Chapter 77 Secret Room [ 2 ]

-Asher Frostblade's point of view.

Mana.

what is mana?

A question as old as magic itself, asked and rephrased over generations. Everywhere, from the most prestigious academies to the darkest corners of the world, this question resonates, for to understand mana is to understand the very essence of magic.

Every magician, from the most novice to the most experienced, must know the answer. But it is not just to know it in theory, but to understand it in the depths of his being, to feel it flowing through his veins like a second stream of life.

Mana is not simply an energy; it is the vital source that fuels spells, the invisible force that lifts mages beyond mortal limits.

In its purest state, mana is ethereal, intangible to the untrained eye, but those who master it can mold, manipulate and transform it into powerful manifestations of will.

It is the substance of miracles and tragedy, of creation and destruction. But its use is not without cost. Controlling mana requires discipline, study and a deep spiritual connection with the environment. It is a delicate dance between the magician and magic itself, a constant struggle to maintain balance, for too much or too little mana can lead to ruin.

Over the centuries, mages have developed techniques for channeling and storing mana, either within their own bodies or in magical objects, for use when they need it most. But how does one actually use mana? It is a matter of intuition and technique, of knowing when and how to release that stored energy for maximum effect, of feeling the flow and following the natural rhythm of magic.

Mana not only empowers magicians, but connects them to a vaster and more complex reality, taking them far beyond their normal capabilities.

"Mages since ancient times of the age of dominance have mastered different magics."

The professor's voice, after explaining for quite a while, finished.

"Haa..."

All the cadets let out a long sigh. After all, the explanation about mana and its history was long and took two hours; it had finally ended and the professor had left.

Asher at that moment looked around. The cadets slowly started to leave, but that was not what Asher was really seeing.

"I feel like I'm being watched, but... I can't seem to see anything."

In fact, for a few days now, the woman who had been watching Asher had reappeared, and as expected, again Asher felt two eyes on him.

Not only was it annoying, it was also uncomfortable.

Being watched all the time is really annoying.

"How about we go to the committee?"

Luna's voice reached Asher's ears.

Quickly the whole group agreed, and so they moved through the halls of the academy until they reached the large doors of the committee room. Using, as usual, the keys, Asher unlocked the doors and then they entered.

Sitting down, the whole group began to talk.

"We've been at the academy for almost two weeks now."

"Every day is the same."

"True, but the other month they will be different, the teachers had said so."

Grey and Luna spoke at the same time.

The real classes start next month.

But why?

That's simple. Being new cadets and new wizards, the first thing you do is teach the basics of all the classes, how to do the demonstrations and try the same things, but of course, no one could do them; so first you explain.

Finally comes the time where those explanations are put in place and the cadets start to learn how to use them.

It's a necessary thing for cadets to first understand how they work and then become practical.

"So, when do you..."

"..."

"..."

"What is it?"

"When do we activate the gate?"

Luna at that moment spoke, which left everyone silent.

But then Asher spoke up.

"Why don't we give it a try?"

"..."

"..."

The others turned their heads in Asher's direction. It was then that all eyes turned to Asher.

"Haa... It wouldn't be bad to try, but a teleportation gate needs a lot of mana."

Of course, Asher knew that, but what if it didn't need to use a lot of mana? Then the gate would be activated and ready to be used, although that could also be quite risky. The teachers would probably find out by sensing one more door in the academy, though it's also possible that they would let it pass.

After all, the door is in the academy, right in the disciplinary committee, and most likely the teachers would know about the existence of the door. That's a pretty high probability.

"I guess it's okay, we don't lose anything by trying."

So, once the whole group decided to agree, after a few minutes they were in the secret room, right in front of the big round door.

"What do we do?" asked Emilia.

One of the ways is to simply pour mana into the teleport door. It's a simple thing to do, but it also consumes a lot of mana.

"It's easy, just let your mana out and let it flow into the gate," Luna explained.

Most already knew how to do it, so quickly the seven of them stood in front of the door, held out their hand and then there was silence.

No one moved and they kept their hands outstretched toward the door. It was then that from each hand a bright light began to emerge; it was, of course, the mana of each of them. But as the dark mana appeared from Asher's hands, it began to enter around the edges of the door.

Slowly, more mana entered the edge of the door. A heavy pressure was felt from the amounts of mana released, but still the group continued, even though nothing was happening yet.

The door remained the same. Just as they were about to stop pouring the mana into the door, a small sound came out.

"Creak."

It was then that the center of the door began to slowly glow. It was a faint glow, but it was slowly appearing and it was also expanding. Sure enough, it was the mana that was expanding along the door.

"Haa..."

Emilia, Julian and Luna began to sweat as they looked at the small light coming from the center of the door. The three of them were getting tired; the sweat on their bodies began to increase, and then Emilia stopped pouring mana.

"I-I'm sorry... I don't have any more mana."

She was the first to exhaust her mana, but slowly Julian and Luna were in the same situation. Sweat was running down their foreheads and slowly dripping down their cheeks.

"Drip." "Dripping."

Not only Julian and Luna, but also Gloriana and Freddy started to get tired, and then slowly the sweat appeared.

"Creak."

The light in the center of the door grew larger. The door was large, and so there was still more mana to go before it could be fully activated. However, seeing that the light in the center of the gate was starting to spread more and more, but at a very slow speed, Asher quickly started pouring in much more mana. The others were slowly getting exhausted, so Asher took more mana from his body and started pouring it in.

"Ya... I can't go on," Julian said, falling to the ground exhausted.

The mana enveloping the group was weakening, but slowly the gate was being completed.

"Haa..." Gloriana fell back in a sitting position. Her breathing was ragged and sweat was pouring down her body.

Julian was in the same situation, and so were the others. Grey was slowly running out of mana, as was Freddy. There were only three left.

"Still not enough," Asher said.

Grey and Freddy looked at him.

"There must be at least... missing.... A large amount of mana. We can't activate it yet," Freddy said, and of course, Grey agreed.

However, Asher is a second circle and therefore has the most mana of the whole group, so he persisted longer. Before he knew it, the light was close to encircling the entire center of the door.

But it was then that Freddy fell sitting down, remaining in the same state as the others. There was still more mana left, but only Grey and Asher remained. After a few seconds, seeing that there were only a few centimeters left, Grey spoke.

"Only five centimeters to go.... I'm sorry, I can't take it anymore."

Then, Grey fell to the ground, but in a last effort, he poured all his mana, getting the glow one centimeter closer to the edges of the door. Now there were four centimeters left to fill with mana and the door would finally be activated.

"Haa..."

It was to be expected that Asher was starting to get tired, as were the others. As he continued to pour more mana into the gate, the others were lying on the ground, sweat covering their faces, breathing rapidly as they watched Asher.

"Damn..."

It was to no avail. Asher ended up falling into a sitting position and, seeing that they were less than two centimeters away from activating the door, he could only watch as the glow began to dim and everything went back to how it was before.

"Shit..."

Asher scowled at the door in front of him.

It was really frustrating not to make it, being so close, but in the end they didn't make it.

"It takes one more person."

Of that, Asher was sure. If it was only an inch short of activating the door, it meant that with a little more mana they could have made it. This implied that with one more person the door could be activated.

Unfortunately, that was impossible at the moment. Revealing the secret room to someone else was the last thing they could do, so the only way would be to use mana crystals, but where to get them?

"Haa... They sure are expensive."

In fact, a single mana crystal can cost a veritable fortune, and at that moment Asher had no credit points because they hadn't been given to him yet. It really is frustrating, being so close, to accomplish nothing.

"We'd better get going," Luna suggested.

"..."

Asher said nothing; he just stared at the door with a slight frown. But what could he do? Activating a teleportation gate is really exhausting, that's why they are usually activated by mana crystals.

***

-Scene change.

Entering his room, Asher lay down on the bed. It was really annoying and frustrating that he hadn't managed to activate the door.

"Damn... Haa... I shouldn't get upset over something so trivial."

But he definitely couldn't help but feel angry.

"It's not your fault. A normal teleportation gate can only be activated by mana crystals or a sixth circle mage. But it's really strange that you guys, who don't have that much mana, were so close to achieving it."

"..."

At Encrid's words, Asher said nothing. In fact, the most common way to activate a teleportation gate is by mana crystals, and the other is for a high-level mage to activate it. On the other hand, it was surprising that just seven cadets with so little mana came so close to pulling it off, but in the end they didn't.

Sighing, Asher spoke up.

"I need mana crystals, but that's really expensive."

"Mmm, I think I have a solution."

"..."

Asher listened carefully to Encrid's words.

"How?"

"But I'm not really sure if it will work."

"Remember when I taught you the Darkness Monarch Transformation skill?"

"That's right, you had moved me to a different place, even though it was just my consciousness, but it was like another world."

It was then that Asher's eyes widened as he realized what Encrid was trying to say.

"Exactly, that ability is called 'Domain'. It allows you to create a world apart, and in my world there should be thousands of mana crystals, but I'm not sure if you'll be able to bring them into reality."

In fact, entering a Domain is unfamiliar to Asher. He has only entered Encrid's Domain through his consciousness, but never physically. So, that means that the Encrid Domain could be entered in a physical way.

"But how is that possible?"

"I didn't mention it to you before, but the Domain is an ability. It's the ultimate ability of all mages; it allows you to create a world in another dimension, and that's what you call a Dominion. You can enter it both physically and mentally."

It really is a great ability, so Asher thought about it for a few minutes until he came to a decision.

"Does time stay the same inside your Dominion or not?"

"If you're inside a Domain, outside time goes much slower."

Upon learning this, Asher quickly replied.

"Okay."

"Then let me go outside and I'll use the Domain, but I can't assure you that you'll find mana crystals."

"It doesn't matter if there aren't any."

With that thought in mind, Asher's mana moved towards the moon-shaped tattoo, and suddenly a curtain of dark mana appeared before him. It was then that Encrid materialized....