“The Beginner’s Guide for the Privileged Mage.”

…While the power to control mana is largely genetic, there are many cases where children of mages are unable to sense the mana around them. A recent census showed that roughly one in one hundred children is able to sense mana, but the extent of this ability can only be tested after the mana core has completely developed, which occurs in early adolescence to the late teen years. A mage’s first awakening will be apparent by the initial repellence of the surrounding mana when the mana core manifests. This results in a translucent barrier forming for several minutes around the awakened...

Flipping through the pages, I found something that caught my attention.

…Mana can be used in various ways. The two most common methods of utilizing mana are augmenting (enhancement of the body with mana), and conjuring (emission of mana to the outside world)…

…Augmenting is most commonly seen amongst warriors who utilize mana, channeling it through their body to strengthen themselves and their attacks...

…Conjuring is practiced by mages, who, after channeling their mana, can cast spells to have a certain effect on the surrounding area or directly at a target...

I flipped a few pages to the chapter titled ‘Weaknesses and Limitations’ and continued reading.

While augmenters can possess incredible strength, defense, and agility, their weakness lies in their limited range…

…Conjurers possess unfathomable powers, being able to bend their surroundings to their will. However, such powers come with limits. Unlike augmenters, who utilize mostly the mana in their own mana cores, conjurers must supplement their own mana core with mana from the outside world in order to influence their surroundings in the form of a spell...

…While both types of mages—mana manipulators, to use the more scientifically accurate term—are ranked by the strength of their mana cores, augmenters and conjurers have different ways of measuring their aptitude...

*flip*

…An augmenter’s prowess or talent is measured by the strength of the mana channels in their body, which measures the speed and efficiency of relocation of mana from their mana core into various parts of their bodies…

…A conjurer’s power and talent, by contrast, is measured by the power of their mana veins, which indicates their speed and effectiveness in absorbing mana from the outside world to cast a spell...

*flip*

…Mages (mana manipulators) are typically divided into one of these two categories, since attempting to be proficient in both from an early stage is time-consuming and often unsuccessful. Categorization is based on the relative strength of the individual’s mana channels and mana veins, and the differences are generally present at birth…

… Augmenters do not need very strong mana veins, as they predominantly utilize mana from their cores, while conjurers do not need powerful mana channels, because they do not release their mana into their own bodies.

As proficiency rises to an advanced level, the distinctions between augmenters’ and conjurers’ abilities lessen naturally…

I took a minute to digest this new information. It seemed my idiot father was a decently competent augmenter and a less-than-average conjurer.

That healing light, though… What was my mother?

*flip, flip, flip*

Aha!

…There are rare deviants, the two best-known types of which are elemental deviants and emitters. The most highly sought-after are emitters, more commonly known as healers. Healers possess the rare ability to cast their unique restorative mana onto others directly, expediting recovery from injuries and impairments...

While I knew her powers were different, I’d had no idea they were so rare.

After resting my weary eyes for a few minutes, I skipped a few pages to go to the next chapter, titled ‘Fundamentals of Conjuring.’

The proper steps of utilizing mana for conjurers are: gathering mana; drawing it into one’s body; circulating it into one’s mana core to stabilize and purify the diluted mana from the atmosphere; then channeling it into an appropriate conductor (a staff, wand, ring, etc.) using incantations as a mental control for shaping the mana into the desired spell…

*flip*

…The more powerful the spell, the longer it will take to draw in surrounding mana, condense and purify it in the mana core, and finally channel and release…

*flip*

…Because conjuring involves exerting focused mana into a particular spell, conjurers will notice that they have a special aptitude for certain elements (air, water, fire, earth), but with proper training, can become adequate in the basics of all elements...

*flip, flip*

Fundamentals of Augmenting

Compared to conjuring, much less time can be spent gathering the surrounding mana for augmenting. Efficiency in augmenting requires speed and precision in the use of core mana, and less use of mana from the atmosphere...

This was where it clicked: Augmenting was very similar to using ki, except you could also draw mana in from your surroundings. The reason there weren’t any conjurers on my old world, Earth, was because there was no mana in the atmosphere to draw from to create a phenomenon.

My gaze sharpened as I read on.

…augmenting requires precise distribution of mana into different parts of the body, as the user requires. Although it may seem simple at a glance, augmenting requires significant insight into one’s own body. Being able to utilize the mana channels efficiently requires years of both mental and physical practice...

*flip*

…Because augmenting involves extracting mana in its purest form from the user’s mana core, there are no significant distinctions in an elemental sense at an early stage. However, augmenters are able to use their mana in more diverse ways, resulting in vastly different forms of fighting through augmentation...

*flip*

…The phenomenon called ‘backlash’ is known to both types of practitioners. For augmenters, it occurs from depletion of the mana core and can cause extreme bodily pain, depending on how severe the damage to the mana core is. For conjurers, backlash occurs from overfilling of the mana core. This is caused by overuse of spells beyond the practitioner’s capacity, or by using a spell too powerful for his or her mana core to handle.

Closing the book, I propped myself up on my butt, processing the overload of information I had just read.

Because of the uncanny similarities between the ki center in my old world and the mana core in this world, I found it hard to believe that mana manipulation could not begin until adolescence. On Earth, children could meditate and sense the ki scattered inside their bodies. Once the ki migrated to a single place, the ki center would form.

Testing my hypothesis, I began meditating, trying to sense the mana in my seven-month-old body. Then—

“There you are! Art, honey, are you having trouble taking a poopy?”

Mother! I’m about to begin my journey to become the greatest mage in the world! Do not make me out to be a constipated infant!

Lifting me gently into her arms, she took me away to change my diaper—which, surprisingly, was full by the time I noticed.