"Wait, is this part of our deal to make me stronger?" Winsor asked with a skeptical tone to his voice. He was fine with whatever method the Earl had come up with to make him stronger for so long as it was safe, but his previous statement had made him worried.
'If I can survive this then he'll try it on his son then? Am I some sort of guinea pig?' Winsor asked himself internally. He was starting to doubt the Earl's intentions and was thinking of a way to get out of this situation.
"Yes, its part of our deal. The only reason your going first is that your around my son's strength, even though your younger." Earl Grant said, affirming Winsor's suspicions of him being a test subject.
"Its just that this ...method isn't as easy as the others so once you do it successfully, Lukart will also be able to do so." he added while opening one of the vases. He opened the larger one and removed what looked like a long test tube with a flat bottom.
It had a deep red, slime like liquid inside of it. It looked ominous and if you were perceptible enough you could also notice that it was moving on its own. No one in the room really noticed this as the movements were very subtle.
"Well," Winsor said with hesitation clear in his voice "OK I'll do it." he added while finally making up his mind. 'If he's going to use it on his son next, then it definitely means its safe.'
"Good, sit in the center of the magic circle. Drink this then we'll begin your awakening." Earl Grant said. He didn't want this to take much longer since he had been planning this for months. His schemes for power had gotten him the position of Earl and now he was aiming for higher.
If Winsor managed to actually absorb the liquid in the test tube, Earl Grant would be a step closer to being able to mass produce the liquid without having to buy it from someone else.
Winsor sat in the center of the magic circle and removed the cap on the test tube. It didn't have any odor and so he was happy it wasn't going to make his breath stink.
"Do I drink it now or-" Winsor asked while twirling the liquid in the tube.
"Drink it." Earl Grant said bluntly cutting him off while closing his eyes. He brought up the less impressive orange crystal and started chanting something. A strange glow started surrounding the orange stone and it mesmerised Winsor for a moment.
He broke out of his stupor and downed the all the liquid in the tube in one gulp. It didn't taste like anything at first but it had a metallic and bitter after taste. He also closed his eyes and prepared for anything that was going to come.
As soon as the liquid reached his stomach though, it was as if it had woken up and started moving around in his stomach. All he felt was nausea at first since this wasn't something he could have predicted.
He clasped his mouth with one hand and took in deep breaths through his nose so that he wouldn't puke all over the Earl and his son that was standing right ahead of him. It wasn't easy since it felt at though the liquid was running all around his stomach.
What came next was something Winsor would never forget. The liquid suddenly stopped moving in his stomach and he was relieved that it was finally over. He was about to remove his hand from his mouth when the pain started.
It was as if the liquid was escaping his stomach or eating it. He could only let out a muffled scream before clenching his gut with both his hands. The pain got even worse and felt as if the stomach acid had began eating his abdomen.
He couldn't even scream in pain as the pain quickly spread to lungs and also consumed them. He could still breathe but the burning pain spread upwards his throat with every breath he took. He fought to keep himself awake since the pain was much worse than what he felt when he was being transferred to this world.
As Winsor was squirming on the floor in pain, the magic circle around him started resonating with the glow of the orange crystal which had began shrinking in the Earl's hands. Earl Grant had already finished his chant and was now watching what was happening with an attentive gaze.
'Maybe I should add pain suppressors next time,' Earl Grant made a note to himself. His eyes were glowing with a red magical hue and was staring at Winsor as though he could see through him. He was impressed by how well his little imitation of the actual red liquid was working and collected as many details as he could, so that he could improve it and make it better than the original.
It took him a long time and some forbidden resources but he actually made the red liquid that was in the larger vase. There was another test tube in the smaller test tube but it was the original he had bought from the wanderers that he did business with.
These people were a sketchy group that covered their bodies fully in cloaks whenever they spotted. When they first came to Rarden a few years ago, Earl Grant was hesitant about dealing with them. They were very suspicious and could barely speak the language but after they gave him these liquids, or serums as they called them, he welcomed them almost every month to trade for various things.
'Yes, yes, its working, I'm still missing some few things but it works well enough. Though I can't use it on Lukart. I'll just give him the one I bought recently.' Earl Grant told himself internally.
The crystal in Earl grants hand finally shrunk to the size of a pebble during all of this and turned a dull grey color. The magic circle pulsed a few times before all the light concentrated around Winsor.
It all got absorbed into his skin making him glow in an orange hue before it died down. Winsor didn't realise any of this happening as he was barely holding onto his consciousness at this point.
The pain had consumed his whole body and he was in sheer agony. His muscles were locked and cramping, making the burning sensation even worse. Luckily for him the light had coalesced around the center of his chest, right above the solar plexus and had caused the pain to begin reducing.
Winsor was in no shape to continue and his vision started darkening and spinning. Tears were streaming from his eyes as he had finally given into the pain and was starting to lose hope.
=============
Congratulations!
Mana core formation successful
You have successfully Awakened to mana in the world
You've awakened to [The System]
You've learnt basic spell: Self Appraisal
=============
A new screen showed up before his eyes that were half closed at this point. It was different form the one he had seen earlier as it was a pale grey colour and gave off a different vibe. Winsor was wondering just why he had gone through with this and if everyone had to go through such mind breaking torture just to sense mana.
Even though the whole ordeal took only 3 minutes, to Winsor it felt like 30 instead. He just wanted everything to end due to the pain.
[Please choose a class]
-Warrior
-Mage
-Archer
-Crafter
=============
The pain started reducing but Winsor was now too tired to even think about the screen in front of him. He simply sprawled out on the floor with red eyes from all the tears he had just shed and then he just blacked out.
Lukart was utterly terrified by what he just watched and turned to his father with a pale look on his face. He thought that awakening was an easy process and was the key to using mana but now he was scared and didn't want to do it anymore.
"It was a success!" Earl Grant said with a happy but crazed look on his face. He didn't notice Lukart's terror and just began fantasizing about what he could now do with all the information he had just collected.
"I can't wait to see the full results," Earl Grant added with an even crazier smile on his face.