Clack!!
The same clang of the door indicating it was open echoed in the room. It had been more than a week since I started absorbing mana, but I still couldn't form the first circle. The mana was building up inside me to a point that was unbearable for any human. So why didn't he advance to the first circle? The absorption of mana increased its speed day after day, accumulating more and more.
My body had changed. My abdomen was marked, the muscles in my arms had enlarged, and my entire body had increased muscle mass. I could feel my muscles getting stronger, but it was the mana that was really building up. The sensation was similar to being inside a swimming pool; The weight of the mana was beginning to affect me, but even so, I continued absorbing mana for an entire week. Night after night, the process did not stop.
"Sigh"
"Tap Tap"
I got out of bed, feeling my body heavier, but also much stronger and more agile. Although the heavy feeling was just my mind playing tricks on me, in reality, my agility had increased beyond what I had experienced in my past life. I could escape this place simply by running, but I didn't know what awaited me outside. During these days, I discovered that I was underground; The place was bigger than a football stadium. He couldn't just run away without knowing the terrain. It was too vast to be just a slave place.
"Deaf sound"
Suddenly, I heard voices coming from the hallway outside my room. They were adult voices, and the doors to other rooms began to resonate. I quickly grabbed the book and headed to the shelf. I took out the clipboard, put the book in its place, and put the clipboard back, arranging the books. The door to my room opened abruptly. A man entered. He had black hair, dark eyes, scars all over his body, and tattoos on his arms. He looked like a mass of pure muscle.
His gaze showed an intimidation that could scare anyone, but not me. The man entered and began to inspect every corner of the room, as if he were looking for something or carrying out some kind of inspection. A few seconds passed and he stopped looking at the corners. Then he walked to the bed, lifted the mattress, left it in place and walked towards the desk. He checked every part of the desk and finally his gaze fell on the bookshelf.
"Shit, if this guy finds the book, it'll all be over," I thought.
The man walked to the bookshelf, took out three of them, and his gaze turned cold. Suddenly, with a frown and a chilling expression, he stared at me.
"You..."
I swallowed as the man began to speak. I panicked; This body was like that, very afraid of any situation. It didn't allow me to handle emotions well.
"You are clean..."
"..."
I looked at him indifferently as he left the room. He left the door open and I watched his back until he finally disappeared into the hallway.
"Sigh"
I sighed and looked at the shelf. Why didn't that man see the rectangular shape on the shelf? He was there, he was clearly seen. Only books kept that space covered. Was he blind or did he just not look properly? He didn't understand, but he must have seen the rectangular shape on the shelf. I felt frustrated, but at the same time relieved. What would have happened if they had found the book? What would have happened to me?
Nothing made sense...
"...What the hell was all this about? Why didn't he see that surface on the shelf?" I said, confused but relieved.
"Sigh".
I left the room and walked down the hallway. All the doors to the rooms were open; some were empty, while others had their owners inside, peering through barred windows. I continued walking until I reached the stairs. This hallway only led to these stairs, the opposite side was closed with a solid stone wall. There was nothing else. I went down the stairs and arrived at the dining room, which was a bit crowded, perhaps because not everyone was here. Next to the kitchen, where the cook served food, there was a white door that was emitting mana.
That door never opened, but he was sure it served as a way out of this place and perhaps led to a new part of the facility. This whole place was very well guarded; At night, footsteps could be heard outside the rooms, indicating that there were guards. On the other side of that white door, strange sounds were rarely heard, voices were also heard.
"Sigh".
I went to the same table as always, but this time Gloriana was not there. I sat down, the lights from outside came in through small rectangular windows that almost touched the ceiling of the dining room. The light barely entered, but it was enough; What illuminated this place the most were those mana crystals that looked like torches. There were several crystals, each placed on the ceiling of the dining room: one in each corner and three in the center.
Every day was like that, days without being able to do anything, very sad and boring days. But something was different; This body was supposed to receive torture constantly, but I hadn't experienced any kind of torture since I came to this world. There was something that wasn't right, but I didn't know what it was.
"Who's that? I haven't seen her before," I said, my eyes fixed on a girl I'd never seen before. Her gaze was trembling, her body was sweating and she was shedding tears. Her white eyes and hair seemed to reflect the same snow he saw in them. She was shaking, her gaze lost on her.
"They must have brought her here recently," I muttered.
She didn't look like the others in this place; They all had blank, emotionless looks, pale faces as if they knew they could die at any moment, defeated looks. But this girl was different; Her face was paralyzed with fear and she trembled every chance she could.
"Sigh".
I got up and headed to my room; It was time to absorb more mana. Maybe this time he would make it to the first circle. I needed to be a first circle if I wanted to get out of this place. I couldn't stay here and ruin this new life, but I just needed time; that was all. The moment he reached the first circle, he had to learn two spells: one for attack and one for defense. There would only be two, two spells necessary to be able to defend oneself in this world.
***
—Change of scene.
He was in my room, immersed in meditation. My mind returned to the dark place filled with black and purple mana. It absorbed a lot of mana; The speed and amount of mana entering my body increased every day. I continued like this for a long time, but the first circle never appeared. He didn't reach the first circle, but he would definitely arrive soon. It was only a matter of time.
The royal family was looking for Gloriana, a member of the royal family. The day the royal family found this place, they might send knights to rescue Gloriana, but he wasn't sure if they would really come. Only time would tell, after all.
The mana began to increase again, the tickling sensation intensified, the particles... were larger. What the hell was happening? Suddenly, all the previously tiny particles were now the size of a bottle cap; They were too big. The larger particles began to enter my body, and a new sensation took over me. It was different, but it also filled my body with much more mana, and this one was stronger, different.
"Deaf sound."
The mana increased so much that my body became more and more full, but something different happened. The mana was filling my body almost completely. Suddenly, the mana began to flow in only one direction, towards my arm, and headed towards the semicircle. The mana began to surround the entire circle, absorbing more mana as it arrived.
My arm went numb, I felt it, but the mana was getting stronger and stronger. Finally, he covered the semicircle; The circle was full, but I still had mana in my body. It was too much mana to contain it all in my body. All the mana that filled the circle was only a third of the mana that was in my entire body.
Suddenly, a light emerged from the circle, and the circle began to rotate. The color intensified; It was stronger. Finally, the light disappeared, revealing a completely black circle, with ten purple stars in the center. They had the same color as mana, but the circle was black, while mana was black and purple, the purple color was in the center of the star-shaped circle.
"It's...the first circle," I murmured, staring at my arm. The circle was now black; It was no longer transparent like before.
I examined my body. The veins that used to carry blood were now filled with mana. All the mana flowed through my veins, as if it were a circuit. That was the word to describe it: a circuit, when manna runs through the veins of the entire body.
"The circuit helps the mana flow more smoothly throughout the body, but it also has a disadvantage. Depending on the size and thickness of the vein, the circuit that is filled with mana will run faster or slower, depending on the size of the vein. the vein. The larger the vein, the more mana can flow through it," I explained.
The circuits help mana flow more quickly and throughout the body. They also help create magic, as mana runs through the circuit, which is the vein of the human body. Without a circuit, a mage would never be able to create magic, but there are times when the mage can do so without the circuit, although the only way is for the mage to be continuously absorbing mana but there could be risks in doing that.
I looked at my arm and contemplated my first circle. My path as a magician would just begin; He was now an official magician.
"Although I am now a first circle mage, why do I have so much mana in my body?" I thought. The mana inside me was so immense that if I took it out, it would fill a large pool to the brim. Only a small portion of all my accumulated mana was used to create the first circle. Was it normal or was it not? He needed answers, but he could only get them from another wizard. He was a complete newbie when it came to magic and all that.
He was like a child in matters of magic to other magicians. Even for a knight, this could be much stronger than a first circle mage.
"Sigh".
I got out of bed; It was already night, but this time he would just rest. I had reached the first circle, and it was quite a feeling of joy, something I had never felt in my past life. Now there were emotions on my face. He just needed more time, just a little more time, and he could get out of this place.
"But what if there are swordsmen in this place?" I muttered. A swordsman was the same as a knight. A knight was named so by the kingdom, but before that they were called swordsmen.
It doesn't change at all, just the title, but their strength and power are the same. A second problem would be that in this place there are also mages, but that possibility would be very low. Only a few swordsmen could be here. Firstly, because a swordsman needs intense training from a very young age. Also, the fact that this place is a selling point for slaves suggests that there would be more bandits than swordsmen. In the event that there are swordsmen here, there could only be a few, not many.
"It's almost dark. Now I must learn how to use spells," I thought as I lay back on the bed.
The next step is spells, but this could be much faster than reaching the first circle. Among the spells you must learn are three: the first, fireball; the second, fire arrow; and lastly, fire shield. A fire shield consumes a lot of mana, but it has a great advantage when it comes to defense.
With a slight sigh, I closed my eyes slowly. I would continue the next day. I had been in this place for almost two weeks now, and I was starting to get restless. I had to get out of here and not be someone like in my past life....