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[ 3 ] Tiny Bookworm
🕑 Added 2024-11-09 19:26:18 +0000 UTCDaedrik started Kal’s training over the following weeks. It was the same basic motions all young aspiring mages went through when trying to awaken their cores.
First, it was essential to clear the mind. Understanding the sound of silence was an important first step before sensing the tiny trickle of mana that seeped out of everyone's core.
Once an aspiring mage could sense their passive mana, they had the key to awakening their core. All that was left was to find the metaphorical keyhole, which could be found by focusing their concentration on the source of their passive mana.
But this wasn't good enough for Kal. Daedrik had explained that it would take years of focused meditation just to distinguish the subtle mana from his inner white noise, and Kal wasn't about to accept his lightning-paced progress being slowed down that much.
Pretending to fall asleep, Kal waited for his parents to take it as an opportunity to sneak in a nap and tip-toed out of his bedroom.
Glancing down the corridor leading into the library, Kal checked to ensure he wasn’t followed, took hold of the elegant elephant ladder that rested upon the brass rails that skirted the shelves of his father's library, and pushed it. Previously, he had spotted binders of several books that took his interest. As he reached each book, he stopped, climbed the ladder, and pulled them enough from the shelf so that the book's weight would send them tumbling to the floor.
Jackpot. Lyssian History, Monsters of the Wilds, The Eight Civilized Races of the World, The Secrets of Channeling Mana, and Tigworn’s Arcanapedia. Yep, this looks like the perfect selection of light reading.
“What do you think he's doing, honey?” Yandi said, spying on Kal from the shadow beyond the library’s entrance.
“I wish I knew,” Daedrik scratched at the side of his head. “It's not possible he understands any of it, is there?”
“He's a baby. Even I barely understand those tomes of yours.”
“Yeah, right,” Daedrik murmured, staring at his son hunched over several open books spread across the library’s hardwood floor.
Curiosity was one thing, but catching their baby laser-focused on mage manuals, history books, and various other educational materials had become all too common.
“Should we?”
“Leave him, honey,” Yandi pulled on Daedrik’s sleeve. “Look at how tenderly he treats the pages. Let him have his fun; besides, we want to encourage his studious side, don't we?”
“You're right. I wouldn't want him to feel deterred,” Daedrik said with a curiously bent brow and carefully pulled the door shut so that Kal couldn't see them as they spied.
So, there are other intelligent races in this world: humans, cyclopeans, half-men, ogres, arachnids, great serpents, albinoids, and devourers.
Kal’s eyes widened as he read about the races that inhabited his adopted world. To his excitement, it seemed to suggest that humans often lived beside halfmen, ogres, and sometimes even cyclopians.
That’s so cool. I’ve always wanted to meet aliens… well, I guess they’re not really aliens here, are they? Wait, Arachnians? They’re not what I think they are, are they?
Arachnians were exactly what he thought they were: humanoid spiders who lived in the Undercavern, a massive underground world that spanned hundreds of miles beneath the surface.
Albinoids and Devourers were equally terrifying, gluing Kal’s eyes to the pages. With paper-white skin, Albinoids were an extremely hostile, nocturnal race of humanoids with dagger-like claws and razor-sharp exoskeletons that lined much of their body. In contrast, Devourers were oversized gray, muscular humanoids with shark-like heads.
Finally, there were the Great Serpents. This race of giant beasts included everything from dragons to sea serpents. The book even had an appendix on giant wyverns, explaining how some dug through the ground and swallowed people from below.
That's both cool and terrifying. I can't believe I'm going to get to meet other intelligent species. Oh my days, that’s so freaking cool. Maybe not those devourer guys or the albinoids—those freaks sound like a bad time. But everyone else… Okay, well, maybe not dragons or arachnians either. Although it did mention dragons could be peaceful. However, it also mentioned they could melt steel and were known for eating people whole. Yeah, okay, let’s not meet any of the big serpents unless I know for a fact they’re chill.
***
“The Secrets of Channeling Magic,” Kal eyed the gold cursive briefly and opened the heavy, hardcover tome.
The book detailed several methods for awakening one’s mana core that were known to work for different people. Unfortunately, like with the meditation techniques taught by his new father, they were all supposed to take years of training and concentration, which just wouldn’t do. Kal hadn’t been given a second chance to waste it with his nose buried in books. But that didn’t deter him. He just needed to find a more efficient way.
At the corner of one page was a hand-drawn table with footnotes on theories about magical creature cores. Kal's eyes lit up. This was different. Magical creatures were said to be born with awoken cores, so why was the author theorizing about how they achieved this?
Maybe they had a shortcut? Kal wondered.
Some, like myself, believe that magical creatures are not born with awoken cores but are one with their cores. Instead of sensing an almost invisible energy separate from their own. I theorize that they only need to become in touch with the magical energy already flowing through their veins, thus appearing as if mana and magic are naturally gifted to them.
“Huh?” Kal said aloud as he read. Whatever point this mage was trying to make had gone straight over his head, at least from a practical standpoint. Being told to sense his own mana was great, but it made no attempt to explain how that was actually achieved.
Further down, the book explained that mana often had an individual feel but that experiences among those who shared the same core type usually shared similar experiences. The book also noted that finding your anchor point was usually the key. It didn’t explain exactly what an anchor point was, only that it was usually unique and distinct.
“Argh,” Kal pulled at his hair. “I don't even know what my core type is; how is this supposed to help?” He growled internally, realizing this was probably why it took people years to figure out.
Sighing, Kal cocked his head. Wait a minute—that strange ringing.
When he was born, and every time he unlocked a Bloodline Trait since, he had heard ringing in his ears that banging at his brain and threatened to send him insane. At first, he wondered if it was tinnitus, but what if it was something else?
It couldn’t be, could it? With nothing to lose, Kal closed his eyes and exhaled, focusing on the grating sound flooding through him. The effect was almost immediate, with the ringing coming loud and hard as it pounded through his head, bringing forth a headache, but he gritted his teeth and pushed through the nauseating feeling.
Within seconds, it found a rhythm to the banging, and then it was distorted from an invasive and painful ringing to a harmonized hum of energy resounding from somewhere deep within.
Is that my…
Kal’s lip trembled as he mentally pushed himself toward the calming sensation of mana as if he were delving into a tranquil cave deep within that contained a still pond of crystal clear, cool water within his mind’s eye.
Is this my mana core?
Kal gasped and fell backward. Flames flashed across the cave, and the water turned to burning hot magma. A deep, echoing cackle flooded the cave, and Kal clenched his jaw as he fought back an impending sense of doom. Then, as quickly as it had started, the cave calmed again.
“What the hell,” Kal mattered, taking deep breaths to calm himself. He looked around. The library was gone, but he somehow knew he hadn’t moved.
Timidly, he pushed himself back to his feet and crept toward the water. His eyes widened as he spotted an ethereal orb of white and blue light glowing through the clear water.
Swallowing, he leaned forward, tentatively extending a hand into the pond, and flinched against the icy cold water as he touched it.
So cold… does that mean something? Kal wondered, looking down at his hand and crooking his head. But his curiosity drove him forward, and without a second thought, he plunged his hand down and grasped the orb.
Vibrant colors, smells, and sensations flooded through him, sending his body into convulsions and flinging him backward as if he had just taken hold of a live wire.
Panting, Kal opened his eyes and realized that he was in the library once more.
What just happened?
A thump of power resonated within, awakening a new sense as Kal suddenly became aware of the veins circulating mana through his body.
I can feel it now… like the book described it—power flowing through me. The sensation was amazing, not that he had any idea what to do with it or how to harness it.
Seriously? I did it, didn’t I? I really awoke my core! Wait, why was it so different? Kal wondered. The book mentioned that different methods work for different people trying to unlock their cores, but nothing like this. Awakening your core was meant to be a calming and enlightening experience, and while the latter was somewhat true for Kal, it certainly hadn’t been calming.
A shortcut… is that it? I took a shortcut, and was I punished for it?
Kal closed his eyes again and delved within. The experience was entirely different now. There was no search. His mana burned blighty—impossible to miss.
Gasping for air, his eyes shot open again, and magical, whispy text appeared before him as if it were made of blue, curling smoke.
=======================
Lesser–Demonic Mana Core Awoken
Lesser–Demonic Mana Core
Mana 2/2
Mana Potential 98
Stage 1
Strength: 2
Agility: 2
Dexterity: 0
Charisma: 5
Wisdom: 0
Intelligence: 1
Endurance: 3
Toughness: 2
=======================
Demonic? Kal furrowed his little brow as he read the notifications. Wait, that’s not right.
Springing upward, Kal dove for the books and began flicking through them. He had read about cores. There were four kinds of cores that humans could unlock—Astral Cores, Arcana Cores, Divine Cores, and Martial Cores.
Hurriedly searching through the pages, he returned to the section about cores. It was all there, spelled out in plain language. Other cores were mentioned that could be unlocked by other races, but even on those pages, he found no mention of demonic cores.
This doesn’t make any sense. How can my core not be in here? Is this because I’m from another world? Is that why I was able to unlock it so fast?
Kal looked down at his little hands. He could sense something he hadn’t seen before. Faint, almost nonexistent energy radiated from him. It was the same energy as what he felt from his core, and unless his core itself was some kind of foreign invader, he was fairly certain it was his mana.
He needed to learn more. Hurrying through the library, he searched, stopping whenever a binder caught his attention.
Codex of the Demonic Powers. That’s it; Kal nodded resolutely and returned with the ladder.
Pushing it into pace, he wasted no time pulling the book down and craning over the huge tome.
Here it is. This is what I was looking for.
Kal was immediately struck by something curious as he read—demons were described as magical beings.
Magical beings? Is that the same as magical creatures?
The book explained that this was a distinction from mortal races. It didn’t necessarily mean that magical beings were immortal; rather, they had unlocked mana cores by default instead of needing to awaken their cores like mortal races did.
That’s what that other book was talking about… Kal's brow perked.
Awakening his core had been exceedingly easy, and the ringing in his head… had the same characteristics as described by the previous author.
Does this mean I’m a demon? Kal swallowed. He was no expert on the topic, but he knew that demons were hunted in this world.
The book described how demons were separated into rankings, from weakest to strongest, starting with Fiendlings (Such as Imps, Chimeras, and Corrupted), Lesser Fiends, Greater Fiends, and Archdemons. However, the book did not mention their actual cores, probably because mages could only sense a core’s power rather than read specific details.
Daedrik! Kal’s eyes widened as he read. His new father was a mage. He should be able to sense my core… but then… Kal read on, tracing the words at a manic pace.
While mages could not passively detect what kind of cores each other had, there were ways to gain greater insight. Mana could be channeled directly into the core with the help of a probing stone to reveal its secrets. Kal was fairly certain his father had never attempted this on him—at least not while he was awake.
This is not good. People hunt demons in this world; I know that much. And if I have a demonic core, I’m not sure how much it’s going to matter whether I’m an actual demon or not. I need to learn how to hide my core asap.
He flicked the pages back to where the book explained the different demonic ranks. Hmm… lesser, Kal hummed to himself. Does that mean my core is a Lesser Fiend’s core? Is that better or worse than a normal human core?
He tried to find an answer, but it wasn’t straightforward. The baseline for demons—even the weakest—was generally higher than humans and other mortal races. Still, there were plenty of stories about archmages and other powerful mages slaying powerful demons and even archdemons.
Damn it, I wish this was easier to make sense of. Kal just hoped he hadn’t been given a shortcut with less long-term potential.
Careful what you wish for, I suppose, Kal sighed.
But his brow raised as his eyes glided down to an interesting section of the book’s annotations; he read about several occurrences of known demons transcending their rank, but the author failed to conclude the reason. They did, however, speculate that demons had the means to evolve their rank and reach higher levels. Still, their understanding of the details surrounding this mechanism was too vague to reach any proper conclusions on how or why, or even definitive answer on whether or not it was possible, and there were many popular counter theories.
Damn it, I wish I could just get a straight answer. I guess there's only one way to find out.
Kal’s motivation wasn't just driven by a deep-set determination to make the most of his second life anymore. He had just learned that a giant target likely hovered over his head.
Getting stronger wasn’t a preference anymore. It was a necessity for survival.
