"I can easily sense my surroundings with closed eyes but what does that have to do with obtaining mana?"
" You see mana is just another type of energy available in the surroundings. Magic User's use this mana to cultivate. After having accumulated enough mana they are able to cast Magic spells. So you should be able to sense mana if you can already sense your surroundings. "
"No, you must be wrong. There is a type of energy in the surroundings but its not unique to the Arcane World, I have been using it in Blue World for many years. "
Julian replies in an serious tone, " Do you dare to disregard my over 100 years of experience in using Magic."
This immediately brought Jasper in line, " Sorry, sorry I didn't not mean you were wrong. But, I can't believe you when I am not able to sense this mana you are speaking of. "
" A type of energy also found in Blue World, you say? Hmm, oh you must be talking about Internal Ki Energy which is used by body and martial arts practitioner. Mana and Internal Ki Energy are totally different types of energy. The Arcane World not only has Internal Ki Energy and Mana but many other different kinds of energy. In fact, I also use another type of energy along with Mana. Still due to limitless potential in mana and the course of history Arcane World has experienced, its considered the most powerful type of energy.
My guess would be due to being exposed to Internal Ki Energy for a long time your body and mind have become too accustomed to it, sensing and absorbing it unknowingly. However, now you are in Arcane World where mana is the king of all types of energy present. If you want to become stronger and survive in this harsh world where only the strong live and prey on the weak, then you need to use Mana.
Next, I want you keep continuously meditating until you get rid of your bad habit and are able to sense mana. "
Julian instructs Jasper nonchalantly as if it was a walk in the park to sense mana. He was unaware of the pain he would have to suffer to obtain Mana. He entered his tent and started meditating.
Julian had not given any specific instructions to follow, all he told Jasper was to meditate. So, he meditated trying to sense the energy commonly found in Arcane World known as Mana.
After 30 min, Jasper was still not able to sense mana. He comforted himself, ' This was to be expected. I have been in the Arcane World for more than a month but haven't been able to sense . Now, things are different though , I am aware of Mana's existence which should make it easier to sense it.'
After 2 hours, ' Its fine. If I was able to obtain mana easily, then I would never value it nor know know precious it is. I need to put more effort to get it.'
After 5 hours, ' Fine, obtaining mana seems tougher than I initially thought. So what? It won't be long before I am able to control with just a finger and use it whenever I want. '
After 10 hours, Jasper had a frown on his face as he fought of his feelings, " A lot of time has passed, but still there is nothing besides Internal Ki Energy. Sir, said to keep meditating to be able to sense Mana but it's not having any effect. I will wait for a little longer, if there is still no progress then I will ask Sir. "
20 hours!!!
Jasper had been meditating for the past 20 hours without any improvement. After meditating for 5 hours, he came to the realizing of how much he had underestimated the difficulty of obtaining mana.
Jasper was an egoistic person who had stood at the peak of Blue World. To stand at the top of the World, having ego was a very important quality otherwise it wasn't possible to reach the top.
In Blue World, his talent for martial arts was highly praised and people called him the next Bruce Lee. In the starting years of his life Jasper had never come in contact with martial arts. Only after he met Master was he introduced to it . As he continued to fight stronger opponents, his ego kept developing. So, he was confident about his abilities, perhaps a little too overconfident. It made him believe obtain mana would be as easy as walking in a park.
This failure awakened his fighting spirit making him challenge the number of hours it would take to obtain Mana. He didn't feel lose hope even after 10 hour of constant meditation even though he hadn't even been able to sense a minuscule after it.
Jasper continued for another 10 hours, sustaining only by sheer willpower with his fighting spirt not letting him give up. But after not sensing even a minuscule of mana for 20 hours, he felt it was pointless to try any longer.
When Jasper learned about mana, he was filled with unbridled excitement expecting to use Mana soon. But now that excitement had turned into irritation and anger. He had meditated for 20 hours without complaining lasting through sheer willpower but it was not enough to obtain it. Either there really was no Mana in the surroundings or his way of meditation was wrong.
He goes back to Julian's tent wanting to know the reason behind this problem. Julian was sound asleep but he couldn't be bothered after 16 hours of meditation had gone to waste. He had never been more pissed off in his life
Jasper didn't really need do anything when his Julian woke up immediately.
" Have you already made first contact with mana??!"
" No, its the exact opposite, I am not able to even sense a minuscule of mana. "
" You are not able to feel mana? Not even a little. "
"Yes"
"That's weird. Obtaining mana depends on a person's inherit talents and luck, but most of the people of Arcane World can sense a little bit of Mana. Meditate in-front of me. Only then will I be able to tell what is wrong. "
Jasper starts meditating as he takes a deep breath inhaling a large amount of air and exhaling it out after a short break of 2 seconds. As he continues it in a repetitive cycle he enter an sublime state with his mind travelling somewhere. He was sensing the Internal Ki energy in his surroundings and absorbing it.
After 30 minutes of meditating, Jasper slowly opens his eyes to see the Lynx inside the camp. It filled him with joy to see his buddy all fixed up after the terrible ordeal they had to endure.
"I see. Jasper, something is amiss with your meditation technique."
"No way, this is a very powerful meditation technique I learned from Master. I have been practicing it for the past 8-10 years and its the reason I was able to become one of the strongest fighter in Blue World. "
"Hmmm, your meditation technique is different from the commonly practiced. Someone had altered it in a way which is hampering your ability to sense mana. How much amount of internal ki energy have you absorbed in this sitting?"
Jasper checks his meridians. To his astonishment, the energy in his meridians had increased. It increased to such an absurd level that it was completely bloated ready to blast any moment.
In the Cultivation World of Blue World, the cultivation levels were divided into five stages- Novice, Apprentice, Elite, Master, Legend. With Jasper's meditation of Internal Ki Energy for more than 8-years, he had just recently crossed the hurdle of Apprentice becoming an Elite Martial Artist. He was the youngest person to accomplish such feat.
It was a miracle for Jasper to reach the Elite Martial Artist level and he had poured his blood, seat and effort to accomplish it. Of course, he aware it would take more than 10 years to become a Master stage Martial Artist since his Master explained the big difference between Elite and Master being like the difference between heaven and earth.
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So he couldn't believe his senses as bloating of Internal Ki Energy meant a breakthrough. He had recently brokenthrough to the Master Level so it meant he was close to breaking through to the Elite Level. This sucumberated all his expactation never expcting to reach the much wanted Elite Level in just a month.
It might seem Jasper took his sweet time to check his meredians but this action was ingrained into his body and soul and did not take more than a few seconds.
" There is too much Internal Ki Energy in the surroundings. I absorbed about it 100 times faster than Blue World. I wish Master could be here, he would be so overjoyed and excited he always tried to find ways to increase the rate of absorption of Internal Ki Energy. "
Julian finally got the confirmation for his suspision about Jasper's origins. He was of course aware of the World where normal without mana lived just adjacent to the Arcane World. In fact he had once visited this World for some personal buisness. It gave him many answers to the question he had about Jasper but also raised even more questions.