Chapter 37: Mana heart?

After breakfast, Lucien had his morning lesson with Mikaela.

He was now relaxing before his magic lesson. He sat at his desk while his eyes scanned magic circles drawn on a book. 

They were much longer, and more complex than those he had learned about from his father. They were drawn with complex symbols within circles, hoops, spirals, and polygons. He tried memorizing every line and every shape in detail just as he had done with his formerly learned spells. 

In truth, he understood nothing behind the principle of such complicated magic spells. This was simply a hobby.

Knock! Knock!

A knock broke him from his concentration. 

Thud! 

The door closed. 

Lucien didn't need to turn to know who it was. As usual, Merlin came over during his Magic lessons.

"Dad, I managed to cast the Darkness spell this morning," said Lucien. 

He didn't sound so enthusiastic since he only managed to cast two more out of ten attempts. 

Merlin's tranquil cold emerald eyes stirred at the news and a small curve formed on the corner of his lips. Lucien didn't manage to see his father smile as he was tidying after himself.

"I see. You are progressing well," responded Merlin.

His voice was cold and composed as usual.

He carried his notebook and walked to the front. He casually sat in front of the joint desk. It was more efficient teaching that way. More so in one-to-one lessons.

Merlin took out a chart and cast a floating spell on it. I was a picture of two distinctly different body organs, the heart. 

Lucien stared at them curiously. To him, these were interesting pictures, nothing more. He didn't know what the heart looked like. 

"Then, I will be introducing some practices and several techniques for better mana manipulation. So far, Lucien, you have done it on instinct. However, there are stable methods and paths for this control. These paths are called mana channels. You can control your mana better when you know the mana channels," said Merlin.

Merlin spoke short sentences and avoided complicated words on purpose when narrating things. It was a textbook version of a narrative but Lucien wasn't the least bit bored.

Lucien's eyes lit up since this was a rare theory lesson. He would learn more here than he could trying to understand magic books. 

"First, the heart," Merlin pointed at the chart, "On the left is the human heart while on the right is the dragon heart."

A human heart was basically like any human heart you could find in any human. In the picture was a vivid heart. Clean-cut vessels, veins on the sides, and fresh.

The dragon heart on the other hand looked nothing like an organ. Whatever its function was, it wouldn't be associated with pumping blood. It was a huge radiant uneven multicolored crystal. 

Lucien compared the two and found no similarities or any relation to what this talk and demonstration were about.

"Why the heart, Dad?" he asked curiously.

Merlin secretly sighed with relief when Lucien didn't mind seeing a heart for the first time. A human organ more specifically.

"Mana generally flows from the heart. In this, it is similar to a dragon's heart. But Son, do you feel mana in your heart when you cast a spell?" asked Merlin.

"...I don't know. I don't think so…" responded Lucien, slightly unsure. 

He never felt mana in his heart but his father's first statement was that mana flows from the heart. It threw him in disarray. He believed his father but he also believed his feelings. 

It was a core trait for a mage to never doubt yourself.

"When we look at the heart, there is no mana. This is because the mana flows from the circle void through the heart and then to the body. During this flow, it follows particular pathways and directions to quickly get to the target. Now pay close attention," Merlin said with a stern voice. 

Merlin went on with his lecture. During the rest of the lesson, he didn't stop speaking. The lesson was basically…

The heart was a delicate organ. A human organ couldn't hold so much mana. It is very fragile in comparison to a beast's core or a dragon's heart. Human mages could not form a specialized heart so…

Humans evolved into mages by forming a circle Void. The circle Void held the majority of mana. 

Since humans were part of nature, their bodies too held mana. This innate mana dictated the talent of a mage, or rather, the potential. 

On the other hand, it was like a life force. Exhaustible.

The circle void on the other hand absorbed mana constantly. It was like a mana reserve. It could be completely used and replenished.