Chapter 3

Despite this peculiar situation, Franz still tried to be patient, he took a deep breath and continued delving deeper, until a single element stood out from the rest, Earth.

After feeling out the the mana particles that corresponds to earth, Franz felt a deeper connection towards the world that he sits upon, wherein before he felt like an outsider, right now he feels like he is one with the world.

"What a good sensation, now, according to the books, I just need to channel the mana in my surroundings toward the magic crystal first, so that I would be able to familiarize myself with its control, because if I use my body immediately, a single mistake would make the body part that I used to become injured."

So Franz did just that, he tried channeling the mana to the magic crystal, creating a medium which will help Franz acclimate to using magic.

But there are hiccups, the first magic crystal suddenly cracked and then it immediately turned to dust.

This took Franz by surprised and he can't help but mutter;

"Holy! If that was my hand, I'd probably be maimed right now!"

Despite the setback though, Franz grabbed another crystal and started doing it again, and this time, he managed to channel some mana before it turned to dust.

Unsatisfied with his results, Franz immediately grabbed the last crystal and started channeling mana again, but this time, he tried to slow it down and focus on precision rather than quality and it worked for a while but didn't last for long.

"Well, at least it didn't crumble right? That's probably an improvement, I'll stop channeling for tonight and will just meditate and acclimate myself with mana, because with how relaxing and refreshing meditation is, I can probably forgo sleeping, considering that after 3 hours of mana meditation made me feel so spritely and refreshed, although I should try meditating while lying down rather than sitting, it's probably much more healthier for my knees compared to cross-sitting like this"

So with that in mind, Franz lied down on his bed and started sleep meditation.

...

During my meditation, I tried to acclimate myself more with the Earth element, my deep connection to it being more pronounced, I felt its deep and unshakeable foundations.

As I tried to acclimatize myself in this state, I suddenly remembered that according to the book about mana channeling, there are mana pathways inside the body that mages usually unlock and use to release mana stored inside their bodies which in turn become the energy used to make spells

But why stop there? Instead of using them as pathways to release stored mana, why not try to circulate that mana constantly to strengthen said pathways and circulate mana to further benefit the body? Since our body is literally made out of mana, why don't we use it to strengthen our body instead? 

As that thought crept in my mind, I tried to give it a go.

I tried collecting mana again, but this time instead of acclimating and just storing it inside my body, I tried to circulate the wild mana immediately.

Mana pulsed inside me as if it was alive, it was wild and full of energy, unbridled and harsh. But I persevered, I tried looking for the mana pathways inside my body, and once I found the first one, I guided the mana to form strands and circulate in those pathways, it was painful, the pain is immense yet tolerable but it is not for those faint of heart.

During the first circulations, I dreaded my decisions, I almost gave up because of the pain, the mana inside my pathways tried to attack its walls but instead of weakening, it strengthened the pathways that it tried to attack, drawing upon my past knowledge about acupuncture, I guided my mana towards my acupoints, and it made wonders, I felt like with every second, and every single point that my mana passes through, it helped me get stronger, and as time passed, the mana became more controlled and its intensity was halved.

Slowly but surely, it became dormant, and with it, my confidence soared and I tried to circulate the mana strands from my heart to my brain.

I was scared at first but as they passed through them, it made them stronger, I felt my heart became more study and my brain made some improvements.

As time passed, circulating mana became as natural as breathing, and when morning came, effort is no longer needed, it is now automatic, it constantly improved my body every second, with every circulation I felt invigorated.

It was successful...

...

The pain's worth it

Every second that I suffered was worth it

Because right now, I feel incredible, stronger, faster and more specifically, brimming with mana, if I'm going to calculate my strength now, I am probably around Late Apprentice Knight right now, and a 10 year old Late Apprentice Knight is perfect for me, I don't stand out too much given that there are geniuses that have achieved this ranked way before I did, especially this kingdom's crown prince, that guy became a Late Apprentice Knight last year, and he probably consolidated his foundations throughout the year, which means he's going to break through to Peak Apprentice level in the coming months. What a freak!

Well, there's no use admiring other people's talents so I should probably go grab food and train, a better use of my time.

...

While doing my usual training of my sword forms, Karl, with an unusually grim look in his face approached me and said;

"Franz, Our Lord Father is calling you to the dungeons, go there now, it is urgent"

I looked towards my brother, his unusual mood making me curious, so I asked him;

"Do you have an idea about his agenda, Karl?"

Karl went closer to me and patted me on the shoulders while saying;

"You'll know when you get there brother, take this seriously for now and go there immediately, Lord Father's waiting"

Seeing that he didn't want to tell me more, I just shrugged and said;

"Alright, but don't worry about me and fix your face bro, I already have an idea about what's going to happen and trust me, I'm going to be fine"

Parting with him with a smile, I strode forth towards our castle's dungeons, where I asked our guard about where my Father might be waiting and he pointed me towards the cells, so I went through the dungeon halls and spotted my Father, standing in the entrance towards the cells, he looked at me in the eye and said;

"Seeing the look in your face, I think you already have an idea about our agenda for today am I right?"

I replied;

"Well, seeing both you and Karl being this serious and add to the fact the location that we're standing right now, it's quite obvious to be honest, but knowing what's to come isn't the same as being okay with it."

Baron Louis nodded at me and said;

"It's good that despite having an idea, you didn't try to run away, but are you not afraid?"

"In this situation, and at this moment, who wouldn't be?"

I continued,

"Being afraid is part of my humanity, do you know what else is part of it? Change, Nothing is permanent, everything will move forward whether I do or not, so I might as well just face my fear and be done with it."

Baron Louis looked at me with I don't know, Pride? But he's smiling so I don't mind, 

He said;

"I see, come with me then,"

He opened the door towards the cells and a foul stench came across my nostrils, it reeks of piss, shit and body odor, a deadly combination that almost made me retch, yet I remain steadfast and stopped towards the cell that my Father stood in front of.

Father looked at me and said;

"All these years, I've thought you the value of life, being a noble, we are required to protect the normal people, those people under our jurisdiction that depend on our protection. But as a knight, we need to be able to take them as well, you might see and read about the valor and honor that will always be attached to us but we strive not for that, we strive not for flowery words and noble ideals, we strive to bring peace and preserve it."

He looked at the man inside and then said;

"This person is a former village head who abused his power to rape steal from those he deemed below him, he is one of those people that we need to eliminate to preserve the peace."

He then looked at me and said;

"As your knight superior, I order you to strike him down!"

The man inside the cell thrashed and clawed but his chains and gag bound him in his place.

I walked towards the bound man and stopped just in front of him, the hatred in his eyes say a lot but this is the consequences of his actions.

My father handed me a sword and I reached for it..

My fingers played around its hilt, as I felt its cold touch seep into my bones..

As I tightened my grip, I raise the sword over my head and swung it down heavily through the mans whole body, cutting him in half while blood sprayed on the floor and on my face, the blood felt warm and it smelled like iron, I gently wiped my face with my sleeves and looked at the mess that I made.

My father patted me in the shoulder and said;

"You have done well my son, I won't keep you here, go now, and try to digest what you've learned here, remember this feeling, and don't hesitate to kill whenever you need to,"