Lucas shuffled around in the tree hollow. What came next would require as much focus as he could muster.

Ever since his senses were opened to his internal mana, he could always feel the flows and eddies inside him. At first, it was distracting, but he quickly got used to the sensation. It had felt like the first gasp of air after holding his breath for too long at first, but then it was just like breathing--natural and essential to life.

He had later found out he could amplify his sense of internal mana if he focussed enough on its circulation, put aside his perception of the world around him and cast his mind down the flowing currents. Doing this...it was like his world shrunk. It was a lot more effective than some other mental or sensory exercise for some reason. Lucas had a theory that he would be able to exert some manner of control when in this state if he tried hard enough.

Quite a few previous attempts at this were interrupted before he'd found this hollow. Lucas had played those instances off as him zoning out or taking a quick nap, but he moved his practice to this location immediately when his mom began worrying over his health and sleeping patterns.

I should really get some cushions or moss down here at the very least though.

As comfortable as he was likely to get, it was time to begin. Lucas cast his mind down the flowing streams of his mana; starting at a point in his chest where several streams joined together in a swirling pool before shooting off to his every extremity. His attention rode one stream up to his head and spun around in a disorderly know before passing through a smaller pool and flowing back into his chest. He followed the streams through each limb, muscle, bone, and cell of his body. The mana pervaded his form, constrained only by the dimensions of his physical body but at the same time evoking a sense of boundless limits. It felt as if the barest nudge would see it manifest as magic.

At the same time, it was akin to a hibernating beast that had rested for so long it became resistant to the thought of rousing. It'd be so easy, but the first manifestation would require more effort to 'rouse' his mana.

Once Lucas's attention passed through every part of his body and he held a full image of all the mana streams, he focussed on two in particular that passed through his hands cupped before him. He had to strain not to lose the full-body image here, as every time he'd done so before he wasn't able to nudge his mana at all. This time Lucas was sure he had it figured out. After all, if circulating his mana was like breathing, all he had to do is breathe out, right?

So that is what he did. With vibrating focus, he 'breathed out' through his palms.

And nothing happened.

Instead of getting hung up on the lack of immediate response, Lucas redoubled his efforts. He wouldn't be able to hold such a complex image in his head for long. If nothing happened soon, he'd take a break and snack on some of those roasted nuts.

Come on, come on. Just do something already!

After a moment, a small portion of the streams in both his hands broke off and started to rise to the surface. Lucas watched it happen haltering step by step, unable to keep down his rising excitement. The small portions of mana rose all the way to the very outermost layer of his hands with a static sensation, but just before they left the confines of his body, they snapped back into place.

Curse it! It was riGHT THERE!

Lucas kicked his foot out, managing to squash a toe against one of the roots that surrounded him, compounding his irritation. It wasn't till a few moments later, after he nursed the initial pain in his pulsing toe away that he saw a pulsing symbol in the corner of his vision. It moved to the center of his perspective as soon as he saw it and expanded with a chime. Lucas froze upon reading the first sentence.

[*ding WARNING: expulsion of mana prior to System unlock and without assistance could result in harmful and permanent consequences, including death. Further action should not be taken without care.]

Shit.

The System never spoke to kids before their unlock. It was widely accepted that no other part of the System could be accessed before that timer was up. For him to be seeing this would mean he could've nearly made a very serious mistake.

He couldn't have been the only person to ever try this. Sure, no one else in the village could evidently see mana the way he could, but there was no way he was the first in all of Anki to do so. Did those people keep it a secret, or die? Or maybe it was a more open secret that people learned later in life, intentionally kept from pre-unlock kids so they didn't kill or cripple themselves on accident.

Yeah...I think that's enough for today.

Lucas wasn't going to such a huge risk with relatively no knowledge behind his actions. However, he did note the System's word choice. Expulsion of mana before the unlock could have harmful consequences, not will. That meant it was possible without its assistance, just dangerous. Maybe he could still salvage his plan to get better Skills after his unlock.

With those thoughts occupying his mind, Lucas grabbed a handful of nuts and exited the hollow. He hadn't felt as if a lot of time had passed, but the sun washed away the hollow's chill in the open air, already well on its way across the sky. After a quick stretch of his legs and back, Lucas set a brisk pace back to the village so he wouldn't be late back home.

A large grouping of fresh footprints marked the recent passage of another guard patrol down the dirt road. Lucas took a careful look and saw they all pointed north, so he likely wouldn't be caught away from the village on his own if he hurried. He stepped off the road once again before coming within sight of the wall and hung left, circling around to the stream.

He arrived at the water before exiting the tree cover and followed the current down to nearly the foot of the stone wall. Here, people were gathered in groups at each of the wooden pavilions constructed around sites where the stream diffused into little pools. Elders and kids younger than himself were hard at work washing out their family's laundry. Lucas saw his mother's friend and neighbor, Penelope with her own son at the pavilion closest to the wall, and headed in their direction.

Instead of initiating conversation himself, Lucas took position a bit away from them around the water and took his shirt off. He needed an excuse to be here and figured the cloth had collected a bit of dirt out in the woods anyway, might as well take care of both issues at once.

The woman's eight-year-old son, Quinn, noticed him first and walked over after finishing with his current article of clothing and giving a word to his mother.

"Lucas!" Quinn took a seat on the bench him and the line of chore-doers. "I was looking for you earlier but Healer Mary said you left this morning. Where were you?"

"I didn't leave, Quinn." He said without turning away from the water. Downside of his plan was he'd have to carry his wet shirt back home in the none-too-warm air, then change into another. "I was practicing the moves Eugene showed me."

"You should've waited for me, I wanted to practice too," the boy complained.

Quinn liked to follow Lucas around and do whatever he did. Half the time, Lucas would let him. But he could never concentrate as well with the boy around, so he only sought him out when he was drained from too much prolonged focus. On the plus side, Quinn's fixation on copying everything Lucas did allowed him to internalize Eugene's lessons more by teaching him.

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It sounded a little cold when put that way. Lucas did enjoy playing with him every now and then, but just like with anyone else around his age, he had a hard time relating to Quinn. Nothing reminded him of the time he spent floating in that dark void like being around people supposedly the same age as him.

Anki had stories about this sort of thing--about reincarnation and old souls. Elders in the village sometimes told tall tales about ancient and powerful mages that supposedly achieved this feat, though not a single one could b supported with the slightest evidence. Despite their unlikelihood, those stories gave Lucas a frame of understanding for that time before he was born. He didn't actually recall a life before this one, but memories of that void made sure he never fully felt like a child.

"You can't sleep in if you want to come along with me, then," he replied.

Quinn huffed. "You're the weird one for getting up so early every day. You haven't even unlocked yet, and you're probably gonna apprentice with your mom or Eugene anyway, you don't have anywhere to be so early."

Lucas scrubbed the last of the dirt from his shirt, wrung it out and threw it over his shoulder before looking back. "I don't want to sleep the day away, that's all. What's the point of spending half your life unconscious?"

"Yeah, I guess that makes sense." Quinn shrugged and they both looked over as his mother approached with a basket full of sodden laundry ready to be strung up on a wire.

"Hello, Lucas." Penelope politely greeted. "Are you boys ready to head back in?"

They both nodded and followed along the outer wall and toward the south gate. They made it through the gate--left open at this time of day for everyone moving back and forth from the stream, unlike the north gate that remained shut most of the time--just ahead of another guard patrol. It was only a short walk from their back to their adjacent houses. Penelope stopped Lucas just before the group split up.

"Why don't you come inside real quick, Lucas? I'll give you some fresh cuts of meat to take back to your mother," the woman suggested.

"Thank you, ma'am. That would be really nice."

Lucas went with them. Quinn asked him if he was going to train with Eugene again later, managing to wrangle a promise out of Lucas to wait for him. The inside of their house was similar to his own--they were probably built by the same craftsmen in the village, after all--with some slight differences. The room at the front of the house was so small it only served to separate the kitchen from the cold outside, the bedroom beyond that was probably much the same, but behind that was a covered area open to the air housing a few chicken coops and a couple other enclosures of animals. All-in-all, their house was actually larger than his, but at least he got his own bed. Quinn probably still slept in the same room as his parents.

Speaking of him, Quinn ran off into some other part of the house as soon as they got inside. Possibly to go care for the animals or something, Lucas wasn't sure. He waited patiently and made conversation with Penelope as she pulled the meat she mentioned from their cold-chest. It was mostly about how much business his mom's clinic was getting this time of year, but she was also excited to hear how close his unlock was.

"Do you think you will apprentice with Mary, or will you try to become a guard?" She asked.

"I haven't decided yet," he replied, "but I definitely want mom's healing magic. Too many hunters and guards show with injuries from outside the village, looking for treatment even though they usually have someone with some minor healing in their Class. Plus, then I could help my mother no matter what I decide."

"Mmm," the woman responded thoughtfully, "her healing is definitely the strongest in the village, but she is also a dedicated healer. If you don't get a Class specialized in it, your healing probably wouldn't be as strong."

Penelope finished tying a few wrapped cuts together with twine, then handed the collective bundle over to him. "Just keep that in mind. There is still plenty of time for you two to decide what you will take."

"Of course, thank you again for this," he gestured to the bundle.

"Oh, no thanks necessary!" She patted his head. "Anything for you two--I still owe your mother for all her help from my perspective. Now, run back home. You'll want that meat back in cold storage as soon as possible."

Lucas said his goodbye, Quinn popping out from the back of the house to remind him of his promise for a moment, and went back to his house next door. Peering through glass pane at the front, he saw his mother was treating someone, so he went around and entered the house through the unlocked kitchen window. His mind was occupied with Penelope's words as he put the meat away and took care of his shirt situation.

He'd known about the relationship between specialization and power in Classes, of course. He'd gotten that information out of his mother years ago. Part of his reason for doing everything he could to get the best initial Skills possible was to counteract that. If he got a rare enough Class, it wouldn't matter if if wasn't very specialized--whatever healing he'd get would be powerful regardless.

He'd said he wasn't sure what he'd take after his unlock, but secretly, he had this image of a powerful fighter that could heal any wound. It wasn't the most practical idea for life around the village, more fit for a hero from one of the elders' stories, but it was so cool the he just had to get a Class like that.

"Did you crawl through the window again?" Lucas jumped at his mother's voice. "I tell you every time that you can use the door when I'm with someone, you just can't make be too disruptive."

Lucas turned around and gave her a light embrace. "I know, but this way I'm not disruptive at all. And I'm careful not to drag any mud or anything in too. Penelope gave us a few cuts from the last carolf, by the way. And Eugene said he'd come over tonight as well."

"Mmm...carolf meat, my favorite! We'll have a little feast tonight then, I'm sure Eugene won't say no." She reached over and ruffled his hair. "Now, come on, time for healing lessons. Maybe you can help if any more patients come in."

They spent the next few hours in the front room, Lucas being quizzed on the last subjects they went over in Mary's massive tome of healing knowledge--her oldest and most valuable possession as far as he knew. Years ago, she used it to teach him how to read and write, and the very same journals he was given to practice in he later used to transcribe the tome's contents.

The subject of the day was affinities, and the common methods of to any situation for various types of healers. Affinity was an important thing to consider for a healer, unlike for a mage that could generally exhibit similar levels of destruction no matter what kind of magic they threw around. Problem was, no one really knew all the possible affinities so this sort of thing had to be evaluated on a case by case basis--the tome only had light, dark, water, blood, and Mary's own lightning-based healing as examples.

Light magic-based healing was strong in regenerative qualities, capable of reforming lost limbs with a high enough level. It lost out when it came to the removal of foreign elements from the body, as was the case with sicknesses. Dark magic-based healing was the complete opposite, and only served to remove those foreign elements so another magic could repair the body. It was great at tackling sicknesses and could even remove larger debris from inside someone, but the fact it couldn't handle the smallest scrape made it exceedingly less common.

Water magic-based healing was a bit of an all-rounder. It was naturally effective at rehydrating a patient, but it didn't do anything else even on the same level as the other magics mentioned in the tome. However, there was very little it couldn't do to some degree. Theoretically, a water healer with a high enough Class level and relevant stats could out-perform any other healer in every way. Granted, that would only be true if the other healer was low-level and had weak stats in comparison.

Blood magic was a lot like light magic when it came to healing. It had very strong regenerative qualities and was even good with many illnesses. Not as strong as dark magic in that field, but better than both light and water. Unlike most other types of healers, those that used blood magic could sometimes strengthen the body, with variances according to Class quality and level. In the very worst case scenario where Lucas was unable to get a lightning-aligned Class like his mom's, he would be happy to take a blood affinity instead.

As for lightning magic-based healing--it could do it all. It nearly out performed light magic with regeneration, and eliminated sickness just as well as dark magic. It even shared blood magic's capability of strengthening the body, though the effects sometimes manifested in very different ways.

According to Lucas's mother, those effects were entirely dependent on the healer's knowledge, Skills, and actions. A bad blood healer could usually only boost the power of a target's muscles and maybe improve their base vitality, a bad lightning healer would only be able to improve a patient's agility and response time, but an especially knowledgable and powerful example of either could do anything. Mary also mentioned that other magics could have this ability too, especially practitioners that didn't specialize in healing, and only so much could be held within the tome so he should experience it himself one day.

Only a couple more patients came in before the designated clinic time passed, a five-year-old girl with her mother, looking for treatment for a torn fingernail--nothing too urgent. The house would still be open to anyone coming by, just in case someone truly injured needed help, but it was now time to prepare for dinner. Eugene would be over soon.