Volume 1 - Chapter 2 - First train, then teach, when teaching, be trained

Mana is present everywhere, it is the very essence of all existence. It can never be created nor destroyed. If that’s true, then where it comes from? That is a question that has been asked since at least ten million years ago, and likely even before then. It hasn’t been answered yet, or if it had, it was never shared. But we are here for another reason, so lets put that aside that for now. Mana consists of four states. Free State - this is mana in its basic form, it exists everywhere. Its power and concentration is extremely low, so it can’t really be used by most people. Sages and Hermits are said to be able to harness this power, but this was never verified. They are reclusive beings, so it’s highly unlikely we will ever know. Moving on. Ever seen specks of light drifting around in the night sky? Or bursts of them emitting from leylines? That happens when enough free state mana have gathered together to manifest itself into the Light state. Light State - this is the fundamental state of mana that’s used by almost all [Mage]s. In this state, mana can be manipulated with formulas to produce tangible results. The formulas themselves can come in many different shapes and forms, [Mage]s tend to use complex calculations to produce more intense results whereas [Warrior]s use it to boost their physical strength. This is because mana in this state is very fluid and easy to move. Every living, even some non-living, things produce a certain amount of it in their bodies. How it is used is dependent on the users, it’s commonly divided into [Growth], [Skill]s and [Spell]s, although other form of it exists. Refer to other books for a more detailed explanation in regards to them. Physical State - this is the state that we are all aware of. Everything we can touch, see and feel is mana in the physical state. As enough Light State mana gathers together, they will eventually form a physical body. From the largest to the smallest grains, it’s mana in the physical state. Many diseases are the manifestation of malignant physical mana affecting one’s body, that’s why it’s rare to see intermediate and higher [Mages] to become sick. This also concerns the effect of manipulating Light mana. Take a [Fire Bullet] spell for example. The practitioner will gather the necessary Light mana and run it it through a formula to convert it into a flame that will fly forward. It will keep going until the mana is dispersed. The scatter will either become scattered Light mana or convert into Free mana upon dispersal. Ethereal State - this is the highest state of mana that we, the council of San’na, are aware of. We are not sure not how it’s formed, but all living creatures have it. Others also call it the soul. From what we can understand, it’s the state when “Thoughts” can occur. The legendary talking sword, the Abysmal Sun, is said to be forged from a combination of Ethereal mana and specially treated ores. The Ethereal mana is unique to each individual, affecting their aptitudes in handling mana and their capacity to store Light mana. Demihuman souls for example generally has an aptitude for [Growth], Alfin souls generally enhance the host’s ability to use [Spells], humans souls are more suited for [Skills]. But regardless of the type of soul, we have determined that the more intelligent and knowledgeable a soul becomes, the more Light mana it can hold. There is also a cycle of mana, which can be observed by closely observing nature. Whenever there is rain,

Bell is reading the [Theory of Mana] with interest while Kun is reading [Introduction to Magic]. Till is leading the children, actually, officially now, students, to teach them about [Foraging] in the forest. De’muel and Mak’ra were also on hand to teach everyone about the defenses they can use in the forest.

The group have decided that they will get some sort of lesson plans going first before they can go out and start recruiting students. As such, they were each tasked with selecting a role after one week. Bell has started on going through the more difficult books since she is the older and more knowledgeable of the group. Kun on the other hand focused on the more practical and hands-on subjects. Till wasn’t interested in any of the books, calling them boring, so she started teaching the students about the forest. Rick has excused himself from doing anything, saying he has to move during the week.

I put [Theory of Mana] away after reading it in its entirety. The sun shines in through the window, I pace around the window to catch some rays.

Ahhhhh… if only I can see the sun after logging out. Just have to endure a few more months! But those books… are all of them handwritten? The capacity for Light mana… isn’t that referring to our MP? So if one of our students have a large pool, doesn’t that mean they are gifted with intelligence? We should run a test for this later. It’s intriguing that mana is basically the concept of mass-energy, but does E=mc^2 not apply here? The details is amazing for merely a game.

I continue to think while enjoying the warmth of the sun, suddenly…

“Ah!”

“Huh?”

*pasha*

A small blob of water flew into my face as I turned. I didn’t have a chance to dodge so I close my eyes on reflex. A small marble of water splashes refreshingly on my face. The amount of water is quite small, I am more surprised than hurt. I open my eyes slowly to see Kun in a weird stance looking unusually dumbfounded.

“Is there any particular reason for throwing water at me?” I can see Rick doing this, but Kun? I thought he was more mature than this, did Rick’s stupidity spread that quickly?

Kun drops his stupid pose, looking at his hands and me back and forth a few times with a blank expression.

“I think I just accidentally casted [Water Beads].” He’s alternately start turning his hands, clenching and unclenching them.

“But you are a not a mage, how can you cast anything?” The tutorials and game manual were pretty clear, new users are restricted to the four basic class of [Warrior], [Mage], [Archer] and [Craftsman] after they advance from a [Novice]. [Spell]s and [Skill]s are all divided evenly for every basic class, with [Craftsman] being able to use inferior version of them from other classes. This is on top of the fact that there is no “Kun has learned [Water Beads]” notice in the announcement tab.

“Maybe they did a silent update?” Kun was making an awkward face while scratching his head.

“You know what, just do it again.”

Kun’s face brightens, as though he just found a new toy. He reads from a book on the table while making some strange gestures with his hands and legs, a ball of water floats in the air next to him before flying past me and out the window. Kun turns to follow the flying globe of water with his eyes before it unexpectedly bursts a few meters outside.

“Let me see that.” I walk briskly next to Kun, who quickly got out of the way after looking at me. I stand in front of the book and starts reading it from beginning to end. As I put the book down, slightly elated, slightly confused, but 100% intrigued, I notice Kun starting to shoot multiple beads of water out the window all at once without those weird poses of his. He has a stupidly joyful face while doing it, but I’m not going to tease him for that. I wonder what expression I had when I went to read the book.

I start to do some weird gestures of my own, referring to the [Introduction to Magic] every now and then. I learned why Kun was looking so strange. He was trying to gather the Light mana into a pool while forming the formula in his mind. [Spell]s can be invoked simply by directing Light mana through a formula. The formula can be physically written, mentally constructed or even be abstractly combined to produce the [Spell]. I can feel the Light mana gathering, forming a ball of water in front of me. I finish the formula and thrust my paw out to launch the ball of water.

*zabun*

Unexpectedly, the ball of water explodes toward the window. Kun was soaked from head to toe, laughing like a little kid. Strange… there was obviously more water from the splash than what was possible from that ball of water.

We got some cloth and wipe down the wet floor, wall and window. The curtains will have to be dried outside. We cleaned with some undoubtedly stupid looking grins on our faces. I haven’t felt this excited since doing those science experiments back in grade school. It’s probably the same for Kun as well.

*****

The week passed. The magic discovery was shown to Till and eventually Rick. Till already knew about it apparently, she just likes to shout out the spell name since she says that’s how heroes attack, at least that’s what the headmistress had told her. Rick was completely soaked when Bell demonstrated for him. He was eager to learn it until he realized he would need to read a book and so declined to do so.

“So we will go with this plan then?”

“Why do I have all the crappy jobs?”

“You were never here when we were deciding, beggars can’t be choosers. The [Art of Farming] and [Mining Techniques] mainly has pictures, so it’s right up your alley.”

“But why Phy. Ed and PR as well?”

“Because your body is the only good thing you have, unless you want to switch with one of us.”
Bell starts holding up some thick books laid out on the conference table.

“Fine fine...” Rick back off right away after seeing the books.

After some fine tuning, the group makes a rough schedule to follow. Bell will be responsible for theories and concepts, Kun will look after practicality and application. Till is in charge of teaching things related to the forest and oversee funding administration done by De’muel and co. Rick’s main focus will be teaching the students how to farm, mine, train their body, and when necessary, deal with outsiders. Additionally, each of them will teach the students how to fight with whatever they are good at. They will adventure and travel around together when they happen to log in at the same time. Hunting and leveling will of course be allowed, as long as one lesson is done every week.

Zinnia Academy now have 4 new principals/teachers. Lessons are in place, they find that the more they teach the students, the better they get with their own skills. They may be low level users, but they are growing rapidly alongside their students.

Meanwhile, unbeknownst to them, the [Monochrome Blades] and [Dawn’s Moonlight] guilds started to wage war for the rights to [Barghest Dungeon] which lies to the west, just slightly beyond Sardon. No one has cleared the dungeon yet, but several [Raid]s have already managed to reach the [Lord of the Dungeon], so it’s just a matter of time before it’s defeated.