Chapter 19: Ash’s 5th Birthday, Aaron almost of age

 Both Ash and Aaron have made tremendous progress. Ash was close to breaking through to the D-Rank realm of her core while Aaron was aiming to achieve C-Rank with all his stats and improving to the advanced mastery for his combat-related skills. Aaron dedicated all of his time training, under the strict tutelage of his parents. Their progress shocked their parents as both Ash and Aaron had achieved a vast level of mana capacity and continued to grow. 

 Ash had finally turned 5, she was sitting by the window still watching Aaron clash with his father, with every strike Maxim would increase the power and speed of his spear as Aaron was in a state of pure concentration, as he grew at a rapid rate. His technique flew smoother and smoother, mana became more and more refined. Aaron did not dodge any strike but tried to keep up with his father, bringing out every ounce of strength. As the father and son duo continued their combat training, Saffiyah walked over to Ash with something wrapped up. It was her 5th year birthday present, as well as something that would increase Ash's growth rate. 

 "Dear, I have something for you, This was something I bought for you when we visited your Aunt Sera's, I've been saving it for your 5th birthday while you stabilized your core.". Saffiyah gave the present to Ash as she ripped it apart revealing two books. "You will study these two books, or rather you and Grim will, as usual all you have to do is send your mana into the book and study the information you get. These are cultivation manuals, this is what people use in order to further master their abilities as you would need a manual that fits you.". Ash nodded to this while both she and Grim sent their energy into the book, devouring the information. However, they were both puzzled as they couldn't understand almost anything. Saffiyah laughed seeing their confusion, "You will have to practice it by sections" as she went outside to watch Aaron's training. 

 'Hmm, so I'm guessing that the White Dragon Ring book is for you, and the Thirteen Horns of Illusion is mine, Said Grim. Ash went into a meditative sitting position and went into his mana pool. 'Seems like it, I can feel the connection I have with the book, and not only that but the form it's taken in here looks like an old white leather book with flames around it.'. 'Mine looks like some kind of gooey black substance that takes the form of a book with some kind of weird crown hovering over it. Whelp, no use staying idle, I'm gonna dive straight in' Said Grim as the both of them opened up the books. 

 White Dragon Ring first section: This showed Ash how to effectively make his mana take on the attributes of white flames, this mana attribute was close to his ability but was still far off. Making a resolve, Ash would continue practicing the book, making his mana pool take the shape of a dragon circling around his mana pool, changing all of her mana into white flames. This increased the rate her mana capacity grew but had a conflict between the technique and her ability orb. This caused tremors and a feeling of pain that slowly got worse, Ash knew that if the affinity of the technique was not changed to suit her ability then it would most likely kill her. Using her affinity imbuement, Ash changed the foundation of the technique to become Ashen Flame Dragon Ring, the book sensed such a change that it took a different form, becoming a technique that matched Ash's ability perfectly. The manual changed the structure of the first section and made many changes to Ash's mana pool because of its will, sensing the peril Ash was in. After about an hour, the pain Ash was feeling was gone but all of her mana was used due to the shift of mana, the exhaustion caused Ash to fall asleep.

 Grim had a much easier experience as the Thirteen Horns of Illusion matched her ability almost perfectly. She just needed to change it a bit, the gooey black substance turned into a haze of corruption making his mana pool darker and more dense, with thirteen horns stemming from below her mana pool and enclosing it, making it look like an eerie flower bud. When she was finished practicing the first section, she went to check on Ash. What she saw was Ash floating around lifelessly, when Grim tried to enter Ash's mana pool she was repelled back to the other side of the dome surrounding their mana pools. Grim tried a couple more times but it all ended up with her being repelled back, that's until a signal was sent, informing Grim that Ash was stable, just asleep. 

 "Ash, it's time for dinner" said Saffiyah as she walked into the living room. It was getting late and the sun was almost fully set, Saffiyah noticed Ash was asleep. She walked over and noticed that her daughter was experiencing mana exhaustion. "Not again" said Saffiyah who carried Ash to her room and brought a plate of food and water, setting them on Ash's table. Back in Ash's mana pool, Grim was trying his best to sync his mana pool with Ashes, Ashes mana pool went on a rampage a little after Grim found out that Ash was safe. Due to Ashes mana exhaustion, his mana pool with its new beastial will tried to take the mana of Grims mana pool. Grim protected his mana and the flurry of Ash's mana pool, knowing that he would have to survive until Ash regained conscious and took control.

 Both Ash and Grims mana pools were stationary while everything else was in constant circulation, the dragon that just floated in circles left its circulation and attacked Grims mana. Grim used the protruding horns of his mana pool to defend against these attacks. The dragon would wrap around Ash's mana pool like a floating snake, its a chinese dragon, and lunge straight for Grim, the horns would whip out straight at the dragon, hitting it back. These exchanges continued for hours, due to the constant exchanging of attacks, after 11 hours straight, Grim accidently advanced him and Ash's core to the D-Rank. 

MC: Ashfall Revera 

Age: 5

Stats: Vitality: 82 Mana: 56,000

Strength: F 56 Endurance: F 82 Agility: F 49 Core: D 2

Charisma: 12 Wisdom: 8 Luck: 12 Will: 7 Fate: 0

Abilities: White Flames(Very destructive and consumes a lot of mana, cool ash affect)

Affinity: Ashen Flames

Skills: Intermediate Mana Control, Intermediate Affinity Imbuement, ?Familiar Resonance?, Intermediate Mana Manifestation, Intermediate Mana Density, Intermediate weapon manifestation, Intermediate mana coating, Initial Necessity Magic

Technique: Ashen Flame Dragon Ring

???Familiar???: Grimoire(Gained from birth) 

Mana: 80,000

Familiar Abilities: Corruption(Shadow alignment; Changes the nature of mana to be more chaotic, with higher mastery can even give mana a will)

Second Mana Pool(Has its separate mana pool, normally Familiars must rely on an outside mana source or a bonded being)

Affinity: Empowerment

Skills: Intermediate Mana Control, Intermediate Mana Manifestation, ?Familiar Resonance?, Intermediate Mana Density, Intermediate mana buff magic, Intermediate weapon manifestation, Intermediate mana coating, Intermediate Affinity Imbuement

Technique: Thirteen Horns of Illusion