I woke up next to a small pile of moss "Eat up" the creature said, I grabbed a handful and began shoving it in my mouth the bitter taste was disgusting but I had eaten worse "Whats your name?" I asked the beast "Im Tethra, and just so you don't keep referring to me as Creature in your head, I'm a Dragon" I scooted back "Child don't worry I'm not going to hurt you, if I wanted to I would have last night" I slowly went back to the warmth of the fire, and continued to eat the moss.
"I see potential in you child, its not common for any creature children to awaken their core at that young of an age, so I will teach you a skill that will be useful" I nodded "So I need you to bring in mana" I was about to start "Stand up and begin" I listed and stood up and began to try to absorb mana "Ohh dear it seems you need to be sitting, so that is your lesson for now.. learn how to absorb mana while standing"
Taking in mana while sitting was easy, all I had to was flex a muscle but the muscles I would normally flex were already flexing and I wasn't bringing in mana, I needed to be able to sense the mana coming in my body, I stood still for what felt like hours observing where mana naturally flowed into my body, there seemed to be specific points for it, Ill Call those Mana Hubs, and one of the main ones was on the palm of my hand and the center of my shoulder blades.
"Have you learned anything so far, Child" I raised my hand to my lips in a silent ask for silence, Tethra sat in silence just observing me, I was able to feel the slow flow of mana into my body, if I moved it was disrupted, and I wasn't brining in as much as I did while sitting so I needed to figure out how to Flex the Mana Hubs and force them to take in more mana, I felt a pang in my stomach, the pang of hunger.
I sat down and began to munch down on some Moss "So I learned" I swallowed a clump of moss "That there are some Hub areas where Mana flows to and my body takes in" Tethra tapped its claw on the ground "You learn fast, have you figured out how to absorb mana while standing" I shook my head "My body takes in small amounts passively but that is insignificant in terms of what I do while sitting" Tethra nodded "So you've observed you inner body then" I nodded "then it should be easy for you to pinpoint where you'll need to absorb the most" a hint and a great one at that "If I may ask, where do you come from?" Tethra nodded "I come from the Heavens, banished so I cant return" I tilted my head "Well why do you hide in this cave then?" it kinda shrugged "Its quite down here, and its dark" something didn't make sense.
i observed my inner body, and noticed how when I was relaxed my body naturally took in wayy more mana, but I also noticed my heartbeat was slowed and there was a slow output of mana from my core, I was interrupted by and Earthquake "they are getting closer" Tethra mumbled, I acted as if I didn't hear her, I was assuming it was a her.
"you'll be able to leave in about a day and a half, so get to learning its not everyday you humans get to learn from us" I nodded and continued to observe my inner workings and some mana wasn't entering while other bits of mana would, did it have a mind of its own? no that wasn't possible it was just mana, so my body must be making specific bits gravitate towards itself with the Mana Hubs acting as magnets, so if I could enhance it then I could bring in more mana while standing.
I stood up and immediately my mana slowed down, I began to force the mana that was stuck on the Mana Hubs towards the core, and that seemed to work but more would just get stuck there again, if I could turn down the magnetic ability then I could bring some towards me while having most if not all join the suction like flow towards the core.
Hours Later, I managed to slightly shift the position of the hub so it now goes towards the flow, which is making it way easier to bring in mana, and actually seems to have improved it, I clapped my hands together "I Have done something" Tethra startled awake, she squinted her eyes "Yes, yes you have and actually you've partially done what I was going to teach you" she nodded to herself "Maybe he is" she mumbled, I chose to not ask her what she meant with the last part, since it could make the cave a little tense.
Speaking of the cave, it was actually quite betuful and would have been a turoist destination in my last life, there was a small lake area along with tons of green and Blue moss that ilminated the walls, but it also seemed likely something lived in that lake.
she set her head down again "Well do it to the others and you should be done" my jaw dropped "Is there a simpler method" she had already fallen asleep, it took me forever to even get just 1 done and now I needed to do like 15 others, this was going to take forever.
I grumbled.
Elsewhere
a child was impaled on stalactite, with a glowing white liquid dripping into his mouth, this boy was barely alive and likely wouldn't make it, even if he did the creatures of the cave would eat him