Repairing Mana Cores is a difficult prospect for many reasons. One of the most obvious ones is that each person’s Soul Energy is unique to them, now there are of course ways to get around this problem, but they often require the person attempting the repair to be very skilled in the use of their Soul Energy and have a very powerful Soul. Even then the chances of them making a mistake was still fairly common if the damage was left for too long or the damage was too severe like it was in my mother’s case. For almost as long as I can remember I have been doing research into this and I have made a lot of progress which is mostly due to the unique strength of my Soul and the sheer amount of time that I put into making absolutely certain that my own Mana Core was as close to perfect as I possibly could with the knowledge that I had at a time.

Excerpt from Telram’s notes on Mana Cores.

The next morning Telram woke up and immediately smiled as he realised that this would be his first day as a teacher. He had actually taken a couple of classes as an assistant to the professor he had been studying under in his previous life but this would be the first time he had ever had to teach children this young in either life and he was surprised to realise just how much he was looking forward to it. Of course, there were things that he wasn’t looking forward to doing quite so much such as trying to fix the problems with Iris’ Mana Core which was still a little dangerous even with someone helping him although not as dangerous as it would be if they let her cultivate to a higher level.

“Oi, get up you two big lumps,” Telram chuckled to the two piles of fur that were sleeping next to him. “It’s time to go to school.”

Ironically this was actually similar to the way that his mother had woken him up when he tried to sleep in on a school night when he had been a child back on Earth and he chuckled when the two Mana Beast cracked an eye open, snorted and rolled over which was comically close to what his reaction had been.

“Come on you two,” Telram grumbled good-naturedly. It wasn’t like he didn’t understand their desire to sleep in a bit more, but they had to be at the agreed upon meeting point before the kids got there and sort out who was going to be helping to fix Iris’ Mana Core. “You don’t want to keep the kids waiting, do you?”

This question made Jai and Willa both jump to their feet making Telram chuckle once more in amusement. It really was amusing to him just how much these two enjoyed the attention that the children gave them, and he truly appreciated them for that.

When they made their way out to the dining room, they were greeted by the rest of the group who were already eating breakfast.

“And to think that I thought that I was getting up early,” Telram grumbled as he took a seat at the table.

“What?” Gerry chuckled. “Did you think that any of us were going to miss your big day?”

“Fair enough,” Telram replied as he started to dig into the breakfast that his mother put in front of him. “So, I was hoping that you would agree to let me help Iris recreate her Mana Core. Just so that I can get a feel for it.”

“Are you sure?” Gerry asked cautiously. “It would be safer if you let me do it.”

“No, it needs to be me,” Telram replied with a sigh. “And not only because I need the practice. You saw how nervous she was, who do you think she would prefer to have helping her out at this point’ you or me?”

“Maybe you’re right,” Gerry sighed. “I just don’t want to have to shoulder the burden if anything goes wrong.”

“I know Gerry,” Telram nodded. “But you’re all going to be here to make sure that nothing goes wrong right?”

“Of course,” Diane agreed as Fergus nodded silently beside her.

“It’s a good thing that you’re trying so hard to look after kids that you barely know,” Gerry noted as he saw the grateful look on his student’s face. “Especially Iris, that girl’s already been through a lot and she probably needs someone to look out for her, even if she won’t admit it.”

“Agreed,” Diane sighed. “I really don’t like the idea of such a young girl living by herself.”

“That’s her decision,” Telram disagreed. “I understand why she feels the way that she does.”

“I didn’t say that I didn’t understand why she feels the way that she does,” Diane pointed out. “I even agree with it to a certain degree, but it just doesn’t sit with me right.”

“So, what are you planning on teaching the rest of the kids today?” Fergus asked in an attempt to change the subject.

“Hmm,” Telram hummed as he considered the options for a bit. “Well let’s go over what a Mana Core actually is as well as a brief outline of the best way to form one as not all of the kids understand that and make sure that all of them can read to some extent.”

“That’s probably a good idea,” Fergus agreed. “It’s too bad that not all of the kids know how to use Spiritual Vision, or we could show them what we are going to do to Iris’ Core.”

“Yeah that would be an interesting thing to show them,” Telram agreed. “It would drive home just how important it is to make sure that you’re forming your Core right, but as it is there’s only one of them that doesn’t have a Core of their own so I’m not too worried about it. I’m not very comfortable with the idea of doing that to Iris though. It’s not her fault that she messed up forming her Core.”

“That’s a good point but have you considered waiting until the other children are able to use their Spiritual Vision to see young Henry making his own Mana Core?” Fergus asked interestedly.

“Actually, yes, I have, the other kids already know how to use Spiritual Vision on themselves so it wouldn’t actually be too difficult to teach them how to use it to see what Henry was doing. Forming a Spiritual Body would be asking a bit much though, so I’d suggest that one of us walk them through what we were teaching him,” Telram agreed. It was indeed an excellent idea, even though the other kids had already formed their own their own Cores there was still a lot that they could learn from watching someone else form a Core of their own, including how to better form the later layers of their own Cores which would have an effect on how powerful that they could become.

“So, you plan to walk Henry through making his own Core yourself?” Diane asked frowning slightly. “As well as talking Iris through making a new Core to replace her poorly formed one. That seems reckless considering how much Soul Energy that will use up, you could injure yourself quite badly if you’re not careful you know”

“He could but I trust him to know when he’s overreaching himself,” Gerry told the older woman. “Telram and I have done a lot of work on this sort of thing and no offence, but I don’t think that I could work as well with either of you two on something like this. I have the utmost respect for his abilities and knowledge when it comes to that sort of thing.”

“Alright then,” Diane agreed eventually. If Gerry was going to say that then she wouldn’t oppose him on this matter, she simply had too much respect for the man and his judgement to do something like that.

“Thanks Gerry,” Telram said shifting slightly in embarrassment at both the old man’s words and the memory of the way that he had spoken to him earlier.

Now that they had worked this out, they quickly finished their meals and made their way out the door and down the street towards the village gates where they had told the children to gather. As they walked down the street Telram could see that the few people who were already up and about at this time were paying a lot of attention to the group. For the most part it was just mild interest which largely seemed to be because they hadn’t had a chance to talk with any of them yet but Telram could see a couple of angry and jealous looks as well which actually didn’t surprise him too much. It doesn’t matter what world they live in people never liked change and what they were planning could change a lot if they did it right.

“Ah, there you are,” a voice said from behind them and Telram turned around to see the muscular form of Dale exiting the smithy. “Good to see that you’re serious enough about this to be here early. It wouldn’t have been a good look if you were late.”

“Well that’s true enough,” Telram snorted as he shook the blacksmith’s outstretched hand and nodding at his son who was standing behind him. “Good morning Dale, Cameron. I hope you’re looking forward to your first lesson young man.”

“I am sir,” Cameron replied giving Telram a broad smile as he too shook Telram’s hand. “I hope you have a good lesson planned.”

“Well I’d like to think so but the lesson that I have planned for the day is actually more for those of you who don’t perhaps know as much as they should about forming a Mana Core,” Telram explained. “Now you’re actually one of the more advanced students, as it were. And I have to keep it the same for everyone which is one of the few real problems with this sort of teaching, but it should still be informative for you. I will also be checking how well you can all read and write so that I can figure out how much we have to work on that.”

“I see,” Cameron nodded. He looked slightly disappointed but also like he understood what it was that Telram was saying.

“Don’t worry,” Telram chuckled. “Like I said this will still be helpful to your development and once we’ve gone through the basic stuff to make sure that everyone is up to speed I have a plan to teach you all a very basic version of my own Body Strengthening Technique and if you want we can do some extra tutoring to combine it with the Body Strengthening Technique your father has taught you.”

“That would be awesome!” Cameron exclaimed excitedly. “Did you hear that dad?”

“I did, son,” Dale chuckled. “Sounds like you’re might be stronger than your old man in a couple of years if you work hard.”

“Hmm, I might be able to add parts of the technique to yours as well Dale,” Telram mentioned as he reached up to rub his chin in thought. “It won’t be as effective of course because of how long you’ve been practicing your current Body Strengthening Technique, but I don’t see why it wouldn’t be possible to do something.”

“From what I can tell your Body Strengthening Technique mostly just improves your entire body at a base level which is quite impressive in and of itself whereas mine more directly increases my physical strength and endurance as well as my resistance to heat,” Dale said and Telram nodded in agreement. “But it wouldn’t increase my physical capabilities right away, right?”

“No, it mostly increases the effects of exercise on your body and things like that instead of directly increasing your strength. That’s not to say that it won’t directly increase your body’s strength right away just not as much as a more traditional Body Strengthening Technique,” Telram replied. “In reality other Body Strengthening Techniques are better than mine in the short term but the long-term effects are at least as impressive if not more so while being safer to use.”

“Well from what I’ve seen I definitely agree that the technique that you’re using is more effective,” Dale admitted as he glanced meaningfully at Jai who was currently sitting behind Telram. “But you can’t teach the kids that technique, can you?”

“No, but I can teach them a simplified version of the original technique which is the one that we’re talking about,” Telram admitted. “But that will still give them an advantage against most other cultivators of a similar level.”

“Yeah, from what I can tell it bypasses a lot of the usual problems with Body Strengthening Techniques,” Dale agreed. “And I look forward to seeing how well you get it to work with my Forge Lord Body Strengthening Technique.”

“Yes, that was why I created the simplified version in the first place,” Telram chuckled. “I couldn’t see any reason that you couldn’t create a technique that acts slowly enough that the body has time to acclimatise to the effects of Mana while still being effective, just don’t ask how long it took to work out all of the kinks. Even the version that I started off with had a lot of complicated steps that I’ve worked out shortcuts for now.”

“It took you quite a while I’d imagine,” Dale agreed. He knew full well how hard creating new Martial Techniques was. “But you still succeeded where other people failed or gave up and that’s impressive, especially at your age and cultivation Level.”

“Well thanks,” Telram replied. “Oh look, there’s Iris.”

Waving at the small girl as she walked down the street Telram smiled warmly. He wasn’t looking forward to explaining that they would have to reform her Core. Thankfully it looked like she was very interested in being taught how to cultivate which was a good sign, especially considering that she was an orphan who lived alone. As one might expect orphans were often treated poorly in this world but thankfully Iris seemed to be an exception to this rule which spoke well of those who lived in Yulis village.

“Good morning Iris,” Telram greeted the small girl who looked down and turned red in embarrassment before nodding slightly. It was obvious that she wasn’t used to the attention that Telram was giving her.

Once again, the orphaned girl was wearing badly worn clothes but from what Telram could tell she had taken the time to make sure that they were far cleaner than the ones that she had been wearing yesterday. Gritting his teeth slightly he decided that he would have to pay close attention to her to make sure that she was alright. Cameron had already mentioned her desire to keep living in her family’s house but perhaps there was another way for him to make sure that she remained healthy.

Glancing sideways at Gerry, Telram cocked his head to one side and raised an eyebrow questioningly the action making the old man smile as he immediately understood the unasked question and nodded slightly.

“Iris, we’re going to have to have a talk after class,” Telram told the girl who looked up at him in surprise. “Don’t worry, you’re not in trouble, we’ve just got something that we need to sort out. It might take a while though, so I’ll have to insist that you stay for dinner and I’ll walk you home afterwards. How does that sound?”

“I- I think that would be fine,” Iris stammered. “But why do you need to talk to me after class?”

“Well, I guess I can explain a little bit let’s just go over here where the others can’t hear us,” Telram decided gesturing to a small area where he was pretty sure that Cameron or Dale wouldn’t be able to hear before turning to the small girl who was watching him nervously.

“All I can really tell you right now is that you made a mistake when you were creating your Core but it’s alright,” Telram said holding up his hand as the girl turned pale and started shaking nervously. She obviously knew what the possible consequences of something like this was which was both a good and bad thing. Good because he wouldn’t have to explain the problem in too great detail and bad because there was a lot of misinformation going around about things like this. “We can fix the problem, but it will require recreating your Mana Core from scratch which as I’m sure you can guess will take quite a while. That’s why I offered to let you stay for dinner.”

“Oh, okay” Iris said. “But isn’t that sort of thing really dangerous?”

“It can be,” Telram admitted. “But we know what we’re doing. Of course, if you don’t want to risk it that’s up to you but you won’t be able to enter the Ascendant Realm of that’s what you decide.”

“No, I think that I’ll go through with it,” Iris said quickly. “I just wanted to make sure.”

“Good,” Telram nodded. “Well the other kids are arriving now so we should head back over.”

“Wait, why didn’t you just tell me over where the others were?” Iris asked.

“I just felt that it was a private matter,” Telram shrugged. “But if you want to tell the others that’s up to you.”

Having said his piece, he headed back over to where the others were waiting for them leaving Iris staring after him with an odd look on her face. Although she was well treated by the other villagers, they had known her and her family her entire life and many of them owed her deceased parents a debt but Telram was different and she couldn’t understand why he was so kind to her when he had no reason to be. Her expression hardened slightly as she looked at the powerful frame of the young man who had promised to give her the power that she needed to survive on her own in this unforgiving world. In the end it didn’t matter why he was doing it so long as he came through on the promise that he had made. Having made up her mind Iris followed after the strange young man that seemed to be the answer to her dearest wish.

“Good morning Tim, Henry,” greeted Telram as he approached the others, he had some idea of the thoughts that had been running through Iris’ brain even though his back had been to her, it was obvious that she would be suspicious of someone that she didn’t know who was kind to her and offered her more power than she could ever hope to achieve by herself. One could say that he did have ulterior motives for teaching these children, if he was going to fight back against Irian and any other noble families who treated their people like livestock then he needed to have powerful allies and one way of gaining these allies was to train them himself. Naturally if they didn’t want to fight with him against the nobles, he wouldn’t force them and in fact he didn’t even really like the idea, but it was one of the few things that he could think of. After all there was no way that he would be able to defeat all the nobles by himself.

“Are you ready for the first lesson then everyone?” Telram asked the children who all nodded with excited expressions on their faces. “Well alright then, follow me.”

Obediently the children followed him out the gate and down a path to a large tree beside one of the fields near Yulis where Telram had decided he would be holding as many of the lessons as physically possible. One of the odd things that he had learned over the past few years was that you could cultivate much faster in areas with less people and he had ended up doing a lot of cultivation outside of Palamar under a similar tree that he had found a few years ago. He had also chosen this spot because he quite liked being outdoors and also knew that there were studies back on earth that had apparently shown that some people learn better outdoors, now he wasn’t sure whether this was actually true or not but it wasn’t like they really had anywhere better to hold the lesson.

Once everyone was seated underneath the tree in front of him Telram nodded at Jai who was holding a sack in his mouth. This sack was filled with some notebooks with the names of each of the students on the cover that Telram had copied from his own the night before as well as some very basic reading exercises and Telram quickly handed them out to each of his students who took them eagerly from his hands. Right now, these books only contained a few notes that Telram had thought were important to his students’ development but there was plenty of room for more.

“Alright then let us begin the first lesson!”