AN: This chapter took some time as populating the codexes took some time... and I had to spend quite a bit of time refining and finalizing the mechanics for magic. Sorry about the delay! Hope everyone enjoys the chapter and as usual feedback will be much appreciated!

Ducking into a secluded room, Feng drew out the three books he grabbed from the library shelves earlier, the first two from the first floor titled [Introduction to Magic] and [Theories of Mana] while the last was a slim nondescript notebook simply titled [Understanding Mana] with no author name.

Feng flipped open the first book, curiously feeling the soft vellum page with its neat hand-written script before delving into reading the book.

Codex: Introduction to Magic (Hermetic Tradition)

You have read about the basics of magic under the hermetic tradition.

Spoiler : Magic is the effects derived from harnessing and manipulation of mana which can be accomplished through a variety of methods. This can be separated into two main schools under the hermetic tradition, passive magical manipulation loosely classified under Enchanting and active manipulation classified under Invocation.

Invocation as most mages are known for is channeling mana through spells to create an effect. Spells are constructs which aid mages in manipulating their mana into a pre-determined mana type and shaping the results through the usage of gestures, incantations and/or tools. This enables mages of the hermetic tradition to learn and master a much wider repertoire of magical spells as compared to other traditions, as each spell can be passed down more easily than say an illogical “close connection and understanding of nature” which druidic tradition requires. Of course, powerful spells are closely guarded by wise archmages to prevent idiot apprentices from wildly flinging apocalyptic spells out of their ability to control or even power.

Similarly, Enchanting is a discipline which studies various formulas of magic through the usage of runes, script, application of various mana-stones and their interactions with various materials and mana types. Although most apprentices may scoff at Enchanting due to the large amount of hard work and time needed and lack of visible flashy results, mages specializing in Enchanting can often overpower and outlast their counter-parts when well-prepared since most of their tools, scrolls or even constructs are self-powered and only require minimal mana to control or trigger.

Besides the two main schools, there are several smaller sub-schools studying more specific lines of enquiries such as Elemental Magic; or some which mixes both Invocation and Enchanting such as Rituals and the heavily restricted school of Necromancy.

+2 to Intelligence

+1 to Wisdom

Feng looked up in what felt like bare moments after cracking open the book, his mind somehow speeding through the words at a pace unfamiliar to him. It seemed that the title did in fact increase his reading speed but not by simply increasing his reading pace but rather enabled him to pick out the essentials and speed through the rest.

Picking up the next book, Feng continued his reading hoping that the next book will offer some more practical advice in harnessing magic instead of mere descriptions and theory… though the title itself hints that his hopes are likely in vain.

Codex: Theories of Mana (Hermetic Tradition)

You have read about the nature of mana in the world of Athal.

Spoiler : Mana is conjectured to originate from the depths of Athal, given that dungeons and monsters grow more powerful alongside stronger mana saturation the deeper one ventures. Archmage Jiazal, the strongest recorded earth mage has proposed that the core of Athal is actually formed of pure mana crystals given the increasing density of rocks and purer mana-stones with increasing depth.

Pure mana exists in all life to some extent, but is found to be greatly influenced by environmental factors but also greatly influencing the environment. For example, the growth of a forest will eventually convert the area’s natural pure mana into nature mana; this then increases the sizes and growth of flora and fauna within the area in a continual cycle that makes ancient forests and wood harvested therein highly magical. Interestingly, it has also been observed that sufficiently powerful monsters may also warp the natural mana when they take up residence, however such research have been inconclusive as monsters tend to gravitate towards areas naturally high in the mana type closely related to them.

This process is believed to be due to how creatures absorb mana from their surroundings and this then slowly influences their tendencies towards that mana type. However, mana cannot be held indefinitely within one’s body and is constantly being released from the body. This rate of mana loss increases with the amount of mana within one’s body and hence creates a maximum capacity on an individual’s mana reserves once the rate of mana leakage is equal to the rate they absorb mana from the surroundings. This is the dynamic theory of mana equilibrium as opposed to the traditional notion of static mana reserves which thinks of people as large bottles containing mana which the Churches still ascribe to. Factors such as age, mental training, natural ability and even physical strength have been attributed to increasing the maximum amount of mana one can hold by either increasing mana absorption rate or decreasing mana leakage.

+2 to Intelligence

+1 to Wisdom

‘Wow, mana appears to be an entire field of study for mages, I wonder if studying it as a form of energy under physics might yield more insights…’

Feng took a moment to gather his thoughts after reading the surprisingly informative but dense book, before concluding that while most of it may aid him in understanding more of the world… Only the fact that mana regeneration and reserves can be trained was useful but there wasn’t any mention of how it could be trained or any methods to use his mana rendering it a moot point for now.

Setting the second book aside, Feng picked up the last book and odd one out being a slim black journal with only a title scrawled across it with no author name or any other markings on the cover. Feng had only picked it out due to it being so out of place in the shelf, likely having been stuffed there by a player who simply noted the word mana and dumped it into the magic skills section.

Cracking open the book, Feng sneezed as a puff of fine dust rose from the journal pages and revealed extremely untidy and small scribbling across the page. Feng scowled at the thought of reading the untidy script and was tempted to look for a different book but only the thought of some possible special spell or magic kept him reading on.

Codex: Understanding Mana (Unknown) – Partial

You have read about an unknown person’s thoughts on understanding mana, but only an incomplete version.

Spoiler : There are no fancy spells or amazing feats to be learnt from this book, only the ramblings of a simple man fascinated by mana in our world.

Mana is deeply linked to both body and mind. Warriors believe that mana is only used to strengthen the body while mages believe that the mind controls mana and learning about it effects enables one to create more powerful spells. Both are wrong.

Mana, aura, chi, energy or my personal favorite – that glowing stuff, whatever name you wish to use does not matter. It is integral in all walks of life, even a simple baker may be unknowingly using fire-typed mana to better control the heating of his oven or utilizing ingredients and their natural mana in specific combinations resulting in deeper flavors.

In my journeys, I have met many who believe that their varying methods of harnessing mana is superior and that only dedication to a single path will allow a person to reach their full potential. However, I note that natural inclination or talent often lead to a few excelling while the rest struggle. It is hence my belief that similar to the well-studied Hermetic research of pre-disposition to molding certain types of mana such as a fire mage’s children picking up fire-related spells more easily, everyone has a natural inclination towards different traditions and systems of utilizing mana.

This may seem ridiculously obvious to all, but extending from this line of thought I set forth to discover if it is possible to actively manipulate this natural inclination of the body and mind. My work while unfinished led me to believe that this is possible through a deep understanding of body and mind as espoused by the monks can allow for some form of such but to an extent limited by their system enabling the internalized manipulation of mana only. Continuation of my work meshing the monks’ philosophy with the hermetic tradition has shown that mana externalized can be manipulated in a similar form to achieve differing effects of different systems.

This requires understanding and control that first step from feeling the flow of mana in your body, the next step is to manipulate the flow, followed by externalizing it. This can then be used t-

+2 to Intelligence

+1 to Wisdom

Feng rubbed his eyes to get rid of the fatigue of squinting to understand the chicken scratching the journal owner passes off as writing as he struggled to make sense of the jumbled thoughts of the writer.

‘Well at least I have some ideas on where to start with mana, feeling the flow of energy within my body and then manipulating it somehow.’

Settling into a full-lotus meditation position, Feng closed his eyes and slowed down his breathing, taking deeper and longer breaths as he turned his focus inwards.

At first, Feng felt nothing but the feeling of air entering and leaving his body in the quiet and peaceful darkness of his meditative state. Slowly, he began to feel an energy entering his body and slowly circulating around it as he breathed, a stream of warm energy circulating throughout starting from his lower abdomen.

Feng was fascinated by the feeling of the energy as it entered and left his body, revitalizing him with every breath and spent an unknown amount of time simply meditating and focusing on the energy flowing within him.

Only after some time, Feng snapped out of it and initiated his plan to experiment with the mana, beginning by imagining the energy gathering into his hands… The process was slow and arduous but he gradually felt mana collecting within his hands and a light tingly sensation before he blinked open his eyes and saw a gentle blue glow radiating from his hands.

*DING*

New Skill Obtained: Mana Control

Congratulations, you have learnt how to directly control mana.

(Passive Skill)

+1% Success in manipulating mana

+3 Wisdom

+2 Willpower

“YES!”

Feng exclaimed upon realizing he succeeded in gaining a basic magical skill to tap on his mana. Staring at the glow emitting from his hands, Feng gingerly poked the floor followed by one of the books and himself only to realize that what he managed to accomplish so far was nothing more than a simple light show…

‘Well, the books did mention pure mana is inert and does not do anything. Perhaps I simply need to make it do something… but I don’t know any spells to channel the mana through… Maybe if I combine manipulation with physics? If I pump mana into vibrating molecules, it should technically create heat energy and thus fire.”

Focusing once again on his glowing hands, Feng visualized the mana creating vibration of molecules and generating thermal energy, and in fact gradually felt his hands heating up. His face looked strained as he struggled to control the mana to move more vigorously as he felt it working and the heat growing…

“YES!”

Feng cheered as he finally succeeded with a gentle blue flame surrounding his hands. Elated by his success, he pumped his fists in triumph…

“AHHH SHIT!”

Only to set his hair on fire as the flames surrounding his hands brushed by his hair and rapidly spread across his head. Still shrieking like a little girl, Feng beat away at his head trying to get rid of the flames as the previously gentle heat increased in intensity with the added fuel of his hair and merrily blazed away on his head… Only to realize that he was making it worse as his hands were still flaming away.

‘Ahhhh… Ok. Stay calm. It’s my mana, I can make it go away, just need to draw it back into me…’

After a few long moments with Feng actively denying the presence of the flames licking away at his face as he imagined the energies being drawn back into his body as it grew cooler, the flames finally disappeared leaving his hair and eyebrows still somewhat singed.

*DING*

Congratulations! For your brilliant ideas and sheer idiocy, you gain:

+2 Intelligence

-1 Wisdom

Mana Control has leveled up to Novice 3

New Spell Created: Flaming Hands

Congratulations, you have learnt how to set your hands (and your head) on fire.

(Sustained Skill)

+2 Fire Damage /hit

Mana Cost: 400

Cast Time: 10 Seconds

Duration: 30 Seconds (-100MP/10 seconds)

‘… Stupid admins. Maybe I should try to perform my experiments at a distance though to minimize any chance of repeat accidents…’

Feng groused in his heads as he waved off the light smoke coming from his head and settled back into a meditative position to try and externalize his mana. Directing the mana to his hands once again was much easier and smoother, but trying to gather it into a ball within his palms was an extremely tedious task as the pure mana quickly dissipated upon leaving his body.

Deciding to try something new after many failed attempts, Feng slowly condensed the mana within his hands before pushing it out of his hands to gather into a ball within his palms… and it worked!

Grinning at the sight of the small glowing ball of mana within his hands, Feng imagined it leaving his hands and shooting out at the wall… only to see it disconnect from his palm and flying a few inches away, growing smaller as it flew before sputtering out in a few blue sparks.

Feng growled at the failure of his experiment and gathered a huge amount of mana into his hands, growing and condensing the ball, hyper compacting it in a process that took him more than a minute before opening his eyes to see a ball of mana approximately the same size but glowing much brighter.

Gathering mana to propel the ball while pulling his hands back to physically throw the ball, Feng launched the ball at a great speed and it flew across the room nearly reaching the wall… but in a parabolic arc resulting in the ball of condensed mana hitting the stone floor… and bouncing up to smack into the wall before rebounding back at Feng.

Stunned by the unexpected bouncing motion of the mana-ball, Feng failed to dodge his rebounding attack which crashed straight into his abdomen and sent him sprawling to the ground along with the mana-ball which simply rolled on to the floor next to him.

“OWWW! What the f***!”

Nursing the large bruise on his stomach, Feng swore at the ridiculous behaviour of mana defying the usual spells archetypes like a simple bolt…

*DING*

New Spell Created: Mana Ball

Congratulations, you have learnt how to create a dense ball of mana…

(Active Skill)

50 Damage

Mana Cost: 1600

Cast Time: 1 Minute

Duration: 1 Minute

Prodding the ball of mana, Feng sighed as his finger sank slightly into the surface before being sprang away…

‘Well… This is kind of useless… Maybe I should wait till I find a proper magic tutor or look for actual spells to learn from the library…’

Staring at the mana-ball in his hands, Feng looked disappointed as his grand visions of powerful fireballs and game-breaking spells faded away…

‘Wait… Fire! I’ll try one more time before giving up.’

Covering the mana-ball with both his hands, Feng concentrated on it directing his mana into the ball… and vibrating the ball. Slowly but surely he felt the heat growing between his hands and after a last push of his remaining mana, Feng tossed the results at the wall.

*WHOOOSHH*

The dense mana-ball was flickering with flames surrounding its edge as it arced towards the wall and splattered against it with a large surge of flames!

The flames covered nearly a two metre radius on the wall and flickered on the wall lasting for a whole ten seconds before dying out.

*DING*

New Spell Created: Fire Ball

Congratulations, you have learnt how to create a fire ball.

(Active Skill)

500 Damage + 10/s for 10s (Burn Damage)

Area of Effect: 2 Metres

Mana Cost: 2000

Cast Time: 1.5 Minute (30 seconds from Mana Ball)

Unfortunately, Feng had no energy to celebrate the success of his spell and was slumped to the ground panting though he had a victorious grin on his face. It appears that depleting the body’s mana reserves completely exhausts the body leaving it vulnerable…

Pulling himself together after a while, Feng still felt completely drained and decided to rest and meditate to increase the rate of his mana regeneration.

Feng quickly fell into a trance as he felt the flow of mana from his surroundings enter into his body mainly through his breathing and seven points in his body but slowly seeping through his skin as well.

With his focus on the streams of mana flowing around him, Feng attempted to accelerate the natural process of mana recovery by increasing the rate at which mana enters his body through his skin, imagining the pores of his skins widening and allowing a greater flow of energy into his body.

It worked excellently as the rate at which mana entered his body literally doubled till he felt his reserves hit about half of what he is used to and then realized that there was now a corresponding larger flow of mana OUT of his body through the pores.

‘It’s like osmosis… Damn it, there must be a better way to do this…’

Feng thought as he slowly closed off the ‘magical pores’ to restrict the loss of mana and instead focused on actively pulling in the mana into his body which increased his mana regeneration slightly but nowhere near the other method’s speed.

Feng let his mind wander to the mana surrounding him as his mana naturally pulled in more mana to replenish his reserves as it appears that once he manipulated the mana to ‘actively transport’ more mana into his reserves it became a completely passive process not requiring his focus.

As he focused on the mana surrounding him, he began to slowly discern some differences in the mana around him though it seemed blurry. The mana in the air around him appeared to be largely blue with a tinge of white and somewhat dispersed while the reverse is true for the mana in the ground which seemed… heavy with a much heavier dash of brown running through it.

What interested him was however a heavy concentration of brown and green mana… that seemed to be originating within him… However, it did not feel as though it was part of his body but rather seemingly disembodied within a space devoid of mana…

‘… Wait. How could I forget…’

Feng opened his eyes as he realized the source of the heavy brown and green mana and withdrew an item from his inventory – the Giant Comodon Lizard Core and noticed a notification window which popped up while he was meditating.

New Skill Obtained: Mana Absorption

Congratulations through experimentation, you have discovered how to increase the rate of your mana absorption.

(Passive Skill)

+5% Mana Regeneration

+3 Wisdom

Dismissing the window, Feng shrugged off the new skill despite its handy benefits and focused the dense source of mana he could feel trapped within the monster core…

He concentrated deeply as he fell into a meditative state with the stone within his hands… and tried to draw out the mana trapped within the stone into his body.

Sweat trickled down his furrowed brow as Feng devoted more and more of his mana into his hands attempting to pull the dense brown and green mana out of the stone, but despite the large amount of mana he was using it refused to budge.

Changing tactics, Feng shaped his mana like a tube with a sharper end and pierced it into the dense mana core and tried to pull the heavy brown and green mana through it.

By now, sweat was pouring out of Feng’s body and he could feel the mental strain as the dense mana sluggishly flowed up through the tubes and approached his body…

*BANG*