Arriving on my dorm, Adrian and Kim Jaesuk is already sitting on the table with dinner placed there.
"You're late!"
Kim Jaesuk complained.
"Go wash up quickly then come eat"
I then quickly wash myself up and started eating together with them.
Before we start eating, Adrian used a spell to warm up the food.
He covered the food in a square shaped mana, then released heat inside which makes it similar to a microwave.
"So mana can be used like this as well..."
I said while chewing on my food, and Adrian answered straight away.
"Yep, mana can be used in any way if you're creative enough... interesting isn't it?"
"It is... have you guys heard of mana quality though?"
"Oh yeah, we have. They told us in the art of magic class last week..."
Kim Jaesuk is the one who answered my question.
"Let's compare ours..."
I suggested, which they both agreed.
I then generated a ball of mana just like how Cecilia did earlier, and asked them to do the same.
After that, I make sure to tell them to slowly push our mana ball into each other, and the result turns out like this.
Adrian >> Kim Jaesuk > Me.
I have the lowest mana quality here, while Adrian is way above even Kim Jaesuk.
"Wow that means your mana quality is very good!"
"I mean, I've been dealing with mana ever since I arrived in this world you know..."
"That's true, but now that you mention that, it's almost been two months since we arrived here huh..."
"..."
After saying that, I thought back to how my family and friends are doing now.
"Well anyway,"
I broke the silence and asked
"How to improve the quality of mana?"
"Oh, you need to increase the quantity first..."
"Explain dude..."
Adrian then started explaining about the principle behind mana.
"Basically, all our mana starts at low quality... of course there are special case one is born with high quality depending on the bloodline or whatever, but most people are born with lowest quality of mana.
When you increase the quantity of mana that you have, the storage inside your body will be too full and to make more space, you need to focus your mana together and combine it into one.
Let's say it like this, basically you combine 3 strand paper together while compressing the size so that 3 strand of paper will look like a strand instead.
When you're able to do that, your body then will produce mana following that new quality as it's now adjusted like that"
I'm still confused even after listening to that explanation.
"In conclusion?"
"Dude..."
"Hahaha..."
Adrian seems to realise that I didn't get it, which makes me embarrassed.
"Let's do it practically then"
Kim Jaesuk suddenly joined in.
"Alex, imagine your mana gathered inside a circle shaped storage in your body..."
Nodding my head, I did as he told and he continued
"Imagine that it's filled to the brim and there's no more space left empty, then compress the mana inside to each other to make a ball in the middle and make space around between the storage and the ball in the middle"
After doing it, I then felt a sharp pain in my chest.
"AGHH!"
"Hey, you alright?"
Clutching my chest, I catches my breath as Adrian attend to me.
It felt like the mana inside my body disappeared all of a sudden.
"That's the correct way if you're feeling the pain, it means that you don't have the quantity needed to support your body if you compress your mana now..."
Kim Jaesuk explained.
"Huff... Huff... then how do I increase the quantity?"
I asked while catching my breath, then Kim Jaesuk replied
"Training or medicine..."
"Ahh!"
Adrian suddenly before saying,
"Give me a moment..."
He then ran towards his room for a bit and come back carrying a couple of potions.
"Here take this each for one of you..."
Handing us the bottle of potion each, he explained,
"This is a growth potion that I made personally and it can increase the speed of your training when you drank it... it will last for 2 hours after you drink it before the effect dies out, so make sure to train hard for that period of time"
"Whoa, have you tried it?"
"Yep, I have and it works of course..."
Kim Jaesuk was surprised, but I'm rather worried about this.
"Adrian, does anyone know that you made this?"
"Uhm, no... why?"
"Keep it that way"
After saying that, even Kim Jaesuk started to ask why.
"If a potion like this exist, why hasn't the academy provided us with this?"
"!"
As if realising what I meant, they both turned serious.
"If this potion doesn't exist and they know you made this, it will be a big trouble..."
"You're right, I've been careless..."
"Let's just keep it between us for now, and make sure no one knows about this. Drink this potion here before going to train instead of bringing it outside..."
I suggested, which they both agree with me.
After that, we all went to our own room to rest for the day.
---
Somewhere in the outskirt of the Empire.
(pat pat pat)
Footsteps can be heard echoing inside the basement.
'That guy from couple of days ago...'
As I waked down the basement, I thought about the incident couple of days ago.
That guy got support from not only a spirit, but a bunch of them which means he's favoured by the spirits.
'He's dangerous...'
But the problem is that he seems to be around 20 years old, so it's weird for someone favoured by the spirits to not be strong as those kinds of people has the potential to be a hero.
According to that, I'm sure that he had just awoken his power recently and the academy didn't know about it. Otherwise, there's no way he would be able to walk in the street like that without guard.
The other guy who was with him as well, he seems rather weird.
When I grabbed his leg, there's this repulsive feeling and my instinct told me to stay away from him which is a first for a transcendent like me.
Either way, they're both dangerous and need to be eliminated as soon as possible before they become strong enough.
After walking a while, I arrived at a wide room that looks like a hall with a throne at the end of the hall.
"You're late, Argus..."
A figure of someone showed up within the shadow of the darkness enveloping this hall.
"That's a first for him to be late"
"Hehe... hehe... hehe..."
"Did someone held you back?"
Then one by one, another figure showed up as well.
"That's none of your business"
I said to them, which makes them upset.
"Yo-"
"Enough"
Just as someone was about to say something, the one sitting on the throne suddenly commanded and silence enveloped the hall once again.
I kneeled down and stated my reasons.
"Apologies, my lord... I encountered a slight problem in the city..."
"Ohh? do tell us what happened"
I then recapped what happened to everyone inside the room, before stating my conclusion.
"Therefore, I marked them to be dangerous and has to be eliminated as soon as possible"
"How rare for you to consider other to be dangerous... tell me your real reason"
"... It's because I think he has the potential to be a hero"
"!"
After saying that, the other started to threw bunch of question at me, while some of them rejoiced upon hearing there's a hero potential.
"Is that true?!"
"Tell me how he looks like!"
"Where is he??"
"A HERO HAHAHAHA"
"..."
I ignored all of them and waited for my lord's decision.
After a while, he finally gave his order.
"Very well, I will accept your suggestion... there will be a festival soon to celebrate the end of the year, and we'll make our move then.
Argus, I will let you choose two of the transcendent in this room to help you in your tasks"
"I obey your order..."
"Is there anything else?"
"That's all from me, my lord"
"Very well, you may talk to the one whom you wish to bring later and no rejection is allowed. Now disperse!"
After that, the figure sitting there disappeared completely.
The other then started to urge me to pick them for this task, but I ignored them and walked away since I already know who I'm gonna bring.
On my way out, I smirked before saying to myself.
"I'll see you soon, Alice"