The Relationship Between Mana and Magic

Atlas POV

I finally made it out. Heading east would be the best option. Since I don't know any of the trader's route, I guess I must enter through the Beast Kingdom legally before heading back for the Nova Kingdom.

After traveling for an hour, Atlas felt safe enough to stop and rest. He goes off the road and goes into the woods for cover. After making a spot for himself, he relaxes.

I should have created enough distances at this point. I could probably afford to rest for just a moment… I wonder what Liza's doing right now. That bastard of a king, keeping me away from her. Knowing her personality, she must've caused some havoc in the palace.

While thinking about his friend, Atlas suddenly hears rustling heading straight towards him.

Crap! Did they find me already?

Not wanting to make to much noise, Atlas slowly gets up and runs away.

"Hey! Come back here! Shit, they better have received my signal."

While running away, Atlas hears a remark. It was the elf that had cut off the other two guard's head. Unfortunately for Atlas, the strongest of the three had chased him, so Atlas wasn't able to fully rest and recover.

The elf then gave chase. Dodging between trees while shooting off the occasional wind spell to try to throw Atlas off balance. Atlas had great mana senses. Since his 10th birthday, it seemed as if he just randomly learned to sense mana on his own. He was talented too. Not just sensing mana of other people, he could also sense the mana in the air change whenever someone was going to use a spell. Of course, he wasn't invincible. There were people out there that could hide their mana. Atlas had not yet realized this, so that's why he hadn't sense that the elf was close by.

After running for what felt like forever, Atlas thought he was finally losing the elf. Hiding in some bushes. He stayed quiet and still. Not realizing that it didn't matter since he couldn't hide the mana that was leaking from him. The elf knew the boy didn't know much about mana since he was also in the ball room when the boy asked the king for help. The elf pretends to not know where Atlas had gone but as soon as Atlas let his guard down, the elf grabbed Atlas' legs, yanked him out from the bushes and using his sword, he sliced at Atlas' achilles.

"AHHHH! Fuck! You piece of sh-!"

Using the back of his sword, the elf smacks Atlas across the face, knocking him out.

"Shut up human. This wouldn't had happened if you just stayed still. Those buying you will heal you up after, don't worry."

The elf then picks up Atlas and swings him over his shoulder. He begins to head back to the capital, ready to meet with the buyers and the prince.

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Atlas slowly begins to wake up, but what greeted him was complete darkness and his limbs tied together like some cattle. He had a bag over his head and was currently tied to a carriage once again.

"Alright prince, thank you for allowing us to buy this specimen off of you."

"Oh ho! Of course, sir, he's the best there is. A 10-year-old human who killed two D rankers and one C rank kidnapper. Traveled through the dangerous forest between the Beast Kingdom and Draco Kingdom, all while protecting the princess."

'They're really boosting my value right now. I ambushed those two guards and I wasn't even the one who killed the slave trader. Plus, Liza's the one who protected me the entire time through the forest.'

"Oh, that's right. Could I have a word with the human before you guys leave. I have to thank him again for saving the princess."

"Of course, prince. I will be waiting over here."

Atlas then hears some shuffling and footsteps heading his way. Tense, he was wondering who it was that sold him. Then when he heard the voice up close, he remembered who it belonged to.

"I know your awake human. I told you to learn magic quickly, looks like you didn't learn it quick enough huh. Hahaha, don't worry. Those buying you will make sure you learn magic, their known for conducting experiments on captives to forcefully awake lost magic from within. You might be able to get your revenge if you aren't a crippled afterwards. Oh yeah, I also wanted to say to you. Thanks for returning my wife home safely to me. I wouldn't know what to do without my princess."

Atlas wasn't an idiot. He knew who this voice belonged to and who he was calling his wife.

'That fucken king. He locked me away just so that Liza could have more time with this guy?'

Atlas whispers back to him.

"Better hold her close. Once I escape, I'll take her away from you. I also heard you're a prince. I haven't heard anything about a King of the elves so it's safe to assume the Queen is lonely. Wouldn't it be great if I took your wife and your mother?"

The elven prince was annoyed again. Here he was, holding all the power in his hands and this human still didn't bend to him. He even dares to threaten him by saying he'll take his wife and mother.

Not a moment later, Atlas feels two heavy hits on his head. Rendering him unconscious once again.

"Disgusting human, you won't have the chance to take anything. Doctor! Feel free to take him now."

"Thank you, my prince."

Just like that, the doctor leaves with Atlas, heading to who knows where.

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Atlas POV

'I hope I don't become stupid from constantly getting hit in the head.'

Atlas had woken up from his forced nap. He noticed that he was already strapped down to a chair in a dark room with a little window behind him. It was the only light source in the room. Both his forearms, his legs and his forehead were strapped. Wondering where he was, he just sat quietly, waiting for someone to enter his room.

After who knows how long, a person walked in. He was dressed as a doctor. An average man all around. Short brown hair, brown eyes and standing about 5 foot 9 (175 cm). Average looking face, nothing to memorable about him. If I had to guess, he must have been around his early to mid-thirties. The doctor looks at me and smiles.

"Well, it seems like you're finally awake. How is your head?"

"My head is fine; I've been hit before."

The doctor looks at me all confused.

"I don't know what that means, I'm talking about the hole that we put in the back of your head. We'll be using that to control your mana, so I would prefer for it to be clean."

Now it was my turn to be confused. I can't feel anything. So, I guess it's, okay? Noooo, what am I thinking? The guys are actually going to experiment on me?! I have to stay calm, can't show them any fear.

"What do you mean control my mana? Are you some doctor that is testing his discovers on live subjects?"

"Something like that boy. Since you have no affinity for the elements, we have to force your brain to learn something else."

"Wait wait wait! What do you mean I have no affinity for the elements? I thought anyone could learn magic?"

The doctor just looks at me with pity. He begins preparing for something as he begins to explain.

"Of course, you wouldn't know. I was told you grew up in the slums and even killed some adults that were D rank. I had such high hopes for you to until we discovered you can't use any of the four elements. Real shame but you're lucky, our boss received a blessing from the God of Gluttony. With his blessing, we are able to fuse are mana with other subjects. By doing this we can control their mana and force them to learn how to manipulate it until they pass out or die. So, if you don't want to die, you better learn fast."

I couldn't take everything in. I have no affinity so I can't use magic… not just that, but they are going to force me to learn how to manipulate mana as well? How long will all of this last?

"Wait, I've never heard of manipulating mana. How would that work?"

The doctor sighs as he looked at me. He stops what he was doing and says to me,

"I guess I could explain it to you. It's not like I have a time limit on how long I can experiment on you. Listen well then boy."

The doctor really made a chair out of earth magic and just explained to everything to me.

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According to the doctor, magic and mana had been present on the planet since before the Fall of Humanity. But once the catastrophe occurred, most of the history from before the Fall were destroyed. So, what they know about magic and mana were from after the Fall and whatever documents that were salvaged.

Mana is a byproduct produced by the mana core that all living beings had. In humans, that mana core was located right under the back of the skull. The mana was naturally released from the body. Usually through the pores. However, humans learned that you could manipulate mana through your mana core. Humans before learned that by focusing on the mana core, they could control the mana flowing in and out of their body. When they focused on the core, they said it felt like a "spirit" from within had merged with the mana core. Once this "spirit" had merged with their core, those people stated that it felt easier to manipulate the mana within. Basically, humanity had learned to weaponize mana.

Humanity began fighting wars with mana. Wars were commonplace after the Fall. Humans trying to gain more resources, more land, more people and more warriors. Humans, after gaining this new ability had developed an insatiable greed. So, one day, a group of four humans reached out to two of the strongest entities in the Western Contient, the Fallen Dragons and the Elves.

They had heard that these two groups were shooting fire from their hands and other feats that were unimaginable to humans. So, they asked the two to teach them. The Fallen Dragons and the elves gladly taught them.

They were tested for their affinity. In which they used what was known as an Infinite Stone. This black stone, for some unknown reason, produced mana on its own. But the mana was special. It had elements of fire, water, earth and wind in it. When someone pushed their mana through the stone, the stone would push back with its own mana. The stone would then release the element into its mana to combat the invasive mana, the human tester. Which ever element the stone released; it would turn a certain color.

Red would be fire element.

Blue would be the water element.

Green would be the earth element.

White would be the wind element.

If you had no affinity then the stone would stay black.

With plenty of Infinite Stones laying around and plenty of teachers willing to teach. These humans quickly learned how to use magic spells. Magic spells required a lot of control and imagination to properly use it.

If the spell's name was "Flame Spear", then the user would need to imagine a spear made of fire. By imagining the intense heat or the 'sharpness' of the spear, the users "Flame Spear" could be stronger and more dangerous. But to be able to create this, one would need to release the perfect amount of mana from their body to match the that they imagined. So, the stronger and more powerful a spell was, the more mana it needed. Sometimes though, when the user doesn't release the correct amount, they would need to compensate it by taking the mana that was already naturally occurring in the air. To do this, they would manipulate the mana that was already released from their bodies, to suck in and fuse the naturally occurring mana with their own. Think of it as the user asking its mana to become a magnet and attract other mana particles to itself.

Once the humans were taught this, the battle for the planet changed. With the Fallen Dragons and the elves going to war, the humans were no longer welcomed to either kingdom. With this war occurring, the four humans left and began their conquest. Less than a year had passed but these four had officially conquered both continents. They would split it equally four ways and ruled over their lands. These four become known as the Four Primordial Gods.

They taught their kingdoms how to use magic spells. Leading to new spells and new techniques being created. Eventually, it was even discovered that your element could evolve.

Fire Magic could be evolved to Explosion Magic

Water Magic could be evolved to Ice Magic

Earth Magic could be evolved to Nature Magic

Wind Magic could be evolved to Thunder Magic

No one truly knows how to evolve it but some had guessed it involved the complete understanding of your affinity.

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With that final statement, the doctor looks back at me. He then puts on gloves and stands behind me.

"Now that I've taught you about magic, mana and the history behind it, we need to get to business."

Before I could even fully process the story, I felt a foreign entity enter my body from my head. My body tenses up at the new sensation.

"Sh, don't worry. You'll get use to the feeling, they all do eventually. Now I'm going to circulate my mana through your core. Focus on my mana and yours within the core. Eventually you'll feel another force entering your mana core."

Well, I can't really say no, I guess I have to do this. Focusing on my core, I begin searching for an unknown force within me.

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After a week of training, only stopping to eat and nap, I felt a "spirit" enter my core.

"Well done boy, you got this done a lot sooner than expected. Usually, it takes up to a month at least to feel it. Now, it is time to learn to weaponize your mana. For the next few months, you'll be fighting me by manipulating your mana and try to land a single hit on me."

Doesn't this mean I can kill him and escape? Even if I can't use magic, if I can learn to manipulate mana, I could survive in this world.

The doctor laughs, seeing my happy face.

"Don't worry, you won't be able to kill me, so come at me with all you got."

With those words, the doctor unstraps me from the chair, the first time he's done this all week. I stretch and then the doctor indicates for me to attack him. I focus on releasing the mana within me and tried turning it into a weapon.