Shortly after His sister left Dara returned with breakfast and a scroll. For breakfast, Veric was served runny tasteless porridge, a jug of water and milk. Usually, porridge would be the only thing Veric was able to stomach. “Thank you, Dara. But in the future could you serve me more substantial food. The Tears of Nessari were very effective. I think I will be able to stomach a greater variety of food.” ‘Some part of me feels so strange ordering her around like that, but Veric acted this way before and I don’t want her to notice a difference in my behaviour.’

“I am glad to hear that master Veric. I will speak with the cook about it.”

‘Her not calling me master didn’t last long. Old habits die hard.’

“And what is on that scroll?” Veric asked

“I am not sure, exactly. I am not even certain it is related to magic. Most of the books your mother owned are locked away and I don’t have a key. I would imagine that the only person that would have access to those books would be your father.”

‘From Veric’s memories, I can infer that the baron was not very fond of magic after his wife died. Asking him whether I could learn from her notes would be quite the task. If only my status contained charisma as one of the stats then I could persuade him with my silver tongue.‘

Veric scanned the small scroll with his eyes not expecting much. The scroll looked like an A4 sheet of silk-like material rolled into a tube. ‘There can’t be enough information on that scroll for multiple skills. Dara mentioned that you need two class-related skills to unlock that particular class or as I imagine two spells to unlock a magic-related class. Beggars can’t be choosers. If this is not enough I can always fall back upon the classes provided by the military school. I need to fit into this world and this family. Otherwise, it will be hard to survive.’

“Regardless of what it is, I am very grateful.” Veric replied amiably.

“I am glad I could be of service master. I shall leave now and return with dinner.” She said and left the room.

Veric ate the porridge and drank the mug of fresh milk. The milk was a lot fattier than what Thomas was used to but it was a filling meal. After breakfast, he washed himself to the best of his ability in a small basin using hot water and wood ash soap. They were sent to his room by Elora when she saw his sweaty state. After washing himself to the best of his ability he got himself dressed into simple daily linen clothes.

He took the silk scroll from the tray and sat down at the table. ‘Maybe Elora is right. Just because I have the body of Nessari it doesn’t mean I have to become a mage. Why would I do it to myself? I have devoted my previous life to studying physical reality and now what? Magic?’ He turned his head and looked at the book that Elora brought him and considered the pros and cons. ‘I won’t know till I try.’

He unrolled the scroll and became alarmed by what he saw. He expected a description of a skill or a spell but instead what he saw were intertwined straight lines forming strange connections and shapes. It felt like looking at a higher dimensional object from a lower-dimensional perspective. His brain was racing to understand but couldn’t. There were too many intricate parts to it. The whole “drawing” was not larger than the palm of a child and was constructed from less than thirty straight lines. “What is this? A visual illusion?” He exclaimed in shock. He traced each line with his finger to double-check that they were straight but once he focused on the image as a whole, some of the lines became curved. Some would become circular and others spherical. He couldn’t understand how a one-dimensional object like a line could end up becoming a sphere but it did, right in front of his very eyes.

Veric rubbed his dry eyes and realised that he had been staring at the object without blinking for quite a while now. “What is happening? This is impossible.” He said to himself and continued analysing the strange phenomenon. He rotated the scroll and realised that whilst rotating the scroll the lines exposed a different side of the image. It was similar to looking at a hologram yet not a hologram. The image was completely flat yet there was too much within. Veric placed his hand atop the silken scroll fully expecting for the hand to become immersed in the image however, it obviously did not happen. Veric’s mind became entrapped in the illusion of the strange construct. “A four or higher dimensional object is immersed inside of this painting. But what is the painting representing? Each line is completely straight and black yet what is in front of my eyes is so complex the space within the painting is folding on itself.” Veric started muttering in excitement.

“The structure is not a representation of higher dimensions like a 2D TV screen displaying 3D images using pixels of different colours and shades to represent depth. Instead, it somehow is truly a higher dimensional object inside of a 2D space. It’s like looking at lightning in a bottle. But what is its purpose? I can’t imagine someone creating such a masterpiece just for fun. It is not simply art for the purpose of self-expression. It is more, it has to be.” Veric placed his right hand on his chest while analysing the painting. He didn’t realise it consciously; however, he unconsciously started to realise that something was stirring inside of him.

“If this painting has a higher purpose than simply amusement then what is it? An encrypted message? A blueprint? Why is it not labelled then? Does it follow a well-known convention thus needing no labelling?” The longer he stared at the image the cooler his chest felt. Eventually, the coldness started to spread through him. He ignored it, thinking it was one of the peculiarities of this body, and besides this painting was more interesting to him.

The painting was resonating with the coldness within him. Pulling that coldness closer towards itself. Veric could feel coldness propagating through his arm. The coldness was not truly cold. It was just a message his nervous system was experiencing without actually making him colder. The coldness travelled through his arm into the silken scroll. The black strokes of the painting released a gentle glow with blueish-white light.

The change was so abrupt and surprising that it caused Veric to move away from the painting. The black lines released a semi-transparent blueish blob that slowly travelled towards the ceiling. The temperature in the room dropped significantly. The moisture on the window next to the table froze solid forming ice crystals. The blob was significantly closer towards Veric than it was to the window yet Veric didn’t feel nearly as cold as he should. He didn’t know why but he had an urge to touch it. The blob was slowly floating upwards so Veric didn’t have much time to think, the blob would soon be out of reach for his short arms.

He plunged his hand into the blob hoping that it wouldn't cause permanent damage and then… Nothing. The blob didn’t feel any colder than the surrounding air. “Why is it not cold? It made the room cold and froze the water on the window. Surely it has to be cold, unless… it is cold but not cold to me. I caused it, so maybe it can’t harm me? How would it know? Is it conscious?” Before he was able to ask any questions the blob flew upwards where it collided with the ceiling leaving behind a thin layer of hoarfrost.

Even though he didn’t understand what happened, Veric was grinning. “There is no way swinging a stick can be more fun than this.” He quickly opened his status. From the boy’s memories, he knew that magic required mana. He wanted to check how much mana was consumed using this scroll.

Name

Veric Martel

Vitality

6(12)

Class

[classless]

Constitution

5(11)

Race

Human(Nessari)

Strength

2(4)

Level

1

Agility

3(6)

Experience

0/3

Dexterity

3(6)

Health

33/33

Intelligence

409

Stamina

28/28

Wisdom

406

Mana

15/6935

Willpower

11

Aether

55/55

Titles(5)

Special traits(1)

Attribute points

0

Skills(2)

Spells(0)

“Hmm. It consumed a lot of my mana. I can’t cast it again.”

While considering the best course of action to achieve a spell or skill necessary to gain a class Veric noticed that his Mana was increasing slowly. Every ten seconds mana increased by two points. “Ok, so I can try to activate this scroll every 425 seconds, a little bit over seven minutes. That’s not bad” he said while smiling. The feeling of being able to perform something supernatural was oddly exciting. One would assume that the supernatural would be the opposite of what a scientist would enjoy studying but to him, the supernatural was just natural that was not explained yet.

He grasped the scroll again, He started studying each line from every angle, memorising it with perfect precision. He wanted to see how they operate in tandem and connect. “In total there are 27 straight lines, if my perfect memory doesn’t deceive me only 15 lit up. This suggests to me that either I need more mana to activate the rest of the spell or the spell is unfinished. It could have been a work in progress that was overlooked when putting his mother’s work away. Ok, let’s focus on the 15 lines that lit up first. I assume that each line is a form of command for mana to obey. I wonder if there is to isolate individual sections. That would help me to identify each command.”

Veric got off the chair and started walking back and forth around the room. He would do it in his previous life whenever he reached a conundrum. “15 distinct operations. What could they be? The mana consumed was exactly 85 points. The number feels almost artificial as if decided upon by a human. One of the lines could then be limiting the amount of mana that is absorbed by the scroll. OK, one down sixteen to go. Another thing I have noticed is that the mana was being attracted from within me. That explains the second line. Those should be the beginning and the end of the spell, in between those operations there should be 13 more.”

While walking around the room and thinking about possible explanations for the remaining fifteen lines, his mana has regenerated to a full 100. “Ok let’s try again.” he said and sat down at the table. He grasped the scroll and tried to pour mana into it, till he realised something very important. “Damn it, I don’t have [Mana sense] nor [Mana manipulation] skills.” He assumed that the coldness he felt before was mana. However, even though it was back to 100 he can't sense it anymore. He didn’t give up, he had a lot of time to figure it out. He simply continued staring at the scroll. After a few minutes of expectant eye contact he sensed the resonance with the scroll, he experienced the familiar coldness again. The mana was slowly being sucked out of him and poured out into the scroll. “There is an order to it!” he exclaimed when he noticed that the lines lit up in a certain order.

The blueish blob was expelled from the scroll once again. This time he didn’t move out of the way. He wanted to spend as much time as possible observing the blob and its effects. The Blob travelled past his face and hit the ceiling once more.

“I could feel it mana become cold, so maybe that is one of the lines. The blob wasn’t a blob, it was more spherical than a blob. Maybe those are another 2, that’s eleven. The spell formation has a point at which three lines are joined but only one lights up and seems to be connected to every other line that lights up. So maybe that line is responsible for distributing mana throughout the spell formation. The sphere flew in a straight line so maybe that’s another command. Right, 9 left and I have no clue what they could be.”

“Maybe now it would be best if I try to get the skills to become a mage. Elora said that If I get a class I will condense a mana core. I am guessing that my mana limitation will then be greatly reduced.”

He once again walked a few laps around his bedroom. Once his mana was back to 100 he tried using the scroll again when he felt the pulling sensation he tried his best to stop it from leaving his body. ‘[Mana manipulation] is all about manipulating the movement of mana so if I try doing the opposite of what the scroll wants then maybe that will count as manipulating mana.’ It was like trying to catch wind into a net and after less than ten seconds of trying to stop the mana from leaving his body, the cold sphere was ejected from the scroll once again.

“I have three days. I can do it.” he said and walked over to the wardrobe. He decided to put more layers on. Even though the sphere had no direct effect on him his bedroom was getting chilly. ‘Is that one of the lines? To stop the spell from harming the caster?’

He dressed into many layers of clothes and opened the window. It was the middle of spring and the air outside was slightly warmer than the air in his room. He sat at the table again and tried to use the scroll doing his best to stop the mana. He closed his eyes and focused all of his attention on within. Before the coldness could even manifest he sensed something else. Strange energy that contradicted itself. It felt cold, hot, violent, calm, wet, dry, coarse, smooth, elastic and rigid. All of these and many more described this energy perfectly. He opened his eyes and once his eyes met with the lines on the scroll the energy became cold and slow. He could feel the energy within quite clearly. He wanted to stop it from leaving his body but the golden light coming from the system disturbed his concentration.

A New Skill Has Been Achieved:

[Minor Mana Sense](Active)(lvl 0)

You have managed to look within and find Mana. In that millisecond you have observed but a fraction of infinity. However, that was enough for you to subconsciously realise what mana is and can become. Thus you have gained the limited ability to sense mana within and outside of your body.

You can use [Minor Mana Sense] only while you are completely concentrating on detecting mana.