Crab Hunting

White stared at Charlotte light for a second and nodded.

"What should I do for this class, professor?" White asked.

"For now, just go join the others on the ground. I'll start explaining when everyone is here," Charlotte answered as she pointed toward the other students sitting cross-legged on the ground.

White nodded as he headed towards the back once more and sat down.

It took a few minutes, but all the students managed to come to the class.

Charlotte nodded to herself and then said out loud.

"Attention, cadets, today I will be helping all of you unlock your mana. After all, we can't do mana practice if we don't have any mana in the first place," Charlotte said as she raised her voice unnaturally high.

'She is probably using some mana technique to make her voice louder without having to shout,' White thought as his hands faintly shook from the excitement.

"Unlocking your mana is not hard, it's using that unlocked mana that is considered hard," Charlotte said as she thrust her hand to the side, and a wild gust of wind appeared.

It was so quick that White didn't even see the circle form before a wide area of grass was turned into dirt.

'Incredible to be able to cast mana of such strength so quickly. Just how high of a rank is she?' White thought as he stared at the now grass-less field on the side of Charlotte.

"Now, let's get started immediately," Charlotte said as she approached the students.

"First, close your eyes and try to feel inside of you. Try to see into that darkness inside your body when you close your eyes and feel the flow of the mana. It shouldn't be a hard thing to do as it is quite noticeable.

Some people even unlocked their mana without any instructions. That's how easy it is," Charlotte said as she tried to reassure the students that success was almost guaranteed.

White, following her instructions, closed his eyes as he tried to look inside of him.

The next few minutes were calm. No voice was heard throughout the training field as the students concentrated.

'I can't see anything,' White thought as he tried harder and harder to find his mana.

'Where is it? Where is it?' White thought frantically as he started to hear the other students jump up with joy as they unlocked their mana, one after the other.

Pretty soon, White was going to be left as the last one with how fast the others were unlocking their mana.

'No, I can't fail already, come on,' White thought as he tried harder than he ever could, but it was of no use.

*Ding*

'Huh!' White thought, surprised at hearing the voice.

His eyes were closed, and all he could see was black. Then, a blue screen appeared before him.

'What this, the system hologram? I have my eyes closed, however,' White thought, surprised.

[ System has been alerted ]

[ User has been found trying to unlock mana. No mana has been found in the user's body. The system will find a solution ]

A Mechanical voice sounded in White's mind as he read the system prompts that had appeared on the holographic screen in his mind.

[ Solutions have been found ]

[ Complete challenge missions to gain mana ]

[ Mission one: Defeat Krabat the sorcerer Apprentice ] [ Pick ]

[ Mission two: Defeat Merlin the legendary Mage ] [ Pick ]

[ Mission three: Defeat Hecate, the Greek goddess of sorcery ] [ Pick ]

White stood silent as he saw the missions, his mind in shock as he read what the system had told him.

'I don't have any mana? That's impossible. How can I not have any mana when everything in this world does? Even the damned soil has mana,' White thought as he stared at the text on the holographic screen.

Hearing another student get up from the ground, White knew that he didnt have much time before Charlotte would come and try to help him.

'What if she finds out that I have no mana? I would be lowered in rank immediately,' White thought as his imagination ran wild.

Looking at the three mission options, White decided he was just going to do it, the question now however was which Mission would he pick.

'Easy, I'll get Krabat, who wants to fight a legendary mage and a literal goddess. Not me, that's for sure,' White thought as he imagined picking the first Mission.

[ Mission one: Defeat Krabat, the sorcerer Apprentice ] [ Picked ]

And then White felt the world around him change.

The air around him turned colder and more stale, and the ground underneath him didn't feel like dirt and grass anymore. It felt more like a hard stone.

Opening his eyes quickly, White stood up as he looked around him.

'Where did i get sent this time' White thought as he looked at what looked like a large spiral staircase heading up, he couldnt even see its ceiling.

The walls that held the stairs were made of old leather books instead of stone bricks, and the ground that he had thought was stone was, in fact, a large red carpet that followed the stairs as they headed up.

White's eyes narrowed as they started to almost shine in the dark atmosphere of the spiral library.

'It's time I unlocked this mana of mine, isn't it? Now, where are you, Crab sorcerer?' White thought.

[Mission has started ]

[Mission completion requirements ]

[ Kill Krabat the apprentice 0/1 ]

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Krabat: A sorcerer's apprentice from Sorbian folklore, known for his magical abilities and struggles with the dark arts.