"Yes, Young Master," Darrik nodded, pointing his hands toward the bench inside the garden. "Should we sit down first? We will need your full concentration."
"Sure, lead the way."
Noa didn't refuse his offer and followed the man behind.
Meanwhile, Darrik acted like a raring teacher, speaking as they made their way towards the chair.
"Mana is everywhere: inside us, around us, in nature, and even in beasts. But to control it, you need to first feel it."
They found the bench and sat down, facing each other.
Darrik tapped his chest and added,
"Close your eyes."
Noa hesitated for a moment before shutting them eagerly.
"Let's start with your body," Darrik continued. "Try to feel something besides your blood in your veins."
A long pause.
"I can't," Noa answered, forcing himself to locate something he didn't even know existed two days ago.
Feeling mana was like finding one particular cell in your body.
"Sure you can't," the man answered, smiling. "I never said it was easy. Hell, only the royal family and their direct descendants can sense them. I am not even surprised you can't perceive them."
"I want to improve my chances," Noa said, eyes still closed. "And who knows, I might be a hidden prodigy."
Hearing his words, Darrik said nothing.
Every man had once had such a fantasy, and he wouldn't destroy it for Noa. Man can only dream, but after facing reality, he would be left with nothing but disappointment.
Still, it was part of growing up, and Darrik wanted his master to see it himself.
"Everyone's mana has attributes. Mine is wind, but some lucky tamers might get beasts with two or, in even more rare cases, triple affinities. You just have to pray that fate will favor you."
He wasn't done. Not yet.
"Now, for spellwork. You take mana, shape it according to your will, and then release it. How well and how many mana particles you can control depends on your talent, your beast's elemental affinity, as well as their rank.
It's too soon for you to think about conjuring a spell. Let's just concentrate on sensing mana inside you. Only then can we think about everything else."
Noa nodded. He agreed with everything Darrik offered.
The mage was way more knowledgeable than him, and Noa had to listen to his advice.
"How do I do that?" Noa asked. "Can you show me how you sense or manipulate mana?"
Darrik exhaled and stood up in front of Noa.
"Watch carefully," he said.
Noa nodded, frozen in place, eyes sharp.
The mage rolled up his sleeves, showing faint lines of something. At first, it was barely visible until mana pulsed beneath it, and the lines turned into deep fur marks.
"Because the beast is part of me, it directly augments my wind affinity and also strengthens my physical abilities more than usual."
To prove his point, Darrik closed his eyes.
Then the air changed.
Noa felt it immediately, his skin catching the shift easily.
The space around Darrik grew dense, and what was once calm air turned into a strong wind, forcing Noa to clench his hands on the bench.
"This is all from the mana I have stirred in my body. It depletes my reserve, but I can draw them in again with deep breathing. It takes time, but it's not that hard," Darrik explained.
"Mana is like a ripple in your calm waters. You need to catch it and guide it back. Just like breathing," he concluded.
Then the wind blew once more before staying still.
'This is so cool,' Noa mused. 'But damn, it's complicated.'
Yet he wanted to try.
Not knowing what his elemental affinity was drove him crazy, and having to wait another six days before the awakening didn't help either.
With that in mind, Noa closed his eyes.
He steadied his breathing, kept his head clean of distractions.
Still, nothing happened.
Trying to feel the ripples or currents Darrik had described didn't work.
He focused harder, even straining himself to notice something.
Still nothing.
Not even the warmth under his skin.
Noa spent hours, but time wasn't the problem.
Darrik waited beside him, and Thalia appeared next to him as well, lingering in silence.
They both allowed Noa to see the dark reality of this world in silence. And when he eventually opened his eyes, Noa sighed in disappointment.
Expectations were hard to control.
Especially when he had transmigrated into a brand new reality, where magic existed.
He even had a system, but all it could do was show him his status.
"Master," Thalia said it first, her voice laced with worry.
"I spoke with Commander Halric, and he agreed to train you. He promised to start your physical and martial arts classes early in the morning and said that you should eat well and sleep well if you want to last," the maid added, trying to cheer him up.
Seeing their faces, Noa smirked.
"Thanks."
He then stood up, his muscles tense from all the sitting.
"Can you fetch something for me to eat? I am starving," he asked Thalia, heading towards his room.
But before leaving the courtyard, he bowed to Darrik.
"Thank you for your guidance. I hope you will help me tomorrow as well."
"It's an honor for me to aid you, Master," Darrik answered, bowing even lower.
Noa nodded slightly and walked the stone walls in silence, his hands clenched to his side.
He wouldn't give up. It wasn't part of his nature.
He would try again and again until mana stirred to his whims.
The night had settled over the mansion as moonlight penetrated his room through the window.
Cold and quiet.
Noa sat on his bed, legs crossed and eyes shut.
One more time.
For a moment, nothing had changed.
It was just the same—empty and hollow.
Then—something shifted.
Instantly, Noa opened his eyes, but the room remained dark, with the dim light almost completely hidden.
He closed his eyes again, searching for the same fleeting sensation. It happened again.
As he sat in the dark corner of his room, something whispered in his core. It was heavy but not hostile, weak but full of energy.
It wrapped around his being, cold and eerie.
Not warmth. Not light.
Shadow.