“Since we’re going to travel on foot, we all need to be able to stamina drag if we don’t want anyone left behind. We can’t rely on cars any more.”

Gordon shook his head and sighed. “You don’t need to be so dramatic about it. I know, you want me to learn to use stamina and mana properly. Please, explain what in the world I’m supposed to actually do.”

Levi grinned. “Start running and don’t stop. Keep an eye on your stamina, and when it starts to drop pay attention to what triggers it.”

“Where am I running to?”

“You’ll be finding us a dungeon.”

“There aren’t any around here.”

“There are always dungeons around.” More so in these days. It felt like he couldn’t run for more than an hour in any direction without stumbling on another. Those on his mental map from the future tended to be most concentrated away from population centers, but from what he’d seen in reality they were actually pretty evenly distributed. Those in cities were more easily discovered and destroyed, it seemed. Though who exactly could go around destroying that many dungeons without being widely talked about?

Probably no individual. The collective efforts of those trying to protect their homes in whatever way they could. Dungeons wouldn’t be recognized as essential weapons and resources for years yet.

“So this is your way of forcing me to learn Mana Ping, then?” Gordon sighed. “Your instructions don’t make things any clearer, you know.”

“Because it’s not something you learn by thinking, it’s something you learn to feel. System resources tend to pool throughout your body, but so deeply integrated that it’s only when you pay attention that you’ll notice they’re even there.”

Gordon shivered. “That’s not creepy at all.”

“Mana is usually pooled strongest around the head, and tends to flow down to the arms most easily. That’s why it’s the one used to activate weapons. Stamina pools around your chest, and can be drawn away to any point in the body or flooded throughout fully. To run long distances you’ll want to keep it centered in your heart and lungs but also extend to your legs to prevent fatigue or damage. Health doesn’t stick around any particular place, it’s always in motion, in your skin, in your blood. It does a good job running on automatic so you don’t need to worry about it just now.”

Gordon put a hand over his chest as though he could feel the stamina there. “Doesn’t that sound sorta… mystical to you?”

“No. It’s a verifiable fact. Just start running and you’ll see what I mean. System resources are designed to automatically kick in when needed. You can direct them manually, which is what I’m hoping to teach you, but even without direction they’ll help in a crisis.”

“Like adrenaline, but more so?”

“Yeah. You're going to need to learn to draw on it steadily and regularly, without using it in a single burst or outstripping your regen by too much."

"I don't know how you expect me to learn that. It's like trying to control my heartbeat, it just happens sometimes."

"Heartbeat is a surprisingly apt comparison, since with breathing techniques you can control it."

"Maybe times like this when we're calm, but in a fight I can't control it at all."

"We're not talking about in a fight, but in a marathon. Practice with me."

"Practice what, exactly? It's not like I can control it by breathing right."

"You could, if it was properly linked up to breathing. There are different ways to trigger system resources, and different ways to use them, but we'll be sticking to the basics. You can always add more complicated triggers later. Right now, you just need a mental association. What were you thinking the last time you remember using stamina to boost yourself?"

"I was probably trying not to die," Gordon said, a bit irritable. "Since it would have been in a fight."

"Then I'll try to kill you. Try to focus on exactly when you start to feel the stamina activate." Levi drew his shortsword and activated it, spectral jaws springing into existence around its blade as he lunged for Gordon’s throat.

Gordon leapt back in wide-eyed shock. "Woah, woah! No! Don't try to kill me, that's a terrible training method!" Then he stopped and scowled. "Okay, that used eight stamina. So, panic?"

"What were you thinking in that moment? What did you feel?"

"That you'd utterly lost your mind?"

"We've established that. But what were you thinking?"

"That I had to get away before you took my head off, because you're liable to do that now."

"Do you see the connection yet?"

"You don't need to go through this middle school question and answer crap, just tell me."

"The first step is to figure out your activation triggers and claim control over them. The challenge to this method is holding it back when you do activate it, so you don’t drain yourself completely. The good news is that you seem to be highly reactive. Burning eight stamina already on a simple attack like this means your stamina should come easily when you call on it. The bad news is that you’re likely to overdraw a lot at first and your regen isn’t high enough to compensate. But that means it really isn’t a question I can answer for you. The connections you form are going to be different from mine.”

“Well, obviously I’m going to react when I’m in danger of dying!”

“Good start, but we need more specifics. We’ll try again until you can tell me what it is that activates your stamina.”

“Fear for my life?” By now, Gordon sounded more than a little frustrated.

“Let’s try a few more and see if we can narrow it down.” Levi grinned as a thought occurred to him. “And close your eyes this time.”

“What? You’re going to stab me while I can’t even see you coming?”

“Irene can fix you up when we’re done.”

“I think I’d rather do the running around thing.”

“Oh, you’ll get a chance to do that too. But first, close your eyes, and pay attention to what you’re thinking and feeling. Watch your stamina meter. If it goes down, tell me to stop and explain what triggered it.”

Gordon eyed the sword in Levi’s hand distrustfully. “You don’t have to look so excited about it.”

“Close your eyes.”

Though reluctant, Gordon did as asked.

"You know, this would also be a good time to learn mana sensing," Levi said casually. Gordon spun to face the sound of his voice, but with a quick jump Levi was on his other side. "If you could sense my mana presence, you might be less spooked."

Gordon twitched. "You're threatening to stab me, I think I have the right to be spooked."

"Too bad you don't have a manablade of your own, huh?" Levi reached out and poked his finger against Gordon's shoulder.

Gordon jumped back with a yelp. "Stop! Went down by six this time." He scowled when he saw Levi didn't even have his sword drawn. "That's just wrong."

"The goal is to teach you how to access stamina, not have an excuse to actually harm you."

"You could have fooled me." Gordon put a hand on his chest, laughing weakly. "You about scared me to death, you know."

"Good. Then perhaps you've found your trigger?"

"Homicidal co-workers. Definitely homicidal co-workers."

"I'm not homicidal, I told you I'd get the healer if anything got out of hand."

"That's not reassuring! You have to see how that's not reassuring."

Levi shrugged. "I've been almost dead more times than I've been actually dead. You get used to it after a while." You didn't, not really, it felt like agony and dread and not yet, I have more to do, but after the first few times it took the edge off it a bit.

"And that's supposed to make me feel better about being stabbed?"

"No, it's supposed to motivate you to activate your stamina. How about you try to outrun me and I'll only stab you if I catch up."

"I don't think I like this method--"

Levi activated his sword, the beast jaws ready to snap down. He'd start with an arm...

Gordon clearly recognized his intent, cutting off mid-sentence and taking off running like he had a demon army on his heels.

Levi easily kept pace with him, a light burn of stamina holding steady. He could maintain this speed for days without flagging. A week of nonstop action had begun to show its effect, though Levi was still physically closer to the desk worker he’d Awakened as than the relentless warrior he’d eventually become. There was no way to instantly transform his body back to its peak, only weeks more of running and fighting would do that, but his extensive knowledge of stamina techniques more than made up for it when chasing down an ordinary mundane human.

Gordon scowled and his speed increased.

Levi stopped running parallel and started easing over toward Gordon, closing the distance.

“Stop, stop, I’m using stamina!”

Levi didn’t slow. “But do you understand it?”

“No!”

“Then keep trying.”

“I really don’t…. like this…” Gordon’s speed increased yet again.

This time Levi didn’t increase his own speed to match, maintaining his steady pace as he fell behind, keeping his stamina draw unchanged. “Remember, steadily! You don’t want to burn it all at once. Pull back a bit. Restrain it. Feel the difference. Take control.”

“I don’t know what I’m even doing!” Gordon continued to run frantically until his stamina burst ended and he slowed to a weary jog even slower than when he started. “I think you overestimate my ability to learn weird magic powers.”

“You can do it. I know you will.”

Gordon looked over at Levi, anxiously, panting as he staggered onward.

“We’ve got two whole days to practice in.” Giving his best evil smile, Levi repeated, “You will do it.”