Chapter 5: Beacon of Hope

"Sorry, Alvin, I have to go," I said, rushing home, brimming with excitement. If I could make my core compress mana and burst it, it would greatly improve mana circulation.

I rang the bell at home, and my mom opened the door. "Later, Mom," I said, running upstairs. "Love you!" I added as I entered my room and closed the door.

I delved into my books, trying to find information on whether it was feasible. I quickly found that when the core is saturated, the mana receptors don't absorb any more mana.

I had been pondering an idea for weeks. Before the white core forms, it is semi-solid and doesn't resist mana. If I could cut it into smaller cores, I could enhance mana circulation by placing these cores in strategic pathways.

The problem was that I had to prevent the mana from leaking out of the core. I stopped to think for a moment. How could I prevent mana from leaking out of the small cores into the connected mana channels?

Just like a gas cooker, I needed to add a mechanism that would automatically open a valve when the pressure reached a certain level.

I could probably do that with metal by having an expert blacksmith craft a very small metallic valve using a metal piston, a metal spring, and a metal plug. The valve had to be small enough to be inserted into mana channels, which are as small as blood vessels. The metal also had to be unreactive to anything and block mana.

There are some expert blacksmiths who could do that. The problem is if I made the valve accept a certain level of pressure, as I grew stronger, the quality of mana would increase, making it useless. It isn't feasible to change the valve every few months.

Wait a minute. There was a theoretical experiment I read about involving the Venturi effect, which used an expensive metal called mana embers to narrow the mana channels at certain places, increasing its circulation speed.

That metal was perfect, as it grew stronger with the user. The problem was it was very expensive. But if this plan was feasible, then there was hope. I had to do what I could to achieve it.

I sat there for hours. The sun went down, then came up again, and I was still working.

There were many problems that needed solving. First of all, where would I place the small cores, and could the mana channels support the bursts of mana without rupturing? Before all that, I needed to reach a level of mana control where I could form a mana blade.

It had to be known that very few children were able to control mana before they formed the white core.

A knock interrupted my research. My mother stood there, worried. "It's afternoon, Oliver. You look exhausted."

"I'm sorry, Mom, but I'm onto something big," I said, looking at her with apologetic eyes.

"Sleep now. No excuses," she insisted.

I smiled bitterly. "Fine." I lay down, thoughts racing and I couldn't hold my excitement this could be it this could solve all of my problems.

Opposite to my expectations I slept like a baby. When morning came, I woke up, washed my face, ate a quick breakfast with my mom, and then got dressed and went to Alvin's.

There are four things I need for my plan to work. Firstly, I need to improve my mana control. That's the most basic requirement.

Secondly, I need a powerful mana circulation technique, as powerful as possible, because the number and placement of the mana cores will depend on it. Once they are placed, I won't be able to change them later.

Thirdly, I need to research the feasibility of cutting my mana core right before the white core formation.

Fourthly, I need mana embers. Not much—about 10 grams of it will be more than enough.

Alvin's mansion was huge, its gardens filled with topiary animals and flowers. I barely glimpsed the house from the gates. After informing the guards, I waited.

A few minutes later, the gate opened. I passed statues and plaques, probably of deceased family members. Reaching the mansion, I found Alvin at the gates, looking tired. Knights in red uniforms trained nearby.

"Hey, Alvin. Sorry about last time. I found something crucial in my research."

"No worries. Why are you here? Not just to apologize, right?"

"I'm here to accept your training offer. If anyone can help with mana control, it's your father."

"Also, do you know about mana embers?"

Alvin's eyes widened. "Why do you need that? It's very expensive. My brother has a sword made of it, but Father says you have to prove yourself worthy."

"A gram costs 500 grams of gold."

My eyes widened. Ten grams would be 5 kilograms of gold or a thousand gold coins. How could they make a whole sword out of it? Given that the average sword weighs 2 kilograms, that would be one ton of gold—absolutely ridiculous.

"Damn, fuck my life. Never in my wildest imagination did I imagine it to be this expensive," I muttered. Now I needed a way to earn huge amounts of money, setting aside the money I would have to pay for an expert blacksmith.

"What do you need it for anyway? From the way you ask, you don't need it for a sword, do you?"

I looked at him and sighed. "No, I only need 10 grams of it for an experiment I am planning."

Alvin looked at me curiously. Then I changed the subject. "Anyway, let's go meet your father and—"

"If you want me to train a kid like you, then you first have to prove you are worth my time," a tall, middle-aged man with black hair and red eyes said. He looked very similar to Alvin and wore a red uniform with two blue lines on each side, indicating his blue core. He was the second in command in the Red Knights division.