The peaceful routine of Hage Village didn't last long for David Banner.
Three days of settling in had been enough for him to understand something important about the world he now lived in.
Strength decided everything.
Magic determined status, power, and survival. Nobles were powerful because they possessed large amounts of mana. Commoners struggled because their mana was limited. Peasants had almost none at all.
Yet despite that system, two boys trained every day with the determination to overturn it.
And David had decided something.
If he was truly stuck in this world… he wasn't going to remain weak.
The morning sun had barely risen when David stepped into the church courtyard carrying a simple wooden staff he had carved the night before. The air was cool and quiet, with only the soft sounds of wind brushing against the grass fields surrounding the village.
Standing in the center of the training field was Yuno.
Small streams of wind gently spiraled around his hand as he practiced controlling his mana. The air moved smoothly, responding to his focus like an obedient current.
David watched silently for a moment before speaking.
"Can you teach me?"
Yuno stopped.
The wind dissipated quietly as he turned toward David.
"Teach you what?"
"How to control mana."
Yuno studied him for several seconds without saying anything. His sharp green eyes quietly examined David as if trying to measure something invisible.
"You're serious," Yuno said.
David nodded.
"I am."
For the first time since arriving in this world, his voice carried genuine determination.
"I don't want to be dead weight around here."
Yuno didn't answer immediately.
Instead, he walked closer and stopped a few feet away from David. The wind stirred faintly around his feet as he crossed his arms thoughtfully.
"Most people start sensing mana naturally as they grow," Yuno explained calmly. "But controlling it takes practice."
David nodded.
"Then I'll practice."
The silence between them lasted only a moment before Yuno turned back toward the field.
"…Fine."
David blinked.
"That was easy."
"I don't like wasting time," Yuno replied.
Their training began immediately.
At first, the process was simple.
Yuno instructed David to sit quietly and focus on the sensation of mana in the air. The invisible energy flowed everywhere—through the wind, the ground, even inside their own bodies.
"Don't force it," Yuno explained while standing beside him. "Just feel it."
David closed his eyes.
At first, the world felt the same as always.
Wind brushing against his skin.
Grass shifting under his feet.
The distant sounds of birds in the sky.
Then slowly…
Something else appeared.
Faint currents drifting through the air.
Mana.
David inhaled slowly, letting the sensation flow through his senses. It felt similar to breathing—something natural that his body had simply ignored before.
The mana brushed against him like a gentle tide.
Then it moved.
David's eyes opened slightly.
"…Wait."
The currents had shifted.
Not randomly.
Toward him.
Yuno noticed immediately.
"…You moved it."
David lifted his hand slowly.
The faint mana around his fingers wavered slightly before drifting closer.
Not strong.
Not controlled.
But definitely responding.
Yuno's expression didn't change, but his eyes sharpened slightly.
"…That was fast."
David lowered his hand, confused.
"Fast?"
"Most people take weeks to do that."
David blinked.
"…Seriously?"
Yuno stepped closer and focused carefully on the mana surrounding David's body. For a moment, the wind around him stirred instinctively as if reacting to something unusual.
Then Yuno spoke quietly.
"…You have a lot of mana."
David tilted his head.
"How much is 'a lot'?"
Yuno answered calmly.
"About the same as me."
David froze.
"…You're joking."
"I'm not."
Yuno wasn't someone who joked.
David slowly looked down at his hands again.
Mana equal to Yuno.
Without any training.
Without even knowing how to properly control it.
"…That doesn't make sense," David muttered.
Yuno nodded slightly.
"It doesn't."
But instead of questioning it further, Yuno simply continued the lesson.
"Try again."
And so the training continued.
For the rest of the day, David practiced sensing and pulling small amounts of mana toward himself. At first it was difficult, but his progress came quickly. By the evening he could already move faint currents of mana around his hands.
Not enough to form real magic.
But enough to prove something important.
He had talent.
The next day they trained again.
And the day after that.
A full week passed like this.
Every morning, David and Yuno met in the field outside the church before breakfast. Asta often joined them as well, swinging his wooden sword wildly while shouting about becoming the Wizard King.
"MY TRAINING WILL SURPASS BOTH OF YOU!"
David dodged one of Asta's practice swings and laughed.
"You almost took my head off!"
"That's how training works!" Asta declared proudly.
Yuno sighed quietly while continuing to manipulate small gusts of wind around his hand.
Despite the chaos, the training continued.
David's control improved rapidly.
Within a few days he could pull mana toward his body intentionally. By the end of the week he could hold it around his hands for several seconds before it dispersed.
Yet something strange kept happening.
Every time he manipulated mana, the energy behaved… differently.
It moved faster.
Sharper.
Almost like the mana itself was responding more aggressively than it should.
One evening after training, David stood alone in the field while staring at his hand thoughtfully. The sun had already begun to set, painting the sky orange as the wind brushed across the tall grass.
He slowly raised his hand again.
Mana gathered.
But this time, instead of gently drifting toward him…
It snapped into place.
Like gravity pulling stars into orbit.
David's eyes widened slightly.
"…That's new."
He concentrated harder.
The mana condensed slightly around his palm, forming a faint shimmering glow before dispersing again.
Not quite a spell.
But definitely more than before.
Behind him, Yuno had been watching quietly.
"…You figured something out."
David turned slightly.
"Yeah."
He looked back at his hand again.
"When I move the mana…"
His eyes sharpened with realization.
"…it feels like it's responding faster than it should."
Yuno nodded.
"That's because you're not just sensing it anymore."
David tilted his head.
"What do you mean?"
Yuno answered simply.
"You're manipulating it now."
David looked down at his hand once more.
Mana manipulation.
The first real step toward becoming a mage.
And with only three weeks left before his Grimoire Acceptance Ceremony, David could already feel something important beginning to awaken inside him.
Power.
Raw.
Unrefined.
Waiting to take shape.