4. Mana System

[Ding! You have successfully passed the test and are now permitted to bond with the 'MANA SYSTEM'. Do you accept?]

Francis was in the middle of his daily tutoring when he received the sudden notification. In front of his eyes, a translucent screen appeared.

"Eh?"

Was he seeing this correctly? Did his cheat finally arrive?

Francis rubbed his eyes and opened them again to see the screen still hovering in front of him.

'It's real!'

"Young master?" the voice of his tutor entered his ears.

Ah, that's right. He was still in the middle of class.

Standing up from his seat, Francis said, "Sorry sir. I'm not feeling too great so I'll think we should stop lessons here for today."

"What-?"

Before the tutor could finish talking, Francis had walked out the door and disappeared.

****

In the corridor of the mansion, Francis looked at the screen in front of him and immediately tapped 'Accept'.

Instantly, he felt something enter his mind from the back of his head and a soft warmth spread throughout his body.

[Welcome Host. You have successfully bonded with the 'Mana System'. In order to push beyond your limits, you may use this system to your advantage and utilize the rewards and resources the 'Mana System' will provide. However, in order to access these rewards and resources, you must complete the tasks issued by the system.]

[Host Statistics are as follows:]

Name: Francis Taron (Tanaka Haru)

Age: 10 Years

HP: 100/100

MP: –

AP: –

SP: –

Skills: –

[SP or System Points can be earned after completing missions. Use SP to unlock skills]

[MP stands for Mana Points and AP stands for Aura Points]

"I see. It seems like the generic system interface," Francis rubbed his chin. "But system, how can I unlock the MP and AP elements? I have no mana core."

[Ding! Would you like to open the newbie package?]

The system didn't answer his question and instead asked if he wanted to open his newbie package. Of course, Francis said yes.

[Ding! You have received a Platinum-rank mana core!]

"EH?!" shouted Francis in shock.

The reason for his shock was not only because he received a mana core, but because the rank of the mana core he received was 'Platinum'.

Mana cores have different rankings from the weakest to the strongest. Depending on the mana core's rank, one could either barely wield magic or wield extraordinary magic with a large mana capacity.

The mana cores from weakest to strongest are; Bronze-rank, Silver-rank, Gold-rank, and finally, Platinum-rank.

Majority of the population have ranks ranging between bronze and silver and only a select few are born with Gold-rank. As for Platinum-rank, it was a rank that only one person in history had ever achieved; the first Prophet of Kronos.

'Oi oi oi, isn't this overpowered?! Won't I really stand out with this?!'

While Francis had essentially learned the joy of human interaction, it didn't mean he was ready to become the center of attention. The last thing he wanted was to attract unnecessary attention.

[Ding! You have received a task!]

[Task: Meditation > Meditate and circulate mana around your body for five hours without interruption.]

[Reward: Unlock MP]

"Meditation huh," mumbled Francis.

The first lesson that everyone learns once they come of age and are ready to start practicing magic is 'meditation'. They learn to circulate their mana around their bodies and control it so that it spreads to every part of their body equally. When mana is equally distributed, it makes managing it far easier.

However, there is a saying that 'there is no such thing as equally distributed mana'.

With mana being incredibly difficult to control, naturally, it is difficult to spread it evenly within the body. There is always some part of the body that will have more or a lesser amount of mana than other parts.

Perfect distribution is impossible but nearly perfect distribution is achievable.

That is what everyone who practices magic aims for.

A nearly perfect distribution.

'Well, I suppose I'll begin. While there's no time limit given, I'd rather complete this mission as quickly as possible.'

Thinking this, Francis found Emily in the drawing room and ordered no one to disturb him in his room for five hours. He returned to his bedroom and locked the door before settling down on the carpet crossing his legs and closing his eyes.

'Breath in…breath out…'

Francis wasn't really familiar with meditation having never practiced it before but he had read a few books dictating how it was carried out.

First, he cleared his mind and then focused on finding the mana core in his body.

'Ah~'

He felt a warmth in his stomach. His mana core.

'And now, to expand the warmth…'

This part was easier said than done.

When he first attempted, nothing happened. Then he tried again with more focus and he pictured the warmth as a ball of light that slowly spread its lines.

This time, he felt the warmth expand. Just a little. Very little.

'This is going to be hard…'

No matter what, he couldn't lose focus. Not even for a little bit.

And thus, Francis descended into five long hours of wearing a constipated expression.

****

[You have completed the task; Meditation!]

[You have achieved the unachievable 'Perfect Distribution'!]

[Rewards earned:]

MP: 100/100

[Bonus rewards:]

Wind Magic (Lvl 1)

On the floor, Francis lay sprawled out on his back. There was a golden aura surrounding his body which slowly dissipated.

To think he was able to perfectly distribute his mana…was this another cheat he received?

'Meh, who cares how I was able to do it? The point is - I achieved the impossible.'

Sitting up from the ground, he looked at the semi-transparent screen and scrolled through his upgraded stats.

[Ding! You have completed the daily task: Meditation for 1 hour! You have earned 5 SP!]

[Ding! System Store is now open!]

"The system store?" Francis tapped the icon and the screen changed to show three different columns. The first column was titled 'Skills'. The second was titled 'Weapons'. And the last column was titled 'Lottery'.

He chose to open the 'Skills' column and the interface changed to display a long list of greyed-out skills.

The only skills that weren't greyed out were those that had to do with Wind magic.

[Wind arrow: 10 SP]

[Wind Whip: 20 SP]

[Whirlwind: 50 SP]

[Tornado: 100 SP]

Glancing at his meager 5 SP, Francis sighed and closed the window. Then he clicked on the 'Weapons' column and similarly, a long list of greyed-out weapons, mainly swords, appeared. It seemed he couldn't select any weapon until he had unlocked Aura.

He closed that column and tapped the 'Lottery' column.

[Lottery ticket: 20 SP]

[Rewards: System store items OR increase in MP/AP]

Francis sighed once more and exited the store. He was too broke to purchase anything.

"If I complete the daily tasks, I'll be able to earn SP quickly. I'll just have to be patient."

For now, he decided to study his newly acquired skill. If he could learn skills without having to purchase them, then he could save his system points.

Standing up from the ground, Francis paused and looked down at his clothes. His shirt was sticking to his body which was drenched in sweat. Ugh.

'A bath first. Then study.'