We were, of course, the first to arrive. The morning breeze was almost gone, and the sun was now getting stronger and making the flowers scent even stronger. The fact that not even Adel was there yet meant that we must have been awfully early—he was ten minutes early every time.

“Are you excited about meeting The Divine and receiving your mana, Myriam?” asked Kai.

“Of course I am. I mean, I’ve been waiting for this day for years and years. All this studying and training would be for naught were it not for the day of the liturgy!” I laughed. “What about you, Kai?”

“I can’t wait. I know people say I’m quite young, but I have proved myself able, right?” He looked at me, but continued without waiting for a reply. “I want to be strong. I want to be stronger than the archpriests and able to protect everyone.”

I smiled at his response.

“Of course you’ve proved yourself, Kai. Many times over,” I reassured him. “And I don’t doubt that you’ll become strong, because you do not seek power for your sake but for the sake of those around you. And there is nothing nobler than that.”

It was true. Kai was kind and considerate to those around him, and I had been fortunate enough to experience both his gentle and fierce sides growing up. He was never one to back down on what he believed in, but neither would he want to become a burden to others. I would gladly accept any credit for whatever influence had rubbed on him from my end, but I felt the pure joy of a proud older sister at the thought of him receiving his mana soon.

“Good morning, you early birds!” I heard a familiar voice, coming up from the side of the hill behind me.

We turned around and, arriving exactly to his own schedule as always, saw Adel climbing the gentle slope. He was wearing his usual green linen training sweatshirt and extremely baggy green pants. His long pitch-black hair was tied in a neat ponytail away from his face, making his equally black eyes seem much younger than his lean, young adult body.

Name : Adel Leonil

Race : Human

Class : Fighter

Level : 17

No matter how many times everyone was telling him that he would most probably be gifted with enormous amounts of mana from The Divine, he never missed a day of training. Not only did he exercise daily, he often went XPing on the outskirts of Nara with other manaless.

The monsters surrounding the village were never above level 10 so they were never in danger. Reaching level 17 however meant that he had spent countless hours XPing on his own. As he often liked to say, the stronger his base class would be, the more powerful he would be when he combined it with Divine spells.

It came as no surprise to see his enormous Carta Magica strapped to his back, since he carried the book almost everywhere—to take notes on possible spell combinations he would like to try once he got his mana, consult on spells he had already learned but needed reminding of, or study simple cantrips when he was able to find minuscule time slots between his everyday responsibilities. This was one of the habits that I was happy to see Kai adopt, although his Carta Magica was much smaller.

“Hello, Adel. We got here before you,” said Kai, who was increasingly looking for opportunities to antagonize Adel. He was, after all, the one to beat when it came to magic prowess as far as manaless young men in our village were concerned.

“You sure did,” said Adel, It was clear that he didn’t really mind the young boy looking up to him. “Are you ready to receive your mana?”

“I am definitely ready,” Kai replied. “I have been dreaming that this day would come for so long. I worked very hard to keep up with you guys, and this will be my reward.”

“You know, not many people get to receive their Divine mana before their class manifests,” Adel noted. “You’re one of those special people who will cast Divine spells even before becoming level one.”

The Dark Energy still had not settled on Kai’s class so he still had no level or access to any skills. This wasn’t that unusual since most of us had our class appear around this age but Kai was the only one who didn’t have a class but would be participating in the liturgy.

“I asked mother of it,” Kai explained. “She said it’s perfectly fine and that I’m special because of it. Are you happy you’re getting your mana too?”

“Well, like you said,” he began replying, “I’ve been studying a lot too. The day of the liturgy will be the beginning of my life as a warmage.”

“You mean you’re going to kill people?” Kai asked, in an innocent tone.

“I’m going to protect the good guys by any means necessary,” Adel responded. “With The Divine’s blessing, I’ll be so strong that nobody will want to fight me so hopefully there won’t be any killings.”

He looked at me and smiled so I grinned back at him.

“And I’m going to be stronger than you!” Kai said, pointing his finger as if ordering someone. “Everyone will have to do what I say.”

While his confidence was to be admired, I could not help but giggle a little at Kai’s display and Adel found it amusing as well.

“That sounds like a plan, Kai,” I said. “Let’s push each other to become better!”

Although we were simply engaged in idle chatter, these moments during our daily routines were my favorite. Kai and Adel were perhaps the most important people in my life and I enjoyed every single moment I spent with them.

Steadily, the number of people climbing up the hill grew until Kai confirmed that we had full attendance. Everyone was seated on the cool grass in the great shade of the single giant sequoia tree on the top of the hill.

The temperature was perfect for the outdoor meeting—just warm enough to feel comfortable without making anyone sleepy. I walked between the seated attendees and turned around to face them with the giant tree trunk behind me.

“Good morning, everyone. I hope you’re all feeling well today,” I started. “As we agreed some days ago, today will be devoted to explaining the ceremony that will take place next week. This shall be the last time we meet before the day of the actual liturgy and thus it will be quite some time before we all get our bearings and meet again.”

I took a breath, making sure that I had everyone’s attention.

“Regardless of whether you’re scheduled to receive your mana next week or will wait for the next liturgy in ten years, I think we will all benefit from an explanation of its history and the procedure in detail.”

I did not normally feel shy when I presented to the group, but I did always feel a tingle of nervousness as I wanted to deliver my thoughts perfectly. I resisted pulling my hair, took a deep breath and began explaining.

“Divine Mana is the foundation of our civilization, the magical fuel that we need in order to cast spells,” I said. “This is what makes different from all other worlds in the Apocosmos. Not only are we able to use skills and cast spells according to our classes, but we are also able to use divine magic. The Divine, in Its absolute mercy, has provided us with mana for thousands of years. It has taken us from the darkness and agony of survival and enabled us to create civilization.”

I felt that I was now preaching instead of teaching, so I decided to change directions and took another deep breath.

“Once every ten years, on the sunrise of the summer solstice, archpriests around the nation telepathically join forces so that The Divine can walk upon our realm. It answers all of our summonings at the same time and grants us the mana we need for spellcasting.” The younger manaless looked in awe. “Can somebody tell me how we receive this gift from The Divine?” I asked.

A lot of hands were raised, and I nodded toward Krysha, a fifteen-year-old girl who had lived with her father since her mother died in the last raid.

Name : Krysha Vasser

Race : Human

Class : Scout

Level : 11

In the first months after we lost our parents, we came to know each other better thanks to the support of Adel’s family and we often trained together.

I was much closer to Adel, while Krysha was always with Seika. She admired her a lot and was terribly sad to see her leave. Regardless, the young woman in front of me now looked nothing like the little lost girl she had been when our parents had died.

She was still wearing Seika’s gift, an oversized conical crown hat with a wide brim, along with a combination of tight black leather clothes and loose green robes, but that’s where the resemblance between the two stopped.

“We use the holy dagger on The Divine,” she answered, in a matter-of-fact tone.

Contrary to Seika, Krysha kept her long black hair enveloped tightly in a spiraling green ribbon all the way to the very end of her ponytail. Additionally, while Seika was charismatic and easy for people to approach, Krysha’s intellect sometimes impeded her interactions with others.

Not that she was rude—she actually made a lot of progress on her communications skills thanks to Seika—but most of us had trouble following her way of thinking. It sometimes seemed that she was too smart for her own good. Especially in matters involving feelings rather than quantifiable information.

“Correct,” I continued. “After The Divine appears before the summoners, It will call us forward to receive our mana. It is customary that multiple archangels accompany The Divine. One of these archangels will place the holy dagger on a short pillar in front of The Divine and, after the Divine’s invitation, you will stab It. Nobody is sure as to how this form of connecting with The Divine came to be, but the Order believes that by stabbing It, we open our own souls for It to gaze upon. This is the way in which The Divine determines the amount of mana it will gift us. Why is this moment important for us as spellcasters?” I asked, since I found that intermittent questions tended to keep the audience’s interest high.