“Almost all living beings have the ability to process mana,” Riya began. The three of them were sitting in a cross legged position facing each other. Rather, Glade was crossing his legs. Riya and Kedryn were showing off their dexterity by sitting in a lotus position.
Show offs.
“Processing techniques are generally the first advancement lessons taught to children, usually around ages 5 or 6.”
“Then how do younger children survive inadvertent exposure to mana? Or animals for that matter?” Kedryn asked.
Riya’s hand blurred, picking up a small rock from a pile next to her and flicking it toward Kedryn. The rock landed, eliciting a yelp of shock from the Kid as he rubbed his forehead.
“No interruptions,” Riya said as Glade fought down the smile tugging at the corners of his lips. He was honestly grateful the girl was taking this instruction seriously and applauded her initiative in finding a way to keep Kedryn’s focus.
“As I was saying, mana is everywhere on Veil, but not to the levels of concentration we have found in this cave complex. The more mana in an area, the more likely plants and animals have evolved to incorporate the excess mana into their bodies. This usually results in evolved species with unique properties or heightened attunements.”
Kedryn opened his mouth to ask another question, but Riya had already sent a small rock his way. Glade noted the rock bounced off the same spot she had hit earlier. Kedryn shut his mouth with an audible click.
“While our bodies naturally process ambient mana, that in turn refills mana pools, it does not actively process anything that is ingested. Any physical form of mana, to include mana rich food or drink, mana replenishment potions, and mana shards must be guided appropriately through the body or you risk poisoning yourself.”
Glade raised his hand.
“Yes, Captain Glade?” Riya asked.
“What is mana poisoning exactly and what will it do to us?”
“Hey, why are you letting him ask a question and not me?” Kedryn cried, right before yelping in pain as another rock bounced off his forehead.
“Because he didn’t interrupt me,” Riya responded before turning back to Glade. “Mana poisoning is what happens when uncontrolled mana runs rampant throughout your body. Early signs of mana poisoning include dizziness, nausea, or abdominal cramps to name a few. After that,” she paused, a visible shiver running down her spine. “Let’s just say it gets worse.”
Kedryn was leaning forward as far as he could, drinking in every word. Even Glade was giving his full attention.
“What are the benefits of using the mana processing technique?” Kedryn asked after he too had raised his hand.
“To be honest, most people don’t need to use a mana processing technique as mana enriched food, drink, potions, and the like are not readily available to the general populace. Don’t get me wrong, there are traces of mana in almost everything, but not enough to cause any significant concern. Before coming here, I would only use the technique a couple of times a week after dinner. Even then I would only use it for a few minutes to keep my mana channels clear and pull any random mana particles from my body.”
“However, these caves are saturated with mana, which means the plants and animals have been ingesting and processing mana since their birth. Even the water in the spring has high concentrations of mana. Because we’ve been eating Magma Beetle meat and drinking from the spring, I have had to process excess mana several times a day and I’m still not certain I’ve got it all. The good news is that I’ve raised my technique’s skill level six times. It's how I’ve been able to fill my mana pool so much faster than either of you.” Riya explained.
Now that Glade thought about it, Riya had cast her healing and light spells considerably more often than either himself or Kedryn. His personal mana pool would only regenerate 12 points an hour without meditation, the exact same amount as his wisdom score. Now that his meditation skill was level 3, he could increase that to 14-15 points an hour. Not much of a benefit truth be told, but it was common sense that increasing the skill level would provide significant dividends later on.
“So, your technique helps increase mana regeneration?” Kedryn asked.
“Yes and no. It redirects ingested mana toward your mana pool, which has the added benefit of both purifying the ingested mana and refilling your pool.”
Kedryn opened his mouth to ask another question, but Riya held up a hand to stop him.
“I know you have a great many questions, but we could go back and forth for hours on the ins and outs of processing mana. Right now you need to learn the technique. We can go into answering your questions once you’ve started clearing the mess of stray mana in your system.”
Kedryn looked like he would die from his questions not being answered, but he eventually relented. Glade was actually impressed. The Kid was showing some self restraint for once.
“Good. My people’s technique is called the Root and Sprig. It starts at a standard tier processing technique, but can grow as your skill level grows. There are other tiers which range from trash at the lowest, then basic, standard, uncommon, unique, rare, legendary, and transcendent. I’ve been able to grow my technique to the uncommon tier, which allows more flexibility and better control, but we’ll need to start both of you at the standard level.”
“To start, I want you to envision a seed hovering in a dark space just behind your navel.”
“What kind of… Ow!” Kedryn yelped, rubbing his forehead after getting hit by not one, but two, stones.
“No talking,” Riya said. By this point the elf had already closed her eyes and she still had hit him dead center, both times! “And close your eyes Captain Glade. I can throw rocks at you as well.”
Glade promptly closed his eyes. Never let it be said he wasn’t willing to learn at the expense of others' mistakes.
“To answer the Mede’s question, you don’t need to know what kind of seed is hovering in your void, that will be discovered later when you grow the technique to the next tier.”
“Now comes the hard part for children, which means it will likely be near impossible for the both of you.”
Glade’s mouth twitched upwards at the verbal slight. He was really starting to enjoy Riya’s sarcastic sense of humor.
“Breathe in exactly four heart beats and hold. As you hold your breath, envision the air now filling your void pulling all the loose energy within your body toward the seed. Then exhale at the rate of exactly eight heart beats, twice as long as you breathed in. As you do, imagine all the expended energy and poisonous mana flowing out of you. Do NOT hold your breath after exhaling, but immediately begin breathing in again. Then repeat until you receive a notification that states you have learned the technique.”
It seemed simple enough. Glade meticulously followed Riya’s advice, first breathing in and then pausing. He then pictured a large, dark seed hovering in a void of black. It wasn’t anything special, just a run of the mill crescent shaped seed he had seen a hundred times in his travels.
After a few seconds of holding his breath and imagining energy being pulled toward the seed, he came to the same conclusion as Riya. This was going to be harder than expected. His counts were off as his heartbeat continually adapted to the inflow of oxygen, which then caused him to forget to imagine energy being pulled into the seed, which in turn interrupted his exhalation.
Still, he wasn’t worried. He’d get the hang of it eventually.
Three minutes into the exercise Kedryn shouted in excitement.
“I learned the technique!”
Glade cracked his eyes open and watched as Riya stared at the Corporal, dumbfounded.
“That was certainly… fast,” Riya responded.
“Is the seed supposed to start growing roots on its own?” Kedryn asked.
From the growing look of shock on Riya’s face the answer must have been yes, but not something she had expected to take place so soon.
Glade simply shrugged. If Kedryn could do it in three minutes he was certain he wasn’t that far behind.
----------------------------------------
Glade dumped one of his attribute points into dexterity, firmly believing it would help him achieve the elusive lotus position. Two days ago he would have scoffed at the concept of adding points to physical attributes, but his perspective had changed significantly. For all he knew, adding points to attributes unlocked some magical effect that would allow him to maneuver his body into the same sitting position as Riya and Kedryn.
Why was this important? Because that was the only difference he could see that explained the Kid’s rapid growth in learning this infernal technique!
This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.
“Maybe you should try breathing slower,” Kedryn suggested. “That’s what I did from the very beginning and it worked like a charm!”
Glade’s eye twitched as he tried, and failed, to fold his legs into something that resembled the position he was aiming for. Sure, his muscles felt more relaxed and flexible after increasing his dexterity, but he could attribute that to the painful stretching he had been doing for the last two hours as he attempted to learn the Root and Sprig technique.
“Shush,” Riya hissed at Kedryn. “Captain Glade is doing just fine. It takes most children several days of practice before they learn this skill.”
“How long did it take you?” Kedryn asked.
“That’s not relevant to the conversation,” she began, but Glade could see right through her poor attempt at protecting him.
“How long?” Glade injected, knowing he wasn’t going to like the answer.
“Well, if you must know, about 40 minutes,” Riya replied, glancing between Kedryn and Glade. “But it isn’t about how fast you can learn a skill, but how you advance it. It took my sister more than a day to learn, but once she did, she raised the technique’s skill level faster than anyone had ever seen.”
“Really? I’ve already raised my skill level to 3 since we began. And let me tell you, it really does help me refill my mana pool faster!” Kedryn said, glowing with pride.
“My, aren't we the humble one,” Glade grumbled as he stood up, giving up on the exercise all together.
“Sorry, I missed what you said,” Kedryn replied.
“I said congratulations,” Glade called over his shoulder as he walked toward the water’s edge. “I’m going to take a break and try again after I’ve cleared my head.”
Ignoring his two companions’ response, Glade knelt by the spring feeding the underground lake and took a long drink. The lukewarm water had always been refreshing, despite its tepid temperature, which he now equated to being chock full of mana.
After splashing some of the water on his face, he went through his normal warm up routine of basic stretches. He had been sitting and imagining darkness and that blasted seed for far too long.
Knowing he wasn’t going to get anywhere in his current state of mind, Glade lost himself as he first limbered up his body, then began doing some basic calisthenics. Exercise had always been a form of relaxation for him.
As he worked his body, he began to ponder his recent failure. He had followed Riya’s instructions to the letter. For a short time, he had even considered following Kedryn's advice, which had been his first indicator that he was getting frustrated.
As his mind went round and round, chasing the problem into ever increasing circles of confusion, Glade decided to take a different track.
He quickly washed off the worst of the sweat after his impromptu work out, then sat in the middle of a large swath of shadow infected mushrooms and cast Mana Manipulation.
The world around him exploded into color, awash in transparent streams of colored mana flowing in and around the cavern. He didn’t do anything at first, allowing the view to relax him in a way he couldn’t even describe.
As the countdown of his spell drew toward its end, he pulled the shadow mana from the closest mushroom and let it evaporate in his hand.
It was in that moment of stillness as the shadow mana drifted off into the ether and the colors faded from his sight that Glade wondered if he had been going about learning the mana processing technique all wrong.
On Earth, he would often tackle problems directly and with as much mental and physical fortitude as he could muster. There was a simple joy to applying overwhelming force to one's problems.
However, his current predicament wasn’t something he could mentally or physically abuse into submission. Furthermore, he was no longer on Earth. He was on Veil. The rules of engagement were different here. While mind numbing effort and repetition were likely still a valid method of learning in this new world, it most likely was not the most efficient application of one’s time and resources.
With that thought in mind, Glade pulled up his status page.
Name: Glade (Enlightened Human)
Age 26 Level: 3
Experience: 1170 Next Level: 2000
Health: 110 Stamina: 120 Mana: 110
Attributes
Strength: 12 Dexterity: 12 Constitution: 11
Endurance: 12 Intelligence: 11 Wisdom: 10
Charisma: 11 Chance: 10 Willpower: 12
Brands:
Courage Honor Perseverance Creation
Intellect Sacrifice Passion Meekness
Titles:
Sah’eld to Da'Riya Ki'Loshere
Languages:
English Elvish (Plains Dialect - Verbal Only)
Skills:
Astral Magic: Lvl 2: +2% mana efficiency in Astral Magic
Aura Sense: Lvl 1: Identify through use of aura reading. Cost: 5 MP.
Cooking (Amateur): Lvl 1: +1% to enhance flavor. +2% to identify edible foods
Meditation: Lvl 3: +1% to mana regen/+1% to attunement absorption.
Reflection: Lvl 1: +1 to Wisdom. +2% skill advancement.
Telepathy: Lvl 1: 1 x Target. 10 ft per lvl. Costs: 10 MP + 5 SP per 10 seconds
Small Blades: Lvl 1: 1% stamina reduction. +1% damage/accuracy.
Abilities:
Will (Will Points: 2/12)
Specializations: None
Attunements:
Air: 0% Water: 0% Earth: 0% Fire: 0%
Light: 0% Shadow: 0% Astral: 13%(Sympathetic) Corporeal: 0%
At first glance, not much had changed since he last examined his status page. Granted, there were some differences, like his willpower increase from his last level gain and the point he had just placed into dexterity. But the only increase in skill levels was meditation.
Hadn’t both Riya and Kedryn mentioned that several skills had increased dramatically over the last couple of days? He was certain they had. Which meant he was missing something.
What he wouldn’t give for a field training manual right about now.
His mind gravitated toward the 2 willpower points he had remaining in his pool and wondered if that could help him.
Attention! Though your knowledge base of mana is below average even for beginners, the Root and Sprig technique was designed for children to learn. Someone as dense as you should be able to learn it. Total cost is 2 points. Would you like to use your willpower to learn the Root and Sprig technique?
Yes/No
Warning! Once begun, the process cannot be stopped.
Glade read the less than subtle prompt and dismissed the message. Even if he hadn’t received the obvious clue that using his limited resource of willpower points for something that is considered mundane, he wouldn’t spend the points. Not only was it wasteful, but he didn’t want to rely on easy buttons unless he absolutely had to. True growth occurs only when the effort to learn is applied appropriately.
A passage of instruction from Sun Tzu’s art of war that he had long since memorized came to mind.
‘If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles.’
He had heard that quote many times from countless others over the years, each trying to sound like they knew what they were talking about. He found it odd that when questioned, they always seemed to forget the second, and most important, part of the instruction.
‘If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle’
What most missed was the aforementioned lesson was about awareness. More specifically, true awareness of self, not the delusions of grandeur most people believe. If someone could understand their own vulnerabilities and worked diligently to shore them up, then they could withstand, bypass, or overcome whatever storm comes their way.
Since meeting Kedryn, all Glade could see was the Kid’s lack of situational awareness and how his actions impacted the safety and wellbeing of others immediately around him.
But now he was the one ignoring his own vulnerabilities. There was an entirely new side of himself that he had mostly ignored. He had telepathy, but hadn’t even thought to test it since arriving on Veil. Even Riya had chastised him earlier for not effectively using his Aura Sense skill. To his everlasting shame, Kedryn had been hurt as a result.
He still didn’t understand what the eight brands were for.
As he contemplated what skills he had available, a semblance of a plan began to take shape in his mind on how best to apply his current abilities to learn Riya’s technique.
A prompt drew his attention.
Congratulations! Your skill level in Reflection has advanced to level 2! +4% skill advancement to any skill through the use of reflection.
Taking that as a good sign, he turned back to his companions.
“Could you show me the technique one more time?” Glade asked Riya as he sat down. He didn’t bother crossing his legs, letting them sprawl comfortably over the ground as he leaned up against the rock wall.
Riya nodded her assent and explained the process one more time, showing her breathing technique.
Right before she started Glade cast Mana Manipulation.
The tapestry of colors returned in a burst of light, which Glade forcibly ignored. Instead, he focused on Riya as she began to move the mana inside of her.
With every breath, miniscule glowing particles that hovered throughout her body were slowly drawn into a ball of soft glowing light. Every time a particle entered, it was quickly absorbed and processed. As Riya exhaled, some particles were forced out of her body.
He left the spell running for a full 4 minutes until he felt like he understood the principles involved. Only then, did he attempt the technique himself.
Focusing inward, Glade breathed in. Instead of imagining unknown mana coming to the floating black seed, he reoriented his way of thinking. This time, he visualized that he was the seed, drawing every stray particle of light in his body toward him.
Four heartbeats passed as air filled his lungs. A tangible force shifted from within at the same time he noticed his mana points rising. Then he exhaled.
On a whim, instead of visualizing stray mana particles being expelled, he pushed the stray lights that were breaking free toward the seed as well.
An even greater feeling of tension, like something was breaking free and crawling toward his navel, filled his mind.
Congratulations! You have finally learned the foundational mana processing technique Root and Sprig. Yes, children learn to use this technique at an early age, proving that anyone can learn it. Even Kedryn! Even though it took you, a grown adult, longer than most children, you applied knowledge gained through reflection and observation, which has greatly enhanced the technique learned! Your technique has evolved from Standard to Unique. This tier and style is known amongst the Elven Nation as the Twin Root and Branch Technique. +1 to Chance. +8% mana absorption from any ingested mana source.
Warning! Experimenting on unknown techniques, while potentially lucrative, is not advised. Miss-aligned techniques can be dangerous.
Glade took the warning in stride and continued breathing in the style he had adapted, finally sensing the disparate mana throughout his body gravitate toward his seed. His mana points spiked even higher, replenishing in minutes what had taken him an hour to accomplish previously.
As he was ending his breathing session, Glade noticed that his seed had changed. Not one, but two seeds hung in the black void, each crescent shaped. One was black, the other white with the beginnings of a root system already twining together.
Now that was interesting.