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Chapter 36: Mana sense Part:2
"I will be teaching you how to master mana sense" .
She stated, and my vision changed, as I found myself in complete darkness.
"What happened?"
My voice was tinged with fear as I exclaimed. The sudden loss of vision had taken me by surprise.
"Stop freaking out. I just used mana to cover your eyes; it won't hurt you."
Sylvia calmed me down, her steady presence keeping me from stumbling.
"You can do that with mana?"
I inquired, my initial fear replaced by genuine curiosity. It was an unfamiliar sensation for me, and I had no idea such control over mana was possible.
"Well, not everyone possesses the fine control required for this," Sylvia explained with pride in her voice. She stepped back, repositioning herself in front of me.
"Sit down and adjust your eyesight in the darkness," Sylvia said calmly. I took her advice and settled into the newfound darkness, allowing my eyes to adjust to the lack of light.
"Listen up here, Neil," she said solemnly. "I won't question why you wear a mask or your true identity, but in exchange, you will train with me every morning for the next month.Do you get it?" Her proposition was straightforward, and I had no reservations about her terms.
"Yes, ma'am," I replied, turning to face the direction from which her voice had come.
"All right, let's get started," Sylvia said, her attention shifting to our training. "First, tell me what you know about mana."
"Mana is a type of energy that influences everything around us and serves as the fundamental source of power," I explained. I eagerly awaited Sylvia's insights, eager to learn more about her prescriptive of mana.
"Crude, but to the point," she admitted. "Mana, as you've mentioned, is an omnipresent form of energy harnessed by awakened people of various races. Each race uses mana in a different way: elves use it to influence nature, dwarfs use runes, and creatures like phoenixes and dragons use the laws of their surroundings with mana as the source of energy for offense and defense. Humans, on the other hand, typically use spells to access mana." Sylvia's explanation shed light on the various and fascinating ways mana was used across races.
"However, humans have a common misconception and I am not talking about nobles but commoners: they believe that mana can only be channeled through spells, which is not entirely correct. Mana can be used in a variety of ways, the most basic being "mana sense" humans do use them but when they reach a higher level but it can be used in lower level as well," Sylvia explained,
dispelling a common misconception.
"Because mages are physically weaker than knights, mana sense is an important skill for detecting surprise attacks.Now, what comes to mind when you hear the term'mana sense?'" she asked, prompting me to consider the concept.
"Well, mana sense is the ability to use mana to perceive our surroundings," I replied confidently, grasping the gist of the concept.
"Exactly," Sylvia said. "Mana sense involves utilizing our own mana to resonate with the environment, allowing us to detect any changes or disturbances in our surroundings."
. "Enough with the theory; let's get started on the practice.Stand up," she said, and I did so without hesitation.
"First, tell me what level you are at," Sylvia asked, her voice calm but expectant.
"Origin Level 1," I replied,
revealing my current level.
"That's fine.Now, I want you to spread your mana in a one-meter radius around yourself," Sylvia instructed, guiding me through the first steps. I complied, releasing mana from my core and forming a protective, cube-like structure around myself. My curiosity, however, drove me to experiment, attempting to extend it further.
"Don't expand it beyond a meter," Sylvia cautioned, her voice tinged with patience. "Exceeding that range will only deplete your mana unnecessarily, and replenishing it takes time and I'd prefer not to waste my time."
I took her advice and set my mana to a radius of about one meter. But then she gave her next directive.
"Now, try to resonate your mana with the mana around you.You have five minutes for this," she instructed, her words perplexing me. I couldn't help but express my perplexity.
"Wait, how am I going to do that in five minutes?
You haven't explained how to resonate mana," I objected, hoping for clarification. However, Sylvia seemed unfazed by my question , leaving me to deal with the unfamiliar task.
"You must understand that everyone has a different way of resonating with mana. You must find yours." Sylvia's voice echoed from afar, her words emphasizing the process's uniqueness. I sensed her moving away from me, leaving me to face this daunting task alone.
"You now have five minutes to try to resonate with the mana around you. After that, I'll take away your hearing and start throwing ball of rubber at you.You'll have to catch them or dodge them, because if they hit you, it'll hurt like hell," she declared, revealing the next stage of our training.
Her unorthodox method was extremely harsh.
"Can't I have more than five minutes ? It feels to be very short time for this." I tried to reason with Sylvia, hoping for an extension of the time limit. My plea, however, was met with silence, and it became clear that she had no intention of granting me more time.
I shifted my focus to the task at hand, resigned to the challenge ahead. My mana encircled me like a protective cocoon, but it remained dormant, its presence blending seamlessly with the surrounding mana, beyond my control and perception.
"Four minutes," Sylvia continued to countdown, each second increasing the pressure.
When I first heard about resonating mana, I assumed it meant aligning the frequency of my mana with that of my surroundings, resulting in a harmonious synchronization thinking about it I give my first try.
"Three minutes," her voice repeated, reminding me of the passing time.
I made my first attempt, attempting to match the frequency of my mana with that of the environment. However, in practice, it proved more difficult than in theory.
"Two minutes," the countdown continued, urging me to fine-tune my technique.
I proceeded with caution on my second attempt, meticulously analyzing where I faltered. My mana and the ambient mana, on the other hand, remained distinct, like oil and water that refused to mix.
"One minute," Sylvia said, signaling the end of my allotted time is near.
I made one last attempt to align my mana's frequency with that of the surrounding mana, concentrating hard on the task. Despite my efforts, however, the desired resonance remained elusive.
"Time's up," Sylvia said, and silence descended on my world in an instant. I found myself in an eerie sensory void after losing both sight and hearing.
Then, without warning, a powerful force struck me square in the stomach, causing me to cover over the area in pain and instinctively curl into a protective ball.
I groaned in pain, but I couldn't hear my own voice
.
'Fuck, that really hurt like hell'.