Chapter 21: A New Understanding

Maxim sat in the library, staring at the dense chemistry textbook in front of him. Just a few weeks ago, this would have been his worst nightmare—endless formulas, equations, and concepts that never seemed to stick. But now, it was different. Now, all it took was a single glance at the page, and the information settled in his mind as if he had been studying it for years.

He flipped through the chapters, absorbing the content with ease. It wasn't just chemistry. Physics, biology, even literature—subjects that had once been incomprehensible were now clear as day. Every time he read, it was like putting together pieces of a giant puzzle, his mind working faster and more efficiently than ever before.

The most astonishing part was how easily everything fit together. Complex concepts that had once felt impossible to grasp now seemed simple. Chemical reactions, Newton's laws, the forces of nature—they all seemed to click, aligning perfectly with his newfound understanding of energy.

The realization hit him one day during a particularly quiet afternoon. He had been reading about thermodynamics when it dawned on him: Energy is everywhere.

It wasn't just the magical energy he could feel within himself, the one that allowed him to manipulate objects or sense different materials. It was also the energy present in every scientific principle, in the movement of atoms, in heat, in motion, and in life itself. It was all connected, all part of a grander system.

Maxim sat back in his chair, staring at the ceiling. His mind raced with possibilities. He had been thinking of his abilities as something separate from the natural world, something magical and foreign. But what if it wasn't? What if his magic was just another form of energy, something that followed the same rules as everything else?

He needed to know more. How could he increase his mana—the energy he used for magic? He knew he couldn't keep draining himself every time he tried to move something or perform a trick. If mana was just another type of energy, there had to be a way to generate or restore it.

As the thought bubbled in his mind, he closed his eyes, trying to focus inward. He had done this countless times during meditation, but this time it felt different. He wasn't just searching for that familiar spark of magic within him—he was looking for something deeper.

Maxim let his mind drift, reaching for the energy that flowed through him. He imagined it as a current, coursing through his body, pulsing with life. And then he expanded his focus outward, trying to connect with the energy in the room around him.

It was faint at first, a barely perceptible hum in the air. But as he concentrated, he could feel it—the energy in the light above him, in the warmth of the sun streaming through the windows, even in the quiet rustling of the pages of books around him.

Suddenly, it clicked.

Mana is just energy.

Maxim's heart raced as the realization hit him. The energy he used for magic wasn't some mystical force—it was simply another form of energy, like heat, like light, like electricity. If that was true, then maybe he could recharge his mana the same way a battery recharges with electricity.

He sat up straight, his mind whirling with possibilities. If mana was energy, then there had to be ways to replenish it. Could he absorb energy from his surroundings? From nature? From the sun? The thought filled him with excitement. The answer had been in front of him all along—he just hadn't seen it.

Maxim spent the next few days testing his theory. He started small, meditating in the sunlight, feeling the warmth soak into his skin, imagining the energy flowing into him. At first, it was hard to tell if anything was happening. But after a few days of practice, he noticed a subtle difference. The more he focused on absorbing energy from his surroundings, the less drained he felt after using his powers.

He tested it again and again, moving small objects with his mind, practicing in secret. Each time, he found that he could use his abilities for longer without feeling exhausted. It was working. He was recharging.

And then came the breakthrough.

One evening, while experimenting with a small stone in his hand, Maxim felt a sudden surge of energy. It wasn't the slow, gradual recharge he had been working on. It was a powerful, concentrated burst, like a dam had been broken open inside him. The stone shot out of his hand, flying across the room with a speed and force that surprised him.

Maxim stood in shock, his hand still tingling from the sensation. He had felt something… different. It was as if, for a brief moment, he had tapped into a larger source of energy, something much more potent than what he had been absorbing from his surroundings.

He closed his eyes, trying to replicate the feeling. He focused on the energy within him, but this time, instead of pulling from the room around him, he reached deeper into himself, into the core of his being.

And there it was—a reservoir of energy, deep and powerful, waiting to be unlocked.

Maxim's breath hitched. He had found it. The key to increasing his mana wasn't just in absorbing energy from his surroundings—it was in unlocking the energy within himself. His body, his mind, they were all part of the same system, and he had barely scratched the surface of what he could do.

The possibilities were endless.

With this newfound understanding, Maxim realized he could do so much more than he had ever imagined. He wasn't just a student with a strange talent. He was something else entirely—something powerful.

The journey ahead was going to be even more challenging, but now he had the knowledge, the tools to unlock his full potential. Maxim couldn't wait to see where this path would take him.