In the days after the Gate Crisis, Eyvon devised a training regimen that would suit Hayden's human physique and age, teaching him basic survival skills while training his physicality. While the training seemed harsh at first, Hayden quickly grew accustomed to the brutal training, impressing both Eyvon and the elven soldiers who witnessed his training themselves. After completing the second week of his training, Hayden noticed himself becoming visibly stronger and faster, more so than he ever thought was possible. Despite being only 15, he had managed to lift upwards of 250 pounds and was even running races with the elven soldiers and nearly winning. Unsure of why his growth was so explosive, Hayden went to ask Eyvon if he knew the reason.
"You're growth? Yes, you've made remarkable progress. It's due to the Mana particles in the air, that came through the gates along with the monsters. Your body is learning to absorb them, and is developing its Mana System." Hayden looks at Eyvon, his eyes betraying a small skepticism, "So, you're saying that I'll be able to learn magic? That this energy I've been feeling is mana?" Eyvon seems mildly surprised. "Yes, it's good that you understand the concept of mana being the fuel for magic. I suppose that much is lucky, as having to explain mana and teach you its concepts might have been bothersome. Try feeling your mana system. Close your eyes and breathe, take in the space around you, and visualize little specks of light. That light is mana, and with every breath you take in a little bit more."
Hayden did as Eyvon instructed, Closing his eyes and trying to experience the space around him without his eyes. After some silence, Eyvon spoke up again, "Don't worry if you can't get it right away, it took me over 3 weeks before I was able to-" Hayden cut Eyvon off abruptly, "I did it... I can sense the mana, feel my mana system... Like a branching system of roots and nerves throughout my body..." Eyvon looks at Hayden with a baffled look on his face, not wanting to take his words as any more than the boasts of a young boy, but the description of the mana system was surprisingly accurate...
"Hayden, hold out your hand in front of you, palm up. Focus on drawing the mana in your body to that hand, and picture a sphere. As you picture the sphere, visualize the mana flowing out of your hand and into the air in the shape of the sphere. Use the image of the sphere as a guideline..." Hayden follows Eyvon's instructions, visualizing the flowing mana and forming the sphere over his hand. It's difficult, but he manages to form a small sphere of mana over the course of a few minutes. When the sphere is complete, Hayden is sweating and panting from the exertion, the mana control far harder than the physical training he had been doing. Hayden opens his eyes, smiling tiredly at the small sphere. "I... I did it... ughh..." Hayden begins to fall unconscious, not accustomed to utilizing mana within his body, but Eyvon catches him, carrying him to his bed and laying him down. "You've done a remarkable thing, Hayden," Eyvon says, praising Hayden's talent.
As Hayden slept, he dreamed. He dreamed of his days running around the local park with his friends, of his parents and their homecooked meals. Then, the dreams became nightmares. The crumpled bodies of his friends, broken and bloody on the ground, surrounded by screams of terror and the roars of monsters. Suddenly, his dreams went dark. No images. No light. No sounds. A feeling of suffocation began to set in, when a warm pulse of light appeared in the forefront of Hayden's vision. The light was faint, hardly visible, but it was blinding against the darkness, and with it was a voice, barely audible. "Wake..... You.... Help.... Love...." And the dream ended, snapping Hayden awake in a cold sweat. It was the next day. Hayden had slept for a day after utilizing mana for the first time, and now that he had woken up, he felt better than before. His body felt more awake, and he felt more in control of his movements.
Hayden found Eyvon talking with the squad of elves that assisted in his training, and greeted them. Sylgi, a lithe elf man with auburn hair, was the first to greet Hayden. "Hayden! You're up! Eyvon told us what happened! That's inc-," The other elves quickly shushed him, one smacking his shoulder in a scolding manner. "Ahem, I mean, are you alright? That must have taken a toll on you, using mana for the first time." Hayden chuckled a bit, entertained by Sylgi's childishness and the rest of the squad's scolding looks. "I'm fine, I just got really tired... More importantly, I had this weird dream." Hayden took the time to share his dream with the group and Eyvon, earning him a few sympathetic looks, as well as a surprised look from Eyvon when describing the light at the end of his dream.
"That's quite the dream you had. We can talk about it later, but for now I want you to run the training drills with everybody again." Eyvon said sternly. The elves in the squad looked at Eyvon, some groaning and grumbling, while others argued that making Hayden do training drills after yesterday was too harsh. Unfortunately for them, Eyvon was having none of it, and soon they were all doing the training drills again, some with bumps on their heads and faces as a result of arguing with Eyvon. As the training continued, Hayden consistently beat the elven squad in every category. His max lift capacity had practically doubled, and he was the first to complete the obstacle course that the elven army had set up for training. Hayden even outran Sylgi, the fastest elf in the squad, by a significant margin. All the elves in the squad, and those who were only bystanders, were in awe that a human was capable of outpacing them in a matter of weeks. After the training drills, Hayden returned to his tent, where Eyvon was waiting for him.
"Spirits," said Eyvon, "Are the living manifestation of magical energy, born when magic is given will by a strong creature, or when there is a vast gathering of natural elemental energies. I believe you may have made contact with a spirit, or perhaps even created it yourself. 'Wake', 'You', 'Help', 'Love', I believe that the spirit was saying something to you, but the connection was unstable, preventing you from hearing the whole message. Start focusing as I taught you yesterday, and gather mana into a sphere." As Eyvon finished his explanation, Hayden began gathering his mana like yesterday, this time finding it much easier and more natural to accomplish, forming a sphere in mere moments. "Good, you did it much better this time. Now, I want you to visualize the mana as something else. Fire, water, a ball of dirt, something simple, and natural."
Hayden did as he was instructed, picturing the particles of mana becoming little embers, and coalescing those embers into the sphere, converting it into a ball of fire. "That was way easier than I expected it to be..." Hayden says, looking at the ball of fire with an expression of satisfaction. Eyvon smiles, admiring Hayden's natural skill for magic. "Great job. With this, you have successfully learned an 'innate spell'. A simple application of mana that allows you to simply cluster your mana together alongside the mana particles in the air. You have succeeded in becoming an 'Innate Mage', somebody who can gather and control mana particles." Eyvon's expression became serious after his explanation, before he spoke again. "Are you curious to know what kind of mage I am?"
Hayden thought for a moment, before responding plainly, "No, I think you'll just tell me when I'm ready." Eyvon chuckles at Hayden's response, amazed by his focus and his independence. "In that case, lets talk about circles." Eyvon went on to explain magic circles, the levels that divide the different skill levels of a mage. He explained that by circulating your mana around your heart, you could create a circle that amplifies the amount of mana you are capable of absorbing at one time, and with each circle added, your power and mana reserves are vastly multiplied due to your ability to absorb more mana than someone without any circles. After explaining, Eyvon left Hayden with a task, "Become a 1st circle mage by this time tomorrow, even if you have to forgo your sleep. I believe in your abilities."
As Eyvon left the tent, Hayden began trying to circulate his mana around his heart, sitting cross legged on the ground. As he meditated, thoughts of his dream played back in his mind, and the words spoken at the end felt more clear... "Wake.... You.... Help.... Love," what did they mean? His pondering was interrupted when he heard a guttural roar from somewhere else in the camp. Hayden rushed out of his tent, trying to find the source of the roar, but he was shocked to see 3 large rhino-sized dinosaur-like creatures running around, destroying tents and spitting balls of fire at elven soldiers. The creatures were being swarmed by the elves, but were keeping most of the elves at bay with their long limbs and fiery blasts. Hayden, not wanting to see anybody hurt by the monsters, ran toward the commotion, creating a ball of mana and hurling it at one of the creatures. The ball hit one of the monsters in the eye, calling its attention directly to Hayden. One of the elven soldiers shouts out, "The drake is targeting! Be careful!" before the drake begins to charge directly at Hayden.
Realizing his mistake, Hayden turns and runs back, trying to complete the 1st circle before the drake can reach him. He fails once, the drake is closing in on him. He fails again, the circle breaking just before he can close it, and a fireball blasts the ground where Hayden was. Just as the drake converges on Hayden, he completes the 1st circle, swinging his arm up to defend himself, covering his eyes, when a sickening stabbing sound and the crunch of bones can be heard. Hayden opens his eyes, bearing witness to the drake's skull and chest pierced by 3 earthen spikes sticking out of the ground. The elven soldiers around cheer, as the other 2 drakes are captured and sedated, while Sylgi and the rest of his squad approach Hayden. "Hayden! Are you alright? You just took down a drake by yourself! And you did it with earth spikes! Does that mean you completed the 1st circle?" Hayden shrugged sheepishly, "I did, but that spell was mostly instinct..."
The Elves celebrate Hayden's advancement to the 1st circle, cleaning and cooking the drake in his honor. Elves in the media before the gate crisis were always depicted as nature loving vegetarians, but that couldn't be farther from the truth. Elves love plants, to the point where they are mostly carnivorous, and even keep certain plants as pets. The drake meat was tough, and muscular, but was immensely flavorful despite the lack of seasoning aside from salt. Hayden savored the drake meat, enjoying the break from basic rodent stews and bread. After the celebration, Hayden returned to his tent, and began meditating, taking in as much mana as he could, before he was interrupted by Eyvon. "You know, when I said 'by this time tomorrow' I was thinking it would take you at least a day... You continue to surprise me, Hayden." Hayden stood up to greet Eyvon, rubbing his head sheepishly. "It was either finish the circle, or get run down by the drake, and I didn't want to get run down, so I realistically only had one choice..." Eyvon chuckled lightly, then burst into a laughing fit, holding his stomach and doubling over. "Oh, Hayden, you continue to amaze me with every new thing you put in front of me. You're gonna be a powerful mage one day, I hope you realize that."
Hayden smiles at Eyvon's praise, bowing politely, "Thank you sir! What's the next step?"