Chương 9: Mana Foundation

Mana Accumulation was the first skill Ember learned after reaching Tier 2, a feat he didn't acomplish without help. Every morning since his advancement, his father would sit him down and demonstrate the way to gain the skill. Ember had to acknowledge that without the lessons, the skill would have taken over a month instead of a week to learn. As mana circulation required mana sense, mana accumulation seemed to require both the sense and circulation to work.

The skill allowed one to accumulate more mana into the body. First, he had to sense the ambient mana in the surroundings, and then he had to coax a connection with it through his one breath of mana. If that weren't difficult already, he'd have to draw the ambient mana inwards and circulate it along with the breath of mana, until some of the ambient mana began to linger in his channels. The theory behind it was simple enough, but in practice, it was magnitudes more difficult.

Even drawing his own mana required a great deal of concentration, whereas grafting his Will upon ambient mana was another ordeal altogether. Even after weeks of gaining the skill, and despite making a level of progress in it, Ember was unsure if it was even working until he finally formed his second breath of mana. His skill mastery rose to the third level with that. From then on, Ember could sense the slow accumulation of mana in his internal channels.

The third breath of mana came even earlier, in less than a month. After half a year of practice, Mana Accumulation was much easier to get hold of, if still boring and arduous. It burned away his mental energy faster than anything, and only hours of meditation allowed him to continue the practice for it to be worthwhile. So, to reach Tier 1 in Mana Foundation, Ember would sit silently for half a day in practice.

If someone had told him the process of learning magic would be this mundanely strenuous, then perhaps he would have had second thoughts about flinging fireballs and lightning. But many times his father had mentioned the importance of mana foundation. It was perhaps more significant than race Tiers, at least for the Mage classes. His father himself was only at Tier 4 in Mana Foundation, despite his race being at Tier 8. It wasn't without good reason.

Unlike race, which one could evolve through various skills, mana foundation seemed to grow only through the rigorous, boring process of accumulating mana daily. In his line of duty, his father barely had time for that, not to mention he readily admitted he was no genius in mana. Apparently, his sister was even better than him. Either way, like race, mana foundation tiers had requirements that seemed to double each time one advanced a step.

For example, Tier 1 required 10 breaths of mana, Tier 2 required 20, Tier 3 required 40, Tier 4 required 80 breaths of mana, and so on. There were some additional criteria as well. Mana circuits, for example. Apparently, he couldn't go past Tier 3 without completing his Mana Circuit. As he learned more about magic and the system, Ember began to understand how meticulous and thoughtful he had to be about every single skill.

After a great deal of consideration, he decided to learn Running, while leaving the two skill slots for accommodating the advancement of Meditation. Hopefully, that would come sooner rather than later. He even reached max level in Active Recall, with the history, geography, and common knowledge his mother had been schooling him on since he reached his fourth year.

After consulting his father, Ember decided against evolving Active Recall, despite believing it would be a rather useful advancement and would help with all his studying and memorisation. Well, so would the common skill Studying, but he had not taken it either. Most of his energy was spent on Mana Accumulation, anyway. According to his father, Ember could afford to be a little flexible with common skills once he reached Tier 4, as the skill slots he would be given then would be plentiful.

It wasn't only him who was progressing. His mother, after successfully achieving Tier 4 in her race, saw her Class levels advance every few weeks with all the delectable and varied dishes she began to make. Cliff supported her fully, bringing her various rare and expensive ingredients to experiment with. If not for all the running and training, Ember would have gained a few kilograms already. Rain, on the other hand, had been stuck at Tier 3 for as long as Ember could remember.

She had not taken one of those potions to ease her way into Tier 4 yet, as that would mean reducing her full potential, which was unacceptable for her dream of achieving Knighthood. Still, Ember was a little envious of his sister, not because she was born at Tier 2, but of her healing spell. It was an Iron-ranked Minor Healing spell, which, although it couldn't save one from a critical condition, had a wide range of applications, from healing bruises and small wounds to reinvigorating the body.

Of course, it wasn't something she learned on her own. There were skill rewards from the system and skill crystals, which could promote skill acquisition. The Minor Healing spell was something their father gifted Rain. Obviously, being an Iron skill, it did cost 9 skill slots, but the EPs it'd give would more than make up for it. A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

If Ember had the skill, he would have cast it upon himself a dozen times every day and reached Tier 3 in no time. As he approached his fifth birthday, Ember was almost regretting sparing the two points for Meditation. There seemed to be no improvement despite the two long sessions of meditation he practised every morning and evening. It had been almost two years since he reached the ninth level in it. Ember knew about the sunk cost fallacy, but it was the first time he was ever in one.

Now that so much time had passed, even taking another common skill would be more detrimental for his racial evolution. He could always evolve Active Recall. Hell, even his Running was progressing towards full mastery much more smoothly. If things continued that way, perhaps he would gain a Copper-ranked movement skill before advancing Meditation. Finally, a month later, when he had almost given up all hope of advancing Meditation anytime soon, he received the notification.

[Meditation (Common) +9 → Max] [Meditation has reached the threshold of the common Skill. Would you like to evolve Meditation?] [Required skill slot: 2.] Ember could not help but let out a delighted squeal, alerting his father, who was meditating nearby.

"Did you finally get the skill, son?" he asked, opening one of his eyes. Ember nodded eagerly as more information expanded before his eyes. [Please choose one of the paths: - Meditative Muse: Seeks inner stillness while your mind and body wander into a meditative trance. - Deep Meditation: Seeks thoughtless tranquillity.] A line formed between his now more prominent brows.

"Dad, what should I choose?" he asked, uncertain about both of the paths. His father patted his head, smiling.

"Let me guess, you got Deep Meditation and Meditative Trance?"

"It's Meditative Muse," Ember corrected. Cliff arched an eyebrow.

"What does the description say?" Ember read it aloud, as a thoughtful look crossed his father's face.

"It's similar to Meditative Trance," he finally allowed.

"You'll probably like it more than Deep meditation."

"Why?"

"Deep Meditation opens up more towards Zen practice," Cliff explained.

"Not to say it's a poor choice, but it's mostly for monks, who can spare hours in thoughtless practices. Also, it's probably much harder to master. Well, both of them are, but at least with Meditative Muse, you'll be able to practise your mana skills alongside it." Ember's eyes lit up.

"It will also synergise with your Heightened Focus and allow you to practise for longer, but that's not to say you can train mana for long hours. Much less copper, even gold skills have limits." With that, Ember didn't linger on the edge of indecision anymore. As soon as he chose the direction, a rush of euphoria coursed through his channels. It was still instantaneous, but much more noticeable now. [Skill Evolved: Meditation (Common) Max → Meditative Muse (Copper) +1] [+10 EPs.]"Now, even with Meditative Muse, you still should practise thoughtless meditation in the morning," Cliff advised.

"It'll set a good order for the whole day. Because there's nothing better than an empty mind." Ember agreed with that, though he believed he'd likely falter from regular meditation in no time. He did see its purpose, but even then, he always felt his time could be spent elsewhere.

"With Meditation at Copper, perhaps you will get to Tier 1 in Mana before advancing your race to Tier 3." It will probably take more than half a year, he reckoned. Keeping the 2 slots open for close to two years hadn't done him much justice, though now with the preferred Copper skill, he'd get more of the EPs required for his advancement. His father stood up, stretching as he was about to begin instructing Rain. He pinched his cheeks.

"Once you reach Tier 3, you can join Rain in practice." Ember shivered at that statement. The images of the brutal beating his elder sister had gotten resurfaced in his mind as he flinched back.

"That is my boy." He slapped him on the shoulder, pulling him into a hug, already excited for training. That was not excitement, Dad, he cried inwardly. Weeks flew by. Meditative Muse promoted all his mana practice astronomically. On top of having more breaths of mana, Ember could also train with more intensity. It took him four months, and finally, he received the notification he was waiting for. [Mana Accumulation (Copper) +5 → 6] [+60 EPs.] [Congratulations, you have reached Tier 1 in Mana Foundation.] Even without the notification, Ember could feel his body had been uplifted to a higher standard, allowing mana to move more smoothly through his channels. Swiftly opening his status, Ember observed the change. Mana Foundation: Tier 1 Mana Circuit: 37% → 48% Mana Aperture: 1 Breath of Copper Mana: 10 Attributes: Might: 1. 6 → 1. 8 Speed: 2. 3 → 2. 5 Will: 11. 9 → 13. 4 Insight: 16. 9 → 17. 4 Mystic: 12. 9 → 16. 3 Immunity: 3. 5 → 7. 3 He was not disappointed.

The increase in his physical attributes was minimal, whereas Mystic and Immunity showed the most improvement. It wasn't much compared to a race tier up, but it was still something he was pleased with, especially with the 11% boost in Mana Circuit. He'd figure out Mana Aperture later. Now, Ember jumped to his feet to announce the news to his family. Rain had finally ascended to Tier 4 not long ago. This called for festivities.

But as he entered the living room, he found his dad and sister in full preparation to leave for somewhere. A hunting adventure, from the look of it. Ember wondered how much he'd have to whine for them to let him tag along.