Mana

Daron sighed after he finished reading the book and got back to work, waiting for another week before he could have his next lesson.

A week later, his next lesson came about.

"Did you read the book."

"Yes."

"Do you remember everything?"

"Yes."

"Alright then, tell me what is there on page…"

…

'What the hell. This brat learned the book in a week. What kind of nonsensical memory was this? It took me a month to learn that 400-page book!'

"Ahem. Good, good. Now, I will teach you about mana."

"Since you are a Rank 6 knight, you should know of the existence of Internal Energy right?"

"Yes."

"This Internal Energy exists only within once's body, and in certain materials used to make 'herbs'. For knights in training, they need to ingest these herbs to increase their Internal Energy, and for knights like you, you need to use your circulation methods to increase and restore your Internal Energy."

"Yes" Daron naturally did not forget that. Despite not having access to 'herbs' for Rank 6 knights, he was still slowly increasing his Internal Energy using his improved and optimised circulation method which he had decided to call 'Heat circulation' since every time he conducted this method, the air surrounding him as well as the ground below him would lose their heat and become cold, while heat would enter his body and flow into the core he had created.

"There exists another type of energy in this world other than Internal Energy, and that is called Mana."

"Unlike Internal Energy, Mana exists everywhere. No one know how it was formed; however, this mana is intrinsically interlinked with the very laws of Maradona…"

…

[Understanding of Man has reached 27%]

[Limits of explanations has been reached]

[You need to personally experience man in order to gain more understanding]

Daron finished the lecture with a smile on his face as he returned to his duties once more until the next week's lecture came once more.

"Brat, today I will tell you about the levels of being a mage."

"Everyone started off as an apprentice, and then become mages. An apprentice is divided into 4 categories; Beginner Apprentice, Intermediate Apprentice, Advanced Apprentice and Pseudo Mage. In order to become a beginner apprentice, you need to grasp the basic understanding of mana as well as learn to cast a beginner spell. Once you become a beginner apprentice, you need to learn how to absorb mana as well as learning a single intermediate spell in order to advance to Intermediate Apprentice, as well as increase the mana within your body to 5 points."

"Just for reference, most Intermediate spells cost 2 points of mana, while basic spells cost 1 point of mana. Also, once you cast a spell, your mana is passively regenerated over time to the maximum it was. In essence, if you are able to bring your mana points to 3, and use 2 beginner spells, it does not bring your mana points down to 1, but it just uses 2 points which returns back to 3 points within a few hours."

"In order to become an advanced apprentice, you need your mana to reach 8 points and to master a single advanced spell, which uses 4 points of mana. In order to become a pseudo-mage, you need to reach 9 points in mana and learn 2 advanced spells. You also need to convert once of your spells into ultimate spells, which will be a spell that requires only half the mana cost as well as only half the casting time. This Ultimate advanced spell will be the base for your future if and when you become a mage."

"Therefore, all those wishing to become mages first check their talent and affinity. Talent defines your progression speed when it comes to increasing mana, while Affinity defines which element you should chose for your future path, and how easy it will be for you to use spells of that element."

"I will explain about Ultimate spells, talent and affinity in the next lecture. Moving on, in order to become mage, you must increase your points to 10. Naturally, this step is not just 1 point, but a fundamental change in yourself. There is not fixed method to accomplish this, and it will only happen when the opportunity arises."

"Let me put it into perspective, a beginner disciple can kill of any normal human with just the one spell they learn, which includes knights in training. An Intermediate can battle against a Novice knight as long as they are far enough from each other, since it takes time to cast spells. An Advanced Apprentice can kill of any Intermediate knight, and can even escape the pursuit of an Advanced Knight. A pseudo-mage can stall an advanced knight until their mana runs out for a long time, before escaping completely unharmed, but he will not be able to harm an advanced knight."

"On the other hand, a newly advanced mage cane kill 20 advanced knights charging at him all at once."

Daron just took in a cold breath at the level of difference between a pseudo-mage and a true mage.

"Naturally, there are levels for being a Mage as well, ranging from Rank 1 all the way to Rank 4. During these ranks, all you need to do to reach the next rank is to increase your mana points 100 to become Rank 2, 300 to become Rank 3, and 600 to become rank 4."

"From Rank 4 onwards id the level of Great mage. In order to reach this level, you need to fully comprehend and grasp a law. I do not know anything more about Great Mages since I am still at Rank 1."

"Also, let me inform you that you must stop your knight training since it is only a waste of time. Mana is a higher form of energy compared to Internal energy, and the two cannot exist peacefully within once's body. The two are bound to clash, and although it will not affect you in the slightest, mana, being the higher form of energy will always come out as the victor and will slowly erode away your Internal energy. Many people have tried, and all of them wasted their potentials as mages in trying to maintain their knight's training while growing their mana points."

Daron left the room, dejected as Sirious processed all the information she had just learned and applied it in some calculations.

[Master Daron. There is a 10% chance that your Internal Energy might not be eroded by mana when you begin absorbing it. However, due to the lack of understanding of mana, no concrete conclusions can be made as of yet. However, if you are able to completely make the mana submit, just like you did for the Internal Energy, there is a 30% chance that the two might be able to co-exist, however, including the possibility of you being able to make mana; a higher form of energy, submit to you reduces the chances of this technique working.]

Daron's eyes sparkled at this sentence as he got back to working on cleaning the house.