Well, that was quite interesting. The flash of light that occurred when I attempted to create light didn't blind me, despite being pretty bright. I decide to think about that later and instead check the notifications I received.

Skill Acquired: Light Generation Experience Acquired: +1% Skill Acquired: Bright Flash Experience Acquired: +1% Attribute Acquired: +1 Magic Quest Completed: Cast a Spell I Reward Granted: 5 low-quality mana potions; +1% Experience

I pick up the mana potions and set them on the coffee table, alongside the five I received earlier. That makes ten of them, and I don't know how effective they are, so I want to wait until I have more Mana capacity before trying them.

Checking my Quests, I find [Cast a Spell II] available, meaning there's no requirement for unlocking it I don't already meet, unlike with the [Secure Supplies] line of Quests. For the new Quest, I just need to cast five unique spells five times each, and the reward is the same as with the first in the Quest line. Since there's no point in delaying it, I accept the Quest.

Not sure if the sole cast of [Bright Flash] I already used was enough, I cast the spell five times, this time aiming my hand at the wall. Once I finish, I get to work on creating an orb of light through generated light, since using only manipulated light for something doesn't grant Skills outside of the manipulation Skill. Since I know how to generate light and have felt how to manipulate it into an orb, it doesn't take me long to manage to obtain [Light Orb] and the 1% Experience that comes with it.

Now that I have the Skill, I cast the spell four more times before allowing my Mana to recover as I decide what to try to learn next.

Being able to generate light on my own is something I consider essential. The ability to heat food up is another essential, so I'll go for creating a small flame next. After that, I'll create an orb of water, and I'll see if it disappears quickly or if it remains. If it remains, then I might be able to use that to supplement my water supply. For the fourth spell… I'll go with a basic magic attack, like magic missile, and see if that works. A defensive spell like a barrier might cost me too much magic at the moment, considering that an orb of light the size of an orange costs me 3 Mana to cast and 1 Mana per second to sustain. Since I'm getting a bit hot, I'll do a light wind blast, just to help me cool off.

Maybe I should go for the offensive spell first.

Just to be on the safe side, I step out through the back door and look around. The houses here are all single-story and the properties have tall, wooden privacy fences up around the back yards, along with some trees between the lots. Plenty of privacy.

First, I try manipulating my magic itself, a pale, bluish-white mist-like substance forming above my palm after a minute of trying.

Skill Acquired: Mana Manipulation Experience Acquired: +1%

I suppose that makes more sense than just 'magic manipulation'. I'm also doubting there's a 'Mana Generation' Skill, too, considering that I do that passively. Time to make the attempt at creating a magic missile. Holding my hand up, I will an attack of magical power to form, a bolt to shoot at my enemies. I manipulate my mana, pushing it forward, willing it into the form of the attack.

It takes me a few minutes of attempting, and I waste half of my Mana during this. However, I do soon find success, a bolt of blue-white magical power roughly four inches long and a quarter of an inch thick forming in the air in front of my hand, then firing off. The spell travels only about half a foot in distance before disappearing.

That's… disappointing. Why did my spell stop so soon? It cost me 3 Mana to cast, too, so I fire off the other three [Magic Bolt]s I can manage, and each one fizzles out after the same half-foot of distance.

How do I get it to travel further?

Entering my house again, I try to think over it, then remember another Quest that had popped up. I didn't pay much attention to it because I was focused on [Cast a Spell II], but it might be relevant here. Opening up the Quests menu, I look for it. There are two, actually.

Magical Might I Available Rank: 1 Requirements: Train up 5 Magic Reward: 5 low-quality mana potions; 1 Tier I spell scroll Details: Every wizard needs magical power. The strength of a spell is affected by how much magical power one can put into it, but one's magical power affects many other things as well, including how far a spell can travel. Push the limits of your magic to raise its power. Note: You have an affinity for this Quest.

This is confirmation I can train my Magic Attribute, and it explains a bit more than the Attribute's description did. So [Magic Missile]'s distance is affected by my Magic Attribute, too. If it's a direction relation, then it can travel half a foot for every 1 Magic that I have. That's something I'll figure out as my Magic raises.

As for training my Mana, there's even a Quest for that, it seems.

Bountiful Mana I Available Rank: 1 Requirements: Train up 20 Mana Reward: 5 low-quality mana potions Details: Mana is the lifeblood of normal magics. The more of it you have, the more spells you can cast and the more potent spells you can create before running dry. Use your Mana as much as possible to raise how much you can hold. Note: You have an affinity for this Quest.

This one's just straight-up surprising to exist as a Quest, but if the System's trying to help us out in our early days, then it probably makes sense there would be a Quest to encourage us to raise our Mana.

Judging by the quantities needed for each of those and the fact that these are starting Quests, I'm going to assume they're not too difficult. After [Cast a Spell II], I'll work on [Bountiful Mana I], then switch to [Magical Might I] after I finish that. I'm assuming I might be able to raise my Mana Regeneration through constantly using my Mana, and that doing so first will help me to "push the limits" of my magical power. After all, the more often I can throw Mana at the spells, the faster that will happen.

To 'constantly use mana', I'll let myself recover to full, then go back to empty. My theory is that by constantly using up Mana as soon as I reach full, it'll tell my mana whatever – or the System – that I don't have enough capacity, and that in turn, that will cause my mana capacity to increase. It's only a theory, though, and I'll have to revise it if the attempt fails. At the moment, it's the only thing I can think of for how to do this.

The only downside is that it takes hours for my Mana to reach full. Hopefully, this training method helps with increasing my Mana Regeneration, too, because I really want to improve that.

Walking to my hall closet, I open it up and pull out a box of candles and matches, then bring them to the living room. I'm not going to use any from my emergency bags for this, especially considering that I have plenty stocked up as well. One never knows if they might need them at home, too.

I set them on the table and open up both, lighting one of the candles. I wait until my Mana is full, then I begin working on using my magic to manipulate the flame, willing it to bend to the side.

It takes me only 3 Mana to obtain [Fire Manipulation]. As soon as I have it, I bend the candle flame into a loop, then stop and hold up my hand. Rather than just blindly attempting to generate fire like I did with light, I instead focus on only a small amount of fire, a small flame at the tip of a finger.

Now that I have [Fire Creation], I begin working on casting a spell of an orb of fire, rather than simply generating flames and shaping them into an orb with [Fire Manipulation]. I picked this because I felt it was easier to do, already having experience with doing the same with light magic. As I expected, I manage it with a little bit of ease, an orb of flames the size of a tangerine forming above my palm.

Speaking of tangerines, I'm actually pretty hungry right now. I've spent a few hours working on my bags and then on magic, and I should probably do more than just sit here while waiting for my Mana to recover. I mean, it does take me hours to return to full from empty, and I should be more productive than I've been.

Rising from the couch, I enter the kitchen and start fixing myself up a lunch. The stuff in the fridge is starting to cool down, despite having only been opened once, but that doesn't surprise me – it's starting to feel sweltering in here. I pull out the package of pepper jack cheese, another of sliced turkey, the lettuce, then close the fridge, setting my ingredients on a tray, before grabbing the pack of hoagie buns I'd bought in my shopping trip yesterday and set them on the tray. I also grab an onion and a bell pepper and slice them a bit, setting the pieces on a small plate, which I then add to the tray along with a pitcher of lemonade from the fridge.

Instead of simply assembling the sandwich, I step out back and set up my grill, igniting the charcoal I dump into it through magical flames. Using those, it only takes a few minutes for things to heat up, then I wrap the grill rack itself in aluminum foil and fix it back onto the grill. Now, I lightly toast two hoagie buns, top and bottom, as well as grill the onion and bell pepper. Once the buns are lightly toasted, I flip them over and layer meat and cheese on them, before adding the onion, bell pepper, and lettuce to both and close the buns.

I eat lunch in silence, washing it down with lemonade, and once I finish, I return inside, grabbing a large bowl on my way back to the living room. Time for water magic. I pour some water from a bottle into the bowl, just a little bit, then get to work on manipulating it. Holding my hand over the bowl, I draw my hand up, willing the water to draw upwards as well.

Success is found rather easily, leaving me to wonder how I scale against others who want to learn the magical arts. Do most people have an affinity for only specific types of magic? Or can anyone learn it with relative ease? Since I have an affinity for the magic-based Quests, I'm going to assume that means I have an innate affinity for magic. How do I scale up against others who do? How common is an affinity for magic?

Is there a benefit to having a generalist affinity rather than a specialist affinity other than being able to more easily become flexible with magic? Or would it have been better to be born with a specialist affinity for just certain magics?

Pushing those thoughts out of my head, I release my hold on the small stream of water flowing upwards, letting it sink back into the bowl. Now, I work on generating a small amount of water, a stream flowing out of my index finger for a few seconds once I succeed.

Next, I practice creating an orb of water, and once I achieve [Water Orb], I cast it four more times… receiving a reminder that I'd performed two different light spells.

Quest Completed: Cast a Spell II Reward Received: 5 low-quality mana potions; 1% Experience

Looking at [Cast a Spell III], I decide to put it on hold for now. It requires casting ten unique spells ten times each. While I already have half of those, I want to focus on increasing my Mana, my Magic, and on acquiring the [Wizard Apprentice] Trait.