"Alright Commandants, We've a lot to discuss after my trip. First and most important, the strength of our enemies. The grass-beasts are remarkably simple to defeat once you're familiar with them, at least for a trained group. Civilians or those without mana would find themselves in a losing battle, and that's something I'd like to avoid. Our plans for those spaces outside the walls should be solidified; What are our goals?"

Gillard started with his thoughts, "Well, Milord, The magical oasis that we found will be one of our top priorities for our first expansion, so I recommend we expand our farms in that direction. This will allow us to clear a field of vision for the walls faster since they won't have to clear space for the farms and vision along most of the wall. In our old world, such a project would take months, but I believe as more citizens come to use mana for their daily tasks, our productivity will rise an unbelievable amount. My personal estimates would put the expansion to the oasis as taking no more than a week, and that's without redirecting resources from the clearing elsewhere. Additionally, I suspect that infusing mana into crops will better them somehow; perhaps they will grow faster, or fill one's stomach more, but only time will tell."

"Sir, with our food situation dealt with, and the scholars already beginning the tabulation of knowledge for mana and it's uses and effects, I believe our main focus should be how to expand to this oasis that was mentioned, and getting as much information about the regions nearby as possible so we can get an idea of what we have to work with when these 'competitors' come seeking our downfall. I advise a road be built to this oasis, with farms between here and there. This will reduce the congestion of people inside the city, since it was never built to handle such a thing in the first place. I also advise we begin a 'beginners training' on mana use in order to allow those enterprising citizens to defend themselves. Unfortunately, we have no claim on the land as a kingdom that would hold in the eyes of the commoners, so I suggest 'merely' claiming the area immediately surrounding the city and the oasis."

Lord Cillas considered these advises, then made his decision. " Firstly, shift the farms to be made along a road from here to the oasis. Secondly, I want the road to be made of the highest quality stonework that our masons can provide; This road will be the beginning to the backbone, so we cannot afford it to be in disrepair for any reason. The training provided to commoners should be in the form of a voluntary lecture about using mana for non-combat purposes, and a separate lecture on what will be expected of those who chose to live outside the kingdom's immediate protection."

"Now, I'd like to move away from matters of state and towards the matter of mana. Uses as varied as the users have been discovered, but only a few have true combat potential. Imbuing mana into armor and weapons seems to amplify their durability, and in the case of weaponry, it seems that a mana weapon will eat through non-mana armor as if it were barely there. Besides imbuing, there is also Manifestation, which has been used to great effect by several; What is manifested is something chosen by the user, generally the area of expertise of the user, such as Gillard's multi weapon manifestation, or the fire and wind of other soldiers. Finally, some few have decided to use Internalization, which I suspect is simply Imbuing of one's own body rather than some external item."

The men discussed the finer details of what had been discovered for using mana in combat for quite some time before the lord chose to retire; The road to Oasis had been formalized as a project, and many of the more skilled laborers would have much to do in the coming weeks as farmers moved out of the city and required assistance. Returning to his bedroom, The lord had a short meditation session to see that his newly improved mana quality had nearly finished upgrading the older mana, and that by the morning, some results may be seen from the buildup of natural mana in his body.