At that moment, as he pletely exhausted his aura, he began to sense nearby blue particles being drawn into his aura core.

  [You have fully depleted your aura. Ambient aura in the air absorbed. Capacity increased by +5 aura.]

  [Energy:Aura (Dirarnia World) F- Tier 0/100 → 105Mana (Dirarnia World) F- Tier 100/100]

  ‘So, to grow my aura core, I’ll o absorb the aura from the air. That’s kind of a problem—how will I tio grow my core after leaving this world? There won’t be any aura or mana in the air to absorb. Hmm, I’ll think about it more once I’m at the Academy and have a better uanding of how this world and its power system work!’

  ‘At least it doesn’t seem like regeing my aura requires abs the surrounding aura. It’s already gone up by 1 in the past few minutes while I was lost in thought. That’s a relief because if I could only regee aura in an aura-saturated pce, it would’ve been a serious issue.’

  ‘Anyway, I got sidetracked, but I’ve actually made really goress. At first, it took nearly a full mio move my aura from my core to one of my hands. By the end of an hour of training, though, I’ve mao reduce that time to around 20–25 seds.’

  ‘Eveer, I found a way to increase my energy capacity while training my trol, so I’m killing two birds with oone. But while I was lucky to find a method to grow my capacity, I still haven’t figured out how to increase its potency. I suppose that might require either upgrading the tier of my energy or increasing my Spirit stat.’

  After finishing his thoughts, he began training his trol with mana while allowing his aura to recover. trolling different types of energy felt distinct, but there were enough simirities that he could start his trol exercises at around 35-40 seds, rather than one full minute.

  He mao train for an hour and fifteen minutes before his mana was pletely depleted, whicreased his capacity by another five points.

  [Aura (Dirarnia World) F- Tier 32/105]

  Seeing his aura partially replenished and noting the time, he estimated he was regeing approximately 0.43 aura per mi this rate, it would take roughly four hours to fully recover his energy. He wasirely sure how his regeion worked, but he hoped that it was based on a pertage rather than a fixed rate, so the recovery time wouldn’t increase as his capacity grew.

  ‘I have three hours to kill now, and I ’t tiraining. W on my body or doing some refining wouldn’t be effit right now.’ He pondered briefly, then an idea came to him. ‘I know—I could try meditating! In a lot of novels, meditation speeds up energy regeion or recovery, so there’s no harm in giving it a shot.’

  With that thought, he immediately sat in a lotus position, closed his eyes, and began fog on clearing his mind and steadying his breathing. It was challenging to stay still and keep his mind bnk, but he persisted.

  After some time in this position, just as he was starting to find a calm state of mind, he received a notification he’d been hoping for.

  [By meditating for a prolonged period, you have learhe Tier 0, Level 1 Meditation skill.]

  [Meditation - Tier 0, Level 1 SkillDescription: An active skill that be activated when the user sits ius position with a clear mind.

  Bes: While active, this skill increases the regeion of all types of energy by 50%]

  [Meditation - Tier 0, Level 1 Skill: This skill level up ohe following ditions are met.

  Use the skill for 10 hours of meditation: 0/10

  Pay 20 LP: 0/20]

  ‘Great! I’ve unlocked a meditation skill that speeds up my energy recovery rate, giving me more time to train.’

  After receiving this good news, he returo his meditation, finding it a bit easier to clear his mind. Still, meditation was exceptionally b for him, as it required doing nothing, but he persisted for a solid two hours.

  Once his aura was finally full, he was relieved to be able to resume his trol training. Anything was better than sitting still for hours.

  This time, he tried a different exercise. Instead of using plete thoughts like, ‘I want my aura in my left hand,’ he attempted to bypass scious thought altogether and rely more on instinct.

  It was difficult. He spent a lot of time trying to trol his aura without relying on scious ands, but it wouldn’t move. After much effort, though, he finally succeeded.

  After this breakthrough, his success rate gradually improved from 1 in 10 attempts to 2 in 10, until he reached a point where he could trol his aura as naturally as moving a limb. When you move your hand, you don’t have to think about it—you just do it. His aura trol reached that level.

  At this stage, his aura was ‘usable’ in bat, though it still took around 20 seds to coat one of his hands. But the important thing was that it was funal! This trol exercise ed even less aura than his earlier attempts, allowing him to train for five hours before running out. He then switched to training his mana trol and tihis routine in the days that followed, taking only minimal breaks.

  6:00 AM, July 5, 2025

  It was m, and Mikael awoke from a well-deserved sleep. This was the first sleep he’d had in the past week, and even then, it was only two short hours. Thanks to his high vitality, he hardly needed sleep anymore—though his mind still accumuted fatigue, it was signifitly reduced by his vitality and especially his intelligeats.

  Mikael stretched as he got out of bed, relieved to finally be doh his trol training. He sighed tentedly. ‘Ah, finally finished with this tedious training. The initial thrill of trolling magical energy quickly faded, leaving only the monotony of repeating the same task over and over to get better. But now it’s done!’ he thought happily.

  ‘Despite the boredom, the gains ’t be denied. My trol has improved signifitly—I ow move my mana or aura from my core to any part of my body ihan a tenth of a sed. Plus, my aura and mana capacity have grown a lot from beiedly exhausted.’

  [Energy:

  Aura (Dirarnia World) F- Tier 105/105 → 230/230

  Mana (Dirarnia World) F- Tier 105/105 → 230/230]

  With his increased energy pool, Mikael firmed that his recovery rate was based on a pertage of his pool rather than a fixed number. Even though his capacity had more than doubled, the recovery time remaily the same—a wele discovery for Mikael.

  Most notably, he had learned new ways to use his aura. He could now coat his entire body in a blue aura. When he did this, his body bees stronger depending orength’ and quantity of aura used. The more aura he used, the higher the ption rate, but also the greater the boost he received.

  Still, not all the news was good. Over the week of training, July arrived, causing him to lose one year of life expecy, dropping from 99 years to 98. He also spent 250 LP on the apartment and i e. The only retively good news was that losing a year of life was pensated with 1K LP, leaving him with a gain of 750 LP.

  After refleg on the past week's gains and ges, Mikael checked the time and saw that he still had nearly four hours before the entrance exam for tral Academy. sidering the Academy was nearby, he estimated he could reach it quickly, even with some light jogging.

  Knowing this, Mikael decided to spend the hree hours rexing from the tiring week and having some fun. Ohis time had passed, he finished his m routine and ged into some sports clothes from this world.

  Surprisingly, the clothing style here was simir to Earth’s, so at least he could wear fortable sports clothes.

  ‘Just before I go to the Academy, there's o thing I o do,’ he thought before asking, “System, you limit all my physical stats to 100 until I ask you to remove the limiter?”

  [Request possible for only 100 LP]

  Mikael gritted his teeth and said, “Do it.”

  [Transa firmed]

  In the moment, he felt a wave of weakness wash over him. He stumbled for a few steps, struggling with the unpleasaion, but soon his body adapted, and he felt normal again.

  Sigh.

  ‘Holy, I didn’t want to limit my stats like this, but it’s for the best. I don’t know what the entrance exam will entail or if they have some kind of magic or teology that s a person’s strength. So, at least for the exam, my stats o truly be 100 across the board.’

  ‘And having 100 in all stats isn’t weak. Far from it—it still puts me ialented genius territory. Most people participating in this exam are 21, meaning they unlocked their aura or mana withi year. If they’re lucky, they’ve had a year to train, but if they’re unlucky like me, they’ve had a very limited amount of training time.’

  ‘In a year, without the guidance of tral Academy, even if they’re really talented ahy, they shouldn’t be above E-rank. With my body at 100 in all stats, I’m at a level between D+ and C-. Still, I shouldn’t get pt; I’m not the only one who has trained. It’s possible someone might have a stronger body or better aura than me, and if we end up fighting, it’ll be a tough battle.’

  After finishing his preparations, he took his iPhone (yes, they exist in this world) a his house 30 minutes before the scheduled exam time.

  Oside, he was struck by the bustling atmosphere of the city. The streets were lively with people even at this hour. Numerous cars sped down the road, and there were even more young adults walking toward the tral Academy, all with the same goal of joining it.

  Mikael joihe crowd, walking at a moderately fast pace, aware that he still had 30 mio spare but keeping a steady stride to ensure he arrived on time. As he walked, he took in his surroundings.

  The city was a fasating blend of fantasy and modernity, with medieval-looking buildings trasting with modern cars. Another element that hi the world’s fantastiature was the occasional person dressed in medieval arme robes.

  After a short walk, Mikael approached the tral Academy, where the crowd of people began to grow denser. Everyone seemed visibly in awe of the academy's beauty, and Mikael shared the same se.

  The Academy was a colossal structure and mix between a medieval pad a modern day uy but in a even bigger format. The Academy was so big that it towered on the surrounding ndscapes and it’s wall seemed to touch the sky.

  There was a gigantic crest of a phoenix taking flight. The emblem was magnifit, radiating a regal aura. It depicted a golden phoenix against the pristine white walls of the Academy.

  These walls towered tens of meters high and were built with beautiful white stohey were adorned with grand spires of the same pristine white. Adding to the magical atmosphere, the walls and spires were engraved with intricate symbols and ruhey glowed faintly blue, a visible pulse of magic flowing through them, enhang the entment of the pce.

  The most strikiure was the entrance, marked by an enormous arched gateway of white stone, faintly illuminated with runes and symbols that pulsed with a blue magical light. The young adults walked through the massive gateway in awe.

  Mikael followed them and arrived in a vast courtyard filled with beautiful gardens, magical-looking trees, and vibrant flowers scattered everywhere. However, his attention was more ohousands of people around him, some chatting with friends, others silently their surroundings.

  Not everyone behaved the same way, of course. Some were on their phones, while others, dressed in clothing that screamed "noble," looked at everyone else with an air of superiority. Mikael found these nobles rather pathetic. They were proud of their status, but they hadn't ear—it was their parents' hard work that gave them this privilege. So, he saw no reason for them to feel superior.

  As Mikael waited silently for 10 AM, he overheard parts of versations even from over 10 meters away, amidst the loud chatter of the crowd.

  "I'm so excited to be here and finally bee a true mage."

  His friend mocked him, "Bro, this isn't for us. We’re just average. At best, we’ll leave the Academy with average scores and ranks."

  The first man looked dispirited, but it didn’t st long. He pointed out, "Look, there’s the heiress of the Mournsky family—Amelia Mournsky. I heard she's reached E- rank. Ah, she’s just perfect," he said, looking smitten.

  His friend smacked him on the back of his head. “Stop dreaming and focus on the exam.”

  The first man ughed sheepishly.

  Curious, Mikael gnced in Amelia’s dire and saw a beautiful young woman with long bck hair and striking green eyes. She wore a calm expression and was dressed in stylish but practical sports clothes.

  Amelia was surrounded by a group of girls chatting among themselves, to whom she responded politely but disiedly. A respectful distance separated her group from the other aspiring students, who seemed too intimidated to approach her.

  Mikael found her beautiful, but nothing more. He made a mental note of her appearance because, if what the simp said was true, she was E- rank, making her quite talented and potentially a strong petitor in the exam. He still had no idea what the test would involve, so he prepared himself for anything.