Feeling the weight of the world upon my eyelids as I scramble around in the giant mess of books I made trying to find the one english book that explains what and how to use mana.

“Fuck! I go to sleep for like an hour at most and now I can’t bloody remember where I put that stupid thing!”

I spent around four hours trying to find some book that would explain to me how to use mana. It probably should have taken less time but, when searching for the right book I ran into a couple of problems.

Apparently, there are multiple ways to use mana. Crazy right.

Though this sounds reasonable. Having multiple ways for handling mana means more chances of finding a method that works for you, but when you’re in the moment of finding a book that’ll set you off on a path of magic, you don’t tend to think about those types of things.

Instead, for me anyway, I wanted a simple book that would teach or at least give me an idea on how to use magic. But instead, I just got a bunch of books that both require me to already have some experience in magic or at least a fucking idea on how to utilize mana.

First I found a book that had a title that said something like, Introduction to Ice Magic, or something. Though it sounded cool, when I picked it up, I figured out pretty quickly it was the third volume as it talked about a breath of frost or some bullshit like that.

Then I went back to the shelf and looked for anything that sounded like it had something to do with magic that was also the first volume. Found a few but then this was the point I found out the many different paths you can take.

Now, the different paths are simple enough in their concepts, but it’s the requirements and a few other things that make me frustrated.

There’s Destruction which just involves destroying your enemies. Restoration heals. Illusions confuse your enemies. Transmutation magic affects the world around you. Conjuration magic summons stuff. Abjuration magic which I didn’t even know was a thing but apparently, it involves barriers or something. Enchantment magic not only boosts the power of weapons but also your spells and yourself.

Supposedly there are even more paths you can take, but they’re either not very well known or practice, or a combination of the ones above.

Now, this wouldn't be a problem, just pick one right.

So I decided on conjuration magic since I was placed in the class of summoner. Smart right.

Well, after a few painful hours of trying to understand anything written in these books, I finally understood what I needed to do. And that was to spend another two hours staring at the covers of the books still on the shelf.

You see, conjuration magic is special even among the other schools of magic. That’s because unlike the rest, I need to already have a fair amount of experience in magic and know the basics of the other elements. Because to even perform the most basic spells in this stupid book you already have to be familiar with the four main elements and even a few of the sub-elements for the advance spells.

Still don’t even know what the hell the main or sub-elements are but whatever.

I continued looking and then found out you need not only the right materials but also knowledge of magical circles. Had to look that up.

I did eventually find out what a magical circle was. Apparently it’s the foundation for most spells and was a combination of both magical writing and shapes. Had to also look that up.

At this point, I was pretty tired so I decided it’s best for myself to just pick another class of magic. But when I did that, I almost lost my mind.

You have to understand that at this point, I was already really tired and was staring at a hard to understand book (Kinda like my story. This is from the author) but the only source of light I had was the starry sky because I didn’t know how to make the crystal thing light up more. So I was essentially reading in the dark.

Anyways, to use the other types of magic, you also needed to understand shapes and magical writing. I expected that.

What I didn’t expect was that each spell had a different requirement in both mana cost, but also the way the shapes and magical writing are presented.

Now shapes in the magical world are simple. They’re just shapes that you will use to shape the way your spell will look like. If you wanted to make an ice sword you would need to draw something that resembled a sword using mana lines. Or something more simple like a fireball.

Without shapes, most spells would have no shape at all and just be giant blobs of whatever the element is. Or, that’s what I was able to comprehend from these books.

Now magical writing is a bit more complicated, but simple when said out loud.

They’re nothing more than the code or instructions that the spell must follow. This way you can control how the wind around you will behave or make fire explode on impact instead of just burning the victim.

Now the funny part is that for some spells you need to not only know the correct writing for the spell but the shape as well.

This may sound simple, but not until you realize that some of these spells require different types of shapes. Shapes that can range from 3d shape to 2d shape and some not even needing shapes. Then there are the ones that require magical writing, which you need to both write, but also say it out loud for the world to hear. And then for some reason, some of these spells require you to say an entire paragraph but at the same time, you have the option to say the shorter version which begs the question of why you’re presented with the longer version.

Some of the spells required you to combine the two to create magical circles, some required no magical circle, and some even required magical circles with either both magical writing or shapes or just one of the two.

And magical circles is an entire subject unto itself with each one having a different number of shapes and magical writing. Some having only two verses which is the way magical writing is counted, but have either one shape or fucking fifty shapes!

It’s just. It’s been a long night and I’m pretty sure that the sun should already be up. Are the day and night cycles in this world different?

Back to the matter at hand, none of these things would be all that frustrating, well they would be but not as much, if for the tiny little fact that not a single Fucking One of Them Told Me How to Use Fucking MANA!

You think with the number of books I went through at least one of them would have something, anything, telling me how to utilize mana. But they don’t.

The closest thing any of these dusty old books gave to me on how to use mana was telling me which part of the body I should direct my mana too. And I was just sitting there wondering how to send mana to any part of my body.

Some told me to extend my mana, others told me to build up, some to thin out, and others saying to transform the mana into the respected element.

I tried multiple different methods to try and at least feel the mana inside my body. I’m guessing that mana is inside my body I don’t actually know.

I tried feeling up my body, meditating, saying some of the incantations for the spells written in the book. None of them worked.

Finally though, after hours of searching, I found a book that looked like it contained exactly what I was looking for.

It had a simple title, Introduction to Magic Vol 1. This begs the question of why I didn’t find it earlier. And my answer to this is that I found like four other books with the same title that did not give me what I wanted.

That or I just didn’t understand it. These dusty books are written in like old english.

After finding the book that had what I wanted, I thought it would be a good idea to get some rest as if I didn’t, I might have been too tired to learn anything.

But now that I lost it I think I probably should have just read the thing.

Feeling the bulges in my neck from looking down for too long, I bent my neck along with my back to the point where I could see the other side of my room completely upside down.

As I did this I noticed a large thick brick sitting upon my desk.

Curious, I got up from my spot, hearing the cracks in my bones.

Stepping over to my desk, I look at the very top of the brick, which now that I’m closer, appears to be a book. With a title that proclaimed, Introduction to Magic Vol 1.

Stuck staring at the cover, my brain seemed to have stopped.

“...Oh yeah. I left it on my desk before I fell asleep in case I would lose it.”

Not thinking at all about anything, I sat down in the comfy chair, opened up the cover to reveal the very first page. Showing off the title once again but this time having the author’s name underneath it.

“Chris Helen huh. I hope you have what I’m looking for.” Although I said that this book contained everything I wanted to know, I don’t actually remember what’s inside it. I was extremely tired and my eyes were about to shut.

Going to the next page, a few lines of text telling me what the names of each chapter were. I guess this is the table of contents.

There were ten chapters with the title of each being very simple and to the point.

Chapter 1: Mana

Chapter 2: The History of Mana

Chapter 3: The Astral Body

Chapter 4: Feeling Mana

Chapter 5: Gathering Mana

Chapter 6: Purifying

Chapter 7: Storing Mana

Chapter 8: Directing Mana Throughout the Body

Chapter 9: Emitting Mana Outside the Body

Chapter 10: The Origin of Mana?

They’re all straight to the point and easy to understand. The only ones I don’t have an idea what the chapter is about is the first one, the last one, and maybe chapter six.

The first one is titled, Mana, which is already confusing enough. But I think it’s just a simple introduction to mana and explaining to us how it works.

Chapter 6 is also a little strange with its title of Purifying. But that’s later in the book so maybe I’ll have an idea what it’s talking about later.

And now the one I have the most questions for is the tenth chapter with its title literally being a question.

“...The Origin of Mana?” I said this slowly. Taking each word in.

Now, I’m assuming that this book is old and has already been out in the world for a couple dozen years. But I could be wrong.

Currently, I’m guessing that this book is old and that the people of this world have already learned the origin of where mana comes from. But if it’s new.

Then that means the secrets of Magic still haven't been fully unraveled.

Sitting there trying to let my mind take in everything, my brain could only come to one conclusion, “Welp. I’m definitely not going to figure this universal question out. Especially not on my first day here.”

Shoving that question to the back of my mind, I turn the page to the very first chapter and truly begin on my path of magic.

* * *

Chapter 1 Mana

Mana is a universal source of energy that has existed long before the gods created the Celestial Realm, and allows one who is proficient in the art of magic to alter reality itself. This chapter will explain the rules of Magic. Rules that every magic-user must follow, and can never be broken.

The very first rule that laid the foundations for everything we know about magic, is that mana can neither be created nor destroyed. No matter how proficient you are in magic and the usage of mana, this rule can never be broken. Failure to understand this can lead to dire consequences. As if one tries to destroy an already existing mana, the body will be destroyed by either the mana already inside one's body, but also the mana around will attack the user. Either crippling or killing.

Now while mana cannot be destroyed, it can be absorbed and transformed.

What it means to absorb is to take in the already existing mana around, such as the air itself, trees, grass, or a corpse. But even something as simple as this has rules. Because mana is the source of life for many creatures, by absorbing the mana from the surrounding area, you can kill or damage the environment around you.

But because mana cannot be destroyed, when the being dies, the mana stored in his body will be released.

Now transforming is something more complicated but in simple terms. Transforming is simply changing the way the mana is structured, and changing it into something else. This can be flames, ice, water, or electricity. But know that you cannot simply just absorb mana into your body and then instantly shoot the mana out as flames. Instead, you must transform the mana into the respected element beforehand. It’s difficult to explain, but very important and is something I will touch upon later. For now though, just understand that transforming mana into something else takes much time.

The second rule is that natural mana that exists in the air or plants, cannot be absorbed into the body or be used to perform magic.

This is because the body of a living creature is unique and requires a specific type to function, and the mana that exists in the air or any living thing, will be tainted. Further moving it away from its origin. And because each race requires a specific level of purity in its mana. I will explain this in more detail later, but for now please note that you cannot simply absorb natural mana that exists around you.

The third rule is that you cannot force mana, but simply guide it.

This one is very strange and hard to understand, so to explain it, I will use an example.

This example will be a flowing river. Imagine that the water is mana, now, if the water is flowing downhill, you cannot force the water to go in the opposite direction. You can temporarily stop the water, but can’t make it go against itself. And this explanation is the same for magic. You can’t make the mana inside your body go against itself. You may not understand what this means now, but I will explain it later.

Just know that if you make the mana inside your body go in a direction it’s not supposed to, that part of your body will blow up. Or maybe become disable if you’re lucky, but most likely blow up.

The final rule is that elements of opposing nature cannot be used at the same time.

This one is the most simple of all the rules and the only rule out of the four that can be bent to some degree. All of the other rules must be followed and can’t be broken or bent, but this rule, while not being breakable, can be bent slightly.

Anyways, this rule states that no elements that oppose each other can be used together. For example, if you use fire magic with your left hand, and water magic in your right, the two elements will oppose and battle each other. This battle will occur inside your body, and depending on how strong your astral and physical bodies are, the effects this can have may vary. The most likely effect will be death though.

But like I said, this rule can be bent to some degree.

And that is, just because you learned fire magic, does not mean you can’t learn an element like water or ice magic. It’s just that you can’t use them at the same time. This means you can first use fire magic, stop, and soon after use ice magic. This way, the two elements will not go against each other or harm yourself.

Of course, there are many other factors to this, such as the time between using one element and the other. If you were to use water magic, and right after use fire magic, the fire magic will be much weaker. The time until your fire spell can vary with how powerful the fire or water spell is, so try to experiment with this process yourself.

These are the four main rules every practitioner of magic must follow.

So to recap, the four main rules are,

Mana cannot be Created nor Destroyed Natural Mana cannot be Absorbed into the Body or Used Never Force Mana in a Direction Elements of Opposing Nature cannot be used at the same time

Now there are many other minor rules one must follow. But these four are the main rules that can never be broken, with the fourth one being the only lenient one.

All other minor rules can either be bent to a large degree or even completely broken in specific situations.