“Mana has granted me its strength, and with it, the obligation to spread its teachings to everyone in this world.” - The First Preacher, teaching his disciples, in the year 01 A.C.

Cin Coperus smiled. “Well then, before we start our first lesson, my dear disciple, tell me. How does one follow the Path of Mana and grow stronger?” I

thought for a moment. “At the academy, we were taught that besides learning new spells, simply having faith in Mana and the Church would let us grow

stronger over time, and that greater strength would be granted to us only if we were pious.” Master nodded. “Do you agree with that belief?” He asked. I

shook my head. “If being pious was what it took to become stronger, then you never would have existed.” I said. He smiled. “True. If being pious was

what it took, then I never would have grown strong at all. The Church preaches blind faith and trust in mana, viewing intellectually studying and

understanding the principles behind it to be heresy. Which is sheer idiocy, in my opinion, but hey. They’re fanatics. So, let me tell you how you should

become stronger.” He stood up and drew his sword. “Come and attack me.” I nodded, before standing, sword in hand. Over the course of our

conversation, my mana core had partially refilled, giving me about one sixth of my total mana back. Using half of that, I coated my sword in an azure

shine and lunged forwards, making an overhead swing at my new master. He stepped forwards and met my blade with his, yet for some reason, he

hadn’t coated his sword in mana at all. ‘What is he doing?’ I wondered. If our swords were to clash like this, mine would cleave through his like a hot

knife through butter. ‘Is he planning to use mana only at the last second?’ But as our blades grew closer, there was still no azure shine present on his

sword. Colliding, I was sure that my sword would cut through his, so when my sword was cut cleanly in half and his blade stopped right before my

throat, I couldn’t help but widen my eyes in shock. ‘Wha-what happened?’ Stepping back, Cin Coperus opened his mouth and asked, “Did you see what

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I did there?” I shook my head. He smiled. “It's simple really. Instead of coating my entire blade in mana, I merely focused mana to the one point where

our blades connected. Since I made sure the mana I coated that one part of the edge in was denser than what you had coated your entire sword in, my

blade cut through yours effortlessly.” He explained. I gaped at him in shock. “But that’s impossible. You can’t just manifest mana outside of your body

like that. It has to flow from your hands along the sword.” That was just common knowledge. Mana always exited the body before following the will of

the user and taking whatever shape they wished for. That's why spells were always cast from the caster, and never behind the target. Master smiled.

“Incorrect. Mana is not manifested from the body before exiting. Rather, it is manifested within one’s Dominion, before leaving to take what shape the

caster desires.” He sat down on a log. “What’s a Dominion?” I asked. I had never heard that word before. “A Dominion,” Cin Coperus explained, “Is the

area where a person has absolute control over their mana. That's why you can’t send your mana into someone else's body and maintain control over it.

Normally, a Dominion only exists inside your body, but with practice, it is possible to make it grow larger and coat a weapon.” He paused, giving me time

to fully understand what he was saying. ‘An area with absolute control over mana?’ It wasn’t hard to understand the implications of such a concept. If I

could learn to expand my Dominion to cover a large area, then wouldn’t I have control over all the ambient mana in that area? That would mean that

the limitations of my small mana core would be completely bypassed! “You may have already heard of the term describing this idea of coating a weapon

in one’s Dominion.” Master’s voice brought me out of my thoughts. “It’s called One with the Sword. Or spear. Or axe. Or whatever.” I nodded. Professor

Yent had mentioned such a thing before, as a power gained by faithfully following the Path. “How do I learn it?” I asked, barely able to keep the emotion

out of my voice. If I could truly learn how to do this, then I would finally grow stronger. I would finally be able to fight and win. Master smiled. “Tug of

war.” He said. “What?” I asked in confusion. “You will emit mana from your body. I will try to take control over the mana you emit, and you will try to

maintain that control. This process will help you understand the boundary between your Dominion and the outside world, allowing you to slowly make

out the shape of your Dominion and manipulate that shape.” Cin Coperus explained. “When do we start?” I asked eagerly. “Tomorrow.” He said,

crushing my hopes and dreams. “Your mana core is exhausted right now. Come and find me here tomorrow.” With that he simply disappeared. I

blinked, but he was truly gone. Sighing, I looked at my broken sword. Turning around, I headed back to the castle. Despite being a den of my

insecurities and regrets, I couldn’t help but smile as I approached the massive stone walls. ‘The future is bright.’ I thought. It was time for me to grow

stronger.