By the time Danny was six, he had devised a plan for escaping the damage of the ancient key. He had quit sleeping in his mother’s room a few years back and was given a room he technically shared with Gary. Gary, of course, only used it when he came back on holidays.

Late one night Danny crept downstairs and slipped into his mother's work shed. He didn't dare use a light, so with air scanning he located a stack of the special leather his mother now used. Using his hands, he located the thinnest strip in the pile that was long enough for his purposes. He grabbed a few of his mother’s spare tools she kept in the back and fled to his room. Heart pounding he made it into his room without waking anyone up.

From his basket in the corner, as a toddler, he had watched his mother work on the leather countless times. Trying to copy what he had seen her do, he first he used an old blanket and cut it into a pattern he thought correct. After a few more cuts he finally giving up and grabbed a second blanket. Danny finally completed a pattern for what he wanted. He hid his work and tools under Gary's mattress during the day. Only at night would he have the time and privacy to work on his project.

When he was finally done with it, he was embarrassed to realize it looked like a leather girdle. Well, an ugly leather girdle. It went from the bottom of his ribcage to right above his waste. The hardest part was getting the top to not show a line across his chest. Running a strip of leather that had to be cinched was the answer to that. He needed something that wouldn't be noticed. It also dug into his left armpit and at other different points along his side, but he couldn't see it under a thick shirt. He also gained his first level in the crafting skill called "Leather Crafting." Danny had expected more levels as this was no small work. Apparently this sing skill was the sanctuary’s way of giving its opinion on the quality and expertise of his work.

Unsure if the back was visible, he decided to give it a test run. He put it on and spent the whole evening with his family, sweating bullets.

“Danny, do you feel alright?”

Danny whipped around, and barely managed to school his reaction before his mother could see it, “Yes, I am fine.”

Danny’s mom looked at him skeptically, “Danny, is your stomach alright?”

Trying to rack his brain for a good excuse, he questioned where his high intelligence went, “Yes mother, I feel fine?”

His mother stopped what she was doing and walked over to him and whisper, “Honey, do you have gas? Do you need to go make a poop?”

Mortified, Danny turned to see his whole family watching the exchange. Well, except Barb. She was looking at the fireplace and trying not to laugh.

“Mom, I am just tired, I am going to go to bed early.”

Still not convinced his mother gave him a gentle hug, as if that alone would release the massive buildup she suspected lurking in her son, “Goodnight, sweetie.”

Walking quickly to his room, he was glad the trial run was over, but wished he could get his dignity back. He had tested the girdle again afterwards and guessed that the only way the ancient key could inject mana into him is if they placed it anywhere else on his body but the leather. Pleased with his success he put it away under Gary's bed.

Back at the store, Danny's mothers wares still continued to sell well, but they were now by request only. Show floor models were kept in the store to display what could be requested. In between discussing what customers wanted his mother to make, and whether they could wait that long to get it back, Danny trained.

He had done everything with the shields he could think of at the moment so he went back to raising earth affinity one more level. This next part was the trickiest thing he had done with mana manipulation so far. When scanning with earth magic he extended what he considered a bubble of mana then activated the spell. The spell affected the entire area from his hand or foot down into the earth and spread out across the mana bubble he created. He had enough control to manipulate the size and shape of the bubble. Currently it affected an area in a sphere almost two and half meters wide. If he trained his scanning spell inside the workshop, the hardwood floor could crack as earth moved up to meet his hands or feet.

Training only a few hours at a time in the evenings after supper, Danny sought the secret to casting magic on a specific part of his mana field. He covered this up by pretending to read a book in the backyard. He claimed he wanted some alone time after spending all day talking to people. He had asked his family for a book on beginner’s alchemy. Since Danny rarely ever asked for anything extra, they were happy to provide this to him. They made a huge ordeal about buying the book and keeping it safe. He wasn’t supposed to take it outside the house, but they agreed to let him take it into the backyard if he put it away immediately when not using it. Danny made the required promises and mollified them.

They were a little confused by his sudden interest in the subject. He claimed it had always interested since seeing the physicians bring medicine. That appeased them enough to see nothing odd about it.

He quickly read through the book once and memorized it. Being six already and not having been trained in meditation, Danny had the sinking suspicion that they did not tell boys or girls about unlocking their mental sanctuaries till after they went to school. His theory was, for boys whose connection to mana was severed, this meant they had nothing to regret since they never got knew what they were missing.

Reading of the alchemy book gave him an introduction to this world’s version of chemistry. He learned the names, descriptions, and properties of common species of medicinal plants and animals in the area. He wasn't sure if the descriptions would be enough for him to spot them. Maybe he could find someone already with the knowledge to help identify them correctly. He also learned the proper way to care for the raw materials. It's not like the games where you just stick the entire plant or animal in your backpack and move on. Some had to be dried, others immediately crushed, while still others needed to be fresh or couldn't be stored at all. Checking his sanctuary, his alchemy skill didn't level, which didn't surprise Danny. He had some knowledge but until he got his hands on working with the plants and compounds, he would have very little understanding.

Based on what he had read, alchemy paled in comparison to magic. Anyone that called on the services of an alchemist was usually poor or had a general fear of wizards and magic. Danny would need access to some alchemy equipment if he wanted to actually try anything. Based on what he had seen so far, plants did not have a connection to the mana source. He suspected if they did have a connection then they could possibly find magic plants that could make alchemy rival a wizard’s power. He asked his parents and they told him what they suspected. There were no known magic plants. Danny figured he would stick with magic for now.

Danny’s attempts at compartmentalizing his mana field wasn't working. Just grasping what he wanted took him months of frustration, as he could have been increasing his earth or fire affinities. Countless times he had to reshape the earth below him. It wasn't ever extreme so he didn't think anyone would notice anything more than his butt lifting and falling every few minutes. He never used a lot of mana at a time in fear of inadvertently damaging his home's foundation, and to prolong his training.

He came to the conclusion that what he wanted to do was currently impossible for him. Instead, the solution he came to was to spread his mana out into the now familiar bubble, then mold it like wet clay into the shape he wanted.

This took time but once he had created a shape he could recreate it faster than the last time. The last part of his solution was to pinch the mana between the area he wanted to affect and himself. For earth magic this meant a tiny amount, no bigger than the head of a pin, of earth visibly moved.

His father kept a few planks of rough wood for repairs around the house. Danny grabbed one of these and tried out his solution. The first time he tried it the wood splintered around the hole made by the stone. His second attempt, he first focused on just the wood and creating the hole. He made the mana stream as small as possible then cast stone. Stone rose up and pushed through the wood like a needle. He then expanded the stone around the minuscule hole made. The wood complained but didn't splinter or crack. The reason he didn't just make his mana that way to begin with was that he needed a certain amount of flow to work freely with what he was really doing below the surface. With the stone spike set through the wood into the ground he began to shape the earth below him. Everything worked like he wanted.

Danny was able to repeat this process at the store in a few places where he normally sat on the ground or in a chair. He had to avoid the sewer system, which he found by using his earth scanning technique. Danny spent his free time creating walls or spikes of stone in layers of earth below the store. He also created cavities, which he practiced first at home, so he knew how best to stop the earth from rising on the surface. This was usually done by compacting material below his creations. With this he was able to make it to earth affinity level five before the day of his mana test.