He thought about it for a few more seconds. He remembered how effortlessly Vaelin had countered his chakrams and all his spells.
’Actually, integrate an additional section into that new manual.’ Adrian added quickly. ’Make a section that teaches me how to properly wield a bo staff in close-quarters combat. I need a fighting style centered around a staff. And that is basically it.’
Adrian let out a long breath.
’But before you compile that manual,’ Adrian said. ’Answer my questions about the elves. And tell me which specific spells I should be focusing on.’
[The host’s thinking is correct. Having a different variety of elemental spells is always advantageous. But you must ensure that you are focusing on training all of your new spells to a decent level of mastery before relying on them in combat.]
[Analyzing High Elf Combat Data.]
[The High Elves utilized a primitive, ancient form of mana usage. It is conceptually similar to how modern Knight Aura training works. The difference between standard Knight training and the way the elves used their mana is vast, but fundamentally similar.]
[In standard Knight training, a human absorbs mana from the atmosphere and forces it into their blood. They slowly, painstakingly train their muscles to integrate the mana inside the tissue so the body can naturally absorb the energy and boost its physical output.]
[The Elves did this exact same thing, but in a significantly higher concentration.]
[Their muscles did not need to be trained to hold mana because they are born with that ability. They are constructed from natural mana, so they do not have to train for it like humans do. Due to this biological advantage, all they have to do is flood their muscles with raw mana during combat, and they will immediately gain exponential physical strength and speed.]
[High elves are born knights who can go above SSS rank human knights.]
Adrian’s eyes widened slightly.
’Okay.’ Adrian thought. ’I see.’
He stared at the screen and a dangerous idea formed in his head.
’Can you compile a method where I can use that exact same Elf technique?’ Adrian asked. ’Ignore all the biological side effects for now. Just tell me what the side effects are, but give me multiple methods where a human body can actually do this. And then we can find a way around the side effects.’
[Affirmative.]
A few seconds later.
[It is biologically impossible for a human to reach the natural conductivity level of a High Elf.]
Adrian stared at the text.
[In standard Knight training, humans are actively fighting against their own biological structure to achieve a crude simulation of this elven trait. The only way for a human to naturally enhance physical stats using raw mana is through rigorous, sustained Knight training. It cannot be done instantaneously.]
[Forcing an unregulated flood of mana into untrained human muscle tissue will only cause catastrophic cellular damage. The host must slowly raise physical mana conductivity through consistent training. There are no shortcuts. This is the limitation of being born human.]
Adrian just let out a slow breath and rubbed the back of his neck.
"Okay." Adrian muttered. "If the shortcut is literally impossible without blowing myself up... can you tell me the exact magical differences between humans and elves? Those fuckers were way too strong... and I can’t really tell if they were sixth circle or if they were just different. Like you said, different species and all that."
[Would the host like the biological and magical differences between High Elves, Elves, and Humans?]
"Yes." Adrian nodded. "Give me all three."
[Affirmative. Compiling data.]
A few seconds passed. A massive block of text loaded onto the screen.
[Humans and Elves are divergent evolutionary paths originating from the High Elves.]
[High Elves are immortal beings born from the world tree. They are born with the ability to conduct and control mana naturally.]
[Modern Elves inherited the innate, flawless mana conductivity of the High Elves. However, modern Elves are a corrupted evolution. They inherited a heavy genetic curse from an unknown, ancient source. (Insufficient data to locate the origin of the curse.) Due to this corruption, Elves are categorized purely as Monsters by the world. Even though their physical and magical capabilities are vastly superior to humans, they are considered evolutionary failures.]
Adrian kept reading.
[Humans took the opposite evolutionary path. Humans are born with an incredibly low starting point. Humans possess innate mana conductivity, but not on the level of high elves. Every single human is born with the capacity to hold mana, but a very small percentage of humans possess the potential to reach magical heights that no High Elf can ever achieve.]
[Humans are the biological solution that the High Elves always wanted. Humans hold the path to #@%&$]
Adrian frowned. He reread the glitched line two or three times.
’Yeah... better not ask anymore questions regarding this... I’ve read enough novels to know that his smells of nothing but trouble...’
"Okay." Adrian said, focusing on other stuff. "So humans basically start at rock bottom, but we have the potential to become infinitely stronger than the high elves if we put the work in. The ones that have the talent, that is. Meanwhile, elves are born with all the high elf cheat codes, but their magic is corrupted, so they are just considered monsters."
[Affirmative.]
Adrian nodded slowly.
"Okay then." Adrian sighed. "What do we do next?"
Since he couldn’t replicate the cheat code of the high elves, his only option was to do it the hard way. He had to manually rank up as both a knight and a mage.
He let out another heavy sigh and shook his head.
After all, who didn’t want a shortcut? He felt a little bit bummed out, but he didn’t let it drag him down. He had just successfully fixed his shattered veins and that was a win.
He pushed the magical theories to the back of his mind, and walked straight out of the dungeon portal.