When Joren woke up, he left the infirmary and went straight to the field where breakfast was served. As he waited in line, two slaves were arguing with each other which eventually led to a fight. When the guards noticed, they separated the two and started beating them mercilessly.
They didn't cause any long-term damage since they knew slaves needed to be in good condition to work, but that didn't mean the beating was any less brutal.
Joren grabbed his breakfast and saw Gramps eating alone, so he made his way over to him.
"Hey gramps." He sat down and started eating his breakfast. It was some barley edible porridge and a loaf of hard bread.
"Oh, Joren!" Gramps said in excitement. "You're here. How are you feeling?"
"I'm okay now. My head feels fine so I should be able to work again. Sorry for not being able to help you yesterday."
"Hoho, it's okay. You were hurt so it's only natural. I was able to get the work done just on time. I also missed our little chats so it's nice to have your company again." He smiled and patted Joren on the head
"Now, since we're done with our breakfast, let's clean the barn. The Household Knights went on a skirmish yesterday so the horses had extra food to eat. More food means more shit to clean." Gramps and Joren put their bowls up and made their way to the barn.
A few hours into cleaning, Joren started thinking about how he could escape this place. But more importantly, how he could learn and use mana. There are hundreds of slaves working for the household yet none of them ever used magic.
"Hey gramps, what's magic? Do you know?"
"Haha, of course, I know what magic is. Almost everyone knows. Did your parents not explain this to you?" he asked with a curious expression.
"Hmm, well I do know a little. My mommy did tell me a little bit but I don't remember."
"Okay, well, since you're curious, I don't mind telling you." Gramps finished the task he was working on and moved closer to Joren to start his next task and answer his questions.
"You see, if you want to know what magic is, you have to know what mana is."
"Mana?" Joren had an idea of what mana was thanks to the novels he read, but that was fiction in his old world, and he didn't know if the knowledge he had would transfer to this world.
"Mana is the energy that makes up the world and perhaps even beyond. This energy is in everything. The food we eat, the water we drink, and the air we breathe. It's even in that horse shit I cleaned up over there, hahaha.
Mana is always being absorbed in a person's body, but most of the time, we do not notice it, and even if we do, we can't harness it. This is where cultivation comes in. Through certain exercises, breathing disciplines, and meditation, one can feel the mana in their body and the surroundings. Once they are able to feel it, they harness it and once they harness it, they can project it from their bodies. That projection of mana is what we call Magic."
"Woah, that's really cool. So if you can harness mana, can you become really strong?"
"Haha, hell yeah you can. You see, there are different ways to utilize mana. You can strengthen your body, or enhance your senses. You can create spells that allow you to shoot fire, run fast, or even fly. There are many things you can do with mana. Usually, magic is broken down into three categories. Aura, Elemental, and Arcane."
"There are only three types of magic? That's pretty lame honestly."
"Haha, no no. Three categories. In each category, there are many things you can do. Let me explain. Aura is the process of harnessing the invisible mana and making it visible. Think of making the air visible. Once you are able to do that, you can use it in many ways. Make a sword out of mana, maybe a projectile, a barrier, and so on. This is also the most basic application of mana. One hundred percent of people who use mana are taught this and that's because most people who can harness mana stop at this level."
"Why do they stop there? You said there are many things possible with mana so why would someone not want to learn more?"
"Well, it's not as easy as it seems. Most people can't even feel mana, let alone harness it. If one can do both of those, then one can use Aura, but to progress further, you need to have a combination of luck, talent, intelligence, and dedication. Most people have the required intellect and dedication, but most DO NOT have the required talent or luck." Gramps looked down at the ground with a sad expression. He sighed and looked at Joren with a smile then kept explaining.
"The next level of magic is called elemental magic. One has to have an affinity with a certain element to harness it. If they do, they can transform their mana into an element. This is where the luck and talent part comes in. Not everyone has an affinity, meaning not everyone can use elemental magic. But if they do, then their power will jump leaps and bounds. Every element had a vast amount of spells related to it and new spells are still being created."
"Woah, that's awesome. What are the elements? Can a person have more than one element?" Joren's eyes were sparkling with excitement. Sure he may sort of know all this but living in a world where it's a reality is different from reading.
"Well, the most common ones are Wind, Water, Earth, Fire, Lightning, and Wood. There are more but these are the ones you would see most often. Also, yes, you can have more than one element. If you are talented enough, you can awaken one or two more elements. The current King of this land has four elements."
"Four?!! WOAH!! That's awesome!!"
"And lastly, Arcane magic. Arcane magic is simply magic that isn't elemental but has changed forms. Healing magic is a good example of arcane magic. Summoning, alchemy, and teleportation spells are also arcane magic. These spells can also be used even if you don't have an affinity, but they are harder to learn since they require research and understanding. Arcane magic is the hardest magic to learn, but in most cases, it's also the most convenient."
"So if it isn't aura magic or elemental magic, it's arcane magic?"
"Yup. No matter how weird it seems, that's how it is. There are some overlaps within the three categories but that's not important right now."
"So gramps, can we use mana? If we can, we could escape right?!" Joren was excited about learning this world's system of power. If he could learn it, then he could escape and go back to his family right?
"Shhhh! Lower your voice. You don't want the guards hearing you say that you understand?" His voice was firm and full of concern. He didn't want Joren to get hurt because of a slip of his tongue.
*Sigh* Gramps sighed. "Yes, if we could use mana then we could escape. But these collars prevent us from channeling mana into our cores preventing us from using magic."
"Cores?" Joren asked
"Ah, I didn't explain that. The body can only handle so much mana until it overloads. To prevent that, you form a ring around your heart called a mana circle. This mana circle will absorb the excess mana in your body which will strengthen it. Once it gets to a certain point where it can't be strengthened anymore, it will start the process of forming another circle around your heart. Mana circles make an energy field around your heart and that energy field is your core." Gramps explained
"Oh, that makes sense."
As Gramps was about to speak again, the sound of a bell went off.
"Come on, it's time for lunch, I'll explain the rest after."
[A/N: Sorry for the info dumping, I just wanted to get the power system out of the way early so it doesn't drag on in later chapters. The next chapter will have a bit more but not too much. From there, the story will progress faster. I wanna finish this "slave" arc by chapter 10. Thanks for reading. Look forward to the next chapter!]