Chapter 7

By the tenth minute, I vaguely started to feel the mana around me. At first I just felt a sort of general field, as if the air around me had a weight to it. I could turn and point to it. I could feel its magnetic pull. I could feel it and I could connect with it.

Nathan's voice guided me without missing a beat, questioning me about my experiences. With his help, I performed various exercises and my senses slowly expanded. I began to learn more about the mana around me and the new senses within me. I began to learn how to control both.

Hour after hour I persevered and trained hard. I lost consciousness a few times, but was always met by my patient instructor reassuring me that everything was fine and I was getting a normal reaction to the mana and the controlling formation. I would rest and we would do the exercises again. So time passed, hour after hour, day after day.

For me, however, an eternity seemed to pass imperceptibly. My senses had become much sharper, and I was learning to control the mana particles around me.

I closed my eyes for the millionth time, and a universe of tiny mana particles, moving freely and chaotically in the air around me, revealed itself to my new sense.

I tried again and again to focus on them and follow their flight. Slowly I would isolate a particular particle and I would begin to draw it to me by an effort of my will. I would make a lot of effort and slowly absorb more and more mana and frequently had to stop after a complete exhaustion.

During these breaks my instructor monitored my progress and mentored me. He reassured me that it was normal to have to rest often in the beginning and how I needed to give my body a chance to develop its new instruments. When that was accomplished, I would be able to concentrate for much longer.

I listened intently, careful not to miss a single word, and asked questions frequently to make sure I correctly understood the meaning behind my teacher's words.

"Well done, you're doing very well!" said Nathan to me. "Now try guiding one of the mana particles."

I stared at the multitude of tiny mana particles and concentrated on one of them. To my surprise, this time I "saw" that it was also made of even smaller mana particles and tried to concentrate on the smallest of them. I started slowly attempting to target it and sometimes I thought I was succeeding, but I couldn't be sure. Soon I got tired and had to rest.

"My skills are like those of a newborn." I complained. "That's worse than learning to walk all over again."

Nathan thought for a moment.

"Maybe that's a good comparison. But unlike babies, you have this magical formation. It has numerous diagrams in it that make mana extremely easy to control. They also concentrate it into those "particles" you see around you. Don't worry, you're doing great."

As I rested I remembered that there are many techniques on how to learn to ride a bike. From what I knew, to learn to ride a bike, there were literally physical changes happening in your brain. You had to build a hardware apparatus that helped you keep an even balance between the tires. Without it, riding was impossible. I decided to ask Nathan about it.

"Yeah you're right, there are various ... let's call them 'organs' for lack of a better word, in your genes that have interacted with the mana in your world in one way or another. They are tailored to your Earth world and the workings of your Earth "life". However, purely physically and chemically, life is far from uniform throughout the galaxy. But let's not stray too far. You're here to learn particular skills, not to gain knowledge about the universe. And yes, we are teaching you how to awaken, build and control these organs in your body."

I nodded my head and thought about cycling again. I know some people took weeks and even months to learn how to ride a bike(starting with training wheels, or even tri-tire bikes and so on), and there were techniques that could teach you in just days. For example, one of them was to get on a smaller bike and just keep pushing yourself with your feet and trying to keep your balance for the short time you got your feet off the ground.

That way you are safe and under control the whole time. This, in turn, allows you to gradually develop your sense of balance and be able to push yourself for longer and longer times and even start pedaling. Until at some point your balance center adjustments become large enough to be able to ride continuously. If you are very persistent and talented, this is possible in about 8-10 hours, spread over two or three days.

And so, encouraged, I returned to my work. For many hours I tried again and again. Sweat was pouring from my forehead, but I was getting stronger.

The formation was able to speed up the process many times, not only because it affected the free mana within, but also the practitioner. It energized me and healed my body. Allowing me to concentrate freely on my practice.

The time was slowly moving forward, and finally, after maybe two or three days, Nathan led me out of the formation and we headed to a nearby cave. There, outside its entrance, was a fire pit and a few comfortable logs set up as a table and chairs. We lit the fire pit and Nathan began to put various pre-sliced and seasoned meats on a grill.

"These are mana-rich meats that will enter your system naturally. They are also processed and the mana in them is very pure and unobtrusive. Just eat and enjoy the nourishment."

As we roasted and ate the meat, seasoned with various herbs, we kept up a light and casual conversation. I could barely stand on my feet but my appetite was very strong. I was sleepy and my eyes began to grow heavy and occasionally I yawned.

"There is a bed in the cave. Go rest. Tomorrow is going to be a hard day." said Nathan. "In the meantime, I'm going to stop by the tower's central bar and grab something refreshing. Working with you natives is actually not an easy job at all. You wouldn't believe the people I've had to work with. But as far as I know you're the last of the beginners and I'll have a temporary break."

Then he waved his hand at me and dissolved into thin air. "The instructors must be having a pretty nice party right now." I thought as I entered the cave. It was a small cave, lit by a mystical soft glow. Just a passage leading to a modest chamber with a bed. There was a lot of moss and a few mushrooms on the walls. I think the light was coming from the plants. The place felt kind of warm and cozy. "This must be a mana-rich place," I said to myself and fell into an instant sleep.

***

This Meridin Zlodar never ceased to amaze me even after he left the selection room. Even though most of the earthlings were rather bland and superficial, clearly their race had potential.

After his strange class and skill selection, Meridin began his training, and after only a few days, I was contacted by his instructor, Nathan. He asked for information on him and his other skills.

I was also interested in our boy's progress, after all I had put a lot of money on his progress for the next three months. One of the safest bets if you ask me.

When the time came, I questioned the other instructors and here's what I found out.

Nathan, the summoning instructor, was very impressed with his student's tenacity and talent. Meridin quite quickly mastered mana control and then they began to practice the different types of summoning. First to animals from the nearby dimensions, and then to more complex spells and summoning diagrams. Meridin was doing an excellent job with them.

"A natural talent, I tell you," I remember Nathan saying. "Absorbs knowledge like a sponge. What few summoners could barely master in three weeks time, he learned in the second week. And there were six whole weeks of training for him! Several times, after I made the lesson plans, I had to adjust them, because of his incredible progress. He is also a humble boy and respects his elders. When he found out about the herb garden I had made, he asked me about the different herbs in it and started making me my favorite tea every morning. This is not an easy job at all. Making it is quite complicated and takes about 40 minutes. He also experimented with different teas from my garden, something I wouldn't allow another student to do and I think he will inherit my love of good tea."

Ha! His love of drinks, my ass! I'm sure he was trying to find mana-rich plants and absorb their energies. Nathan didn't say it outright, but he must have liked the boy if he allowed him such liberties. That's good, I'll have another ally. I'm sure he'll invest in Meridin's development as well. I'll ask him after everyone starts the tutorial.

Ralvek, his Mana Manipulation instructor, praised Nathan's work quite a bit as well. In his six weeks with Nathan, the young mage Meridin had gotten quite good at sensing and manipulating mana, which had made the work of Ralvek much easier.

Meridin had asked to focus primarily on the theoretical part of mana manipulation and the construction of new spells using mana.

They've managed to construct a simple ball of concentrated mana that if made unstable can be quite destructive. Although it's not the best way to use mana energy and has a relatively large loss, it's a good exercise. They have drawn up diagrams for future development of the mana ball so Meridin can practice working with the elements. The first goal is for him to be able to learn how to mix it with the fire element, and then with the earth element. A pretty devastating combination.

The other instructors had only three days of training time. In them Meridin had asked for instruction primarily on his future development and practices. They praised him for having an excellent memory. Nathan also mentioned something about his memory. He said that when he had to memorize summoning diagrams, he often drew them hard for many hours without prompting. Apparently Meridin didn't rely on his memory alone, but also his hard work. I don't know where he got such high motivation.

***