Mana core

"Could I get that tome with the fire spells as well?"

"Yeah sure. That would cost you twenty five and a quarter dragnarium pieces."

"Oh come on, don't be like that... Just make it twenty five, will you?"

The mean vendor wasn't having any of Ender's poor negotiation attempts. Sighing, Ender payed for the tome and left the market.

"You cost me one hundred and one bread loaves," Ender said accusingly while holding his new book.

He sighed.

'It hurts my poor soul paying for stuff. I'd really rather not steal after my last incident though… And celestoria wouldn't be as forgiving as my old city would. With this book, I have a single basic tome of every magic school.'

Since Ender had lived his whole childhood in Celestoria, he knew knew its roads and places considerably well. It helped that his father took him around everywhere while he was working.

Ender stopped and swung around his arms like a kid, uncaring if anyone saw him. It almost seemed as if he was trying to feel something invisible in the air.

"How come I've never felt it before?" he exclaimed enthusiastically.

"No, I'm pretty sure I did. It was way too mild compared to this though." he murmured excitedly. After getting off the bed, Ender's senses got bombarded by a new feeling, which he was pretty sure was mana. If his father's words were true, of which Ender had no doubt, he had regained his ability to sense and use mana after turning eighteen years old.

'Is "regained" the right word? After all, it was suppressed before I was even born. Anyway!'

Ender shook his head in an attempt to clear his thoughts not wanting to sink down that rabbit hole. The past was in the past after all.

'I should probably not try the spells in my home. It wouldn't be very nice if I damaged it, right after coming back… Where do I go though? It has to be private and somewhere that any damage I might cause, won't bother anyone.'

Ender started looking around, hoping to get some inspiration. His gaze stopped on a inconspicuous looking tree.

"The forest!" he exclaimed.

'It should be pretty safe as long as I don't go too deep inside and encounter any magical beasts. Fire magic could become a problem though. I'll just try being extra careful when casting it?'

He put the fire magic tome inside his cloth pouch and headed towards the forest's location.

Ender thought it would be a better idea to keep some money in his own pouch and leave his dad's at home.

While it would very convenient changing his pouch of use, Ender didn't want to risk losing the clearly better pouch. Since he didn't know all of its enchantments, he couldn't be sure if there was anything applied to it that would defend it against being stolen.

Ender made his way out of the city in no time, and headed towards the forest.

When he reached the perimeter of the said forest, he noticed a considerable problem with his plans.

'I haven't started forming my mana core, have I? How could I just forget the first part in becoming a mage? I won't be able to cast without one…'

Ender was astonished by his own impulsiveness.

'I was so excited to finally perform magic that I totally forgot that I have to condense mana into a mana droplet inside my mind first… Do I go back and buy a book on it and then go home to try and do that first?'

For a whole minute, Ender stood unmoving just outside the forest.

Before going in.

'I don't want to go back now. I'll try forming a mana droplet myself from the things I remember reading. I practically memorised a whole book on the topic after all. If that doesn't work, I'll have to head back..'

Ender quickly found a nice spot, in his opinion, and sat down.

'Okay, so I first start by trying to clear my mind and feel the magic in my surroundings.'

Ender opened his eyes.

"Wait. But I already feel magic without trying.. Is there any way this will turn out to be a problem? It shouldn't become one, right?!" he voiced out with a nervous laugh.

Ender closed his eyes again and continued while trying hard not to think about his newfound 'problem'.

'I can't concentrate now… Perfect. Honestly, how come I find problems before even starting? Just my luck.'

After a few minutes, Ender managed to reel in his thoughts. He then proceeded to the next step of forming his starting mana core. He tried imagining the mana flowing inside his mind and condensing into a mana drop.

And that's when things went wrong again!

'Again!? There wasn't supposed to be anything in my mind so what was that? Why is there an orb floating in my mind?'

Ender felt like stomping the floor. Something was wrong with him.

Previously, when he tried sensing or condensing the mana, he was met with nothing.

'Wait. What were the next ranks of the mana cores? The first one is a drop and it's continually getting bigger. I'm pretty sure the third one had something to do with a pool. '

Ender felt like there was indeed something wrong with him. Only in a good way this time!

"Do I somehow have a second rank mana core without even forming my basic one?"

Ender wasn't sure of his assumptions but he knew of a way to know for sure. He just had to cast a spell successfully.

"Okay. Should I start with a fire spell?" he muttered excitedly. Had he looked down, he would have noticed that his hands were shaking from the excitement he felt.