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Friday, XX/XX/XXXX | 14:05 |

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"Then let's begin with our first magic lesson," Eßvelt the magician scribed two arcane symbols next to each other.

She pointed at the right symbol, "This is what we call mana. It is spiritual energy that exist in our environment. No one knows their origin; many speculated that mana flowed into this world through a gap between our dimension and the realm of the gods!"

Eßvelt couldn't contain her happiness. How she loved the history of mana! So many question unanswered and nothing could sate her thirst for answer. Was mana created by the gods and why?

She made it apparent by inserted that specific information in her first lesson everywhere. Not only was she sowing seed of curiosity, she was also looking for like-minded person to discuss about mana, regardless of their age. Killing two birds with one stone!

"People who are adept at sensing mana can utilize this raw powerful force to their biddings. However powerful mana can be, not all people can harness its power. To fully utilize mana, one should be able to sense and familiarize his body with it, and by following these methods, their heart will develop what we call mana heart."

She paused for a moment to let the heroes digest the information.

"Knowing wind and feeling wind are two different meaning. Of course we know the existence of wind and the natural movement of air, but the question is... do we able to sense it anytime? Does our body able to adapt to its movement without getting sick or experience inconveniences?"

"...so sensing mana can make people sick?" Mei, the bespectacled girl, quietly asked.

"Oh, not quite. It's not the sensing, but the act of adapting our body to it. To put it simply, our body naturally rejects anything foreign and mana is considered as such. With adaptation, however, most of us overcame that by owning a mana heart. But what will happen to those whose body cannot withstand mana? Their body would collapse."

Anya exclaimed, "I can't believe it! People getting sick from this?"

"Unfortunately yes. While it seems trivial, mana rejection is real and I have seen the affected people first hand. Their conditions are... tragic. It is frustrating to see them suffer, but there is nothing we can do about it other than giving them the aid they need. But you have nothing to worry about. All of you do not have mana rejection."

The summoned heroes let out a relieved sigh.

Adit raised his hand, "But what about MP? You know, the one on the status window? What does it have to do with mana? Is there any connection between them?"

The magician smiled, "The gods made it easier for us mages by creating something that all of you are familiar with--status windows. With it, we can track our remaining MP during the most crucial moments. MP itself is our mana capacity. The larger it is, the more spells you can utilize--or to make it simple, MP is our ability to control mana. The stronger the spell, the more MP it will consume. Of course each person starts with different maximum MP. But what if you ran out of MP? Then you can no longer cast spell, you cannot control the mana, but it will recover slowly over time as our mana heart will try to recover the lost ability by itself. Alternatively, you can consume Mana Potions to speed up the recovery process."

The author's content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

"Oh, cool, it's automatic."

Eßvelt pretended to understand what that meant.

"...let's examine this one," the stick she used to point things with switched to the left symbol, "this is incantation. Mana is a powerful, raw force that cannot be tamed. This is why most mages use incantation or arcane symbols to control it, and thus cast spells. Incantations also serve to convert the mana into spells."

Adit raised his hand again, "Since you said 'most', then incantations aren't the only method, right?"

"Good observation! Indeed, incantations or arcane symbols are the standard method to use mana. Incantations can be done quickly using verbal components, whereas for arcane symbols we need to prepare the materials and time to create the symbol we need. Aside of those two, we do have other uncommon methods such as the combination of incantations, materials, and symbols for conjuration..." she trailed off for a while, then whispered darkly.

"...and then there's blood."

She switched personality instantly when she finished the sentence, giving no time for the summoned heroes to think and ponder as she carried on explaining. "But such practice is generally frowned upon by the mages community, so we will not discuss about it further. But of course you are encouraged to report anything suspicious! Blood-related magic is dangerous for a reason."

The magician turned around to write on the board. Her keen ears easily overheard what her pupils were talking about behind her back.

"...did you hear that, Anya? They have blood rituals just like on the internet..."

"...yeah, I heard her..."

"...can we summon Bloody Mary with blood?..."

"...gurl, you can't just go and summon things with blood! You gonna turn us into pancakes..."

What a peculiar talk, she thought, almost giggling, yet her hand did not stop scribing on the board.

"Now, let's take a look at this simple incantation for beginner fire spell." her sharp tap on the blackboard straightened everyone's back. Written on the board was a simple word: ember.

"Watch," she demonstrated, lifting a finger for everyone to see. "Concentrate the mana on your fingertip. Imagine sending a tiny wave of power into it and hold it. Be patient, don't let it go awry. Feel the power gathering... You will know when the time is right... and then release the power while muttering the incantation."

Ember

A white, crackle of fire slowly appeared atop her finger, dancing slightly from the wind. It was a gentle yet majestic ember.

"The color of your magic may change as you go stronger. While your starting spell colors might be red, but who knows what color it will be once you get stronger. This color change is the evidence of your success, your tenacity, and your efforts. This is how the gods reward our efforts to get stronger. Now, let's put it into practice!"

Amongst the enthusiastic heroes, only Anya was taken aback by the demonstration. She lifted a finger groggily to practice. Not only did she knew the spell, she also have witnessed someone's demonstration before. But the incantation...

Ember was not the incantation...

"Ahahahah! This spell is nothing! Look at me succeeding on the first try!"

Adit's haughty declaration and everyone's voices seemed distant as Anya stared into nothingness, eyes empty and mind blank.

She wanted to ask a question, but was too afraid to do so. Seeing how respected mages were, she was afraid of the punishment for questioning such powerful individuals. Yet the question grew even larger, overwhelming her mind and making her failed the practice.

...why did Eßvelt cast the same spell as the High Priestess on the day they arrived?