The sensation of passing through the magical barrier made my stomach churn. I was already accustomed to it, and I also used healing magic to ease the discomfort.
On the other side, I met up with my group. Damian and Helen had eyes shining with curiosity and perhaps excitement. Seray, as always, was reserved. Since she was quiet and observing the scenery the place offered, I approached her from behind in short steps and placed my hand on her shoulder. She looked back, and with a light movement, merely out of reflex, she turned around, startled, and took a step backward.
— Ah. — she murmured a soft sigh. — It's you. You should have warned me instead of startling me.
She pouted while poking me. — Sorry, sorry. — I replied, a little startled by her reaction.
Right behind me, I could notice the others watching. Helen whispered to Damian. — It's true, you were right. They look good together.
— Is she Ryo's little girlfriend? — Neses asked them, as if teasing me. — I didn't think he was that forward.
— Not at all. — Damian replied with a touch of sarcasm, laughing. — He's just kind of dumb when it comes to these things. If he paid attention to anything besides magic, he'd know how to act better on certain occasions.
Their teasing made me feel a strange kind of anger. I could feel a vein throbbing in my forehead. And the feeling of embarrassment hit me hard. Seray was still poking me.
I grabbed Seray's hand, and she looked at me. — Look, could you stop poki—
— All right! — Neses shouted. — Enough with the lovebirds. You have to show them the place before your training begins.
Helen and Damian laughed loudly. Seray looked me in the eyes, and I looked away in embarrassment. I murmured. — We're not dating.
— Come on, I'll show you the place where he's training. — Neses called us, and we followed her, although I stayed a few minutes behind.
The others followed Grandma Neses. I stood there thinking. Seray's gaze wouldn't leave my mind. An indescribable feeling filled my heart.
— She was so cute and beautiful. — I said, embarrassed, in a low groan.
— Come on! — Damian shouted, urging me to hurry. I took a wrong step forward and turned to see him with an unconcerned expression. — You're the only one who's going to be late here.
We walked to Hajba's tent. And as if we were on a tour with some tourists, we showed and talked about some things in the village.
Neses took them for a walk around the village. Seray refused and claimed that she wanted to stay with me. I didn't think about why, although I was shocked.
I sat down and crossed my legs, closing my eyes. I began training my mana control before practicing the combat techniques.
— You…
Seray said, but didn't finish. Some time passed, and she was still silent. I could feel her watching me, or perhaps it was merely my imagination. Long breaths and moments of time passed, and not a peep, not a sound.
I was manipulating the mana inside and outside my body, trying to purify it by drawing it into my core and absorbing it into my muscles. This made my skin extremely sensitive, allowing me to feel many things intensely. I was about to release aura and pressure outward from my body to prevent excessive strain. I could feel Seray resting her shoulder against my back, leaning against me. Strangely, I didn't feel anything intensely. Instead, I felt her warmth, her delicacy, and her subtlety. I checked whether I was still performing the process correctly, whether there was anything wrong. There wasn't.
— You make me feel safe. — Seray said calmly, as if she were almost asleep. — You bring me peace.
I felt her move subtly, wrapping her arms around my waist. Her chest was now pressed against my back, and her head rested beneath my shoulder. I left her in that position since I couldn't move now, otherwise I would ruin the process I had begun.
When I was able to open my eyes, Seray had fallen asleep in that position.
— …
Hajba entered his tent and came across the two of us in that scene. He stopped in shock and stared at us.
— Young man, I thought I told you that this place was only for training your mana control. — he said in a teasing and comedic tone. — This isn't a place for dating. And speaking of dating, I thought you and my daughter were already married.
— Stop making fun of me, Hajba. — I joked back. — You know I didn't even know you had a daughter.
As soon as I finished speaking, Seray tightened her embrace and said in my ear: — You'd better mean it.
She let me go after biting my ear, and then we left Hajba's tent together.
Later, after training my physical techniques, I joined my group. They were watching my shadow training and sparring with Guapho.
I could hear their murmurs and teasing whenever I got beaten by the duck.
Following our routine normally, we went to bathe in the lakes north of the village to wash away the sweat.
— Everyone, you don't even need to take your clothes off. — I told them, with a certain anticipation in my voice. — Instead, I want you to stay beneath the water falling from the waterfall.
They stared at the water cascading down the waterfall in an intense and continuous flow, forming a white curtain that broke apart into thousands of tiny droplets upon striking the rocks below. Those were the very rocks I had ordered them to sit on.
Beneath the water, they remained close to the waterfall, sitting cross-legged and allowing the current to strike their shoulders while the force of the water spread around them.
The sound was constant and powerful, blending with the voices of the people and the noise of the water striking the rocks and their bodies.
— Why do we have to stay under this waterfall? — Helen spoke with difficulty because of the strong pressure on her shoulder. — Why are you asking us to do this?
— I'm going to give you something.
— What exactly? — Damian asked.
I released the pressure and unleashed my power. My mana aura rose with a very dark navy-blue color. I could hear them groaning and gritting their teeth. My hair fluttered against the wind and pressure caused by the enormous power I was releasing.
Although it appeared to be a gigantic amount of power, it was nothing compared to that of other, more experienced mages, and I seemed stronger to them because they had no power of their own and had never encountered other mages.
— I'm going to give you this. — I said, picking up a stone from the ground and crushing it. — Well, not this itself. But rather, the ability to do this, or even more.
Their mouths fell open, not to mention their widened eyes.
— Are you going to teach us magic? — Seray asked in a new tone of voice, something between surprise, curiosity, and excitement.
Helen and Damian looked at her, somewhat shocked. Both by my revelation and by Seray's altruistic initiative in speaking first.
— That's right.
— Seriously?! — Damian shouted excitedly, stars practically visible in his eyes.
— Yes.
I filled my chest with air, puffing it out to have enough breath to explain everything for quite some time. I told them to remain seated as they were.
— So I don't force your cores the way mine was forced… — I paused, thinking about how to explain the workings of mana and its circulation through the body's magical circuit to people unfamiliar with the subject. — I'm going to use a method I thought of while training the circulation and absorption of natural mana, which you can also call world mana.
— What's the difference? — Helen asked, raising her hand.
— None. It depends on where you are. — I raised a finger in an attempt to explain. — For example, in the village, they call it natural mana because they believe it comes from nature, just like oxygen. Do you want me to explain where oxygen comes from?
— For God's sake! — Damian grumbled in boredom. — We learned that in school.
— Well, continuing. World mana is the term used outside this village. Mages and scientists believe that mana comes from the planet and its core. These scholars study this theory so they can learn more and more about the world we live in, as well as develop better ways to use mana to develop mages and technology for the future.
— That's way too long. — Seray said, sticking out her tongue with a hint of mockery.
— Sorry, the explanations are long or complicated. — I retorted with my arms crossed. — You'll have to get used to it.
— Anyway… — I walked toward them. First, I went to Damian.
— Hey, hey. Haven't you heard the saying, ladies first? — he shouted in surprise when I began infusing mana into his meridians. Mana infused in this way could hurt or shock the person receiving it, making the process quite uncomfortable for them.
— I thought you were man enough to handle this first, especially since you've got a lot to lose. — I said, looking at Helen, who looked back at us with an unreadable expression on her face.
Damian looked at me and swallowed hard. With my hand on his back, I imbued my mana into his mana veins, making it circulate through them and opening the meridian channels to gain access to the solar plexus, allowing the mana core to naturally form using my mana as the raw material.
— The process may be uncomfortable and may even hurt, so hang in there. — I shouted at him, since, due to the pressure, his eardrums were probably being strained and temporarily rendered useless. — Remember: no pain, no gain. If you make it through this ordeal, your evolution will be significant.
Damian screamed in pain and began to sweat. His pores and bodily openings slowly opened, and the impurities in his body began leaving through them, facilitating the process of mana absorption and the formation of Damian's mana core.
The process lasted several hours, but eventually Damian's core formed and advanced to light black, probably because of my involvement and the purified mana from my own core.
After finishing with him, I left him performing the internal mana circulation exercise Hajba had taught me, in order to purify the mana and strengthen the core's pillar, keeping it from becoming fragile.