Sword God in a World of Magic

Shang looked at all the different Mana Sources with shining eyes.

Elemental Mana began to fill the room, but the Magic Circle kept the Mana isolated, making the different kinds interact with each other. There wasn't much Mana in the surroundings, but the different forms of Mana still created some minor phenomena.

The temperature in the room fluctuated wildly. Some bolts of lightning appeared and disappeared in the surroundings.

Lots of tiny things appeared.

Shang also noticed something very interesting very quickly.

The dean hadn't summoned a Mana Source for Ice Mana, but there were still eight different Mana Sources.

Yet, according to what Shang knew, there were only seven affinities.

So, why were there suddenly nine, including Ice?

Shang quickly checked each Mana Source.

Orange ethereal spire that released a ton of heat? Got to be fire.

Brown ethereal spire that summoned rock around it? Shang knew that one already. That was earth.

Green ethereal spire that created tons of wind? Probably wind.

Deep blue ethereal spire that summoned water in the air, which rained down around it? Water.

Silver ethereal spire that summoned bolts of lightning? Lightning.

Grey ethereal spire that seemed to vibrate in the air? Shang wasn't that certain about what it was, but based on what he had already seen and what was missing, Shang was rather certain that this was metal.

That left the last two.

a black tear in space. It

that he had once believed the Pest Cats to have a Darkness Affinity, but he hadn't heard

Was this darkness?

would also explain the

up the entire room, and if the darkness Mana Source weren't here, Shang would have needed to protect his

a Mana

darkness and light also existed as

that have these affinities, but they are truly rare amongst humans. Most of the world thinks that darkness and light affinities can't exist inside humanity, but they

Mages

and not conducted in the public. That means that a human unfortunate enough to receive such an affinity won't be able to become a powerful Mage without selling themselves to a

"Why is it like this?"

the Mages with all the Affinities have. However, they

you protect your attacking force with a Magic Circle that costs only ten gold that can deal with the known Affinities, or will you spend 10,000 gold for one that can also deal with light and darkness? Of course, the prices I just mentioned are only an example and don't reflect the real

could turn the entire situation around as long as you decide to do a

something like gathering several Mages to Synchrocast a huge fireball. The enemy wouldn't know that they shouldn't do that, which is why they are doing it. So then, you use your Light Mage to suppress the light of the fireball and the Mana it gives off, confusing the surrounding Mages about its power and making

with rapt attention and absorbed all

of Affinity do I have?" Shang asked as he scratched his

dean answered. "Those only represent the pure Affinities. There are also Mixed Affinities, but they are very rare. A good example would be the Empress Cobra. It lives in a swamp filled with nothing but poison, and it

the Water Affinity and the Darkness Affinity. However,

Affinity is very special, it could theoretically be everything. It might even be something never seen before. It

would be lying if I said that this didn't interest

nodded and walked over to the

didn't have an Earth Affinity, but he

body. After a couple of seconds of circling around in his body, it left

SHING!

vanished as the dean pulled it back into

went to the next Mana

absorbed this Mana Source as well, and just like earth, it left Shang's body after

Affinity wasn't

water, and just like