"What mana feels like for everyone can vary greatly, so I can't really give you an explanation on what to look for. Your mana pool is part of your soul, so you will have to focus inwards. While all of this may sound very vague, it is as much as I can say about this. The sense for mana is part of you and should come intuitively. If you really can't do it for some reason, it might be helpful to try and feel the way that using active skills drains your mana instead. If you focus on that, you should feel the drain sooner or later and start developing your mana sense based on that feeling. If you successfully sense your mana, the system will show you [Mana Sense Lv. 1] among your general skills, right next to where [Identify] is."
"Now, without further ado, let's get started. While your position might have no actual relevance, it would probably be a good idea to get into a comfortable position. This might take a while after all. After you succeed, come to me. I will then explain the next steps for you."
Following the example of instructor Carmelia, we sat down on the ground. We closed our eyes to reduce any outside influence as much as possible, trying to focus as much as possible on this new, sixth type of sense.
I don't know how long I sat there, trying to focus inwards, wanting to notice anything that felt different from how it felt at home without all of this mana and magic. And yet I felt nothing, not even a hint of this elusive mana. The meditation I was practicing might have even had the opposite effect of what was intended. We were supposed to block out and ignore our other senses as much as possible, but I always circled back to unknowingly reaching out instead. I felt the cool earth pressed against my legs and the way the sun felt warm on my skin. I felt the gentle breeze of the wind slowly wash over the land, and the slight smells of a beautiful spring day invaded my nose. I felt the slight tremors in the ground every time one of my classmates stood up or sat back down, and I even felt the way my clothes shifted as they blew in the slight wind.
I felt everything but the mana we were supposed to feel. Focusing inwards did nothing. I could feel my heart beat and my lungs expand with every breath I took, but my mana remained hidden from me. I even used her final advice of trying to feel one of our skills drain some mana. I repeatedly called out and played around with my [Candlelight], trying to notice any minute changes it caused in me, but I failed to notice anything different, no matter how much mana I spent.
Time continued passing, and soon I was the only one left. Only instructor Carmelia was still there; all my other classmates had already succeeded and left to enjoy the rest of the day. She just sat there meditating, radiating a sense of calm and serenity I couldn't even hope to match.
It was already starting to turn dark when instructor finally Carmelia tapped me on my shoulder, trying to get my attention. "You know, it's really rare, but it happens occasionally. Just like how some people are physically blind at birth, some people are born mana-blind. While it means that you may never do freeform magic the way we do, don't give up hope. You still have your class and your skills. There are many people out there that have achieved great things in their lives, completely without ever learning any of this. While the path may be harder for you than it is for others, it's far from being insurmountable."
She paused for a second, probably thinking through her next words.
"You know, even if you feel like you are at a great disadvantage compared to the other hero candidates due to your class only being uncommon, when compared to the average person born in this world, having an uncommon grade for the first class is seen as something truly extraordinary. While we aren't making a big deal out of it here, having rare or epic classes in tier one is unheard of outside of hero summoning. Even I was born with a common grade [Mage] class, and yet I made it to where I am today."
As I finally turned to actually face her, a hint of tears welling up at the corners of my eyes. I could only see a gentle smile on her face, like a completely different person from how she faced us when we first met her.
"That flame you have there is quite extraordinary. It is almost unheard of for a low-tier skill to show this extreme amount of flexibility, I don't know of any other skill like that. While it isn't quite freeform magic, you could almost do something similar with it, though you are restricted to fire as your only aspect. Now, it's already quite late. If you feel ready, come back inside to eat dinner. You're probably quite hungry and exhausted after today."
She then left the practice field while I remained there just a bit longer, solemnly watching the sun set below the horizon. After I finally made my way back into the palace, the dinner room was practically empty. I didn't know where all my classmates were at, but I didn't really care either. The dinner today was very similar to what I had yesterday. Some average-tasting bread along with some soup or stew, I don't know the difference anyways. As I calmed down a bit more, I called up my status window again. It had been almost a day since I last saw it, though I don't think much has changed yet.
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
[Name: Hanah Mayflower
Race: Human
Level: 1
Mana: 46/100
Achievements: [Hero Candidate]
Class: Firefly (Uncommon)
Active Skills:
[Candlelight Lv. 2]
[Flash Lv. 2]
[Minor Fireball Lv. 1]
Passive Skills:
[Photo-Thermic Synthesis Lv. 1]
[Minor Fire Affinity]
[Minor Light Affinity]
General Skills:
[Identify]
[Heightened Senses Lv. 2]]
How ironic. I wanted [Mana Sense] but got [Heightened Senses] instead. It even reached level two. Seems like today wasn't entirely wasted then, even though I still felt sad about it. Apart from that, only [Candlelight] changed, leveling up to level two as well. I did use it quite a bit today after all, trying all sorts of things to somehow make me feel it draining my mana.
Speaking of mana, I had about half remaining now. From what I've extrapolated, I seem to regenerate about 15 mana per hour, which means that it would take about six and a half hours to go from zero to full. Mana regeneration is not exposed by the system, I wonder why. I would also like to know how it's calculated and what influences this. Maybe something to ask instructor Carmelia tomorrow. Or not, it's not that important, I guess. Maybe I can figure it out myself later.
Having nothing more to do today, I headed back to my room. On my way back, I met nobody except some workers of the palace. I wonder what the king is up to right now, we haven't met that guy after he gave us that lecture-like introduction yesterday.
Even though I didn't do much physical exercise today, I felt extremely tired. Focusing on something that might as well not exist for me was mind-bogglingly exhausting. The disappointment from hearing that I might be mana-blind didn't help in that regard. The moment my head hit the soft pillow on my bed, I was gone into another dreamless sleep.
---
The next day, shortly after noon, we met again with instructor Carmelia. I noticed that we were one person short today. Whitney, our healer, wasn't here with us. I wonder why.
"Yesterday, most of you succeeded in sensing and manipulating your mana by touching it with an aspect and expressing it through intent. With that, you already have the entire foundation needed for real freeform magic. Now it's just a matter of getting better. While I can't force you to do so, I would strongly advise you to continue practicing whenever you get the opportunity to. While most of you won't ever be using it to any effect in actual combat, it is useful to both get better in your actual skills as well as generally during your daily life. For example, cleaning gets a lot more convenient when you are able to control some amount of water. The foundational skills you earned, [Mana Sense] and [Mana Manipulation], are going to benefit you in the future as well. Especially [Mana Sense] is useful for mages, as it allows you to start glimpsing into the nature of other beings usage of mana as well with increasing level. Sensing another mage casting something even when you can't physically sense them is incredibly important when it comes to defending yourself. After all, only reacting to attacks after they have already been cast at you is vastly more dangerous than if you can already prepare countermeasures beforehand."
"Today, however, shall not be about freeform magic. Instead, we are going to be carefully introducing you to combat. Learning this before you enter actual combat is imperative to greatly increasing your odds of survival. If you freeze up or panic while in combat, you're as good as dead. Because of that, we will practice sparring now. You will fight one-on-one, using every ability you have available. I will observe you and act as a safeguard. You will not be able to seriously hurt your opponents under my watch, so you can freely go all out. After the fight is over, I will give you a review on the fight and on what you should focus on improving in the future. Does anyone have any questions before we begin?"
"No? That's good. Now for the matchups, Eric, you will not be fighting anyone except for me. I have no effective way of preventing you from hurting your opponents due to the insidious nature of how your class fights. Since I want you to still benefit from this, you will have to make do with facing me later. As a being three tiers below me, you will entirely be unable to deal any real damage, but that is as expected for now."
"For the first matchup, Leyvin will fight against John. After that, we'll have Aurelia against Carl. In the final match, Miss Firefly will fight against Dahlia. Any complaints?"
Damn, she's really insistent on using this nickname now. I can already feel a headache coming from this. She also had that annoying smirk every time she said it.
"If not, then let's begin. Leyvin and John, please step over there. Everyone else, back away some distance. I will act as referee and protector for both of you. Final tip: this isn't a tournament or an actual match, it's a learning opportunity. Instead of trying to end it as fast as possible, try to get a feel for your skills and how you can use them to attack or defend yourself. Also do keep an eye on your mana. Bottoming out your mana reserves can be extremely exhausting, especially if you aren't used to it. If you don't want to lose the rest of this wonderful day, I recommend you signal me if you're about to run out. I will end the match in that case. Understood?"
Both Leyvin and John nodded.
"Great, then begin."
Neither of them immediately made a move, both seemingly waiting for the other one to start. They stood about fifteen meters apart on an almost circular patch of dirt in the otherwise mostly grassy practice field. It was probably where many such spars had been held in the past, the grass gone through the constant wear and tear.
Leyvin stood almost a foot taller than John, even though both were way taller than I was. The comparison was unfair though, my measly height couldn't possibly compare to the boys, and Leyvin was really tall to begin with. His golden-blonde, slightly curly hair swayed softly in the mild breeze that swept over the field. In contrast to him, John had rather short black hair that didn't move even an inch in the wind.
Of course, while this wasn't a real fight, I was still strongly hoping for Leyvin to win. John was Blake's friend after all. While he sadly couldn't get hurt due to instructor Carmelia watching over the fight, I still hoped that he humiliated himself somehow. Then he wouldn't be able to rightfully make fun of me when I inevitably did the same in my fight against Dahlia. That girl was way too fiery about all of this to feel anxiety, fear, or any sort of embarrassment.