Follow along with the audio chapter! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9gTr4waGYus&index=14&list=PLqDdUMMPmcNlyxfzZgSGDJvIbcZPmVUmS
Matthew packed the last box in the back of the car. He was finally ready to go to college! His dad rolled down the window, and said from inside the car, "Go say goodbye to your brother, you two may not see each other until Thanksgiving, at the very least. Then, we roll out to your university. It stills baffles me that you were able to get a full ride...." Matthew headed back into the house, and looked for his brother. Alex was sitting on the couch, watching a the Royal Road "Top Plays of the Week" show. He looked up at him.
"You headed out?" He said bluntly.
"Yeah. This is probably the last time we will see each other face to face in real life, at least until Thanksgiving. I just wanted to say goodbye." Matthew, even though Alex had his failings, Matthew still cared about his clumsy, older brother. From these words, Alex stood up, and gave Matthew a bear hug, almost crushing Matthew's ribs from the sheer power of his grasp.
"You may be an idiot, but I'm going to miss you." Alex finally let go, allowing Matthew to take a gasp for air. "Good news is, we can see each other in Royal Road, once we meet up, right? We can catch up there. I still plan on beating the crap out of you in our duel." Alex smirked, and placed his fists on his hips, taking a (sub-par) heroic stance. Matthew couldn't help but chuckle. "What's so funny?" His smirk disappeared, and was reintroduced as a half-scowl.
"It is just that we are arguing about which character is better. It really doesn't matter, because we are going to end up working together in the end, anyway, right?" Matthew concluded. Alex didn't even think about that, he was dumbfounded at this logic. Did he plan on fighting Matthew each time he saw him? "Alex, remember, we can always duel each other, to determine who has the better combat strength. But, remember, it all comes down to whether that combat ability can save your party from danger. Regardless, we will see each other, we will duel, and after that..." Matthew paused, making sure Alex was on the same page as him. He continued, "...we can be the best tag-team in Royal Road, right?"
"Right!" Alex got it, and realized that Matthew wasn't irritated anymore. This was a good thing, indeed. He gave his brother a thumbs up. "All right, hero, go on and go to college now, you don't want to keep your future waiting."
Matthew took his turn to hug Alex now. "Thanks, bro. I will see you soon!" And with that, Matthew left the house, and went on to college. Alex watched as the car rolled out of the driveway, and out of sight. A tear rolled down Alex's cheek.
"I hope he loves college, 'cause I know I did, my first year." Alex turned to go back to the television, alone in a house of solitude.
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Karth waltzed through the Kaine Forest Dungeon, pondering, and melting trees and creatures alike with his fire streams flowing from his palms. "I know he said he would be on once he got to college, but it has been a week now, and I haven't heard from him yet. This is really odd. I hope he is okay...." He continued past the melting totem, that would have released a trap, if undamaged. "These dungeons really are a bore, now. Now, after this dungeon, I need to double check which direction the Floating City of Heaven is." He saw the ochu pop out of the thicket, and it grabbed his leg. "Who do you think you are, touching the King Fire Mage?" He smiled slyly, and lowered his hands to the sides of his mahogany robes. A circle of flames shot out from the ground around him, singeing the ochu's tentacle off. The creature squealed in pain. "Good, I am glad you felt that. This will be fun." He threw his hands in front of him, lancing the ochu with a beam of fire. He then conjured a sword made of flames, and rushed at the creature with crazed laughter.
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Matthew set the last empty box in the dumpster, wiping his hands of that burden. It took him the whole first week before school started to get unpacked, due to the fact that he could not find places to put his knick-knacks. He prioritized putting his pod next to his bed, until his was able to find some way to get rid of the bed entirely, and use the pod for sleeping, as well as Royal Road. After he grabbed some food to eat from his dorm's front lobby, he hopped in the pod, and entered Royal Road.
He returned to the library, to receive some tutelage from Frederick. He didn't teach Mathgar that really cool ice/frost spell, but he helped him understand the importance of finding his mana within himself. He helped him train a few of his spells, by being his target practice. Apparently, there was a staircase behind one of the bookcases leading down into a fairly roomy, and empty, storage room, which they used for magic training. Mathgar was able to raise his Entangle, Magic Missile, Blade Of Justice, Healing Spring, and Shockwave spells all by at least three levels.
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"Impressive, Mathgar. You are becoming proficient with those very fast! Maybe we should stop for the day. We have been going for 6 hours straight, you know. Let's take a chance to eat." Frederick projected to Mathgar. He sat down, and pulled out a small leather bag, and pulled out a sandwich, which he proceeded to eat. Mathgar decided to do the same. He pulled out what remaining bread chunks he had left, and began to nibble on them. They were tasteless, and really dry. But, it was bread, and Mathgar loved bread. "Actually-" Frederick stood up, finishing his sandwich at a remarkable speed, "-I must attend to some errands, we can be done for today. Go ahead and find something else to do to occupy your time. Remember, you are always welcome in my library. I will be back tomorrow." He smiled lightly, then went to the staircase, and out of the basement. Mathgar sat for a moment, in silence, and decided to pull out the research notes that he had copied before returning them to Frederick. Chapter One of the "Spell Weaving" section said:
"To be able to weave mana together in its finest form, you must first look within yourself, and find your own font, your source of mana. Picture, as you close your eyes, a fountain, with water spewing forth from the center, and into the pools beneath. Now, imagine these pools flow into your body, through your arms, legs, torso, and head, through channels. This water flows to the farthest points of the body, and returns through opposite channels, refueling the fountain. This is the mana channel, from which magic thrives, and is created....."
That was a good representation, similar to the chakra network for ninjas, in a manga he read once. He gave it a whirl, he sat in a meditative position, and looked inward, searching for the font. He saw the font, but something was intriguing about it; the mana stream that flow from it was high in volume. The pressure from the fountain was that of a fire hose, and was spraying everywhere, and most of the mana was not even entering the lower pools. He saw that there was a problem with the fountain: the top of the fountain was partially blocked. He willed the blockage to be removed, and the fountain returned to normal.
However, he did not know what to do with the blockage. It resembled a gray cube, without a design, or anything significant on it. He thought that maybe reforming it would make the fountain more useful. He reshaped the cube into a perfect sphere, and placed it back onto the upward stream of the fountain. The sphere glowed brightly, and the mana stream intensified again with the same strength as before, but it was stable. The mana's color pulsated to match Mathgar's heartbeat, and flowed constantly at a ridiculous speed. This is how much mana he had within himself? Mathgar thought.
He exited his inner mind, and the first thing he saw was his hands, which had an intense, royal blue aura around them. He flexed his hands, and the aura remained unwavered.
*Ding*
You have gained more knowledge of the Mana Channel.
Flow rises by 15. (+15 FLW)
Knowledge rises by 10. (+10 KNW)
Mathgar stood up, and tried to shake the intense aura off, and the aura slowly ebbed away into nothingness. He was astounded. "Is this what full control feels like?"
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If you guys didn't see at the top, the companion audio chapter is at this url! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9gTr4waGYus&index=14&list=PLqDdUMMPmcNlyxfzZgSGDJvIbcZPmVUmS