“The mana affinity stat measures one’s ability to control, withstand, and handle mana. You may have noticed when a monster or climber uses special attacks, a colorful aura surrounds them. That aura is mana manifesting itself outside of their body. The special ability of one’s trait is based on how one’s body is particularly designed to manipulate mana both within themselves and outside of them.”

Max’s head hurt as he took in all the information. He had so many questions, but he didn’t know which one to ask first.

“Okay,” he said. “But we’re outside of the tower right now—how is it possible monsters and climbers can use abilities that require more than their own internal mana?”

“Good question,” smiled Sakura. “Mana does leak from the tower and so the mana density in the tower-zone is much higher than elsewhere.”

“I get that,” said Max. “But the outer-rim isn’t that much further away, either. How come mana isn’t manifesting itself over there.”

“Ah,” said Sakura. “Very good question. Some E- and D-ranked climbers don’t even ponder such a thought. Perhaps that’s because most of them haven’t been to the outer-rim. You have a unique perspective that many young climbers lack. To answer your question though: there are powerful arcane wards built into the wall that separates the city. Those wards capture any mana drifting away from the tower and block it from entering the outer-rim. Furthermore, that captured mana is then reharnessed to power the wards themselves as well as other manatech infrastructure around the city.”

Amazing, thought Max. All the rules and infrastructure in place to separate the two areas of the city always seemed over-the-top to Max. It was so fascinating to hear how more of it actually worked and functioned. It was nice to know the actual purpose of things than to be consciously left in the dark as so many of the curious citizens of the outer-rim were.

“Alright, here’s another question,” said Max.

“So many questions,” groaned Sakura. “Maybe you wouldn’t have as many if you were running faster.”

Max quickened his pace just to spite her.

“My next question is,” said Max. “My ability mimics other people’s abilities and yet my mana affinity is so low. How is that even possible?”

“It’s something that makes your trait so unique and powerful,” said Sakura. “For whatever reason, the mana flowing inside of you is able to temporarily increase its power to dizzying heights when you trigger your trait. It will be amazing to see what happens as your mana affinity grows and you rank up.”

“Heck, yeah,” cheered Max. “Let’s get training on my mana affinity stat, ASAP!”

Sakura made a face. “What do you think we’re doing right now, moron?”

“I thought we were training my other stats,” said Max.