab to ensure he gained his Earth Skin and Rock Formation. When he was sure he had both again, he moved on to the Tier-1 Codexes.