A Genius Lab Rat

"Even if you say that. How would he become like that?"

I don't know how much time I've been sleeping, however, I just woke up and I can hear my mother's voice (she's talking really loud by the way).

I'm a little dizzy but it's still better than before, if I remember right there was something called "System" that appeared, could that be an illusion? because I was not in my best state? Umm… Let's try it out, Open it... Nothing appears... Open it...

[System: Displaying Host Information

Name: Luken Moray

Age: 4y

Strength: 2; Vitality: 4;

Agility: 2; Dexterity: 11;

Constitution: 2; Mana: 3;

]

It's still appearing, but this time apart from only one window, it seems that I have not only to say the word open it, but think about it as I say…

If I think back, it appeared right before I learned to cultivate mana, however, for some unknown reason, I was pushed; it was like being hit by the shock wave of a bomb.

Strangely, I didn't wake up hurt, just tired and dehydrated, however taking in consideration that there was blood in the back of my head, I got hurt in some way, but then I was fine… Hmm…

The only explanation I can think of is that I was healed between the time I was pushed away and the time I awoke; how? or who? are questions I have yet to answer.

"He was bleeding, Haral!"

Talking about answers, I should explain to them what happened, in a believable way.

I got out of bed and went into the living room, where I found my father, uncle Aldoh, and mother, who seemed irritated over the situation I was in previously.

Father and Aldoh were bewildered, and I can see why...

"Mom, it's not their fault."

I approached my mother and tried to use the cuteness of being a little kid.

Which, I thought, would work, since mother seemed more relaxed after seeing me.

However, she got me in her arms and said, "You shouldn't be here walking yet." and started leaving; I presume towards my room.

"Mom, I fell from my bed earlier, it's not their fault."

"Did you... It wasn't when you were playing with them?"

"No."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

At this moment, I used my head and hands, together with my voice, just to make sure she understood clearly.

After passing through a small interrogation in my own room, things worked out.

In the end, my mother said that she would be watching over me more closely from now on.

***

And god, she maintained her word, it's been 5 months since...

She put a camera in my room, and contracted a woman to watch over me, when she is not around.

I didn't want to admit it, but yes, it's a babysitter...

Every time I get up, she appears, even when I went to the bathroom, in the middle of the night, she appears, it's like I have a shadow!

But the good thing is, she didn't stop me from going to the training room.

So I continued my training, and I found out why I was pushed before, Uncle Aldoh explained to me the next day of training what I had: "Luken, to cultivate mana, you have to breathe until you feel light-headed. Then you start collecting mana."

So I asked what would happen if someone continued to breathe after feeling dizzy, and he said, "That would be bad, your body would lower your defenses and an unintentional reflex would bring a gigantic amount of mana to you. In this situation, you may become unable to think properly, some of your senses may be permanently affected, or worse…"

Haha, right? I can't believe I was so careless and tried this idea right off the bat without even learning this important part.

I had also called it "Meditation", but it was Mana Gathering. And I've been collecting a lot of mana in the last 5 months, I'll show you. Open it...

[System: Displaying Host Information

Name: Luken Moray

Age: 4y

Strength: 4; Vitality: 14;

Agility: 3; Dexterity: 11;

Constitution: 8; Mana: 13;

]

My mana increased by 10, a total of 2 more in each passed month.

Vitality seems to be intrinsically related to Mana.

My Constitution jumped from 2 to 8 after reaching 10 of Mana.

My Strength and Agility increased naturally after all the changes in my Constitution, Vitality and Mana; it was like I woke up one day and it had increased, strange right?

I didn't have any physical training yet, only mana cultivation, so it took me by surprise that Strength and Agility could increase like this.

Also, I tested this "System Status Window" after reaching 10 of Mana, Aldoh checked my body, and he said I had indeed improved a lot.

Talking about Aldoh, he said today is my last day of Mana Cultivation. It's something about, I wouldn't be able to gather more if I don't start to work on my physical body.

"Hey, Luken! Good morning!"

"Hi, Uncle! Good morning!"

"Take a seat, because today I will teach you something new."

Wait? Something new, if it isn't physical training, could it be something new about mana…

I sprinted towards the room and changed into my kimono, then got back and sat in front of Aldoh.

"You're quite energetic today, aren't you?"

I shook my head, in agreement.

"Okay, so first you will begin the breathing that we always do, however, before you start gathering mana, you will follow my instructions, alright?"

"Alright."

And so, I started breathing…

"Luken, now imagine the feeling of gathering mana, but try to find that feeling from within you, not from outside."

From within me? I never felt that from within, but let's try it out…

When starting out, I tried to look for the feeling of gathering mana from within, but I was always pulled out; It's as if my body can't just focus on the mana inside me, and its immediate reaction is to reach outside.

"Did you feel?"

"No."

"What happened? Did you get pulled to the outside?"

"Yes."

"That's okay kid, don't need to be sad about it. Most people can't even sense mana from the outside, and the fact you could split your focus from the outside is already good news."

"Good news?"

"Oh, yeah. It's hard to concentrate and collect mana from the outside, but collecting mana from the inside is even harder, if not impossible."

"Why is that?"

"Uhmm, let's imagine you and me talking right now, it's clear, you and I can hear each other clearly, but if your father was with us it would be more difficult to hear each other."

Perhaps, it's like when there's too much music around and it becomes too noisy to even understand someone speaking at your side?!

"What we do know is that external mana is far richer than what we can gather inside ourselves."

"And just like when we can't focus with too much noise around. Our body has a hard time focusing on the mana inside our body."

So if that's the case, what I have to do is simple, try to block out the sound coming from outside (even if it's only part of it), so I could focus on the sound from inside; but even if I think about it, doing is something else.

"Ok, I got it."

"You did?"

"Yeah, I'll try again."

First start the breathing in (until full), holding for a minute or less, then breathing out, breathing in, breathing out a little, breathing in, breathing out (everything), hold, then repeat everything…

Alright, stop since I'm close to being light-headed, now focus, focus…

I can't feel anything yet, and I'm close to getting pulled out again.

Let's try to find a way to block it, I'll try to stop my breathing first (even the smooth breathing).

The silence is so much that I can even hear a bit of my own heart beating...

[System Notification

Congratulations to the host for entering the Hyperfocus State.

Description: Hyperfocus State is the requirement to master countless skills. Total concentration skill is close to being achieved.

Achievements: 2+ Dexterity; 1+ Constitution;

]

[System: Displaying Host Information

Name: Luken Moray

Age: 4y

Strength: 4; Vitality: 14;

Agility: 3; Dexterity: 13;

Constitution: 9; Mana: 13;

]

Dammit! I nearly got it, if it wasn't for this system notification!

"How was it?"

"I blocked part of the sound from outside."

"WHAT? How did you do that?"

"I don't know for sure, but you said that I wouldn't be able to focus because of the noise, so I tried blocking the noise."

"...Haha, kid you're something else." Aldoh placed one hand on his forehead while lying backwards.

"Okay, since you found that, try again, but now try to imagine the feeling (the gathering mana feeling) going out of your body."

"Really?"

"Yes."

"Alright."

Started breathing…

***

When I first sensed mana, I believed the worst that could happen was that push.

However, I've discovered that releasing my mana recklessly can result in something far worse.

On the positive side, my parents are overjoyed that I have discovered a knack for manipulating mana.

They even bought me a Prisma (new model, hehe), but Aldoh ended up getting scolded by my mother.

According to my mother, the process of blocking the mana from outside and then feeling the mana inside the body should take anywhere from a week to a year.

Accelerating this process can be extremely harmful to the body (I really felt the consequences).

But it all worked out in the end, except for Aldoh, who was tossed 3 meters away and wound up with some bruises.

But I think he deserved it; I know now that he never warns me about the risks; am I simply a lab rat for him?

Whatever, now with a Prisma just for me, I'll be able to research many things without limitations!

At least that's what I thought after receiving it…

However, my parents blocked a lot of stuff on my new Prisma.

I'm going to have to learn how to hack this out!

…

I was thinking…

I'd like to go outside and see this new world, but I don't know if it's possible yet.

Hmm…

Alright, from now on it's training and studying...