Chapter 9 - Basics of Mana

I raise my hand in front, gathering the attention of the duo before I mumbled,

"Swirl."

And the air above my palm began swirling around, forming a miniature tornado.

A smile formed on my face, while the eyes of the duo widened as they observed me. Especially the white-haired girl, who was shocked right now.

Pouring a bit more mana into it, I increased the speed of the rotation, and then finally giving a burst of mana. I overloaded the tornado, bursting and creating air waves around the area.

Closing my hand, I then looked at the white-haired girl,

"The name is Vincent. Abraham Vincent."

"How did you-" the white-haired girl was about to ask something, but the red-haired interjected,

"Wow! How did you do that?!!! Don't gray robes generally mean no affinity? Or is there something I missed?" That red-haired turned to the other girl and asked for clarification.

"That is… how it should be…" replied the white-haired girl as she turned to me for answers.

I pondered for a moment before speaking,

"I can tell you how… but it would be better to show you. Though… is it normal here for people to not introduce themselves?"

I mean, I have been waiting for them to tell me their names, but it doesn't seem like they were going to tell me.

"Ah! I am Daphne," the red-haired spoke in a bit of embarrassment before pointing at the white-haired," she is Livia."

"Nice to meet you too," I smiled as I stood up and then looked at Daphne," well. Why don't you sit for a moment, in the same position that I was sitting before."

She looked at me in confusion before nodding and sitting there. Her eyes were shining brightly as she looked at me, waiting for something to occur.

"Now breathe in the rhythm of 4-7-9 seconds. Inhale, pause and exhale," I began guiding her immediately, and she did so with excitement.

"Empty your thoughts and concentrate on the breaths. Do that for a minute and you should feel a little relaxed. Once you do that, try to feel the fiery mana around your body and in the surrounding," I told her, and obediently she followed suit.

Her success rate was around 10% but I could see her getting better naturally.

"Now try breathing the natural mana and taking it inside your body, spreading it all over the body. Do it slowly and carefully or else you might burn yourself. If you feel discomfort, then pause and then start again," I guided her slowly.

"It… burns…" she mumbled, but still kept going on.

"All right. Now slowly pause and then relax your body. Once you do that, open your eyes and resume normal breathing," I spoke, and she followed suit again.

And as she opened her eyes, she looked rather charmed by the effect.

"Active mana regeneration?!!" Livia mumbled as she looked at Daphne, who was as surprised as Livia.

"This should have given you about a percent of your mana back. Much faster than naturally regenerating, I assume?" I smirked at them, making them nod.

Even at this limit, it was 10% faster than naturally regenerating.

"If you keep doing that over and over. You will soon be able to take in more mana at once and balance it with the body. Though I believe the mana capacity will always be a wall, so don't overdo it," I warned them before turning to Livia.

"Does that satisfy your curiosity?" I asked with a kind smile.

"No… if it were that simple then people would have discovered it a long time ago," Livia spoke with her eyes focused on me.

'Aren't you a sharp one?' I thought before nodding and then speaking,

"Well… about that… you can only regenerate the mana in three conditions. Easy to fill, but hard to get into under normal circumstances."

I raised three fingers before pointing,

"Your mana should be half empty. If it is near filled, then the effect will be minimal. If it is near empty, a load of mana will rush in, causing immediate pain and probable death."

Putting one finger down, I moved to the next,

"Your mana should comply with the mana outside. Because she had been using her magic for a long time now, she can take back some traces into her body. It's her own mana, so it's fine. Though if it were a hot place like a volcano or something… the difficulty is 1000 times more."

Though this part can be overcome with will power and growth.

"Finally, the last condition is that you must be in terms with the mana. That means understanding the nature of your own mana. Fire comes in various shapes and forms, you know? Elemental, Spirit, Elven, etc… which one is yours? That is also important."

I told them, and suddenly Livia's eyes widened as she spoke out,

"No wonder that Spirit Users carry a familiar with them!! So that's why they can connect with their mana!"

"Wow! You really know your stuff, huh?!!" Daphne was amazed as she looked at me, and I just laughed it off before asking,

"Well. Now that I have satisfied your curiosity… would it be fine for me to ask for some help in return?"

Livia, who had a rather guarded expression until now, relaxed a little as she smiled at me.

"I was wondering why you were telling us such crucial information for free," she spoke out as she patted Daphne's head and added,

"Ask away. It won't sit right with me to not help you out after you showed us something valuable."

"Sure, ask us anything. We will help you to the best of our ability!" Daphne was fired up even more than Livia.

And I thanked them before presenting them my proposal.