Kino flashed a graceful smile when she heard Eren’s confirmation. She didn’t take long to respond.

“Since you have said yes after learning almost every aspect of being a Hexer, I commend you for your decision. The path toward becoming a full-fledged Hexer is not easy.

You won’t be able to truly use Hex spells until you are an Arch rank. However, setting the foundation early is apt to help you a lot.”

Eren was about to flash a smile in return for Alephee’s applause. But then he heard her words about not being able to use Hex spells for real until he was in the Arch rank. He couldn’t help frowning at that thought.

Kino looked at Eren’s face and cleared some air around her earlier statement.

“Don’t worry, Eren. What I mean is that Arch rank would allow you to cast Hex spells easily without any tools. But you’d have access to these tools in your Meta and Awakened rank.

The Hex gears!

The Hex gear set is specially made for Hexers in the Meta and Awakened rankers. It allows them to integrate their wills into their spells using the gears as the conduit.

This is the reason why Hex gear can not simply be used by other rankers. The gear set acts as the conduit for the user’s will. As such, they are dependent on their owners.

To make it usable for them, the core runes on the Hex gear set would need to be changed. As such, Hex gears are rarely passed down from a ranker to ranker.”

Another of Eren’s puzzles got sorted at this point. He wondered why the Hex gear sets would not accept him, even after removing the remnant mana signature of the previous user.

Eren could take care of the residual mana signature. But he couldn’t get rid of the residual will that was part of the Hex gear set. As such, Malcolm had to erase the runic details containing the previous owner’s will.

The crafty shopkeeper then used Eren’s will to craft him a revamped Hex gear set. Eren nodded his head in understanding before asking his next question.

“So the Hex gear sets allow the Hexers to start walking on the path of Hexes. In Meta and Awakened ranks, they are clutches one can use to start walking instead of merely crawling.

Now all that remains is for you to teach me how to use my current Hex equipment.”

Alephee gave Eren a nod before starting to guide him step by step. She told him which tattooed inscriptions on the Hex Gear he needed to focus his mana sense on.

Hexer or not, the mana sense is combined with the ranker’s will. It was their will that was reflected in the aura they manifested when using their mana sense and natural mana defense layer.

As such, the mana sense was used uniquely in Hex spells. A normal ranker uses their mana sense to guide the effects of their spells and to control the output to some extent.

However, the Hexers would not use mana sense externally to control the Hex spells they would cast. When mana sense is integrated into the foundation of spells, they will be executed instantly.

In addition, this integration would make the spells more stable, allowing them to increase their output by injecting more mana into them while ensuring that no spell deviation occurs.

There was another way to use Hex gears instead of using them in conjunction with the mana sense. Eren learned that there was something other than mana sense that could really make the Hex spells bloom to their fullest potential.

Soul sense.

Soul sense could be integrated with Hex spells using the Hex gears as a medium. The effects this type of integration would produce would be far superior to what one would get using the mana sense.

However, soul sense was not something every ranker could have. Only one in millions would be able to use this higher-tier power for themselves.

These chosen ones needed to have a soul sense awakening for them to be able to use the soul sense. Only then would they be able to integrate their soul sense into their Hex spells.

Kino said that Eren had a higher chance of awakening his soul sense. However, that would take a long time. This was not something he could train or practice in.

Soul sense could only be acquired naturally. It wasn’t related to how much a person trains in their weapons arts or ranking techniques. Despite a lifetime of diligent work, a ranker might not be able to awaken their soul sense. On the other hand, a ranker who progressed casually through their ranking journey might end up awakening their soul sense.

As such, Eren didn’t need to worry about integrating the soul sense into his Hex spells. He needed to focus on what he had at his disposal at the time.

Eren listened to Kino’s explanations and understood the basics of operating the Hex gear. She also made him use his gear as instructed. This gave him a live demo of what it feels like to operate the Hex gear the way it is supposed to be used.

The explanations and demonstrations carried on for hours on end. Eren was glad that Kino was there to help understand the Hex gears. He wouldn’t have been able to figure this stuff out anytime soon if it wasn’t for her.

Eren also came to realize that he needed to practice casting Hex spells using the Hex gears to become proficient at them. It wasn’t something he could do right away after learning about the basics from Kino.

Eren felt conflicted about something in the end when he tested his Hex gears. Kino chuckled before giving him much-needed relief.

“You guessed it right. There are two more stages. Of course, the difficulty level for these two remaining levels would be a lot more than what you faced in the first stage.

However, you have cleared the first stage with a 100 percent clearance rate. It grants you a special perk that would not be offered to the other challengers.

Should you choose to, you can leave the testing grounds and come back later to start from where you had left off. If you decide to hit pause now, you would only receive half the rewards for clearing the first stage. The other half will be given to you after you clear all the stages.

The last two stages need to be taken together. You can’t quit midway even if you pass the second stage with a 100 percent clearance rate. As such, the rewards for clearing all three stages would only be offered to you when you clear the testing grounds entirely.”

A sense of relief washed over Eren as he heard Kino’s words. He knew that he had been trying to clear the testing grounds wrongly. Brute force had its limits. His infinite mana core wouldn’t be enough to save his hide in the second or third stage unless he masters Hex spells.

And for that, Eren needed practice and time. If he had entered into the second stage at this point, he would have been in a dire situation. Even if he could clear the second stage somehow, there was no assurance the third stage would give him favorable results either. He did not even know he would survive trying to clear the third stage.

Therefore, using his perk was the obvious choice for Eren. He quickly made his intentions known to Kino before asking her something in a voice coated in excitement.

“So what are the rewards for clearing the first stage, Kino? Even if I only receive half the stuff, it should still be something worthwhile. At least I hope it is.”

Kino smirked as he saw his share of rewards appear in front of him. Eren’s eyes shone as he saw the chunk of Mana quartz waiting for him to claim it.

1000 Mana Quartz!

This was Eren’s reward for clearing the first stage of the testing grounds. This reward alone was enough for Eren to invest heavily in his foundation as a ranker.

Eren couldn’t help flashing a smile as he stored the chunk of Mana Quartz in his storage. He thought that the Mana Quartz was all there was to the rewards. After all, he was only supposed to get half of it.

However, before Eren could thank Kino for granting him the huge reward, she handed him a scroll. This scroll was neither too old nor too new. He opened it and started reading from it to understand what it was.

The more he read the more fascinated he became. He felt like Kino had given him this scroll after taking into account the kind of show he had put up in front of her.

The scroll contained a unique spell. This support-type spell would allow him to pump more mana into his existing spells until the spell’s mana grade increased.

The spell’s name was One Up.

It would basically allow him to cast Awakened rank or beyond while being a lower-ranked entity. This Hex spell combined with Eren’s infinite mana core would produce fearsome results.

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