Tirren closed his eyes and exhaled the last breath of the ritual of purification, a meditation technique focused on allowing mana passage through a Seidren’s body. As his eyes opened, Tirren looked around at the neat dojo in which he found himself. A couple of other students meditated or sat quietly, and the sounds of sparring could be heard in the adjacent room.

  Tirren stood quietly shaking his arms, letting the blood flow to his limbs, which had rested through his self-imposed ritual. He walked out of the quiet room, and smiled a small smile at his waiting teacher. Jonu, the recipient of the smile, got up as well and climbed onto a raised platform surrounded on all sides with rope. A sparring platform.

  Tirren quickly walked over, and as he did, he pulled in as much mana as he could into his mana well, in preparation. Once he was inside the sparring platform one of the attending teachers struck a small bell, and the fight began.

  Jonu strode forward, and as he did, he struck punches apparently into the air. There was no warning aside from a small warping in the air, and Tirren’s general mana sense, but those punches heralded focused projectiles of force and air which came quickly towards Tirren. He dodged two of them, but was tagged on the shoulder by the third. He quickly brought himself back to center, but Jonu had wasted no time, and had now closed the gap. He struck with an open hand, using a fighting technique developed specifically for training, and Tirren found himself throwing blocks and stumbling away from the older man.

  Tirren realized this spar would end quickly, and throwing himself into it, he pushed his mana into an aura around himself, stopping the next strike on the barrier of force around him. Jonu struck twice on the barrier, realized what had happened and leapt backwards as Tirren threw both of his hands forward into a strike, and emptied most of his mana well into a powerful strike.

  The strike caught Jonu, and he was thrown across the platform until he slid under the ropes and dropped off the far end.

  A quiet murmur ran through the watching members of the dojo as they watched the head teacher drop from the platform. Tirren couldn’t help the triumphant smile that engulfed his features and threw his hand upwards in celebration. Jonu was quick to his feet, and his face was unusually red as he stood. He quickly lifted himself back into the ring. Tirren turned to him.

  “Teacher, are you quite alright? That was quite a fall.” The gathered students were now all watching, and Tirren couldn't help but wave his victory in the face of the master teacher of the Dojo. The man flinched as if struck, but his voice was calm.

  “Let us prepare for another round.” Tirren went to decline politely, but the bell rang, and the man was crossing the space in a heartbeat. Tirren threw a block with his forearm as he’d been taught, but noticed with alarm that his teacher had struck with a closed fist, abandoning the teacher’s strikes for intentional blows.

  Tirren was on the defensive entirely, and each block he threw seemed to collide with landslide force. The quick exchange of blows ended after a strike to the head that put stars in Tirren’s vision. He had only managed to attempt two offensive strikes during the exchange, each of them easily batted aside by the older man.

  Tirren stirred on the ground, his vision hesitant and wavering.

  “Stand” commanded Jonu. Tirren stood, and couldn’t help but utter a cry of alarm as the bell rang again, signaling the start of another spar.

  He put his hands out blindly in front of him in a desperate attempt at a defense, but a fist struck him below his ribs, knocking the air from his lungs, and he staggered backwards, taking two more strikes before he fell to the floor and curled into a ball.

  He understood then that his master had even been holding back more as kicks, brutal and driven by his teacher’s superior weight struck down, and his panicked mind realized how poor his position in the floor was.

  Tirren threw himself to the side and blindly looked around, seeking his foe. As he did, he felt the mana coursing through him, and he felt a wrenching in his forehead. He saw a white blur that he knew was his teacher and he dove again rolling away from the hostile man. Looking around, confusing sights assaulted him, and he stood in wonder at the world around him.

  Some of the people in the room had white light playing around their heads and feet, and centers of compressed white light in their centers. He glanced up, and noticed an intricately carved symbol above his head, floating in the air composed of dark blue mana. Tirren thought he recognized the symbol from the alphabet. His recent blow to the head, combined with the onslaught of new information pouring into his thoughts overwhelmed him, and his hands dropped to his side in stupefaction. He almost didn’t notice the flying kick which sent him to the ground in a rough slide, until he dropped the two feet down onto the ground outside of the sparring platform.

  Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

  Through the haze of pain and stimulus, Tirren heard the voices above him, as if in a distant place.

  “He’s opened his third eye.”

  “How many students have you seen progress to Tree this early? He’s a prodigy.”

  “I think Jonu was a little rough on him.”

  “What do we do with him?”

  It seemed every member of Jonu’s dojo had a question, and the namesake of the dojo stepped forward and raised his hands for quiet.

  All eyes looked to him.

  “It seems Tirren has progressed to Tree. I think it best if I take him before the council to seek their guidance. I myself reached Tree-tier seidren almost five years ago, right before I began my dojo. It is a foolhardy step young Tirren has taken. They will certainly know best, and I fear that the military may be the only option for the boy.”

  Tirren had brought himself to a sitting position by now, but on hearing the words, a spike of fear ran through him. He looked up at the man sitting above him on the stage, and was dumbstruck by what he saw. White, translucent, ethereal streams of light slowly moved into the man’s feet. As Tirren cast his eyes around, he noticed that most members of the dojo had a similar effect, with the mysterious light streaming into their feet. Several others had a glowing heart, in the middle of their sternum. Some part of Tirren realized those lights in the member’s chest were mana wells.

  He was seeing mana.

  Looking around, he saw that there was ambient mana, a gentle covering of white mana everywhere. Looking further, he noticed that the people gathered about the room, if he focused on them, he could see a faint symbol, similar to the one he had seen over his own head, smaller and less distinct. He counted up to five different symbols other than the one that he and Doju shared.

  Thus preoccupied by his newfound manasight, Tirren did not process or participate in the discussion of what to do with Jonu’s Dojo’s newest Tree-Seidren. When they helped him up from the floor, and walked him out, he followed along mutely, watching the scenery and the beauty of the mana all around him, and a headache was forming magnificently.

  He was led through the quaint town of Varnell, the town of his birth. By the time he arrived at the town hall, his headache had advanced to very annoying, and by the time he had waited in the attending hall, and then been admitted to the council of insight, his head was threatening to split from temple to temple.

  The council of insight was a rotating body of nobility, who were elected in Riino, the nation’s capital, and spent time in the twenty-seven councils spread across Serventis. Tirren was nearly dragged into the room, where he was placed in a seat facing the three men.

  Tiren noticed with alarm that the men sitting across from him had different mana-tiers than he had seen in his short hours with manasight.

  His body was trembling from the incredible pain radiating from behind his eyes, and the gathered council looked on for a second.

  “What’s wrong with the boy?” One of them asked the dojo’s members who had brought him. One of them spoke from behind.

  “This is Tirren Stjern. He has progressed to Tree level Seidren while sparring with our dojo’s leader, who is also a Tree level Seidren.”

  One of the men from the front answered. “I am surprised that a dojo…” Tirren didn’t hear the rest of the sentence, as the pain in his head was wearing him down, and he collapsed from his chair. A strong hand caught him, and he heard an angry voice. “Why didn’t anyone instruct him how to close his manasight?”

  A firm hand covered his eyes and forehead, and he felt a sharp pain in his forehead, but the pain which had been building slowly began to recede, and he breathed out easy breaths, as he waited for the pain to recede.

  The council waited until he opened his eyes again, and he struggled into his chair.

  “Thanks, guys. Didn’t realize enlightenment came with a concussion.”

  One of the council members grunted in a suppressed laugh, but the central councilman responded airily.

  “It seems that your ascension to Tree Tier Siedren was not as informed as it could have been.” a sharp glance at someone seated behind Tirren. “You, it would seem, discovered your mana sight haphazardly. Mana sight is one of the foundations of Seidren, and like all abilities, can grow. Yours is newfound, and like a baby phoenix, it is unprepared for use, and should be built up slowly. Yours has been open for hours.”

  “You stand in need of proper training. There is training available to those who enter public service. There is no law against it, but Seidren do not progress past Tree-level outside of Servistis’ governing body. We have protocols for proper growth and instruction to prevent injury such as the one you were experiencing.”

  “Pain is growth, wise councilor”. Tirren chirped.

  “Growth is growth, insolent young Seidren, and do not interrupt me.” The man barked quickly in response.

  “There could be a promising political and magical career ahead of you. You should consider it strongly, before you attempt further growth. You will find materials necessary from progress and minds suited to guide you here. I can get you acquainted with the local enlistment officer if you would like. How would you like to proceed?”

  “I’ll manage on my own, thank you very much.” Tirren managed, before standing and walking briskly from the room.

  Two days later, he was dragged in front of the council again, comatose from the psychic pain of his manasight being open for over a day. Once his manasight was forcefully closed again he signed on.