Rylan perceived his Mana Core. Buried in his solar plexus, an orb of pure mana existed. It did not have a physical presence; if his body were torn apart, it wouldn’t be revealed, but it could be felt all the sa. It was different from an Aura Heart, which existed in the physical realm. He furrowed his brow, his eyes closed. He had realized sothing critical.
I don’t know enough about mana in the first place.
In the past, he hadn’t cared about becoming a powerful Mage or following the family’s footsteps in the least, unlike his siblings. At the age of eighteen, he was only a First Circle Mage. He could only be considered a novice, at most. He rembered all about Aura, but that wasn’t enough; he needed more understanding of mana. In Roland’s mories, “magic”: or its past equivalent: had been a rudintary and undeveloped practice that was only employed by those who were unable to use Aura. Yet, based on what Rylan knew, the situation was the exact opposite in this life. He needed a greater understanding of magic.
“This won’t do.”
He had said that he wouldn’t be leaving his room for the rest of the day, but here he was, about to go against that statent. His face distorted into a bitter smile. The least he could do was wait for Sarah to co back and warn her about his change of plans, so he turned his gaze to his Mana Core once again. It was difficult to even perceive it, both because it was so weak and because his perception was lacking.
I need to hone my six senses.
Improving one’s senses was part of the basic training of a swordsman. Roland had gone further and developed a thod to train his sixth sense, which he had called perception. By uniting his six senses in harmony, he could react to anything before his brain fired up a thought. It had been the pinnacle of instinct. But, Rylan was far from that level. Even his basic five senses were unremarkable.
He kept his eyes closed and tried to extend his perception to the Mana Core. At first, he flat-out failed, but those attempts didn’t even put a dent in his willingness to beco stronger. As Rylan, he was prone to giving up on everything that presented even a slight challenge, but as Roland, he had overco many more disadvantageous scenarios. The na of his current Trait flashed in his mind.
Weak-willed.
It was a Trait that accurately described him, but that needed to change. He couldn’t pay any heed to the desire to give up or self-doubt. He had to beco stronger. Failing to grasp his Mana Core was no longer enough to disturb his concentration. He kept trying, failing each ti. Ti passed by. He sighed and opened his eyes. Roland had never made so little progress at anything he had attempted.
I should do what I can.
He left the bed and stood in the middle of the room. As he had noted before, his body was pathetically weak. Even if only during the ti when he was waiting for Sarah to co back, he should do sothing about it. Rylan looked at the upper wooden beam of his large, four-poster bed. After a second of deliberation, he jumped and grabbed it with both hands. Taking a deep breath, he attempted to do a pull-up. He barely raised his body by a few centiters before stopping. He let go of the wooden beam with a bitter expression. It was still too early for pull-ups. He looked around. Was there anything he could use?
His gaze zeroed in on the three large books on the bookshelf in the corner. They were the only books in the bedroom; Rylan’s past self had never bothered to read anything, which naturally ant that he hadn’t read those either. But he was looking at them for a different reason.
They seem pretty heavy.
Of course, that was only to his current self. He grabbed the one in the middle, then tried lifting it up and down with a single arm. The frown on his face only intensified as the seconds passed. By now, he already had a pretty good idea of what his body was capable of. Naturally, the results weren’t satisfactory.
Still in his quest to fully learn what he could do, Rylan started doing different types of exercise using nothing but the books and his body weight, even if only to strengthen his body a bit. By the ti he felt so progress, he heard a knock on the door. He imdiately stopped, put his shirt back on, and opened the door. As expected, Sarah stood outside, with a man dressed in white at her side. Both of them bowed as she spoke.
“My lord, this is the head chef of the estate. He’s the one responsible for planning the als of my lord’s family.”
Rylan nodded.
“Thank you, Sarah.”
She flinched, but he ignored it. He turned to the cook, who had a nervous expression on his face. Before he could say anything, the man bowed and spoke with a trembling voice.
“I-I am terribly sorry, young master. I will improve, so please-”
The chef stuttered, not managing to finish his sentence. Rylan flashed a bitter smile as he realized the reason for the man’s nervousness and replied.
“There’s no need to be sorry for anything. I have called you because I want to change my diet.”
The chef raised his upper body and tilted his head in confusion. Rylan explained his current goal.
Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.
“I will start training my body, and as such, I need to eat correctly.”
Exercise wasn’t enough to build a healthy body. The most important factor was actually one’s diet; what and how much one ate influenced one’s body heavily. The cook cocked his head but said nothing. After a few monts, the man spoke.
“…I’m certain that I can co up with a al plan for you, young master. What kind of exercise will you be doing?”
“I will be joining the soldiers in their drills. It is fine if you give the sa food that they eat.”
The head chef nearly jumped in place.
“N-No, young master! Why would you eat the sa food as ordinary soldiers? If you wish to train your body, I will co up with a diet!”
Rylan nodded with a smile and guided the cook inside his bedroom, grabbing so paper and an enchanted quill from the wardrobe. The cook gulped. For the next half an hour, the man obtained as much information as possible regarding Rylan’s eating habits and level of exercise. During that period, Sarah rely watched them both from the side, completely silent.
At last, the weekly plan was finished. Rylan smiled as he held it in his hands and spoke.
“Tell the cooks to follow this plan when it cos to from now on.”
The head chef nodded repeatedly.
“Of course, young master!”
After a few more words, Rylan dismissed the man, letting him go back to his duties. He placed the al plan on the bedroom’s table. With this, the first step of his journey to regain his power had been taken. He spoke.
“Sarah, at what ti do the soldiers start training tomorrow?”
The woman was silent for a few, long monts.
“…Five in the morning, my lord.”
Rylan nodded.
“Good. Have you already notified them that I’ll be joining them?”
“Yes.”
He smiled.
“Great. Now, I’ll be heading to our library.”
“…I understand.”
Rylan strode out of the bedroom with Sarah in tow. He didn’t question why she kept following him around unless explicitly told not to. Her job wasn’t only to assist him, but to monitor him closely as well. She was the one most used to cleaning after his ss. Regardless, his destination was the family’s small library. He knew that there were so books and texts regarding mana and magic, even if not many.
I would have preferred to check out a Magic Academy’s library, but this will have to do.
The duo made their way through the Flaheart estate. Finally, they arrived in front of heavy double doors. Rylan pushed them open and entered the room beyond. It was greater in size than Gerard’s study and composed of various bookshelves that stretched up to three ters high. Sunlight still ca in from the large windows, and a chandelier hung from the ceiling. Four Mages turned to look at Rylan, confusion etched in their expressions. A few reading tables could be seen, adding the finishing touch to the old library.
There was no ti to lose. Rylan talked to Sarah.
“Where are the introductory books on mana and Circles?”
“Please follow , my lord.”
He nodded as she walked past him, heading towards a bookcase near the back of the library. She pointed at it once they approached. Rylan ran his fingers and gaze past a few books before decisively pulling out one of them. He read the title.
Introduction to Mana: Elentary.
It would suit his needs. He sat down at one of the reading tables under the watchful eyes of the rest of those in the room. Not caring about them, he started studying. Every ti he saw sothing that seed important, he made sure to read it repeatedly, burning the information into his brain. He devoured the book’s content like he was starved for it. He now understood the value of information. Roland had been able to easily register, morize, and recall information, which had helped when studying various combat styles. Even if only to a certain point, Rylan felt that he could do the sa.
Ti passed by quickly. Rylan stood up and grabbed a few more books from the bookshelf, using them to complent what the first one was missing. The sun dipped below the horizon as he was absorbed in his studies. Over ti, a burning question beca more pronounced. He stood up and scoured the bookshelves for an answer, but found nothing. The nature of this question was extrely simple.
Why isn’t there a single book about Aura?
His instinctive response was that he had been reborn in another world where Aura didn’t exist; this was based on his mories of both lives. Yet, could he truly say that was the case? Even though the Reincarnator Title’s description ntioned life in other realities, wasn’t it far-fetched for him to think that he had reincarnated in a completely different one? There was no way for the current him to know if this was truly a different world. He sighed. His mories as Rylan were too lacking. Throughout this life, he hadn’t bothered to learn much about the world; his lack of knowledge regarding mana was proof of this. This fact now grabbed at his ankles.
Focus.
If he couldn’t find the answer to these questions, there was no point in thinking about them. He would deliberate on them further when the ti was right. He needed to learn about mana first and foremost. Blinking a few tis and rubbing his temples, Rylan went back into his original research. Only when the stars shone brightly in the night sky did he stop and lean back in his chair, letting out a deep breath. For the entire duration, Sarah hadn’t left his side.
Let’s summarize.
He closed his eyes.
Both mana and Aura were types of energy that could alter the world to create phenona, but that was where the similarities ended. Mana stood as a taphysical, ethereal concept that perated not only every living being, but all of existence. It existed universally. Magic consisted of taking one’s own mana and utilizing the mana of one’s surroundings to influence the world according to one’s will.
anwhile, based on Roland’s mories, Aura had existed as a physical form of energy that could be seen, felt, and touched. It had been interpreted as a manifestation of the vitality of living creatures, and functioned mostly as a way to strengthen one’s body and weapons. It was highly dependent on the user’s skill level to do more than that.
At the sa ti, Rylan had noticed sothing. It wasn’t major, but it was like an itch that wouldn’t go away.
Theoretically, at a high enough level, both Aura and mana should function identically.
The books hadn’t dwelled much on higher Circles, since they were introductory texts, but he was intimately familiar with what one could do with Aura. Just like mana, once trained to its peak, it could alter the world. This was sothing he already knew. There were definitely differences, but this similarity made him think.
Even if I can’t use Aura, can’t I use mana to simulate an Aura Heart?
He needed to be careful, but also to test it out imdiately. He stood up, put the books back in their spots, and spoke.
“I’ll be going back to my room. I’ll join the soldiers starting from tomorrow morning.”
Sarah nodded and bowed. The two of them went back to Rylan’s bedroom before she left. He sat on the bed, crossed his legs, took off his shirt, and started taking deep breaths. His future path hinged on this. If mana could be used just like Aura, he already knew what to do. If not, he would have to study magic from the ground up.
Rylan focused. As the hours fell like grains in an hourglass, he felt a change in his Mana Core.
User Comments
0 comments from readers