"Now…." Mark whispered softly once again as he stretched out his finger and lightly poked Jacob's chest before continuing, "... You'll see why I did that!"
"Huh?" Jacob's eyes widened as he stared at Mark's fingers, and all of a sudden-
"Wh- What?!" Jacob felt a sharp pain in his chest, and he moved back a few steps and crouched down, holding his head tightly as he did so.
"Uh- Ah, ah!" Jacob gripped his head tightly as he murmured under his breath. He felt as though the world around him was spinning. He felt like his senses were somehow expanding rapidly.
"What the fuck is happening to me?!" He wanted to know. His eyes shifted towards Mark, who was standing silently with a calm and composed expression on his face. He didn't speak, but his gaze somehow gave Jacob a sense of relief and calmness, which made him confused.
'Wait? Is it really because of Mark's gaze?' Jacob thought to himself, as he could feel the calmness in his thoughts even more clearly now. It was definitely not Mark's gaze that was doing that.
Then what the fuck was happening?
He could feel him becoming calmer and calmer as the seconds passed by, and his expression changed from rage to a slightly puzzled one.
Jacob couldn't see it, but Mark could. There was a strange purple glow of light emitting from his body as he wavered back and forth. The glow was extremely faint, but one could notice it if they focused.
"Calm down, Jacob.." Mark whispered softly as he walked up to the flustered Jacob and lightly pressed his hand on his shoulders. He then looked into Jacob's eyes and said, "Take a deep breath and close your eyes."
Jacob, although confused, did exactly what Mark had told him to do. He took a deep breath and then closed his eyes, which made him even more calm.
After a few seconds of silence, Jacob, now looking like his mind was clear, turned his gaze towards Mark and asked, "What just happened to me?" He narrowed his eyes as he continued, "Why am I not feeling angry anymore? And why does it suddenly feel like I have infinite energy?"
Jacob was now feeling more energetic than ever. In fact, he thought that he had never felt more energetic in his life than what he was feeling right now.
"Congratulations, Jacob." Mark said with a faint smile on his face as he patted him on the shoulder. He continued, "You're now officially a mana user!"
"What? Mana?" Jacob raised one of his eyebrows and tilted his head to the side as he stared at Mark with a puzzled expression. "Like magic energy? Like the ones in the magical fantasy books?"
"More or less…" Make shrugged his shoulders in response to Jacob's questions, waving his hand around in a nonchalant manner before continuing, "You're not a normal person anymore, Jacob!"
"..... Right…" Jacob sounded skeptical of Mark's words. He was staring at him as though he was looking at a crazy person.
"You don't believe me, do you, motherfucker?" Mark let out a short chuckle. Of course, to a normal person, hearing the words magic would definitely make them skeptical of the person who spoke.
"Well, I mean…" Jacob scratched the back of his head, stuttering while he spoke. But before he could finish his words, Mark walked up to the brick wall that was just behind the gymnasium.
He pressed his palm on the wall and took a deep breath before pulling back his arm and forming a fist.
BAM!
Mark swung his fist with intense force and incredible speed and struck the wall, causing it to shake violently and forming cracks all over the spot where he punched.
"Oh my god!" Jacob couldn't help but be surprised yet again, except this time, he didn't mind being caught off guard. He knew that Mark had somehow gotten strong, but he didn't exactly know to what extent his strength had increased.
However, to be able to punch a wall with full force and form cracks on it was something else entirely. This was not normal. He knew that. But magic? Did magic really exist? And was that really the reason behind the dramatic increase of Mark's strength?
Although he was still skeptical, Jacob started thinking about it. He remembered the strange creature that attacked him just a few minutes ago. He wasn't exactly knowledgeable when it came to naming different animals, but he was pretty sure that the creature that had sprung out from the ground was not something that could be considered a normal animal.
And he also saw the creature glitch and shake right in front of him, which was definitely not normal. So maybe, just maybe, there was a chance that magic could exist as well?
"What was that creature that attacked me?" Jacob asked, and Mark replied, "That thing is called a Squirewald. It's one of the weakest magical creatures. I actually didn't think that it existed in this place until I got a whiff of its magical energy."
"Magical creature? Do they really exist?" Jacob raised his eyebrows as he asked, and Mark nodded his head. "Yes. And you've just killed one, which transferred the mana that it had in its body into yours."
"So, you're telling me that I have mana- magical energy in my body right now?" Jacob shifted his gaze towards his hands as he spoke. He was studying his body as though he was looking at a lab specimen.
"Jacob," Mark, who saw that Jacob was curious about the mana in his body, called out his name, forcing Jacob's attention back to him. "Yeah?"
Whoosh!
Mark immediately swung his fist, aiming right for Jacob's face, and his arm sliced through the air with incredible speed. If it was the old Jacob, then he most probably wouldn't have been able to avoid the attack.
But he wasn't!
BAM!
Just as Mark had swung his arm, Jacob reacted in an instant and raised his arm up, blocking the attack with just his palms. Mark's fist was caught by Jacob's hand, and a burst of air shot out due to the impact of the strike.
"Wha- huh?" Jacob's eyes widened. He couldn't believe what he had just done, and how quickly he had done it. It was as though he was possessed by the ghost of a legendary martial artist.
"Would you look at that?" Mark said with a wide smile as he pulled his hand back. "That was a good block! Maybe you aren't a total pussy after all, huh?"
"I- I- How on earth did I just do that?" Jacob stared at his own hands as he spoke. Mark chuckled in response. "I told you, didn't I? You're a mana user now, dude…"
Jacob continued to stare at his hands. "No fucking way…" He then tilted his head and turned his gaze towards Mark and continued, "So… it really is real?"
"Oh it's real, alright…" Mark slapped him on the shoulder as he spoke. "But you should expect anything special. This only gave you a bit of mana, and that's what constitutes your mana pool."
"..Okay, you do realize that you just said a sentence that absolutely does not make sense to me, right?" said a confused and annoyed Jacob, and Mark snapped his fingers and continued, "Mana is the magical energy that's the source of everything magical in this world. A mana pool is the mana capacity of a mana user. It's basically the amount of mana that a mana user can handle within his body."
Mark waved his hands around in the air, and as Jacob watched him with a careful and cautious expression, he continued. "Of course, a mana pool can be expanded with training and experience. But it is important to know your limits."
Jacob continued to study his hands and his body. After a few seconds of staring, he said, "So what you're saying is that I can beat up my bullies."
".... Yes, you can beat up your bullies now." Mark shook his head and spoke with a disappointed expression on his face, and Jacob made a peace sign with his hands. "Fuck yeah! That's what I wanted to know!"
"... Why did I even bother…" Mark shook his head once again and he took out a juice box from his pocket. He then popped a plastic straw into it and began taking a sip.
"When did you buy the guava juice? You should've told me... I also wanted one!" Jacob, who saw Mark sipping the drink in his hands, said in a frustrated tone.
Mark pointed his finger towards the juice box and said, "Oh, I didn't buy this!"
Back in the classroom.
"Huh? Where the hell did it go?" Melissa was searching through her bag, looking desperately for the juice box that she had bought while she was heading to the classroom.
She continued searching through her bag for her missing juice box, but unfortunately for her, she would not see it ever again.