Mage With No Mana (Chapter 4)

Author's note: Hello everyone. I am sorry for taking so long. I wasn't satisfied with the earlier chapters, so I went back to rewrite them all. In terms of the story, not much had changed. All I've fixed is the prose, and the chapter 3's ending. I'll include a recap in the comments. It took a lot longer than I thought, but I got it done. I'll try to keep a consistent post schedule from now on. Expect the next chapter to be up on Friday, 24th. Thank you for reading my story. I appreciate it.

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“I’ve established a connection with the mana!”

Silence followed Eric’s ecstatic proclamation. The two elves froze in place, wondering whether their ears were deceiving them. Asfalis was the first to move. He walked to the cauldron and inspected the potion to verify Eric’s claims. Echthra would’ve gone too, but she stopped herself when she saw her husband was already on the case.

“Honey? What does it say?” she asked. Asfalis didn’t answer immediately. He looked away, as if he wanted to hide his face.

“It’s true. My system tells me that this is now Bateman’s mana pool.”

Echthra turned back to face Eric. As he stared at her, he saw the lingering shock on her face melt away, giving way to a blissful, hopeful smile. She gripped Eric’s hand tightly as she congratulated him, seeming proud of his achievement.

“That’s amazing! Eric! I can’t believe you did it!”

But that bliss didn't last long, as it soon broke and morphed into confusion. Echthra couldn't understand how Eric was able to connect with the mana. It was a solution she and her husband didn’t know was even possible.

“But how? How did you know that would work?” she asked.

“I made an educated guess.”

“A guess?” she asked. It was a strange way to put it, and she wanted more.

“Yes. A guess. I didn’t know for sure it was going to work, but I took the risk anyway, and it worked. I got the idea when I was trying to figure out what went wrong. I figured the mana needed either my blood or nerves to connect, so I chose one to see if it would work.”

Although he could’ve used this moment to gather sympathy or make himself seem competent, he felt it was rather redundant. Echthra had been nothing but supportive and accommodating of him. She deserved some bit of honesty, or so he thought. Echthra, upon hearing his answer, let out a sigh of relief.

“Well, I am glad it all worked out,” she remarked. “Say, now that we are done here, why don’t you come upstairs for lunch? I bet you are hungry after all that walking. You deserve…”

“Wait, hold on!” Asfalis interjected. He realized what his wife was about to ask, and he couldn't allow it. “Just because he was able to connect to the mana doesn’t mean he can cast magic! How do we know if he can even cast a spell if the mana isn’t in his body?”

“That’s true,” Echthra agreed rather reluctantly. She paused to think for a second before letting out a sigh. “Well, I guess we’ll have to find out for ourselves. Eric, would you mind coming upstairs? I want to see what you can do.”

“Sure thing,” Eric agreed. He didn’t care why Echthra didn’t want to test him here, because he could not wait to get out of this basement. It made him feel cramped and unsafe. The gloomy atmosphere did not help one bit.

“And as for you,” she turned to her husband. “Why don’t you make Eric a little room for him to stay in? I’m sure he’ll need it after we are done. I think you owe it to him.”

Eric saw that Asfalis was trying his best to suppress his real emotions. He looked as if he wanted to say something but refrained from doing so. He conceded before leaving the room, leaving Echthra and Eric all alone.

She walked over to a drawer and threw the knife she confiscated from Eric inside. She then took a large glass vial from the shelf and filled it up with his mana pool. Once she handed it over to Eric to keep it in his inventory, she led him up the stairs and to the rooftop courtyard.

It was a secluded environment surrounded by a 4-foot wall, which, from down the street, looked like part of the building's roof. There stood a grass lawn lush with soft, crimson blades at the center of the courtyard, complemented by ceramic pots planted with flowers and herbs in them. Together, they created a vibrant training ground with a calming, safe atmosphere.

“Before we start, can you show me your system for a minute? It’ll make things a bit easier for us both.”

Eric complied by activating his system before ordering it to become visible. Echthra flinched when it popped right in front of her, but then she stepped forward to look closer, as if it had something about it that made it special.

“Is something wrong?”

“No, not at all. Nothing’s wrong. It’s just that I haven’t seen a system like this before. It looks nice! Very nice!”

“What do you mean? Don’t all systems look like this?”

“No, not at all. They usually take the form of things we were fond of as children. Mine looks like a book. Syndeci’s is a drawing canvas, and Asfalis’ is me.”

“You?”

“Yes. He was very fond of my growing up. His system looks like a little head that looks and talks like me when I was little. I think it’s cute. Don’t you?” Absolutely not. It made Eric hate Asfalis just a little more. It pulled up some old wounds he wanted to forget. “What did you base your system from?"

“I didn’t get to choose. It just looked like that when I woke up.”

“Really? Huh. I guess the rune did that for you. But enough of that. Let’s… oh?”

“What?”

He looked at the screen, at the part that caught her eye. His heart jumped in terror when he saw that the mana reserve count was still at zero. How? He pulled up the previous notification and confirmed that he was able to connect with the mana! So why was it not shown on the screen?

“I don’t understand. Why isn’t the mana registering? It told me it managed to connect!”

"I don't know. Try taking out that potion from your inventory. See if that helps?” Echthra suggested. Eric complied, and when the bottle appeared in his hand, the system suddenly updated.

[General Status]
[Name: Eric Bateman]
[Level: 1]
[Class: Mage]
[Mana: 0/0]
[Mana Potion: 510/510]
[Experience: 00/10]
[Attribute Points: 0]

“I think I know what the problem was,” Echthra said. “Your connection must have a range because it’s not in your body. Just keep close to your mana pool, and you should be fine.”

“That’s good to know,” Eric replied, letting out a sigh of relief. He then looked back at the screen and pointed to the mana potion stat with his index finger. “It says I got five-hundred and ten mana points. Is that good?”

“It should be for now. Let’s start with a simple spell. An ember. Did my husband tell you how to cast a spell?”

“No, he didn’t.”

“Figures. Don’t worry. It’s not that complicated. Think of it as an extra limb. You must first imagine that it's a part of you and then imagine what you want it to do. But unlike your hands or legs, you can do anything you want, so long as you have the energy to do it.”

“That’s it?”

“That’s the gist of it. There’s a lot more to it, but it won’t be necessary for now. Just focus on trying to cast a spell, like this!”

Echthra gave Eric a little demonstration by snapping her fingers, causing a little ember to spark up 5 inches above her hand. It burned brightly before blowing itself out when she snapped her fingers again.

“Now, you try.”

Eric nodded. He concentrated on the mana first, imagining it as a part of his own being, just like the system was now. The mana glowed in response, signaling Eric that the two were now connected. He then imagined an ember, just like the one Echthra showed off, floating above his hand when he snapped his fingers. The mana glowed ever brighter, telling Eric it recognized the command. He then snapped his fingers, expecting an ember to flare up, only to be met with a loud blare.

[Spell Failed!]
[You do not have enough mana to cast this spell.]
[-10 MP]

“What’s wrong?” Echthra asked. She noticed that Eric’s enthusiastic smile dropped to a droop when no ember sparked up.

“It failed to cast.”

“What? Why?”

“It said I didn’t have enough mana,” Eric said. “Maybe it’s because I am too weak?” he suggested.

“It’s almost the weakest spell ever known. You shouldn’t have problems with that,” she responded. Echthra spent a good minute thinking before snapping her fingers when she got an idea. “I think I got it,” she said.

She picked up the glass vial from Eric and lifted it near his head so his eyes could see inside the large glass bottle.

“I want you to try to cast that spell again,” she said. “But this time, light the ember above the mana pool. Got it?”

“Got it.”

Eric looked at the mana and let his imagination run wild. He visualized the ember he wanted on top of the white liquid before ordering the mana to execute his command. Unlike last time, a small flicker of flame burst inside the bottle, burning with great intensity before dissipating in a second.

[Skill Status Updated]
[Fire Type Spell Proficiency: Level 1]
[+10 XP]
[Congratulations! You’ve reached Level 2!]
[+1 Attribute Point]

“I did it,” Eric uttered rather softly at first. “I did it. I did it! I did it!” he exclaimed, happy and joyous that he managed to cast a spell.

“I know! Good job!” She congratulated Eric. “I think the problem last time was because the mana pool wasn’t in your body. From where it stood, it had to light a fire a bit further away, and with your current skills, that was too much.”

“At least your husband doesn’t have an excuse to throw me out anymore,” Eric joked. Echthra chuckled, seeming to find the joke a little amusing.

“I guess that’s true!” she commented. “Now that we are done here, why don’t we head down and have some lunch? You can check out your room and tell him the news while I cook in the meantime. You must be so hungry.”

Indeed, he was. Eric hadn’t had anything to eat all day ever since he got summoned. He could go for some food, especially now when his stomach was yearning for nourishment. But when he looked at the screen and saw that he had 453 mana points left, he came up with a different idea.

“Actually, can you show me what else I could do? I would like to master this thing as soon as possible,” he asked.

Eric understood that he stood before one of the strongest mages in town, a person by definition who would be very busy. Given she was here now, he should take this time to learn as much as he can from her. It should help him grow stronger a lot faster.

“Oh? Are you not that hungry?”

“I am, but I don’t want to keep my family waiting too long, and I don’t want to be a burden to your family either. I just want to learn the basics, grow as strong as I can, and then be on my way.”

Echthra paused to look at Eric for a second, taking the time to process what he asked of her before giving him a smile.

“You know, you remind me of him when he was younger,” she said.

“Who? Asfalis?”

“Yes. He was very much like you. He was very loyal and cared a lot about his family and their well-being. It’s too bad they didn’t love him the same way. I hope your family isn’t like that.”

“Don’t worry. They are the loveliest people I know,” he affirmed.

“Alright then, can you open your attribute tab for a minute? We have to deal with something before you can cast another spell.” Eric obliged. He opened the attribute tabs, and this was what he could find.

[Attribute Stats]
[Class: Mage]
[Level: 2]
[Attribute Point(s): 1]
[Mana Reserve: VIoHM]
[Efficiency: Level 1]
[Defense: Level 1]
[Casting Speed: Level 1]

“I guess this affects how strong my spells are?” Eric asked.

“Yes. Efficiency is how much a spell would cost. Defense is how much you can tank an attack, and casting speed is how fast you can cast a spell. Although that stat is reserved for the encyclopedia only,” Echthra gave a quick rundown. “Use that attribute point on efficiency, and then try to cast that spell again.”

He obeyed. All he had to do was think about assigning the attribute point to the stat, and it was done. His efficiency stat rose to level 2. He then looked at the glass vial, taking it from Echthra’s hands, before giving out that command.

The ember flares up and disappears from sight, just like last time, but when he checked his mana reserve, he found that it had used up only 13 MP for the spell. However, unlike last time, it had only given him 8 experience points instead of 10.

“See how much less mana you used?” 

“Yeah, I did. But eh, I have a question,” Eric spoke up.

“What is it?”

“When I first cast the spell, I saw that I got 10 experience points from it, but when I did it again, I only got 8. Why’s that?”

“Oh, that’s because you’ve improved,” she claimed. “When you use a spell, you get better at it, and so you use less mana to cast it. However, since you use less energy now, the same spell won’t give you as much experience as before.”

“I see. So, kind of like building muscle?”

“Yes, exactly! If you want to get more experience, you are going to have to either perform stronger spells that use more mana or cast unique spells you haven’t cast before,” she elaborated. “Is that all?”

“Yes.”

Echthra smiled again, seeming happy that she cleared things up. She then raised her hand, cast a levitation spell, and brought a flowerpot from the edges of the courtyard and placed it in a clear, isolated spot on the lawn, around 15 feet away from where Eric stood.

“Now normally, I’d have you cast a fireball. However, since your mana isn’t in your body, I don’t think you are ready for that. But don’t worry! I think I have a different spell you can use.”

However, before she could state what that special spell was, they got distracted by the sound of the courtyard door swinging open. The two turned around and saw Asfalis climb up the stairs and walk over to their position.

“Honey! There’s someone at the door for you!” he claimed.

“Who?”

“The town guard. They need your help with a crime.”

Echthra’s face turned solemn upon hearing the news. She turned to Eric and apologized for cutting their lessons short there. 

“Before I go,” she turned to Asfalis, "did you make him his room?”

“Yes, I did.”

“Perfect! Eric, why don’t you go check out your room? I’m sure you’ll need some rest after all that walking."

Although he didn’t want to, Eric complied. He followed Asfalis to his room, which turned out to reside in the basement. Eric wasn't surprised. He knew Asfalis would've done so out of spite. However, what he didn’t expect was the amount of effort Asfalis had put into fitting the place with some nice chairs and cabinets that clashed heavily with the bare environment.”

"It sure didn’t take long to set this place up, huh?” Eric commented.

“I’ve been keeping this place empty till a day like this arrived,” he answered.

“I see.”

“Tell me, what did you learn from her?” Asfalis asked.

“A lot. For one, I learned how to cast a spell, and two, I learned how to use by system. A part of it, at least.”

“Which one?”

“The attribute system.”

“I see you’ve learned the basics. Do you think you know enough to improve alone?”

“Maybe. What’s it to you?”

“You see, I got a proposal for you,” he claimed. “I know a forest where the weakest monsters reside. If you can get strong enough by tomorrow, I can take you there. You can use that place to practice all the spells you like. What do you think?”

It was an enticing offer. If he was telling the truth, it could mean he could farm a lot of XP points, cut his stay here short, and maybe get back home just that much sooner. Asfalis knew this, and that’s why he made the offer.

But the fact that it was Asfalis offering to help struck Eric as strange. This was the man who had no qualms about throwing Eric out when he learned that Eric couldn’t perform magic the regular way. Could it be a trap to lure Eric into an isolated forest to kill him there? He wasn’t sure.

It all depended on the man Asfalis was. Was he someone willing to lie to take Eric out, no matter what? No. That doesn’t sound like him. If he were, he would’ve poisoned Eric’s mana potion and kept his mouth shut. But that couldn’t be right. He must have some kind of underlying motive. Nothing would have made sense if he didn't. So what was it?

“But why?” Eric asked. “Why try to help me now?”

“Because I realized that you and I want the same thing,” Asfalis replied. “You want to go home, and I want you out of my house as soon as possible. Now, if I can help you out and get stronger faster, it wouldn't make sense to stay here if you can leave on your own to go get stronger somewhere else.”

A compelling argument. Although Eric initially hesitated, he agreed. He was confident he could learn what he needed by tomorrow. Echthra then burst into the room. She told Asfalis to get ready. She said she needed her husband's help for this crime scene. The two elves then left the house, leaving Eric all alone with Syndeci.

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