Arcane Innovator

Winter descended upon Ereneth, casting its icy grip upon the cobblestone streets with unforgiving ferocity. The air was crisp and biting, each inhale threatening to freeze the lungs. As the feeble sun struggled to pierce through the heavy clouds, daylight became a scarce commodity.

The days were reduced to mere slivers of pale light, offering little respite from the long, dark nights that seemed to stretch on forever.

The city residents huddled in their homes, seeking warmth and solace, while the streets lay desolate and shrouded in eerie silence as the wind howled through the narrow alleyways, carrying with it the haunting echoes of distant voices.

When the snow fell heavily upon the streets, blanketing the city in a pristine white so deep that venturing outside became impossible, I used this abundance of free time to deepen my connection to the essence.

It grew stronger with each passing day, and I reveled in the newfound power that surged within me. Immersed in my training, time seemed to fly by quickly. The snow gradually melted, giving way to the first signs of spring.

The city began to awaken from its slumber as buds bloomed on the skeletal branches of trees, painting the world in vibrant hues. 'Spring is here,' I thought with a hint of excitement.

This was great news for me, as I could finally venture into the forest again and test the results of my training. For obvious reasons, I couldn't conjure any sort of elemental magic inside my room, as I could easily destroy the house if I wasn't careful.

'Forget the house; I feel like I could now burn down the whole street if I used my full power...'

Not wanting to repeat my mistake from last year, I asked Isadora if I could move my renewed task of drying the herbs to the afternoon and travel to the City's forest in the morning to gather herbs.

She didn't mind it as long as I didn't slack on my work in the shop. I could go gather herbs in the forest. As I was now in my second year of apprenticeship, I had already learned all the basics of the trade. I could now move on to the more advanced aspects, and herb gathering was one of them.

'Perfect!' I smiled as I swiftly prepared some food and a satchel to store the herbs I would soon collect before embarking on my journey.

Time was of the essence since it wouldn't be long before a lot of people got the same idea as me to venture into the city's forest and pick up anything of value there.

As I walked from the shop in the direction of the forest, I watched as a group of beast hunters, armed to the teeth, were preparing to set out into the wilderness.

I have been curious about the Beast Hunter's Guild ever since I first set my sights on it. I always wondered how it looked inside. It was probably the closest thing here to an adventurer's guild, which was a trope in every Isekai story I ever read back on Earth.

However, I discovered early on that wanting to be a beast hunter was a foolish thing. They are at the bottom of the social ladder. In a status-based society, no matter how good you are at your job, you can never improve your standing beyond a certain point.

It is said that the dream of every beast hunter is to save enough money so that they can become normal citizens. So no regular person would willingly want to become a beast hunter if they had any other option.

This is why I stopped thinking about becoming one a long time ago, despite the obvious appeal. Most people would never think of willingly subjecting themselves to danger. I would never have thought of it too when I was still living comfortably back on Earth.

But since I had already experienced death once, something must have changed inside me. I was now much more willing to put myself in dangerous situations if there was enough to gain from them.

Not to mention, I was confident in my ability to protect myself with magic. Well, technically, it was not forbidden to become a beast hunter even if you had a normal job, and some people even did.

Every coin has two sides. Despite the bad reputation that the Guild has, there are some benefits that you can't find anywhere else. The most obvious benefit is money. The corpses of monsters are valuable. The more powerful the monster, the more bountiful the reward.

If you have the ability to slay powerful monsters, you can make more money than normal people can only dream of making. But that is something to think about later since the Guild accepts only adults. With these thoughts, I continued on my way, and soon the familiar shapes of the trees loomed above me.

When I went to the forest the last time, it was already picked up clean, and I couldn't gather many herbs or anything else for that matter. I still remembered the place where I found the hidden patch of umbrifila, so I hoped no one else found it and I could go gather it there.

With determination fueling my steps, I journeyed deep into the heart of the forest, evading the impoverished souls collecting firewood and other necessities along the outskirts. I didn't stop until I arrived at a secluded clearing nestled deep inside the forest.

'This is a good place,' I thought briefly before I started to test my magic.

[STATUS:]

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Name: [Darian]

Race: [Human]

Age: [11 years]

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Essence: 648 --> 2612

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Spells:

[Air Manipulation] +++

[Water Manipulation] +

[Fire Manipulation] ++

[Earth Manipulation] +

Now that I understand the underlying principle of essence, my power seems to have quadrupled compared to last year. Although I have a feeling that it wasn't the size of my essence pool that increased so much, rather, the consumption of essence went down significantly.

However, as I had no other way to measure my progress, I had to stick to what I had been doing all those years: performing a simple action with my magic, which I could then define as a single unit of essence. And then simply continue doing it all over again until I run out of energy.

I'm sure the mages of this world have some better way to measure their power, but this was the best I could think of on my own...

After some rest, I decided to try something different this time. As I was still intrigued by the possibility of the existence of some kind of elemental affinity, I decided to also test each element separately.

And sure enough, I soon found out that the air was still the easiest for me to control. Of course, that on its own isn't conclusive enough. It could simply mean I'm the most proficient at it, as I use it the most, so I have to keep it in mind and perform more tests in the future to be sure.

I was immersed in my training, so I failed to notice the subtle sounds in the surrounding bushes that disrupted the peace and quiet of the clearing.

Suddenly, a loud squeak erupted from between the trees, breaking my concentration and startling me. Without warning, a boar burst forth from the underbrush, its hooves pounding the ground with an undeniable urgency.

'Haha! Look at that, a live target!' I thought excitedly after I recovered from the initial shock, as this was a great opportunity to test my powers.

I wanted to first master the element of earth, as I had the least amount of experience with it, so I focused on the ground in front of me, trying to feel the essence inside.

The boar didn't pay me any attention as it continued its mad dash across the clearing. In my excitement, I didn't notice the sword marks on its tough skin and the lone arrow sticking out of its back until it was too late.

I released my essence. The ground melted as it quickly transformed into a long, sharp spike before rapidly solidifying right in the boar's path. The creature, unable to react in time, impaled itself on the sharp point, its last squeals echoing through the clearing.

It was at that exact moment that a group of three beast hunters burst onto the scene. They froze in their tracks, their eyes widening at the spectacle in front of them.

'Oh crap...' was the only thing I could think of in that brief moment before everything went south.

"You...you're..." the one in the middle stammered, his voice filled with a mixture of awe and dread. But he never got to finish that sentence, as it all happened in an instant.

All I could feel at that moment was intense fear and apprehension about my secret being uncovered. Before I realized what I was doing, a huge torrent of bright flames exploded outward from within me, consuming the hunters with unstoppable ferocity.

Their screams were cut out in an instant as their bodies burned viciously until there was nothing but ash scattered upon the forest floor.

There was nothing left to remember the seasoned hunters that stood there only a few moments prior. Except for the few metal pieces of their gear, which melted into a small puddle on the ground.

Everything went silent. All I could hear was the sound of my heart pounding rapidly in my chest. I simply stood there with a mix of exhilaration and dread coursing through my veins.