Vaughn quickly pocketed his mysterious slime healing vial, focusing on his new task at hand, the tutelage of his new hooded shadow assassin sensei.

“What is the state of your mana circuit, Vaughn Hallows?” Dhunnim ‘il Dharral asked, pacing around Vaughn as if he was an instructor with a baton in his hand. Another group of slimes burst into existence just a few feet away from him, and both he and Vaughn instantly burst into action, subduing the poor slimes before settling back into sensei-student mode.

“The system says that I need to open up my mana circuits first before I can use magic,” Vaughn replied, briefly looking over the screen from earlier.

“Ah… I see… It is because you have not reached the First Realm yet. Archmagus Marcus would be more suitable to teach you, but amongst the Shadow Council, he is one who is least willing to take on pupils. Well, except for the Master of Darkness that is… but we shall not speak much of him, for it is a bad omen.”

Vaughn’s ears twitched. The fact that Dhunnim ‘il Dharral didn’t want to speak of one of his former table mates made him all the more intrigued about who this man was. And what a name–Master of Darkness? God, it sounded like an early 2000s t3h PeNgU1N oF d00m kind of name. And hey, didn’t his coworker Evelyn say that early 2000s fashion was back? Something about fashion cycling every twenty or thirty years? Evelyn was always first to jump on trends, being the first girl in office to bring back the scrunchie, which in girl-terms was the equivalent of braving dragonfire.

Anyway, he had to be careful because the kinds of people that named themselves Mast3r of D4rkn3zz were the ones who tended to have their mana circuits unlocked from the get-go in this world. He hated to admit it, but even Dhunnim ‘il Dharral was pretty damn strong right now, all things considered. Vaughn’s pride would never admit that Dhunnim ‘il Dharral could kick his ass at this very moment, but the rational part of his mind had doubts on whether he would win a one on one fight versus him right now.

Of course, Vaughn had every intention of changing that. He’d grind his ass off to become stronger. And friends scratched each other’s backs. Because Dhunnim was willing to help him out this time, Vaughn would return the favor in the future.

A dragon’s favor was not one to be trifled with. That much was certain.

“Do you think the Master of Darkness entered this world?” Vaughn asked, curious.

“If it is him… it is possible,” Dhunnim replied gravely.

“Alright. So how exactly do I reach this first realm of mana?”

Dhunnim cleared his throat. “To reach the limitless heavens, you must first start one step at a time. Sit with me.”

Dhunnim ‘il Dharral sat on a rock, overlooking the other outlanders remaining in the cave. There weren’t many left, approximately ten or so including Becky Oak, who was beginning to look a bit winded as well. Vaughn made eye contact with Becky, and she waved at him.

“Oh hey y’all, I’ll be heading back to town for the night. Gettin’ mighty late now,” Becky said to them, stretching herself out. She had her adventurer’s robes rolled up at the sleeves. “I’ll catch y’all in the morning.”

“See you later,” Vaughn replied courteously but slightly absentmindedly, just going through the motions like he normally did in the office. The good mornings and good nights all kind of blended in with each other after a while.

Dhunnim tipped his head in a nod. “The party breaks for dusk, to reconvene at first light. Farewell, party member Becky Oak, and let us regather at dawn.”

God, it was hard to take this man seriously when he kept speaking as if he was narrating something. But right now, Dhunnim held the key to opening up Vaughn’s mana circuits through his guidance, so Vaughn decided not to cringe too hard.

With Becky Oak leaving, there were only a handful of people left in the cave. While dedicated trainees could be a way to describe those still remaining, sweaty nerds could also be an apt description.

Well, it’s not like everyone was a sweaty nerd here; after all Vaughn himself was still present and he most certainly would not label his glorious self as one.

Actually, there was a group of outlanders remaining in the cave that kind of concerned Vaughn. A group of four men, one of them very skinny and tall, and the other three slightly shorter than average and a bit on the chunky side. Vaughn’s nose, having been honed while hopping from private school to private school during his tumultuous youth, could instantly tell the scent of the lower class even if they were wearing the same homogeneous brown adventurer’s robes as everyone else, and this particular group did not appear to be particularly educated and possibly involved in some kind of gang violence related activity back on Earth.

But besides some shifty looks and the fact that they were all huddled in the corner whispering to each other in what sounded like Estonian, they didn’t seem to be openly aggressive as of yet. Vaughn decided to simply keep tabs on them for now.

Back to the lesson.

“Are you listening, Vaughn Hallows?” Dhunnim ‘il Dharral asked. He was sitting in a lotus pose on the rock from earlier. “Please assume this position, and clear your mind of all thoughts besides that of your own mana circuit”

“It is strange. I saw sparks of mana flying across your body just moments ago, and yet you tell me that you have not even reached the First Realm yet? You are quite the enigma.”

Vaughn shrugged. “Maybe I was just concentrating really hard at the time.”

“That may be why. You must feel your own mana circuit within your body, and move your mana by guiding it. Then, you will be able to break through the first circle and into the first realm. It took Archmagus Marcus a month of meditation while we were on the plains of Azeroth to break into the fourth circle. Such a process is not easy, and even Archmagus Marcus required an entire week to complete the process for the first circle–”

Vaughn was half listening to Dhunnim, focused entirely on his own body. Calming his mind, he searched within himself for the catalyst that must’ve ignited earlier and caused those flares of mana to form around his body earlier.

Now what exactly caused that to occur?

As Vaughn’s eyes furrowed in concentration, he noticed a blue spark of something flash before his body.