When I looked back into the window I saw the old monk sitting there smiling at me. He simple nodded at me before standing up and leaving. I guess he knew I managed to achieve some sort of meditation. I doubt he knew what I had to do to get there. Otherwise he wouldn’t be smiling.

After that day my mental state was much more stable. Occasionally I would have break downs and visions of the past. Now instead of shutting down and being tormented I was able to let the black flame burn away my feels and dread.

Having finished my ‘meditation training’ I moved on to my next study. My last study also. It turned out that I didn't have a next tutor instead Alistar was in the library next time I walked in.

He began speaking to me and luckily I was in control of my body at the time.

“Alright, seems you have advanced quickly enough through the other lessons.” He said approvingly as he walked over to one of the near by desks.

“Now it's time to see if you have affinities.” As he said this he pulled out a small chest from the drawer.

He then pulled a key from inside his robe and inserted it into the chest and turn. The chest glowed momentary, showing off its enchantment.

From inside of the chest he pulled out a small orb about the size of a apple. It was crystal clear completely smooth.

“Be very careful holding that it is the purest mana crystal I have come across.” He said As he handed it to me.

I grabbed it and instantly felt a chill run up my spine.

“Alright now channel your mana into the stone. It is enchanted gather your mana and show its underlying properties and what kind of affinities you have.” He said while gesturing at me to begin.

I didn't know how to do that though so I left reality before the spell forced me to and allowed it to take over assuming it some how knew to work the orb. A moment later a small red flame appeared inside the orb. It flickered quite weakly before dying out. As this happend I felt a weakness come over me before passing.

“Well you're a useless fuck!” Alistar exclaimed.

I woke up later sitting in one of the libraries chairs and I could tell my body wasn't feeling great. The image outside of the window was blurry and quite disoriented. On my lap was a piece of paper and on the ground in front of me was a vial with a blue liquid.

I picked up the piece of paper and found out it was a to do list. Apparently I wasn't worth Alistar’s time. I read over what I had to do and it simply stated to read The Fundamentals of Mana Manipulation. Once I was done with that I would have to begin absorbing mana and build up my mana well.

I was honestly pissed though. Not at Alistar, but myself. Doubt hit me like a boulder.

What if I didn't have enough magical talent to figure some way out of this spell. I’d rather die than serve Alistar for life.

I sat there for some while stirring in despair, but eventually my rage one out. I steeled myself to train even harder and to overcome this obstacle. To go through all of that pain only to give up wasn’t an option any more.  I’d show Alistar some day that I'm not fucking useless by shoving a sword down his cocky ass throat.

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All while I was stewing internally my body was already at work flipping through the book. I vouched to myself that I wouldn't give up then and there.

I spent two weeks reading that must old book, but I found myself reading along side my body. It was fascinating reading about mana. Whether it was ways on how to absorb mana from a beast core, or how to channel it through your body to increase your mana pool.

By the end of the book I was able to grasp almost all of the concepts, but had yet to use them. On the day I read the last page my body instantly put the book down and moved over to the mat where I sat previously for meditation practice.

According to the book you had to reach a meditative state, before reaching out to the world's mana. From there you would allow it to flow into you until you had your fill. There were many other way to gain mana, like mana stones or from another magician. According to the book all mana once came from the world’s underling energy and other ways are just a middle man.

Once I sat down I took the first step and began to gaze into the black flame. It made me numb to the world and put my mind to ease, allowing me to slip into a trance.

It was much like the last time except for this time I had a purpose and began to seek out the earth's energy. It took me a couple minutes, but I eventually found it. It was a step pulse of strong energy the coursed all around me. In the air and the soil alike.

I reached out and tried merging with the energy. It felt like I was enveloped by extremely hot water. It wasn't painful, but it sure as hell wasn't comfortable.

After that I tried to open myself up. To allow it to trickle into my body. My pores opened up and began to drink in mana letting it flow through my body to my mana pool. It filled my body with a hot tingling sensation. As I absorbed more the tingling feeling turned to pins and needles. It grew more intense as I continued to drink in more mana. Eventually it felt like daggers piercing my flesh and I had to break off my connection to the world.

It took a moment to stabilize myself then open my eyes. When I did I found that the obsidian room now had another pool this time instead it was a bright blue liquid. It was almost pitiful how small it was though. Compared to the silver liquid it was practically a puddle.

Over the week I have tried to figure out what the silver energy was, but it just sat there stagnant. I just decided to leave it alone for now. I had to focus on the mana I had absorbed.

I watched until I saw about a fourth of the mana float into the are and dissipate into the obsidian ceiling.

As soon as I saw the mana leave I was relieved. My body was already starting to circulate mana through my body without my assistance. By doing that it would not only strengthen my body, but also temper my body preparing it to channel more mana.

Normally this practice is extremely unpleasant and unused, but due to being disconcerted from pain it was a perfect method for me. Sure it wouldn't be pleasant when I merged with my body and remembered the feeling of having my body strengthened, but that is much better than having to go through it in the first place.

Usually mages expand their ability to use mana by carving out their mana well. To do this a mage would need to meditate and enter their inner domain. From there they would harness the mana they had and use it to dig down into their domain digging a hole. This hole would eventually become deeper and wider until it is considered a mana well. By creating a mana well mages could store more mana away.

I decided to work both methods at once. While my body worked on strengthening my body I focus on digging a mana well.

I reached out and grabbed at the mana letting it fall under my control. I then directed it down word and had it begin to dig away at the black stone beneath it. After an hour I the mana I had absorbed was all used up. Feeling a bit strained I looked to see how much progress I had made. I scowled as I saw that only a slight indent was made only about a tenth of the mana pools size.

Welp whatever I had plenty of time on my hands to continue to make my mana well. I took a moment to rest before once again looking into the black flame in order to get another helping of the worlds mana. That time though I was able to absorb a bit more.