Finally opening his eyes after having gained control over his mana, Yune saw himself smiling in the mirror in front of him, the sun already starting to rise.
'Did I really practice the whole night? It felt like only minutes had passed…' Yune thought, being surprised by how much time had passed.
Although he had missed a whole day of rest, Yune didn't care in the slightest. Not only had he managed to achieve mana control, he had also found out what his mark symbolized and what power he had, which Aldrich and Alvin didn't even know, and something that wasn't even stated in any books.
In comparison to what he gained, a night's sleep seemed like nothing. Yune was even happy that it was already morning, because now he didn't have to wait long before he could go and tell Alvin.
Excited about sharing this with Alvin, Yune hopped out of bed and quickly took a shower before heading to the cafeteria which was nearly empty as Yune arrived, it only being six in the morning.
Grabbing something to eat and sitting down at a table to try and make the time pass quicker, Yune's leg started fidgeting as it had the opposite effect, feeling like time had slowed down.
After what seemed like an eternity, Yune finally spotted Alvin coming in to the cafeteria, being one of the first people to arrive that day.
Immediately standing up, Yune started walking to Alvin. At quite a distance away, Alvin had also spotted Yune. To Alvin's surprise, Yune, who had always been expressionless and hard to read, now practically glowed with a big smile on his face.
Seeing this instantly put Alvin in a good mood for some reason. "Good morning Yune, how come you are here so early?" Alvin said, with Yune only being a few steps away.
Yune didn't respond yet however. When he finally reached Alvin, he looked Alvin in the eyes and excitedly said: "I found out what my mark is. I have the power over gravity."
Alvin's eyes widened as he heard Yune say this and was left speechless for a good few seconds. Then Alvin suddenly began looking around him to see if there were any people near them, before he grabbed Yune by his wrist, taking him outside of the cafeteria and to a nearby building.
Yune was surprised by Alvin's actions as he had thought Alvin would be happy having heard that Yune had figured out what powers he had, but he decided to not say anything tight now as Alvin had a serious expression on his face.
When they finally arrived in a small room with padded floors, Alvin looked back at Yune. "Have you told anyone else what your mark is?" Alvin said with a cold expression.
"N- no, you are the first person I have told." Yune said with a slight stutter, Quite taken aback by the seriousness in Alvin's tone.
Hearing this, the tense atmosphere Alvin had around him started to relax a little as a sigh of relief could be heard.
"Oh, I am sorry Yune!" Alvin said immediately after noticing that he had been holding onto Yune's wrist, and quickly letting go to see his wrist was still bruised purple from Kyle's grip.
Seeing as Alvin was now turning back to how he normally acted, and seemed genuinely sorry, Yune didn't mind. "Don't worry, you were holding it gently." Yune said, trying to reassure Alvin. "But why did you become so serious all of a sudden?"
After Yune asked this question, the atmosphere seemed to get a little bit tense again. "Yune, I know you haven't been part of this world of marks yet, and it might all seem like sunshine and butterflies, but I am here to tell you that is not the case. I won't say to much about it as it is something you will have to figure out yourself and get your own perspective on, but let me at least give you this one piece of advice, don't reveal your mark to anyone you don't trust." Alvin said.
With how heavy Alvin's words felt, Yune was left speechless for a good few seconds debating what he might have meant, because from what Yune had seen so far, the people with marks had all been relatively friendly, expect a few…
Thinking that he Alvin probably wouldn't tell him much more hearing how he said it, Yune decided to just move on from this topic.
"I understand, but why did you take me here." Yune asked.
"What do you mean why did I take you here? I have never seen or heard anyone with the power over gravity!" Alvin said with a bewildered expression. "Can you show me please?"
Even though Alvin had just said to not reveal his power to anyone, Yune trusted Alvin so Yune didn't refuse. "Okay, but I don't know how I can show you. I only just managed to dissolve a single particle of mana, but that didn't do much beside lower my weight ever so slightly."
Hearing this, Alvin immediately started thinking about how he could verify that Yune had power over gravity, and quickly thought of a way. Walking up to Yune, Alvin effortlessly picked him up by his armpits, lifting Yune of the ground.
Yune not having expected this turned slightly red from embarrassment. On the other hand, Alvin's eyes seemed full of curiosity. "Okay, I am ready. Try and use as much mana as possible, and I will be able to feel your change in weight." Alvin said.
Hearing this, Yune couldn't help but sigh. Although it was weird being picked up, this was indeed the only way to test it. Closing his eyes to try and concentrate, Yune tried to think back at how it felt when he dissolved the one mana particle last time. And with this feeling still fresh in his mind, from only having taken place just an hour ago, Yune quickly managed to recreate it, dissolving one mana particle after another, and finally a whole cluster of them.
"Yune! I can feel you getting lighter! It works, you really do have the power over gravity!" Said Alvin excitedly with his voice raised. "Quick, step on this scale."
Feeling the ground beneath his feet again, Yune opened his eyes again to see a digital scale in front of him. Without thinking about it, he stepped on it, revealing a weight of 31,5 kilograms.
As he saw the number on the scale, Yune looked at Alvin who looked at Yune in anticipation.
"How much did you weigh before?" Asked Alvin excitedly.
Yune looked at Alvin for a few seconds, his face with a mixed expression. "Alvin, first of all, I don't know what my weight was before because I didn't necessarily have a scale in the slums, and second of all, if you had a scale in the first place, why did you pick me up?"
This time it was Alvin who became slightly red in the face. "Let me clarify before you judge me! I didn't know this room had a scale, I also just found out."
Having said that, the misunderstanding was cleared up, but Yune still decided to give him the silent treatment for a bit, creating an awkward atmosphere as they waited before Yune's weight returned to normal.
After about thirty seconds, Yune's weight started to increase again until it stopped at a weight of 35 kilograms.
Breaking the silence, Yune tried to do some quick math. "So I am normally 35 kilograms, and after having used my mana I reduced my weight to 31,5 kilograms, so that means…"
After Yune's expression became more complicated as he tried to do the math in his head, Alvin was one step ahead of him. "That means that you lost 10% of your weight just then!" Alvin said with a smile on his face.
This little impulsive experiment bore more fruit than Yune had thought. Not only had he confirmed that he had powers over gravity, he also found out how long this gravity reduction lasted for, which was around a minute, and he managed to calculate how much weight he had lost after using around a fifth of the mana that was inside his body.
With his day only just having started, and with a full day of lectures ahead of him, Yune felt genuinely excited to learn more about marks, how to use his powers and about the world in general.
"Yune, we should probably head to class now." Alvin said, a slight guilt in his voice.
"And don't get back at me please" Alvin added as he pointed towards the clock.
Deep in thought, Yune was suddenly brought back to reality as he looked at the clock. "What?! It is already five before eight?! The first ever lecture will start in five minutes!" Yune said frantically as he rushed to the lecture hall.