The robed man wearing a cloak waited until the guild employee processed his request. Sharlan just kept looking at the man trying to put a finger on what it was that stood out to him so much. Soon, the man started to leave. Sharlan decided to approach him.
“Hey, you, kisama!”
“Huh? Did you call me?” said some random guy who was not Sharlan’s intended target.
“No, who are you?”
“I am Kisama Yarou, the….”
“I don’t care!” Sharlan ran up to the cloaked man and tried to tap him on the shoulder. A thought flashed through his mind. What if this guy is like really strong and cuts my hand off or something if I try to…uh, nvm I have the rock anyway so I should be fine. Wait, but then if he’s like super strong then he will understand that there is no malicious intent in my action so that would be unneeded anyway. Hmm, using this strat, I could probably judge people’s power levels relatively accurately. People who don’t react are either super strong or super weak. This would be visible after seeing them fight. Meanwhile, people who do react are those who are trying to be strong and give off an aura of unapproachable, but in reality they aren’t that strong.
The guy had already left. He drove away on his motorcycle to complete the quest.
Darn! I keep doing this. At this rate, I’ll miss all of my opportunities. I gotta figure out who he was. I felt a strange power emanating from him. It felt like there was something linking me to him “but I can’t tell what it is.”
“Why can’t you tell me?” said the kid named itIs whatItIs.
The next morning, Sharlan immediately headed out to the location that the king said he should go to start his training arc.
“Where are you going, Sharlan?” asked Joylene
“I am off to see the wizard, the spectacular Sorcerer of Soz” some heads turned in the guild after Sharlan spewed some more nonsense. However, there was something different about their glares. “That’s called alliteration people.”
“Ooh. That sounds interesting. Can I come along?”
Sharlan considered this for a moment. On the one hand, he could have an instance of the class Buddy, which inherits from the parent class Female, during his epic training arc that was about to begin. This option holds a lot of positive qualities. Those being, getting closer through group effort, getting to see a hot girl work out, etc. However, there was one major con that really challenged Sharlan’s usually not incorrect decision making processes. This was the fact that he was super weak. What if I completely embarrass myself in front of her. Or even worse, what if she can lift more than me? Eventually, he decided to go the “main character gets separated from the main party and comes back much stronger” trope.
“Nah, sorry, this is a Royal Order from the King himself. It is most certainly a classified meeting.”
“Oh, is that so? Well, then, come back soon”
“Will do.”
Sharlan left and headed to the mountain temple that was marked on the map given to him by the king. When he finally made it up to the mountain, he saw a classic Ninja dojo. The gates were locked but after knocking on them, servants wearing fancy ninja daytime clothes opened them for him and brought him in to talk to the master.
“Are you Sharlan, the Divine Healer?”
Oh my god. That’s actually a really cool nickname. Thanks king.
“Yes, Tis I, Sharlan, the Divine Healer.”
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“The king has sent great praises regarding you. Shall we get started? First, I’ll need to see where you are at in terms of your capabilities. Here, put your hand on this magic orb.”
Sharlan did as he was told and to his surprise, the magic orb displayed a non-negative non-complex real integer number of mana potential.
“WHAT! How did I get a 45 on my Magic Circuit!?”
“Ah, I see.” said the sensei guy in a very wise old man kind of way. “That must surely be what it is.”
“What is it? Why can I use mana now?”
“You see, there was a curse sealing your mana for the use of a non natural power. However, now that the curse has been broken, you are capable of using mana again.”
“What? You mean the Doors of Death was the cursed ability? Why was it broken? How?”
“That, I do not know. However, I can educate you in everything that I know about mana. I’m sure that a curse so strong that it changed your mana to a negative number means that you sacrificed a lot for that ability. Most likely, your abilities will grow exponentially now that the seal has been broken. Anyway, shall we get started with the training? You just have to sign some documents.”
The training began.
“PUSH HARDER!”
“I CAN’T!”
“YES YOU CAN! THRUST!!”
“UHH! DADDY!”
“STOP CALLING ME THAT! I PREFERED SENSEI!”
They are clearly muscle training. Now, they move onto mana training.
“Ok, so mana is really complicated to understand for most people. Especially peasants who have awakened. However, it seems that you are a fast learner. Let me see what you got.”
Sharlan attempted to do a basic spell and cast, drumroll please. Doodoododododo fireball. It worked.
“Oh my god! I can do magic now!”
“Don’t get ahead of yourself! You still have a long way to go. That’s enough for today. Come back tomorrow and make sure to not forget anything you’ve learned. Oh, and for good measure, do another 200 pushups in your free time.”
Sharlan left sulking. I don’t need the pushups! Why do I have to do them? My mana is gonna be high anyway since the seal is now broken! I guess it’s time to apply this on the battlefield.
Sharlan made it back to the guild and his party avengered.
During the quest.
“Hey Sharlan, use your ability to take on those monsters over there! I’m running low on mana!” said Lloyd
“No”
“What do you mean? Are you still too tired to use the Doors again?”
“No, I’ve got something better. Stand Back.” Sharlan prepared himself, he imaged the bs nonsensical calm circulation of mana in his body that he remembered from so many anime. Using his wand, he cast the fireball spell. The spell instantly incinerated the two monsters and caused a massive shockwave that unshockingly shocked everyone.
“Sharlan! How’d you get so strong so fast?” asked all the fangirls and fanboys in his party.
“My techniques are far too abstract for the mortal mind to comprehend.”
This went on for 3 days. Sharlan went to train in the mornings. Went out on a quest and kept getting stronger. Then, he’d often get called by the king to heal someone. Huh, it seems like the king is making a fine business off of my ability. I think that fat guy was some bank owner. Well, it’s almost time for training again. I don’t wanna go anymore! Why does he always make me do so many unnecessary exercises? It’s not like mana and muscle mass share a direct cause and effect relationship. Even George, who “is literally the pinnacle of the human body can’t cast a basic spell. So why do I have to train?”
“It’s so that you can develop a better connection between the magic flow in your body!” said the sensei.
“But I already have a good….wait no I have the best connection between the magic flow in my body out of anybody! It’s because of my IntFactor!”
“It doesn’t matter! There is always room for improvement”
“Honestly, I don’t think you can even teach me much more. That’s why you’re just wasting my time so that you get paid more by the king. Honestly, I think I’m the strongest in the whole kingdom by now!”
“That is most certainly not the case. For every strongest, there is always someone stronger.”
“What do you mean? Lloyd was said to have the highest mana that the kingdom has ever seen. And now, I’ve surpassed even him! And all it took was three days. Honestly, I could probably take over the whole country, no wait, the whole world at this point. MUHAHAHAH!”
There he goes, our main character has gone mad. Well no, he has been, but he ain’t got the balls to do anything that he claims he will do (yet).
“Calm down. Do you really think magic is just a simple game? There is still so much that you don’t know. Just follow my instructions. At least remember the deal you made with the king.”
“Fine, I’ll spare you for now. But ere long, befalls the day of my ascent.” said Sharlan doing a Chuuni pose.
They went through the usual routine. Sharlan was really tired again but he had developed a slight god complex at this point that kept urging him to prove himself as the main character. Patience Sharlan, Patience. You will get your moment to shine. Your tale is just beginning.
“Okay, that’s enough training for today. Come back again tomorrow and don’t forget to do those pushups.”
“Wait! That can’t be it! At least teach me something that I don’t know yet about magic! Otherwise, what’s the point?”
“Listen Sharlan. You have to learn to be patient. Although I can’t deny that you’re a prodigy, you must understand that rest is an important factor to consider. Do too much of anything and you won’t make progress.”
“C’mon, I’ve been doing this for sooo long now, just one more spell please.”
“I am low on mana, but fine. Here, I’ll show you this advanced one.” The sensei started casting, but then suddenly, he collapsed. His body spazzed out for a moment and then he stopped moving.
“Daddy? Ugh, I mean Sensei?....Sensei, are you all right?” Sharlan, now returned to his normal mental state due to the shock of the situation, ran up and tried helping the man up. There was no pulse. The man was dead.
Oh my god! OH NO! What happened? Is this actually death from mana overuse?! What should I do?