Karolina woke up on the ninth day of the tutorial feeling uneasy. It had been two days since Selena had revealed her duplicitous nature, and she still hadn’t told anyone about it. She didn’t know what to do.
Selena had said not to tell anyone, but she hadn’t said what specifically she would do if Karolina did. Somehow that made it worse, because Selena seemed capable of anything at the moment.
She had considered a few ways to deal with Selena. The first idea she thought of was to threaten Selena, but what would be the point? Karolina wasn’t the type of person to attack someone else, and Selena would see through her bluff. Plus, actually attacking Selena would be counterproductive: she needed the other woman to heal her, after all.
Her next idea was to just call Selena’s bluff: the woman couldn’t actually refuse to heal her or her friends in public, right? However, thinking back on the woman’s soul when she delivered the threat, Karolina was absolutely certain that she wasn’t bluffing. If it came down to a public confrontation, Selena had Buckley's ear, and the man definitely didn’t like Karolina, so the outcome wouldn’t be in her favor.
She couldn’t think of anything that was likely to work. Selena had really shaken her confidence. Yesterday, she hadn’t even been sure if she could trust Thomas and Ada. It had taken intense focus on her soulsight in every interaction with them to tell that they were being genuine. In hindsight, though, there had been lots of signs that Selena wasn’t who she pretended to be, but she had ignored them. She needed to learn to trust her soulsight more.
Besides the secret vetting she had put her friends through yesterday, the day had been pretty disappointing. They had gone out into the forest twice, but had only encountered low level monsters that weren’t worth the effort to kill. She hadn’t really worked on her skills, either.
She had considered heading to the supply depot, but she didn’t want to find new treasures only to have Selena take the best one again. She also didn’t want to leave Selena behind and rely on healing potions, as she didn’t want to waste the few of them they had before she had explored all of her options. She really needed to find a healing method that didn’t rely on Selena.
Honestly, yesterday felt like a waste. Maybe she just had unrealistic expectations due to her rapid growth, but spending time not improving felt wrong. Speaking of not improving… she should probably get up. It wasn’t like she was going to get anything done lying here.
She got up and looked around. It looked like Thomas and Ada were gone, so she was apparently the last person to get up. She was glad they had let her sleep, but she needed to find some way to be productive today.
Now, what should she do today? She had hit a wall with her skills, but there was another ability that Thomas had said she should be able to learn. She could learn how to convert her mana into other types of mana.
She especially wanted to try using the purple mana that appeared around the souls of others. Given that she was probably the only person who could see it, soul mana represented a unique edge that she needed to take advantage of.
Thomas should hopefully be able to teach her how to convert her mana. She left the lodge, ready to go looking for him, and then found him reading a book right outside the door.
“Hey Thomas,” she said.
“Hey Karolina. Nice to see you,” he said. He closed the book and turned to face her.
“Good book?” she asked.
“Yes! It’s called Beginner’s Guide to Mana, and apparently there’s a much simpler way to learn mana perception. It doesn’t even require having a skill that uses mana!” he said excitedly.
“Interesting,” Karolina said. “Actually, could you teach Ada how to perceive mana, as a favor to me? It’s a pretty valuable skill,” Karolina said.
“Sure, if she wants to learn,” Thomas said. “I’ll probably go around the camp and teach it to anyone who wants to learn. I want to help everyone out when I can.”
“Thanks Thomas. If she doesn’t want to learn it, I’ll convince her. We all need to improve as much as we can,” Karolina said firmly. Ada was surprisingly uninterested in working on her skills, but Karolina was intent on changing her mind.
“Okay, whatever works,” Thomas shrugged.
“Actually, I wanted your help with something. Could you teach me how to convert my mana into fire mana? That’s how you got that awesome fire spell, right?” Karolina asked.
“Sure, I can do that,” Thomas said. He paused for a second. “I guess the best place to teach you would be inside the lodge. An environment without distractions would probably be best for you to learn it.”
“Okay, whatever you think is best. You’re the expert, after all,” Karolina said.
After they both went into the lodge and sat down at the table, Thomas began to speak. “Converting your unaligned mana into another type of mana is relatively simple. I mean, you do need to be able to use mana perception and control your mana to even start, but once you have that down, it’s easy. You can convert mana you’re currently controlling by just visualizing your mana changing to match the essence of another type of mana.”
“Essence?” Karolian asked.
“That’s just a term for the most central aspect of that type of mana. You’ll get it pretty fast, don’t worry,” Thomas said.
“I hope it actually is that easy. It would be a nice change,” Karolina said.
“It should be. The book I’m reading claims that converting mana is so easy that everyone should be able to do it. It’s really only the first step, after all,” Thomas said.
“First step?” Karolina asked.
“Well, yeah. Converting your mana without planning to use it in a spell is basically pointless. You can’t really do much of anything with just raw mana, after all,” Thomas said.
“Wait, it’s basically pointless? What do you mean?” Karolina asked. She did want to learn more about how to do literal magic, she wasn’t crazy, but she didn’t want to waste her time.
“It’s not pointless, I didn’t mean it like that. it’s—” Thomas started before a voice coming from his pocket interrupted him.
"Hello, we’ve been trying to reach you about your car's extended warranty," Ada’s voice said. Thomas sighed as he pulled the communication crystal out of his pocket.
"Ada, stop prank calling me. We don't even have cars here," Thomas said into the crystal with exasperation.
"It's boring out here without you guys," Ada said unapologetically. "Have to make my own fun somehow."
“Well, I’m glad I could entertain you. I was in the middle of helping Karolina with something, though, so I’ll have to talk to you later,” Thomas said.
“Okay, whatever. Tell Karolina hi for me. See you later,” Ada said.
“Sorry about that,” Thomas said, putting the blue communication crystal back into his pocket. They really were amazing items, even though they weren’t using them for anything important right now.
They had figured out how to use them yesterday. It took a bit of time, but the three of them were able to figure it out quickly enough. All it involved was putting a small amount of mana into one of the crystals, and they were able to make their voices come out of the paired crystal.
Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
“So, where were we?” Thomas asked.
“I think you were telling me how this is a complete waste of time,” Karolina said jokingly. Ada’s interruption had given her a chance to think it through a bit, and Thomas wouldn’t have offered to teach it to her unless he thought it was useful.
“No, it’s not a waste of time. It just can’t do much on its own. Getting a certain type of mana is completely different from actually using that mana in a spell. That’s what my skill, Convert Mana, mostly helps with. Getting a different type of mana to work with a spell involves changing the intent of the spell itself to work with a new type of mana. That’s why using fire mana in my mana bolt spell was so difficult, for example,” Thomas said.
“That makes sense. So I shouldn’t expect to suddenly start throwing fireballs or anything because I created a little fire mana,” Karolina said.
“No, that’s not how it works,” Thomas chuckled. “But I still think it’s interesting, and in my opinion everything about magic is worth learning.”
“Hey, you don’t have to convince me of that. It’s magic!” Karolina said with a smile.
“Great. So, let’s get started. The first thing you’ll have to do is turn on your mana perception, and then try to draw some of your mana outside of your body. Give it a try, and I’ll let you know if I notice anything,” Thomas said.
Karolina nodded and activated her mana perception. Immediately, the world became filled with an incredible assortment of colors. There were so many types of mana in the air, all mixed together. It was impressive that anyone managed to pick out just one type.
She tried to draw some of her mana out of her soul, and was pleasantly surprised that she managed it on her first try. At first, she had barely been able to move her mana at all. She’d been occasionally practicing moving around her stamina and mana, but she hadn’t realized how much she had improved. She moved the mana outside of her body, and proudly showed Thomas the blue mana hovering above her palm.
“Good job. That was unexpectedly fast for a non-magician,” Thomas said, pleased. “Now, I’m going to show you some fire mana, so you have an example to work off of. First, try to observe the fire mana as closely as you can, and try to get a feel for the essence of it. I know that’s vague, but it should be pretty intuitive.”
“Okay,” Karolina said, eyes starting to hurt a little. Mana perception still hurt to use, but she thought she was getting a little more used to it. Looking at Thomas, he had put a large curtain of fire mana in front of him, but she could still see the purple sheen of soul mana around his soul.
For a moment, she considered converting her mana into soul mana instead of fire mana. The special mana that only she could see due to her soulsight was incredibly tempting to use. She decided against it after a moment’s consideration. She couldn’t take the risk of showing Thomas soul mana—she had no way of knowing how he would react to her soulsight.
She looked closer at the fire mana that Thomas had created to help her. Its red color was the first aspect she noticed, but it was far from the most important one. The fire mana moved subtly differently from other types of mana she had seen. It seemed to be flickering, reminding her of the embers of a fire, hungry for more fuel. That was its nature—a hunger for more.
“I think I got it,” Karolina said.
“Good. We should talk later about what you perceive fire mana’s essence to be. I think it’s different for everybody. Now, you just need to visualize your mana changing to fit the essence of the fire mana, and it should work. Remember, it’s your mana, so you control it.”
She concentrated on changing the mana above her palm into fire mana, and again found the process surprisingly intuitive. As long as she had a clear target in mind, it was like her mana wanted to change.
“Thanks for the help, I think I’ve got it now,” Karolina said, showing Thomas the fire mana floating above her hand. She took a deep breath, and then let it out as she stood up. “I think I’ll go practice one of my skills now. Or maybe help out a group heading into the woods? I’m not sure yet.”
Thomas looked uncertain for a moment. “You could do that, but I have a better idea. When was the last time you took a break?” he asked.
Karolina froze for a second. When was the last time she took a break? Since the start of the tutorial, she had basically been working nonstop. Even though she really enjoyed fighting and practicing her skills, she still hadn’t really taken any time for herself.
She had spent time with Thomas and Ada, but even that was almost always while they were either looking for monsters or had just won a fight against monsters. She hadn’t really relaxed since the start of the tutorial. That wasn’t healthy.
Thomas apparently took her silence as a sign to continue. “I know you're all about getting stronger, but I'm getting a little worried about you. I really think you should just take the rest of the day to relax. The tutorial lasts for a long time, and I don’t want you burning out.”
“You’re right, Thomas. Thanks for pointing that out. I think I'll just wander around the camp for a while and enjoy the weather. It's a beautiful day out, after all,” Karolina said.
“Really? I didn’t think you’d agree,” Thomas said. “Well, I’m glad. Have fun. I’m going to get back to my book.”
“See you later,” Karolina said, giving a wave as she walked out of the lodge. She wandered aimlessly around the camp, making an effort to take in the beautiful blue sky and feel the sun on her face.
She said hi to the few people she passed. More people seemed to be coming out of their cabins lately and walking around. It seemed that everyone was starting to realize that the whole situation wasn’t going to just go away.
She briefly saw Robert and another builder repairing a cabin on the other side of camp. They looked busy, so she just waved and didn’t go over to talk with them. Honestly, she wasn’t sure what she would have said anyway. Robert didn’t seem to like her very much, and the work he was doing didn’t really interest her.
That wasn’t to say that what Robert had been doing to the camp wasn’t impressive. She paused for a moment to really take in the camp, and was amazed at how much better it looked compared to her first day here. The cabins actually looked good, some of the overgrown grass had been removed, and the paths through the camp were distinct and easy to see. She enjoyed the sight of the reinvigorated camp as she kept walking.
Just as she was passing through the center of camp, she saw Aaron out of the corner of her eye. He was talking to another warrior about something. She wanted to thank Aaron for supporting her during the meeting, so she headed towards them. It seemed their conversation was wrapping up just as she arrived.
“I’m glad that you want to start being more productive, Mr. Nichols. I know Ms. Davis has been searching for another person to join her team. They shouldn’t have left for the day yet. You can find her and Mr. Patterson near the eastern edge of the camp if you hurry. Tell them I sent you,” Aaron said.
“I will. Thank you,” the other warrior said, giving a short nod to Aaron before running off. Aaron watched him go with a faint smile on his face, before turning to face Karolina.
“Hello. Did you need something?” Aaron asked.
“I just wanted to thank you for supporting me at the meeting,” Karolina said. Her soulsight instantly let her know that she had made a mistake.
“I supported your idea, not you. I’m still firmly loyal to Mr. Buckley,” Aaron said. He didn’t seem angry, just resigned.
“I can respect that,” Karolina said carefully. She’d thought she’d kept her dislike of Buckley quiet, but Aaron had apparently picked up on it anyway. Honestly, she didn’t really understand why Aaron was so loyal to Buckley. Nothing she had seen from the former senator had really endeared him to her. Actually, that was definitely a question worth asking.
“Aaron, I wanted to ask. Why choose to follow Buckley? What drew you to him?” she asked carefully, trying not to offend him again.
“The way he was able to unite the whole camp on the first day… I don’t have any words for how impressive that was. Everyone was ready to tear each other apart, but he managed to calm everyone down and give them a goal. Plus, he cares so much about all of the people in our camp. He’s a true leader,” Aaron said.
“I see. I guess I never thought of it like that,” Karolina said, trying to be polite. To her, being charismatic and caring wasn’t enough to be a good leader, you also had to be competent. Thus far, Buckley hadn’t really impressed her on that front. She definitely couldn’t say that to Aaron, though.
“Well, I’m glad that you’re starting to understand why Mr. Buckley is such a good leader,” Aaron said. It seemed that she wasn’t completely off when she described Aaron as a minion before, but he at least seemed to be a competent one. “If there isn’t anything else, I have a lot of work to do,” Aaron said.
“Yeah, I just wanted to say hi. See you soon,” Karolina said, and then walked away.
She kept wandering around the camp for a while, enjoying the sights and trying not to think about Selena, before she headed back to the lodge. When she arrived, she saw that Thomas was still there reading his book and Ada had also shown up at some point.
“Nice of you to finally show up,” Ada drawled.
“It’s good to see you too, Ada,” Karolina replied with a smile. She genuinely enjoyed the other woman’s company, now. She had actually gotten used to her.
“Hey Karolina,” Thomas said. He closed the book and set it on the table. “What’s up?”
“I just wanted to spend some time with you guys,” Karolina said. “I wanted to get away from my thoughts for a little while.”
“Sure,” Ada said. She hesitated for a moment, and then continued. “Do you want to talk about it?”
“Not yet. But soon,” Karolina said. She didn’t want to put them at risk by telling them about Selena, not until she had decided what to do about her.
“Okay. Well, when you're ready to talk about it, we're here for you," Thomas said. "Anyway, did you know that time mana exists? According to this book, it's one of the rarest forms of mana!"
"No, I didn't know that Thomas," Karolina smiled. "Tell me all about it."
She spent the rest of the day just hanging out with her friends. Despite the revelation about Selena, things were going pretty well. Karolina went to sleep on the ninth day of the tutorial full of hope about the future.
On the tenth day of the tutorial, Karolina awoke to terrified screams and the sounds of battle.