Chapter 12: Chapter 12

Leo

Berlin, Germany

“Yes, you can think like that. Free mages of old could do what you are thinking, as they were using mana the same way as, for example, breathing. They could freely absorb and disperse it in a form they saw fit. They could even use the mana around them to supplement their spells, and they depended on imagination, practice, and dedication. 

“Magic is very different for us.  We need to memorize a lot of complex sigils and hand movements before we even can cast them. And when we do - we cannot affect the spell. 

“What about the high-level mages? What makes them different?”

“Well, for starters, their knowledge. With time they accumulate an extensive list of spells. Second, they have increased their core capacity by taking various supplements and withstanding complex and expensive rituals.”

“Like in cultivation novels?” Leo asked, smiling. 

“Yes, something like that,” Heidi answered, giving up commenting on his obsession. ”There are few very high-level mages. The resources that can absorb mana are scarce.  Those enable the mages to grow their cores, while the number of mages is in the thousands, as you heard.

“That makes you unique. You have a massive internal mana pool, not condensed in a mana core. Viktor mentioned that he saw a similar one only in an archmage. Next, you can visually perceive mana. It is very, very rare.”

“And how can I take control of the internal mana?” Leo asked.

“We will try various means, but I believe it will come down to core formation. As I said, mages of old relied on their intent. No mage is the same deep inside. All of the cores are unique.”

“What can we try to do today? The fact that the bracelet will not last long makes me anxious,” Leo commented, eyeing the shimmering square next to them. 

Seeing Leo’s eagerness, Heidi proposed, “Let's see if we can achieve something meaningful today. Go inside the square,” Heidi said and pointed to the left.

“Are you sure?” Leo asked, unsure how the field would affect him.

“Yes, there is nothing to be afraid of,” Heidi answered, urging Leo.

Leo got up from where he was sitting and walked to the square. He raised his finger and moved it slowly across the line above the runes. He touched what he thought would be a wall of simmering air. To his surprise, he felt nothing. 

Feeling no heat, Leo took a step over the runes and walked into the square. That was when he felt it affect him. 

He sensed that the pressure he did not know was inside him suddenly lessened, coming into equilibrium with the environment around him. 

“Well, how is it?” Heidi asked, getting up and walking next to the runic line.

“It feels great, Leo answered. “I feel much better and lighter. Like there was pressure inside me that went away, around the navel area, here,” Leo answered, pointing to his stomach. 

“That is the approximate place where our core is, which means that the concentration of mana is the highest there. Try to sit down now, as you would do when meditating. Close your eyes and cross your legs,” Heidi urged.

Leo sat down and obeyed her suggestions, making himself comfortable and awaiting further instruction. 

Heidi continued, “Now clear your thoughts. Breathe in and out. Slowly. Concentrate on your breathing and try to feel around the area you described. Think of how air moves inside and around you. How you draw it in and out.”

Leo did just that. He started to breathe rhythmically, as he had done hundreds of times before, during his meditation sessions before sleep. In a few minutes, time lost all meaning to him as he drifted away.

Continuing to breathe, Leo concentrated on the feeling around his navel, trying to think of the pressure that left him a minute ago. With each breath taken, he felt the pressure rise again in his stomach. Exhaling, it decreased. He continued to breathe in and out.

Heidi saw how Leo lost connection with the world around him and went to sit down on one of the chairs they had occupied before. Not willing to disturb Leo and the state he was in, she chose to take a book from the top of the desk and started to read it. As it was not very interesting, she fell asleep.

Leo, meanwhile, continued to meditate, not knowing what his body was going through. His body concentrated mana above his navel with each breathing cycle he took. The concentration started small, like the tiniest speck of dust, and continued to grow to the size of a grain of sand. By the time it grew to the size of a grain of wheat, Leo was alert to its presence, feeling a new form inside of him. 

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Thinking about what Heidi said about visualization, he continued to breathe in and out, pulling energy from his surroundings. Leo grew his core from the size of a grain to one in the size of his thumb.

His body felt a lot lighter, pressure in his limbs, head, and legs less pronounced. Mentally exhausted and hungry, Leo left his meditative state and opened his eyes. He saw that Heidi was still around and noticed how she had fallen asleep in the chair next to the desk. 

As he was hungry, Leo slowly stood up to stretch his legs. 

‘Maybe there was a dinner planned with her father?’ he thought. However, before he could take another step, he stumbled, falling loudly on one knee and grunting.

That woke Heidi up. She saw that Leo was on one knee and jumped out of the chair, all sleepiness gone, and asked, “Are you okay?”

“Yes, yes, I am okay. Sorry to wake you up,” Leo responded and tried to stand up again, groaning. “How long was I gone?”

Heidi checked her watch, “Most of the day. Around six hours or so. Did you fall asleep as well?”

Leo laughed, “No, I just meditated and followed the steps you suggested, and the weirdest thing happened.”

“What?” Heidi asked, curious.

“Well, you said the core is supposed to be where my navel is, right? I continued to breathe in and out and tried to visualize how energy would condense in my stomach. Like in the novels,” he smiled.

“Soon, I could feel a small grain there. I visualized how the energy from inside and around me would stick around this grain and condense. So I continued to breathe in and out. Before I finished, I could see that the grain had grown to the size of a thumb,” Leo explained proudly. 

Heidi stared at him in shock. Without saying a word, she went to her father’s desk. She got a small stone with runic carvings and asked, “Can you walk out of the square now and give me your hand? We need to test something.” 

Leo obeyed and went up to her.  He asked, pointing to the stone in her hand, “What is that thing?” 

“This is a measuring device. Simple trinket we use to check the mage's core stage,” Heidi answered and handed the stone to Leo. “Take it. Close your eyes and imagine how your core connects to the stone through your palm. Imagine a thread from it to where your core is.”

Leo moved to obey and closed his eyes. Soon, he could feel a thread of energy connecting his core to the stone. He opened his eyes and looked at the stone. He saw that the color had changed from gray to muted green. 

Hearing that Heidi was not saying anything, he raised his gaze and saw that her eyes were wide open, staring at the stone, so he asked, “Is something wrong?”

Heidi swallowed slowly and said seriously, “We need to see my father.”

Leo asked, not understanding the big deal,  “We will, in a moment, right? Did he not mention something about dinner? I am famished!”

“No, he did not. Dinner will wait, Leo. This is more important,” Heidi said, taking the stone from his hand.

“What is? The stone changed color a bit. That just means that I have made good progress, right?” Leo asked.

“No, Leo, that is not just good progress. It means that you just half-formed your core, hence the muted color,” Heidi answered and exhaled slowly, trying to calm down and process what she was seeing while putting the stone in the desk drawer. 

“That is good, right? Means that all of this was a lot easier than you thought? So what is the issue?” Leo asked again, not understanding why she was stressed out.

“What you did is supposed to be impossible,” she said. 

“Why?”

“Because green is the color of a master-level mage’s core,” she said and went for the door.

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