[…Dear companion, if you have followed the instructions correctly and read this part of the book only after completing the process of feeling the mana droplets on your skin, congratulations! You are officially a pre-acolyte, of the lowest degree, without power or knowledge, but still, a pre-acolyte! Haha! You can bet that many did not have as pleasant a fate as yours in the previous task, I myself saw the head of a promising and intelligent young man explode… Well, it doesn't matter! From now on, I will teach you step by step the delicate and complicated process of absorbing mana into your body, and the best part, without any chance of exploding heads! …]
"This old Kenzel doesn't seem very trustworthy… Wait, now he's going to teach the process of absorbing mana!?" Alex exclaimed, his eyes wide open.
"…"
Reading quickly through the described process, Alex only had one thing to say: "Complicated!".
"So, my mental space, besides storing objects, helped me store mana? … Well, I guess that's good, right? …".
[… Finally, we are here! Congratulations, dear acolyte! If you have managed to absorb the mana and your heart and eyes have not turned into goo, it means you have successfully passed! The success rate is approximately 1 in 10, so you are certainly a beloved child of destiny! Your journey, from a normal human to a pre-acolyte and, finally now, an acolyte by right, was long, with an average of 6 months, but now, with the proper qualifications, you are ready to embark on the magical journey that is knowledge! Nothing is easy and nothing comes easily to us, mages, our power is the fruit of much study and dedication. In this book, you will find the basic spell of every acolyte: 'Thunder Sparks'. I will teach you the theory, the ancient activation words, and the mana paths you must make…]
Alex, like a child who received his new video game, wouldn't let the book out of his hand for anything, focusing on recording every detail of information the book provided.
~~~
Hours later.
*Stomach growls*
"..".
"I guess I should eat something..." Alex got up, closing the book in his hand and storing it in his consciousness.
Descending the stairs, Alex headed to the small door, next to the service counter, where the inn's restaurant was located.
"Welcome, sir. Please feel free to sit anywhere." Said the beautiful red-haired girl, with light brown eyes and a simple medieval style dark green dress, adorned with a brown apron.
Accompanying Alex, who responded with a simple "Good Afternoon", after being properly seated, the beautiful girl extended a simple single-page menu: "Here, sir."
[ 1 - Meat stew with vegetables.
2 - Meat stew without vegetables.
3 - Vegetable stew without meat.
4 - Stew. ]
"..".
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"This stew, would it be? ..."
"Ah! Yes, our famous stew." The beautiful attendant replied with a smile.
".."
"Yes, the stew, number 4, it would be: ... " Alex asked, confused.
"Yes, sir. Our stew is very tasty!" The attendant replied with a sweeter smile.
"I would like a meat stew with vegetables, then. And please, I would like a juice of..." Alex says, while looking for the drink options on the menu: "What would be the most ordered juice here?"
"Ah, sir. Definitely the laraberry juice." The girl says, covering a shy smile.
"Ok, then I'll have that."
"Alright, sir. Your order will be ready in a short time." The girl said, winking at Alex while turning to the kitchen.
"... Did she wink at me?" Alex thought, raising one of his eyebrows.
"Hehehe, what's the most ordered juice. He's clearly hitting on me..." The attendant thought, coquettishly, as she went to the kitchen.
~~~
"Ahh..." Alex sighed, sitting in his chair, while patting his belly.
"The stew was really good, the juice then, such a unique taste." Alex sighed, happy. Before his eyebrow furrowed, having a flashback of the events in the restaurant:
In addition to the constant flirting from the attendant to Alex, who responded coldly, or just ignored her, after eating, when he was waiting a bit before going up to his room, an annoyed fat cook, holding a large cleaver, entered the hall shouting.
"Who's the jerk hitting on my wife!"
Right behind, a beautiful red-haired attendant, who was clearly faking crying, pointed at Alex while saying: "That one there, love!"
Interrupting the flashback, Alex said, defenseless: "Ahh... Crazy woman! If it wasn't for the manager going to see the conflict and, remembering that I was in the Premium area, intervening, I would be toast. That psychopath really tried to give me a cleaver! And that evil woman, she really lied about me because I didn't pay attention to her! After a good bath, I really forgot that I was in a medieval world! *Ahh...* at least lunch was free...".
"Well, let's finish studying this spell and get out of this city." He murmured, while materializing a thick book in his hand.
~~~
Two days later, Alex was sitting on his bed in the lotus position, maintaining a serious expression.
After the incident at the restaurant, at night, the evil red-haired attendant came to apologize in his room personally, but despite her insistence on wanting to come in to apologize better, according to her, Alex insisted that she was already forgiven and sent her back.
"I don't want to be killed by a cleaver." He thought.
Apart from that and having to look for another place to eat, his time was completely filled with studying the ancient language, studying magical theory, and constructing the mana route in his body. The last part, which would be the hardest, was the easiest with the help of the mysterious mental space.
"The ancient language and magical theory remind me a lot of programming. There is a logic that, once mastered, everything seems simpler." Alex said as he opened his eyes, smiling.
Remembering the words, Alex whispered: "Surgat fulgura".
Sparks of electricity popped around Alex and, after some time, a small lightning bolt came out of his index finger, pointing at the stone wall in front of the bed.
*ZAP!*
A trembling electric sound resonated, followed by a tiny explosion in the hit area.
Getting up to check the hit location, Alex was surprised to see that, in the massive stone wall, a small chip was removed.
"This can definitely do some damage." He murmured in disbelief.
*KNOCK - KNOCK - KNOCK*
Strong knocks were heard, followed by a worried voice: "Is everything okay in there?! Please, open the door!".
Opening the door, Alex recognized him immediately.
"Sir, could you explain to me what happened here?" The manager said, stretching his neck over Alex's shoulder as if trying to snoop on what might have caused the noise.
"I apologize, Mr. Manager. It happens that I just broke my chair." Alex said before closing the door, running to one of the simple chairs at the small table in the room, breaking it on the floor, and returning to the door.
"You see?" Alex said, holding a broken chair.
Looking with a raised eyebrow, the manager thought: "Did he just break a chair?!"
Externally, the manager just said with a polite smile: "Ah, good. I got scared for nothing, be careful, dear customer... Also, I will have to charge you for the chair you broke, is that okay?"
"Yes, yes, that's fine. Sorry for the worry." Alex said as he quickly closed the door, leaving a lone manager behind.
"..".
"Well, whatever. We do a check-up of the room before giving the bill..." The manager said, with a tired countenance.
Alex, on the other hand, had a big smile on his face, as he looked at the chipped wall and the dust that was still descending among the rays of light coming in through the window.