Midnight Training

After the movie, Dan slept immediately. But exactly at 11.40 PM, Jon woke Dan up. "YOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO, DAN!!" A loud scream that made Dan jump. His heart pounded loud, he was breathing heavily.

"The fuck is wrong with you, Jon?" Dan whispers

"It's midnight, time to train!!"

"Are you fucking kidding me?"

"NOPE. Wear the sorcerer attire and sneak out through your window and to the football (soccer) field! Come on, you've got a lot to learn! Not a single second to waste."

"Ugh... Fine."

Dan wiped his eyes and changed into the suit. The suit wasn't just a social suit, it was designed to withstand approximately 2000 degrees Celsius, it's very flexible and even bulletproof. But it doesn't shield him from the sheer force of the bullet—your lungs are crushed but hey, at least you don't have holes in your body.

He snuck out of the house and ran to the football field. A standard 110x90 field.

"Okay, what do you want me to do?" Dan ask

"Learn magic, idiot."

"No shit, jackass. How?"

"Do you know what mana feels like?" Jon ask

"No?"

"We're gonna be here a while." Jon sighed

"Got somewhere to be?"

"What did it feel like when you awakened your powers?"

For Dan, he felt a weird surge of adrenaline and a really bad stomach ache. He felt it in class. It was just him and Sam. The lights flickered in the room and a dark shroud entered Dan's body. Then the shroud started covering him from within and then gathered directly in front of his chest. The shroud then was shot out from his chest which made a loud screech, then Dan suffered a seizure.

"Ehh... That's not a good feeling." Jon commented

"What do you mean?"

"I didn't have a seizure when the shroud entered my body. Incompatible? Probably not. If he were, he'd be dead. Maybe his body was fighting off the shroud. If he can fight off the shroud then..."

"Then what?" Dan's anticipating Jon to finish his sentence

"I'm not sure. But never mind that."

Jon's head lights up with an idea.

"Here's what you gotta do: remember the feeling when the shroud entered your body."

Dan had a pretty good picture of what it felt like. It didn't hurt but it was incredibly uncomfortable. Like feeling pain without getting hurt.

Dan could recall this feeling but not experience it. But nothing happened.

"Is this it?"

"Yeah."

"What makes someone cry or depressed? What makes someone go on a rampage? What makes someone happy?"

"Um... Their experiences?"

"Then what?"

"From that experience, they conclude what it was like. Then they feel what it was like. Remembering it brings that feeling."

"Exactly."

"So you mean I need to feel the emotion?"

"Emotion is fuel to what a man can do. Rage can make one go on a rampage, sadness can make someone depressed, joy can make someone cheerful."

"Emotions, huh?"

Dan tried to recall what he felt when it happened. He felt afraid, but also apathetic. He didn't care much about it. He tried to figure out how being afraid or apathetic makes him able to use magic.

He thought about it for a few seconds. An idea lit up in his head.

He feels that emotion and associated it with the shroud. The darkness grew out of him and covered his body.

"Very good. Now feel that darkness within you and bend it to your will." Jon said

"How?" Dan asks

"That darkness isn't coming out of you but it's a disposable extension of yourself."

He waves around his hands and the darkness followed suit. It was like the ribbon in ribbon dancing. He was dumbfounded by it. Dark mana flowed around him majestically.

"Good. Now condense it."

"Condensing it by... Gathering it in one place and pressing it together?"

"Yes. Do it in your whole arm."

"Why the whole arm?"

"Amplification spells are usually constantly surging throughout your body, but focusing on only one limb increases strength significantly and you don't waste that much mana. Try it."

Dan focuses the mana on his right arm and the flow of mana became more calm and dense, the mana flowed had a slight tint of blue. He lifts his right fist into the air and pounds the ground. The moment his fist touches the ground, it shook the neighborhood, and dented the ground, creating a crater. Then followed the impact was a wave of mana that was stored in his arm.

"Oh shit."

"That's one punch. And it took you about six seconds to condense mana like that. Imagine if you could do that with every hit consecutively. You'd be unstoppable."

"Alright then."

Dan then went on to train to condense mana on every part of his body and even do a traditional amplification spell. An amplification spell is casting a spell that uses mana to enhance one's strength, speed, toughness, and agility. Keeping it applied drains one's mana.

Nine midnight training he had gone through and he was able to cast his amplification spell on every part of his body and his whole body with no trouble, though he still needs time to charge up—about five seconds.