Circulation

Ashton's sweating and looked constipated.

He sat in the middle of the Training Room which had been transformed into what looks like an endless white space where no sound could exist.

In that silence, Ashton suffered by himself. Feeling a stinging pain all over his body. The veins on his head were bulging and his face was red and full with sweat. Still, there was a determined expression on his face.

On surface, it looks like he was suffering from a very bad fever but if one would look closely, it would be obvious that something else is going-on.

There's a very faint blue lines swirling around him. They were thinner than threads and almost impossible to be seen with the naked eye. These threads seems to be funneling towards Ashton's forehead and disappears in there.

Inside his body, a momentous chance was occurring.

Ashton's Mana Circuits are being baptized with his absorption of mana. Veins that were previously blocked by impurities are being cleared and being expelled out of his body.

This is a painful process of course. Ashton feels like there's a needle swimming through his bloodstreams. He had to endure this kind of pain while maintaining his state or else he will risk or down right fail this attempt.

Ashton's ears were ringing, he's in so much pain and everything was distracting, he can here voices whispering to him, telling him to give up for now and just do it next time. Promising that if he gave up now, he won't be in pain anymore.

And while these whispers were tempting, Ashton fought it. Had this been any other kid, they will surely give in to these and lose their chance but Ashton was different. He has the mentality of an adult and he knows that this is something he can resist due to his matured mind.

Yes, it is indeed painful. He has never experienced this kind of pain before but Ashton already knew that this was a necessary process. The book he read stated this multiple times, it will be painful and that's normal. This happens naturally since the body isn't really a suitable vessel for mana just yet and this pain will always be a part of this.

The sweat that drenched his body are actually the impurities he's releasing from this process. And while he can surely just give-in and continue the cleansing process later this will seriously affect his foundations and he can't have that.

Ashton's talent is already bad as it is. On top of that, he's cursed too. These are enough to limit his expectations on this path he's trying to take. He's not happy about it but he can't help it, this was how it is and he can't change that. But this doesn't mean that he'd just give his remaining advantages just like that.

If he has the ability to make things more normal for himself, why wouldn't he do so?

Giving up on building a stable foundation is the same as giving up on this path before even starting it. That's stupid. Ashton wouldn't do something like that if he can help it.

And really, Ashton had been preparing for this for a good while now. He had studied his materials over and over again until the day arrived that he was finally ready.

He learned about the complex network of Mana Circuits present in every human there is. He had memorized the diagram, had some comparisons with the knowledge he had on his old world about this and psyched himself up to do this all in one go like how one's supposed to do it.

Mana Circuits are these so called Meridians if this would be on Earth. But unlike the Ancient Medicinal Knowledge he only heard a few things about, Ashton figured a few key differences between the two.

For one, Meridians are pathways that are more complex than Mana Circuits, what little he knew of them were practically useless here since they're different from one another.

Meridians followed a network of its own within a person's body while Mana Circuits are closely tied with a person's blood vessels and veins.

In fact, a person's Mana Circuits and blood vessels network swirled together and formed a helix pattern, making them inseparable. This means that wherever blood flows, mana is there to follow as well.

And that makes the process of unblocking the Mana Circuits even more painful than necessary. Imagine having to go all through those complex network carefully to prevent risking damage to one's blood vessels as well. No wonder the book said that it would be better if someone was there to watch over the process.

Today's actually the first week of May. It took him this long to get the confidence he needs to start this process altogether.

Ashton made sure that every step he took was taken carefully. He really didn't want this process to be more painful than it already is. Had he not been so careful, he'd probably be injured by now.

Despite the pain and the whispered temptations, Ashton held on. There was a sense of urgency because he's so close to succeeding, he knows that this is a trap, hurrying this process will increase the risk of failure so he fought the urge and steadily continued the process.

He guided the mana to clear his circuits, not forcing them but guiding them. Forcing mana is probably the stupidest thing someone could do in this stage.

And while Ashton still felt pained all over his body, he also felt so light. There's this unprecedented level of comfort he's feeling which he can't explain in words. It's like he's flying, this is probably the best way he can describe it.

Time steadily passed just like this and Ashton's suffering is nearly over. There's just a final inch of impurities left that's stopping him from connecting his coils and he'd be done. Still, he couldn't help but feel that this mere inch of impurities were making his life more difficult that it already is.

The impurities are taking way longer than usual to clear up. It maybe because it's the last ones or he's just really exhausted. Either way, Ashton's not about to give up now. Not when he's this close from succeeding.

After what it seems like forever, Ashton finally did it.

As the last dirt crumbled and expelled from his body, a huge burst of air exploded from his body, slightly ripping his clothes apart but Ashton had no time to care about that.

He was entranced, basking in this marvelous feeling of being immersed with his surroundings. He never felt so peaceful and calm in his entire life, at the same time, he felt like he's bursting with energy as well, like he could lift a huge boulder with one hand or something.

It feels addicting...

At the same time, Ashton's vision started swirling. Visions blurred from his surroundings and by the time he realized it, he standing in front of an empty space looking at a large copper coin which is even bigger than him.

Under his gaze, a faint blue outline started surrounding the copper coin. The blue color didn't fill the outline completely, it stopped about a third of the way through.

'If I'm correct, then this huge copper coin should be my Mageroot.' Ashton thought to himself, 'And the faint blue outline around it must signify me stepping on to the Apprentice Mage Stage, but I just fell short of turning Lv.1'

This is indeed the case. This is Ashton's first look of his Mageroot and the first time he experienced cultivation.

The Apprentice Mage Stage is composed of 9 Levels. Each levels represents a Magic Array forming around a person's Mageroot. This is what that outline stands for.

Ashton barely making it to Lv.1 isn't a big deal either, in fact it'd be more surprising if he did reach Lv.1 on his first success. If it weren't for the fact that he stuck with the process and endured the pain, this outline wouldn't be filled as much as it is now.

Another important note to be made is the fact that the expulsion of impurities is far from over.

The idea behind the beginning stages of cultivation is to turn a person's body into a proper vessel for Mana. Impurities will make this impossible so more needs to be expelled, the ones in the Mana Coils are actually the smallest amount that can be expelled for now.

This doesn't mean that Ashton had to go through this painful process over again though. All he needs to do is to continuously refine his Mana Coils as one would do and consistently increase his Mana Reserves by filling up his Mageroot with it.

The intensity of Mana or it's radiation will do the trick, forcing the impurities out of his body and making it a more fit vessel for Mana.

For now though, he just made a successful endeavor. He made his first step towards the path of cultivation and this needs to be celebrated.

[Noticed! Host succeeded in his first Mana Circulation Attempt without the System's assistance. Achievement rewarded.]

[You received: Providence Re-roll Stub, 5 Spell Cards, System Skill: Cleptomancy - unlocked, 20,000 Credits, 1000 Mana Crystals]

And it would seem that his System wants to join the celebration as well.