SSS Rank Sword Mage: Awakening Starts with Weakest Mana Affinity

After a few moments of awkward silence natural, I suppose, when faced with a talking pond the stillness was finally broken.

"Astraga?" Morad's voice called out.

"Yes, Morad, what is it?" I replied.

"Well, you wanna know something?" he said, and I wondered what he was trying to pull now, knowing the kind of person he was.

"Now that I'm a pond..." he paused.

"Yeah?" I urged, knowing he was leading towards something.

"Now that I realize it..., Being a pond is kinda boring, you know."

"Of course it is," I said.

Morad's voice grew softer, carrying a weight that felt heavier than his usual antics. He seemed to finally be circling the real issue that had been eating at him.

"It's been… a long time since I lived in a settlement," he admitted, almost to himself. "I can't even remember the last time I experienced anything living—eating, sleeping… my favorite things." He let out a long sigh that rippled faintly across the pond's surface.

I tilted my head. "But weren't you in some kind of slumber all this while? you know that's a kind of sleep, right?"

"That doesn't count, Astraga!" Morad shot back immediately, his tone pouting like a child denied candy.

So that was it.. sealed in this form, he hadn't been able to sleep, eat, or do anything remotely alive. Yet, somehow, he could still exert force like moving that rock earlier. That much, at least, I'd already noticed.

Then, without any warning, he dropped it on me:

"Astraga… can you get me a vessel, please?"

"A vessel?" I repeated, blinking. so sudden but still my mind jumped to the descriptions in my father's books.

"Like a dragon seed's natural host? But as far as I know, aren't those are usually toads, lizards, snakes, or turtles." I said.

"No, no, no! I can't stay in those types of vessels." Morad's tone was frantic now. "My master said I'm different....im unique. I'm the type of dragon seed more suited to fish."

"Fish?" I echoed. That was… new. If true, it meant father was right and each dragon seed didn't just latch onto any of the 4 animal path creature but had certain animal paths they were attuned to... some kind of affinity. That was fascinating in itself dragon seeds weren't just mindless energy; they had self-awareness of their compatibility.

"Yes—a fish. Lucky for me, you've got this pond." Relief colored his words, almost as if he were clutching at hope. "So, what do you say, Astraga? Help me out?"

I hesitated, then nodded. "Okay, fine." this would definitely be a learning experience.

Immediately he cheered, bursting with joy. "Yes! You're totally not boring anymore hahaha!"

I rolled my eyes. "One problem, though, Morad. How exactly are we supposed to do this?"

My mind was racing with questions. How could a dragon seed outside of its natural vessel be put back in? And more importantly, why would his master even remove him from his vessel in the first place?

"Simple," he replied, with the confidence of someone who'd been waiting to be asked.

"I just have to pick the perfect host. But… I already tried before. Nearly killed some of these fishes in the process." His voice dipped, guilty .

"The fish (host) need to have resistance to dragon magic. Without that, their bodies would collapse."

My gaze swept across the pond. The words struck me resistance. Father had said the same thing before: a vessel had to build up resistance in its body to survive dragon magic. That was the true sign of a compatible host.

And sure enough, as I looked closer, I noticed something different about the fishes this time. Some of them bore faint marks, signs of injuries that should've been crippling yet they had already healed.

"It's strange," I said, my eyes scanning the pond. "These fish were having so much trouble healing before. but now, some of them have healed completely."

This was completely different from what my father and I had observed before.

"That's because the pond is filled with my mana now," Morad explained, catching my silence. "They're basically healing from being in it."

"I see…" I murmured, mind racing. "So your mana gives the water its healing properties. That helps them recover but it doesn't guarantee they'll be stable hosts."

Still, my thoughts turned. If resistance was the key, maybe there was a way to push the fish past simple healing and force their bodies to truly adapt.

"I tried with both the koi and the carp," Morad added, almost as an afterthought. "Only two of them gave me a few minutes inside before I got rejected. The koi and the carp...they were the closest."

As he spoke, a distinctive glow shone on the two specific fish, separating them from the others in the pond.

I stared at the two fish, watching the faint shimmer on their scales as they swam. How did they heal so fast compared to the others?

Morad chuckled. "Told you it's my mana, Astraga. They're feeding on it."

I wouldn't necessarily say the fish were "feeding" on mana. It was more like their bodies were naturally good at absorbing it, as all animals have cores. But only a select few animals have innate skills or the ability to absorb mana. I thought to myself but this alone wasn't enough. If Morad was going to fuse with one of them, I'd have to figure out a way to turn that healing into true resistance.

A sudden, reckless, and possibly dangerous idea sparked in my mind. I didn't know exactly how dragon seeds worked, but this just might work.

To confirm my idea, I considered a concept I'd never tried before, even in my previous life. During my tutoring lessons, I remembered a topic on reproduction in my biology textbooks. Honestly, I didn't know why breeding was the first thing that came to mind. But if Derrick was right that the laws of physics still held true here, then maybe this could work.

My logic was simple: if the koi and the carp were male and female, I could make them mate and produce offspring that might inherit a stronger resistance to dragon magic. It was a gamble, of course there was no certainty but it seemed possible. While breeding itself was a proven fact, as evidenced by the koi in the pond, my gamble was on whether resistance and the skill for absorbing mana could also be inherited.

hen, checking the two fishes, lucky for us they were indeed different.The koi was the male — his fins looked a bit longer and kind of rough to the touch, just like father's book said they would.The carp was the female — her belly looked rounder, and near the bottom she had a little bump that the book said meant she could lay eggs.

My first thought was to separate them from the rest of the fish in the pond. But how? Digging out another pond just like that wouldn't work not only was I four years old, I had no idea how to actually make a pond for fishes. I sat there frowning, turning over ideas in my head, going deeper and deeper into thought, like falling into a hole I couldn't quite climb out of.

"Hellooo, Astraga?" Morad's voice cut through, sharp sounding childishly impatient. "You're starting to sound boring again. Aren't you going to say anything?"

I exhaled and glanced at the glowing water. "Well, Morad… I might have an idea."

"Really?" he perked up immediately, excitement bubbling in his voice.

"It's not exactly foolproof," I warned.

"Say it anyway! Anything you're giving me hope already, and I love it!"

I hesitated, then admitted, "It's a process called selective breeding."

"What's that? Sounds fun! Let's try it, come on, Astraga!" he said, getting even more excited about something he knew nothing about.

"But Morad," I said carefully, "as you can probably tell from my stature… I'm only four years old."

"Really?" Morad's voice bubbled with disbelief. "You sound way too smart. My master's kids weren't this sharp at that age."

I shrugged. "Be that as it may, I don't actually know much about fish especially koi and carp in particular."

There was a beat of silence, then Morad's voice dipped. "…So you won't be able to help me?"

"No, don't get me wrong," I reassured him quickly. "I'll try. I just don't want you to get your hopes up. And don't expect this to happen overnight. These things take time."

He perked up a little. "Okay… so what are we trying to do, exactly?"

"It's called selective breeding," I explained, coughing into my hand. "Basically… I let the fish make babies."

Morad went quiet again, then asked in all seriousness, "Yeah, so what's the problem? Where do babies come from, Astraga? Shouldn't be that hard, right?"

I nearly choked. Of course he didn't know he was a dragon seed. He didn't need to think about those processes. Coughing again, I managed, "Well, uh… most likely, the fishes would mate and will produce eggs. But don't worry too much. My father actually had a section about this in his books. I'll get my answers there."

"Good! Good!" Morad sounded relieved, as though my father's books could solve anything.

I glanced around, trying to recall where I'd last put it. "Now… where was that book again?" My eyes fell on the chest in the corner. "Ah. There."

Dragging it open, I found the old leather-bound volume right where I'd left it. Settling down by the pond, I flipped it open like I was reading Morad a bedtime story.

"Okay… flip, flip, flip ah, here it is. Reproduction. Father's notes: 'In case the fish population in the pond decreases, here are the steps you must follow…'"