I didn’t sleep well. Partly because I was practicing my Mana Manipulation, but also the cot I was sleeping on was uncomfortable. I kept waking up every hour, sweating.

Of course, I called my mom before this. She would have yelled at me otherwise. It’s too early to call her now, but I’ll do it after breakfast.

The other soldiers around me are waking up. They’re probably going to do morning exercises. I’m not following, though. I aim to be a mage, not a warrior. I stay on my cot, practicing Mana Manipulation.

I’m able to cycle mana through my body, but now I’m working on keeping my whole body active. It’s a lot different than just feeling the mana run through my body, or building it in one spot. It’s keeping it still, everywhere. I’m basically trying to stop my blood from pumping without stopping my heart. Am I doing a good job? Maybe not, but I stick with it for as long as I can.

I come out of it when the soldiers return. They are picking up clothes and (I assume) going to wash off. I sort of want to follow, because I haven’t washed this new body of mine, but I don’t have a change of clothes. Definitely not because I’m embarrassed to be naked in front of strong, well-toned men. Nope, not at all.

I head towards the dining hall. The food last night was nice; meat, veggies, and mashed potatoes, but then everything tastes better than IV fluids and tapioca. They probably don’t have cereal here. That’s a shame.

They did, however, have eggs and toast. The bread was thicker and looked more like wheat than white, but it was still good. I eat my breakfast hoping that I’ll be able to eat many, many different kinds of food in the future. I wonder if monster eggs taste different than chicken’s.

I don’t know what to do after breakfast. Besides calling my mom, the only thing I know what to do is train my mana. So I do that.

I’m almost done with filling up my body. I feel a sense of fullness that permeates my muscles. The next step, I intuit, is to extend my mana to my skin. I don’t know if I can create an aura, but I assume that my skin is a part of my body and should be susceptible to mana saturation.

As I get closer to completion, my heart beats harder. Not faster, just hard and loud, like a drum that gets bigger and bigger. It crescendos as I hear thunder beating through my very being, and in an instant it stops. It’s silent. My skin is warm and my hair is sticking up. I feel more than before. The slight movement of air is like a summer breeze. The wooden table, that is supposed to be smooth, is like the bark of giant tree. I cut it off before I get overwhelmed. It’s honestly amazing. That kind of euphoria could cure meth addicts.

“It seems you had a productive experience,” a voice said.

I scream and jump out of my seat. In a manly way, definitely not like a little girl. The queen is in front of me, along with her son and the Headmistress.

“And yet I dare say you haven’t learned,” the queen says. At first glance her smile exudes joy, but all I feel is anger.

I hurriedly stand and bow, “I’m sorry, your highness, for not noticing you.”

She doesn’t say anything back, and I commit to my bow until she does.

A minute passes, my back is starting to hurt. She might’ve gone easier on me had I told her I was recently crippled.

I hear some whispers, then the queen speaks again, “You may rise.”

I do so. The queen appears the same, a joyful smile on her face, but this time there is no malice. The prince and Headmistress appear relaxed, like they are used to the queens antics.

“Thank you, your majesty,” I say.

Her smile widens slightly. “You remember Licina, I presume?” she asks. I nod. “She shall take you to the Royal Academy, where you will learn from the best our Kingdom has to offer,” she turns to Licina, “You shall have to teach him history and etiquette as well.” I grimace. “Good luck, Julius.” She turns and walks away. The prince gives me pat on my shoulder and follows.

“Thank you, your highness,” I shout towards the queen’s retreating form. I also bow for good measure. She could have some spell to watch me even though she is not looking.

“Well then,” Licina said, “I’ll show you the campus.”

[2]

There was a dedicated path from the Royal Mansion to the Royal Academy. It made sense when I thought about royal children going to school. I checked my Mana Manipulation attribute: there was a + now but all it added was "and external" to the effect.

Licina told me not to worry about etiquette for now. She said, “You can learn more about etiquette, history, and politics on your own time. We are currently and need all the help we can get. Although we will be receiving more individuals to help us, some of them will either be undesirables or choose not to help.” You would think she’s a general or something. Even her gait is straight and narrow. “We, myself and the others you saw, spoke at length about our new issue. We have an unknown and possible large amount of individuals coming into our city. We don’t think they will all join the war effort, but we have taken precautions either way. You don’t need to know all our plans, though. You are with me today to help test my new curriculum. After that you can choose what you want to do. Do you understand?” She stops walking and faces me. This close to her, I finally pay attention to her looks. I recall her race is Ro'ka Her wings on her back are large, bigger than her body even when folded. Instead of hair, to top of her head is adorned with feathers. Which, interesting enough, still looks like hair. She is without eyebrows, but smooth detailed markings frame her face like a painting. And her eyes: hawk-like, without sclera, and staring me down.

I come out of my revere, nod repeatedly and say, “Yes, ma’am.”

“Good. Follow me.”

I was already following her, though. We walk the rest of the way in silence.

Coming around a bend, I see the Academy down the path. It’s bigger than the Royal mansion, which makes sense because it needs classrooms and practice spaces for all the students, but I never before saw anything quite as big. Even the biggest of large screen TVs could not exemplify the size of buildings and monuments back home, so I always wanted to something so large and grand in person. And now I feel the desire to see it all.

The building reminds of the Van Gogh painting (not ‘Starry Night’ the church one). I think it’s called gothic architecture. Arches, flying buttresses, and stained glass windows. And it’s all black. I look at every square inch I can see. I can only assume this used to be an evil necromancer vampire’s lair in the past.

We make to a courtyard to the side of the entrance. The giant, blackened wood front doors do not feel inviting, but I want venture forth anyways.

“Here we are,” Licina says. The courtyard, I assume, would be empty, but currently has many boxes in different spaces. “You have done well to cultivate your mana to the novice stage. We have mana gathering mats for students to advance, but with you we can skip that step. Next we can give you some skills, but first: an overview.

“Mana has existed since the exodus of our world. It strengthens monsters, animals, and sapient beings alike. Throughout our history, and with the help of the System, we have learned new and varied ways of using mana. And before learning these skills, know that not all skills need mana. Skills are, essentially, practiced actions that can be measured and used quickly thanks to the system. A chef will have skills that improve their cooking, without expending mana. A commander can issue orders that a soldier must follow, without mana. It’s something to keep in mind.

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“Today, I will teach you three internal mana skills, and three external mana skills. For both of those achievements you will gain access to a class. Until the end of today you are not allowed to choose a class. I will tell you why later.

“First thing I will teach you: is three internal mana skills. 1: a movement skill. 2: an offense skill. And 3: a defense skill. With all of these, we will only be using pure mana, instead of combining it with an element. This is because: you have the choice of reworking any skill at any time. It will most likely start over in levels, but that's your choice to make.

“We begin with movement. The Haste skill works by circulating your mana faster than normal. Simple, yes? No. Your mana currently is like a babbling brook; you must speed that flow until it is a typhoon. You may begin.”

I closed my eyes and focused on my mana. It was a hell of a lot easier than yesterday, to move my mana around my body, but also understood what she meant about a brook verses a typhoon. Speeding up the flow slightly was okay, but I knew I would need to metaphorically turn my notch up to eleven.

When I moved my mana around yesterday, I likened it to following my blood pump through my body. Now, I had to pump it myself. Faster and harder. I had to squeeze my heart until it roared like Formula 1 engine. I admit I was scared. When exercising, the heart can beat up to three times the normal amount, but even then it’s uncomfortable. My heart is now being beat up by a little drummer boy. My face is scrunched, fists are tight, and I’m clenching my butthole.

“Stop for now,” I hear Licina say.

Instead of cutting off completely, I slow it down like I’m going down gear shifts. I plop on the ground breathing heavily. In a sense, it’s like I ran a marathon.

“You did an adequate job. Now that you’ve got the feeling, you must be able to keep it going while not concentrating on it. This where the System comes in. By focusing an intent on your mana, and reciting a verse with the skill name, you can create a skill. It will be better if you figure your own verse out instead of me giving you one, so you can learn to do it in the future. And you’re only doing this for the beginner levels. For internal mana skills, Novice level will grant you the shortcut of only saying the skill name, and Adept will just require a thought. External spells need a combination of you expelling your mana and commanding the mana in the environment to act with you. Which is why it takes them Elite level to only call out the name, and Grand-Master level to think it. But that’s all later for you. Now, you need to think of a verse that will help you concentrate on the feeling and action of your new skill. It’s recommended to have more than ten words and less than thirty. And don’t worry about the skill name, the system will assign it after you have met the requirements.”

I had gotten excited again when she talked about Grand-Master level spells. It’d be crazy if my Haste skill could help me run through walls or something. I thought about it for a good few minutes. I thought of trains, planes, and breaking the sound barrier cars. Then I thought of a certain hero who represented hope, and I had something.

I stood back up, and revved up my mana. I made it go fast enough that it felt good and I could say my verse. With my hands clenched, and focusing on keeping the speed of my mana, I said, “Faster than a speeding bullet! More powerful than a locomotive! Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound!” With the last word out, my mana stopped. I wasn’t in control of its speed anymore but I also didn’t need to concentrate on it.

I looked at the notification I just got.

Congratulations! With great intent and will, you have learned the Skill: Haste!

Haste (Common)

“In bodies moved, the motion is received, increased, diminished, or lost, according to the relations of the quantity of matter and velocity; each diversity is uniformity, each change is constancy.” –Baron de Montesquieu

Level: Beginner III

Effect: By moving the mana through your body at tremendous speed, you have increased your movement and reaction speed by 30% for 5 minutes.

I could see the change. There was an afterimage to my movements, like when you move a pencil up and down held loosely by your fingers.

“Congratulations,” Licina said. Her words were slightly slower than usual. “Cancel the skill so we can continue.”

I thought to myself, “Cancel Haste.”

A notification popped up asking for confirmation. I mentally selected yes, then found the setting to disable that. I figured in battle I would need to act fast.

I focused on Licina when I was finished. “Good. You can practice more at a later time, but now you learn an offensive skill,” she said.

“The next skill involves building your mana up in your fist to enhance it. Hopefully, your experience learning Haste has provided you some insight. Try it out.”

She was right. I could already build my mana in my body, doing it faster was a great benefit, but I knew that wasn’t all it took. As I was sending mana into my right fist, I knew I had to make it denser, heavier, and stronger than before. The weight was like a boulder, and was getting heavier. There was a mist of mana that was condensing and congealing. I kept it steady then, so I could do the same with my other fist. I nearly lost control of my right while focusing on my left. But I knocked them against each other, and that helped. Then I stopped and thought of something to say.

I couldn’t think of anything good. She said more than ten words, so ‘SMASH’ won’t work. ‘Momma said knock you out?’ No. ‘I don’t always fight, but when I do.’ No. I’ll just have to think of something more grounded instead of a media reference. Maybe some rhymes?

I focus on my hands again. Forcing the mana into my fists, condensing it and making it stronger. “Denser, denser. Heavier still. I build up the mana in my hands with my will.” It’s not great, but it worked.

Congratulations! You have learned the Skill: Enhanced Fist!

Enhanced Fist (Common)

“My arms are too short to box with God.” –Johnny Cash

Level: Beginner III

Effect: You coat and strengthen the mana in your fists to deal 15% increased damage.

I feel the power in my hands, but I cancel the skill. That took a lot out of me.

“Well done. Let’s move on to the last internal skill then you can take a break.”

I reluctantly nod.

“The last skill can be seen as a combination of the two previous. The goal is to create an aura around your body that can protect you. You will need to circulate your mana through your body, push it out, and then condense. The difference between this and your fists, is that you will need to keep a protective layer over your body that can withstand attacks, but not so rigid that you can’t move. Understand?”

I nod, but I really don’t. I did notice that with my Enhanced Fists that I couldn’t open my hands. This will suck.

I circulate my mana, slowly expanding it to my skin. It’s different than Haste, in that I am not making it run faster, I am just making it spread out while keeping it running. Still, I am able to get it too my skin and slowly expelling out. I feel bloated.

The next part I get stuck on. I am able to expel mana, and then harden it, but I can’t get it to work without becoming a statue. I take a break.

“You are not done,” I hear Licina say.

“I’m just taking a break,” I reply, huffing a bit from exhaustion.

“Break is after you are done.”

“I’m just taking some time to think about what to do.”

“You can think all day about a problem, but if you never act, you will never succeed.”

“It’s just a small break.” This is some shit teaching if you ask me.

“The time you have spent arguing has been a small break. Go again.”

Reluctantly, I continue. Whether or not it’s because of her motivation (It’s not), I think I know what to do. Previously I had been expelling my mana all at once to try and congeal an aura. But now I only solidify a spot on my hand, then move around my body. Like a drop on water on glass, the solid mana glides along my arms, head, and chest. As it moves, I increase the size. As it gets bigger it slows down, but that’s okay because I just create another one. Eventually, with sweat falling off my body, I have sectioned pieces of thick mana across my body. Unfortunately, I doubt I could get back to this state, so I need to come up with an aura/defense chant.

I hope this works. “A suit of armor around the world. An aura to protect. Aegis of my mana!” With that last shout, my mana clicked into place.

Congratulations! You have learned the Skill: Aura Shield!

Aura Shield (Common)

“We all live in the protection of certain cowardice which we call our principles.” –Mark Twain

Level: Beginner III

Effect: Physical Resistance increases by 9%

I cancel the skill, fall back, and finally rest.

“Well done. I have someone fetch us lunch.”

I hope I don’t regret this.