Within his chest he felt a roiling sensation of energy. It felt tangible and literal, as if someone had stuck their hand inside his chest and rolled it around. Too focused on survival before, he failed to notice this new sensation.

Scanning the rest of his body with this energy in mind, he was astonished to discover it flowed in channels throughout his body like veins transporting blood.

It was a strange sensation; to have something tangible flowing through your body.

Keeping the existence of this energy in mind, he spoke,

“Hello?”

“Child, you learn fast.”

“Can you understand me?”

“Fully.” The woman replied.

Yaaro was pleasantly surprised and very, very excited. Just what were the possibilities of mana? What kind of powers could he obtain? He thought back to his previous world where he read all kinds of web novels and manga. There were times he sincerely awaited death just so he could get transported to a world with magic.

And now here he was.

A blue-tinted translucent window suddenly appeared in front of him.

[Skill: Enhanced Speaking has been acquired!]

Before he could inspect the new skill, the lady spoke,

“You seem weary. Sit down my Child.” Filled with motherly concern, her warm voice made him feel bad for standing.

But there were no seats. Before he could ask her where to sit, a small stone platform blinked into existence without a sound and stood distinctly from the darkness. Seeing his bulging eyes, the lady chuckled— her laugh so effortless and refined that grace exuded from her as effortlessly as breathing.

“You seem to have questions, my Child.”

“Well. Anyone in my situation would.”

“Go on. I will answer to the best of my ability.” She reassured.

He had so many questions and hurriedly shot one off the list, “Were you the one who summoned me?”

A quizzical look appeared in her eyes, “I don’t understand what you mean, my Child.”

“I mean…” With a pause he wondered why he trusted this strange woman so effortlessly. For all he knew, she could be the devil herself and this could be hell. But if this truly was hell, and if this lady was the devil, he didn’t mind at all. He decided to trust her completely, “I come from another world. I was on a journey with my friends and suddenly ended up here.”

“You are an otherworlder. Yes, I am aware of that, my Child.” The lady asked, “But how exactly did you come to this world?”

Understandably he was thrown off. Was she not the one with answers?

“I don’t know. Magic wasn’t a thing in my world.”

The lady chuckled, “How different must it have been: a world without magic. I apologise if I seem overly curious, my Child. It is my first time interacting with an otherworlder.”

‘First time interacting with an otherworlder’. Such a sentence implied something interesting, which Yaaro caught onto, “Were there otherworlders before me?”

“Quite a handful my Child. It seems it is an obsession of theirs to stand out, so yes. There have been quite a few of them.”

The memory of the events in the train flashed through his mind. No doubt the two events were linked, and something that happened in the train transported him here.

And if it transported him, it might have transported the others in the train. Maybe my friends are here too! The realization conjured all sorts of fantasies and his voice oozed with excitement, “Are there any otherworlders right now?”

“I do not know.”

“Oh…” Like a deflating balloon, so too did his hopes deflate.

But he chastised himself for losing hope too soon. His friends might have been

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“Do not tell anyone who you are, my Child. It will bring unnecessary danger.”

“Oh… Okay.” Yaaro took note of her advice and looked around the pitch black darkness surrounding them, then at the stool he sat on and then the lady in front of him.

They both appeared as if they were superimposed onto the darkness, appearing almost like a green screen.

“Where are we?”

“A cave in the bluffs a few days out from Tuszeldwarv.” The lady answered with a smile.

“Currently we are in the lands of Iyropa. To our North, where you swam from, is the Haalland sea, above which Aachthaven has been moored for two centuries. Far to the south, beyond the Middle Sea lies the lands of Afira, isolated for thousands of years by a wall of fire. Far to the East lies the lands of the Rus and Oriens where the Great Wall is. And to the West, beyond the Empire, is the Azure sea. Anywhere else is only rumors and hearsay.”

There was a mountain of information that could be unearthed just from the way she described their location. Yaaro pondered on her words and quickly came to a conclusion,

“So the sky above the sea is black because of a certain ‘Aachthaven’? What is that?”

“Aachthaven is essentially a large floating landmass my Child.”

Chills ran down Yaaro’s spine. If the lady spoke the truth, this floating landmass was inconceivably large— so large that it blocked the horizon.

“Were you the one who saved me?” He asked.

“I am.”

There was no other gesture he knew of that could sincerely express his gratitude, so he bowed, Thank you… and another question, if you don’t mind.” Yaaro asked, “Who are you?”

“A maid.” She answered again with the same smile.

A maid? Yaaro scanned her from top to bottom. Her presence exuded royalty and her manner was refined and elegant. She even seemed divine in a sense. There was not a single angle where she looked like a maid.

“Could you be more specific?” Yaaro asked.

The woman chuckled, “It is true. I am but a simple maid.”

“I don’t see how but… next question. This is the last one. I promise.” Yaaro said.

She laughed, “Do not worry about asking too many questions. I shall heartily answer any number of them.”

“Can you teach me magic?”

“Gladly.”

----------------------------------------

“Mana is at the source. It is the all-pervading ether that permeates existence. It is an existential contradiction— formless yet with form, Colourless, yet has colour and it occupies no space while occupying space. Contradiction is its essence.”

Yaaro was very disappointed at the unexpected theory lesson. He expected to dive right into creating fireballs and flying. But a theory lesson? Besides, he couldn’t decipher a single thing of what she meant.

Seeing his confusion, the lady laughed and briefly explained, “Essentially, it is a formless ether that can be bent to our wills.”

A lightbulb went off in his head and the contradictions auddenly made sense. It was all-pervading. Meaning that mana existed all around and inside them. It was formless at heart, but could be made to have form. It was colorless, but could be made to have color, and so on and so forth.

“I understand now.”

“You seem eager to exercise your will.” The lady smiled as if watching a child play around.

“I am.”

“Then I shall not stop you. I will watch over you, so do not worry.” She reassured him, to which he nodded.

Yaaro focused on his bodily sensations. He located the sea of roiling energy located in his chest and memorized its sensation. But how was he to move it around? She said it can be bent to our will. So maybe I should just command it?

Move to my arm.

Nothing happened.

Move.

Nothing.

He moved his palm repeatedly from his chest to his arm, willing it to move. But nothing happened. The lady watched all this happening with a laugh.

He looked up, somewhat embarrassed, “It’s not moving. How do I move it?”

“Think of it as water flowing through your body. Instead of commanding it to move, imagine the feeling of it moving.”

He closed his eyes and once again focused on the sea of roiling energy. He thought of it as water and imagined the feeling of it flowing down the inside of his arm. Much to his surprise, he actually felt something tangible moving towards his arm. It balled up in his palm and he felt it press on his fingertips— as if he were holding a ball of it. Opening his eyes excitedly he saw,

Nothing. But the sensation was still there.

“I don’t see it?” He asked her, confused

[Skill: Mana Manipulation has been learnt!]

A translucent blue panel appeared in front of him, making a wide grin appear on his face.

“Do not command it to be. Assume it already is. This is the essence of feeling mana.”

“So I have to assume it’s already the color and shape I want?”

“Precisely”

This time Yaaro simply believed the mana to be as round as a basketball and coloured orange like one. And when he opened his eyes there was a round textureless orange ball sitting in his palms.

“My God” He murmured, half in a daze. He couldn’t believe it. He’d just conjured up an object out of nothing!

Excitedly he threw it, only for it to disappear in a shower of sparks the moment it left his hand. With a click of his tongue, he sheepishly looked towards the lady, who seemed very amused.

“How do I make it not disappear?”