A Card Up My Sleeve

He was still staring at the horizon when he spotted a strange thing soaring across the field in the trees, his eyes widened.

'Scarvons?!'

Looking at that monster, he remembered: Scarvons were woodland creatures similar to druids, but their bodies were largely made of magic; it makes their look nearly invisible, with only the appearance of little rainbow-like sparkles, as if you threw glitter on an invisible man.

Their bodies resembled monkeys, but they had extended claws and were faceless.

They swooped through the woods, the impure magical energy sustaining them.

'Magic!'

He remembered this location had magic, and as an illusionist, he was also referred to as a magician.

'If I'm not mistaken, every living creature on this planet possesses magic. I need to double-check; fortunately, I recall how to do it.'

According to the novel [The Bartham's False Hero], verify the flow of magic in the human body was as simple as closing your eyes and breathing.

He took four deep breaths till he felt the core of mana in the human body; it was precisely where the heart of the human body on earth was positioned, and he clearly noticed, it was as if you knew the limit of how much air you could take and you had only breathed ten percent.

'What?! How?!'

According to the novel [The Bartham's False Hero], every human being has a limit to how much mana he can have in his body; a human body would typically be born and die with about 6% of its utilized core limit. Combatants, on the other hand, would have no chance of survival in a battle against unknown monsters if they had less than 30% mana.

'How did this man manage to stay alive on the battlefield?!'

He knocked his sword near his right thigh by accident, grabbed it before it dropped to the ground, and then felt the unmistakable sense of mana.

'The sword!'

There are numerous so-called magical items in this universe that may bestow diverse characteristics and powers; they were typically only utilized for ordinary chores, because most artifacts were worthless against unknown creatures during combat; unless it was a Unique artifact.

'Now I see why this man died… those greedy scumbags.'

He thought while glancing at the younger knights who were staring at him from the carriage behind.

'This must be before the conflict: the period when an artifact is worth murdering the prince for'

…

He was still inside the carriage when they settled at a makeshift camp next to the road they were on. Others had formed a circle around the fire, and some armored guards had formed a perimeter around the camp.

"Ray, what're you doing all alone?"

He looked at the young man with blond hair, steel armor, a yellow cloak, and a helmet tucked under his arm.

'This guy must be Kaian; one of the only friends of Raiden. I should answer like Raiden otherwise he might get suspicious.'

"Just taking some time away from those old foxes."

Kaian sat down on the seat across from Raiden; the young knight chuckled and placed his helmet on top of the seat.

"You should had invited me; they talk too much."

"I'm sorry, I was distracted."

"As usual."

They laughed, and Raiden began staring at the suspects who were gathered around a fire conversing, and who were most certainly responsible for Raiden's murder.

"Those guards have been looking at you more often."

"If I let down my guard my head might go rolling."

"Yeah, the guards are so... Wait?! what're you talking about?"

"Nothing... By the way, could you be on watch while I take a nap, don't let..."

"I know, I know. Just go to sleep."

'What an odd fella, but whatever. I need to try something.'

He then sat down on the carriage seat, needing to quickly boost his magical power.

He began to discharge mana from both hands after placing his palm close to his abdomen.

Mana is absorbed mostly through the lungs when breathing.

Knowing that the human body will gather mana if there is more capacity in the core, all he had to do was release nearly all of his mana and apply it forcefully to his skin.

Then, before breathing again, he must absorb as much as possible through his skin.

...

'I should wake him up it's time to go now.'

Kaian though as he approached Raiden.

"Ray! it's time."

"Already?!"

Raiden awoke in a state of alertness.

'Shit, I should be aware whenever I use this...'

It was as if he entered a hyper-focus state; he didn't even notice the changes outside.

'Now I need some time alone to try some other techniques...'

"Ray! I will be going to the forest take a shit, don't let them go without me!"

Kaian said as he sprinted towards the forest.

'What a perfect timing...'

"Sure thing!"

'Now let's see…'

When he looked around, he noticed that everyone was busy preparing to depart while others were preparing the food.

'The hands are the part of the human body that can control mana more accurately. But, are not the only part.'

After seated, he pulled a penny from his waist's brown leather bag and placed it in the palm of his right hand, then attempted to make the coin float using mana. He had to try multiple times before he got it.

'However, for the rest of the world, the hands are currently the only part capable of managing mana, or they can only control artifacts.'

After making the coin float he was breathing like he had run a marathon.

'Making this little act of floating a coin, something as rare as diamonds on Earth.'

In the novel is said that creatures are born being able to manipulate different types of natural energies such as fire, water, air, etc.

It doesn't mean they can't use other spells, just that they have an affinity for a type.

What he had done now is independent of affinity, it's the direct manipulation of mana that each thing has, using the "aura" or "field" generated by the agglomeration of mana in a specific location.

'And because of the weight of the metal coin, it took a lot of my current capacity to just make the coin lift.'

During the final conflict, a character in the novel was able to raise eight swords and five spears that were close to him on the ground and throw them at the speed of an arrow just by utilizing his aura, despite the fact that he was one of the weakest.

He recalled this and spent the next hour attempting to raise two coins at the same time.