“This gate will stay there as long as I have some mana to give it. It leads to your room, in the city.” She explained.

“Huh… I don’t see how it will help me learn to feel mana.”

“There is really no way to learn how to feel it. People often learn it from a young age, or are born with the ability to. It is really rare to see someone try to learn it after 10 or 15. We will be trying a new method now, but I’m pretty much certain of it’s efficacity. It is actually quite simple: You will go back and forth from an environment where mana is dense, here, to a place where it is scarce: the city. You

will be doing this until you feel, know and then understand what is mana. By feeling for yourself the difference between a place rich in mana and a place which has close to zero mana, I am confident you will be able to learn to feel it.” She said.

“Hm, I understand. Let’s start training, then. I don’t have any time to spare!” I exclaimed.

“That’s the spirit. I will be at the Guild Hall, come see me when you are done. I will pass by every few days. Oh, and I will leave some food in your room three times a day, but you can always eat with us if you are feeling lonely.”

“Alright, thank you so much for your help.” I said sincerely.

“Then, I’ll see you later,” she said as she disappeared in the dark gate.

I stared at the magic phenomenon for a few seconds, intrigued by it. ‘Will I be able to cast something like this?’ I wondered. ‘Well, there’s no point in hoping for something like this if I can’t even manipulate mana. So, how am I supposed to feel that… She said to compare the feelings I get from here and from the city, but I don’t feel anything… Meh, I might as well try teleporting over there. I’ll compare after I felt both in a rapid succession.’ I thought.

I approached the gate and tried touching it. My hand passed through it, but I couldn’t see it coming from the other side. That was a weird experience. I then put my right leg in the hole, and, taking a big breath and closing my eyes, jumped rapidly in it.

“Whua!” I couldn’t help but be impressed once more by this magic, as I opened my eyes and recognized the room I had slept in the night before. ‘Mh... I don’t feel any different,’ I thought. I went once more trough the portal, but still didn’t see any difference.

Just like this, a week passed by, and I still hadn’t been able to grasp the difference between one location and the other, but I did feel a weird sensation, like something was amiss, whenever I went too far from the gate.

“Oh, you’re here. How is it going?” I heard Jenny say as her head passed through the portal.

“I’m still stuck, somehow. However, I get this feeling of… I don’t know, emptiness? Whenever I go away from the gate, especially in the city.” I said.

“Hmm, that’s nice.” She answered, seemingly talking more to herself than to me.

“What is?” I asked, curious.

“Well, you see, this feeling is a proof that your body is getting used to mana. I completely forgot, but this portal emanates some mana and it influences its surroundings too. Which means that whenever you were near the lake or the gate, your body was exposed to a large quantity of mana, and when you get to somewhere where the density of the mana is poor, your body feels like something is missing.” She explained.

“Heh…” I said, already thinking about the next step. Now that I knew this, it meant that I didn’t need to come to the lake or use the portal anymore. As long as it was present, there would be mana around it, and I only had to go away from it to feel the lack of mana. “Thanks for the info! It will be useful!” I said hurriedly, going through the portal one last time and arriving in my room. “So, it means the feeling I have now… which is quite normal…” I left my room and went down the stairs, arriving in the living room. “And the feeling I have now, which is annoying, are the proof I’m able to know when there’s mana around.” I concluded, satisfied.

I started off by trying to understand exactly what I was feeling by approaching slowly the gate. As I walked towards the gate, the feeling of dissatisfaction gave place to one of comfort.

I continued walking around the gate until I was too tired to stand, trying to feel the mana. I knew I was close to understanding it, and I didn’t want to stop there, but I needed to eat and rest a little or I wouldn’t be able to be productive.

-------------------

1 week later.

“I feel it! I understand it! Jenny!” I shouted, satisfied as I finally was able to clearly feel the flow of mana.

“Ohh, congratulations!” She said happily when I arrived in the living room. “So, how is it? Do you think you’ll be able to understand mana enough to actually go around without your vision?” She asked.

“Hmm, I think I should manage to do this. If I keep improving like this, it should take around… a month? Maybe?” I answered. I wasn’t really sure about how much time it would take, since my progression hadn’t been really stable. I was stuck for a long time without seeing any difference, but then a single clue made me progress so much that it wasn’t yet possible to know how fast I would improve in the future.

“I see, good luck with this, then. You know where to find me if you have any problem.” She told me.

At this point, I was only able to know approximately how much mana there was near me.

------------------------

1 month later.

“Alright. I think I can do this, now.” I said as I put my mask on.

I went down the stairs and walked in the living room, paying attention to the flow of the surrounding mana. I could effectively feel where everything was, be it a person walking around, a table or a mosquito, simply by comparing the mana it emanated to it’s surroundings, as well as, for moving things, how it disrupted mana.

“Oh, Norr! Are you finally able to go around with your mask on?” I heard Tetsu say. He hadn’t talked to me much since I had arrived here, and didn’t see too interested in my progress, but I didn’t hold that against him. He seemed like he had lots of work to do, but he still was always happy and energetic when there were people around.

“Yes. It drains me to concentrate this much on my surroundings though, but I think I’ll get used to it. It’s simply a matter of practice until it becomes natural.” I said confidently.

“Alright, good luck with that! If you want to learn swordsmanship you can always ask me, I don’t know shit about magic but I’m confident if it’s about the sword!” He said happily.

Learning the sword, huh… It wasn’t something I was really interested in, at least for now. What I wanted the most was to learn magic and find a way to seal my ability, or at least control it enough so that it didn’t kill people as soon as I looked at them. But to use magic, I needed an Element, and I didn’t even know if I had one… It was possible to cast magic simply by manipulating mana, but it was powerless compared to Elemental magic.

Jenny wasn’t currently in the apartment, so I went down the stairs once more and arrived in the Guild Hall, hoping to find her there.

“Oh, Jenny!” I waved as I felt her mana near me. Everyone emanated a different kind of mana, and I could recognize her due to this. The difference was small and I couldn’t recognize anyone else than her and Tetsu, as I passed a lot of time near them.

“Norr, how is your training going—Or should I say, congratulations on completing it?” She asked as she realized I had my mask on.

“Yes, it was thanks to you that I was able to achieve this! Thank you so much.” I appreciated all she had done for me, even though I couldn’t repay her kindness right now.

“It’s okay, I didn’t do much. It’s your hard work that made you learn this fast.”

“That’s not true! Without your magic, I wouldn’t have mastered it this quickly.” I retorted.

“What are you two talking about?” A man asked. He seemed to have listened to our conversation. My magical perception of things still needed some work, as I hadn’t noticed him before he talked. I seemed to have dropped my concentration while talking to Jenny.

“Oh, if it isn’t Meil! It’s been a while! How was your trip? Did you just come back? Ah, let me introduce you to Norr. He was taken in by Tetsu and I helped him learn about mana,” Jenny explained. “Norr, this is Meil, a magician. He has awakened a lot of elements, and I must say he’s quite impressive. He was in our party when Tetsu and I were still mere adventurers, and he was a big help in founding the Guild. He refused to be given any important position, though, so he’s only a A rank adventurer officially… But I don’t think anyone ranked S or SS would be a match for him,” She explained proudly.

“I’m pleased to meet you, Norr! How old are you?” He asked gently.

“I’m 11 years old. Pleased to meet you too.” I said. He seemed like a really nice person, but his background made him a little intimidating.

“What is that mask for?” He asked to Jenny, pointing towards my face.

“Oh, it’s… Well, it should be fine if it’s you, right? Do you have some time? I could use your help.” Jenny answered.

“Sure, let me just go grab my reward for that last quest. You can wait for me upstairs.” He said as he went towards the counter.

“Norr, let’s go. I have some news for you about your eyes, and I think Meil should be able to help you with your situation too.” Jenny told me after the magician left us.