The next day after eating breakfast, Joren went out back to practice splitting his focus. According to what Lauren had told him, the mana used for his mental strength wasn't strong enough to support him using five mana arrows at once. So in order to strengthen his mental fortitude, he has to first know his limit, and then work past that.
Panting heavily, Joren laid on the ground, his chest convulsing with exhaustion. His body glistened from the beads of sweat that clamped to his skin.
"Two." He spoke, his chest feeling like he ran for three days straight. "I can only control two at a time. Three is doable but I have to really focus or the spell will slightly backfire. So I can confidently say that two is my limit." He raised his fist in the air triumphantly with a smile on his face.
For the next few hours, Joren tested his limits. He cast multiple spells back to back, purposely putting more mana than normal into some of them to see how far he could push them. He did many things to deplete his mana, but to his surprise, it wasn't as easy as he thought. Not because he has a ton of mana, but because of the way he absorbs mana.
You see, over the past few days, the constant use of mana became second nature to him so he ended up not needing to consciously absorb mana unless he was doing something that required it. Now, he can absorb mana at a constant rate, and because of this, draining himself of mana took longer than he thought. Not to mention he didn't know any high-tier spells that required a ton of mana.
'It seems like I don't need to worry about my mana capacity at this moment. I should spend this time focusing on building my mental strength.'
Meditation was something Joren had already gotten the hang of so his mental fortitude was higher than normal, especially for his age. But because he couldn't feel mana when he was a slave, he didn't know how strong his mental power was.
'I wonder if training my senses will help build mental strength' he questioned as he opened his trusty but vague book he'd been using for the past couple of days. Opening to the beginning section which he had skipped previously, he started to read.
"To use aura, one must visualize what they are trying to perform. Mana control, capacity, understanding, and practice all come into play when using aura. The most basic usage of aura is to enhance one's senses. By enhancing the senses, one can perform feats that weren't possible before"
"Obviously." Joren rolled his eyes at how basic this book was but kept reading.
"By enhancing sight, one could be able to see things that are normally far away. They could see in the dark, see in bright places, see things that are much smaller than normal, or simply have clearer vision"
'So people who can use mana don't need glasses. That's neat'
"By enhancing hearing, one can hear things from a distance, sounds that are quiet, or even make sounds that are loud sound normal. Further mastery can lead to one hearing sounds that normally couldn't be heard with the normal ear similarly to animals. Similarly, if one has bad hearing, mana can help them have normal hearing"
'Mana really is convenient. Many things from my old world could be disregarded because of mana. Like bad hearing or sight.'
Joren continued to read about enhancing the five senses and after he finished, he concluded that they all boiled down to three categories. Using mana to become normal, Using mana to push past normalcy, and using mana to make the extremes seem normal.
For example. If you have bad hearing, use mana to make your hearing normal like everyone else. If you want to see something far away or taste something that normally would be tasteless, use mana to enhance your senses to make it that way. And lastly, If something is too loud, bright, or has a strong pungent spell, use mana to make all those feel normal.
"Okay, let's put this into practice shall we?" Joren finished the entire section regarding aura and closed the book.
"It said that to enhance your senses, you simply need to concentrate mana into the area you want. Hmm, let's start with my hearing."
Joren sat in the lotus position and started concentrating. He poured mana into his ears and started to listen closely. At first, nothing happened, but after a few more seconds, he started to hear sounds he'd never heard before.
To the ants crawling in the dirt, to the small birds flapping their wings. The remanence of morning dew dripping down from leaves and even his rival tree creaking with the scars he gave it. He heard it all.
'T-This is amazing! I can hear everything! It's as if I'm standing right next to them. I can hear everything so clearly! This must be how Superman feels.'
He extended his hearing further.
Joren heard Lauren humming to herself in the kitchen while cooking lunch. He could even hear the water sloshing in the pot. Directing his hearing past the house, he heard carriages roaming the streets, the sounds of people walking around, and if they were close enough, he could hear them talking. But after focusing on these sounds for too long, his ears started to hurt.
'I guess I can only hear so much before I get overwhelmed' He thought to himself.
'But this is good! I definitely should add this to my training regimen. Hmm, speaking of my training regimen, I haven't done the training that I did at the Barony since I got here. I should get back to doing them, I don't want to get soft.' He got up, stretched, then started his workout.
[Royal Captial]
Arriving in the Royal Capital Glenn and company went to a tavern where he met up with Glenda and Grace, Joren's mother and sister. They were here in the capital to support Gloria, the eldest of the three siblings, as she entered the Royal Academy. It was a special event for them since commoners don't usually enter the academy. However, by showing amazing talent and paying an acceptance fee, Gloria was able to enter the school.
Today was the day when Glenn would pick them up to take them back home. He wanted to tell them that he found Joren, that he was okay, but he decided to keep it a surprise.
As he walked into the tavern, he saw a bunch of people sitting around eating and drinking. Off to the side of many tables, many weapons could be found resting upright as the majority of people here were mercenaries.
Looking around, he spotted two beautiful women off in the back chatting with one another minding their own business. He walked over to them and sat down.
"How are you two ladies doing?" He asked, excited to see them.
"Glenn, you're here!" Glenda leaned over to hug him. "Oh, it's so nice to see you."
"Ha, 'bout time you got here Uncle. Let's go spar! It's so boring here and I'm itching for some action!" Grace went over to him and started punching him playfully.
"Haha, it's good to see you guys too. Sorry I'm late, I was preparing a surprise for you both back at the village. I was hoping I could show Gloria as well but it seems like she's already in school so she'll have to see it later." he said blocking all of graces punches
"A surprise? I love surprises! What is it? Come on, tell me! Please?" Grace asked frantically
"If I tell you what it is, it wouldn't be a surprise would now would it?" He replied
"Well if a surprise is waiting for us then we shouldn't stay here any longer should we?" Glenda said as she stood up
The three of them left the tavern and boarded the carriage making their way back to the village.