Mathew walked away from the growing market square grumbling to himself. He was able to purchase three mana cores, but it cost him nearly half his UC. He was fortunate that the two birds gave him a whopping 5k each. Not to mention the eggs he sold. Lindsey was heavily interested in them, and bought the entire nest.

He hopped into his golf cart and drove toward the office building. He had no problems since Agnox was unsummoned, needing the rest. He did scold Mathew about figuring shit out once again before leaving. The fact he kept hampering Mathew about it made him want to not do it for some reason. He was the Summoner not Agnox. Advice is welcomed, but thinking he was in control of what actions Mathew could take was not.

He cleared off a space on the floor and was about to start drawing another ritual before he paused. He only had three cores, and until another Dungeon was cleared, he couldn’t acquire anymore. Going back to his desk, Mathew walked to a bookshelf and pulled off a book he purchased from Di.

It was one about mana. It was a very generalized version, but Mathew really did want to learn more about magic. He walked to his portable water heater, and started a pot to boil. He went about his normal routine for creating a cup of tea, this one a lavender that he purchased from Di.

Apparently tea brewing was a popular hobby in the universe, and acquiring some tea bags was simple. The leaves were also apparently magical in a sense that they were grown in a highly magically dense land. Something that affected the taste. Mathew didn’t know the ins and outs, but he knew they were real. This would be his second cup, and he was excited to try it again.

Once he was settled in his new office, he opened the book and started to read it over. He properly read it, taking in each page to the best he could. He was only a quarter of the way through before he had a notepad and was magically taking notes.

“Mana comes from the environment around us.” Mathew read to himself. “It is the source of all matter and energy in the universe. It can not be created or destroyed, simply altered. The action of doing so is the difficult part. You are taking energy from the environment around you. The air, the ground, the light, everything. In a later chapter Mana Affinity will be covered, but it should be noted that types of mana exist and are easier to pull from correct sources.”

Mathew looked at his notepad. “If mana is pulled from the environment, then where does the environment get it from?” He mentally asked himself. Turning the next page, he read on.

“Ah here we go…”

“The environment acquires Mana from three ways: The Cycle, A higher mana dense source, or it is reintroduced by an outside source. The Cycle is similar to that of how water is cycled in nature. It falls from clouds, the excess that is not absorbed by plants is then heated by the sun, which causes it to become gaseous. That then forms clouds, which once dense and cold enough will turn into rain.”

“Mana itself exists in a similar cycle of Life and Death. Everything has mana, but the ability to easily hold mana in once self is easier by the living. Once a living creature dies, the excess mana is released back into the environment. This is known as The Cycle. Many cultivators who follow the path of mastering mana find themselves walking down a path of life and death. Just as many life or death focused cultivators find themselves easier to manipulate mana since they simply understand how The Cycle works to an instinctual level.”

“As for the other two, it is rather easy to know. Planet cores are natural sources for mana. Your common planets will have an affinity of some degree that will affect the mana it produces. A planet known for its nature themed core will have grand forests. A planet known for its infernal themed core will be plagued with fire and brimstone. Stars are the largest natural mana cores that can be found. No mortal nor demi-mortal has ever been able to tap into such power and live. Thus, there is no reason to further delve into such topics in this book.”

“The latter way is a common practice by a sect of Cultivators known as the True Walkers. They believe Mana isn’t meant to be controlled by the people in the universe. As such, they constantly are known for reintroducing mana into the environment directly. Anyone can do this, and many do so as practice for mana control. It does not require any System approved techniques to do so.”

Mathew stopped reading there, taking more notes. The book kept going on about other mana related topics. Such as mana control, mana cores, mana affinities, and much more about this catch all energy. Or was it Energy? It says Energy is made of mana, so what is mana?

He rubbed at his temples. “This is why I did not like science as a kid. David enjoyed it far too much.” He thought about his deceased brother before shaking his head. There was no use going back to those memories.

“Mana manipulation. Is that what spells are? What about abilities like [Share Sense]? It doesn’t use mana that I could tell. What about other techniques I’ve seen? Didn’t Madison lose access to mana from her class?”

His mind had question after question and he had few answers. Some he could figure out on his own at least. He flipped several pages back to a section on controlling mana, more specifically how to channel it out of your body and back into the environment.

It started with him sitting cross legged, and placing both hands flatly on the ground. After that, he suggests he closes his eyes, since it helps concentrate. Then there were more steps about moving energy around, like casting a spell, but not to actually cast a spell. The steps were more in depth than his mental summary, but he felt confident.

He took off his shoes, and finished his cup of tea, getting comfortable. The book suggested a calm mind the first time attempting it.

Mathew sat cross legged and placed both his scarred hands on the ground. Before he closed his eyes, he eyed the missing finger tip. He closed his eyes, and took a single deep breath. As he breathed in, he took all his current problems and put them into a box. The problem of Payne, his brothers, Agnox, dealing with running an entire town, growing stronger, not to mention Doozkora and the rest of the universe.

Breathing out, he pushed that box away. Closing a mental door between him and the door, clearing his mind. A technique he learned a few years ago for calming down. Studying for the BAR to acquire his license was difficult. It was either resort to hard drugs, or find a way to relax. His love of tea stemmed from those days.

He took a few more breaths, completely removing any foreign thoughts and focused on the task at hand. After the sixth one, Mathew started to pull mana as he always had when casting [Mana Bolt]. He felt it push to his hands, but he pulled back at the last second. The mana had nowhere to go and tried to travel back to wherever it came from inside him.

He never canceled a spell midway, always right before he released the mana, and had to gasp in pain. “Fuck this hurts!” Mathew fell to the ground, grabbing at his gut. The mana traveled back up and down his arms and a small bolt of mana flew into a nearby wall.

He laid in the fetal position for a minute. He was sure he did something wrong, and once the pain subsided, he read the section again. To his best guess, he didn’t pull mana, but was in the middle of casting a spell that was interrupted midway. Something very bad, and will have to be avoided in the future if he can help it.

Mathew got back into position and readied his mind once again. This time he did the movements slowly. He for some reason thought back to when he was fighting the Alpha Wolf. How he pulled mana together for a giant attack. He hasn’t quite recreated the actions to this day honestly.

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Sure, he can replicate the damage due to stats, titles, and his rod. But if he replicated those same actions today, it would be devastating. Mathew was more than sure he could blow up a car or a small building. The upgrade to his [Staves] skill seems to replicate the effect naturally with no extra effort from him.

Mathew opened his eyes, “Is that it?”

He reopened the book and flipped pages, back to it talking about True Walkers. He read the last paragraph again, and the verbage it used to talk about The System. He then moved several more pages and noticed it was always the same passive aggressive tone. It was professional, but the writer of this book seemed to not like The System, viewing it as a tool or perhaps a crutch.

“You can do things without The System giving you a technique for it. Like flying or breathing…” Mathew muttered, remembering Agnox’s words.

The chain of thought interested Mathew. Could he do more than what The System dictated? He could always use a knife beforehand, just not very well. Now he was at least mildly proficient with a knife. Was it The System guiding him or was it his own ability?

Mathew leaned back against his desk trying to prove or disprove this idea. He needed a way to test it. His eyes narrowed and he decided to head to the Hearth Crystal. There was one way to test it, but he needed a proper test subject.

Mathew left behind everything in his office, trusting enough that nobody will fuck with it. He got back onto his golf cart and drove all the way to the center plaza where the crystal stood. Mathew swore it was larger after the Infernal fight, but nobody else seemed to think the same.

He gave a few friendly smiles and nods to people. One person came up to him, seeming nervous however. “Mr. Mathew sir, uhh, leader, uhhh”

“Just Mathew is fine. What do you want?” Mathew asked the man. He seemed to be just a couple years younger than Mathew. Putting him in his twenties. He had a sword and shield equipped along with leather and chain armor.

“It’s just. I wanted to ask if there is anything I can do for you…” He glanced back behind him where a small group was giving him thumbs up. “We can do for you.” He corrected himself. “Monsters to kill? Maybe scouting? Anything at all?”

In the group was a person Mathew recognized as the kid with the slowing ability. Seems he made some friends. Mathew was internally put off by the request. Why did they need to ask him to do things, just do it yourself. There is a chain of command for this reason. Then again, he remembered he was in charge of Dungeon related things. An idea came to his mind. “Do you have a vehicle or a way to travel long distances?”

He glanced back, one person nodded and the man turned back to Mathew. “We do, but I think we might need gas.”

Mathew pulled out a piece of paper and started to write using his skill. “Give this to Mr. Melton, he will get you the gas. If you…” Mathew quickly counted the people, “Six would do me a favor, there is a city to the north of here. There is an Undead Dungeon there near this address. Go there, scout the place up, and report back to me.”

“You don’t want us to clear it out for you?” The man asked, seeming to not expect such an order.

“No, I'll take care of that. You have…a week to make a report back to me, understood?”

“Of course! What about…a reward?”

Mathew was going to sneer at him and say his efforts are for the safety of the entire people, but then again, he was asking them to risk their lives for his own. He didn’t want to set the precedence of forcing people to do things with no apparent reward.

“I’ll give you…a thousand UC…each. Additional payouts if you come back with a well made report.”

A blue box appeared in front of the six young adults and Mathew felt like it was related to him. All six of them looked at one another and nodded unanimously. Mathew then had a box of his own.

Team Alpha Strikers has accepted your quest. Upon completion 6,000 UC will be deducted from your personal funds. Additional rewards are up to you to hand out.

The team ran off, leaving Mathew with yet another thing to figure out. “I’ll wait and talk to Zack and Mr. Melton about this one.”

He forgot Payne could give out quests, but summed it up as a class or profession ability. Was it tied to being a Hearth Crystal owner?.

Speaking of Hearth Crystals, Mathew walked to his, and placed a hand on it. Just as when he was Level 15, a screen popped up, this time with only two choices.

Level 20 Class Choices

New Ability: Conjure Weapon

New Ability: Mana Skin

Mathew stared at the only two options for a minute. This was good in the end. Two things he could learn to try and do without aid from The System. Then again, he had no clue where to start.

Both seemed to help him in combat however. One a utility ability, the other a defensive one if he was to understand the context correctly. However, [Mana Skin] could turn his skin into mana for some other benefit. Absorbing more mana faster? Does it only work on spells?

The first ability was straight forward. He could conjure a weapon. In fact, it was so straight forward, he mentally chose that one as his choice once he officially made it. Being able to retrieve his weapon he throws was the one thing he needed. The practice mirage from his [Knives] skill involved throwing knives. He never did so because he couldn’t buy more. Now he could. Then again, he could just keep buying more, but that would be wasteful in the long run. He wanted at least two or three good knives he could rely on. His current one, that increases bleeding on enemies, was fantastic. Including the upgrade to use it in Rituals. He could get more to help him in combat.

Mathew walked away and headed to the training yard. If he was going to continue practicing mana control, he couldn’t keep doing it inside where he could cause more damage to the town.

He swiftly made his way there, avoiding people as much as possible. He was in charge now, and people were skeptical at worst, and head over heels to please him at best. It would do him no good just straight up ingorning them. Friendly nods and smiles were the winning way to go.

The training yard was packed with people. Like the first week after New Years in a gym. People were going strong at practicing and improving themselves. To one side, Mathew saw a group of soldiers wearing similar gear, each practicing similar movements with their weapons. It was obvious this was Hendersons’ group.

Mathew found a place in his own corner, where he could watch them if he wanted to. It was where he normally practiced his [Knives] skill. Mathew now had at least two objectives. Figure out how to discharge mana from his body naturally, and attempt to recreate one of the two abilities.

He paused for a moment trying to think of the first thing to do. Logically he should learn to control mana in general first.