An Experience Like No Other

Saiph's plan to find a dormitory soon was brought to fruition. He had passed some others on the way here but they weren't all that nice. He had also seen a lavish dorm labeled as an 'honor dorm'.

But no, that didn't matter for him right now. What did was the towering building in front of him. It had 3 stories and detailed engravings beautifying the overall aesthetics fantastically.

Saiph nodded to himself and stepped inside; this was the building he wanted to live in.

The interior lobby was similarly splendid, almost matching up to the library and surpassing the exam buildings in terms of cleanliness and aesthetic.

Saiph mentally patted himself on the back, praising his quick thinking that led to him getting here before anyone else. Who knows, maybe there was only one open spot and he secured it.

Saiph soon found the dorm monitor and had a quick conversation regarding his boarding there.

Things were quickly sorted and before the hour was out Saiph had found himself a new place of residence.

The rooms at this particular building were singles so he didn't even have to share a room, much to his relief. The Academy itself also distributed uniforms to the dorms so his clothing situation was covered.

Saiph spent the rest of the day going around the dorm, introducing himself to whomever he had the chance to meet. Despite his general social awkwardness, he had enough mind to stick his neck out and greet a few passersby.

He met a diverse cast of children during his adventure through the common area of the dorm. There were people around Jack's age, who were just about to graduate in a year or two, or people just around the same age as Saiph; people with ghost-white to ebony skin and all sorts of diverse hair colors.

One particular figure of note was a boy a year older than Saiph named Enzo. He was tall and muscular, with curly brown hair kept pretty unkempt obscuring his eyebrows.

However, what stuck out most to Saiph wasn't Enzo's physical characteristics, but his personality. Just from their initial interaction, Saiph could tell that Enzo lived life to its fullest, without much of a care in the world.

The duo's conversation stayed quite surface-level, so Saiph didn't glean much else from him, but felt interested in the boy just a year older than him.

The day soon ended with another four freshmen besides Saiph claiming the remaining spots of the dorm.

The next day, schedules were posted on everyone's ID plates.

Saiph, as a freshman, only had one class: General Magic Studies. It went for a few hours each day and had the intention of teaching students how to become Mages and inform them of the basics of each branch of Magic so they could delve into specialties in their 3rd year.

Saiph's teacher's lecture hall was about 20 minutes away from his dorm. Compared to the possible hours of walking every day, Saiph could only thank his luck.

…

A few days later, Saiph set off for his first class with three of the other four freshmen of his dorm. The other one's class was in the opposite direction.

Saiph soon split off from the temporary group and entered his class. The building housing it was quite plain and rather small compared to the other buildings he had visited in the past few days.

After waiting a few minutes, class started. The teacher went over the basics of becoming a Mage, explaining how it was a process of imbuing Mana into one's body and that most meditate to get into a mental state with the most control over Mana.

Mana exists in everything and is influenceable by the human Spirit. It follows the will of humans decently but it's pretty hard to control and get a feel of for the uninitiated.

To become a Magic Initiate, technically, all one has to do is take some of the Mana from the world and imbue it into their body, strengthening themselves. Later, more specific parts need to be reinforced but for the first step, just reinforcing oneself with it at all works.

With that, the lecture ended. The teacher took students up to the front of the class -- ordered by aptitude -- and tried to help them feel the surrounding Mana.

At first, Saiph watched with keen interest but soon that interest dulled. Just watching two people sit in the front of the room tested his patience, but he persevered. As time passed, the students up front went from high-Azure aptitude to high-Jade, netting less and less successes.

It was then Saiph's turn. He went up to the podium, taking a meditative position on the ground. The teacher eased him along, guiding Saiph's consciousness with his words.

Trying to grasp the essence of Mana, which supposedly existed everywhere, Saiph tried his best to let himself merge into the world, becoming nothing but the Mana already inside of him. Soon, Saiph's head felt dizzy, making him feel like he was passing out.

Was this a sign of good things to come? Saiph didn't know but kept it up anyway.

Just a bit later, Saiph's thoughts faded into nothing.

…

The strange ellipsoid room greeted Saiph once more. He hadn't been here since he was mortally wounded by the silo fall a whole half a year ago. He had almost forgotten about this strange space, this room isolated within its own dimension.

Saiph walked around it once more and tried to figure out what was going on to no avail. Soon, he was pulled back out of the strange room and awoke back in reality.

"What happened? How did it go?" The teacher's pesterings were the first thing that greeted Saiph.

"Oh, umm, I guess, I kinda just, like, I don't know, was in this weird room, sorta." Saiph wasn't really sure what else to say. Was that room abnormal for even Mages or was that where he was supposed to be during this process?

"Ah, I see. Young man, where you by chance almost killed at some point in your life?" The teacher's voice was soft; none of the other students would be able to overhear them.

"Yes," Saiph replied in a similarly soft voice. He continued to explain the whole experience to the teacher, who nodded understandingly the whole while.

"That is your Spirit," the teacher explained. "We'll go into more detail later, but, for now, try your best to focus on taking Mana in from the world into your body. Imagine that you are pulling all of it towards you, not becoming one with it. We'll try again tomorrow. Next!" He gestured Saiph off and took the next student up.

Saiph felt content that he wasn't abnormal and that he would still be able to become a Mage despite the strangeness of the room- his Spirit.

…

The next day in class, Saiph tried once more to feel what Mana was. He sat down in the front of the room and isolated himself in his own personal space, completely forgetting that he was being watched by over 40 people.

He closed his eyes and took a series of deep breaths. Inhale… exhale. Inhale… exhale, just like Clockwork.

Slowly but surely, Saiph felt the world around him dissolve... evolve, perhaps, into something completely new. Esoteric aberrations warped reality and molded it into a fictitious illusion housing nightmare and dreams alike. The strands of fate were severed and thrown out of the equation completely, leaving nothing but the raw might of Mana.

Saiph felt a grand awakening of the self -- of the Spirit -- and all the entailing cognizance of enlightenment. Arcane beams of light paraded across the vast, boundless singularity of Saiph's cognition and perception and wrapped themselves around him, fettering him into the wondrous reality enfolded around him.

Almost losing himself to the nigh-inconceivable world of Mana, Saiph got a grip over his Spirit and gazed onward with a more pensive outlook on the reality.

What was Mana? Was it everything here, or was it nothing? Was this world the World of Mana or the manifestation of the Spirit once more?

Deciding to assume the former, Saiph knew what to do. An overbearing pressure erupted out of the young boy, beckoning the arcane light show to dispel and show him what he wished to see: the Mana of the world in its rawest form.

Instantly, all of the abstract aberrations yielded, leaving only a massive pool of warm light, encompassing and forging everything in all of reality.

Saiph had successfully felt and grabbed a hold of the Mana of the world! He drew some of it in close with his intent and, finally, imbued it into his chest with some painstaking effort, making it one with him.

He had done it; Saiph was now officially a Mage!

Saiph's vision of the world of Mana faded, leaving only the imperfect physical reality he was used to.

He was met with polite applause from his peers. He couldn't help himself, receiving it all with a beaming smile without much trace of humbleness.

Saiph returned to his desk, still pondering the curious existence of such a reality. He ignored any of the subsequent students attempting the same feat as he had, focusing more on that feeling of observing what he felt to the true state of the world.

The class ended with a few more successes coming from the Jade-talent students. Saiph went back to the dorms, simultaneously exhausted and thrilled from finally achieving the second step of the goal that he had set for himself for most of his life: reaching Heaven

'Now', he thought. 'On to step three: fixing my lost arm.'