The clear river water flowed gently as the two sat cross-legged. The surroundings were silent, and at this moment, they seemed to only see each other.
Henry smiled at her.
"I will call you 'First' from now on."
Upon hearing his words, Felicia nodded her head. The respect she had for Henry was immense after seeing his appearance in his past life. He was like a god that descended on this world. Seeing him gives her the urge to kowtow without him telling her to.
"Do you know what the magic system is?" Henry asked.
"I have no idea, Master." Felicia shook her head.
"The magic system is ever-changing. Each era had its own variation of one. I know a few other magic systems, but they are inferior to the magic system of my era. As for the present, I have no idea what the magic system is.
"I imagine it should be better, but without strength, we will never know."
Henry looked at her calmly. His words were like thunder to Felicia. She took a deep breath and perked her ears to listen intently. This knowledge would normally be out of touch for her.
"For now, I will teach you the magic system that I used in the past."
Henry then explained to her the basics.
The first three classes were Simple, Low, and High. Each class allowed for better control of magic power.
Simple-class Magi would inhale the mana from the surroundings and use the natural accumulation of mana within their bodies to gather the mana to their hands. This gave them the ability to wave their hand and command the mana from the environment to follow their whims.
The name was very straightforward. Simple Magi could only use simple spells. They couldn't attack with their spells. It was possible for them to confuse an enemy if they weren't prepared.
"Have you seen a dust devil before?" Henry asked.
Felicia nodded. "Yes. I saw one whirling around in rapid motion while gathering the leaves and dust before scattering them everywhere."
"To become a Simple-class, you need to push your natural accumulation of mana to create a whirling motion which would allow you to breathe in mana from the environment. Gather the mana into your two hands, and you will find that they will stay there."
Felicia closed her eyes and followed Henry's instructions.
The image of the dust devil appeared in her mind.
Henry smiled as he looked at her. The more he interacted with her, the more he could see that she had the attitude to become a magus.
He recalled how she wasted her life selling her body to others for money. It was a great waste of her talent.
But it could also be seen that it was the reason why she was like this. She knew what it was like to be forced to a path she wouldn't normally take.
Henry also closed his eyes. He was different from her who needed the analogy of the dust devil. He inhaled and the mana from the surroundings gathered around him.
He controlled the mana in a complex manner within his body. They would retreat from other parts of his body, and after a while, they were all compressed on his hands. He understood it so well he didn't need to expend much effort to do the same work.
The vacuum left by the lack of mana within the other parts of his body strengthened the attraction of mana, causing each deep breath he took to suck in a lot of them.
The duo focused on their respective bodies as the sun slowly appeared over the horizon. Their lack of movement gave the fish the confidence to return. They curiously tried to nibble on them.
The fatigue of staying awake through the night slowly left Henry's body. His mind was refreshed, and he opened his eyes.
His hands now had a great accumulation of mana.
He whipped his hand in a backward slapping motion and a wind appeared. It continued onward and scattered dust on the river bank before dissipating.
Henry left the water and put on his clothes. They were still a little damp and smelled like putrid impurities, but they were better than nothing.
He sat beside the river and watched Felicia take in mana. She struggled, but she still made progress.
"I wonder what my first disciple did when I died…" Henry looked at the bright sky and wondered.
Felicia was not his first disciple in the truer sense. She was only his first in this life.
Had his first disciple already reached a level beyond him? That thought made Henry a little bit excited. He didn't remember the name of this disciple nor his face, but he could feel in his heart that he valued him a lot.
Henry's heart calmed down, and he felt at peace. He looked over and guarded against anyone interrupting Felicia as this was a crucial moment for her.
Sounds of footsteps could faintly be heard from the distance. Henry stood up and walked over.
…
The foreman fervently looked for Henry and Felicia. The mining operation started again before the sun appeared over the horizon. Everyone was there except for the two.
He wondered what happened to them. The possibility of them escaping after stealing a few mana stones appeared in his mind.
Dunzel was following behind him as they looked around. They found traces of footsteps that led to the river.
"Hello."
Henry popped out of the bushes and walked over to them.
"You!"
The foreman was frightened. His heart jumped when Henry suddenly appeared. He didn't sense him coming at all!
Dunzel felt the same as the foreman. He looked at Henry and saw that he looked a little bit different. He looked younger and cleaner, and there was a faint putrid smell around him.
"What happened?" Dunzel asked.
"My mother puked early in the morning…" Henry lied easily and put on a bitter smile.
"Really?" the foreman asked and stared at Henry silently.
He could feel that something was amiss with this guy. It was an instinctive feeling that he couldn't explain.
"It's true." Henry nodded his head.
The serious look on Henry's face made the two become silent. They looked at each other and sighed. They remembered the taste of the food last night and could somehow understand why she puked.
"All right. Let's see your mother," Dunzel replied and stepped forward.
Henry swiftly blocked his way.
"My mother is bathing after puking on her legs."
"Is that so?"
Dunzel looked at the foreman for help.
"Come with us then. We need aid. The guard of the cave got sick last night so someone needed to replace him, which meant that one of the guys had to rest right now in order to be awake later," the foreman said.
"Sure, but don't peek at my mother bathing behind my back," Henry said.
"I'll make sure none of the guys do that. I personally wouldn't want one less worker here right now. The Mayor is rushing us to send more mana stones," Dunzel said to assure him.
The three walked away together.
Henry gazed behind him for a bit and continued onward. He needed to distract these two to give Felicia more time.