Chapter 9- Known and Unknown!

Harold and I arrived in the library where he nervously glanced around. He was obviously not in the right mind for teaching me.

"Hey if it helps I can throw in a few words to my mother would that be good?" After a minute of jittery silence I try to offer him some peace of mind. His reaction was as if he had found the greatest treasure in the world.

"Really?! Whew, you're a lifesaver Prince! You wouldn't know since you're the Queen's son, but I've heard she is a cruel person when she is enraged." Harold throws out some very unsettling information. My face clearly distorts from his comment. He has 'heard' as he is just listening to a rumor. I know he is probably not the cause, but more like the image that has been set in stone already.

"I wonder who told you this?" I put on an inquiring tone. As long as I catch onto a tail I will uproot the entire cause if I get a chance. This time I will not abandon my family!

"What do you mean, it's common knowledge in your kingdom." I click my tongue at Harold's words that shoot down my efforts to find a source. I put the thoughts of changing mother's image out of my head and open my book on magic. Harold sees this and begins to arrange his thoughts as well.

"Have you already learned about Mana Rings and Mana Well?" Harold asks as I flip the pages. I shake my head as to quickly advance my lesson. He seems to think for a second and motion for me to stand up.

"Well, right here is your Mana Well."Harold points directly at the area where my dantian rests and continues his explanation without finding the surprise in my expression.

"However not everyone has a Mana Well which is imperative if one wants to be a mage. If both parents have a Mana Well then the child will definitely have a Mana Well. As for Mana Rings, you can think of them as wellsprings of mana that are formed in your Mana Well. Right now it should be impossible for you to create one since your Mana Veins have not grown enough to support mana. Any questions so far?" Harold clears up my understanding of what a Mana Well and what a Mana Ring are.

I digest all the information he had thrown at me and begin to think. The Mana Well and dantian are the same thing that was what I had kinda expected since my mana had traveled there to form my mana infant already. The Mana Veins he was referring to should be my meridians since they connect to the dantian or Mana Well as they call it. The Mana Rings were the only thing that I couldn't relate to anything. Those should be the ways on how to control mana.

"Yes, to be clear what are Mana Veins? And once I form my Mana Rings can I control Mana?" I inquire while pulling out a writing utensil that looks similar to a quill and paper.

"For Mana Veins they are found throughout the entire body. Even we have trouble pinpointing the exact locations of all of them, but we mainly will only address the 12 main Mana Veins. The Mana Rings as I've said are just wellsprings for mana. To explain it let's say you wanted to cast a simple magic, you would have to gather the mana from outside then, bring it into your Mana Well and then channel that mana into the correct Mana Veins. The Mana Ring speeds up the process by taking away the gathering process from outside." Harold taught quite well and I had filled up a page before I knew it.

"Wait, then wouldn't that mean that someone without a Mana Ring could still cast magic by gathering the mana from the air?"

"In theory yes, but when actually tried it is near impossible. Magic is a process that requires the upmost concentration. And most importantly the use of a normal single ringed spell would require all the mana in this room and then still need around another four rooms worth to barely become sufficient. Where as a single ringed mage can cast the same magic without consuming any mana in the room and with much less effort required. Understand?" Harold was very well informed and cleared some of my other minor inquiries about magic and mana. However the whole process of controlling mana into a magic was still a mystery to me.

I understood the explanation of Mana Rings and whatnot, but he never explained it. As if reading my thoughts Harold gave a smile and with a thought a simple sphere of water was formed above his palm.

"I can only give you the base knowledge. If you desire to dig deeper into magic and mana you will have to find a different teacher. However what I can give you is this." Harold suddenly said and the ball of water flew in front of me. He motioned for me to take it and as it touched my hands I felt an aching headache as information labeling basic mana control came into my head.

This?!! Wasn't this the information transfer method of my previous life?!! This definitely has to be it! It's not like they are similar in method, its that they are the exact same!!

"I see you are surprised. Hahaha, don't worry most people are. This is why guild mages can only teach other guild members because if other people knew of his method then everyone would know magic. And if everyone knew an the ways of controlling such a volatile weapon, you can guess the end result." Harold gives me a wry smile at that as he interrupts my inner thoughts. He had apparently mistaken my surprise as I received the control easily. Although he was correct in thinking I was surprised at the information, I was only surprised at how is was sent.

"Well I'll take my leave now, if you have any problems then find me. You need to understand you own control over your own mana. It is different for everyone." Harold turned to leave after, but I quickly stood up and stopped him. There was something very important I needed from him.

"You said that this is a method from your guild right?" I had a completely serious face which startled Harold for a second.

"Yes, what abou..."

"Where did your guild find it?" I cut him off and hurriedly questioned him. If this method is what I think it is then there could be another cultivator in this world already.

"I dont, I don't know what you mean? Our guild master is the one you want to meet if you want to know anything, but he rarely sees anyone." Harold had a confused expression to my questions, but I paid it no mind and said my good bye. After he had left I fell into deep thought.

That was definitely a cultivator's method, but I don't have conclusive evidence yet. For now I can only assume that every guild's guild master is a cultivator. However one thing is clear; this world definitely has some origins in cultivation.

I make plans to find out more information when I have time and more strength. I close my eyes and bring back the information Harold had sent me earlier. The method is surprisingly easy to accomplish. It was similar to Qi technique manuals and only focused on sending the mana through specific meridians.

I take in the mana in the air through my [Heavenly Bodies Transformation] technique, but instead of adding to my mana infant I bring it through my meridians. I know Harold had told me not to since my meridians were still young, but I was too excited to find a method to control mana that I couldn't help myself. I control the mana so that it doesn't recklessly move through my meridians and it slowly travels to my right palm. I had been inspecting the entire process carefully and when the mana had reached my right palm a golden ball of flame rose formed.

Then it instantly extinguished. I felt a slight pain in my arm, so I looked down at my body and found that my entire right arms was bleeding profusely and trembling terribly. I was worried that the Qi I had gather from earlier might rupture and I quickly tended to my injury. My meridians were unharmed and my Qi was still stable, but just the simple spell to learn control had nearly lost me an arm!

I heeded Harold's words this time and decided to put magic on hold till my meridians could handle the stress. I retire to my room and find Claire standing by my door. She was pacing back and forth in front of my door and when she saw me she jumped.

"Should I question what you're doing or just leave you be?" Her actions lightened my mood and I drew a smile onto my face.

"Prince Glen, please don't be too hard on Harold. Also I've been told by the Queen to send fo... Prince Glen you're injured!?!" Claire spoke too quickly for me to catch everything and immediately yelled when she caught sight of my right arm wrapped in bandages.

"Ah don't worry about this, it was an accident. Now what did you have to tell me?"

"Oh yes, the Queen requests for you. She's in your room right now." Claire was obviously still worried about my arm, but gave what she was here for. Or rather why did mother need Claire to tell me that she is already in my room?

I thank Claire and enter my room to see my mother staring out the window. The two moons in the sky were shining brightly in the night and illuminated the room. Mother saw me enter and when she saw my arm she instantly grew worried. It took a little convincing to stop her from overreacting.

"Mother what did you need from me again?" I finally asked after I had a chance and mother simply looked out the window.

"In a year from now we will have to leave for Thant. It is a three month journey from here, and I fear that when we reach the city you might see why I dislike nobles so much." Mother expresses her concerns with a tired expression.

"I was originally born in a rural area, but I had a physique that was identified to be a body of origin. What that means is that I never had any trouble controlling mana especially flames. I never needed a mage to give me the method to control mana. I believed you to be like this, but I guess your body is a little different..." Mother's voice trailed off at the end. I could tell from the context that she has had a hard life. If it wasn't for mother's impressive body I doubt she would've become the Queen.

"Thank you for telling me this, don't worry I won't be manipulated by anyone this time!" I new light burned in my eyes as I clenched my left and right fists.

"'This time'?" Mother repeats part of my previous statement. It looks like I got too caught up in the moment. I make a note not to get too wound up and reveal everything to everyone. However I resolve myself to tell everything to mother.

"Mother sit down, I have something important to tell you..." I told mother about my past life, how I grew up, how I traveled to the immortal realm, and how I eventually died an unjust death. Of course I simplified it so that she would understand, and kept some of the parts out. I had already made a promise to tell mother everything when I got the chance.

I trusted her and she trusted me. If I had kept this information about myself away from her I felt like I would be betraying her trust. I didn't see any harm in telling her either.

"I see... Then I guess that makes sense now." Mother said simply as she took in all of what I had told her. She showed no fluctuation of emotion. Mother seemed different from her usual; I don't blame her though if someone told me that they were a reincarnation then even I would be skeptical.

"Mother, are you ok?"

"I'm, I'm fine. I don't mind who you were, you are my child, so I'll accept everything about you. I was just a little startled. I had no idea you would be like the heroes in legends." Mother seemed to regain her confidence and her smile came back to her face.

"Heroes?"

"Yes, legends say they came from a different world with their with their memories intact. They defeated many evils that plagued our lands and even dragons would respect them." Mother stated some very ominous news to me. This information hits me like a hammer and sends me straight into my thoughts.

I bid mother goodnight and she leaves with a smile. I believe telling her my secret will allow me to get more of my questions answered. However right now this world is a complete mystery to me right now.

The unknown relationship to cultivation, the 'heroes' of legends, and even this control over mana which should originally be impossible. There is one thing that has appeared in all this: dragons! If I can find them I can solve most of my questions. I plan my future actions and reassess my body.

The Qi that I had absorbed earlier into my body had settled into my muscles, bones, and skin. It still needed to be digested and processed, so I estimated around another month for the whole process to take place. There was no need to rush; I don't have to hurry to my inevitable goals. I close my eyes and start to circulate the mana through the [Heavenly Bodies Transformation].