A bell jingled as I opened the door.
I came to the only bookstore shown in the book.
I looked around for a bit, then I decided to ask the attendant for information.
"Excuse me, miss. Do you know where the books related to mana are."
"Basic and intermediate mana control books are to your right if you go forward from here, and the advanced mana control books are there" she pointed at the place advanced mana control books were.
"Thank you."
I slowly moved towards basic mana control books and started reading one of them.
"Mana exists as the essence of life, flowing through all living beings. To manipulate mana, one must first become aware of its presence within their body and surroundings..."
Damn, are you for real? Even the system tells me that much but it was the basics of mana so I shouldn't be that harsh.
I skimmed a few of the books and to get done with it faster I flowed mana into my brain to make my processing speed faster.
After a while of reading I realized these basics books were not what I needed so I started heading towards the advanced section.
While walking there, from the edge of my vision I saw a manga section. I was pretty surprised as I didn't expect mangas to be in this world too.
Hmm, lets see what kinda manga this world ha- 'Linear Ascent'? My favorite novel was in here too?
I immediately started flipping the pages to see if it was the same as my old world and it was indeed the same.
I took the book and sat at a table near a girl I couldn't recognize, but I didn't think much of it since I didn't know everybody in the academy even if I read the novel.
She occasionally sneaked glances at me but I noticed, though I acted like I didn't and focused on reading.
In the off chance she may actually be interested in me, I stayed a little longer, but seeing as she was no longer looking at me I decided to get up.
I finally got to the advanced mana control section after all the distractions and picked up a book called 'Origins of Mana Flow: Where Did Mana Come From?'
This was just what I needed for the quest or so I thought.
"Mana is not merely energy but a bridge between the physical and metaphysical realms. Its origin remains a mystery, but scholars theorize it is tied to the creation of existence itself..."
So this was just a bunch of bull stuff theories. I see.
After searching some more books for a while I came to the conclusion that there was no definite explanation of the origins of mana and I had to find it myself.
Great.
I put the book back in the shelf and decided that today's study time was over.
"Hey, system. How can I understand the origin of mana? Do I have to time travel to the beginning of the universe somehow?"
*Although that is a possible option, Its not recommended to try it as nobody has the power to travel back in time that much.*
*As for how you can interpret the origin of mana is left to the host, as that is the first step of enlightenment.*
"Enlightenment? As if the one needed to breakthrough to S rank?"
*Yes, host. Everybody has their own views of the world and their own understanding of mana and the closer they are to the truth, the more likely they are to advance in ranks.*
"Great, now I have to go on a treasure hunt for knowledge and experiences." I muttered under my breath.
I turned to leave but stopped when I noticed the girl from earlier standing nearby, holding a book and looking like she wanted to say something.
"You're leaving already?" she asked, her tone curious.
"Yeah, I think I've had enough reading for today," I replied.
She hesitated for a moment before stepping closer. "If you're looking for deeper knowledge about mana, the advanced section here won't help that much. Most of the real knowledge is locked behind private collections or restricted archives such as the one in our school's library."
"And how do you know this?" I said while raising an eyebrow.
She smiled lightly. "Lets just say I have a good backer behind me."
"A-also if you wanted to... maybe we could... ugh nevermind." She turned around and went back to the manga section.
That was weird. Anyways, I went to the training hall to train and it was surprisingly empty.
It seemed like most people who passed their rounds were regaining their energy and those who lost were still griefing.
I first started by training my archery.
I walked up to a shooting lane, got myself in postion, channeled mana into my eyes carefully and...
It hit bullseye, but on the wrong target.
The second and third shots weren't much better, though at least they hit the target.
How was I worse in archery than when I first came into this world?
Was it because my body used to train daily but I didn't train daily on archery?
I spent the next hour practicing my aim, gradually improving my accuracy.
By the end of the session, I could hit the bullseye consistently at 50 meters and even managed a few at 75 meters.
"Phew, I am getting better." I said while wiping the sweat off my forehead.
Nextly, I wanted to do some physical exercises.
"System, care to help me with some exercises"
*Of course,host. Here is a list of exercises recommended.*
Push-ups - 10 sets of 15 reps
Pull-ups - 10 sets of 10 reps
Dips - 10 sets of 15 reps
Planks - 10 sets of 60 seconds
Squats - 10 sets of 20 reps
Lunges - 10 sets of 15 reps per leg
Calf Raises - 10 sets of 20 reps
"You know, normally I would complain but the exercises you gave me really improved my strength even if it didn't change in the ranks."
*Yes, host. Thats because your strength is about to rank up.*
"Oh, well also I can see a little bit of muscles just a little tiny bit so thanks system, I will get right into this."
My arms gave out after the last plank.