I woke up with a gasp. The blanket I had taken from the cot was wrapped loosely around me and did little to fight off the chilling air that kissed my flesh. For a few brief seconds, I sat there, confused, as I glanced around, trying to figure out where I was. The stone ceiling seemed to press in on me, and the cold ground bit deep into my skin, chilling me. The sound of the fountain perpetually rolling served as a focal point, yet it also gnawed at my mind.

But it came back, rushing into me like a crashing tide. There was magic now, monsters, and a whole game-like system that dictated my life. That feeling of betrayal rested against my heart at the thought. Why was life so unfair? Why was everything that I thought I knew a lie? I sighed as I pulled my legs up close to me and wrapped the surrounding blanket tighter to fight off the chill in the air.

The confusion melted away and was replaced by a numbness that bled into every part of me. I didn't know how else to cope with all of this. But I did know that I wanted to get out of here. I needed to check on my closest friends and make sure my family was alright. But I was scared of this. I was trapped in this place, and the only way I could get out would be to kill my way out. I've never killed anything, so the thought of doing so repulsed me. The conflict within me built as I juggled my choices. Do I just lay here and die or try to get out no matter what?

No, I wouldn't give up. Dad didn't raise a quitter. No matter how bad it looked, I won't give in. I couldn't. I brought my attention back to the hud that rested in my vision. My brain had already filtered out all the small icons, and I nearly forgot that they were there. But now it was time to go spelunking. "Outside of collecting mana cores, is there any other way to get magic?" I quickly consulted the information that it told me about yesterday. Sitting on my haunches would only lead to my death, which was something I would not allow. No, I will keep moving forward, no matter the cost.

With the introduction of the system to help acclimate Aether, your body can now discern how the Aether functions. With the consumption of mana cores, the body can readily digest ambient mana. However, without a core, it's up to the user to locate ambient mana and cultivate it. A bit of advice is that the Aether is present in everything. It is a binding force of the universe, so one only needs to look inwards to find it.

The words floated across my vision, and a sense of relief flooded me. So it was going to be difficult, but not impossible. That was good. "How do I cultivate mana?" The system keeps talking about Aether, but it also used mana, so perhaps the words were interchangeable.

Cultivating mana comes down to discovering how the Aether works and shifting it to your purpose. This is made easier with higher mental stats than physical. However, it is not impossible to blend both into one.

Thank God. I could learn magic and work on my physical strength. So I just need to figure out how the Aether works? But how do I do that? I read the text and saw where it said one only needs to look inward. But what does that mean? Do I need to meditate or something like that? I didn't really believe in stuff like that since it never really worked for me.

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But now, I would readily sacrifice anything I believed in to get out of here. I didn't want to die here. I dismissed the screen, and another sigh left my lips. So now the question was, what kind of mana could I get? The system said it was everywhere, so in theory, I could find something to use. Honestly, I would take anything if it meant that I could fight whatever those monsters were outside.

I sat silently, listening to the fountain constantly running as I weighed my options. Until I could figure out how to manipulate the Aether, I would have to work on my body a bit. I was far too weak to fight those things with my bare hands. So, for now, I would have to work out. After all, I had everything I needed here, and I was trapped unless I did something about it. I pushed myself off the ground, wandered over to the fountain, and dipped my hand into the liquid. It was strange, really. It felt like water and wasn't thick, yet the system said it contained everything I needed to survive. I felt a grimace cross my face as I realized how grueling this would all be.

I brought it to my lips, and the liquid filled my mouth. Instantly, I wanted to recoil from it. There were no flavors nor thickness. Now that I was awake and over the shock of what I had experienced, I could truly hate what I was drinking. It felt so wrong, and the more I pondered on it, the worse it became. But I still drank it nonetheless, even though my body didn't want it. I gulped down the chilled liquid, backed away from the fountain, and glanced around. The feeling of those monsters breaking into the safe zone slowly faded away. I wandered back to the cot, sat down, and wrapped the blanket around me again. Now, what was I going to do?

It would be for the best if I planned my day out with exercises when I wake up and then magic practice, but that would require me to learn how to use mana. Naturally, if what the system said was true, then that could mean that I could influence straight Aether. Though I still had no clue what it was, even though the system told me it was a unifying force of nature. However, that knowledge eluded me.

But I also knew that I couldn't rely on the knowledge that rested within my textbooks. At least not entirely. The sting of betrayal was still all too real, yet, I'm sure it was based on the truth. But I didn't know anymore. It all felt like a lie to me. I reached out to my backpack, quickly undid the zipper, and rifled through the books that rested within it. Let's see, I had a textbook on A&P, Musical theory, History, Calculus, Physics, and whatever else the college decided I needed to get my degree. I quickly discarded anything I didn't deem necessary, like history and art. The A&P book was also useless because while it did help with human anatomy, I had no clue what those things out there were, and I doubted it would help me, so I discarded it to the side as well.

My math book, musical theory, and physics were all left. While I doubted that the physics would have remained the same here, it still didn't hurt to look at it and see what I could find. Maybe a spark of inspiration of some sort. The same as the other ones. But I didn't have any hope on the matter.

Now, let's see, the creatures I knew I was fighting were mimics and thralls. One of which I would assume would be resistant to fire to some extent, and the other would be weak to it. So I could use fire magic, but it wouldn't be the best choice; if I did get it, I wouldn't complain. Maybe air or wind magic, or whatever it would be called? I wasn't sure still. There were so many variables at play that I didn't quite know how to deal with it, but I would do my best to come out on top. But for now, it was time to study and see if there was anything I could use. Perhaps some stuff would remain valid in this new world of mine.