A famous phrase of the Ungutarri species, members of the 7th wave:

Never underestimate those who use Mana. While the swordsman fights the enemy in front of him, the Mana user fights the swordsman, the sword, the ground beneath them, and the very elements themselves.

I wake up with a gasp and look up at the sky, noticing that the sun is about halfway across the sky. Now if I were on Earth that would suggest that I’d only been asleep for about 4 to 5 hours. I don’t think that’s the case, however, because I feel well rested and I’ve always been one of those people that needs 8 hours minimum.

Now assuming that the sun rose at 6am and that it takes 6 hours to get to the center of the sky … Doing a bit of quick and rough math in my head, I hypothesize that days in this place are roughly 36 hours with 20 of sunlight and 16 hours of night. No wonder I was exhausted when I was woke up from the mental battle with my Mana, I had been fighting it for hours!

My stomach grumbles and I reach down to the pack that the man left for me. Untying the draw string that holds it closed, I find a few collections of what appears to be jerky, a large cantina filled with water, a small blanket, and a small shovel. Ripping open the paper, the first collection of jerky is quickly consumed and washed down with a gulp of the water.

With my physical needs satisfied, I lay out all the items that I have and take stock. A few minutes of categorization later, I’ve determined that the food will last me another 3 days if I ration it and the water will last me day and a half if I am careful. Having convinced myself that I have a little more time before obtaining resources is my primary goal, I activate Meditation again and focus in on my Mana Well.

I'm annoyed with the book for casually talking me into a scenario that almost killed me but, more importantly, I know that obtaining Mana Manipulation is my most important goal. Mana Infusion may help me run away from any creatures I run into but Mana Manipulation may give me the ability to fight back, and hopefully allow me to gain levels in the process.

Reaching out to the Mana Well, I feel the power that swirls around inside of it. It fascinates me and I find myself just observing it for a few moments, noticing ebbs and flows that I hadn’t been patient enough to see. With my closed eyes I see the image in my mind, a violent blend of vivid blue that radiates power. Of all the strange sights that have greeted me since Genesis violently ripped me from my home, this is the most fascinating.

Reaching out with a mental hand, I once again gather the power together, albeit at a much slower pace. The Mana attempts to resist me but the slower pace allows me to excercise greater control as it slowly begins to condense. After taking around a quarter of my total capacity, I bend the full weight of my mind towards the ball of mana and begin directing it towards my hand. It fights just as hard as the previous attempt but my understanding of the consequences reinforces my focus and, slowly but surely, I manage to bring the power to my hand.

My eyes open to the sight of a vivid blue ball floating above my hand. At roughly 3 inches in diameter, it radiates a similar, if somewhat diluted, feeling of power. I stare at it for a few seconds and then a crazy idea hatches in my head. Maintaining my focus on the balls structure, I point my palm away from me and yell, “Arcane Missile!”

The ball remains floating a few inches in front of my palm.

Well shit. How do I get the ball to fly forward? I think about it for a few seconds before I mentally smack myself on the head. Everything that I’ve done with Mana has relied on my own will and focus. Focusing in on the ball, I direct my thoughts toward it, filling my mind with the image of doing bodily harm to the tree that my hand is currently pointed at. All my anger at my situation takes over my mind, blaming the tree for all my current problems. With rage directed at my target, I gather my will together and impose it on the ball of Mana, mentally yelling the word Kill!

The ball lurches forward at a comically slow pace, taking a few seconds to reach the tree located only 20 or 30 feet away from me. As soon as the ball makes contact, however, it violently explodes, releasing the vivid blue Mana outwards in a strangely beautiful detonation. The blue streaks seem to hang around for a few seconds before finally dissipating. The tree shakes back and forth, some bark falling off towards the ground, but is otherwise fine.

Panting from the mental strain, I stand to my feet and throw my hands in the sky, yelling in success. Who cares that the ball moves at a snail’s pace, I managed to create and use an exploding Mana Bolt! Elated, I dance around my tree branch for a few seconds before letting the now familiar notifications appear and wash over me.

You have discovered the Skill Mana Manipulation Lvl 1. By harnessing the power within yourself and displaying your mastery of it, you have become more familiar with your own Mana. The potential of Mana is limitless. Increased skill level allows for greater control.

You have discovered the Skill Raw Mana Bolt Lvl 1. By taking your Raw Mana and turning it into a projectile, you are able to create an unstable weapon. Cost: 20 Mana. Increased skill level decreases volatility and increases speed. Damage dependent on Intelligence.

Meditation has reached Lvl 17, 18.

I read over the Skills and a few ideas begin to develop in my mind, only half thought out but slowly moving towards cohesion. Before I try to flesh them out, I decide to invest the Attribute Points that I’d been given by the Way of the Beginner. Given my developing fascination with Mana, I invest a point in Intelligence and then check my screen. Interesting. A single point in Intelligence increases my total Mana pool by 10 and increases my Regen per hour by 2. Without thinking too much about other attributes, I invest another 2 points into Intelligence to bring it to a flat 10. Something about a double digit Attribute makes me pleased.

Closing out the Status screen, I decide to try and quantify, or at least identify, the other benefits of Intelligence. The next 30 minutes are occupied by testing myself in poorly designed tests of my mind. The result? I seem marginally better at math than I remember and, most importantly, I seem to be able to better recall things that had previously seemed hazy or were forgotten altogether.The perfect example of this is a hazy memory from my childhood. My parents had always told me that I’d been stung by a bee hours before the my fifth birthday and then made them cancel it out of fear of being stung again. I’d never been able to truly recall that event before but, after my investment into Intelligence, I am now able to slightly recall the pain of the sting and the fear that it elicited. My hypothesis is that Intelligence increases my memory retention and recall as well as critical thinking.

I pull up the status screen again and stare at the final 2 points available to me. Despite my decision to temporarily focus on my Mana related Skills, I know that it is dangerous to ignore the Attributes that keep my alive. With that in mind, I invest the final two points in Physique, which increases my Health by 20 points and my Regen by 4 points per hour. More importantly, the increase shoots the feeling of electricity through my body for a split second and ends with me feeling … denser. It is a hard thing to describe but it feels as if my body has condensed to become a better version of itself.

Letting out a sigh, I sit down on the edge of the branch that is slowly becoming my home and look out at the world below. The occasional movement in the distance suggests that there are countless creatures out in this world, hunting and looking for easy prey such as myself. This is all framed by the blood red sky, radiating its hopelessness down upon us all.

For the first time since arriving, I find myself thinking about the people important to me who are back on Earth. My parents, both strong-willed individuals who worked their way up from poverty, are probably just as successful in this new reality as they had been in the previous. A smile breaks out on my face as I realize that they are probably searching for me, destroying any obstacle in their path. I wish I had told them that I loved them more often.

I then think about my friends, probably criticizing Genesis on poor design choices and theorizing ways they could shoot to instantaneous power without having to do any real work. I love them immensely but they’d always shirked from the studying and work that are required for people to succeed. Fond memories of trying to get Peter to join me in the library rise to my mind. Even with a failing grade, he had resisted my attempts and tried to get me to join him in his foolproof study plan of reading the textbook an hour before the exam.

I find myself reminiscing for another few moments, my increased Intelligence allowing me to partially relive my fondest memories of friends and family. I’ve lived an amazing life, filled with happiness, love, and just enough struggle to let myself appreciate them.

I look up at the oppressive sky and feel my resolve harden. I will do what is needed to get off this planet and back to my loved ones. Whatever it takes.