Training

My shadow returned to the ground and Oga stretched his arms.

"Sorry for scaring you like that. I planned to stop my punch when I was about to hit you but your shadow acted first", he apologized.

"It's been some time since I last saw you use your full strength. It must be dangerous", Roberu said.

Full strength?

"Yeah. If I didn't use my full strength in stopping that shadow, it would've pierced right through my face", Oga grinned.

"So you were testing me?" I asked.

"Yeah. I thought that if you were placed in a situation like that, your shadow would react. Glad it worked!"

Oga unleashed a really terrifying killing intent. I was sure that he would kill me. Who was he? Not everyone could freely do that.

"I didn't expect it to attack me though. I thought it would just form a wall or something. That's a good reaction if I think about it. Kill or be killed", Oga said.

"Sorry... I don't really have control over it", I apologized.

"That's odd. It's like it has its own life", Roberu said.

"Nah... It's still you. You're just controlling it subconsciously... Although having no control over killing someone is dangerous", Oga told me.

He was right... If Oga wasn't alert, I could have added another body in my kill count.

"Is there a way for me to control it?" I asked.

"Hmmm... Why don't we train together?" Oga suggested.

###

After finishing my work for today, I was supposed to meet up with Oga. He told me that I should learn how to control my shadow. I don't want to accidentally kill someone again. That was why I agreed to train with him.

Our training area was an empty lot near ROBEL. Oga was already waiting for me when I arrived.

"Okay... So... How do we start?" I asked.

"Hmmmm... Let's try placing mana on your shadow first", he said.

"And how do I do that?"

"You didn't have magic training in the knight's academy?"

Oh yeah....

"Ummm... Actually....."

I told him about how I was from a world without magic and was an administrative officer because of a special test.

"I see... In that case, you never let out your mana before... Hmmm... How should I explain this?" he rubbed his hand on his chin.

He then grinned, "I got it... Let's practice letting out your mana. First, you gotta know what mana feels like. I'll be letting out a bit of my mana and let you experience what mana is."

The air then began to tremble. Even though I was in an open space, I had a hard time breathing. I could feel it. A powerful force was gushing out of Oga's body. So... this was what mana was like.

Within the shaking space that showed no signs of calming down, Oga's mana was swelling up along with the strength of the vibrations. The small rocks on the ground were lifted in the air and the weak ones crumbled into dust. Many small lightning bolts danced in the air like an electric current.

I could feel my knees weakening and cold sweat forming on my body. It felt like I was being crushed by a huge hand. The pressure coming out from Oga was too much.

And then it stopped. Everything became peaceful.

"You got an idea on how mana feels?" he asked.

"Y-Yeah..." I answered.

"Good... Now that kind of force is inside you too. Imagine a dam of water inside your body. Now, open that dam and let the water out."

I did what he told me. I imagined that there was a gush of water coming out from all over my body. Then, I felt it... My body felt like having blood getting drained from it using a syringe. I could also feel that I was getting tired even if I didn't move my body.

"Good. You've successfully unleashed your mana! Now then, I have something to ask you: what did you feel when your shadow moved?"

"What I felt?"

"You see... Magic is powered by two things: an image and your resolve. Fire mages would imagine heat coming out of their hands and boom! They made fire! Magic that amplifies your strength requires one to imagine their own muscles getting stronger. As you use your magic, you would feel a certain thing. Whether it's an emotion or an image, mages would emulate what they felt to cast their magic."

I remembered what I felt the first time my shadow moved. It was an eerie feeling like looking into a deep and dark abyss and getting a thought that something else was looking back at you.

"Once you get it, try directing your mana to your shadow. You know how you unleashed your mana, right? Now imagine building a path from your body towards your shadow and having your mana travel there. Remember what you felt when your shadow moved and that's how you do it."

I imagined a river flowing from my body downwards to the ground where my shadow was. I then remembered that eerie feeling I felt.

My shadow in the ground turned into a circle with me in the center. It also became darker and had darkness oozing out of it. The eerie feeling returned and I fully embraced it.

"You're a fast learner. Good job! Now, imagine forming something from your shadow... Like you're making something out of clay. For now, imagine forming a wall."

I tried what he said. I poured mana towards my shadow and made it rise. My shadow slowly emerged from the ground and formed a thin wall.

Oga punched the shadow and it shattered to pieces. I felt having my connection with my own shadow being forcefully destroyed.

"It's kinda weak... Very different from last time. It must be because of your lack of training", he said.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Look at yourself. You're catching your breath and you're sweating even if all you did was make your shadow do a simple task. Your mana control sucks. I could feel excess mana leaking from your body."

"Is that so?"

"Yep. Look... Mana control is important for mages. Let's say a spell requires you to use 10% of your mana. An inexperienced mage who has no control would use around 30-40% of his total mana and make a spell that an expert would only use 10%. The excess mana dissipates from your body and goes out to the surroundings... Well, all you need is training."

"How do I improve?"

"Practice that spell until you manage to make your shadow move with minimal mana. The reason you're wasting too much mana is because you're trying too hard in gathering it. Once you get the feeling of controlling your mana burned into your mind, you'll be stronger."

"So all I need is time and practice..."

"Don't worry about it. It took me thousands of years to be this strong. You'll get there someday!"

"Wait... Thousands of years? How old are you?"

"5030 and counting", he grinned.

I knew that demons had longer lifespans than humans but 5000? That was too much.

"So you're like a grandpa?" I asked.

"What?! No! I'm eternally 30 years old! Don't ever call me a grandpa!"

Oga then had a serious look on his face.

"What's wrong?"

"Be quiet. I'm trying to focus", he said and closed his eyes.

He faced his palm towards the sky and a black ball appeared a few meters above us. Oga closed his hands as if he was crushing something and the black ball shattered to pieces.

"What was that?" I asked.

"Spying magic... And a pretty well-made one too. Somebody's been spying on you. And he must be quite a powerful mage. I didn't even detect it until I got close to you", Oga answered.

The bandaged man flashed in my head. If he would appear again and fight me seriously, I would be defeated... I need to get stronger.

"What's a good way to get better with magic?" I asked.

Oga thought for a while, "Why don't you visit Westa Central Library? They got a lot of books that talked about magic. There might even be books about Dark Magic."

I see.... I could use my next day off for that.

At least, that was my plan until my Excellular rang. The screen showed that Amelia was calling me.

"Excuse me, gotta pick this up", I said.

"Hey, Mikage. Been a while", Amelia's voice greeted.

"What's up?" I asked.

"Say, how good are you with girls? Ever got a girlfriend?"

"I can talk to girls just fine."

I didn't bother answering the last question. After all, it would reveal my embarrassing past that I never had a girlfriend or even held hands with one before.

"That's great. Are you busy the day after tomorrow?" she asked.

"I don't really have anything urgent to do. Why?"

"Then can you go on a date on that day?"

... What?