Chương 8: Mana Infusion

After finishing his workout, Jonny was absolutely certain. He was stronger. He had broken his records for consecutive sit-ups and pull-ups, and when it was time to play tag, by the time the other kids were all done, he still had plenty left in the tank. Suddenly, the pain of the mana infusion ritual didn't seem so bad. Sure, it hurt, but pain was temporary, and if he got stronger every time he did it, it was more than worth it. He could handle a bit of pain if it made him stronger.

He had done it all the time in his past life, and that wasn't even counting the beatings he took in the octagon. As the other kids panted in the grass around him, he turned back toward the orphanage, where Sister Lucy watching over them all, and ran up to her.

"I wanna do the mana infusion thing again."

"No."

"Why not?"

"The Abbess wants to make sure you're fully healthy before we try again."

"I feel fine," he said, flexing his arms.

"Well, you certainly look strong," said Lucy with a smirk.

"But you went way too far. We need to make sure there are no side effects."

"Pleeeease?" He clasped his hands together, and stared up at Lucy, eyes wide as he hoped to seduce her with cuteness. Her smile made him think he had succeeded at appearing cute, but her response remained the same.

"No," she said.

"Maybe next week."

"Hmph." Jonny turned around, pouting, heading back out into the field to burn off the rest of his energy. Later that day, he asked again, this time cornering Margaret 1, but to his dismay, her answer was the same as Lucy's. They wanted to watch him for another week to make sure he was alright before giving it another go. Thankfully, it didn't seem like they thought his condition was as dire as Jonny's parents had, but it was clear they didn't want to take too many risks.

For the next week, Jonny did his best to make sure that the nuns knew he was fine. He did his workouts with increased vigor, and even took some extra time to play with some of the other kids. Even Tommy. However, as the days went on, Jonny noticed something alarming: he was getting weaker. The second day back, he did a few less of each exercise than usual, but he chalked that up to simple exhaustion.

He had pushed himself too hard the previous day in his excitement, and coming off a week of inactivity, it was just too much to handle. But when he did even fewer the next day, and the day after that, he knew it wasn't just that. On the fourth day, he finally seemed to stabilize, at least, and he stabilized at a slightly higher level than he had been before the ritual, but all the gains he thought he had received were gone. This level of improvement was just the natural progression of his strength.

So, when the week came to an end, and the nuns finally allowed him to participate in the infusion ritual again, he was determined to get to the bottom of it. Why had he gotten stronger, and why did he lose that strength after a few days?

"Are you ready?" asked the Abbess with her hands on his shoulders.

"Yes," he said confidently.

"Then we'll start in 3. 2. 1…" Jonny closed his eyes and felt the mana enter his body once again. This time, it came much more slowly than the first time. There was barely a trickle, but that worked out better for him, since it gave him more time before the pain and pressure became unbearable. He immersed himself in the feeling of having his inner eye opened, feeling the mana as it flowed through his body. Just like before, it seemed unable to escape, building up more and more intensely until it became painful.

Having learned his lesson from the last time, he raised his hand, signalling that it was getting too much, and the flow of mana immediately cut off. The mana within him continued to cycle on its own, but without the addition of new mana, the pain never increased, and the heat in his body remained at a manageable level. Jonny watched his mana for a few minutes until it became boring to do so. It just kept swirling around, and that was about it. It was kind of cool to feel, but that was about it.

Instead, he focused his inner eye on his surroundings. Without going as far as the first time, it was not quite as sensitive as before, but he could still sense the mana around him, and that was exciting. He waved his hands around, running them through the invisible breeze, sensing how it interacted with his body. Once he got bored of that, he turned his attention back inward. He had mana now. Mana was what spells were made of. Did that mean he could cast spells now?

He held out his hand, palm up, and imagined a ball of fire appearing. Nothing happened. He imagined harder. Still nothing happened. With a sigh, he opened his eyes and looked up at Sister Lucy, who was sitting in front of him. He caught a glimpse of a concerned expression, but it quickly turned into a smile when she saw him looking at her.

"How are you feeling?" she asked.

"Great!" said Jonny.

"I did it!" Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

"You opened your inner eye?" she asked, half incredulous.

"Yup!" It wasn't quite as sensitive as it had been with his eyes closed, but he could still sense the mana both within him and around him. It was an extremely strange feeling, but a very welcome one. Lucy gave him a suspicious look, then held out two of her hands. From one, mana emerged, coalescing into a ball above her palm. It was invisible to his eyes, but Jonny could sense it clearly with his newly-opened inner eye.

"Which–?" started Lucy.

"That one!" he said proudly, pointing to the one with the mana in it.

"Well, I'll be," she said.

"Looks like you did it!"

"Good job, Jonny!" said the Abbess, ruffling his hair from behind.

"You were really fast?"

"Faster than Tommy?"

"No, he actually managed on his first try," said Lucy.

"What?!"

"But you shouldn't compare yourself to him," said the Abbess gently.

"Tommy is a rare talent. If you compare yourself to him, you'll only make yourself feel worse. Besides getting it on your second try is still very impressive."" Tommy is talented?"

"Yes, very." Jonny stared at Lucy, jaw hanging open, waiting for her to say she was joking, but the reveal never came. He just couldn't believe it. How could Tommy of all people be talented?! The gluttonous bastard couldn't even talk straight half the time. Well, I would have done it first try if I didn't pass out, he told himself. That made him feel a little better, but it only slightly lessened the sting.

"Well, now that you've opened your inner eye, you can start taking magic lessons with the other older kids!" said Lucy, seeing his mood.

"Maybe you can beat Tommy to casting your first spell!"

"Has he not done it yet?"

"No, he just managed it two days ago," said Lucy.

"But that was after three months. If you finish in less than three months–""Lucy," said Abbess Helen sternly.

"Sorry, Abbess," said Lucy, lowering her head.

"Jonny, don't worry yourself with how fast you learn. If you try to go too fast, you might miss out on some of the fundamentals. Being the fastest to cast a spell doesn't matter if the spell explodes and burns your eyebrows off. Okay?"

"…Okay." Yeah, nah, I'm gonna cast a spell faster than Tommy did.

"The first lesson will be tomorrow," said Helen.

"During morning playtime, instead of going to the toy room, you'll come to the classroom with the other older kids. I'll be there, and so will Margaret and Margaret, and we'll be helping you learn how to use your mana."

"Okay."

"For now, you can just go back out to play a bit, and get used to having your inner eye. And remember, if you start feeling weird, tell one of us immediately."

"Okay."

"Jonny." Hearing her serious tone, Jonny turned to face the Abbess. The look she gave him reminded him of his grandma whenever she was asking him about his homework. Jonny had disliked the old bat at the time, but now, it looked strangely nostalgic.

"I promise I'll tell you if I feel funny."

"Good," she said, ruffling his hair again.

"Now run along now. I have something to discuss with Lucy and the Margarets." Jonny didn't need to be told twice. He nodded, then sprang to his feet and ran out of the room, heading straight for the toy room. He had been taken in for the infusion first thing in the morning after breakfast, so he hadn't had a chance to do his workout yet, and he was eager to see the results of the infusion.

In the corner of the toy room, he started doing his pushups, grinning madly as he once again surpassed his previous record, this time getting all the way to 321 before failing. A massive improvement even over his other massive improvement. And his situp and pullup numbers were the same. When it was time for outdoor play time, he ran like the wind, sprinting all around without getting winded. He felt like a whole new person.

When he finally ran out of breath, he flopped on to the grass on a gentle slope, looking up at the clouds as he panted. This proved it. The mana infusion made him stronger. Jonny was no genius, but it would take a true idiot not to realize that it was the mana in his body that was making him stronger. And as he focused his inner eye back on it, he noticed that it had actually decreased somewhat from where it was.

Actually, he wasn't quite good enough to notice that the mana had decreased, but it was very obvious he had because the pressure and pain in his body had lessened to the point that he barely noticed it anymore. So, when I've got mana, I'm stronger, but when I do stuff, it starts to go away. But where does it go? He was pretty sure he hadn't noticed any of it leaving his body at any point. He wasn't paying the closest attention, but this was also something he intuitively felt he would have known if it happened.

And yet, some of the mana had still disappeared. So where had it gone? Well, there was only one viable answer. My body is like an engine. Mana is the gas. That makes sense. But now how do I get more mana? He lay on the grass with his eyes closed, feeling the mana around, trying to see if he could somehow catch it and draw it in. But no matter what he tried, nothing worked. He could not grab it, because it just slipped through his fingers. He couldn't eat it, though he wasn't entirely sure why.

He could eat the air that it lived in, but it didn't seem to actually get infused into his body. I'm not gonna have to ask the nuns every time, right? Nah, that doesn't make sense. There had to be a way to absorb the mana, but whatever that way was, it was entirely beyond him at the moment. So, for the time being, he just tried to see if he could cast a spell again. Thinking of the fireball hadn't worked, but maybe that had been a silly attempt.

"Fireball!" he said, holding his hand out. Maybe I need some fancy wizard language.

"Uhhhhh… Wing art um Levi Rosa! Abra kadabra! Bada bing, bada boom, make the air go kaboom!" Still nothing. Damn… This magic shit is hard. He tried a few more methods to cast spells, but sadly, nothing quite seemed to work as he hoped, and eventually, he gave up and returned to physical training. Magic was mysterious, but his body could always be stronger.

And with all this mana inside him, he seemed to recover better than before, and was able to run at least another couple miles before the nuns called them in for dinner and evening chores. Still, despite his failure to use magic, he had made progress, and when he went to bed that night, he had trouble falling asleep. He was simply too excited, and kept tossing and turning until late into the night when his body finally shut itself down.

When he awoke the next morning, he felt tired due to lack of sleep, when when he sat up and saw Tommy across the room, stretching in his own bed, he was reinvigorated. Today was the day he was going to start learning magic. And he'd be damned if he let Tommy beat him.