In the state of Elysian, new things were happening all over. New people had arrived, and the area was now filled with light at night. Many shelters had been built, and in front of them, a small fire crackled where many people were gathered, eating together.
But looking at them, there were people who weren't there: the hunters, the blacksmith, and the children. There was one other person also missing: the lord of this state. Walking through the shelters, one was lit with a blue color, shining brightly.
Inside, a person was in a meditation position, and the light was coming from him. It was Lucan, and sweat was pouring down his body, more than it had before. He was doing something.
Lucan was forming his first circle. He had slowly made a thread after many tries, but the thread was only near his heart. Now Lucan was guiding it and trying to form a circle. For it to become a circle, it needed to be made with more threads combined.
Lucan realized he needed more threads or else it would break instantly. Slowly, he made one thread, then two, and in a few minutes, he had more than fifty threads circling his heart. Lucan was breathing heavily, but by using the mana breathing technique, he didn't lose himself.
"Now, I need to compress them all into one circle and I will achieve the First Circle," Lucan murmured under his breath. As he said this, he began to do it.
Slowly, two threads combined, then four, then eight. In this way, there were now 49 threads compressed together, but the last thread was giving him a headache.
He was really trying to hold his will hard, but it was truly painful for him. Having a circle on his heart was like having a chain on it. This chain was giving him power but also causing him problems as it was being made.
Lucan, who was really trying, held his locket. He thought about his mother, who was truly a loving mom to him. The love he had for his mom did not let him lose himself.
Slowly, he put the last thread on the circle, and like a boom, the circle was made, but it was looking really dim. Lucan, who was having bad thoughts, instantly put more threads on it.
Now that it reached a threshold of fifty, it was easier. Then, like before, he put more threads on it, and with the 75th thread, the circle lit up more. Now it was brightening.
Lucan calmed his breath, then looked inside his body through the mana he now had after achieving the First Circle. He looked and saw the blue circle on his heart.
Lucan looked at it happily and said, "I did it. Now I am a First Circle mage. But…" Lucan stopped. He thought for a moment, and then, like a thunderbolt hit his mind, he said, "There is still Part 2."
Lucan had the First Circle, but he couldn't use it. He tried to force the mana out of him, but it didn't happen at all. He also imagined a fireball shooting out from his hand, but it didn't happen.
And it was a good thing it didn't happen, or else the shelter was going to be on fire. Lucan, who had formed a good circle, didn't have a single feeling that the time that had passed was two hours.
The food was now ready. Lucan, who was going to read the next part of the book, was stopped by Kenny's voice. "Lord, the food is ready. Can I come in or put it here?"
Lucan heard his voice and felt a sigh of relief. If Kenny had come one minute before, the circle he was trying to form would have been broken, and the side effects of it breaking would have made him suffer. But it was a possibility that did not happen.
Lucan stood up from the bed and felt his legs hurt. He thought about why his legs were hurting when it was only half an hour. But clearing his mind, he came outside, and then looking at Kenny, he said, "Thank you, Kenny."
Lucan only said three words, and then, taking the food from Kenny's hand, he walked inside. Kenny, who heard his Lord thank him, pinched himself. Why did his lord say thank you for only giving him food?
He had many thoughts at once about the "thank you," but the actual reason was not known by him. Kenny, who was now just thinking about it, slowly walked away.
Lucan, who was now inside his shelter, ate the food. Today, there was some bread with spices in it, and the food that was prepared was different from every other day.
Lucan, eating the food, got the second part from the system. He looked at the first part, and it was gone, as if there was nothing at all. Lucan tried to find it, but it was not there.
Lucan, who was somehow not thinking too much, now that he had learned everything from the book, looked at the second part. The cover was the same as the first book, but it had "Part 2" written on it.
After opening the book and looking at the first page, there were two chapters.
They said:
Chapter 4: Mana Recovery Technique
Chapter 5: How to Cast a Spell
Lucan, who was now excited just by the names, turned the page and, after reading some paragraphs, understood what it was saying.
The book was saying that the breathing technique he learned before was a technique that could also be used to recover his mana.
He just needed to use the technique, and in an hour, his mana would be recovered to 100%. Other mages needed a day or more to recover from mana depletion, but the user of this technique could recover mana much faster than a normal person.
Lucan, who was now sitting in a meditation position, used the technique. Slowly, the breath came in and out. He used it for more than a minute, but in reality, it was half an hour.
The feeling was so good that Lucan didn't realize when time had passed. He didn't even feel that a half-hour had passed, and his mana pool had recovered by half.
Lucan, feeling his mana pool had been filled by half, said, "Now, what does this Chapter 5 say? Let's see."
As Lucan said this, he turned the pages, and then Chapter 5 was written at the top. The need for using the breathing technique was gone for now, but he would use it from time to time.
Lucan, reading some of the pages, then got a bit excited, a happiness, some shock at how it was done. He had many different expressions.
But what was written in the book was for him to have his mana pool filled, then to have some of the mana go through the channels to the circle, then slowly from there, push it out from his body through his hand.
For normal mages, they needed to chant the incantation for the spell, but for Lucan, all he needed to do was imagine what the spell was in nature, how it would be done, and also push the mana out from his body through his hands.
He needed to do both at the same time, or else there would be a problem for him. The chapter also said that he couldn't imagine the spell to be more powerful than his mana pool could make it happen.
How much mana it needed to be a spell depended on the imagination. If he thought he could blast a whole forest, then he couldn't handle it. The mana pool would be exhausted just from imagining it.
The imagination does the other work, but there were also words to note: at the end of when the spell had been imagined and it would work, he needed to give it a name or name what the world calls it.
If it's a fireball, then he needed to say the word "fireball," and then, like an instant, he would think about the ball made out of fire, and then he just needed to use mana at that time.
Lucan, reading this, steadied himself, and now that his pool was half-filled, he took a bit of mana, slowly, and then sent it toward the circle. The mana was flowing in his body, from his pool to his circle.
The first step was completed easily. Now he needed to imagine the spell and also have the mana flow from his circle to his hand, then make it seem like it was coming out. Lucan did it.
He, with his willpower, slowly guided the mana toward his hand, but the mana was only there. It was not coming out because he was not thinking about the fireball at all. Lucan, realizing it, thought, 'A ball made out of fire, a ball made out of fire.'
Then Lucan, lifting his hand at the same time, his eyes closed, he just thought about the fireball, saying the name of the spell, "Fireball."
After the word came, the mana had a direction. Now a small fire was lit at the top of his hand. The fire was slowly getting bigger, but not enough to be one meter. It stopped at 5 cm.
Lucan, who was feeling the heat and light coming in his eyes, opened them and saw that a fireball was made at the top of his hand.
He tried to touch it with his second hand, but as he did, he felt a bit of heat, so the thought about touching it was gone. Lucan, looking at the fireball from every direction, was really shocked by how mages do this.
They just have a mana pool and let it flow out to cast the spell. Lucan, after seeing it, felt a relief that he could now teach Kaela about this, and Kaela to someone else.
This technique would truly be helpful, and the way to just say the name of a spell and it would cast… Lucan, thinking about the fireball disappearing, it happened.
The fireball was now slowly gone. It was slowly shrinking, then at last, it was gone. Lucan, who had gained the new power, could achieve something that he couldn't have achieved if he was in his home, and everything was possible because of the system.
It now helped Lucan much more than it did before, just thinking about the system, he remembered that the system was only Tier 1 now. It wasn't even at Tier 2. What would it do then?
Lucan, now that he had read the book, put it to the side, and like before, the book was gone. Lucan didn't see it, but he was now happy just by the benefits of being a mage.
He now felt that he was a bit powerful and there would be an instant recovery from physical exhaustion. He felt like this. Now that the First Circle was made and he cast his first spell, he was now exhausted.
He was feeling really sleepy. The light from outside was dark; only the stars and moonlight were coming. Time really passed in an instant.
Lucan thought about the daily report, and then the screen showed up.
[Daily report - day 11]
[Population - 17]
[LP - 99]
[CP - 765]
[Threat level - low]
[+10 Lp For achieving first circle in mage path]
Lucan, after seeing that he now had 17 people, including him, and the system being generous even when he achieved something that benefited only him, he didn't think much about it either.
Lucan, using the breathing technique for half a minute, had his energy recover a bit. He lay on the bed, his legs fully on the bed, and then, closing his eyes, Lucan now slept and awaited the new morning.