And now, it was finally time to unlock mana.

“So I’ve been thinking about this a lot,” Jack said, “the system is kind of tricky. When Brian asked for that defense skill, it just gave him something related to it but not exactly what he wanted. I think we have to be very specific with what we ask for. But I also have another strategy. We have the advantage of trial and error. We don’t all get skills at the same time. I think we should get one skill, experiment with it, and then decide what the next person’s skill should be, so we on the third try at least get closer to something with mana. I think Lucas should go last with which skill he gets after we have experimented with ours. Since he is the only one who has a skill that maybe uses mana.”

Brian and Lucas nodded their heads in agreement.

“Okay, then I’ll go with the skill I think we should get first. System, I want to spend a skill point on getting mana,” Jack said.

Mana generation: Rank 1

“Yes! I think I got it!” Jack said which skill he got.

“Okay, so can you feel a difference?” Brian said.

“Eh, no…” Jack said.

Ten minutes passed. Jack tried everything imaginable, but nothing happened.

“God I fucking hate this shitty system. It always fucks us over like this,” Brian said.

‘Fucking bullshit,“ Lucas said.

“Hey, shitty system, I want to spend my skill point on a skill that actually LETS ME USE MANA!” Brian said.

Mana manipulation: Rank 1

“Oh, shit boys! I actually did it!” Brian said and laughed in hysteria and explained which skill he got.

“Fuck yeah! Okay, so do you feel different?” Lucas said.

“Ehm, no…” Brian said.

Another ten minutes passed of Brian trying everything imaginable to use his skill, with no success.

“Fuuuuuuuuuuckkkk!!” Brian said.

“What the fuck is the deal with this system,” Jack said.

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

“There must be something we’re missing…” Brian said.

Suddenly, Lucas got a stupid idea. He figured that it wouldn’t work and the system would just be useless like always. Or give him a prank skill. But it sounded like a fun joke so he did it anyway.

“Hey, system, for the love of god, I want to spend my skill point on getting the missing link, whatever it is we actually need to make this mana shit work,” Lucas said.

Mana sense: Rank 1

The skill did not give him vertigo, but the new sensory experience shocked his body so much that he fell to his butt. A new sense which had never been there was now there. While it was its own unique sense, it had a kind of mixture between all five senses of his body.

All around him there was mana. He could not sense the finer details but he could very much tell something was there. And close to him, Jack was lighting up like a small bonfire.

“Lucas! You good?” Brian said.

Jack and Brian rushed over to him and kept him from falling down.

“Yeah, yeah… I think this skill actually works,” Lucas said. He promptly fell asleep.

Jack and Brian looked at each other.

…

When Lucas woke up, he felt better and could function like a normal person. Though the new sense still took time to get used to, he could kind of filter it in with his other senses. Like how you can hear while looking.

Instead of grinding, they decided to experiment with Lucas’ new ability before calling it a day.

“Okay, now try to push it,” Lucas said.

“Push what?” Brian said.

Brian had his hand on Jack’s stomach, the place where all of Jack’s mana was being spewed out uncontrollably into the environment, according to Lucas.

“Okay, so I think you can probably manipulate mana but since you can’t sense it your skill is useless. As soon as we get new skill points, we are all getting mana manipulation and mana sense. Jack, I’m sorry but you got the bad end of the deal. You’ll have to wait 2 skill points before you can use mana,” Lucas said.

“However, we should all also get mana generation. It is definitely working from what I’m seeing. The amount of mana Jack is generating compared to the amount that is naturally in this environment is like night and day,” Lucas said.

They experimented more and more. And discovered that the limit of Lucas’ mana sense was 5 meters. And that it was not detailed at all. Just vague wave senses.

They decided to call it a day and head back to the real world. They were also curious if Jack would continue to generate mana in the real world and if Lucas’ mana sense would keep working there.

They each mentally pressed the exit button in the game and woke up in the weird VR chair and the metal room. Then they exited the metal rooms and met in the hallway.

“Let’s eat, I’m starving,” Jack said.

“Yeah we can eat outside this building before we head back in and sleep in the rooms. I really need to see the outside. Being inside in the rooms and the game for so long makes me feel claustrophobic,” Brian said.

“Not me, I love it there. Everything is pretty,” Jack said.

“I hate it there. There’s no women,” Lucas said. They all laughed.

When they exited the metal building, they were surrounded by a dozen hispanics.