Analyze

Akt sat on his bed cross-legged with his eyes closed. He was meditating, trying to sense something that was invisible to the naked eye. A peaceful aura enveloped the room as he sat motionlessly in complete silence. The scene was a perfect picture of tranquility except for the ugly scowl in his face.

He sighed and opened his eyes. "This is hard… How do they do it?"

Traces of frustration could be seen in his furrowed brows. It had already been a couple of hours since he started meditating and had yet to show results. According to the manual, the first and most important step was to try and sense Mana. One must to concentrate hard to awaken one's sensitivity towards said energy and only then would a person be able to take his first step towards cultivation.

On that point, Akt thought that it truly made sense for it to be the start of everything. A person would not be a cultivator if he could not wield Mana after all. His inability to make progress made him vexed and a little anxious.

It was written in the manual that every person had their own way of sensing Mana. This meant that success and failure was not yet set in stone because the awakening of one's awareness of Mana depended on the person himself. This, at the very least, provided him some slight comfort that while it might take him time, he would still be able to succeed if given an opportunity. But that only resulted in the instructions being too vague for him to make sense of. He did not understand the context of "feel the mana", "empty your mind", or even something like "be one with mana". To him, it just sounded like a poorly-made slogan concocted by obscure cults. But no matter how absurd the examples were, it did prove its point that everyone had their own way of comprehending things. A way that Akt just did not understand.

It was then that he remembered something very important. Something that he had taken for granted amidst the excitement brought to him by these new things. It was the fact the he was a superhuman, and one from a different dimension at that. He had something that the residents of this world did not— an Ability.

Superhumans were byproducts of experimentations. On Earth, there once existed an ancient civilization that conducted mass experiments on the populace with the goal of extending human lifespan. However, as seen in dystopian novels, such actions always ended up in complete catastrophe. And it truly did. Mutations occurred, and abominations were created. It signaled the downfall of a prosperous era with its traces only left in historical texts. However, unlike what these ancient people thought, it did not end in complete failure.

Several millenniums later, the humans that made it out alive from that tribulation flourished. Some of their descendants inherited their mutated genes and manifested strong bodies and different types of unique powers. These powers were what they called Abilities.

"Ah. My Ability! How could I forget?" Akt exclaimed. He straightened his bent back upright and hurriedly closed his eyes to concentrate. Deep within, he felt the power that had always been with him all this time. An innate power that he had inherited from his previous world.

"[Analyze]"

His eyes opened abruptly, and a golden light shone from within his pupils. Something unknown spilled out of his body with him as the center and wrapped everything around him within a meter. It only took a moment before that something receded inside his body but accompanying it was an influx of information that flooded his mind. It felt as if time had stood still. His brain methodically sorted the collected data, constructed several calculations, and deconstructed them all in a matter of seconds by itself. What was unclear became clear. And what was hidden in a fog became visible.

In his vision, countless tiny orbs of light appeared out of nowhere, painting his dark empty room into a world akin to that of a starry night sky.

Akt sat on the bed with his mouth agape. His golden eyes widened in astonishment.

"So, this is mana…"

--

After taking a break for a couple minutes, Akt opened the manual to review its contents once more. Sounds of pages being flipped echoed in the room as he put his all in reading, even going as far as to activating his [Analyze] ability to process as much as he can.

The Mana cultivation manual he bought from the Guild only covered the beginning stage of cultivation, or what the book mentioned as the preparation stage. In it, it was stated that the beginning stage was divided into multiple parts:

The first step was what he just did a few minutes ago— Mana Sensing. The book described this part as awakening one's senses in order to perceive mana. One could only start cultivating when mana could be seen after all.

The second step was called Body Tempering. From its name, it was very obvious what this step was for. The cultivator would strengthen and temper his body so that he could withstand containing mana in his insides. This step was done by willing the surrounding mana into hitting the body repeatedly, literally tempering the body from the outside.

"So, this is what I have to do next, huh." Akt chuckled in self-mockery. "If what I analyzed from this is right, I might experience something painful, heh.

He closed his eyes and exhaled a mouthful of air before flipping to the next page.

The third step was Center Opening. According to the manual, every living person has an inner energy center in the body in which the mana could be stored. It was this step that made the second step so important. If it was not done correctly, the practitioner could burst from the inside because the body could not handle the energy properly.

Akt shuddered slightly as he read this part. He would definitely temper his body to the extreme even if he had to use his [Analyze] ability in succession. He would make sure to not miss a single cranny in his body. He did not want to implode after all.

The fourth step was equally important in comparison to the previous steps. Meridian Opening was the step in which one would have to pry one's meridians open. This step would, for sure, bring the cultivator immense pain, but it would also reward the practitioner control over the mana inside his body. Opening the meridians would provide a path on all parts of the body for the mana to course through. This would mean that the cultivator would gain more precise control in which body part would be supplied with mana.

This meant that if one wanted to run faster, the mana could be distributed to the legs. And if one wanted to slash faster and stronger, one would need to focus the mana on the back and arms. Akt even speculated that concentrating the mana into the brain and sensory organs could enhance his [Analyze] ability. However, that was merely a speculation and still needed to be tested.

The fifth and final step of the beginning, or preparation, stage was the Mana Circulation. Much like the body, the meridians could also be tempered. However, using the same method as the second step would not be possible, so one would need to make use of the mana inside the body. The cultivator would have to circulate the mana vigorously in order to strengthen and widen the meridians, allowing for one to move mana much faster without damaging the pathways.

As for the other steps beyond that, Akt did not really want to think about that at the moment. It would still be a long time before that and would rather think of it when the time comes. Of course, he would prepare for that as soon as he could, but that was not needed currently.

Akt closed the manual as he finally finished analyzing the steps he needed to take. He took a deep breath as he panted. His ability was truly useful for these kinds of things, but it was very taxing on the mind. Of course, he would not hesitate to use it once more if needed, but until then, this much was enough for him to safely proceed to the second step.

--

With enough rest, Akt sat on the bed once more. He closed his eyes as he perused through the information that he had analyzed a few moments ago. This time, he was going to perform the second step— Body Tempering.

He concentrated and the tiny orbs of mana appeared visible in his vision once again. Next, he tried to convey his will to the orbs of mana by imagining them hitting his body repeatedly. However, the orbs remained unmoving.

'They… won't move? Then, how about this?'

Half an hour later. Akt tried a lot of things to invoke reactions from the mana orbs like imagining himself blending into the environment, or even going as far as reciting an embarrassing made-up magic spell chant, but the orbs still refused to move. He could only sigh bitterly and do the last thing he ever wanted to do.

"Mana orbs, will you please move? Please, do it for me? I promise to do anything!" Akt begged shamelessly as he spread his arms wide open. "This big brother will do anything, okay? So, please, hit me with everything you got! Hit me!"

"Fuck! Do your kinky shit away from here, kid!" A shout from the room next door sounded. It seemed that the sound-proofing of the inn was not very good. The rent was cheap after all.

Silence pervaded the room. Tears fought to come out as Akt closed his eyes tightly. He felt aggrieved inwardly. "Damn it… they'll definitely think I'm a pervert now."

Pissed, he clenched his fist hard until they turned white and concentrated as hard as he could, fueled with righteous anger. His face contorted like a demon as he bellowed like a general on the battlefield. "Fucking pieces of shit. Move!"

Finally, the mana orbs moved under his command like ducklings following their mother ducks. Multiple orbs hit him everywhere repeatedly like some heavy artillery. His body arched in pain as he was showered with mana orbs.

"Argh! Fuck… It hurts!" Akt clenched his teeth.

He knew that he must concentrate in order to temper his body properly, so he could only endure until the pain goes away.

And so, the room that night was filled with stifled groans as Akt tempered his body.