Chapter 82 – Mana Control (Patreon)

Lis managed to find a local who was willing to take us on his boat along the Li River in search of a suitable parking spot for our houses. Fortunately, he had studied Chinese for all his Tai Chi books, a skill we didn't prioritize as most people spoke English.

When Rue saw the boat, he yelled in our minds, "No! No! Boat!"

Lis looked at him, and I could see they were talking, but they kept it between them. After a minute, Rue hung his head, tucked his tail between his legs, sighed deeply, and got on the boat.

I looked at Lis in amazement and asked, "How did you do that?"

"I reminded him that he's not the only one here, and sometimes friends should be considerate of friends."

Hmm, good idea. I hope it works for me, too.

We sailed along the river for two hours, until we saw a promising area with narrow hills rising from the ground like cones. This was the first area where, even with the binoculars, I didn't see any people.

The boat brought us as close to the bank as possible, and we got into the water that reached our knees. When we got up on shore, Rue approached Lis, shook himself to get rid of the water, and pelted him with water. I laughed quietly; he agreed to cooperate, but still needed to express his opinion in some other way.

We walked about fifteen minutes from the bank and found a flat area between three hills with enough space for our houses.

I asked Lis, "I'm pretty sure people still travel here; how can we explain the presence of our houses?"

"Don't worry, we have a solution."

We took out both houses, and Alfonsen's jaw almost hit the floor. He stared at the two houses in complete shock, dropped his butt on the ground, and shook his head without saying anything.

Mahya and Lis took out a stack of poles with runes engraved on them, and Mahya approached me with one of the poles and said, "I need one drop of your blood on this."

"What is this thing?"

"A formation to conceal our houses and compel anyone approaching to move elsewhere."

"That's amazing! Where did you get that?"

"I made them. That's what I do as part of my class, not just weapons. I used the trees from the dungeon we collapsed."

"Not from the Tuonela trees?"

She gave me a funny look and said, "No, the wood from Tuonela was used for your house."

"I know that. I just thought you had some left."

"No, we used all of it, along with some young wood from the dungeon, for the interior and smaller components such as the railings and steps. That reminds me: Give me some of the dungeon wood. I'm almost out, and I want to create a set of formation poles for us; I'm giving this one to Lis.”

I took out all the dungeon wood I had. I had no use for it, but Mahya could use it for her profession, and she stored it.

After Mahya and Lis placed all the poles, Lis said, "I need you to practice your mana manipulation."

"Why?"

"I know how you could teach me spells and maybe even learn some from me, but you need good mana control."

"I thought you didn't know how and needed me to find a solution."

"Yes, at first, but Lyura told me that her mother taught her all the spells she knew; I asked her how, and she explained."

"How?"

"Her mother is a witch, so she can manipulate mana like you. She flowed her mana into Lyura, took control of her mana, and directed it to cast the spell repeatedly until Lyura could cast it herself. I also believe that if you stream your mana into me while I cast a spell, you will be able to feel and copy it, but we need to see if it will work."

“That sounds complicated.”

“Yes, that’s why I need you to practice.”

I gave Alfonsen the room that Lis used to sleep in, and as a good host, I even cast Clean and Purify in the whole room. I showed him how to use the shower and toilet, and left him with a book in the gallery above the kitchen.

Lis and Mahya settled into my spell room with a lot of small metal parts and a highly complex blueprint, and I looked for a nearby water source. I wanted to start my training with the easiest element for me. I found a stream two hundred meters from our houses and sat down to practice my mana control.

As a first step, I repeated the exercise of feeling the mana all around me and locating all the pockets, and then switched to controlling the mana in the water. When studying to perform the familiar ritual, I already practiced controlling the mana, but now I added the element containing the mana, which was more challenging. I couldn't understand how I could lift a thirty-kilogram snake using telekinesis with only a mild strain, or perhaps a bit more than mild, while struggling to move a drop of water using its mana.

I tried moving the water with telekinesis, and it was easy; I could pick up about five gallons with ease, and more than that with a little effort, but moving it via its mana was another story. I sensed that the mana encompassed whatever I was moving or lifting with telekinesis, but when I tried to feel the spell construction, I still had trouble separating its various aspects. It was like a tiny story with multiple feelings and intentions, and it was too complicated for my level of understanding at this point.

I went back to using mana to move the water, and the more I focused my attention into it, the more control I could exert. It felt like if I became part of the water, it would obey me, but as long as I was separate, it didn’t want to cooperate. I immersed my mind and attention into the water until I felt as fluid and connected as water itself. I sensed my flow, felt the stones I passed over, noticed the flick of a fish's tail, felt the wind causing gentle eddies on me, and how a part of me sank into the earth. I lost myself entirely to the sensation and didn't feel the passage of time.

I felt somebody shaking me, and when I opened my eyes, it was dark, and Alfonsen was standing beside me.

“Lis and Mahya told me to find you and tell you to cook dinner; Mahya wants snake steaks.”

“Thanks.”

I got up and stretched, and I felt good. I sat there for a long time, but my body was loose, and I felt energetic. I remembered feeling as though I had expanded and became one with the world while I was the water. I checked my mana: 8900/8900. My mana had increased by a hundred points. I sensed my mana system and was able to determine that the progress was in my spirit power center, and I was glad about it. I believed Lis when he said that my mana would rise with advancement, but there was still a niggling worry at the back of my mind that I had achieved all the advancement I could physically and emotionally and had only the mind option left.

I set out the barbeque, grilled the steaks with a cold pasta salad, and we all had dinner together.

“What is this? I have never eaten anything like it.” Asked Alfonsen.

Mahya replied, "Level fifty mana snake."

Alfonsen’s eyes widened, and I asked, “Those snakes were level fifty?”

Lis and Mahya laughed, and she said, “Of course, you forgot to use Identify.”

"Hay, I only saw one snake and was occupied with its underground tracking and subsequent killing."

"John dear," she said, "You have an additional assignment on top of the mana training: Identify anything you see—and I mean anything—until it becomes second nature. See a person, identify them. See a beast, identify it. You need to train yourself to use it.”

“Nothing is interesting here. All the people are shown as unintegrated men or women, and the stuff displays their names. I will do this exercise in our next world; please remind me, or I’ll forget about it again.”

She and Lis laughed again and nodded.

"Where did you find a level 50 snake?" Asked Alfonsen.

We told him about our Tuonela adventure, and he looked at us with admiration but was also a bit green, especially when he heard about the momma snake.

After dinner, I returned to my mana practice; I wasn’t tired and didn’t want to delay Lis. I would have liked him to stay with us indefinitely, but I knew how excited he was about the Dragon Plain and wanted to be a good friend.

This time, I chose to challenge myself and started to sense the mana in the ground and stones. The ground was a bit easier, but the more I became part of it, the easier it became to connect with the rocks. At a certain point, I became the stone itself. I noticed my density in comparison to the water, while also feeling my porous and enduring nature. I felt that I wasn’t all stone, but I also had small metal traces. That surprised me so much that my attention “flew out” of the rock.

Again, I connected to the rock and, this time, explored the metal as well. I spent the entire night immersed in the ground, the stones, and the flakes of metal. Eventually, I gained a deep understanding of the rock—its composition and structure—and began influencing it. I gradually brought the mana inside the stone under my control and started molding it. I couldn’t force the mana to do as I wanted, but had to coax it to do my bidding and nudge it in the right direction. It felt less like control over it and more like a partnership, and it was terrific.

After coaxing the mana to do as I wanted, I opened my eyes and had a perfect stone ball sitting on my palm, the size of my fist. Instead of an asymmetrical piece of rock, I held a perfect ball, free from any cracks or signs of change.

My red light was blinking, and I checked it.

Mana Manipulation [Adept] >>> Mana Control [Novice]

The red light was still blinking.

Mana Meditation – 8 >>> Mana Oneness [Novice]

And it was still blinking.

Wizard Battle Master Level 3

Level up

+3 to all stats.

Wizard Battle Master Level 4

Finally!