Let’s sum things up about this whole mana business.

Mana is an invisible, intangible energy. It is stored within a living being’s cells. Mana regeneration is when the ambient mana pressure is higher than the body’s mana pressure. In which case, mana gathers in the body’s cells as potential energy through the skin or the lungs. The speed at which this transfer occurs varies from person to person. It is mainly affected by the size of their mana pool.

In my case, I never reached the bottom of my mana pool. In fact, shortly after discovering my latent magical powers, I shaped a thin magical barrier around most of my body to prevent the mana regeneration from my skin. I was forced to do so because I was… uncomfortable.

Indeed, my mana regeneration was at such a level that the flow of mana that would surge into me when recharging my mana pool was painful. Not the level of pain of smashing his toe on the table’s leg, but more like an annoying itch that just won’t go away.

The real issue, however, was my bottomless mana pool.

It was never full, and so, it kept recharging. Without that layer of mana over my skin, I would feel that itch all day and all night.

Today was different.

**I would not mind feeling itchy if I could avoid the end of the world.**

**Well, that didn’t sound as good as I thought it would.**

I shattered the layer of mana, exposing my skin to the ambient mana pressure.

**Nothing is happening… I guess my skin has been idle for too long and can no longer absorb ambient mana. Let’s try this.**

If mana could not get in from the outside, I would force open a path from the inside.

I emitted a wave of mana from my entire body. The concept behind it was simply to use magic to make mana ooze out from my skin. Thus, forging a path for the ambient mana.

**Ahh it’s itching! I guess it worked.**

My mana regeneration back at full capacity, I opened my eyes.

I looked up and found Lilliana standing in front of me. Her arms were crossed, and dissatisfaction was displayed all over her face.

“You are monopolizing all of the mana in the area. Cease this at once, Lynch.”

I shrugged, still laid down.

“I can’t help it, and you know it. My entire being is now a natural vacuum siphoning all the mana from the atmosphere.”

“Even so, do it elsewhere. I need ambient mana to fill my mana pool.”

**I guess she’s right. She’ll need this mana to protect everyone. Something my destructive magic cannot do as well as her support magic.**

“Fine, fine, I’m leaving.”

**Well, that was disappointing. Where do I go now? No clue. Then, hum, let’s go over some keywords. Remote, so she won’t feel the effects of my mana regen. Serene, to help with my concentration. And meditation, because uhh do I really need to explain it?**

“All things considered; the answer’s obvious.”

I was now sitting cross-legged under a waterfall. It was, without a doubt, the best spot to meditate, and it answered all of my criteria.

The sound of the flowing water put my mind at ease and allowed me to fine-tune my mana circuits.

This crushing flood falling over my head made me remember a crucial concept about magic. Mana, once inside a mage’s body, is considered potential energy.

In a waterfall, the water uphill is filled with potential energy due to the gravity that will soon pull it down when the slope’s descent intensifies. At that moment, the potential energy is gradually converted into kinetic energy, and the flow accelerates.

The same concept can be applied to magic. Mana, when stored inside the mana pool, is inert and immaterial. To a certain extent, this mana is a form of potential energy.

With this energy at hand, the mage can convert it to another type of energy to cast a magic spell. For example, just like the case of the waterfall, he can convert it to kinetic energy to cast a self-buff spell like Acceleration. A classical example would be fire magic. It was generated by converting the potential energy into thermal energy.

The way spells worked was that once the mana was gathered in the palm or any other part of the body, it was converted to another type, just like I explained. Once it is converted, the mana pours out from the palm and activates at a certain distance from the source. For an apprentice, this distance will be rather short. But for an adept, it can go up to several paces. The distance at which the mana activates will determine the range of the spell.

With that said, the common mage could only really grasp one type of magic.

But if you put your back into it, anything is possible. With enough willpower and talent, the mana will yield and obey your every command. One could even generate physical matter, like stone or water, with mana as its only source.

Needless to say, Earth and Water mages were scarce. Nonetheless, some were born with an innate talent for a specific type of magic, allowing the Earth and Water mage’s circles to gain some proficient members. In other words, even if some types of magic were extremely hard to learn, some citizens would naturally be gifted in these types, allowing the mages of the continent to be diverse and capable of adapting to any situation.

In my case, as a matter of course, I mastered all of them.

Well, to be honest, I couldn’t use light magic at all. Light magic was used mainly for support spells, like barriers and heals. This means it was worthless for me anyway since my enemies were crushed before dealing any kind of damage.

Still, in the unlikely event that the enemy does get past my first salvo, I had Lilliana cover that flaw of mine.

At that moment, I was using kinetic energy to divert the flow of water over my head to my sides. However, air magic wouldn't shield me entirely from the droplets of water, and my clothes would get wet. I would have none of that. I had to keep my clothes dry while demonstrating my metaphor about waterfalls and potential energy. Therefore, this use of kinetic magic was necessary.

“Let’s get this over with. The whole point of coming here was to make a last-minute checkup on my condition, after all.”

**Absorption of ambient mana through the skin, check.**

**Absorption of ambient mana through the lungs, check.**

**Mana flow, from pool to palm, check.**

**Conversion of mana, potential to kinetic, check. To thermal, check. To water elemental, check. To earth elemental, check. To air elemental, check. To dark type mana, check. To light type mana… Why am I even bothering myself with this?**

“Alright, I skipped a few steps, but that should do the trick.”

As I looked up, I noticed the sun was already low toward the horizon.

“I guess I should head back.”

**And now, for my grandiose entrance…**

“Teleport!”

I landed on top of the ramparts. I stretched one arm to the right and used my left hand to hide my face halfway to strike a cool pose. At least, I hoped it was cool. Reminiscing on it now, it might have been utterly embarrassing.

I pivoted toward the sinking sun and shouted,

“The ultimate defense of the free nations against the forces of darkness! The last resistance of the free people! The final battle that will decide the fate of the world is upon us!”