I was not a very spiritual person, even if I knew for a fact that souls, and probably gods, did exist. There was a difference between knowing something and believing in it. I may be forever grateful to the Lady of the River, lest I was not the religious type.

Having stated all of this, the feeling I got when the mana was touching my soul was nothing but mystical. An out-of-body experience that I found myself unable to describe.

With ease, at least.

My eyes were closed, but I still sensed the white tendrils of mana caressing my soul, as I didn’t need sight to see them. They were small and fickle because of the low mana quantity I was outputting. Nonetheless, they were strong beyond my comprehension.

“Are these the effects of a superb soul?” I asked myself in a trance.

Suddenly I had a newfound urge to upgrade my soul, to make it bigger and stronger, akin to what I feel with my mana pool. Were they linked? I needed to read about it. Every task I completed only raised more questions as I had a better grasp of the matter.

I meditated daily, without a day skipped. In the morning I spend an hour doing common meditation, and in the evening I did the same but with the spiritual variation. Not only was it a great calming exercise, and a good way to start the day, but my mana pool and soul were expanding, albeit at a low rate.

Every other day I interchanged meditation with mana channeling to compare the effects between one and the other. But it seemed I would need more time to have a definitive answer to which is more beneficial to my superb self.

About soul cantrips: I didn’t want to cast them yet. I thought I wasn’t qualified to do them yet. Not because of lacking skills, but my lack of knowledge of my soul. I wouldn’t want to fracture my whole being trying to cast a first-star spell.

I was content enough to meditate for the time being. I could wait a few more weeks to seek advice in nurse Decourse. I had to read more books about the matter, so rushing things up would only have negative repercussions.

“I should take a break though.” I said as I got up from my pillow. “Not a break break. I know myself too well, and that’s a promise I won’t fulfill. But toning down soul stuff and going back to the roots seems a nice prospect.”

Having said that I went to dine.

****

My current goal was five-star spells. Being realistic, I wouldn’t probably achieve it before the holiday's end, but one could dream. Today I was at the library eyeing some arcane spellbooks, looking for a high four-star spell to practice.

It proved a somewhat tedious task as I wanted to learn a useful spell so offensive spells were right off the list. I gave them a look either way.

“Forceful Infusion, what’s this?” The grimoire showed a curious spell. “Inject mana against the target… Why in damnation is there a spell about inducing illnesses in people at the library?”

Because you could throw a metaphorical pebble of mana to someone’s head, did that give you the right to inject poison intravenously into the same person? I thought otherwise. Some lines should be drawn. But that was more about ethics than magic and magic didn't have ethics integrated at its core. Fields like necromancy wouldn’t exist then.

I proceeded to read more spells, not a lot more had raised the same indignation in me. Around sixty percent were offensive spells, one-fifth defensive, and the rest could be classified into utility. My interest was to learn utility ones, but I may be forced to do a defensive one because the others are either too difficult or not really that useful.

I wasn’t satisfied with the first spellbook, so I picked another one. Why were there so many offensive spells? And a good chunk of the ones I considered of the utility kind were spells only on how to manipulate leylines. The arcanist focus on leylines was almost a zealous one.

“Hmm… Distort Mana…” A spell that makes it more difficult for others to cast. Emphasis on the cast. “…Atmospheric Barrier… prevents nature’s ailments. Interesting.”

“Atmospheric Barrier is a barrier-type spell that prevents nature’s ailments around the caster. An arcane-charged zone that deflects rain and wind and is able to affect temperature within a few degrees.” This was the synopsis given by the author about the spell. Not a game changer, but it would be nice in case I don’t have an umbrella when water starts pouring.

“Hmm… deflects wind.” This part particularly interested me. “Is it able to shield against wind magic or does it only work for the non-magical wind? Perhaps it works like Force Shield and repels everything while it stands.”

The umbrella spell was my final choice. A high four-star spell that would let me train and could be useful. I memorized the framework and took some notes and went home. I wish the library had training grounds.

****

It was weird how time passed by painfully slowly when you were bored, and mind-blowingly fast when you were entertained. Today was the last day of Scorch. School would begin tomorrow, but most importantly, my library subscription will end.

I was mourning my loss as I meditated. These last few days I used to the last second, copying all spells which I’d liked to learn yet I was unable to spellcast at the moment or weren’t in my own spellbook.

While I felt pain to my knowledge’s crusade coming to a close, I couldn’t deny this was my most productive year yet. I wish I had been able to read this many years ago, I had spent the first five years of my life with nothing but free time. Free time devoid of literature, of course.

I had multiple spells under my belt and my mana pool had undergone an incredible expansion. Not to pat myself on the back, but with my prodigious willpower and non-stop meditation, I was able to offset the difference between normal children’s mana pool and mine.

The first years of my life, where I was unable to form my mana pool had created a great rift compared to other people of my age. This ended now as I didn’t think any children would accept a daily hour of meditation, and two even less. Still, my problems about increasing my mana pool wouldn’t go away. This whole thing was provoked by the quality of my mana, and I feared my mana pool growth would decrease with time as my mana became purer.

Now, I wouldn’t need to use Mana Pond to compensate for my lacking reservoir. I would still do it, though. I really liked the sensation that the mana-charged aura gave me.

And I also liked the pretty colors.

****

I sighed as I entered my classroom after a hundred days of holidays, it was nice to have such a round number dividing the seasons. Some students were agitated, and others couldn’t give a damn.

“Edrie!” A wild Marissa jumped at me and hugged me.

The sudden physical contact made my brain reboot. “Oh, hello there, Marissa.” I told her, still surprised.

“Why haven’t you seen me these holidays?” She inquired.

“Oh.” I had totally forgotten about her. “Hmm… I was reading.”

Even if it was the truth, I admitted it sounded like a pathetic excuse. I had literally been from noon to twilight at the Open Archives, there wasn’t a single instance where I could have found her. I really failed as a friend, hadn’t I?

“So you are telling me that you have spent all hundred days of holidays doing nothing but reading?” Marissa was more dubious about my claim than angry at my lack of loyalty.

“Basically.” I shrugged, still unable to comprehend the girl before me. “Did you know that there’s a great library in the neighboring sector? I have read hundreds of books there.”

“Hundreds? Augh!” Marissa flinched and groaned audibly. She gained some looks from the students, but she ignored them. “But you were so focused that you hadn’t had time to even visit me for a day?”

“Yes.” I responded nonchalantly. “Between meditating two times a day and going to the library, then taking notes, yeah, I was pretty occupied.”

“Why do you work in your free time? Are you a monster?” She was repugned, unable to accept that some people took pleasure in the knowledge.

The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

“Well, I had some deficiencies when I was young, so I am compensating for them now.” I explained to her as I sat in my place. “My mana pool was abysmally small. Now? Less so.”

“What do you consider small?” She sat next to me.

“Around fifty to sixty Magic Chips?” While that was a lot of cantrips, it ended up being around eleven spellcasts of a three-star spell. Sorcery-wise, even less, as the casting school of magic wasted more mana.

“Sixty Magic Chips? If a Wind Shear is six Magic Chips…” Marissa did the math with her fingers. Sometimes I forgot that she was twelve-year-old. “Ten Wind Shears!” She exclaimed proudly of her mathematical achievement. “Hmm… I can spellcast twelve, so you are behind. Then… I am better!”

Ignoring Marissa’s superiority complex, she had a considerable amount of mana. Wind Shear was a third-tier spell, and she said it was equivalent to six Magic Chips when it should have the same cost as an Arcane Chip (probably this is because of her lower affinity compared to mine), and yet she could spellcast more than I.

If we assumed Magic Chip was one mana point, then Marissa had a total of seventy-two mana points. Although I could spellcast the same quantity of three-star spells, mine were cheaper, so my mana capacity was lower than hers at a sixty-four theoretical mana points.

While she had a bit more mana than I, the fact I could use arcane magic at a lower cost was far more valuable than eight mana points. Hmm. There must be a better way to measure mana.

…

Was I mentally challenged? Novela (the shopkeeper, not the teacher) had a machine to measure mana pool size that she used on me when I was younger. It happened so long ago that I forgot about its existence. How could I forget about something so useful?

Then I remembered. I was indeed a moron.

This was, perhaps, the only certainty I had in the whole world.

“Hello? Edrie, are you there?” Marissa shook my body.

“Yes, yes. Stop it.” I responded. “I blanked out for a second remembering something.”

“What was it?” She said as she played with her hair, clearly not interested but I also was her only partner she could speak with.

“I know a lady that can measure our mana, so we could give her a visit.”

“Oh!” Her eyes shone brightly. “I wanna do it!”

“We cou-“ I stopped as the class suddenly became silent. A student’s reflex, you could say.

“Is everyone here?” Professor Accord walked across the classroom as he examined it. “Seems we are all here, alright.” His abuse of the word ‘alright’ had become a nostalgic feeling. “Welcome everyone for your final semester of the fifth year. I hope you have your energies full because this is going to be even harder than the previous ones!”

To no one’s surprise, there was no cheering or any expression by the students at that. Accord’s words did not affect me. I had no difficulty whatsoever in the first two semesters, sometimes I felt I was actually losing brain cells by the triviality of the classes. This day wasn’t any different.

I thought about going directly to the nursery so I could speak with Alatea, but I was in no rush, and I owed Marissa to spend some time with her. So when we finished the school day we went to Novela’s shop.

Even after so many years, the shop façade was exactly as I remembered it. Hard emphasis on ‘exactly’. I didn’t know what the cause was: Novela’s careless attitude or the ellari’s skewed perception of time. Maybe a mix of both. But the fact that the shop hadn’t changed a bit was curious, nonetheless.

“Ladies first.” I pointed at the door as I spoke to Marissa.

“Then shouldn’t you go first?” Marissa’s childish quip fell on silent ears. After a few seconds of no reaction on my part, Marissa conceded and opened the door with a grunt.

Ding! The bell rang as we entered.

“I’m coming!” A familiar woman’s voice said from the back room. “Oh, little Edrie. Long time no see.” She saluted me but her gaze was pulled towards Marissa. “Who’s she? Your girlfriend?”

OOF! Before I had a chance to respond, Marissa elbowed me directly on the solar plexus. I recoiled from the damage, stumbling a few steps back. I wondered how I managed to stay upright after that.

“It doesn’t seem like it,” Novela commented with a smirk.

“That was… totally uncalled for,” I said between breaths.

“What are you talking about?” Marissa acted all innocent. “Anyway, my name is Marissa, and I suppose you are the Novela I have heard about?”

“You are certainly correct, little Marissa.” Novela nodded. “But why did you flinch out of nowhere, Edrie?”

Oh, perfectly. Now there were two of them. Why the grumpy Novela was suddenly so friendly with Marissa? I recalled her expression of despise and sloth every time I visited her. It made no sense. I couldn’t hold my sigh.

“What are you doing here anyway?” Novela asked as her arms rested on the counter.

“Oh, right.” The girls’ shenanigans had distracted me. “We came to use the device that measures the mana pool.”

“Really? After so many years you come for only this?” Novela’s tone was afflicted with a touch of sadness. Now I felt bad. “Pfft!” Novela began laughing like a maniac. “Sorry, sorry. I just had to do it.” I retract everything I said. “I have no problem with checking your mana pools.”

“Yey!” Marissa jumped on the spot. “I’m going to beat you, Edrie!”

“Not everything is a competition, Marissa,” I told her.

“You only say that because you know you are going to lose.” She counterattacked.

“Sure,” I said half-defeated. I knew for a fact that my mana pool was smaller than hers. I just did the math a few hours ago.

“Come on, children. I don’t have all the time in the world.” Novela pointed us to follow her.

“Are you even going to do anything after this?” I asked her.

“Do you really want that checking? Because it doesn’t look like it to me.”

“I said nothing.” Marissa laughed at my back when I stopped talking.

The white stone platform was a familiar sight even if I had only used it once. I associated the object with the itch that it provoked. Most probably an effect on the soul.

“Marissa, you go first.” Novela pointed at the platform. “Step on it.”

Marissa followed her instructions, stepping into the white circle and instantly shivering once both of her feet were still.

“Ahhh…” She swayed lightly as the mana probe illuminated below her.

“Don’t be such a drama queen,” Novela told her. “It will discomfort you a bit, but just stay still for a minute.”

Hmm. While I did remember the uncomfortable itch, it was nowhere noticeable to quiver as Marissa was doing. Another matter related to the soul? Is it because I have more affinity to Soul?

“How does this artifact work?” I asked Novela who was looking closely at Marissa.

She turned towards me. “The mana probe? Hmm. It’s a bit complicated to explain to a child, but it basically scans the user’s body and soul to check their mana capacity.”

“Why does it also check the soul?” I asked. “Isn’t the mana pool exclusively located at the body?”

“Ah, that’s a lie that they tell you at school to not overload your childish mind with needless details.” Novela blatantly stated. “While the mana pool is indeed located at the body, that’s not the whole truth. There’s a considerable amount of mana in everyone’s soul, not big, but still worthwhile. Mystics and people with sizeable souls benefit from this extra mana reservoir more.”

“So then, if I hypothetically had Soul affinity and were expanding my soul, I would be able to increase my mana pool?” I asked her.

“Hypothetically, what do you mean? Weren’t you…”

I nudged my head towards Marissa, giving her a quick glance. Novela understood my message as she renewed her speaking.

“Well, hypothetically speaking, having a greater soul will lead to more mana on the soul, but it will be less than doing common meditation.” Novela added. “Hypothetically speaking, obviously.” Subtle as an unbound pyromancer on a library.

The platform stopped emitting light and Marissa exhaled tiredly. “Can I step down?”

“Yes, of course.” Novela landed her a hand and helped Marissa as she seemed a bit dizzy.

“Well, how much mana have I got?” Marissa asked a few moments later after she had somewhat recovered.

“Let me see.” Novela started spellcasting.

Curious, I don’t remember her doing that before. Perhaps I was unable to tell when someone was conjuring as easily as I did now. Suddenly, the previously white glowing platform shifted to a pinkish tone.

“Pink mana pool, suitable for your age, nothing out of the ordinary,” Novela stated.

“Wait, isn’t there a way to measure a mana pool’s capacity in a more precise way?” I asked her. I refuse to believe that our advanced civilization used a basic color system to determine the most important information about a mage.

“There is.” Novela affirmed. “But it’s tedious to set up and I would charge you for using it.”

I could understand why she hadn’t told me this before. As a child, I had no money in my name. I could talk about it with my father, but looking at Novela’s expression, it didn’t look like a cheap fee.

“Either way, it isn’t worth it to use that machine with you.” She added. “At the lower levels, there isn’t a notable difference between tiers. The tool is thought with adult sorcerers in mind, who value a lot more their mana pool size.”

“Oh.” I expressed by reflex.

“Alright… But what does pink mana pool mean, either way?” Marissa, who was behind me, asked.

“It’s just a way to categorize mana concentration. It goes from white to pink, to blue, to violet, and finally purple. There are also shallow and deep prefixes, for the lower and higher points of each tier. So, you are not a total beginner, but as you can see, you still got a long path to travel.” Novela then looked at her. “You got that, girl?”

“Yes, ma’am!” Marissa responded with a makeshift military salute.

These two were certainly on the same wavelength, weren’t they?

“Well, then. Are you going to stand there all day, or will you step on the probe?” Novela told me with a ‘stop wasting my time’ tone.

“Going, going.” I put my feet on the platform, and I felt my soul being probed.

Unlike Marissa, I wasn’t experiencing an unbearable itch. Actually, it felt tamer than the first time I did this. Correlating it with Novela’s explanation, I was most certain that this was to my expanded soul after tens of hours of spiritual meditation.

“What were you talking about? Something about souls?” Marissa asked, now freed from her chains.

I gave Novela a mean glance. If my mother and father wanted to keep my affinity as a secret, even from their own parents, I would respect their wishes. But Novela already knew that, perhaps she had a better understanding of the situation than I.

“Little Edrie asked why the mana probe also examined the soul, so I told him that the soul actually holds mana.” She explained without going into details.

“Wait, it does?” Marissa was taught like I that the mana pool was contained to the body, so she reacted as I did.

“Yes.” Novela nodded. “Not a whole lot of mana, but it can become noticeable once you grow older. For example, my soul now has around the same mana as your entire mana pool. This is only the result of my age, as I am not a soul practitioner, and I made no effort towards that field.” She eyed me.

“Wow~” Marissa was stunned by this fact. The idea of holding a mana pool the size of hers at the current time by just being alive was an incredible prospect.

But knowing the ellari lifespan, Novela was around a century-year old. So, Marissa wouldn’t reach those numbers in a long time. The exchange lasted around a minute, which was stopped when the platform’s light diminished.

“Let’s see how you are going,” Novela commented as I left the stone circlet.

“Let me guess, pink mana pool?”

“I’m afraid you’re wrong.” She responded after a few seconds. “Shallow pink mana pool. Though there isn’t much distinction.”

I shrugged at her comment, as I already knew my mana pool was lower than Marissa’s. We stayed around the shop for a quarter of an hour more as Marissa was fascinated by the magical shop and she also wanted to boast and belittle me a bit. Marissa and I ended up going for a stroll to the park as we had done almost daily before the holidays.