Body Strengthening

After the magic lesson with Mrs. Maria, Ragnar headed to the body strengthening class. Along the way, he pondered deeply about what Mrs. Maria had told them. Mana sense was something accessible to all, but mana capacity was predetermined by birth.

'How is it that a person who is not from this world can sense mana and store it? Well, I haven't technically created my mana circle yet, but the system made it very clear that I am capable of it,' Ragnar thought. Each day, he realized how broken the system was. To what purpose did the divine being give him that? Becoming stronger was definitely not the only reason.

He pushed all the unanswered questions to the back of his mind and entered the class.

The teacher was already present. He had a scornful expression on his face, with a big burly body, dark hair, and dressed in a training outfit. He was the same teacher who had conducted their body grade test.

He grinned and said, "I'm glad to see that you did not run from this class."

Ragnar was confused. He nudged Julius, who was next to him, and asked.

Julius, whose mind was still in the magic class, came to his senses and looked around. His face showed a horrified expression, "Shit. How the hell did I get here..."

While he was looking for ways to run, the teacher, Mr. Edgar, pointed towards him and said, "You there. Since you have so much energy, why don't you tell me the purpose of body strengthening?"

Julius smiled wryly and made an awkward laugh. "Haha... To become strong?"

"That's part of the answer. The correct answer is to be able to endure. As you all know, in this world we have mages and warriors. Mages use mana to cast spells while warriors use mana to reinforce the body. To be more precise, mages project the mana outward while warriors direct it inward," he explained.

A student raised his hand and asked, "But don't mages already do that with the mana circle?"

Mr. Edgar nodded and asked back, "That's true. But does this mana absorbed by them change their body?"

The student thought and said no.

Ragnar thought about it too and came to the same conclusion. 'Mages also absorb mana, so why are they not as strong as warriors then?'

The teacher with his scornful expression continued, "The reason why mages and warriors are not the same is because of the way they use mana. Mages tend to store mana, increasing their capacity to cast spells. The higher they rank up, the stronger spells they can cast.

"Warriors are different. We put our bodies through rigorous training and pain to adapt to it. All that, just to be able to fight toe to toe with a mage. But that does not mean that a mage cannot use a warrior's method. In fact, many high-level mages have at least some background in body tempering. To reach the pinnacle of strength, such as the Divine Council, you need to at least minimize your weaknesses. But sadly, most of today's mages ignore this crucial point." He turned towards Julius, who was avoiding his gaze.

Julius flinched and smiled wryly.

"Now that we have understood the basics of body strengthening, the question we need to ask is how to do it. All of you have already experienced a version of it, so it won't be hard to guess."

"The fiber capsule..." Ragnar mumbled unknowingly.

"Correct. The fiber capsule is a watered-down version of the actual body tempering technique. The reason I say that is because the mana is already directed toward your muscle nodes automatically. We usually use it to test body grade," the teacher said and continued.

"Now, for the first class today, I will be teaching you how to temper your body by your own will. The first step to tempering your body is to feel your muscle nodes. Everyone possesses them but doesn't realize they are there. Why do muscles become stronger each time they are damaged? Why not return to their initial state?

"This is all due to the muscle node. The mana stored in the node supplies the muscle with enough energy to repair and strengthen. Now, I want you all to sit in a lotus position."

Everybody complied and sat down. Despite the grumbling, even Julius sat himself in the lotus position.

"Good. Before we start the exercise, it is important to know what we are looking for. In your body, there are seven muscle nodes. I won't tell you where they are; I want you to use your mana sense to inspect the nodes. The more you find, the better," he said with a smile.

"For those who have not yet sensed mana, come to this side. I will show you the proper technique to sense it."

While the teacher was explaining to the students who had not yet sensed mana, those who could sense it closed their eyes and focused their whole being.

Ragnar also closed his eyes and focused on his body. He cleared his mind and made himself an empty vessel. With all the practice he did last night, he had become quite familiar with it.

He breathed just as he was instructed in the book at the library. Slowly and surely, he controlled his breath. His head was light, his mind clear. After doing it for some time, he felt it. A tingling sensation in his body.

'There.'

Last night he had just felt the mana on his skin as he did not know what to do next. But now that he had a goal, he proceeded to make the mana enter his body. As soon as the mana entered his pores, he directed it through various pathways inside his body.

He was instantly surprised. The pathways inside his body were like a maze, so big and intertwined. It made him lose his way repeatedly. He was sometimes repeating the same path without locating a single node.

He did not panic, as he knew that if something like this were easy, then everyone would be a warrior. He took his time to explore his body. One by one, he explored every pathway he could find. Then it happened. He found a larger path, like a room. The mana he was controlling was pulled towards it. As the mana touched it, a small pain jolted through his body, indicating he had found the node.

'I did it,' he thought excitedly.

"Alright, everyone can open their eyes now," the teacher's voice was heard, and everyone opened their eyes.

The students who had been taught to sense mana were already amongst them, practicing.

"You guys were at it for four hours. That will be enough for now. So, how many nodes were you guys able to find?" he asked with a smirk.

All the students had defeated expressions on their faces. Some of them raised their hands and spoke.

"I could not find them at all. It was too big, and I got lost easily."

"Indeed. Locating the nodes will be hard. Did no one manage to sense one?" He turned towards Ragnar.

Ragnar did not know what to do, so he decided to be honest. "One."

"As I expected," Mr. Edgar nodded and continued.

"The reason you guys could not find it is because you don't even know your own body. To sense the node, you need to know your body first. This will be the step we will be doing until you can all feel your nodes. That will be all for today."

As it was evening already, the students went to the cafeteria for their dinner.

"Phew, finally over," Julius said.

Ragnar looked at him and shook his head.

"What?" Julius asked.

"Nothing."