Chapter 5 – Testing the Ability
Edmund sat cross-legged on his bed, back straight, hands resting on his knees.
Why the lotus position?
Simple. He was an otaku.
In all the anime and webnovels he had consumed back on Earth, every time the protagonist wanted to meditate, train, or awaken some hidden ability, they always sat like this. So of course, he would do the same. It felt more… authentic.
He closed his eyes, exhaled, and tried to clear his mind.
It wasn't easy at first. His thoughts kept drifting to random things: his old office job, his coworkers who probably didn't even know he was dead, Emilia Clarke's shocked expression when he broke up with her earlier. But after a while, the noise in his head quieted down.
Slowly, he began to feel it.
The mana.
It was faint at first, like catching the scent of something in the wind. But once he focused, he noticed it everywhere—floating in the air around him, and more importantly, flowing inside his own body.
"…So this is mana, huh."
It was different from anything he had ever felt before. Warm. Subtle. Almost like a calm current of water gently running through his veins. It wasn't overwhelming, but it was definitely there, alive and moving.
The sensation was pleasant, soothing even. No wonder people devoted their lives to training with it.
He stayed still, going deeper and deeper into the sensation. Then, as if instinct guided him, he brushed against something else.
It was strange. Not mana exactly, but close. A presence. A switch.
This must be it… the ability.
Even though it was his first time encountering it, he just knew. The recognition was instinctual.
Without hesitation, he tried to activate it.
There was no chant, no complicated ritual, no glowing circle. It was simple. Natural. Like flicking on a light switch.
Edmund opened his eyes.
He blinked. Looked down at his hands. Looked at the rest of his body.
Nothing.
No glow. No surge of strength. No sudden new knowledge.
"…Huh."
He frowned, then deactivated it. Activated it again.
Still nothing.
"…You've got to be kidding me."
For the next several minutes, Edmund kept doing the same thing. On. Off. On. Off. He activated the ability, deactivated it, activated it again. His eyes scanned for the tiniest hint of change.
There wasn't any.
He sighed and muttered, "Great. So my big cheat ability is… a dud? Just flipping a switch that doesn't do anything? Amazing."
Disappointment settled in his chest, but he didn't stop. Hours passed as he repeated the process over and over. Eventually, he didn't even need to meditate anymore—he could flip the switch on a whim, instantly.
But the result was always the same. No visible effect. No power-up. Nothing.
By the time he finally stopped, the sky outside had already started to lighten faintly with dawn.
Edmund slumped back on the bed, dragging a hand down his face. "…Man, I really thought this would be cool. Guess not."
---
Still, he wasn't completely without hope.
Even if his ability seemed useless right now, he had one other obvious problem to deal with: his mana pool.
From the memories of the original Edmund, he had a rough understanding of how mana worked in this world. And to put it bluntly—his mana capacity was terrible.
If the average student's mana pool could be compared to a bucket, then his was barely the size of a small bowl. And that was being generous.
No wonder the guy was mocked.
But there were ways to fix that. He remembered a few.
One was through consuming rare herbs and potions designed to expand mana reserves. Another was through absorbing mana cores from magical beasts, though that came with risks.
And then there was the cheapest, most efficient method: simple training.
Constantly using and depleting one's mana pool. By repeatedly exhausting it, the body would gradually adapt, expand, and strengthen its capacity to hold more.
It was the most straightforward path. The most common. And the most reliable.
Of course, the original Edmund hadn't bothered.
Too lazy. Too unmotivated. Too busy wasting time on meaningless things.
Edmund let out a long sigh. "Seriously, this guy was hopeless. No drive, no effort. Just… waiting around for things to change on their own."
That wasn't going to work for him.
Not anymore.
He stared at the ceiling, his grey eyes narrowing slightly. "If I want to survive here… if I want to actually live this time… I've got to start fixing everything he screwed up. Step by step."
His mind lingered briefly on his "ability." Whatever it was, it had to be useful somehow. There was no way something tied directly to his transmigration was completely pointless. He just hadn't figured out how to trigger it yet.
For now, though, his priority was clear: build up his mana pool.
The rest would follow.
---
He rolled over on the bed, exhaustion finally hitting him. His body wasn't used to staying awake this long, especially after all the chaos of the day.
His eyelids grew heavy.
"…Later," he muttered. "I'll figure out the rest later. For now… sleep."
And just like that, he drifted off, his mind calm despite the uncertainty.
For the first time in a long time, he wasn't dreading the next day. He wasn't stuck in monotony. He wasn't bored.
He actually looked forward to what came next.