When Ovid woke up the next morning, the sun had yet to appear in the sky. He folded up the thick blanket neatly so that the corners would align, he then used a rough piece of cloth to clean his teeth, washed his face, and prepared to stand by the window and watch the stars. 

Ovid had a habit where he would watch the skies and record the small changes that occurred every morning. When he had first arrived in this world, he had not done so since he lacked any paper, but now, finding out that the sky didn't change, he felt a sense of melancholy. 

Still, the last moments of the night sky are really beautiful. Ovid thought. 

He prepared to leave the room yet stopped before the door. The clergy had control of all the manuals in the Juliana empire and Catherine had great sway in the clergy. How could she permit him to tread the path towards sainthood right under her nose, much less aid him by providing manuals?  

It was well known among the clergywomen that 'remorse' was not in Catherine's vocabulary. Him finding a good establishment in the city was already crossing the woman's line. Unless a bigshot personally intervened, it would be impossible for Ovid to come into possession of any manuals in the Julian empire. 

What's worse, was that he was completely unfamiliar with this word's language. While he was an exceptionally fast learner, it would certainly take much more than a week to comprehend this world's language. He though for a while and concluded the best course of action would be to rely on Anna to read these manuals out loud before he could read it himself.

Of course, that is if he could obtain a manual in the first place. 

He shook his head to rid himself of the thought, left through the door and walked down the stairs. The first thing he saw was a porcelain plate that was shiny and reflective. On the plate were two pieces of round break accompanied by some honey. The owner was already idling at her front desk so he could only assume that she had wakened even earlier than him and prepared the breakfast.

He silently finished the plain breakfast when the owner pointed at a shelf, it sat not far from the table. Since Ovid could not read this world's language, he took the first book on the shelf and walked back up to the second floor. 

He watched the sky as he waited for Anna to wake up and prepare for her morning. When that was done, he glanced at the book and requested earnestly, "What book is that?" 

Anna patted her still wet hair with a towel and replied, "The book is called ‘Essence of Mana'."

Holding the book, Ovid felt puzzled. The book possesses such a mighty name, yet it was laying simply on the owner's bookshelf. He asked, "What is it about?" 

"The book is about mana of course. But it's not really that special, it allowed ordinary people to sense mana and increase their lifespan by a little. Since you can't get to deaconhood with it, the clergy never restricted it. I even found a copy of it once on the market square in Juliana." 

This sort of book was a manual that can be brought from any town or city.

Ovid opened the book to the first page. He sat on the wooden planks and opened the book to its first page. He looked at Anna earnest and requested, “Can you help?”

Anna smiled and moved next to Ovid, squatting down in an inelegant manner, she tucked her hair behind her ears and began reading. 

The book started out with a single sentence.

“The fault is not in our stars, but ourself.” 

This line came before the introduction, it attracted every reader’s eyes and no one seriously flipping through the boo can miss it. 

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

When people first read this line, they would immediately think thoroughly and question the sentence and the meaning behind it. What was the fault? What are the stars? How can the stars be at fault if they are the most perfect existence in the world? What is ourself? They would supplement these words with their own understanding, before flipping to the next page and continuing through the book. Yet Ovid did not do so, he used his free hand to prevent Anna from flipping to the ensuing page, and swiftly wrote the syllables that came out from her mouth onto a piece of paper.

After the nip left the sheet, they continued to the first chapter of the novel. 

The words on the ‘Essence of Mana' was simple, yet the two read through it carefully. Not much later they finished the first chapter. But neither of them spent any time to think or attempt the content written. The two continued reading and quickly the following chapter’s materials were written on a piece of paper in a language Ovid was familiar with - they mainly talked about opening one’s heart to the world, sensing the fluctuations of mana and to nurture one’s body.

As expected, the novel had not included a single account on how to manipulate mana and channel it through one’s body.

Regardless, when the two were finished, the sun was at its peak. The two went down and nibbled on a few pieces of cold meat before re-reading the book once again.

Ovid went through his own copy, flicking through the pages and re-reading the entire book. 

This time he went through the book faster. It had taken less than an hour. 

He breathed in for five seconds, practising his breathing techniques and re-reading through the book once more. 

After repeating this procedure for a dozen times, the sun from the outside window had faded, replaced by a sea of stars. 

He stored the pages on his hand beneath his bed. Closing his eyes, he organised his thought that popped up during reading and recorded it on another piece of paper. 

When he finally set the quill pen in its stand, the entire book of ‘Essence of Mana’ was imprinted in his mind. 

This was a tried and trued technique. It not only made one memorise the contents, but also allowed one to understand it. 

It would appear familiar to anyone who had gone through the education system of his world. Since the knowledge in a more sophisticated society was inevitably greater than a less developed counterpart, if a student wants to memorise them all before their hair turned grey, special techniques must be developed.

To use this technique, one would not need to read through a book until its spine was broken and the paper had fallen off. As a matter of fact, the library Ovid owned was extremely well kept and appeared just as it had when first brought. However, the contents written within were entirely stored in Ovid’s memory. 

As one would know, the most important part of this method was the last - note-taking. Only after reorganise and accept the entire book, whether in his mind or on paper, could Ovid safely tuck the book between the tight spaces of his library, having transferred all it’s wisdom elsewhere.

After reading ‘Essence of Mana’ and tucking away it’s pages beneath his bed, Ovid continued to ponder upon it. Rather than on paper, however, he performed the action within his mind. As he ate the hearty dinner the owner prepared, he had done so completely at the absence of mind.

What’s the point of learning? To apply the knowledge practically. The reason he had read the ‘Essence of Mana’ was to take his first steps toward deaconhood and being the way of extending his life.

The first step towards deaconhood was to use one’s preception to sense mana. The preception is an abstract concept, yet most have agreed it is dependent on willpower, but not entirely. A coward may possess the willpower to see a thousand miles, while the boldest general could not even see the mana fluctuations before his eyes. That is because perception also depends on talent.

It sounds strange, and in reality, it is even stranger. The manual had included many models on how to achieve preception, but not any definitive instruction. An ordinary person may struggle extremely hard to picture the flow of mana surrounding him/her but can how it surpass a genius like Catherine? 

Neither Ovid no Anna’s had done any preparation for stepping into deaconhood, while princelings in the northern kingdoms and talents in the clergy would have decades of accumulation. However, both had steady spirits and had been tempered through a mundane and ordinary life. Ovid had spent most of his waking days surrounded by endless piles of books and parchment paper, while Anna would clean and cook in the castle, occasionally bargaining for a good price. 

These sort of lives create disposition suited for sensing mana. 

However, how should they achieve this arbitrary preception? 

Ovid spent a long time reflecting on this question, but could not come up with an answer.

However, he did not feel disappointed. He was not a person doubted himself, nor was he arrogant - he was just confident. Even if he could not find an answer now, he had a long lifespan ahead of him and could invent some sort of new method is needed be. It was said that the founder of the old empire, Alexander, was a person who relied entirely on his body, and entered deaconhood without the ability to sense a sliver of mana. 

“The fault is not in our stars, but in ourselves.” 

The essence of manner was read by nobles and commoner alike. By clergymen and those who practice diabolism. There must be some reason it had been placed there. The reason is to guide.

To guide. Even Catherine had a teacher. But Ovid was in a similar situation as the impoverished scholars who could only stare at one book until their eyes burned a hole through the paper. However, Ovid had been entirely homeschool and viewed books as the best teacher. 

‘Essence of Mana’ is simply the general principle. It was akin to learning the timetable. What one must do is to acquire experience through life, or through more books. 

One’s talent is not dependent by the world’s decisions, just as men are not born evil, it is cultivated through their teacher and experience as a whole. As the saying goes, “genius is 1 per cent talent 99 per cent hard work.” 

If Catherine had, for example, used her preception and sensed mana on the first day, she would no doubt be able to sense quite a distance, yet she would not be able to achieve the later stages such as priest and bishop, for her foundation would be imperfect and too weak to support the might of the later levels. A truly aspirational person would gamble on pushing back the day they sense the fluctuations mana possess as far as possible, as achieve a perfect foundation that could even support sainthood. This situation is very rare. Besides the true geniuses like Alexander and the pope, it was practically impossible to achieve. 

“The fault is not in our stars, but in ourselves,”  

It means that what determines one’s future is not fate, but their character.