"Where the hell did you learn this?" Grandmother asked in shock.
I put down the desk and shrugged. "It was in one of the books I read. I was testing it out yesterday."
It was half the truth. They say the best lies are the ones shrouded in truth.
Grandmother put her hand to her chin, looking back and forth between me and the bookshelf. "I underestimated your learning abilities. Did you learn anything else?"
"No, all I managed to learn was Enhancement."
"Hmm? Enhancement?" She asked, confused.
"Or, that's what I call empowerment, at least." I almost slipped up there.
She narrowed her eyes. "Good, that means we can move on to the second step: condensing your mana."
"Didn't I do that before though? With my eyes and my arm?"
She shook her hand and raised her hand. "Before, you were just gathering mana, not condensing it. With mana vision, you just fill your eyes with mana particles and it allows your brain to perceive them. Condensation requires gathering mana together and arranging it in a pattern that strengthens their bond, forming a solid-like structure."
Golden tendrils of mana flowed through her arm and towards her hand. Once they reached her palm, they exited her body and condensed above her hand until a golden orb took shape.
"I used the third step to get it out of my body, but this is how mana condenses. Use mana vision to see how it works," She ordered.
I quickly sent mana to my eyes and the colors surrounding me washed out, replaced by many colors of floating particles.
Above her hand, I could see a large mass of golden mana. Each particle was arranged in a hexagonal shaped ring and layered on each other.
'Looks like carbon rings. I guess this is why the system calls it crystallization.'
"Do you see it?" Grandmother asked.
"Yes, it's a very simple arrangement but very strong."
The golden orb slowly collapsed and the mana dissipated into the atmosphere. I pulled the mana from my eyes and the world's color returned.
"Alright, now that you know how it looks. Try covering your palm with your mana while condensing it."
I nodded and focused on my hand.
'Emy, is it possible for me to do this? I need Crystallize for this, right?'
[The system isn't built to hinder your growth, only advance it. If you learn a technique naturally, then it will be unlocked automatically.]
'Oh, nice! I thought I was gonna be in trouble.'
[But, I must mention that she is using an inferior way of condensing mana. I assume it's because she wants you to start with a simple formation.]
'I mean, you can't really blame her. It's not like a normal person or even a genius could keep up with me and the system. I'll just learn it like this and if the skill doesn't unlock with this much, I'll learn it later.'
In the palm of my hand, I assembled the mana and tried replicating the pattern she showed me. I formed multiple rings of mana particles next to each other, making one layer, and repeating the process until 5 layers lay on top of my palm.
"Good," Grandmother said. "Now, try condensing the layers together."
As she said, I tried pulling the layers closer together. Sweat started to form on my brow as I concentrated. Once they neared each other, a strong force repelled my actions and the layers dissipated.
"Huh," I said, confused. "What happened?"
"That's normal, don't worry. Your control over your mana is still too imprecise to form a dense structure of mana like that."
My shoulders slumped and I let out a deep exhale. "Man, this is tiring stuff."
"You'll get better with time. This is the first day you're learning this, so take it slow and reap all the insight you can."
"Yes, ma'am," I said, exhausted.
I looked outside towards the west, where the sun was barely peeking over the horizon.
"That's enough for today," Grandmother said. "You did very well. By the end of the week, you'll be on the path to becoming a proper mage."
I bowed. "Thank you for your tutorage."
The white-haired beauty nodded and turned to the door. "I'll send a maid with your dinner."
She left the room and I collapsed on my bed.
"If I didn't have Rex's techniques, I might've collapsed halfway through today's lesson."
[Guess what, master.]
I grinned. "I leveled up, didn't I?"
[Indeed. With your natural improvement in mana control and stamina, you have gained over 500 XP, pushing you over the edge into level 6.]
…
Name: Kaiser Raijin
Level: 6
XP: 252 / 2500
Skill Points: 7
Status:
Health: 100%
Stamina: 18%
Mana: 83%
{Skill Trees}
…
"Sweet!" I exclaimed. "I can unlock Crystallize now!"
[Actually, there is a prerequisite to -Crystallize-, sir.]
I felt like cold water had been dumped on my head. "Oh… What's the prerequisite?"
[You need to upgrade -Mana Control- to tier 2. It costs 5 skill points.]
Another bucket of metaphorical ice water fell on my head. "And there goes all my skill points… Go ahead and upgrade Mana Control," I said, dejectedly.
[Commencing upgrade of -Mana Control- to tier 2 at the cost of 5 skill points.]
'Please don't hurt like the last time I upgraded this,' I pleaded in my head.
A sharp pain permeated through my head and I winced. It wasn't too bad, but still more painful than normal upgrades.
[Upgrade complete. Your mana has fused with your thoughts to a higher degree.]
The pain faded and I sighed. "Hopefully it helps."
I held up my hand and started to form the lattice structure of mana I had tried before. Surprisingly, the formation was near-instant and perfectly arranged.
My palm was now covered in a dense golden layer of mana. I held up my hand to my face and looked at it from all angles.
"Wow. Mana Control sure is amazing… The structure is flawless!"
I poked the surface. My finger was repelled before it could reach my skin and there was a slight shine as the mana interacted with my finger.
I drew circles with my finger, mesmerized by the trail of light it left behind.
Then, I heard footsteps coming up the tower and dissipated the mana structure.
A tall maid with olive skin, dark brown hair, and bright blue eyes entered the room. She carried a platter of meat, fruit, and vegetables and set it down on my desk.
"Here's your meal, young master," She said with a curtsy.
"Thank you…"
"Francesca, sir."
"Thank you, Francesca."
The bright, blue-eyed woman left the room and her footsteps echoed through the tower, fading away as she descended the stairs.
I hungrily eyed the platter, noticing the absence of purple meat.
"I guess they ran out of Zanthei meat. That's too bad," I said.
The replacement was a slice of light pink meat that looked like uncooked beef. I stuck my fork in it and took a bite, relishing the sweet, savory flavor.
"Mmm," I said while chewing. "This is just as good! It also has a lot of mana!"
After the initial increase in my mana capacity on my first night here, the food has made only a slight difference. But I'll never miss out on getting stronger!
I wolfed down the rest of my meal and sat on my bed with my hunger satiated. Learning Mana Arts really took a toll on me today. Usually, I'd work out before sleeping but my eyes grew heavy and I yawned.
"Good night, Emy."
[Goodnight, master. Sweet dreams.]
…
The next day, Grandmother surprisingly brought me breakfast.
'I must have gotten on her good side.'
I quickly scoffed it down and we continued with our training.
"Now that you have learned the first two steps of spell formation, we can move on to the third step," She said. "But this step is a lot more challenging than the first two. Getting mana out of your body while still retaining control can be challenging for most. Even if you are a super genius, don't expect it to be easy. Regular mages take a couple of years to master expelling mana."
I nodded.
'Or I can just level up a couple of times and unlock it.'
Grandmother's hand began to glow and she held it up. Like yesterday, a golden orb began to form. But this time, it only bulged out of her palm.
"The first step to mastering this is to go through the first two steps. Once enough mana has gathered and you've condensed it, the mana should try to break free from your body. Mana particles have a tendency to want to return to the atmosphere. Your body keeps them inside but if a lot gathers on the surface of the skin, it will start to leave your control."
The semi-sphere orb jutting out from her hand started to swell and rise into the air.
"As the mana tries to leave your control, you need to retain that connection. What do you think would accomplish that?" She asked me.
I flipped on my mana sense and focused on the particles surrounding her hand. She was right, some of the particles were dissipating into the air.
"By keeping a connection with your body, you can control it. So… wouldn't forming a string of mana between you and the spell work?"
Her lips curled up into a slight smile. "Is that a question or an answer?"
"An answer, ma'am," I said, finally sure of myself.
"Good. That's exactly right."
Once the fluctuating orb finally left her palm and broke off from her hand, I could see a small stream of mana between her skin and the orb.
"The more control you have, the smaller the connection needs to be to keep a hold on it. Usually, basic spells don't need a far connection to have the desired effect, so this much will do for now."
The orb dissipated and the mana particles joined with the atmospheric mana surrounding us. I stopped my mana vision and the world became full of color again.
"When you attempt it, focus and be patient. Controlling such a small amount of mana particles is very challenging for most."
I chuckled as golden tendrils raced down my arm toward my hand. "I think you're forgetting something, Grandmother…" A bright yellow bubble formed on my hand, expanding until it started to rise upwards. "...I'm not like most."
The bubble formed an orb and left my hand. Between my hand and the orb, a small string of mana flowed between the two.
But then, the string snapped and the orb dissipated.
"Huh?"