Chapter 6: Mana Heart

(Eve Solaris)

I felt the breeze blow through the air, brushing against my skin as I drew back my bow; the only thing that brought me a sense of normality. I released the arrow with bated breath and watched as it sliced through the air right into the bullseye of the target about ten meters away from me.

“Man, three in a row, huh? You really are something else with that thing, kid. Kind of puts the rest of the archers to shame.” Kalan said with a wry smile. The other trainees bowed their heads meekly, while some grumbled when they heard the not-so subtle jab at their lack of skill.

“Yeah, well. It’s basically the only thing I can do- the only thing that helps me forget. I’d hope I was good at it.” I responded with a slight hint of sarcasm.

Kalan and I were both at the training ground of the Cult of Heaven early in the morning. Now that I had some plans for the future, I decided to get back to training. Kalan was all too willing to help, eager for me to move on past the loss and grief and look for a brighter horizon. However, we weren’t alone.

There were several other people already here, some official members of the Hands of God like Kalan was. Others were apprentices looking to join the church. They too were being trained for the selections this upcoming winter.

I nocked another arrow and fired it, hitting the bullseye once more. This time the arrow split down the middle of one of the previously fired arrows. There was a whistle and a round of applause this time, the other trainees acknowledging my skill.

“Well I’d say your skill with the bow is definitely not in question.” Kalan said, rubbing his chin in thought after my last shot. “And I thought you were good when we first tested your skills. Man, you sure have improved in the month since you arrived.”

It had been about three weeks since that night he handed me the file. What was in it was… a frightening amount in comparison to the questions plaguing my mind. Regardless, however, there was one lead I had. Pursuing it was a different story. I’d have to get stronger, much much stronger.

“Kalan,” I said, putting down my bow on a nearby stand, “I want to learn about how to use mana. No amount of training with my bow is going to help me right now. I don’t think I can truly grow any more with it than I already have as of right now.”

“Hmmmm, while it is true that you are exceptional with a bow, do you even know the first thing about how to use a staff? And even then, do you even know the first thing about mana?”

“No, that’s why I want you to teach me.” I said, standing firm.

“I understand that,” Kalan said with a sigh, “but learning to use mana, even barely at first, is no easy task. I mean, I’m not saying I won’t try and teach you, on the contrary, I’ll do everything in my power, however I can’t promise that you’ll be able to pick it up immediately.”

“I didn’t expect it to be easy. I didn’t expect any of this to be easy, but I have to try no matter what.”

Kalan sighed again as if he was playing through the seemingly insurmountable task I had just asked him to help me with.

“Alright, alright, I get it. Come here, sit.” He said as he shifted to a meditative position.

“Huh?”

“Just trust me and sit.”

I followed his exact movements, sitting across from him albeit a bit hesitant and confused.

“Now, take a deep breath in for 3 seconds and then out.”

I did exactly as he said a couple of times before asking, “So how exactly is this going to teach me how to use mana?”

“Do you feel how, as you breathe in, the air fills your lungs?”

“Yes, I know how breathing works.” I said, rolling my eyes

“Mana works in the same way. You take in the mana surrounding you and you transform it into what you want.”

“So how does the breathing out part tie into all this?”

“After you take in mana, you vent it through your body opening mana channels or channels that mana travels through. The more you do this, the more efficiently you can exert mana.” Kalan explained, patiently.

“I get the premise, but how do I take in mana?”

“Ah, now that’s a different story. It’s too hard to explain and much easier for me to show you. Here, close your eyes.”

I felt his hand press against the core of my back and then, shortly after, a feeling of warmth began surging through my body from where he was touching.

“Feel the mana flow through your body and towards the mana that is already there. Let it mix together and become one. Now, feel as it travels through your veins, into every cell and every fiber of your being. Remember this feeling.”

“I’m going to remove my hand now. I want you to guide the mana as I was in the same way and accumulate it all back into that center part of yourself.”

As soon as he removed his hand, I could feel the mana he had been supplying, slowly begin to leave me from where his hand once was.

As if sensing my thoughts, Kalan said “Don’t panic, just do as I said.”

I rested my mind and remembered how the feeling of the mana entering my body and into the core of my stomach felt and began trying to pull the mana that was leaving me back into it.

My efforts, however, felt as if they were for naught. At that moment, a thought occurred to me.

Just as how you take a deep breath and how all that air you just sucked in needs to be released from your lungs, what if mana worked in the same way? What if I needed to release some of the mana in the core of my stomach to be able to take more in?

I tried to guide the mana from my core through my veins, following the path that Kalan’s mana took, and then led it towards the escaping mana.

I watched as my mana mixed with the mana that was trying to escape and then led it back towards my core. I then repeated this in a constant cycle until I had brought all the mana back into my core.

“I see you got the basics down for the most part.”

“Keep cycling mana from your core through your body, but, this time, send it in different directions and to different parts of your body. This will start to form new mana channels to help you more efficiently send mana from one part of your body to another.”

I did just that. Instead of sending the mana towards the bottom of my body and then up, I sent it up and around and then back down to my core.

I repeated this once more except this time, instead of going back down to my core, I sent the mana towards the lower half of my body and then back up to my core.

I kept sending my mana in different directions at various different times, continuously opening new channels and widening pre-existing ones. I repeated this until the entire process began to feel natural to me.

“I’d also like to add that, if you don’t get the foundation right and don’t take your time with the basics, you’ll suffer later on down the road to make breakthroughs and progress in mana rank. Don’t be afraid to take weeks, months even, solely circulating mana and forming new channels.”

“I mean, I get how circulating mana through my body works and how it can help in increasing its efficiency, but how do I gain more mana?” I asked.

“That’s the fun part.” Kalan said with a grin. “Try sending some of your mana to the tips of your fingers and then from there, push it out of you.”

“Why would I want to push the mana out of my body? That seems counterproductive.”

“Think of it like this: exactly how you pulled in the mana that was trying to escape your body back into your core and made it yours, you’re gonna circulate mana outside of you and back in, pulling in the mana around you into your core.”

I nodded as I tried to exert the mana out of my body and let it flow around me. What I felt was… unexplainable. It was as if I could feel my surroundings. Every bit of stone and metal that surrounded the training area.

And then I felt it. Raw, untapped energy just floating around. It was everywhere- it was in everything.

“Do you feel it? What you’re feeling is unnurtured mana waiting to be called on. Bring it in. Will it to follow your mana back into your body and make it yours.”

I guided my mana towards the unnurtured mana, feeling as it intertwined with my mana. I then began guiding it back into my core.

I felt as the core inside me began to grow bigger and bigger as it accepted the mana that was once gone. However, what I noticed was that the mana from outside was not being accepted into my core. The mana from outside was beginning to escape, kind of like how Kalan’s mana had initially acted.

I instinctively sent my mana towards and began channeling it through my body. I watched as the foreign mana became a part of mine and was finally accepted into my core.

“I-I did it. Haha, I actually did it!” I said practically jumping up from where I was.

“Good job, now for the hard part.”

“What!?”

“Oh you thought that was it? Oh you’re in for something else then.”

“What you need to do now is take the mana inside your core and begin to wrap layers and layers around your heart. This will transform your current heart into a mana heart.”

“A mana heart is essential for every human who uses mana. Without it, you can’t grow and, without it, you can’t enhance your body.”

“The core you are using now is only temporary. If you don’t keep circulating the mana in your core, it will eventually try to escape. By creating a mana heart, it will passively circulate mana throughout your body while storing mana for you to use. It will also passively restore used mana so that you always have some to pull from.”

“Before you actually attempt to create a mana heart, though, you should take at least two weeks to practice circulating mana throughout your body, creating more and more channels and refining previous ones. The more channels you have, the easier it will be to take in mana as well as summon mana out of your body.”

“Once you create a mana heart, it will be much harder to create new channels because your body will be used to using the ones already made.”

“Ok, I understand how it might be hard to create new channels after making my mana heart, but how exactly do I even create these layers to make my mana heart?”

“That, my Little Huntress, is for you to find out.”

I felt a pang in my heart as a tear began to brim at the edges of my eyes. I let it out and immediately wiped it away.

“Hey, hey, I get you’re happy and all, but don’t go crying on me!” Kalan said with a confused smile.

“Anyways, it’s getting a little late and I need to take care of something. You should rest. Maybe that way you’ll be able to think about how to form your mana heart.”

“Ok, thank you, I mean it. I really am truly grateful for your help.”

“Hey, think nothing of it. I am merely upholding my end of our promise.”

I began walking towards the big, wooden door that led back into the church building, fully intent on experimenting how to create my mana heart once I got back to my room.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

(Kalan POV)

“Report.”

“Yes, sir. The so-called Satanists have begun to move. We spotted the defectors smuggling goods through the forest to an unknown location just south of Lign Aloes. Our scouts tried to follow them, but they seemingly disappeared shortly after crossing the Gihon River.”

“Hmmm… They always seem to vanish into thin air when we’re so close."

“In any case, any update on the investigation into the attacks on the district of Nazareth?”

“Not really, sir. The only thing we’ve been able to uncover is that all the attacks happened in the two days' time and that the attacks follow a specific trajectory; a straight line through, connecting all the cities and villages attacked. We have also confirmed that it was all done by one person although that person’s identity has not been discovered.”

“Two days? How is that possible? Someone would have had to be able to fly at an incomprehensible speed or right out be able to teleport for all those attacks to fit in the time frame.”

“Yes, sir, it would seem that way.”

“Hmmm… ok." I said rubbing my temples.

"Ask the seven districts to give me a report of every single S-ranked and Transcendent-ranked individual that is currently known. I also want you to request the Third Paladin to personally go and investigate the attacks themselves and report back to me on any findings.”

“I’d also like you to send three small groups of scouts into the forest to search for any trace of where those Satanists went.”

“Yes, sir. Right away!”

“Thank you, Ryla, you are dismissed.”

I watched as she slowly walked out of the room, closing the door behind her.

I stood up and looked out the window overlooking the city.

‘What exactly is going on?’

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

(Eve Solaris)

I guided the ambient mana with my mana towards my body and absorbed it into myself. I then began the process of assimilating the mana, making it my own. After about a week or so, the process became almost routine, second nature, even.

Over the past week, I had made little to no progress in how to form layers around my heart. Everytime I tried to weave mana like a web on top of my heart, it would just absorb it into itself and circulate it through my body and back to my core.

While the heart was acting in the way it would when the layers were formed in the beginning, the mana would not stay, putting me back to where I started.

From what I learned, kids much younger than me usually figured this out in their first month of awakening mana. I, however, have gotten almost nowhere in that aspect after almost a month and a half.

“Ughhhhhhh, this is stupid!” I said, standing up and kicking my bed.

“I don’t understand why I can’t make something so seemingly simple!”

“Maybe it’s because you lack creativity.”

“Huh?” I turned around startled.

What awaited me, however, was a wooden door, absent of a person that I expected to be there.

“I’m sure you know how to weave mana together already?”

I turned around again, half startled and half curious.

I was greeted with the sight of a slender, yet lean looking woman who wore light armor and a dark cloak that covered her face to a degree. She was sitting on my bed, flipping a knife in her hand. A knife that looked very sharp and very expensive.

The mere sight of her seemingly blurred the lines of light and dark as if she was hiding in the shadows.

“How’d you do that?” I asked.

“If you try weaving your mana enough, it begins to reach a tangible state, albeit not completely, that can help form webs of mana or even strengthen the properties of an object.”

And like that, she disappeared. I questioned whether or not this had actually happened, but the sounds from outside my window snapped me out of my trance.

It was as if sound and sight just disappeared whenever she was around, avoiding and covering her in it’s illusions.

However, what she said to me caught my interest even more.

To weave mana… I watched it happen almost by itself when I was absorbing the ambient mana. My mana would intertwine with the mana from outside of me and move almost as one, however I wouldn’t necessarily call that weaving mana. Then a thought occurred to me.

I summoned some mana out of my body and began weaving it back on itself. I could feel as the energy began to feel a bit heavier, in a way, as the more I weaved it together the harder it became to guide it.

I then began to lead it back into my body and towards my heart. What happened next sparked a thrill of excitement inside of me. The mana wasn’t absorbed into my heart, but rather, was almost seemingly sitting on top of it.

I tried to wrap it around my heart, however it didn’t seem to have any effect.

This didn’t stop me, but rather kept me going.

I had learned that, by weaving mana together, one could create mana that wasn’t absorbed into the heart, but rather acted as clothing for it.

I thanked the mysterious woman in my head and began repeating what I had learned until I was able to create a big enough web to completely fit around my heart.

“Finally! Now for the moment of truth…”

I guided the web of mana around my heart and watched as it seemingly was absorbed into it once again.

I began to panic as I watched all my hard work go down the drain.

Then, something happened. The heart itself seemingly began… glowing- radiating with power and light?

And then I felt it. I could feel as mana coursed through my veins and through every fiber of my being. The feeling itself was indescribable. I had never felt this powerful in my life. It was almost as if I was being reborn in some way. I felt… alive.

I did the first thing I could think of and tried to summon mana out of my body.

The mana came out faster and in bigger amounts than I ever thought possible. It was surreal in a way at just how much easier it felt to control my mana in comparison to what I could do with my core.

‘Whoever that woman was… she sure saved me a lot of time’ I thought as I rode the waves of excitement filling me at my new found strength.

I then remembered what Kalan had said about enhancing your body with mana when a thought occurred to me.

I began channeling mana towards my hand and then summoned it out as I normally would. I then curled it around my hand and up my arm. I felt as my arm was filled with a renewed sense of power and strength.

“This is going to hurt if it doesn’t work…” I said to myself as I turned and faced the wall.

I took a deep breath and then began to punch towards the wall.

I braced for impact, expecting my knuckles to shatter under the force of my punch. Instead, however, I opened my eyes to see a newly formed hole in my wall.

“Hey, Eve?!? What ha- oh. Hah. Haha.” Kalan's eyes went from me to the wall and then back to me.

“Well from the looks of it, it seems like you’ve accomplished what I expected to take you a bit longer. Regardless, however, congratulations on forming your mana heart! How’s it feel?”

“It’s… well, it’s amazing. I’ve never felt this powerful in my life to be honest.”

“Right?? I can still remember the time when I formed my mana heart. Man, how time flies. I really have come a long way”

Kalan was looking at me, however his gaze seemed to be much farther away from here as if he was reminiscing on some distant past.

“This probably would’ve taken me longer if I’m being honest. If it wasn’t for whoever visited me, I’d probably still be stumped for another couple of weeks” I said, breaking the silence.

“Pardon?”

“Yeah, uh. Someone visited me a bit ago; I don’t really know how to describe her other than mysterious as her figure seemed to be hidden in the shadows if I’m being honest.”

“Ah, you must’ve met Ryla. She’s my assistant of sorts. She’s a very talented hunter and assassin. You could probably learn a lot from her if I’m being honest. Maybe even much more than what you’d be able to learn from me.”

‘Ryla, huh’ I thought to myself. The image of her blending in with the shadows still very fresh and surreal in my mind.

“Also, if I might suggest, if you could refrain from making holes in the wall above the courtyard, that would be greatly appreciated. Don’t want to hit anyone below with some falling debris if you get what I mean.”

Shock struck me as I completely forgot that people could’ve been walking under my room’s walls without me knowing.

I quickly took a look down from my window to see if anyone had been hit, but thankfully no one seemed to have been hit by the debris.

“Anyways. Once again, congratulations on forming your mana heart, Eve. I know you might be excited and all, but I suggest you take it easy for the rest of the day.”

“After one forms a mana heart, the following day they are hit with an immense mana withdrawal. The effects of transforming one’s own organ and the constant use of it filling your body with mana, wears the individual down.”

“I understand, thanks for that advice.” I said as I reabsorbed the mana back into my body.

“Ah, why don’t we move you to another room. Seeing as how staying in here might be a bit… troublesome.”

“You might be right.” I said with a wry smile.

I grabbed my stuff and began to follow Kalan out the door, closing it on my way out.