Chapter 35 - Calling

Wesley bid Kellan farewell and made his way to the Manor. After walking through the buzzing streets for a short while, Wesley, who appeared to be deep in thought, couldn’t help but feel a bit of hunger. He looked around and found a small inn, deciding to grab something to eat.

Upon entering the inn, Wesley sat in the corner and ordered a small meal. As he waited, he began to ponder. His eyes took on an odd glaze of thoughtfulness, and he seemed unaware of his surroundings, absorbed in thinking about the breathing exercises the second elder had shown him.

Those breathing exercises were not profound; in fact, one could say they were rather simple and straightforward. Yet Wesley couldn’t imagine how difficult it must've been to envision such a technique for the first time. Wesley had trained as a mage for almost six years, but not once had he been able to imagine how mana could be used to strengthen and nourish his body’s cells.

Mana is as much a part of nature as air; however, it is infinitely more complex. Both mages, swordsmen, and even ordinary folk possess mana within their bodies. While the mana stored in ordinary people's bodies is hardly ever noticed or used, mages and swordsmen rely on it constantly, albeit in different ways. Mages use mana to manipulate their surroundings, actively collecting and refining it, while swordsmen passively use mana to strengthen their bodies.

These two polar opposite methods of using the same mana lead to different results. Mages, who rely on mana to perform their spells, are able to use more profound abilities, but they are entirely dependent on mana, making them defenseless without it. On the other hand, swordsmen use their bodies and skills, relying on mana only to enhance their physical strength. This makes them more versatile, but their techniques lack the profundity of magic.

Even though mana is the same, and there is no difference between the mana used by mages and swordsmen, it is still impossible for a swordsman to imagine using mana like a mage, and vice versa. The reason for this is simply because of their conditioned points of view.

In the eyes of mages, mana is nothing more than an inanimate tool that enables them to manipulate the elements in their surroundings. They cast their mana outward and view it only as something to be used externally. Swordsmen, on the other hand, who rely on their bodies, think of mana as something to strengthen their physical form, so they focus on using it internally.

After the second elder introduced Wesley to the breathing exercises, a thought began to gnaw at him from the depths of his mind. Wesley was both a mage and a swordsman. By nature, he was a mage, but by choice, he was a swordsman. His understanding of mana had always aligned with that of a mage.

Yet now, after seeing a glimpse of the swordsman’s perspective, he couldn’t help but feel puzzled about which method was correct. Was it the profound abilities of a mage, or the independent versatility of a swordsman?

Wesley knew that not anyone could become a mage, but anyone could become a swordsman. If a mage wanted to use the mana methods of a swordsman, like Wesley just did, they should be able to, but a swordsman could never use mana like a mage. However, no mage would ever bother using a swordsman’s methods, as their own methods were more profound and powerful.

Wesley, however, felt that something about this was wrong. A mage did indeed have more powerful abilities compared to the simplicity of swordsmen, but the second elder’s methods were also extremely profound. This meant that the swordsman’s methods, while initially weaker than those of a mage, would grow in power over time.

Two paths, two completely different methods of using the same thing—so which was the correct way? Which one would ultimately prove to be the true way? As Wesley thought about all these things, he couldn’t help but feel a sense of restlessness. The seemingly minor discovery of those breathing exercises had shaken him to his core.

Not only was his entire view on mana being only an external force changed, he also discovered that there was a completely opposite method of utilizing it that was possibly as profound. Furthermore, he couldn’t figure out which of the two methods was right. While this could be considered as pondering the size of the sun from the bottom of a well, there was one thing that made Wesley excited about his discovery; If mana can be utilized in two opposite ways, then it is safe to assume that there are other ways of utilizing it as well.

Wesley spent the next few hours sitting in that corner of the Inn while constantly pondering, Wesley was immediately awakened from his deep thoughts as he noticed that it was getting dark outside. Wesley reluctantly decided to put his pondering on hold and head home.

As he walked out of the Inn, Wesley noticed that the streets were now devoid of the masses that filled it earlier. Aside from a few store owners who were closing up and very few people like Wesley who are heading home, one couldn’t catch a whiff of the earlier liveliness of the street. Since Wesley lives in the seventh, he takes small side roads like these to head home because the main road doesn’t reach the seventh district, so most of the stores on these side roads, unlike the ones on the main road, closed as soon as the sun sets, causing the street to seem deserted.

Wesley simply shook his head and started moving towards the seventh district. As he started moving, a few more people also started moving with him. Wesley immediately noticed that these people were following him and he couldn’t help but sigh. Ever since a year ago when a government official came to see him, Wesley was watched constantly.

Wesley simply ignored them and continued his walking. After more than twenty minutes of walking, Wesley reached the Manor.

- - - - - - -

In the blink of an eye, a month had already passed.

During this entire month, Wesley continued his attempts to decipher the mystery of mana and its uses. He cataloged the advantages and disadvantages of the two methods, as well as their characteristics, in his mind. He then tried to utilize mana in ways similar to those two methods.

First, he tried casting his mana outward toward random objects to try and manipulate them like a mage manipulates the elements. Wesley found that one can use mana on objects to manipulate them, but not to the extent of controlling the elements. Wesley could make a book levitate with some effort, but he couldn’t change the book’s shape, size, or form. He noticed that the amount of mana required to levitate a book was extremely high, which led him to conclude that, with enough mana, one could do more—but it was too wasteful, so he didn't pursue it any further.

Next, Wesley thought of ways to use mana inwardly. After considering the breathing exercises, he tried mixing mana with food and drink. The results were just as disappointing as the previous experiment. The mana mixed in the food was simply distilled out by the body's digestive processes before it reached the cells, with only small amounts getting that far. The digestive process took too long to allow substantial amounts of mana to reach the cells.

Wesley also tried numerous other methods, from saturating his surroundings with mana so that the air he breathed was naturally infused with it, to attempting to form mana into different shapes, some of which were too ridiculous to mention. Unfortunately, the results were always the same: impractical.

Either the mana required was too much, or the results were too weak. So, everything Wesley tried turned out to be a failure. Wesley had always known that there was no way he could emulate the two methods—methods that had been researched, refined, and improved for countless millennia—in a single month. But that didn’t mean he should stop.

In fact, during this month of experimentation, Wesley discovered that even though his experiments were failures, he still found different ways to use mana. Mana was not only mysterious and ancient, but also neutral. It had no inherent affinity, form, or physical state, yet it held immense potential.

After his experiments, Wesley came to two conclusions: first, mana has far more uses than the two main methods; and second, there must be other people out there who know of different methods of using mana. After all, he had never even known of the existence of breathing exercises, yet Kellan had been practicing them for years.

Wesley wasn’t too discouraged by his fruitless endeavors; rather, he was extremely excited by them. From a young age, Wesley hadn’t had many friends or close confidants. He spent most of his time either training or reading. This made him more independent and calm, but it also led him to develop an appreciation for mysteries and oddities.

To alleviate the boredom caused by his rather solitary existence, Wesley had developed a taste for adventure, the unknown, and discovery. And now, having found what could be considered the most mysterious force in existence, he was instantly charmed—and trapped.