"Hmm? Why is Mama calling me?" Zane thought, then remembered he had missed her call this morning, and she had missed his.
"Ma."
"Are you alright? Did something happen to you? Do you feel weird in any way?"
"Slow down," Zane said. "And explain what you are talking about?"
"Answer my question," Mama Sarfowa asked.
"Nothing happened to me."
"No headache? Dizziness? Or maybe seeing or sensing things you normally shouldn't have?"
Zane's heart skipped a beat. "Hmm, no. Everything is normal."
"That can't be. Your Great Grandfather spoke to me in a dream last night and told me you've awakened your divine essence."
"Divine essence?"
"Forget it. Maybe you need time to adapt, or you might need a ritual for the effects to show," Mama Sarfowa muttered. "You're still coming by the house the day after tomorrow?"
Zane paused; he was previously looking forward to seeing his mom. After all, each shift is full of danger, so he figured he should spend as much time as possible with her now in case something happens to him. But now, he wasn't so sure if this was a good idea.
"Hmm, about that, I —" Before he could finish his sentence, numerous sounds rang from the other side of the phone. He's been to enough hospitals to recognize their emergency signals and even memorize the different codes.
"I gotta go. See you on Thursday."
Zane glanced at his phone, a bit dazed, "Dream Communication? Communication with the dead? The knowledge of shamanism on earth might be more valuable than I originally anticipated."
The existence of Earth Shamans might prove a key factor in battling Demon Lord Shakurri. Those witches, warlocks, and priests already have foundational knowledge, meaning that with the supplement of the tower's resources and unique Shaman System, these people can turn into a formidable support power to the trainees.
"The only issue is the tower forbids the release of free knowledge," Zane thought. "But they emphasized the word free. Can we share knowledge bought without restrictions?"
If the tower allows it, Zane will not hesitate to spend money on books and other stuff for his mother once he is financially settled. With more power, she'll have more opportunities to survive once Demon Lord Shakurri arrives. Zane shook his head, no longer delving too deeply into this topic. Such a plan is considered a long-term goal. After all, he hasn't even settled the resources for himself yet. As the director warned him, he needed to increase his strength as much as possible before the third shift.
Time was of the essence, so Zane immediately got to work. He started researching the market conditions for gold worldwide. Based on his prediction, the gold market will show drastic improvement over the next few weeks, and this increase will continue for a while. Although he currently doesn't have much money to invest, he can prepare in advance.
Three hours later, his alarm rang, reminding him that it was time for his second meditation of the day. Zane had been waiting all day to test out the effect of the magic crystals, and the result was astonishing. Just this one crystal increased the meditative effect by 5% (stacking with the title effect).
"If this is the effect of only one crystal, what about 10? 20? 100? Or better yet, what about the meditation ward?" Zane thought. According to information gathered in the plaza, the lowest meditation ward contained a mana concentration twice that of Earth. However, one use requires 300 magic crystals and lasts only one hour. But with the effect of doubling meditation, the price was worth it.
"If I could use the ward every day, I'd probably condense the 1st circle in just one year," Zane thought, not hiding his immense greed. Meditation is twice a day — no, thrice if the Meditation Recovery Potion is used — which means he would need 900 magic crystals a day, and 27,000 crystals for a month.
"27,000 crystals are the equivalent of $27 million. I would need a network worth of hundreds of millions of dollars to sustain this kind of training," Zane shook his head. Maybe one day, Zane will have such financial capabilities; after all, he was never the kind of person to shy away from reaching for the stars. However, for now, he needed to remain grounded — to be realistic.
Night had swallowed the world, and despite a hectic day, Zane did not break his routine; yesterday's break was enough. So, without hesitation, he put on a hoodie and left his apartment with his staff wrapped to hide its appearance. "I need to consider moving to a bigger place," Zane thought as he noticed some people glancing at him. Without a large enough space, his spell practice has become inconvenient.
After a few minutes of walking, Zane reached the abandoned cemetery and immediately checked his surroundings. With his extraordinary perception and his dog-like nose, no one in the surrounding 200 meters in diameter could escape his detection. Without anyone bothering him, Zane practiced his spell casting. The staff's effect was immediate. In less than 10 minutes of practice, Zane became comfortable casting both spells in 3 seconds. After half an hour, he broke his record and cast the mana shield in 3. 27 seconds.
Driven by his ambition and need to be the best, he tried casting without the incantation. Unfortunately, no matter how talented he was, trying to master [Wordless Casting] without a basic understanding of magic was a pipe dream. Even his attempt at shortening the incantation proved futile.
Wednesday, August 3rd, 2016:
Zane woke up, and before he could even check his phone, he sensed a message from his soul crest. Without hesitation, he injected mana to activate it, and a holographic screen appeared before him. The content was long but simple: the tower asked him to bring a few things for the duration of his schooling.
Many of the required items were things Zane expected, but some of their requirements puzzled him. "Why do I need clothes for weeks of activities? Could it be?" He remembered how Ricardo said he had experienced six months of intense training, but only two weeks had passed outside.
"It makes sense for a time dilation to exist. After all, how much can one person learn in a month?" Zane thought. Remembering the conversation he had with Elvira, he also understood why mages couldn't take missions for a whole week. That week might be the equivalent of months of learning and training.
With this information, Zane had to change his plan for the day. First, he did his routine: meditation, breakfast, hygiene, mana channeling training, and spell practice. At around 10 o'clock, he visited Juan's shop for a three-hour shift. Before handing in his resignation, he needed to lay the groundwork for his new online business, making the retrieval of his car as natural and believable as possible.
In the afternoon, Zane went shopping, buying new clothes, bedding, sheets, toiletries, and shampoos. In just one day, he spent more than $ 1,500, mostly on expensive clothes. Although he didn't know what kind of person he would meet, Zane understood the concept that clothes make the man.
In the evening, he finally used his one opportunity of the day to enter the tower after packing his school essentials. Although this was the second time there, the plaza's cultural and economic system reminded Zane of one place: Dubai. Without money, nothing can be achieved in this place, which can be frustrating — especially after seeing a few earthlings entering a restaurant that serves magic food. He knew these people were probably rich, spending more than 100 grand on 100 magic crystals.
Controlling his envy. Zane used today's opportunity to gather more information. A few knights have already discovered the hunting guild and accepted a few F-rank missions — a fact which further fueled Zane's frustration. The knights have already received six months more training than the mages, and now, they could also accept missions a week in advance. He wanted to complain about fairness, but more than most people, he knew how unfair life was.
The nail in the coffin that drove Zane home to calm down was a hiring post. A blacksmith shop wanted to hire people for two days' work at 200 gold coins per day. More importantly, they left a few special spots for Earthlings. The only requirement was for decent mastery of mana channeling since the process requires heavy hammering. Zane tried out, but he lost to three other knights.
With six months' difference in training, how could Zane win? The fact that he missed a paycheck of 400 gold coins almost drove him insane. At some point, he realized he was acting emotionally and illogically due to greed, so he returned home to cool off. As someone who considered himself a "solution man," Zane did not waste this time. Since money was the cause of his worry, the only way to solve it was to make more.
As such, as soon as he returned to Earth, Zane wasted no time before entering the Dark Web to find a job. The process was complex; he couldn't just choose a job and be done with it. First, he had to consider the feasibility of the client's task. As brilliant as Zane was, some of these clients demanded things that required months of work or were downright impossible. Second, he needed to consider the risk level.
With the right method, Zane could find jobs that paid millions on the Dark Web. However, he would never touch these things now because if he succeeds, countless government agencies will start investigating the case. If things go wrong, all the letter agencies (CIA, FBI, MI6, and Interpol) might be searching for the hacker involved, and that's the last thing he needs right now.
After half an hour, Zane found a task. The client wanted him to copy a program, but he couldn't copy it exactly; Zane's task was to include enough innovation in the copy to pass patent laws certifications and prevent the client from being sued. "10 grand for roughly 2 weeks of work and 1 week verification — that's not a bad job," he thought. Without hesitation, Zane started his work.
Thursday, August 4, 2016:
Today, Zane's routine was different. He did not immediately start his spell training after his meditation, breakfast, and morning hygiene; he also did not head to the autoshop. Instead, he first bought a bag of oranges before heading to Staten Island to his mother's apartment; he had promised he would help her move a few heavy boxes.
After arriving at the apartment, Zane did not open the door despite possessing a key for emergencies. He knocked, and only after hearing his mother's voice did he enter the room. The first thing he laid eyes on upon stepping into the apartment was a wooden carving of the Gye Nyame hung on the living room wall. Adinkra symbols were a natural part of Ghanaian culture, so Zane recognized one of the most famous symbols.
"Gye Namye — the omnipotence and supremacy of God. I wonder if this thing could work as a rune?" As soon as this thought appeared in his mind, he couldn't remove it. However, his logical side soon prevailed; magic was not child's play. One wrong move and who knows what can happen?
"Let's put it on the agenda for later," Zane thought. Putting the orange on the dining table, Zane was about to call his mother since he didn't see her in the kitchen.
"Something is indeed different about you."
"Jesus Christ, you scared me," Zane yelped as he turned around and placed a hand on his chest; his heart was playing a grand symphony. However, his mother ignored his reaction and stared intently at him. Exhaling in relief after seeing who it was, Zane said:
"As I said, there is nothing wrong with me."
Mama Sarfowa did not listen to him. Instead, she started chanting an incantation under her breath. Zane recognized some of the words because they were in Akan, but she spoke too fast. However, what happened next horrified him. A profound amount of mental energy — probably more than ten times his own — materialized from his mother's body.