Chương 18: Experimenting with Mana

Kal lay between the rubble, completely covered from all sides. About twelve demons stood a dozen meters away. Another patrol had arrived while he waited for the first to leave. His chances of making it past the first patrol had been low, but with the second patrol joining them, they were next to nothing. They were arguing about something, with the tallest demon from the second patrol taking charge. He'd tried listening in, but it was all for nothing. They spoke in one of the demon tongues.

The smaller demon he'd fought a few hours ago was still gone. Kal had thought it would approach the demons and expose his location. But it seemed the demon was hiding from them as well, or perhaps it had found another way out of the mountain. Whatever the case, he was glad the demon wouldn't expose that he was still alive. At least, not before he left the vicinity of the light.

Waiting for the patrol to leave before he could slip by wasn't going to work, and he needed to find a way to create a distraction, one big enough to create some opening for him to slip past them. But how? How was he supposed to do that when even the bright beam of changing light wasn't enough of a distraction for them? The only answer he came to was magic. Perhaps it was his foolishness, but he didn't see any other way. Waiting was always a choice, but it wasn't a smart one.

What if one of them had to take a leak and chose the rubble he was in? There was also the mana phenomenon behind him. What if it came to an end before he was far enough away from it? Would he even know that he was dead? By the sensation he'd gotten when it appeared, he wouldn't even know he was dead. After a few more minutes of waiting, nothing changed. The demons were even more spread out than before. He took in the area around him. A few steps away stood an enormous trunk, big enough to hide his body lying down.

Its crown was still there, and a hole in the ground, at least two hands deep, sat next to it. There was even a berry bush really close to the same spot. Most of it was crushed, but there were still dozens of berries left unharmed. The same berry he'd found earlier in his journey and thought of as poisonous. Kal moved slowly toward it, using any noise the demons made to mask the sound of his movements. Step after step, he managed to make it next to it.

If he wanted to experiment with mana, and from the little understanding he had, he had to hide what he was doing, as any successful attempt, or perhaps even mistake, would have an effect. And he didn't want to give away his position. After he was certain that his body was concealed, he put his hand inside the hole and thought of mana. Of course, nothing happened, and he didn't even expect anything to happen. He would take it slowly, and hopefully, by the end, he would be able to use enough to create a distraction.

He recalled everything he'd read about mana from the book. Mana is an energy that exists everywhere around us. It is present in the morning gales, the flames of a campfire, the earth beneath our feet—everywhere. It is an energy that creates life. This becomes obvious when studying mana-rich plants, healers, or even priests. Though the way they do it is different, it is similar at the same time. It can also take life. This can be seen in necromancers and mages who use death mana, such as liches and demonic cults.

There are countless other examples of that as well. The main point is that mana is a natural energy, a building block. It can be used both for life and death. Seen in natural phenomena such as storms, earthquakes, wildfires, thunder, and more. Just as one can experience natural phenomena, mages have learned to cause them: to call on storms and then to make them; to cause fires and flood cities with water formed from pure mana.

Kal wasn't sure how much of what he recalled were the exact words from the book, but he was confident that it was almost the same. The book had given more examples of mana, but he only remembered the ones he'd found the most interesting. The other important things that the book had said were that to use mana, one had to first understand the principles behind what effect he wanted to create.

Then came the shaping of mana, which he had no idea about at the time, but he felt that the awakening had enlightened him a bit. The last step mentioned that one's power, or perhaps it was the growth ceiling, was his imagination. One thing he knew was that it took more than just his imagination to cast spells; otherwise, everyone would become a mage. Perhaps it was the principles behind it, or something else. But that wasn't important at the moment. He was far away from creating storms or calling upon lightning.

Kal glanced a few times toward the general location of the demons. They remained around the area where he'd first seen them. It seemed like they didn't like going closer to the mana phenomenon. From his little experience with Wind Mana during his awakening, it seemed like the best element to try first. There was also the fact that he had an affinity for it, as well as Lunar. But he wasn't sure what Lunar was, or what he could do with it.

He guessed that it had something to do with the moon because of the Shape's name, and that the word came from one of the lost languages of humanity. This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. Just like he did with his awakening, he closed his eyes, focusing on his core. The core was the same as before, the only difference being what was inside it, around the Shape. The Shape swayed slightly while the mana around it glowed brighter than anything else inside the core.

It looked like little stars. It wasn't the time to experiment or study it, so he focused on the mana inside it. He willed it to move toward his hand. A very small amount of mana left his core and vanished somewhere inside his body. Though he couldn't follow it. Perhaps it had worked. He opened his eyes, staring at the palm of his hand, but nothing had changed. The palm sat on the ground, covered in dried blood and earth. Kal frowned and closed his eyes again. The little experiment had worked, at least partially.

The mana had moved from his core to somewhere inside his body. He needed to guide it toward his hand. There was another problem he noticed: the mana he was moving was pure mana, and if he wanted to cast a spell, he needed to somehow transform it into an elemental one—Wind Mana. Just like the mana he'd absorbed from the wyvern's core. Was that the Nature the book spoke about? Perhaps the nature of the mana was what element it took the form of?

But that didn't tell him how he was supposed to change the nature of the mana. Well, he wasn't even certain whether his theory was correct. Kal tried pushing the mana a few more times, but it ended the same way. Lost somewhere inside his body. Even that was just a guess. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. He focused on the core at first, and as soon as he saw it, he focused on other parts of his body, but nothing happened.

He thought of where the core was located—somewhere inside his chest—then he tried to mentally draw a path from his chest toward his left hand. Was that the answer to his problem? He had no idea; even the path he drew mentally was just a guess. Still, he willed the mana to move through the path he'd formed. The mana brightened slightly as it left his core and moved toward the right before vanishing from his view. In moments, he felt a burn. It was stinging, but it wasn't too painful.

He could push through it, but as more time passed and he guided the mana, the burning sensation increased. From a little stinging, it grew to throbbing. It was intense, and he felt tears building behind his eyes. He gritted his teeth through the pain as it continued increasing. The pain was going through his imaginary path as well. It had started in his chest, but was now somewhere around his shoulder. Even with the pain increasing, Kal felt like he was doing something right.

His guess was that the mana he was guiding through his body was causing the pain because his body wasn't used to mana passing through it. The mana moved much slower than at the beginning, but it was still moving. The pain was growing as well; it was just a few stages away from becoming unbearable. He wasn't sure how much time had passed before the burning sensation had reached around his elbow and his focus collapsed. He panted as he opened his eyes. The burning was still there, but its intensity had vanished.

He felt a burning path from just below his neck, going through his shoulder toward his elbow. Did that mean he'd almost carried the mana toward the palm of his hand? He chuckled inwardly as he finally felt like he was making progress. After a few minutes' break and studying the demons, Kal closed his eyes again. He was going to try again and again if necessary. The mana moved faster as he felt the burning sensation double where it passed.

In around half the time from before, he managed to bring the intensity back toward his elbow, and just as the sensation started moving downward toward his hand, the pain increased threefold. With gritted teeth, he pushed through it. The second attempt ended with the mana making it just above his wrist. Not long after, his third attempt started. This time, moving the mana from his chest to his elbow took even less time, and the pain was just enough to remind him where the mana was.

The attempt ended as soon as the mana reached his hand, and Kal opened his eyes too early to watch it, taking him out of focus as the mana dispersed.

"One more time," he muttered under his breath. His breathing was ragged, and he felt his clothes soaked in sweat. He was also exhausted, but that didn't stop his excitement or his fourth, and perhaps last, attempt. He took a longer break this time. He let his body recover, even though he was dying to see what would happen when the mana reached his hand. Perhaps nothing would happen, as it was still only pure mana, but he didn't really understand it enough to make a guess.

When he felt he had recovered slightly, he focused on his core again. The brightness surrounding it was slightly dimmer. His best guess was that the mana he'd guided out of it was the reason. Then, without wasting any time, he began the fourth attempt. The mana moved through the path without too much effort, and in a fraction of the time he'd needed before, it made it to his elbow. Then, the intense burning returned.

Just like with any of his attempts, it felt like the mana was trying to create a path to move through, or perhaps it was clearing a path that was already there. It didn't really matter to him at the moment; there would be time to learn everything. For now, he only needed to learn just a bit so he could create a distraction. And it seemed that, with some luck, he would succeed. The mana slowly moved through his wrist before entering his hand. Just a little more, he told himself while gritting his teeth.

It felt like his hand was burning, like he'd placed it in a burning hearth. He felt his sweat sliding down his cheek. Everything seemed more intense as he guided the mana toward the center of his palm. As soon as the mana reached it, the burning seemed to double, as if he had taken a hot iron out of the blacksmith's smelt. He wanted to scream, to do anything to make the pain less intense. But he couldn't, so he held it in, his free hand clutching the hilt of his sword.

Just as the pain had doubled in mere moments, it vanished as well. Not completely, but the intense pain was gone. Only a slight burning sensation remained. He took a couple of deep breaths, trying to keep his focus on the mana, and opened his eyes. An inch above his hand stood a few bright white particles. Just like the ones he'd seen in the cave, but instead of blue, they were pure white. His heart stopped as soon as he realized how bright they were.

His gaze shot toward the demons in the distance, but they didn't seem to have seen it. He glanced back at the mana and studied it. It was bright, but it didn't illuminate the ground around it. Perhaps he could only see it because of Mana Sense? He watched the demons for a little bit longer, his heart hammering against his chest. His free hand held onto his cloak, ready to cover his hand at a moment's notice. But even when the demons turned toward him, they didn't seem to notice a thing.

The mana didn't last more than half a minute before it vanished. But his excitement remained. He had succeeded. Now, he had to try to make it do something. And perhaps… He glanced toward the berry bush next to him. He could do something more than a distraction.