Chereads / The Irregular Mage / Chapter 6 - Training Part 2

Chapter 6 - Training Part 2

Herald and Sofie were completely astonished when they saw what Alphonse has just produced. They have only read about there being different types of fire mana with white being the highest and after white is violet fire. This is the their first time witnessing violet mana. To have the mental power to compress mana that much so that it produced violet mana is not a normal thing.

Sophie and Herald recovered from the shock after a couple of seconds. Sophie looked at Herald and Herald nodded as if they have reached some sort of agreement without even talking. Sophie looked at Alphonse and said, "Alphonse dear, what you have shown is very very rare. You should be careful when you are using it. For now don't use this mana in presence of others. I will explain why later."

Alphonse already knows why and he already decided to not show this kind of skill in front of others. It would just attract unnecessary attention from others. Sophie looked at Alphonse and told, "The mana in your body is not good. From today onward I will teach you how to properly cultivate with mana."

Alphonse was bit taken back when his mother said that. He thought he has taken enough mana and his body is quite strong now. He looked at his mother and said, "Okay mom, I will learn very well." Sophie patted Alphonse's head, turned to Herald and nodded. Sophie got up and went back now. Herald came forward and looked at Alphonse, "Aren't you full of surprises. Give me your hand, I will adjust the spell." Herald took Alphonse's hand and on the wrist he could see a piece of paper attached which is like sticking to his body. Herald first sent the same amount of mana as he sent yesterday to the strip which releases the spell and then Herald increased the mana and checked if that is good enough for Alphonse training. After a couple of trials the spell is set to such an extent that Alphonse would have hard time to move his hand. Alphonse moving his hand is like watching a movie in slow motion. Herald then set the remaining strips to same amount of gravitational pull.

Herald is convinced with start of training and said, "This will do. For today, move around and get adjusted to this new setting. You mother will teach you how to properly cultivate mana in the body."

"Okay father", Alphonse said.

Herald left the room. He smiled at Sophie while leaving and Sophie also smiled back. Sophie asked Alphonse to sit on the ground. Alphonse could hardly move, he struggled for a bit and then finally sat on the ground. Sophie looked at his son who is working hard to train and it moved her. She thought, "Alphonse is growing up fast". She said, "Alphonse, do you know what mana is?"

Alphonse said, "strange air?"

Sophie said, "yes"

Alphonse thought and said, "Energy?"

Sophie said, "You are right. Mana is energy but it is not just energy, it is the life force that is necessary for survival of all species. Plants, animals, demons, elves, every living creature need mana to survive. We can survive without air but not without mana. There is mana inside our body and it runs in our blood vessels and it is also absorbed by the organs. Do you understand?"

Alphonse said, "Yes". He was surprised to know that there are elves and demons in this world. He has played those rpg games in his past life role-playing all these mystical creatures but here they are not longer fantasy. They are real.

Sophie continued, "It is important to remember that mana is not just energy. Mana is revered and treated as godly substance and various cultures around the world have long history and culture based on mana. Mana is sacred and powerful. There are people and societies in this world who are respected and feared greatly because of the type of mana they use. If one masters cultivating mana then even without being powerful, they can live as long as they want."

Alphonse listened to her keenly. This is interesting, he thought.

Sophie continued, "Are you able to understand everything so far Alphonse?"

Alphonse responded "Yes" and Sophie continued, "Now you will start cultivating mana properly. First, close your eyes. Focus your mental power to inside your body. You can now see what inside your body is like. You go from top to bottom and remember everything. Focus on how all the organs and blood is moving around. You have to remember how your body normally behaves to cultivate mana."

Alphonse closed his eyes and focused his mental energy to inside his body. He could see recognize the major parts of the body and there are also all kinds of blood vessels, muscle tissues, nerves and other things. He took full twenty minutes to observe the things going on his body and opened his eyes. He could see his mother looking at bunch of papers. His mother first explained him about the parts of the body and what they do. He was given the paper to remember. After telling him twice, she gave him time to memorize and quizzed him on his understanding. Satisfied with his answers she told him about different types of blood vessels. Then she has given him another paper which has drawings of the cross section of the body. As he still retains his memory from earth he could tell all of them are similar to what he studied at school. The circulatory system, respiratory system, nervous system etc. They were just drawings. Alphonse wondered how these people who lived in medieval times have so much knowledge about the body.

She continued, "To cultivate mana inside the body, there are numerous methods developed by people. The most common and safe way to cultivate is to take mana inside and spread it around your body evenly. Do not concentrate too much on mana that it obstructs your body functions. Let your body do what do what it does freely. For this to happen, you have to spread the mana thinly and let your body expose to the mana. Do not make the mana stiff that it obstructs the body functions. Slowly your body will absorb the mana and becomes stronger. Increase the concentration of mana depending upon how your body can take it. "

Alphonse listened to his mother diligently and nodded. He understood how to cultivate the mana inside the body. He created a wisp of violet mana and with a little bit of power, the mana went inside. He directed the mana first to his lungs as lungs can handle more amount of mana then the rest of the body. Alphonse then concentrated on the violet mana and has spread it around evenly in the body. He observed whether it is interfering any of the body's functions. Alphonse took extra precautions when he is injecting mana into his brain as any damage to nerves or brain is almost impossible to recover.

After another twenty minutes, Alphonse opened his eyes and looked towards his mom. He has the look of determination in his eyes. He finally said, "Mom, I did it." Sophie sent a bit of her mana to Alphonse's body and checked if the mana distribution is even. She observed that at some parts the mana density is little uneven and told Alphonse to correct it. Sophie was overall more than satisfied with Alphonse's progress. Usually elders help with distribution of mana inside for starters but as Alphonse has already so much control over mana, he could do it without any help from Sophie.

Sophie said, "Alphonse, today is your first day of cultivation so don't overdo it. Take it slowly and master your body first. You should start to learn how to read and write so that you can learn more about human body. For today you will do this for an hour and afterwards train your body. After lunch, you will start learning how to read and write. You can rest in evening."