New World Day 4

  My excitement over the potential ability to use magic allowed me to ignore my aching body and mind. So much so that I wasn’t sure if my body was trembling from excitement or pain. Focusing on my mana, I started to try and move it around instead of just contracting and expanding. Seconds flowed by and sweat trickled down my forehead that was crinkled in concentration. My mana quivered and shook like a horse trying to buck off its rider until finally I felt something burst within me and a small tendril of mana slowly extended out from the main mass. The tendril’s movements were slow and often came to a stuttering stop, but I could finally do more than simple contraction and expansion! Ecstatic over my success, I began experimenting relentlessly. I tried forming multiple tendrils and succeeded in forming two tendrils at once. Then I tried having the tendrils form shapes and patterns. The best I could do were simple things like squares, diamonds and circles. Each time I stopped controlling the tendrils, I found that instead of flowing back into my mana core they broke up into small glowing specks before slowly dissipating.

  Now I just needed to figure out exactly how to use my new found control over my mana to use magic. I tried checking the System to see if there were any magic skills that had become available now that I had the mana control skill, but nothing came up. It seemed that I had yet to reach the stat or level requirement to learn any skills through the System. That failure did nothing to dampen my enthusiasm. If the System couldn’t help me yet then I would just help myself. I had read thousands of stories with hundreds of different magic systems. I wasn’t sure how exactly mana really worked, but I had an idea of where to start now that I had a bit of control. The first thing I was going to work on was using mana to enhance my body. If I could use mana to strengthen my body then I would be much better equipped to fight the various beasts I had encountered. The allure of throwing fireballs or lightning at my enemies was still there, but I wasn’t so lost in joy that I would mess with that type of thing right away. My crazy grin impossibly grew even wider as I laughed and thought to myself, “Maybe tomorrow!”

  For now though, I would turn my attention to body strengthening, and if or perhaps when I had that down I would turn my attention to wilder ideas. Focusing my mind, I forced a tendril of mana out and almost immediately had to stop. Yes, I could create tendrils of mana now, but how did those tendrils interact with my body? Furthermore, where exactly was this mana located within my body? There wasn’t exactly an open space within the human body where a floating mass of energy could just hang out. Without any systematic training on the subject, I would just have to grope around in the darkness for an answer. Minutes turned into hours as I sat against that wall debating with myself on where my mana was truly located and how to properly use it. Idea after idea popped into my head only to be tossed aside as impractical, too difficult, or just plain insane. In the end, I just metaphorically threw my hands in the air and went with a theory that I personally liked.

  I would imagine that there was an identical spiritual body that overlapped with my physical body. My mana would then be floating in the center of my spiritual body in the form of a lake or spring where the stomach and liver would be in my physical body. From there, I intended to extend the tendrils of mana from my mana lake throughout all of my body until mana reached the skin of the spiritual body. My hope was that the areas which had mana flowing through them in my spiritual body would provide a corresponding boost to their physical body equivalents. I liked the theory, but I immediately ran into a problem. Every time I tried to hold the image of a spiritual body in my mind, I would feel a burst of pain like a firecracker going off in my skull, and the image would slip away from me. My best effort only allowed me to hold the image in my head for a count of five before the pain exploded and the image disappeared. Maybe I was going about this the wrong way. Holding the idea of something as complex as a human body was too tiring, but I wasn’t ready to abandon the idea of a spiritual body. Instead of just imagining a spiritual body in my mind, maybe I had to actually create one with my mana. If I extended the tendrils of mana out from the mana lake and then traced the image of my body maybe I could create a true spiritual body. Would I have enough mana to trace my entire body though, and even if I did how long would the spiritual body exist? Would it just disappear like the tendrils did after I stopped focusing on them, or would it be a permanent creation? The only way to find out was to try it out and see what happens. It wasn’t like a magical fairy was going to pop into the basement and teach me all of the secrets of magic.

  It only took a moment to realize that I couldn’t just trace my body with the tendrils. Everything around the mana lake was darkness. There was no reference to trace. I would need to hold the image of an outline of the human body around the mana lake and then use my mana to trace the outline. I spent three hours attempting to do just that only for every attempt to end in failure. The lack of success was overshadowed by the incredible joy over the idea of using magic that continued to flood my body and mind. What was a day of failure compared to the inevitable ecstasy of using magic in the future? The failures now would just lay a more solid foundation for my future success. I was prepared to make another attempt when a massive growl echoed through the garage from my stomach. I would have to put my experiments on hold for now while I saw to my dietary needs. Opening my eyes for the first time in who knows how long, I expected to be blinded by the dim light of the sun peeking through the thick storm clouds and into the garage from the three small rectangular windows, but I was surprised to see that the sun had already gone down for the day. Or at least it had gone down far enough that it couldn’t get through the clouds anymore. I guess I was training for even longer than I had realized.

  Getting up slowly, I hobbled into the workshop to grab some food. The pitch black darkness and my own seizing body made it so that I walked at the pace of an arthritic old man. Eventually, I managed to grab some granola bars and bottles of water that eased my hunger and thirst. Now that I was finished with dinner, I stumbled my way into the bathroom where I undressed and used half a bottle of water to wet a washcloth that I used along with some soap to wipe my body down. It was a bit extravagant considering my current circumstances, but I felt that I deserved it after my breakthrough with my mana. I used the remaining half bottle of water to wash a couple of Advil down to help ease my pounding headache and aching body before I walked back into my bedroom, put on some white shorts and a white undershirt, and laid down to rest on the love seat. I wanted to continue training, but first I needed to get my mind to ignore my current pains. Focusing on my breathing, I breathed in slowly through my nose and let out a long exhale through my mouth. Bit by bit, the distracting thoughts, aches, and pains fell away until the only thing left was peace.

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Sssssccccccrrrrrrrrreeeooooow! Sssssccccccrrrrrrrrreeeooooow!

My hard won serenity was broken by the frightening sounds of goblins, They had to be close for me to be able to hear them in the basement.

Crack! Crack! Crack! Clink! Clink! Clink! Clink! Clink!

That was the sound of glass breaking and falling on the floor upstairs. My breath started to come quicker and in great ragged gasps as fear threatened to overwhelm me.

Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump!

  Footsteps vibrated through the floor boards to reach my ears. Slowly, ever so slowly, I rolled off of the love seat and crawled to the guns next to the door. Carefully, I felt the stocks of the guns until I found the shotgun. Seizing my prize, I pulled the gun into my hands, put my back to the wall, and aimed it up the stairs. The sound of footsteps and the occasional screech continued to pour into my ears. Time seemed to freeze as I waited in terror for them to find my hiding place. For them to come pouring down the stairs ready to do terrible terrible things to me. I had fought a number of creatures so far, but it was hard to get rid of my fear when it had only been just a couple of days since the entire world changed around me. I wasn’t sure how long I sat there waiting, shotgun pointing at the door at the top of the stairs when suddenly a high pitched scream ripped through the house and crashing noises followed by loud squeals rang out. Were they fighting amongst each other up there or had some other beast come charging in to attack them? Either way, I wasn’t going to look a gift horse in the mouth. The sounds of fighting echoed through the house and grew louder and louder until an anguished cry pierced the tumult followed by an abrupt and eerie silence.

  Were they all dead? Did they kill each other? Were they waiting for me or something like me to come out of hiding to investigate? Had they finally left? These questions flashed through my head, but I had no way to find out without going outside and around the house to the front door or side windows. I sure as hell wasn’t going to do that tonight. Especially not after everything I had just heard. I had no doubt that that final terrible cry would haunt my nightmares for the rest of my life. That was the sound of pain unspeakable unbelievable pain. I needed to know what had happened up there, but I was going to have to wait till morning to find out. Normally, I would try and get some sleep, but that was never going to happen now. I was too wired to train and too afraid to fall asleep. It was going to be a loooong night.

Basic Mana Control (B) * leveled up!

Basic Mana Control (B) * leveled up!

Name: Jason Silver

Job Name: N/A

LVL: 3 2%

Job LVL: N/A 0%

Job Points:

N/A

N/A

Titles:

Survivor (B) LVL 3 66%

Fool (B) LVL 4 50%

Pack Killer (B) LVL 3 50%

Beast Killer (B) LVL 3 50%

Risk Taker (B) LVL 3 42%

Repeated Risk Taker ( C ) LVL 2 89%

Compassionate Fool ( C ) LVL 1 78%

Title Points:

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

1

Stats:

HP:

MP:

Mana Regen:

Endurance:

Strength:

Speed:

Bonus Points:

95/120

10/10

2 per min (-1.5)

10

8

7

9

Status Effects:

Regen, Disease Resist, Parasite Resist

Skills:

Basic Axe Mastery (B) LVL 6 28%

Basic Gun Mastery (B) LVL 4 51%

Basic Regen (Passive) (B) LVL 6 96%

Basic Disease Resist (Passive) (B) LVL 1 34%

Basic Parasite Resist (Passive) (B) LVL 1 10%

Basic Mana Control (B) LVL 3 59%

*

*

*

*

*

*