“Esried has already integrated himself into our society. Are we to abandon one of our own?" Sun stood patiently, waiting for a response.

"The spirit will deliberate on the matter," Standing before Sun on a raised platform, a hazy mist spread throughout.

The spirit was their great guide, an entity that had never led them astray. To contradict the spirit would be to fight the hand that fed them. Wars were a thing of the past due to how reliable the spirit was when conflict arose. At one point in history, the elves were thought to be the most powerful race because they never lost. Sun lived to see through some of those miraculous wins, evidence the spirit was not a sham. Lucky for the rest of the world, the spirit never guided the elves past any forest edge, an odd, informal law of nature.

"You pull the same political crap every time an outsider is concerned,” Sun said.

"Like you said, he is an outsider. Elves do not concern themselves with outsider matters,” the mist vibrated.

"Enough of this nonsense. I will go and bring him back myself."

"You will not. You are bound by elven oath. You will obey elven interests."

No matter how much Sun wanted to argue, the spirit was right. At a young age, she had always wanted to become a Shelna, becoming oathbound was a requirement. Shelna were the last line of defense, respected by all and held authority only second to the council. A plethora of resources and training showered all who took the oath at the cost of their freedom. Esried was a concern for her but definitely not enough to betray her oath, breaking it would only come if Moon's life was at stake.

While Sun could do nothing personally, there were options already floating in her mind. She had friends in high places, calling in some favors was a viable option. Better yet, this could be a great learning experience for Moon. Sun's own first adventure took place only a few years after Moon's current age. She had to make an attempt to take back Esried. Plus the boy was a special oddity, forming dense mana before sparking a core.

"Lets go Moon, it is time to accelerate your training."

0---0

"What is a mage's favorite snack?"

"..."

"A baMana! AHAHA."

"..."

"No need for applause. Esried out."

Tough crowd this imperial troop. Before I was number one with most times being kidnapped, my jokes killed in all the local taverns, made a killing with tips too. Of course, the clientele was mostly drunks and resting adventurers, which made life so much easier back then.

Most days Stiggs and Captain Wendy discussed logistics while the rest kept to themselves, bunch of sticklers if you ask me. I kindly asked what their plans for me were, but all I get is silence and a few grunts, even when I tried to be super annoying about it. The o'l broken record strategy of repeating the question for hours didn't even phase them, training to block out torture techniques must be standard amongst imperial troops.

The shear amount of boredom drives me crazy, hours of non-stop horseback riding with nobody to chat with sucks. They didn't even tell me their names, I learned them from eavesdropping in on conversations. Each passing day, my kidnappers followed the same damn routine with Stiggs and Captain Wendy being the worst of the lot. Wash face, morning exercise, light breakfast, get on horse, move on horse, get off horse, eat dinner, night exercise, and then sleep. If I hadn't known better, I would have guessed they were mana constructs, those would more likely have been friendlier in this case.

"We break for camp," Captain Wendy shouted.

Hopping off my mount with ease, it dawned upon me that I've been growing at a rapid rate. The mana spilling into my body was working wonders. There are muscles I didn't even know I had, sometimes flexing in different positions revealed more each time. I wish I could ask them questions about how it all worked in detail, except ignoring me seems to be their favorite hobby.

If they aren't going to speak to me, I guess I could just practice using my mana. At first, frustration was getting the better of me, turning mana into a basic element wasn't working. It's been roughly two and a half months since the spark of my core, and I have had no improvements in the combat department. Although I've been making little progress there, my veins have grown considerably, allowing me to exert more mana out of my body.

Sitting straight, I raised my right hand forward and pushed mana into my palm. For a chunk of time, the dark blue mana built up into a fist sized ball. When it reached its maximum build up, the excess slowly dissipated while the continuous flow I provided replenished it, maintaining its shape and form. In spite of doing something with my mana, i'm not sure what to do next. Throwing it at my enemies would be step two, except it falls apart before moving not one inch from my hand, talk about performance issues. Sighing in defeat, the mana ball slowly unraveled apart as I stopped providing it mana.

"Do that again," Stiggs said as he stepped in closer.

Not aware of my surroundings before, everybody was looking at me like i've done something extremely unorthodox.

Repeating the steps, the ball I created was a duplicate of the one before. Stiggs took a nearby branch and stuck it into the mana ball, probably hoping for a reaction. At a noticeable rate, the branch was consumed as fast as it entered.

"Yeah... That is really all I can do."

I scratched the back of my head with my other hand.

Stiggs sat down next to me asking, "What did the elves teach you about mana?"

"Well, mana is energy. It can be used in a few ways, pushing the flow hard enough to spill into your muscles and bones for body strengthening is one. Pushing the mana into your veins to grow them is two. Also, you can push the mana outwards to manipulate it for fireballs and stuff."

"Is that it?"

"Yeah, they said my control is not good enough to move on to more difficult techniques and topics."

Stiggs lightly grunted.

"They teach you like an elf and expect results. Bunch of closed minded racists if you ask me."

"You can do better?" It doesn't hurt to try and provoke him into teaching me something.

"Of course I can. Back home I have three disciples, all who could knock you on your ass ten times over. Listen here, the problem is the elves themselves are born with a natural affinity for controlling their mana. Their standards for it are too high for a half human, half demon such as yourself. Demons have the passive trait of their mana growing with age, older demons are generally much stronger than younger ones. Humans have the trait of adaptability, it makes us one of the strongest races on the plane due to the massive amount of flexibility in the way we use mana. You just need to figure out how to take your particular set of talents and grow them to your needs."

I got a lot more than I had expected from the silent grunt master turned personal mentor.

"Based on what I just saw, you have the foundation for something greater. It is also a high possibility the Emperor wants to recruit you for this exact reason. Training you for The Empire will bolster our ranks, the mana you produce is unnaturally dense with endless applications. It is also the reason why you can't convert mana into various elements. Normal mages work with more gentle mana allowing them to shape and control it. Your mana is unique because it is concentrated and volatile making it ill-suited for basic transformation." Stiggs usual soldier demeanor was replaced with one of wisdom.

"Does that mean you are going to teach me?" I replied fiercely, looking directly into his eyes as a show of determination. Soldier types like that.

Stiggs put his hand on my shoulder, enough weight to make my body go lopsided. "Yes, I believe you can become a great influence. I don’t usually accept students on a whim, but the Emperor also sees greatness in you. Swear that you will serve The Empire with all your might and I will grow you to become a powerhouse none can contend with."

"I swear upon my mother and father that I will serve The Empire with all my might."

"Welcome to the fold my fourth disciple. We have much to work on." Stiggs tilted his head back and roared in laughter.

Idiot, my mother and father abandoned me, dead for all I know. Breaking a vow in their name means nothing to me. This isn't the first time i've skirted the truth and it won't be the last.

As soon as im strong enough to leave, im going back to the forest for some mana biscuits.