Chương 7: Opening the Inner Eye

Jonny eyed the Abbess with suspicion. He still remembered that original test back at his parents' castle. It was painful enough that even after four years, he could still feel it fresh in his mind. Even that time he had to go to the hospital after forgetting his cup during sparring couldn't compare. He would rather not go through that again if he could avoid it. On the other hand, what if that had only happened because he was a baby?

After all, it had been four years since then, and he had trained his body extensively. Maybe it would hurt less this time. Or maybe, it wouldn't happen at all. This library area didn't look like the same kind of ritual chamber as where he had been originally tested. He was cautiously optimistic as he nodded along to the Abbess' question, causing her to smile and go into an explanation on how mana worked.

"Mana is all around us," she said, spreading her arms. In the air, in the ground, in the furniture. It's even in you and me! But most people can't control it. Most people can't even see it! You need to open a special inner eye before you can see mana, and once you do that, you'll be able to start controlling it." Jonny nodded slowly. That sort of made sense. It sounded kind of like that zen meditation bullshit from Earth that maybe wasn't actually as bullshit as he thought it was.

I had a girlfriend who was into that stuff once… I shoulda paid more attention when she tried tellin' me about it.

"There are a few ways to open your inner eye. The first human mages had to spend hours in meditation every day before they could sense mana." Jonny must have made a face at that, because the Abbess laughed before continuing.

"But we've discovered some other ways to do it that take a little less time. One of the common ways is potions and medicinal concoctions. These can get expensive, but the right potion or medicinal herbs can open your inner eye immediately without any difficulty."

"Am I gonna get one'a those?" asked Jonny.

"No, unfortunately, that's not in our budget," said the Abbess with an amused smile.

"We're going to use the second easiest method, which is having a more experienced mage induce mana in your body so you can sense it more easily. I have been doing this for years, so I will be the one performing the deed, and Sisters Margaret, Margaret, and Lucy will be nearby to help if it's needed."

"So you're gonna put that mana stuff in my body?"

"Yes, exactly." Jonny wasn't sure he liked the sound of that. That sounded like exactly what they had done before, and that hurt. But as much as he didn't want to go through that again, it was too alluring to protest. He might have resolved himself to get strong without magic, but if he could have magic and be strong, why wouldn't he?

"Alright," he said.

"I'm ready."

"Not just yet," said Helen, raising a finger.

"There are a few more things we need to go over first. For example, do you know what natural mana capacity is?" Jonny shook his head.

"Everyone has a limit to how much mana their body can process at once. Go over this limit, and it can really hurt. That means that this method can be very painful if I induce more mana than your body can handle. So, when we start, we have to be careful, and if it starts to hurt, you need to let us know immediately. If you don't you could get hurt." Jonny nodded.

"Now, when I begin inducing the mana, you need to close your eyes and focus inward. The mana will flow into your body, and out through your meridians. I need you to try to feel it moving, and focus on it. If you focus hard enough, your inner eye will start to open, and you'll be able to properly feel your mana.

"You probably won't be able to get all the way there the first time. It can takes months for children to fully open their inner eyes, so don't get disappointed if you don't get it right immediately. But once you do get it, you can start joining the classes with the older kids where you learn how to use your mana!

"Now, do you have any questions before we begin?"

"What if I have no mana capacity?" If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

"Everyone has at least a little mana capacity. But if your mana capacity is small, you probably won't be able to do more than minor cantrips. You don't have to worry about that, though. Most people aren't good enough with magic for that to be important. Even if you can't cast any fancy spells, you'll still do just fine. Especially since you're so strong, Mr. Strongest Five Year Old in the World." Jonny nodded, thinking back to the first ritual he had done back with his parents.

Maybe they had just given him too much mana. Maybe his natural mana capacity was just really low. If Abbess Helen started lower than they did back then, he might be able to use at least a little. It sounded like he still wouldn't be able to cast many spells, but some magic was better than no magic.

"Okay, I'm ready."

"Great! Now, sit down in front of me, and face the door, we we can begin." Jonny did as he was instructed, and after that, Helen began guiding him on his posture and breathing. Once he was sitting perfectly upright, and his breathing had settled into a steady rhythm, he felt her place her hands on his shoulders. He closed his eyes prepared to sense the mana she pushed into him, and to his surprise, he sensed it almost immediately.

A warmth spread from her hands into his shoulders, and then down into the rest of his body. He could feel it flowing throughout, and noticed that it seemed to really like flowing around his stomach. In fact, there seemed to be a hub right behind his bellybutton where the warmth always passed through. As it moved, he felt like he began to get a deeper sense of how it worked. Physically, it was just warmth, but underneath, he thought he could feel something else. Something he had never felt before.

Is that my inner eye? That was as much as he got to notice, though, because after only a few seconds, he noticed that something was wrong. Contrary to what Abbess Helen had described, the mana was not flowing out of his body. It flowed around and around, but it never left, growing more and more intense with each cycle. The warmth turned into heat, which turned into a painful burning that made him feel like his insides were on fire. He recalled Helen's warning, but for just a moment, he decided to ignore it.

Because in spite of the pain, as the mana increased, so too did his understanding. His inner eye was opening rapidly. He wasn't just feeling the heat anymore. He was feeling the mana itself. And it was addicting. It reminded him a little bit of the feeling of being born. It was a little strange, but the way his body responded to the awakening of this new sense was almost identical. It was painful, unfamiliar, overwhelming, and scary, but also exhilarating.

He felt the mana building up inside him, threatening to burst, but he also felt it outside his body. He felt it in the air, swirling around him like an invisible breeze. He felt it in the ground, moving more slowly, but with a steady strength to it. He felt it in Helen's hands, pure and potent. And then, all at once, it became too much to bear. He cried out, throwing himself forward away from Helen's hands.

He heard the nuns rush to his side, but his vision was quickly growing dark, as his body twitched on the ground. The last thing he heard before he passed out was Helen's voice, though he couldn't tell what she said. When he woke up, he was in the infirmary, with Sister Lucy at his side. As soon as she noticed him awake, she asked if he was alright, fed him some light soup, and then immediately began scolding him. He accepted the scolding, because he had messed up.

He didn't tell them he was feeling pain, and now he regretted it. He had no idea how long it had been, but his entire body was sore. It was like he had just done the most intense full body workout of his life, and then done it again. He could barely hold the spoon. He had opened his inner eye at the time, but now it was closed once again. At least for now. He could not sense the mana around him anymore, though he did feel subtly different. His inner eye wasn't open, but now he could feel that it was shut.

It was an improvement, but if his natural mana capacity was so low he couldn't even last a few seconds with the induction, did it even matter if he opened his inner eye? He definitely wasn't going to be able to use any serious magic. After scolding him, Lucy took his empty bowl with her as she went back to the kitchen, and soon after, Jonny drifted back to sleep. It took a full week for him to recover from the ordeal, and, of course, the nuns refused to do the induction with him again during that time.

Not that Jonny really wanted to, though as the pain faded, it started to get tempting. He wanted to feel the mana again. Even if it was painful, the pain was ultimately temporary, and though he had been pessimistic before, opening his inner eye would still be a little useful, even if he couldn't use magic. But, for the time being, neither he, nor the nuns said a word about when the next induction would happen. It was like they were silently punishing him for his behavior.

They didn't give him any actual punishment, since the pain was enough of a lesson, but he could feel their disapproving glances whenever they thought he wasn't paying attention. At the end of this week, when Jonny was fully recovered, and they let him get out of the infirmary and back to his normal activities, the first thing he did was exercise. He needed to. A week of bed rest wasn't good for maintaining muscle mass.

Some of the other kids wanted to know what happened, but he brushed them aside as he walked to his corner of the play room and began doing pushups. Almost immediately, he noticed something was different. Despite not having exercised in a week, he felt fine. Better than fine. His body felt oddly light, and when he got to 100 pushups, he didn't feel quite as tired as he usually did. He kept going soon crossing 200, and then hesitating at 238, his previous best. He didn't feel tired yet.

Not tired enough to stop, at least. His arms were burning, but he had more in him. He did another, getting a new personal best, then another, then another, then another. Only when he got to 272 did his arms finally give out, leaving him lying face down on the floor with an expression of awe on his face. Did that ritual thing… make me stronger?