I dropped off the vials to my mentor the next weekend. He was very excited to begin his experiments. I gained sixteen large silver coins out of the deal. I passed along a rather obvious warning that pure mana is dangerous and needed to be handled with extreme care. I got a 'no shit' reaction from him on that.

With my overhead taken care of, the rest of the trimester went by rather quickly. I spent my time experimenting with the mana to create many different kinds of potions. I figured out that potions only formed when specific ratios of mana were combined together. It was like a kind of resonance that did something special, but I didn't have nearly the foundation to make a guess at why certain ones worked and others did not.

I first started with combining a one-to-one ratio of every combination of mana. Everything from pairs to a bit of everything. I found that there were only a few that were potions at that ratio. I put each of the successes into a marked vial with what created them and at what ratio. Blue and Red formed something, a kind of placid blue with a feeling of ripples. Yellow and Orange formed a yellow and gray swirling potion. All eight in equal amounts formed yet another. This one was a deeper blue that had a similar feel to the health potion. I guessed it might be a mana potion, but I didn't know. If Bridget wasn't able to identify it, I'd have to do some testing to determine what did what.

Bridget was able to identify the blue potion I'd suspected of being a mana potion as being exactly that. I decided not to sell this one as it would be very useful to me when I went into the dungeon in a few months. She was unable to identify the other two, however. I purchased a few biters now and then, replacing the dead ones as necessary.

With some trial and error, I figured out that the placid-looking potion was a water potion. It was able to act as a concentrated glass of water. I could drink from it for months to get through a desert, for example. The swirling potion took a lot more effort to figure out, though. it didn't have a specific effect when drunk that I could discern and it wasn't deadly, either. I ended up figuring it out on the third biter when I have it some and shocked it with a little electricity. The potion was a potion of grounding that would nullify electrical attacks!

I also tested some of the base mana to see what they would do. Some were obvious, like Green making plants grow bigger, or Yellow shocking on contact. Purple was the most mysterious, however. I knew from my studies that it was the mana related to time. I fed some to the biter and it aged rapidly before becoming a pile of bones and a core. Dangerous stuff!

I hadn't had much time to break down new cores, as much as I wanted to. I had most of my time devoted to classes, homework, and experiments. Still, I broke down the biter cores from the ones that died in the line of duty. I noticed something funny, as I circulated the binding mana through my body. Once my Red and Black had hit 25%, they were not improving at all! I'd hit that mark when I'd made the essences for my mentor and despite breaking down five or six since then, there'd been no improvement. I was stuck at some kind of bottleneck.

The improvement to 25% affinity in many categories finally allowed me to actually cast a spell. The fireballs that I'd struggled with so much at the beginning of the trimester were now possible. They flew like a fireball should and exploded on impact. No wandering and no exploding in my face anymore! I learned from the teacher that affinities were a multiplier on the cost. At 10%, I would need ten times the mana to cast the spell as I would at 100%. Fireball typically cost 5 mana, and I didn't have 50 MP. At 25%, a fireball was only 20 MP and something I could handle twice.

As I was able to cast a few spells, they were added to my skills section, but they did not confer any kind of bonus.

During my experimentation with potions, I gained a Potion Making Skill that granted INT +1, WIS +1, FIN +1. It was a welcomed addition that was level two by the end of the trimester. Additionally, I gained a level in Writing, Language, General Magic, and Spearfighting. Checking my Status, I could see how my efforts had been rewarded.

Name: James McPherson Level: 4 Class: None

HP: 49/49

MP: 63/63

SP: 51/51

Attributes: AGI: 25 CHA: 29 CON: 21 END: 22 FIN: 32 INT: 28 STR: 31 WIS: 28 Affinities: Black: 25% Blue: 21% Green: 25% Orange: 22% Red: 25% Violet: 18% White: 25% Yellow: 20% Skills: Reading Lv5 Language Lv4 Archery Lv3 Swordfighting Lv5 Writing Lv5 General Magic Lv4 Manasight Lv1 Spearfighting Lv2 Fireball Lv1 Curse Lv1 Heal Lv1 Potion Making Lv2

I was also able to pick my classes for the final trimester of my first year. Some were required, but there were a few choices to be made. I took the required Team Tactics 1, Dungeoneering 1, and Adventuring 1. I had to choose two from a list of four: Monster Anatomy 1, Monster Butchery, Monster Combat 1, and Monster Studies 1. I chose Monster Combat 1 and Monster Anatomy 1. I wanted to know how to kill monsters, not raise them! Anatomy for their weak spots and for identification, and Combat for fighting them.

During the usual break between trimesters, I got a knock on the door. I opened it to find another kid my age.

"Hi!" he said to me.

"Who are you?"

"Mason. I'm your new roommate!"

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah! I have Room 1."

I groaned but let him in. Sadly, his key worked. We had another person in our apartment.

The rest of the break was spent with potion experimentation and hanging with my friends before classes started. I learned from Mason that he was a transfer from the guard's school. He had won some kind of tournament there and was given a prize that allowed him to come here on a full scholarship. The details were foggy, but I was able to understand that he beat the everloving crap out of the kids his age in Swordfighting. When I asked for his Skill level, he told me it was seven. Seven!