My band pulsed, and the battle dome's entrance shimmered open. Bright lights cascaded along my trail as I walked to the right, towards the row of sparring capsules. Picking one, I slid my band on its entrance, and it hissed open, spraying out white fumes that rose and simmered out.
I entered, and the door softly sealed behind me with a click.
I'd devoured the entire "Four Axis" book cover to cover and tried my best to completely comprehend each of the four spells. However, a part of me was still unsure. Despite relentless mana control practice, my relationship with magic was still brittle. Because actually using spells was something that just didn't sit right with my mind.
'It's like trying to breathe underwater.'
Drawing in a breath, I shook off the hesitation and prepared myself mentally. With a quick recap of the spells using [Insight], I gathered that the easiest spell to try out would likely be the mana bullet.
While the shield, dash and reinforcement spells were definitely around the same complexity, I was simply far more familiar and comfortable with the existence of a "bullet".
'So, something like this?'
I raised my hand and faced my palm outward. Then, I recalled the steps mentioned in the spell book.
'The spell was broken down into three components. The mana technique, the mental image, and the stance.'
I didn't have a perfect understanding of those, but that's where [Insight] had come in. Overall, I was able to summarise everything I had learned into three simple steps. The first was obvious; I had assumed a stance with an open palm, which for me was ideal for conjuring the bullet itself.
'Though any stance that feels natural to the user is best.'
Secondly, I pictured mana being gathered into my palm, and slowly the mana rippled around me, but the last step was the most crucial one. I meticulously constructed a mental funnel, picturing myself forcing my mana through this funnel to compress and form into a sphere the size of a fingernail.
The bullet I had conjured trembled a hair's breadth away from my palm.
'Hot. Is this because I compressed it?'
My palms prickled as the mana bullet radiated heat to my skin. It wasn't unbearable, maybe an irritable warmth at best.
'I can already feel it trying to fall apart.'
The bullet kept trembling, but that made sense. There's no way compressing this much energy into that small size was stable.
'The next step called for shooting it out.'
Just the mere thought of shooting caused the bullet to jump forward just a little, but I managed to reel it back in quickly. I wasn't done with it yet.
I muttered under my breath, "The basic principles of the mana bullet ask to gather energy and shoot it out. Instead of shooting a bullet, it's more like squirting a laser beam."
My thoughts spiralled again.
What did I know about bullets? Even in my past life, I was a civilian. But that didn't mean I was clueless. I had watched enough movies, played a lot of games, and obsessively read many articles to know my way around most modern technology.
Modern weapons were no exception.
I gripped my right arm to keep the aim steady, "The mana bullet is compressed through a funnel, which is already similar to a barrel. However, if I were to shoot it right now, it'd probably lob down."
"If it lacks stability, the only thing I really have to do is add a spin to it." My lips curved into a cheeky smile. The strategy was sound, but it was easier said than done.
"Spin."
I murmured and retreated into my psyche, mustering the best image of a rapidly spinning bullet I could.
"To provide any real stability, it needs to spin a hundred— no, a thousand times a second."
My brows knit, I closed my eyes and immersed myself in that particular image while I focused every ounce of will for my mana to comply.
"Spin," I muttered again, as if the words could somehow compel the bullet to obey.
Could I actually do it?
My chest tightened, hope and dread tangled into one suffocating knot.
Maybe. Maybe not. But the only thing worse than failing was never knowing what I was capable of.
"Unlike a pen, or a coin, a mana bullet has no mass. So, trying to control it that way won't work at all. I need something more rudimentary than that."
Instead of trying to spin the mana bullet by focusing on throwing its weight around, I decided to picture an axis that was concentric to my palms. The behaviour of an object around an axis was entirely conceptual. It was something I could freely control using my imagination.
"Just..spin."
The mana bullet quivered as if it had taken heed of my words, and the bullet began to shake erratically till it broke into a spin and rapidly revolved at the centre of my palm. A bead of sweat rolled down my cheek.
I opened my eyes and saw the visible blue mana chaotically swirling in my palm.
"I did it." The words came out as a breathless laugh.
Heat seared through my palms, but that didn't matter. Pure euphoria flooded my system like a drug—it felt electric, overwhelming, addictive. It was as if I had raw power swirling in my hand. My vision blurred with raw elation as my entire body thrummed.
My arm shook, trembling with barely contained energy, and I steadied my aim at the wall.
[Zol]
My hand cocked back, a jolt ran through my arm, and a brilliant blue light flashed as the bullet streaked forward, boring into the rubber padding where it spun, charred the material, and finally dissipated.
"Holy shit." I looked down at my palm, "I actually did it."
My eyes darted to the spot where the bullet had hit. The scent of burning rubber filled the room. I wiped over the mark, and though the bullet hadn't drilled completely into it, it had left a slight indent in the rubber.
"Spinning it did make it pierce just a bit more." I rubbed the soot off my fingers and walked back the same number of steps to take another stance.
Steadying myself, I tried again.
[Zol]
The bullet shot out and struck the same spot. But it wasn't as powerful as before.
"Did I pour less energy into it?" I shook my head and tried again.
[Zol]
But this time, before letting it shoot, I held the bullet and spun it just a fraction of a second more.
"As I thought, spinning it not only gave it stability and allowed it to pierce further, but it also helped the mana bullet retain more of its speed, allowing for a stronger impact."
"So it converts all the kinetic energy at the point of impact." My eyes narrowed, and the next question came to mind.
'How many could I really do?'
[Zol]
***
"Ten..."
I pinched my temple as a familiar ache clawed into the back of my skull.
'Mana Exhasution.'
"Fuck." I sucked in a shaky breath, pressing my palms against my stinging eyes. "Maybe I can squeeze out one more."
Shaking off the pain and taking my stance, I decided to try another modification to the spell.
"What if I gathered and compressed more energy?"
Of course, compressing energy was not so simple. There was a limit to the form factor I could push the mana to. But what if I added more energy without compromising the size? It was possible, at least theoretically.
I flexed my hand and gathered the normal amount of mana for a bullet, then compressed the sphere further, aiming to gather more mana in a ring that wrapped around its diameter.
The air snapped to life around me.
Bright blue mana erupted violently inches from my palm, spinning faster, hungrier. Wind whipped through the space like a miniature hurricane. My jacket billowed and cracked like a flag in a storm. Dust spiralled upward in frenzied columns.
A palpitating energy thrashed around in my hand like a caged beast.
I gritted my teeth against the growing maelstrom, fighting to keep control as the chaotic mana threatened to throw me off balance. But it was as if the air itself had turned against me.
"What the hell—" My legs trembled under the crushing weight of raw power. Unbearable heat seared through my palms, the flesh feeling like it might blister and peel. I forced myself to stay steady, but my arm drooped, just a fraction of an inch.
That was enough.
The rapid gusts yanked me backwards, and my grip faltered.
The mana bullet erupted.
The world exploded into white-hot chaos. I was hurled backwards through the air, akin to a ragdoll, and slammed into the wall with bone-jarring force, dust raining down as the entire room convulsed from the impact.
There was a ringing silence. The acrid smell of burnt rubber clogged my nose, mixing with the charred dust. My vision blurred from the impact, and the room was swimming in and out of focus like a broken camera trying to find its lens.
I used the wall and pulled myself to my feet.
"That was disgusting." My vision cleared as I studied the impact the spell had caused.
Instead of a mark, there was now a dent in the walls. It was a small crater lined with hairline cracks. Whatever I had done had exponentially boosted the power of the spell.
'It's more like a bomb than a bullet. But."
I rubbed my sore back, and the dull ache in my arms seemed to fade. "It's definitely an effective attack. If that was aimed at an enemy."
I shuddered imagining the result of such an action.
Naturally, I knew that this was partly wishful thinking. The spell wasn't fast nor stable enough to use in real combat; I hadn't even mastered it on my own yet. However, the possibility was still equally exciting.
[Mana Control has increased greatly]
[Endurance has increased greatly]
.....
[Endurance has increased E → D]
I felt a strange vigour pump through my veins, and the effects of exhaustion seemed to lessen. However, "Mana Exhaustion" was still not something I could brush off.
The headache worsened.
-
Condition: Exertion (70%), Mana Exhaustion: (100%)
-
It seemed that even with a D rank skill for Endurance, I couldn't escape this throbbing pain. I sat down and distracted myself by looking at my stats.
-
[NAME]
NOAH REED
[STATS]
Strength: F
Agility: F
Constitution: F
Intelligence: E
Perception: E
Charisma: F
[VITALS]
Vitality: F
Stamina: E
Mana: F
[GIFTS]
INSIGHT: EX
HERO: F (DORMANT)
[SKILLS]
Endurance: D
Knife Work: E
Spear Mastery: E
Basic Footwork: E
Sevenfold Strike: E
Mana Control: F
-
"Not bad." I chuckled while clutching my head; a stinging pain bloomed behind my eyes. "Hghh."
I had already decided that the best course of action was to take a break; there was simply nothing else I could do to alleviate this type of pain. I stirred and shifted from sitting down to a limping walk.
Wobbling out of the battle dome to the dorms while clutching my head as if pushing back against the impending headache would somehow lessen its effects.
-
[A few hours later]
A few hours later, I gasped and stirred awake. The splitting headache had finally retreated, but it had left behind a dull, persistent ache that wouldn't quite fade.
I pushed myself up, muscle memory dragging me to my feet.
'Isn't this when Kai and I usually train?'
But when I stumbled into the courtyard, I wasn't expecting to find three figures waiting for me under the lamplight.
"Yo, you're late," Elias called out, brushing dust off his sleeves.
I blinked, more startled by the unusual grouping than the comment itself. "What's... what are you all doing here?"
"Got bored," Nico shrugged. "Figured we'd settle for a little light sparring in the courtyard."
I raised my brows. These three? Together?
"Purely physical," Kai added quickly, noticing my expression. "No magic."
Elias nodded emphatically. "Seriously, what the hell do you even eat, Kai? I've never seen anyone move that fast without enhancement."
"Agreed," Nico chimed in. "I've never met someone so naturally quick on their feet."
That got me thinking about the physical demands of magic itself and my recent exhaustion. How much strain I'd been putting on my body without properly conditioning it first?
"You know what? I should probably work on that. Physical training, I mean."
Nico perked up. "Actually, you should try working with weights. Really push your body to the limit."
"Weights?"
"There's a small field room next to the battle dome," he explained. "Most people don't bother with it, though. Weight training isn't exactly popular around here; everyone prefers to stay nimble for combat. Too much muscle mass can slow you down, so most students train dynamically instead." He paused, then added with a slight grin, "But in your case, since you're... well, quite weak... It's not a bad idea."
'Of course, thanks.'
I rolled my eyes. Still, he had a point. "It's not a bad idea," I admitted. "But we should probably avoid going out to campus this late for a while."
Elias scratched his head. "Yeah, best to lay low."
"Speaking of which," Nico said, lowering his voice slightly, "I got to know some interesting info. In a week or two, we'll be getting our first real assignments. Actual missions, graded ones."
The others went quiet. Even Kai looked surprised.
"How do you know that?" I asked.
Nico shrugged. "I have my sources. From what I understand, they could be solo missions or squad-based. But I'm pretty sure the primary location is Marazan, the capital city of the South District."
"Marazan?" Kai's eyes widened. "How do you even know this stuff?"
Nico shook his head. "For the last time, I have my sources. The point is, we've only got two weeks to get in prime condition. The Academy's assignments are notorious for being brutal. If we're careless, people get seriously injured."
"Of course, none of you should go around babbling about it either. The four of us have an advantage, and I'd like to keep it that way. The Academy grades may not mean much, but as far as I know, you do get some good resources for being at the top."
"Yeah, yeah." Elias nodded while looking at us.
"I was talking about you." Nico shot him a glare.
"What?" Elias gasped.
'Marazan.'
The name hit me like a lightning bolt.
The Floating City. Built atop shallow isles surrounding an ancient riverbed, half-submerged in crystalline waters with canals threading through every district like veins. In the game, it had been a treasure hunter's paradise, with hidden loot tucked away in forgotten corners, secret passages, and rare items waiting for players clever enough to find them.
My pulse quickened. Was it possible that the same things existed here? In this reality?
"Noah?" Elias's voice cut through my spiralling thoughts. "You still with us?"
I shook my head, refocusing. "Yeah, sorry. Just... thinking."