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Lucas Everton
Chapter 1 - The Training

Chapter 1 - The Training

Inside that great forest there was a small stream. On the banks of it there was a clearing. In the middle of the clearing there was a small thatched hut. In front of the hut there an old man standing and leaning on a stick. The stick was just an ordinary stick and it was about the length of an ordinary sword. You could say it looks like he has a walking stick in his hand. He had a long white beard and white hair. His face was too wrinkly that it looked ancient. Not the kind of sick wrinkles but dignified ones. It feels like each and every wrinkle in his face was made by a master sculptor. His eyes was crystal clear and radiated a kind of majesty that you won't even find in dragons. He was wearing a kind of long gown and it was fluttering in the gentle wind. His eyes were fixed on a little 6 year old kid in front of him. The boy had black hair and black eyes. He looked cute like all normal six year old. His upper body was bare and it glistened with sweat. You could see that he was a little lean and fit for a 6 year old. He was handling a wooden sword for his size. That child is me.

My grandpa was teaching me how to handle a sword.

Grandpa: "You should see a sword as an extension of your arm. At the same time you should wield it with precision and grace so that it should look flowing. Each motion you make with the sword should be like flowing water. Calm and quiet but terrifyingly powerful if needed. You must feel each and every movement it makes as it cuts through the air. Understand that and improve it. Find out the best way to move your sword from one point to the other."

My grandpa was Azriel The War God. He is a true weapons master. His knowledge about weapons is second to none. He says nobody has bested him in battle with weapons. I don't know about it as I have never seen anybody other than grandpa and grandma. But as a reincarnated person I know that grandpa is absolutely a monster when it came to fighting. The way he wields his weapons is truly breathtaking. Yes I died in my previous life and reincarnated in this place. I was from earth where there is no magic or monsters. So these things are fairly new to me. Also I don't know why, after being reincarnated my comprehension power went through the roof. I was an average guy back in earth but in here I could grasp most things my grandpa and grandma says fairly quickly.

Azriel: "You have become proficient in wielding the sword, Lucas. I must say you have greatly improved in such a short time. But there's still a lot to go. And that would years worth of practice."

Yup they named me Lucas Everton. Grandpa was Azriel Everton and Grandma was Eve Everton.

Lucas: “Why don't you teach me some of your sword moves grandpa.”

Azriel: “That won't do Lucas. I am not teaching you how to dance. I am teaching you how to wield a weapon, how to survive with it. The flashy moves, you have to create them yourself. Remember the feel of a weapon. Make yourself one with it and soon you will understand the infinite opportunities on how to wield. Don't worry I will guide you through it. We will constantly spar molding you through real battle experience. Be very careful boy, I don't know how to be lenient.”

At that time we heard some rustling from the edge of the clearing. An old lady with a gentle and calm countenance emerged from the woods. That peaceful atmosphere was broken by the emergence of huge black bear floating besides her. It had a bloody hole through its heart. The wound was cauterized. That old lady that looked so lovely was my grandma. She should have been an absolute beauty when she was younger. Today it was her turn to procure the food. Things like these should be very easy for her as she was an awesome magician.

Azriel: “Just in time Eva. Let me help with that”

With that he went to haul that bear over his shoulders and went to the backyard to skin the animal and prepare the meat. My grandma came to me with a loving smile.

Eva: “How's your sword training coming along Lucas?”

Lucas: “It's going great grandma”

I replied with the brightest smile I could muster.

Eva: “mmmm. Maybe I should start teaching you magic.”

Yes finally. I have been asking her to start teaching me magic for years. All these times she would say that I am not ready. That my body was not fit enough to properly control mana. Contrary to what I believed from my previous life wizards are not glass cannons that only knows to shoot magic. They should be physically fit enough to control huge amounts of mana. The body is like a battery. If the battery does not have enough capacity it would explode from electricity overload. I showed an overly eager expression to what she was saying.

Eva: “Before you learn from me, you should go wash yourself and eat. After that I will teach you.”

Lucas: “Okay grandma”

After saying that I ran to the stream to wash myself. A refreshing meal was waiting for me inside the house. Both my grandparents are great cooks. The bear meat spiced with herbs and also some potatoes and other vegetables we had an awesome feast. As I was relaxing from the refreshing meal my grandma called me.

Eva: “Lucas now I will teach you all about mana”

I sat cross legged on the floor facing my grandparents. I was perhaps a little bit overexcited at the prospect of learning magic. They smiled at my enthusiasm.

Eva: “Mana is energy. It is all pervasive and omnipresent. That means it is in everything and everywhere. It can be divided into two. Internal Mana and External Mana. Internal Mana is what we have and what we can control. External mana is the mana around us. They are two main ways of using mana while creating spells. The first is solely relying on your internal mana. The advantage of this method is that you can instacast spells. You don't need to rely on anything. Everything you create from internal mana is only dependent on your will and imagination. And also your mana capacity. Now mana capacity is not fixed brith. A lot of people used to think that mana capacity is unchangeable from birth. That is simply not true. You could increas it through meditation and exhaustion training. You only have to have a certain aptitude for it and the will to do hard work. Without hard work becoming a mage is impossible for everybody. It becomes progressively harder as it goes. You should always work hard Lucas. Never ever slack off”

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Lucas: “Yes Grandmother”

I replied with an earnest expression puffing my little chest out. She smiled and continued.

Eva: “As I said controlling your internal mana is comparatively easy. You could will it to any elements of your wish. It will do your bidding. The other way for spell casting is using the mana around you. It is not easy to do so. If you want to cast wide area of effect spell you need to rely on the mana outside. For that you have to ignite the external mana with your internal mana. To do that you 'might' need the help of chants, runes, artifacts, etc.”

Lucas: “Might?, So is it possible to do that without the help of those things grandma?”

Azriel: “Hohoho, he is very bright, isn't he Eva”

Grandma just smiled lovingly at me and said.

Eva: “Yes he is. He is my dear Lucas the genuis. It's as you said Lucas. Controlling external can also be done with your will. For that you should have a necessary amount of control over your internal mana to start of the ignition and also the necessary mana purity”

Lucas: “How do I purify my mana Grandma”

Eva: “Oh that's simple, meditation. You feel the flow of mana within your body and guide it through your mana channels and your mana core. It will get purified automatically.”

Lucas: “Mana core?”

Eva: “That's like the heart or container for your mana. It doesn't have any physical existence. But it is pictured that way so that you could purify and control it. Also you should work hard to make your mana core bigger and denser. Cause that's how improve your mana capacity”

Lucas: “Then how do I improve my mana control?”

Eva: “You have to practice and work hard for that. You should strife towards perfection during spell casting. Only using the optimum amount for a spell of particular strength. In other words Optimum Mana conversion. When you achieve it you could cast spells with precision mana control thus avoiding any kind of mana wastage”

Lucas: “Wow it feels awesome. I can't wait to start.”

Eva: “For that you should detect your mana core purify it and also at the same time start absorbing external mana into your body and assimilate it with your core. Remember when you do this you shouldn't recklessly absorb mana or else your core will shatter and you will die.”

Grandma said in a serious tone. That's scary. I should be careful about this. Seeing my frowning expression she smiled and said.

Eva: “You don't have to worry. The only thing you have to remember is stop when its painful.”

Lucas: “So grandma how does the capacity of your core increase.”

Azriel: “Physical and Magical exhaustion”

Eva: “Yes, the more powerful your body becomes the more mana you can absorb and more mana you use the more bigger your core becomes which is called exhaustion training.”

Lucas: “Then according to that doesn't Grandpa here should have more mana right?”

Eva: “Yes he has more a little bit more internal mana than me”

Lucas: “What? But I thought you have bigger mana capacity because you are the mage”

Azriel: “That is true Lucas. Physically she is nowhere near as strong as me but even then her mana capacity is similar to mine. Also she has better sense towards understanding mana than me. I only use it to enhance my body and my weapons. Whereas she can do all sorts of things with it. Also the way she can manipulate mana is unparalleled even among the magically superior elves.”

Lucas: “Wow”

Eva: “Well that aside you should focus on meditation to realize your mana core”

Lucas: “Okay grandma”

I closed my eyes and started to concentrate. I don't know if it's this easy or not. I could clearly picture my mana core and mana channels only after 5 minutes. It was a kind of vibrant energy. It can be the color you imagine it to be. So I imagined it to be white. I started circulating it through my whole body and my channels. I could feel my body undergoing changes as the mana coursed through it. Each and every cell in my body started consuming the mana like crazy. My body started undergoing qualitative changes. The muscles were becoming tighter and my bones were becoming more powerful. After I have completely exhausted my mana, I start absorbing it from the outside. I can sense the outside mana if I exert my mind to look outside of my body. All the mana in the immediate vincity starting to flow towards me. Very soon I was full. Then I started the mana channeling process again. This repeated itself for about 7 times until I was satisfied and then I opened my eyes.

There I saw my grandpa and grandma looking at me with their eyes bulged out and mouth hanging open.