Chapter 3: Summer Program | 3.1 Mana Sense
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Single pages and photos were quick and easy to memorize, and they began to pile up in a disorganized mess inside her mind library. 'I'm not going to be able to find things if it's like this...' She desperately felt that an organizational arrangement was needed to solve everything. Just looking at the growing hill of photos and paper caused her anxiety.
Releasing a sigh, she fell back and rested on her bed staring at the ceiling. Her eyes briefly circled, following the spinning ceiling fan. Taking a deep breath, she remembered her visit to the library. Visualizing its rows of bookshelves, she was inspired to build mental shelves and closed her eyes to focus on her mind library.
Investing her mental energy, she first separated everything, grouping the materials into different piles of photos, art, school materials, and important documents. Next, Iris imagined special aisles that adjusted to the items. Picking a family photograph, she placed it on a shelf, and that shelf transformed to fit the photo.
Adding more photos, she positioned them over the first, and the shelf operated like a slide show. With a thought, she could swipe between photos to view them. Grabbing another picture, she noticed its date. It was taken in a different year, so she created another photo shelf. Organizing more, each shelf was organized by year, and there were special shelves for events throughout the year such as birthdays, holidays, and events.
Over the entire Sunday, Iris and Lexi worked through three keepsake boxes. Building out the mind library required a lot of mental energy and sometimes mana, so they took breaks often throughout the day. That night, Iris prepared for school by packing her backpack with supplies. She wanted to bring her familiar to school and asked Lexi to mimic a normal notebook hidden inside her school bag.
Waking up early on Monday, Iris and her mother drove to the secondary school extra early to finalize the required paperwork. Arriving at school early, they entered the front office. While in the office, the advisor asked Iris if she needed her magic trait appraised. Having thought about the summer program all weekend, Iris had prepared a simple rejection and reason.
“I don’t need an appraisal. My trait is related to books, and since awakening, I’ve been able to memorize any book I read on the first try.”
The school advisor gushed at how useful that ability would be in school. “Oh! That’s amazing!”
Iris’s mother was a little surprised to hear about Iris’s ability to memorize books because she knew that Iris’s trait was book mimic. However, she didn’t think anything was out of the ordinary. From her point of view, memorizing books fell within expectation of Iris’s trait.
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While processing the paperwork, the advisor scanned Iris’s ID bracelet to add her to the school’s system. This would allow her to access the different facilities inside the school such as the library, mana realms, low-security labs, and study rooms.
Finished with all the paperwork, Casey drove back home. Remaining at school, Iris was given a brief school tour which ended in the library. Iris remembered most of the long hallways and lab locations. She also received a map of the entire school.
‘Hmm. Should I head to the mana realm now?’ Iris’s highest priority was acquiring mana sense, so after waiting a minute, she made sure the advisor who gave her the school tour was gone. She quietly left the library and walked down the hall towards the back of the school.
Arriving at the school’s rear exit doors, Iris swiped her ID bracelet and walked out into the schoolyard. Venturing through the immediate gardens and gazebos, she came to the mana realms and sports fields. ‘I should…’ She thought about which one she should visit first.
“Are you lost?” Someone called out to Iris. Looking around, she found him inside a nearby gazebo. He was tall, wore thick glasses, blue eyes, and black hair.
Iris quickly responded, “I’m not lost. I was just wondering what place I should visit first.” Waving goodbye, she went towards the mana realms. ‘The slime mana realm will be easiest.’ Coming to the metal fenced-in area, she scanned and entered the mana realm with the slime sign, slowly walking into the mana fog.
Passing through the boundary, Iris looked across the area. It was just a grassy field, filled with tall grass that went up to her waist. There were no trees inside this mana realm. ‘Only slimes spawn in this place.’ She smiled remembering the surroundings. It was the easiest mana realm with the lowest monster.
Taking a deep breath, she felt the mana in the air. With the higher concentration of mana in mana realms, Iris was confident in developing her mana sense. Leaving the entrance area, she found a relatively nice spot to sit down and brought out her supplies. Laying down a towel, she sat down to meditate. ‘I need to feel it…’
Using her memories of the future, she slowly walked herself through the meditation. Breath deep. Clear mind. Focusing on the high mana in the surroundings, Iris had an easier time feeling the mana and slowly turning her attention inward. The milestone for mana sense was being able to differentiate the magic inside oneself from the mana outside.
Usually, the process would take days, if not weeks. However, the sensations were instilled inside Iris from the magic mirror and its memories. As she sat meditating for an hour, what she knew in her mind and what was reality was gradually coming into alignment. The progress was fast, and after another hour, her mana sense had almost solidified completely.
Iris could feel it. The sensation she missed dearly. She hadn’t realized over the days but had desperately missed her mana sense. It was as if she were wearing a thick veil, and with each passing minute, it was getting thinner, imaginary fabric was being unraveled. Her senses were clearing up until there was no veil, no boundary. She sensed the mana accurately.
Releasing a breath, Iris didn’t open her eyes. It was unnecessary. She could feel the surroundings closest to herself.