Where do I start? I’ve finally got access to my mana, which means I can start running some of the experiments I thought of in the library. I’m also Tier two, so I should be able to use mana shaping.

In the first Tier I could only use mana molding which let me move mana around my body and create basic shapes with it. I can create bursts of speed or strength by reinforcing muscles and joints. Matching my mana to the wavelength of ambient mana is just fine-tuned molding.

Shaping is an entirely different animal, one I have no experience with. Shaping is also the cornerstone of offensive mana techniques. I should start there. What do I know about shaping from books? Shaping allows someone to convert mana into a reaction of the body, then push that reaction outside of the body.

The classical technique is to visualize the reaction you want. Once the reaction has been formed on a small scale, usually near the heart where mana control is easiest, then you feed it mana until it becomes strong enough to form a useful technique and push it away from the body.

I’ll start simple then.

Holding out his right hand with his thumb and pointer finger a couple of centimeters apart, Jiran focused on what he wanted. He pictured the electrical currents running all through the human body, in every cell. Jiran imagined the current increasing in strength until it could jump from between his two fingers.

Jiran then moved the smallest amount of mana he could control into the tips of his fingers.

The result was instant, a small flash of an electrical current jumped between his two fingers. He felt the zap of electricity on his skin, like the tingling shock from a nine-volt battery on your tongue.

Okay glad I started as small as I could. That was around one thousandth of my mana, and created a reaction equivalent to nine volts. Then a tenth of my mana, which is normal for a Tier two shaping, would have probably blown my hand off and crippled my organs…

Awesome! What else can I do?

Jiran stood up and walked to the gently flowing creek, bending down he moved his hand close to the water.

Jiran pictured his hand covered in a rubber glove. With the desire for it to be an insulator and protect him from electric current. Pushing mana into his hands while holding the image didn’t seem to have much effect.

Jiran quickly realized that once the mana had been applied, he no longer needed to hold the mental image in his head to maintain the effect. He could feel the mana in his hand dissipating with each passing second. The drain was significant, he wouldn't be able to hold the insulator for long.

Now that he had a stable insulator he pushed slightly more mana into the tip of his index finger with the same imagery as before. The current of electricity jumped to the water and vanished.

The result was unsatisfying, not only did he still feel a shock run up his hand and arm, but the mana drain had almost tripled. Without any noticeable increase in power.

The problem is coming from the insulator. My image is just a rubber glove, maybe that's not specific enough? An insulator works because it doesn't have many free electrons. Therefore no negative charge to interact with a positive charge means no current.

This time Jiran first focused on the cells in his hand, how each cell was made of atoms, and how he wanted none of those atoms to release any electrons. Applying mana all through his hand Jiran’s sense of his hand vanished. As if it had been cut off, he couldn't feel the appendage at all.

With the smallest nudge, he pushed some mana into the tip of his pointer finger, where he imagined just a few electrons being freed from their atomic constraints.

The result, as Jiran hoped, was a small spark of electricity traveling from the tip of his finger into the water. His hand felt fine. None of the current was able to travel back through his body. The mana usage had reduced to almost nothing, and the power had even increased.

Grinning like a madman, Jiran repeated the experiment with slightly more mana. The same result, a little more mana, bigger spark, no shock to himself. Emboldened from success Jiran pointed at a random tree across the creek then pushed a full tenth of his mana through his finger. The world went white.

Like a flash-bang had gone off, Jiran was blinded and deafened. Blinking rapidly and stumbling, Jiran fell into the water. The shock of the cold water on his skin helped clear his head.

Jiran sat in the cool water in a complete daze looking at the destroyed tree on the other side of the creek. Burnt leaves fluttered down from above a blackened and charred trunk. That was all that remained of a once majestic arboreal specimen.

No freaking way… I don’t think that was supposed to happen. That was maybe equivalent to uncle’s blast, but I’m a tier lower and only used ten percent of my mana. I clearly remember Micah being useless after just one attack. So why was mine so much more efficient?

Jiran knew the answer before the question finished forming in his mind. Most of the classic literature on shapings and castings agreed on one important point. The clearer the mental image, and the deeper the understanding of the subject matter, the more potent the spell.

Because I understand how electrons travel, attract, and repel with negative and positive charges, I can create a more efficient, powerful shaping. Then why isn’t that information in every book on shapings? Do they just not know, or is the information repressed so only the nobility has it or something?

Whatever, this should help me survive for now. I need to eat and keep looking for some shelter from this storm. Being hit by a wave while fighting would almost certainly get me killed.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

Jiran finished cooking the beast quarter and had the worst breakfast he could remember. Not only did the beast meat turn out to be Tier one, but it tasted truly awful. Sweet memories of Sharaal’s cooking brought a tear to his eye.

The meat barely sated him, maybe Jiran was used to Tier five meals, which left him full of Density that took hours to unpack. Jiran had never eaten food a tier below him either. So he thought it could also be that lesser-tier sustenance was just insufficient. He would need to experiment to know for sure.

He would have needed to eat that entire beast to recover the ten percent of mana he used for his testing.

Or sit through two Densoon waves.

Jiran was full of mana a few minutes later.

Continuing his travels up-creek, Jiran decided to move at an even slower pace. Thoughts of a Tier three or four getting the drop on him were terrifying.

Trees pressed in on the sides of the creek as he moved deeper into the woods. Thick brown and green foliage obscured his view and stems and limbs encroached over the water. Footing along the sides of the creek became precarious. Jiran was forced to travel away from the water’s edge in some areas to progress.

It was during one of the forays into the dense vegetation that Jiran froze after hearing a snort. Jiran took one delicate step after another, being careful not to step on any sticks or leaves. He knew he was close to whatever had made the sound. Crunching, tearing, and rustling could be hard from just the other side of the tree he was next to.

Taking a peek around the trunk Jiran saw a massive, four meter tall beast. Somewhere between a bear and a boar, its body was covered in thick fur that rippled with the movement of muscles underneath. Tusks protruded from its boar-like head, the only part of its body without thick fur.

It was eating from a half-devoured corpse. Trees were toppled all around the bear, signs of its battle could be seen in every direction.

Jiran’s hair stood straight up on his neck and arms as a terrible feeling of dread washed over him. Just then, something in the trees above Jiran moved and the sound of mud hitting his hiding spot rang through the silence.

Crap crap crap I should have run the second I saw this monstrosity!

Jiran didn’t get any more time to bemoan his terrible life choices as he and the bear made eye contact. The most terrifying sight of Jiran’s life ensued.

The bear didn’t roar, or charge, it just stared at Jiran with intelligent eyes. Slowly chewing the piece of flesh it had just ripped off its most recent kill. Blood and meat oozed out of its mouth. The message was clear, “You're next.”

Jiran took an instinctive step back, about to turn and run in panic. The beast didn't give him the chance. At the first sign of Jiran’s movement, the bear roared with such force Jiran flinched and covered his ears. The remnants of the beast's mouthful of food flew through the air, some landing on Jiran’s face.

The wet slap to his face roused Jiran from his near-panicked state. Fury bubbled up inside him, fury at his bad luck, at whatever had alerted the bear to his presence, at the thought he almost just let this monster eat him without putting up a fight.

With a scream, equal parts terror and fury Jiran raised his hands. With the smallest trickle of thought, he called forth the mana coursing through him. Answering his call it pooled it into his hands, the electric current jumping between his fingers.

The smoke rising from his burnt skin saved his life.

Had he forgotten to insulate his hands, the results would have been catastrophic. Jiran forced the mana to hold his electrons stable. The mental command was followed instantly and the pain of burning flesh ceased.

Refocusing on the bear, Jiran was surprised to see it had halted its charge. The intelligent sunken eyes regarded him warily. Jiran wasn’t going to give it the chance to come up with a plan, he closed his eyes tight and unleashed the mana.

Half of Jiran’s mana had gone into that attack. The massive blast of freed electrons sought out their prey, finding the huge bear long before it could react. Electricity exploded into its body, frying its brain and killing the beast instantly.

Jiran was blasted backward as a wave of highly pressurized heat slammed into him. He didn't make it far before a tree arrested his flight. Groaning a curse for being an idiot Jiran slowly got back to his feet.

His ears were ringing, and the smell of burnt hair and clothes mixed with ionized air filled his nostrils. Every part of his body ached, especially his mouth and feet.

At least I closed my eyes! Jiren chastised himself sarcastically.

The clearing of knocked-over trees had changed dramatically. Everything within ten meters of the bear had been burnt black. Smoke rose from the ground and felled trees. The body of the bear was unrecognizable, exploded blackened limbs left a truly gory sight. Outside of the ten-meter area of effect, bushes and trees had been torn up and tossed through the air.

Jiran felt lucky to be alive, had he been any closer to the blast zone, he likely would have been impaled, burnt to a crisp, or blasted apart.

How the heck was that so powerful? Yeah, sure I used half my mana, but —. Wait what's that?

A red mist began to seep out of the body of the felled bear. It floated in the air toward Jiran.

He stepped to the side but the mist followed him. The cloud was no bigger than his chest and sped up as he tried to dodge. Before he could think of a way to escape, the mist contacted the skin of his arm and was absorbed into him.

Jiran instantly recognized the sensation. Similar to absorbing chaotic Density, the energy that flowed into him empowered him pushing him closer to Tier three.

The Density that entered him soaked into his bones and settled with a heavy feeling of euphoria. Pleasure like Jiran had never experienced swept through his body.

Jiran was stuffed, like he had eaten twenty of Sharaal’s meals at once. He also felt a rightness, like what he had just done was exactly as he should be doing. As if nothing in the universe was more important than continuing to slaughter, so he could feel this bliss again.

The words Samris had spoken came back to Jiran at that moment. Without a strong will, it would be impossible to resist this temptation.

Jiran would become lost in seeking out ever stronger foes. Searching tirelessly for this pleasure, until eventually, he found a beast that he couldn't beat.

Lost to the wilds they called it.

The feeling faded, leaving Jiran gasping for breath. He had read that killing beasts of your tier would assist one in rapidly tiering up. It was rarely done though, as fighting equal-tier monsters was incredibly dangerous.

What had not been covered in his books was the red mist, nor the feeling of euphoria.

Crunching across the burnt and dried ground, Jiran made his way to the bear. He chose a portion of the corpse that looked cooked but not crisped and took a bite. His eyes flew open in shock.

This meat was fourth Tier.