Once again all I could see was darkness and I felt like I was floating in very thick water. " ah… I must have died again. I don't think I'll get a third chance at life." As Tone laid there floating he started to think back to his days on Earth. About the family that he had both the good and the bad. "I miss mom." When he said that the water he was floating in started to ripple. It felt like the water was being drained. Once his back touched the floor he heard a noise.
"]]$]]&$#@]/_;:$#@@$_**&;%%=@@$^*[[_=÷×@."
"What the.." 'there right in front of me was him? Us? No, no it was me. It was me from my past life. It seems like he is trying to tell me something but for some reason I couldn't understand what he was saying.'
";:$#@@$"
"Dude, I can't understand what you're saying."
Him seemingly able to understand me put his hand on his chin and pursed his lips. He then just shrugs his shoulders and continues to just watch me.
'What the fuck is this guy on? Weirdo. Wait, doesn't that mean I'm a weirdo.'
As Tone goes through this turmoil he starts to feel sleepy. He looks up only to see the other him waving bye to him. He waves bye back then lays down on the ground. The water starts to fill back up and he closes his eyes.
….
When tone opens his eyes he sees a roof that is way taller than it needs to be. He looks around and sees medical cabinets with bottles of liquid and pills in them.
I tried to sit up only for pain to shoot through my body.
"I guess hitting the tree at that speed is not good for my health."
It was then that the door opened and a lady with green hair and a white nurse jacket walked in. She looked at me with her brown eyes surprised. "Oh my, you're awake. I'm surprised that you woke up so soon. You know you shouldn't use spells that are over your mana limit."
I then had to listen to her nag for the next 1 and a half hours about the importance of not trying to kill myself.
The door then opened up to Paul standing in the doorway. "So how is the little hero doing."
'There is no way that is the first thing he says to his son that almost died.'
"I'm doing fine, a little pain here and there but not much for like permanent injuries or anything like that."
Paul walks up to the bed. " I see that's good, I'm just happy that you're alive and well."
'Yea, I am too.'
Paul puts his hand on Tone's head and messes his already messy hair up. "Alright I have to go have a meeting with the king. You get some rest."
Tone nodded his head and then Paul left.
The nurse seeing Paul leave then comes over to him with a weird red potion. "Here, drink this, it should help with that last bit of pain you're having."
Tone takes the vial and drinks it. "Thanks."
'This is crazy I can feel the potion working. The only downside is that I feel stiff.' Tone starts to rotate his arms and shoulders.
The nurse seeing him do that smiles. "Yeah, the only problem with Potions of this grade is that it leaves you feeling stiff."
'Grade?'
The nurse saw the confused look on Tone's face. "You see all Potions have a grade From 1 to 6. Grade 1 and 2 leaves you with a stiffness due to the impurities from the low quality ingredients. From grade 3 and up the stiffness is gone but your body has a higher chance of retaining the impurities. Which can slow down your mana sea progress."
Tone nodded his head but was even more confused. "I understand what you mean but what is a mana sea?"
"There is no way you don't know what a mana sea is, right?" The nurse said seeing the embarrassed look on Tone's face she grabbed a chair and sat down. "Ok so mana sea or mana pool is your internal Reservoir of mana. Now like Potions, humans also have grades 1 to 7 being the highest ever recorded. At grade 1 it's just mana in your body but at grade 2 is when you form a mana core. Your mana core starts out red. This is important because each time you go up in grade your core changes color. It goes red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and Indigo. Each color has 3 levels: dark, mid light. The lighter your core is the closer you are to advancing."
Tone thought that some things about what she said were off but decided not to say anything about it. "Ok I understood all of what you said but how do you form a mana core?"
"That's simple, there are mana core forming formulas." Is how the nurse answered the question but that just confused him more.
"Wait, if there are mana core formulas plural. Does that mean that mana cores can be different?
"Yes, when forming a core or should I say structuring a core cuz you're basically using your Mana to make your core into the way you want it. So like some formulas can make your cores give them a big source of Mana or some makes your core can give some people another affinity. Sadly commoners only have access to the most basic formulas. Now they are allowed to make their own but that comes at a price of possibly doing something detrimental. I've seen someone who tried to make a new core but he failed and can no longer use mana."
'Oh, I have a lot I need to think about.'
"But you should be good as you have time until you go to an academy." the nurse said as she got up to leave.
Seeing that she was about to go, Tone asked her his final question. "Thanks but one last thing. Um where am I?"
"Oh right sorry." The nurse said with slightly red cheeks. "You're in the infirmary in the royal estate."
...
(In the royal chambers at the same time.)
"So Paul, what happened?" A guy with a muscular build, blue eyes, and blonde hair with a crown sitting on top of his head
Paul with a serious expression on his face continues. "Yes my lord, from them trying to take my son and the information from the ones we captured. We have confirmed that it is the cult of the Red Moon that was hired by one of the other kingdoms.
Hearing this the advisors lining up the walls started mumbling some with fear others with anger. The king hearing this puts his hand up to silence everyone. "I know that you'll feel some way or another about this but what I need is to know what to do next." The king said this looking at everybody with a stern expression.
One of the advisors raised his hand and the king nodded his head at them. "I think that we need to do a show of force to let them know not to mess with us."
Then another advisor stood to say something. "I believe that right now is not the best time to start anything that can start a war. We need to deal with the cult first." After saying that they sat back down.
The king sat with his hand on his chin thinking. He didn't like the idea of either of them. Seeing that there is no clear answer the king dismissed every one but Paul. With only him and Paul left in the room the king sighs and sinks into his seat. "Paul, my old friend, how's the wife?"
Paul, seeing his friend so exhausted, shakes his head. "She is doing well and her mood is getting worse with time till the kids' 10th birthday comes up."
"Right, the Corewell family rule of marrying out of nobility. How can they expect someone to be ok with giving up their first born. Maybe I'm giving nobles too much power?"
They both sigh. "It's ok, we're the ones that said yes to the agreement so that we can be married. Plus we know that they're going to take good care of her because she is talented." Paul said in a voice that sounded like he was trying to convince himself.
The king, seeing the atmosphere in the room is bad, decides to change the subject. "Speaking about the kids, how was the young one doing in the Infirmary? Also how does he hold up to the girl?"
"He's fine. I went to see him before coming here and he had woken up. So I'll bring him to see you in 2 days when he is 100%." Paul, grateful for the change of subject, continues. "If I had to pick who to bring on the battlefield between Whisper And Tone, I'll have to pick Whisper. The amount of mana that she has is 3 times that of Tone's, but Tone has a great mind. He knows his own weakness and uses it to make you believe you have the upper hand. In the future he might surpass her but as of right now she is better by a large margin."
The king with a pleased expression on his face nodded. "I can't wait for him to meet Arthur. Ok you are dismissed."
Paul saluted. "Yes sir, for the glory of the Kingdom."