Wind carries more than just air molecules. It carries its own signature of mana; it carries hidden information that only those with the wind talent can translate.
Noah began sensing the subtle differences between various types of air movement. Breezes created by natural temperature gradients felt different from currents generated through talent usage.
Each carried distinct signatures that revealed their origins.
Every wind tells a story about where it’s been and what created it.
The orb taught him to read these aerial narratives, understanding the different patterns, magical disturbances, and even the emotional states of nearby beings through their unconscious influence on surrounding air currents.
Beings breathe differently when they’re excited versus nervous. The wind remembers everything.
His skill development accelerated as theoretical knowledge transformed into instinctive understanding. Techniques that should have required months of practice became accessible within minutes of comprehension.
This is what learning from concentrated elemental essence feels like. Pure knowledge transfer.
Noah noticed the orb’s internal energy diminishing as he absorbed its teachings. The swirling wind moved more slowly, its luminescence fading as concentrated wind essence flowed into his developing magical channels.
It’s sacrificing itself to teach me. The orb is literally giving up its power to enhance my understanding. No wonder why orbs are so rare...it’s because the more you comprehend it, the less concentrated it becomes.
But instead of concern, Noah felt excitement.
His daily protein bar income included replacement wind orbs, meaning he had unlimited access to this kind of accelerated learning.
One orb per day. Infinite advancement potential.
What Noah failed to realise was just how shocking his casual use of legendary artefacts would appear to other mages. Tier 5 elemental orbs weren’t just rare. They were kingdom-shaking treasures, the kind of items kings went to war over and mages dreamed of acquiring in their lifetimes.
Even at the prestigious Academy of Sina in the Demon Kingdom, the most elite students, those who shattered records or ranked at the very top, were granted only a few fleeting minutes with such an orb. And even then, it was a tightly monitored privilege, used solely for rapid comprehension during breakthroughs.
Yet here Noah was treating them like snacks in his shop.
If word of this ever reached Sin City or Esta, there’d be riots. The masses wouldn’t just be outraged, they’d want Noah skinned alive and hung up as a warning to anyone else who dared waste a Tier 5 orb like it was candy.
But ignorance provided bliss as Noah continued his intensive session. The orb’s teachings revealed advanced applications that bordered on miraculous. It provided him with a few basic techniques that would help in combat, such as short levitation and quick speed bursts that would help him dodge dangerous attacks.
The levitation technique made him think of something that made his body tremble in excitement. Once he reached a high level of attainment in Wind Manipulation skill, he would be able to use flight.
The possibility sent shivers of anticipation through his body. Level 3 remained far from such advanced applications, but the foundation was being established through the usage of the concentrated Orb.
Every skill level unlocks new possibilities. This is just the beginning.
The wind orb continued sacrificing its essence for Noah’s education, each absorbed fragment bringing deeper understanding of elemental manipulation.
[Your Wind Manipulation skill has levelled up to Level 4!]
After reaching level 4, Noah decided to end his training session. He had learnt enough, although there was still a decent amount of wind concentration inside the orb, he decided to stop.
The process was mentally fatiguing. It was like sitting down to study for your exams for six to seven hours in one go. It was tiring, but very enjoyable, which made it an enjoyable session.
Checking his system status. Noah smiled.
Daily Revenue: $135,000
Current Assets: $315,240.21
Attributes: Strength: 20, Vitality: 4, Intelligence: 20, Agility: 20
Skills: Swordsmanship(Level 6), Mana Control (Level 5), Wind Manipulation (Level 4), Surviving on Ramen (Level 3), Cooking (Level 2), Programming (Level 2), Gaming (Level 2), Finance (Level 1)
His current assets did not include the wind orb’s worth, which made Noah realise that his current assets would only count his monetary assets.
He could convert the wind orb to golden coins and see the assets skyrocket, but that would be foolish. Furthermore, he realised that after using the wind orb, the value of the orb had decreased to 500 golden coins. It was clear that his theory of it depleting at some point was correct.
"Not bad. I’m what they call a wind mage, now." He muttered, a huge smile breaking out on his face.
"Time to check on my auto-makers,"
[Auto-IceTea Maker] Progress: 52/200
Production Rate: 2 Iced teas every hour
[Auto-Baker] Progress: 53/200
Production Rate: 4 Loaves every hour
[Auto-ProteinBar] Progress: 0/100
Production Rate: 1 bar every 2 hours
As he had expected, the progress of the protein bar was zero, just like the others. But what shocked him was the insane production rate of the protein bar.
"Damn...I can get 12 bars a day...it’s the same starting point as the Iced tea."
Whilst he knew that having so many bars was going to increase his wealth significantly, he also knew that there was a downside.
The astronomical price for the protein bar wasn’t because of the 50% increase in strength. But it was because of the increase in the strength attribute by 10, regardless of rank.
His fingers drummed against the counter.
"This isn’t working, I need everyone to purchase this product. Otherwise, it will take me a millennium to increase the auto-maker to level 2," he muttered.
He didn’t want to sell to the elite few and have the rest of the market walk past his shop. He wanted lines out the door.
He wanted everyone—rich or poor, novice or veteran—to bite.
Then the idea hit him.