After carefully reading through the process described in the book, Leon closed his eyes and focused.
He took a deep breath, letting the air slowly fill his lungs, and emptied his mind of everything else.
He concentrated solely on the sensation he was looking for — the elusive presence of mana within his body.
One Minute passed.
At first, there was only silence within him. But then, faintly, he began to feel something stir — like a hidden current travelling through his body.
‘I think… I can feel it,’ Leon thought.
‘There’s something… moving through me. It’s like a river flowing smoothly, gentle yet powerful… and yet, it feels strangely familiar, like blood circulating through my veins.’ Leon remained still and started controlling the mana within his body slowly.
A group of noble kids from Pheonix Academy of Mages, were sitting on a bench near the shelf and one of them spoke up as he pointed towards Leon.
“Hey, Look at that idiot.”
“Hmmm…? What is he doing ?” Another one asked with a confused expression as a smile appeared over his face.
“I think he just fell asleep… Let’s wake him up.”
“I know how to wake him up.” A guy with blond hairs spoke as he raised his hand towards Leon and started casting a spell.
Leon slowly opened his eyes and this feeling that he felt right now was something else,
‘I can feel it… I can feel the mana within me and the mana around me.
Now, let’s try to make some pure mana.’ Leon thought to himself He carefully began guiding the flow, urging it to move toward the index finger of his right hand.
The mana was moving slowly towards his finger, Leon felt it.
Suddenly, A small water ball appeared over his head.
“Stop casting…” A student in the group who was wearing glasses over his eyes, focused on Leon’s finger as he removed his glasses and placed them on the table.
“Oh come on Justin… Let us enjoy a bit. You are-“
“I said stop the fucking casting or I will kill you.” Justin spoke as he looked at him with a serious expression.
“Y-Yes.” The blonde haired guy immediately stopped casting and the water ball disappeared.
As the mana pooled into Leon’s finger, he noticed it growing heavier.
The sensation was odd — not painful, but not comfortable either, it was like pulling out splinters out of his finger.
Still, Leon gritted his teeth and maintained his focus.
Bit by bit, the weight intensified.
Then, finally, a small, shimmering drop of blue liquid formed at the very tip of his finger, glowing faintly.
*Tap*
The droplet detached, falling onto the ground.
As soon as it touched the floor, a crisp notification blinked in front of Leon’s eyes.
> [-1 M.P.]
‘Hah… Looks like I misunderstood something.’ Justin thought as he closed his eyes in disappointment and started picking up his glasses.
‘Just one mana for—’ Before Leon could even finish the thought, a violent jolt shot through his entire body.
[+35798 M.P.]
Every muscle in his body tensed up like iron cables being pulled taut. His heart slammed against his chest, his vision blurred for a second — and then—
[-5000 M.P.]
*Srrrrrrr*
A brilliant blue beam of pure mana erupted from his fingertip.
It lanced downward with devastating force, punching a clean, smoking hole straight through the library’s stone floor, as effortlessly as a hot knife slicing through butter and made almost no sound.
[+35820 M.P.]
“Oh shit…” Leon stumbled backward, his eyes wide in shock as he immediately broke the mana flow.
All the students of Phoenix Mage Academy immediately stared at him with utter confusion, like they weren’t sure if they were seeing reality or a hallucination.
“D-Did he just created a hole in the ground ?” Justin asked his mouth wide open in shock.
“H-He did…” His partner replied.
Without wasting a second, Leon slammed the book shut, shoved it roughly back onto the shelf — and bolted out of the library.
‘Fucking hell, what the fuck was that?!’ His mind raced, completely unable to comprehend what had just occurred.
“Ouch…” Suddenly a sharp, stabbing pain flared in his finger.
He immediately pulled his hand out of the pocket and looked at it with wide eyes.
His finger has turned purple and swollen, as if it was crushed by a giant anvil.
“What the fuck? Heal!” Without wasting another second, he activated his healing skill.
Soft green light enveloped his injured finger as he started walking toward Vinceral Forest.
The healing process was slow.
It took nearly thirty continuous minutes of focused casting before the swelling subsided, and his finger returned to its normal size and color.
A small notification floated in front of him.
[Minor Heal (F5)]
Leon absently dismissed it, but his mind was still replaying the scene that happened in library over and over again.
He stood in front of the dungeon, deep in thought.
“Should I try that one more time?” Leon whispered, his voice neutral as he started thinking about it.
30 seconds passed and Finally, he shrugged…
‘Eh… fuck it. What’s the worst that can happen? My finger can get destroyed?
But if I don’t try it again… the curiosity will eat my mind.’ Leon thought as he immediately bent down and picked up a small, smooth stone from the ground. He placed it carefully on the dirt and holded his right hand’s index finger above the stone abd began channeling mana into his index finger once again.
The familiar heaviness returned almost immediately, stronger this time, like a deep throbbing pulse at the tip of his finger.
Sweat beaded his forehead as he kept his focus razor-sharp. Bit by bit, a second droplet of pure mana formed.
*Tip*
The drop fell onto the stone. Another notification appeared.
[-1 M.P.]
And then, once again, Leon’s muscles locked up violently.
[+38950 M.P.]
His chest felt like it was about to rip itself apart from the inside.
“FUCK…” The pain was sharp, electric, seizing his entire body in a vice-grip.
*Srrrrrrrrr*
[-5000 M.P.]
The beam of pure mana shot out once again, piercing through the stone with such ease that it almost seemed unreal — the stone crumbled apart, reduced to fragments in one second.
[+38950 M.P.]
Leon immediately broke the mana flow, breathing heavily.
*Huff-Huff*
He noticed his finger was already beginning to swell again, turning a sickly shade of purple.
“Fuck… Now, I understand what’s happening. Heal.” He muttered to himself, gritting his teeth as he casted heal on his finger.
‘Every time I try to create Pure Mana… I force mana into my finger. But because my mana cap is only 500 right now, I have to focus incredibly hard to manipulate the mana in my body.
And as soon as I lose that 1 mana… because of the {Mana Return} skill, my mana is regenerated automatically in a very huge amount.
But the mana cap prevents me from absorbing all of it and if the mana is not absorbed by my body it will get expelled.
But, if I am already expelling it out of my finger… It will take that route.
Mana is acting like electric current and it’s choosing my body as a medium to get out because my finger is already expelling it but why is it stopping at 5000 ? Is it my body’s limit ?
It’s like I am holding a wire of electricity in one hand and trying to conduct current… But, What if I give it a machine to work with ?” Leon thought as an idea came to his mind.