“This will be different from learning to use essence.” Ilmarillion said. “Mana is something that you will need to work on continuously to improve. There are a multitude of ways that mana can be used to benefit yourself or those around you. You mentioned using electricity as a power source. Mana is an alternate source of power and with some modifications, anything you use electricity for will be replaced with mana instead.”

  “You probably have not considered this. Did you wonder why I spoke the same language as you, despite being from another world?” she asked.

  “Let me guess, it’s mana?” he guessed. She was right though, he hadn’t stopped to even consider that fact. He had just assumed she spoke english naturally.

  “That is right, it is mana. I will attempt to teach you how to create the spell form for translation as a bonus. if you learn the basics of mana fast enough.” she said.

  Perking up at the mention of learning a spell form, he was about to ask a question before she continued.

  “You will need to enter a meditative state. You will want to sit or even lie. Get comfortable as it will take some time to accomplish everything that I think you need to learn about mana. I will ensure nothing else disturbs you until you have grasped the basics.” she said.

  The last time he had woken up in this forest, it was to a giant spider on his chest the faerie had put there. Choosing to lean back against a tree, he shuffled a bit till he felt comfortable.

  “Alright,” he said. “I’m ready, when you are.”

  “For most mana originates in their core before suffusing throughout the rest of the body. Close your eyes. Clear your mind. Focus on your breathing and look inwards. This will take time to succeed. Feel for the sense of energy within you.” She said, “Once you sense the energy, try to visualise it within yourself.”

  Ezekiel tried to do as she said. Closing his eyes he drew in a slow breath.

  At first his mind jumped from what thought to the next and he struggled to push aside all the thoughts that were crowding for his attention. The excitement of learning magic, the frustration of losing days due to the rift, concern for his friends. Everything crowded for his attention.

  Slowly pushing each thought aside, struggling with some more than others as some kept coming back no matter how hard he tried to set them aside. He almost thought he felt like a flicker of something before…

  Cold water splashed over his face.

  Jolting awake and sputtering, he looked around in a panic

  “You fell asleep. I had to wake you somehow” Ilmarillion said, with a laugh.

  Ezekiel knew that there was going to be some sort of downside from learning from the faerie. She had proven her worth more than once. But it also came along with the downside of having to deal with the faeries mischief as well.

  “Isn’t there a better way to wake me up? I’ve collapsed a rift basically on my own. I’m tired and frustrated. I’m exhausted.” he said, more exasperated with the faerie than mad.

  She grinned at him “At least you are cleaner now,” then with a flick of her hand a warm blast of air dried him. “Now you are cleaner and dry.”

  “Come on,” she said. “Keep trying, I will not splash you again.” she said.

  Settling back down he tried to force himself to relax. It was easier now than it had been last time. While his previous thoughts were still there, they were in the background now, easy to ignore. Unfortunately, he was now distracted by the thought of what Ilmarillion’s next prank would be.

  Focusing on his breathing, he was slowly able to settle that thought and feel the rhythm of his heart. It was steady and helped him calm his thoughts…

  “Ezekiel, wake up.” Ilmarillion called softly.

  Slowly rising from slumber, he felt better for the sleep he had.

  Looking up at the faerie “Thank you,” he said. “for waking me up normally. I really appreciate it. I needed that sleep.”

  “That is alright. You have had a few hours. I thought if you had some sleep, that it might prevent you from falling asleep again.” she said with a smile.

  “Come on now, try again.” she said.

  Turning inwards once more, it was much easier to push aside his thoughts and start to look for the feeling of mana within his body. Feeling a tenuous sense of energy coming from just below where his heart was, he tried to focus on it. He had gotten too excited at feeling the where the energy was coming from and accidentally broke himself out of the meditative state.

  Opening his eyes, he saw Ilmarillion freeze in front of him with several flowers in her small hands.

  The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

  Dropping the flowers she asked. “How did you go? You did not fall asleep this time.” acting almost too casual.

  Raising his hand to his head, he felt a small pile of flowers already placed on top.

  “I didn’t even fall asleep that time,” he said. “I almost had it.”

  “But you did not succeed either. Keep trying, you will get it.” she said suspiciously supportive.

  Closing his eyes, he laughed quietly to himself at the ridiculousness of the situation. A bored faerie was not something he thought he would be needing to deal with.

  It took him longer to find the feeling of energy this time. It was soft, subtle but as much a part of him as his heart beat. He knew it was there, he just needed to find it. Concentrating on the feel of energy he let it happen naturally. Without even realising, he found himself before the source of the energy.

  Trying to visualise it as Ilmarillion had said was a simple task. He pictured how it felt to his mind. A ball of gaseous energy that spread out slowly from its source. Staring for a moment he realised he wasn’t sure what to do now. Ilmarillion hadn’t explained more than this.

  Deciding to experiment on his own, he reached out trying to separate a small wisp of mana. As he moved it further away from the source of mana the faster it seemed to dissipate.. He tried several more times, trying harder to enforce his will upon it. As hard as he tried, the mana continued to dissipate each time.

  Slowly bringing his awareness back to the real world he opened his eyes–finding himself almost completely covered in grass.

  Trying not to encourage the behaviour he tried not to show any reaction, good or bad. He casually brushed some of the grass off himself leaving the rest.

  “I did it,” he said. “I was able to visualise the mana, it felt and looked almost like a cloud of gas. I tried to separate some but it didn’t do anything, it just disappeared.”

  “Excellent,” she said. “Each consecutive attempt will get easier as you practice. Part of the reason it dissipated so quickly was because it has not been condensed yet. The more concentrated you can make your mana the better it will be for you in the long term.”

  “Condensing your mana is critical to your ability to use mana. The more concentrated your mana the less lost while casting your spells. The easier it will be to control. The stronger your spells will be. This will be the next step we will work on.” she said

  “The first step to compressing your mana is to have it change from a gas to liquid form. You will need to apply mental pressure to the gas. Try to shrink the area it is contained in. The more compressed the area it is in, the more liquid that will be formed from the gas.”

  “It will probably take you a couple months to fully condense all of your mana. If you spend some time trying to condense it down each day. The more time you spend compressing it the quicker it will be.” she finished.

  “Give it a go. Do not be disappointed if there are no noticeable changes today though.”

  Leaning back and closing his eyes, he sought out his mana. It was quicker this time the other thoughts already pushed to the back of his mind. His focus only upon his mana.

  Standing before the cloud of gas, that was his mana, he tried to compress it.

  His first attempt failed miserably. He only applied pressure to the top and bottom, while the mana just got forced out the sides before reforming into a cloud. Realising he would need to apply pressure from all angles at once he tried again.

  He met with some success as the mana seemed to be contained within a mental orb of will. As soon as he tried to compress it, he knew it was another failure. It sprang multiple leaks and quickly collapsed. He knew he was at least on the right track, he just needed to figure out how to compress it equally all over, not just contain it.

  Trying again and again, he continued to meet with failure. He tried not to let it get to him. He didn’t want this to stop him from learning magic. It made him more determined to overcome the obstacle. He tried different ways to apply the pressure equally. All meeting with similar results. He tried different shapes to see if it made it easier but the sphere was by far the easiest.

  Trying again he made his will into a sphere around the mana. Instead of forcing it to move in continually he only moved it in by the tiniest margin before pausing and reinforcing the compression he had made to make sure it was stable. He again compressed it again by the smallest amount, trying to stop it from breaking apart or leaking mana giving himself time to reinforce it all over each time.

  He continued the process till it got to a point, where his mana pushed back against him just short of breaking through at any point in his will. Holding it for as long as he could, steadying his will and reinforcing where he could feel the mana starting to push against a spot that was weaker than the rest.

  He felt it change. Just barely. The pressure lessened and within the centre of the cloud he could barely make out the tiniest of change within the cloud. A single drop had formed.

  With the joy of success, the mana was able to force the sphere of pressure he was applying to break once more. Looking at the cloud it wasn’t noticeably smaller than he remembered but he could still see the single drop in the centre.

  Proud of himself for finally achieving it he allowed himself to relax.

  Opening his eyes, he saw he was now covered in sticks as well as grass. Sighing, he stood up and brushed himself off. Looking up at the sky he saw that the sky was painted with the colours of sunset.

  Looking around, he couldn’t see Ilmarillion at all. He could see his bag had been opened and that she had been through it and even eaten some of the food he had packed for his camping trip. Seeing the food, he felt his stomach rumble. Feeling suddenly ravenous, he grabbed some of the muesli bars and dried fruit, finishing it quickly he washed it down with water before moving to the next thing in his bag..

  With everything that happened he wasn’t sure when he last ate. He knew it was technically three, now almost four days ago. With the time spent in the rift it only felt like one day to him but he wasn’t sure if the time warping caused by the rift affected him in any other ways. He really should have followed up with more questions about that.

  As he ate he started to get worried about Ilmarillion. She had said she would make sure he was safe while meditating, but he had thought that she would remain nearby. He was concerned that something may have happened to her while trying to keep him safe. If something had happened to her, he could be in danger as well.

  Finishing his food he stood up. Grabbing his spear he scanned the forest, trying to see if there were signs of where the fairy might have gone.

  He needed to find her and make sure she was alright.