Winsor woke up in the morning to a knock on his door. He at first tried to ignore it and continue sleeping but what he heard made him wake up instantly.
"If your not going to wake up and come for training ... ," Miss Aiko said from outside the door.
Her words made him realise he had slept shirtless so he jumped out of his bed instantly. As he was scrambling for the wardrobe, his legs pulsed in agony as all the exercise the previous day made them very sore.
He almost fell face first into the wardrobe but he managed to grab a shirt that was nearby. He didn't want to be known as a nudist since he didn't know if it was normal for people here to sleep shirtless.
Bam*
Miss Aiko kicked his door down, breaking the handle in one spartan kick. She walked in like as though she owned the place and looked at the confused and slightly angry Winsor.
"I'll just have to come and get you." she completed her sentence as she looked at him.
"I let you guys sleep in today since it was your first day yesterday but from now on we are going to start training early in the morning." She said as she turned and looked around his room.
"Hurry and get dressed. We're starting with something important today today, then well start actual spear arts." she added with a small smirk as she finally turned around and walked out of his room.
'Maybe its a habit to just break into people's rooms? Argh I'll just have to deal with it for now.' Winsor thought with an annoyed look on his face. He was tired of people invading his privacy.
He had never been in boarding or had to share a room with siblings in his previous life, so all these people simply barging in made him a little angry.
He really wanted to add her on the revenge list but he figured out that he would've been quite petty. He thought about forgiving the butler too but his case was different.
'That guy was just being a pain for no reason. I would have held a grudge with Aiko but she far too strong for me right now' Winsor thought as he dressed and made his way to the training hall.
On his way, his legs had continued to ache with every step he took. He didn't want to show weakness and get taken advantage of so he waked slowly but normally.
"Morning Winsor. How are you even able to walk at all?" Lukart said as soon as he spotted Winsor enter the hall.
Sure he had made it look as though he was walking perfectly, but his legs were killing him more than he could manage on the inside. The anger from earlier may have distracted him a bit but it still didn't make the pain go away.
His legs were sore from all the running and exercise they had done the previous day. It also looked like Lukart was facing the same problem since he was seated on the ground.
"It hurts too, it's just that I don't want to be late." Winsor replied as he finally went into the training area.
"Now that we're all here time to start the most important lesson you'll ever learn," Miss Aiko said as she walked into the training hall not so behind of Winsor.
She was holding a wooden box that looked quite boring. Winsor was wondering just how Miss Aiko was able to pass him on the way back.
'I wasn't walking that fast so how did I pass her even though she left early?' He thought as his attention was drawn to the box in her hands.
"Mana is a simple energy that builds our world down to the very base. Once it coalesces in pure form," Miss Aiko continued as she opened the box in her hands.
"It turns into these." Miss Aiko said as she pulled out two orange crystals from the box.
"I would normally tell you to feel mana in your bodies and move it as though you are moving an extra limb."
"But that method is as old as it gets so I'm going to be smart with it. You'll draw power from these and push it out. Doing that instead of simply feeling around for hours, will be faster and more useful "
"Easy, ya?" Miss Aiko finally said as she gave each of them a crystal.
"But what about control? Isn't pushing and pulling mana kinda, ..." Lukart asked while seated on the ground.
" Forced? yeah but right now, you have no control whatsoever. Its like an unused limb. What we are doing right now is building strength before moving the fingers. Your so weak that you can't even cast a simple flame spell." Miss Aiko answered him while completing his question for him.
Of course only doing this would mean that they would be able to move mana well. The downside would be they would not be able to have precise control.
They would still be able to use magic and skills but they would use excess mana. Miss Aiko explained this to them and told them how vital stamina and mana were in any battle.
"Now close your eyes and imagine that your hand is a mouth and its sucking in the energy from the crystal" Miss Aiko said as she finished her explanation.
Winsor sat down with the orange crystal and finally noticed its odd colour.
'Is the value of this thing measured by their color? I've seen more of the orange ones than green ones' He thought as he remembered the crystal he assumed Lukart used for his awakening.
"Start already, Lukart is already making progress," Miss Aiko said while smacking the back of Winsor's head. He was spacing out while Lukart had closed his eyes and started concentrating.
' Tsch, he couldn't wait a bit for me?' Winsor thought as he finally concentrated.
'Hmm, imagine your hand is a mouth. Absorb the mana.' Winsor said internally as he remembered Miss Aiko's words.
He tried this way multiple times but failed each time. He couldn't just imagine and extra mouth and absorb mana.
'She said it was the building block for everything,' Winsor thought as he was thinking of a different way to do this task after failing for so long.
'Maybe if I think of it like taking in air'
He then took a deep breathe but then he noticed something show up in his peripheral vision. He felt as though something had finally opened and he guessed he had started letting the mana in
[You have absorbed 1mp]
[You are in an overcharged state.]
[Dispel or you will have side effects]
[You have absorbed 1mp]
[You have abso...
The messages showed up in the far corner part of his vision and distracted him from the absorption. He started feeling strange and decided to stop and open his eyes.
The rate of absorption was high but he also lost it rather quickly. For every 4 mp he gained he lost 3 mp immediately after wards. He also lost that additional 1mp after some time but the rate he was absorbing started to pile up.
He noticed that his skin, even though heavily tanned, had turned red. He felt something strange come up in him. It was like ants were crawling up his body. It wasn't painful, just really uncomfortable.
'It said there are side effects to this but I don't want to find that out right now' Winsor thought as he closed his eyes again.
'It should be the reverse of breathing in to push it out right?'
He let out a deep breathe but again something he didn't expect happened. The mana he let into his body started to collect around his chest area.
He felt it more energetic than ever due to the sudden boost. He almost lost focus again but this time, he used more force than before.
He suddenly increased the pressure and will he was using to manipulate the mana then ...
Booom!
The vibrations ran through the mansion and even alerted Ruford that wasn't anywhere close to the training hall.
"I wonder what she's doing," Ruford asked himself as he went on with his business