Mana Manipulation

For a time, silence reigned. The all-knowing System, that being that seemed so unfathomable to me, had seemingly been stunned into momentary silence by my words. 

"Do you swear to stand by your words?" the System asked, in a surprisingly raw tone.

I agreed without hesitation.

A long sigh echoed through the space around me. "You are one of the only ones in the canals of time to ask me for advice about the choice of weapons, and moreover the only one who had the sheer stupidity to pick the bow and arrow, then stick stubbornly to your decision despite all I have done to sway you from this ruinous path. Why ask for advice if you won't even listen to anything I say?" the System asked in frustration.

I opened my mouth to speak, but the System cut me off with brutal precision.

"Nonetheless, you have chosen, and I shall respect your decision. Take the bow, and the quiver of arrows, and you will be sent to the next part of this trial." it said with an air of finality.

Then before I could say a word, the bow flew to my right hand, and the quiver attached itself to my back, then the darkness swallowed me whole. ____________________________________________

In an unknown space, the glowing outline of an old man massaged his temples with a wrinkled hand. "To think a mere ant could give such a speech… and that I even gave him that bow… I wonder what it is I saw in him," he muttered softly.

____________________________________________

When I opened my eyes again, I found myself in a snowing room. At least, that's what it looked like. There were tiny specks of white in the air, and they were moving gracefully through the air. As I reached out to touch one of them, I found that there were specks of the same white stuff on - no, rather within - my arm. With a yelp of surprise, I shook my arm vigorously, trying to remove it somehow.

"What on earth is this? Hey, System! You didn't even announce the next Trial! And what is this white dust in my arm?" I yelled loudly.

"This is still the Trial of Comprehension, contestant," the System replied, somewhat stiffly. "In case you have not noticed, this so-called 'white dust' is all around and within you, not merely your arm."

I looked down to find that there was indeed the same material within my body, the glowing specks visible even through the layers of clothing I wore.

"What is this stuff anyway?" I questioned, in a notably calmer tone.

"What you perceive as 'white dust' is actually something known as mana." the System replied smugly.

"Yeah… and why is it inside of me? Shouldn't I need to do some stuff first before I have mana? I thought I needed to meditate to gather mana?" I asked in a rapidfire barrage of questions.

"To answer your first question, mana is everywhere, so it is also inside of you. Secondly, you do not 'have' mana, it just happened to flow inside of you. Even when you utilize mana, it will be no more than you exhibiting slight and temporary control over mana, rather than it being your own. As for your final query, I have no idea what kind of 'meditation' you are speaking about," the System said.

"Mana is a force that flows everywhere - at least, everywhere you would know of. It can be controlled to an extremely limited extent by warriors who have learnt to do so. Primarily, this involves using your signature to 'brand' the ambient mana around you, which will allow you to do various things with it. These 'brands' will dissipate if left unattended, and dissolve rapidly as the mana you are manipulating moves further from your body." the System said in a monotone, clearly bored voice.

"Wait, so I can only control it to a limited extent? Will I be able to completely control it when I become stronger?" I asked curiously.

After a moment of stunned silence, I vaguely heard the sound of laughter.

"That's the funniest question I've heard in a long time. Heavens above, completely controlling mana…. I can't take it…." the System said breathlessly, clearly out of sorts from laughing too much.

I flushed in embarrassment, but before I could start debating with the System over how understandable my questions were, I abruptly received a proper reply.

"Okay, completely controlling mana is nothing but a fantasy for you. Before you ask, that does NOT mean you will be able to do it as you become stronger - in fact, even I can't completely control mana, and it is widely accepted that no one can. Nevertheless, even the most limited applications are enough to have devastating effect. That means that if you can wield mana in any way, you can punch a hole through a car with no problems." the System stated.

"Really?" I asked in shock.

"Okay, maybe your hand would be a little mangled after doing that…" it replied awkwardly

I quietly wondered how something - or someone - could be so knowledgeable and yet so very unreliable.