“Twenty-eight, twenty-nine, thirty!”

With a tired huff, Shaden dropped the heavy stick on the ground, which instantly earned him a light smack on the head from Instructor Reedock.

“Kid, how many times have I told you to keep the weapon in your hand?”

Shaden’s arms felt sore. He quickly cast a spell, causing numbness to wash over his body as his strained muscles recovered. He wiped the sweat off his brow and retrieved the stick from the ground.

The Instructor was around ten meters away, relaxing on a chair while reading a scroll. How he had managed to hit him from that distance, Shaden didn’t know.

“Sorry.”

“Twenty more swings. Next time you let go, it’ll be thirty.”

Shaden smiled as he raised the sword above his head and swung down. It still crashed down on the floor because he couldn’t stop it, but he could lift it better now. Just a tiny bit better. Truthfully, he had dropped the stick on purpose because he felt like he could still go on. Otherwise, they would switch to running or balancing and stretching.

Three weeks. For three weeks he had attended the Academy, and yet, the most martial-art lesson he had received was swinging his sword. But he knew this was an endurance test. He wasn’t some brat who didn’t understand the importance behind the basics. Besides, he liked the relaxing mood. While he had a few complaints regarding the lax manner of his Instructor, he seemed like a very-skilled person who knew his job very well.

“Twenty!”

With one last strain to the muscle, Shaden failed to stop the stick from hitting the floor. But he managed to lessen the impact. This time, he didn’t let go. His arms felt so weak even when he cast magic.

The shaggy Instructor (his face looked cleaner now, but his hair was still a mess) got up from his seat and came to Shaden.

“Good! Always remember to keep your hands on your weapon.”

“Yes, sir.” Shaden wiped his sweat again and balanced the stick on his shoulders. “Will we go running now, sir?”

“No, no. Not today. Today, we do something a little more special.”

Shaden’s eyes lit up. Finally, was he going to receive some action?

“Come here and sit down,” motioned Instructor Reedock.

Shaden obeyed and sat down where Basalm indicated. The Instructor too sat down in front of Shaden, then set his sword to the side.

“Follow my position.”

Shaden set his sword aside like he was told. They sat cross-legged from each other and the Instructor put his hands on his lap.

“Find the position that is most comfortable for you.”

After putting his hands on his lap too, Shaden looked back at the Instructor.

“Good. You seem like a patient boy, so it’s probably not too early to proceed on with this. Do you know of meditation, kid?”

“Isn’t it breathing in and out?”

“You are not incorrect. But what we do is something more. Have you ever wondered why I can maintain this body without training like you do?”

Honestly, Shaden hadn’t. He just guessed it was because masters of martial arts just magically maintained their body after they went through a breakthrough or something. But he knew how to read the mood.

“A little?”

“It is because of breathing techniques. More precisely, circulating the mana outside into your body.”

Oho? This sounded interesting.

“Normally, kids your age won’t be able to focus. Focus is the key. Can you focus, kid?”

Shaden nodded.

“It never comes easy at the beginning. Seems like you can use magic, which is helpful. But the feel is different.”

The Instructor raised his palm. “Ignite – Fire.”

Suddenly, a miniature ball of fire appeared on the Instructor’s hand.

“When casting magic, you are sending the mana inside of your body directly into your spell. The incantation forces the mana away from your body into the magic. Meditation is the opposite—you absorb the mana in the air and store it inside of you. But that is what magicians do. Warriors must go beyond just the absorbing.”

The Instructor extinguished the fireball with a flick of his hand.

“Warriors must be able to absorb the mana while they are in combat. But it is difficult. Therefore, we train by meditating and get used to the feeling.”

The Instructor stretched out his hand. “Do you understand the mana inside of our body, kid?”

“Not that much. We have a container somewhere, right?”

“Partly true. Our whole body is the container, and mana fills it all. But usually, the mana stays dormant, unmoving. Look at my arm, kid.”

Shaden glanced at his arm. Aside from the lean muscle and veins, there wasn’t anything unusual.

“This is what happened if you circulate mana within your body.”

Suddenly, a faint glow enveloped the Instructor’s body. It was slightly blue, maybe purple. Or light sky-blue? The colors fluctuated. Mana’s color was a weird thing.

“Can you see the mana, kid?”

“Yes. It’s coming out of your body.”

“Very good. This is what you will be practicing from now on. Feeling the mana within your body then circulating it through yourself. Just like the blood pumps through the body, you must pump the mana. Additionally, the mana prevents your body from degrading and aging. Including your muscles. And when you are good enough, you will be able to do this.”

At that moment, the arm that the Instructor was holding out glowed brighter.

“This is focusing your mana into a certain part of your body. The basis of all techniques.”

Shaden watched in awe. The pressure felt incredible. And yet, it didn’t feel like the Instructor was leaking mana from his body like Shaden did when he cast magic. It remained concentrated within his body and arm.

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“And this—”

The light around Instructor Reedock’s arm turned red, like blood mist—the pressure increased tenfold. His muscles bulged out, even though he wasn’t flexing. To Shaden’s eyes, it looked like the muscles themselves had grown only for the arm.

“Is strengthening. It is used in various martial-art based skills. While this—”

The red light instantly changed into a greenish-yellow. The intensity was replaced by something serene, a solidness of a stone wall.

“Is defense for blocking your opponent. It will save your life from danger. You will learn these two much later.”

WOOOAHHHH!

Shaden’s mouth dropped in awe. Now this was what he had been searching for. This was what he had attempted and failed multiple times over and had given up.

Shaden nodded his head enthusiastically.

“Woah, kid. Don’t get your hopes up. We’ll be doing this for an hour a day, but you’ll still take a few months to even begin to circulate your mana.”

A few months!? Well…It was still less than a month in reality, so he guessed it was fine.

“Remember, you must concentrate on your mana and only your mana. If your mind goes off somewhere else, you will fail. But once you understand the feeling, you will progress rapidly. Patience is key.”

“Yes!”

“Good. Let’s begin.”

Shaden closed his eyes and concentrated. The mana within his body…he would grasp it.

A small thought crossed his mind. But wouldn’t this be useless in the real world? He couldn’t use mana in the real world.

Eh.

Didn’t matter. This was too cool to give up on. Like the Instructor had said, patience was key.

He concentrated.

〄 〄 〄

“So…Rother. Got any tips?”

For four days Shaden had concentrated within his body. Sure, he could sense the mana outside of his body to a certain degree. But feeling it inside? It was like trying to look at his heart.

Put it simply, he couldn’t. He couldn’t feel anything.

“Hmm…I don’t know. I never really meditated with Dad. It just came naturally to me. You know, while fighting? But yeah, it took a few months. And it hurt a lot.”

Great. Sparring surely was the best way to increase one’s skill, but Shaden was still too young. The Instructor would never smack him around. Probably.

“Can you meditate?”

“Of course. I learned at the Academy.”

“Could you try showing me?”

“Sure. Why not.”

Without even sitting down, Rother placed his hands on his side like he was about to draw a sword. It was probably some kind of fighting stance. Shortly after, Shaden felt something in the air being sucked into his brother. Not that much, but like a trickle.

Rother’s body started glowing faintly. It was barely visible, but Shaden noticed it. His brother’s presence felt like it had dramatically increased. He felt much more real in front of him, if that made sense.

Rother opened his eyes.

“How is it?”

Shaden clapped his hands. “It’s great. But what do you feel like right now?”

“Hmm…I feel sharper.”

“I mean, can you feel the mana move inside of you?”

“Of course. It feels like a stream is going through my body. You know, kind of like your blood after running, but clearer.”

“Can…you do the strengthening magic?”

“You mean this?”

Rother’s whole body started glowing red. Very faintly, but glowing, nevertheless. Blood-like mist radiated from his body, and he suddenly felt more threatening.

“Can you concentrate it into your arm?”

“Sure.”

After a deep breath, Rother held his right arm with his left and focused. A bead of sweat rolled down his cheek, and the intensity of the red aura in his arm grew. His other body parts dimmed very slightly. Then with a sigh, he let go, and the aura disappeared.

“That’s my limit. Concentrating it to a certain part is really hard. Ask Dad.”

“Thanks,” said Shaden as he handed over his small sack of candied nuts to his brother. Everything came at a price, and he had discovered that his brother was much more willing to cooperate if he offered an incentive.

Rother happily took the sack and went to his room. Garthan was still out, so Shaden sat on the ground and rolled his head.

Like a stream. He knew what stream-like mana felt like. Whenever he conjured a spell that required an enormous amount of mana, he sensed it flowing out of him like a great stream. But he was unsure of how the stream could circulate itself inside. For a spell, it created a vacuum, letting the mana flow out. In his body, there was no engine to circulate the mana, no heart to pump it around.

A few months. He didn’t want to wait a few months. He wanted to do it now.

“An engine…I need an engine,” he said out loud.

But how?

〄 〄 〄

“Life and death experiences help you control your flow of mana,” Garthan stated. “If you want to learn quickly, then you will have to experience mortal danger.”

What was his father telling his five-year-old son.

“Dad? Something easier please?”

Garthan scratched his black beard.

“You’re five years old, son. There isn’t much you can do at this point. Your physique is too underdeveloped. It’s only natural that you won’t be able to feel your mana.”

“When did you learn to circulate it?”

“At five. But Dad grew up in a very harsh environment.”

He wasn’t seriously expecting him to go try to survive danger, right? Shaden felt something glimmer in his father’s eyes but ignored it. No, he wanted to ignore it. He remembered the ominous atmosphere of his grandfather and the black dagger with bone patterns on it.

“Dad, how exactly do you move the mana around?”

“Let’s see…you use your muscles.”

Muscles?

“No, wait. It’s actually your whole body.”

What?

“In my opinion, you pull from one side and push from the other. Your teacher may state otherwise. It may be easier if you think of your heart as a mana-pusher. But some professors state that it is the brain that is doing the pushing. I’m not sure myself.”

What was his father even talking about?

Garthan ruffled his hand through Shaden’s hair. “Son, you must discover it for yourself. It is different for everyone. It may be similar, but not exactly the same.”

Shaden pouted. “But I want to be like you quickly.”

Garthan chucked heartily. “With your ambition, you’ll reach me in no time! Now, let’s go help Mom with dinner. A soldier must always keep his mealtimes faithfully.”

“Yes, Dad.”

His father was right. He did have a lot of time. He would persevere and let the feeling come to him.

He hoped that time would be soon.

〄 〄 〄

Shaden lay weakly plopped on the floor. Shidey meowed sweetly as she brushed her soft, black fur against Shaden’s side. She then proceeded to climb onto Shaden’s back and started to purr.

“Thanks, Shidey…”

Another day of failure. Another day of sitting for an hour concentrating in the darkness of his mind. It was becoming boring. He was feeling nothing, and irritation filled him after he failed. He had tried casting magic while meditating to feel the flow of mana, but it only went out of him like air going out of a balloon. The air itself inside the balloon did not circulate.

So Shaden lay on the cold floor with his face to the side, his body facing the ground. He was tired from the body training, mentally exhausted from meditating for an hour, and dispirited from achieving null results. The people who had already achieved circulation were of little to no help. Find it yourself, they said. His cat was the only support he was receiving currently.

This was supposed to be the basics of all basics. Yet he was failing at it.

Perhaps he was being too harsh on himself. His Instructor had clearly said a few months. But Shaden had the mind of a teen. He wanted to progress. He wanted to see results and reap the fruits of his labor. This was his fantasy world, and he couldn’t let the time go to waste.

Not that he could do anything about it. Dreams were harsh.

Shidey continued to purr, and Shaden continued to lie still on the floor. He stopped thinking and relaxed his muscles. It was probably good to take it slowly.

He silently enjoyed the vacantness of the house. His brother was still at the Academy, and his mother was out buying the groceries.

Shidey’s purrs felt great. Like a massage.

It vibrated through him.

He felt the waves move across his body. It was incredibly relaxing.

The sunlight weakly shined through the window. It basked him perfectly, balancing out the spring coldness that remained.

Then Shaden’s eyes flicked open.

Wait a moment, he thought.

Vibrations. Mana.

He remembered something from reality. Something about water in a cup.

Shaking and stirring. With the body, not with a tool.

Just like Shidey’s purring. Make the mana vibrate through his body?

He hadn’t thought of that. All the time, he was thinking of mana just flowing through his body in a circle. But what if it wasn’t in a circle? What if it was going out from the center, like a drop of water causing a ripple in a calm lake?

“Sorry, Shidey.”

Shaden carefully tilted his body so Shidey would leap off. Then he sat down cross-legged on the floor.

The mana. Flowing through his body. From the heart or the brain. Something pushing, others pulling. Like a ripple caused by a disturbance within a serene pool.

Shaden took a deep breath. Then he imagined it. From his chest, the mana would go out to his body, then return once more, all of it happening in one constant, circular motion. Like the waves of a river, all contained within his body.

He felt something. Something very faint. Something moved. It felt like moving a glacier, but he definitely felt it. It felt thicker than tar, but he sensed it. Something had moved.

He could do it!

He concentrated harder. He forced his insides to move. It felt so groggy, like a machine that hadn’t been oiled in a long time, or like he was trying to push a cart in the wrong way.

With a heavy sigh, he stopped. Sweat had formed on his forehead and nose, and he realized he had been clenching his fists very tightly.

No. It wasn’t supposed to be this forceful. He had to let it flow, not make it flow. But he had a lot of time and a lot of sources to learn from. And most importantly, he had felt it.

He finally had a lead to circulating mana.

“Thanks, Shidey,” he said while stroking Shidey’s fur. “Your idea was amazing.”

“Meow~” she replied.

Shaden smiled. His confidence grew.

He knew he could do it soon.