We opened our eyes in the physical world and noted that only a few minutes had passed. The boat was closing in, and the passengers had taken notice of us as there were several people yelling towards the back while others approached the front of the boat.
"So, do you want to handle them, or should I?" I asked.
"I will," Rae said firmly then floated up and towards the approaching boat.
"Be sure that your shield is reinforced; they look more like the 'shoot first, ask questions later' types," I remarked while I leaned forward so that I was 'laying' on thin air a few feet above the dock.
She heard me but did not respond. Instead, she hovered around fifteen feet above the water and over thirty feet away from the boat that was surprisingly slowing down. "Stop in the name of the Hero Alliance!" she projected, not just with her voice, but also her telepathy. "This island is under lockdown due to an ongoing investigation."
I raised an eyebrow in surprise since I did not think that she would flat out lie, then I chuckled at her naivety. Her 'solution' was simply to scare them off, ignoring the fact that they would likely come back later with reinforcements if they listened to her at all. No sooner had the thought crossed my mind, before ten of the men opened fire on Rae with their assault rifles. They had some intelligence as they all focused their bullets at her chest, allowing them to crack the first layer of her shield due to the high concentration, though she snapped up a second, and even a third, before the first one broke, so she was not in any true danger.
As caring and kind as Rae was, no one liked being shot at, so I sensed the burst of anger from her before she smothered it. Mana radiated out of her, visible only to me, as she kept her shields in place while also reaching out towards the boat. Without much difficulty, the boat began to lift out of the water as the men slowly stopped firing at her and looked at her incredulously instead. To further show the difference between them, and her incredible mana reserves (for someone who did not practice true magic), a fifth stream of mana surged out of her, engulfing everyone on the boat. With a flick of her wrist, every rifle was ripped out of their hands and thrown into the ocean. The boat turned around in a full one-eighty then lowered carefully back into the water.
"Leave NOW!" Rae demanded.
Unsurprisingly, without their rifles and her display of power, the boat retreated in the direction that she had placed them with no more fuss. As she floated back over to me, I examined her mana reserves and could tell that she had used a tenth of her mana with everything that she had done, but it was refilling so quickly that she needed less than half an hour before she would be topped off, and that was without actively drawing in the natural mana in the atmosphere.
I whistled, shaking my head, as she landed next to me and commented, "You were born to be a mage."
"Why?" she asked.
"While your technique is impressive, that's more because of how mana wasteful it is, but how quickly you naturally absorb the mana in the air is why I made the remark. Your overactive mana core is the dream of every mage, giving you a natural advantage in casting spells and likely sensing mana, but you will need to start proper training before that can be confirmed," I explained. "Anyways, things are solved here, for a time at least, so let's return to Brightton Bay."
"Okay," she agreed.
I nodded my head then placed a hand on her shoulder and teleported us back to my suite. I picked up her phone and passed it back to her and asked, "Would you like to meet up directly with your parents, or would you like for me to teach you a mana core refinement technique first?"
"We weren't gone for too long, so I may as well learn your technique," she replied.
"Alright, come sit. No fancy poses or anything, just make sure that you're comfortable," I suggested as I gestured towards the couches in the living room.
She nodded and walked over to the couches with me. With another gesture, she sat down on a couch while I sat on the edge of the coffee table in front of her.
"Every person has two forms of energy within their bodies, mana and chi," I lied, as there was a third, soul power, but Mortal techniques were extremely rare and nearly all of them weakened the caster's Karmic Rating, attracting more danger and worsening Luck as the rating gets lower, so I was not going to casually mention them. "Telepathy and telekinesis are forms of Mental magic, so they use mana as fuel which is stored in the crown chakra point at the top of your head. Unlike chi, which exists naturally in the human body, mana is an invisible energy force that is in the atmosphere all around us. When you practice a mana core refinement technique, you are using your mind to draw in the mana, shaping it into runes that make up a spell sigil, the base of all magical spells. I'll imprint the sigil in your mind to assist you with refining your core as any mistakes will weaken your mana core; not dangerous to your health, but rather, your potential.
"What you will want to do is think about that library we explored to find your mana core, in particular, that swirling storm of violet mist. That is your mana core currently, but as you achieve different levels of mastery over the refinement technique, you will see that gaseous mist transform into a liquid-like substance and even crystalize, if you can reach the final stages of the technique. That invisible barrier that was holding back the mana storm is a combination of your conscious and subconscious Will, so that is 'where' you will form the runes to build the spell sigil. Are you ready; I will guide you this first time?"
"Yes," she replied.
"Alright, close your eyes," I instructed.
Rae closed her eyes, and I placed my hand on the top of her head, connecting our minds once again. Standing between the representation of our minds, this time, though, her mana core was in sight behind her while a small hatch was built into the silver wall protecting my mind. I opened the hatch and took out a silver orb with a blue crystal embedded in it.
"Catch," I called as I tossed the orb to Rae, who caught it with no trouble. "Pressing the gemstone by your mana core will project each rune that you need to form in the proper order. If you need to stop, and the runes disappear, simply double tap the gem to restart the pattern; it simply means that you lost focus on your meditation which is expected while interacting with the 'outside' world. I should warn you though, entering this place on your own isn't easy without practice, so you will struggle to replicate the same results without my help until you are used to the process."
"Okay... so, how do I form the runes around my mana core?" she asked.
"Think about it," I chuckled, not wanting to solve all of her problems.
There was a flash of annoyance on Rae's face, but it almost instantly disappeared because she understood what I was saying. She had the intelligence to figure out how to properly interact with her mind as it was her mutant ability; an incredibly powerful mind and Heaven-grade affinity with Mental magic, and possibly more forms. She pressed the crystal in the silver orb then allowed it to float as it moved and projected a shimmering silver symbol on the barrier around the violet storm.
"The mist inside is my mana core while the barrier is my Will, so I need to interact with it," she remarked as she reached out and touched the barrier next to silver rune.
For a few moments, Rae stared at the barrier and the rune with a furrowed brow, yet nothing happened. I chuckled silently to myself since I knew that she was trying to figure it out, but she still did not understand the principle of this place. We were 'standing' in the physical representation of her mind, so 'Willing' something to happen was beyond her ability currently, though it was simply a matter of time.
"Try tracing the rune with your finger while focusing on the idea that you are touching your mana core; it's your first time interacting with it, so start with baby steps," I coached.
Rae did as I suggested and, instantly, a violet trail followed behind her fingertip. She traced out a crude rune, but for a first try, it was a very impressive showing. From there, she moved onto the next and then the next until she had circled her mana core with nine hundred ninety-nine runes. It gave a pulse of violet light throughout the barrier around the core before the light, and all of the runes, disappeared.
"Congratulations, you completed your first cycle of the refinement technique. For a first time, nine point two out of ten!" I applauded.
"The first cycle?!?" Rae exclaimed with 'sweat' on her brow from the mental strain that she endured to complete the pattern.
"Yes, and remember, I've made this easy for you. I had to learn by studying a book and remembering the symbols without a guide, after learning how to enter my Mental World. It might seem difficult right now, but that is just because you aren't used to 'flexing' this muscle. It will get easier with practice."
"How long did it take you?" she asked.
"To do what, exactly? To complete my first cycle? To achieve initial success? Or the following levels of mastery?"
"I guess all of it?"
I chuckled, reminiscing about my Mortal days of constant struggle, and said honestly, "Four months of studying whenever I could between fighting for my life. My upbringing was very different than your own, if you hadn't guessed that already. Once I had it memorized enough to practice the refinement technique properly, it took me two weeks to achieve initial success, which is seeing the chaotic flow of the mist moving in a more unified manner. From there, it took me a year to condense my core to a liquid form, and another seventeen to crystallize it."
"Just how old are you?" Rae could not help but ask, but her confusion was understandable as I looked to be in my early twenties.
"Old enough to not answer that question," I retorted with a chuckle then broke our mental connection.
I opened my eyes in a relaxed manner while Rae collapsed the moment that my hand moved away from her. She was conscious, though that may not have been a good thing for her. We had spent nearly five hours while she completed her first cycle of meditation and, during that time, she had been sitting upright and unmoving. Now that her consciousness had returned to normal, she was keenly aware of pain and weakness throughout her back and chest from the muscle fatigue.
"Now you see why I said that you needed to sit comfortably," I chuckled at her discomfort lightly before casting a minor rejuvenation spell on her to remove the pain.
"You can even heal?" she asked with surprise, realizing that I was the reason that she was quickly feeling better.
"Magic has an unlimited potential and can do many things aside from showing a person's 'strength'," I commented. "I would be happy to teach you some of its more positive aspects such as healing, if you would like."
"I'll consider it once my mana core is stable," she replied.
"Mmm, right... you will still have the problem until you've reached the liquid stage of refinement," I remarked and then made my fingertips light up with a silver glow.
After tracing a few dozen runes in the air, I pulled them all together and sent the stream of silver light into her body. A small silver design made of two thin crescent moons, one facing up and the other facing down, intertwined like a yin-yang, appeared on her forehead between her eyebrows. Despite the fact that the seal was weakening her, there was a subtle change in Rae's expression like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders, which was true in a sense.
"The seal will automatically break if your life is in danger at the risk of emptying all of your mana, but otherwise, its strength will fade until the seal is completely gone. Until you've learned how to remove the foreign memories stored in your mind, I would recommend that you have me reapply the seal once a week to ensure that you do not burden your mind needlessly," I suggested.
"I understand, thank you for the help," she replied.
"No trouble," I commented then stood up.
While I walked into the kitchenette, Rae pulled out her phone and checked it, quickly becoming alarmed. She quickly made a call to her father and found out that he was concerned since it had been over five hours since she first told him that she would not be reachable. His caring as a father was commendable, but I was happier to overhear that he had arranged for all of the samples to be brought to his personal laboratory under the city for me to examine in private.
After Rae relayed her father's message, I teleported both of us to his lab, saying that I used her 'memory' of it to find the location of it. While it was certainly a potentially dangerous ability, it was well within the scope of what I had shown off so far and reasonable for a Master or Grand Master mage. I may have been showing off a little in hopes of encouraging Rae to take me up on my offer to train her, but I knew that it would take her some time to realize the full potential of what I was offering.
The underground laboratory had the heavy, metallic scent of machinery and earth, as if the bedrock itself was trying to breathe through the concrete walls. Massive equipment, bolted onto the floor, dominated the center of the room, towering centrifuges, old reactors, and humming diagnostic arrays that looked too cumbersome to ever be moved. Morgan sat at the only empty section of a workbench where he typed away at the computer in front of him, but he almost instantly took notice of our arrival.
Around the room, chaos had taken root within the lab. Every available surface, from worktables, counters, even the tops of machines, was cluttered with boxes of samples. Some were neatly labeled with precise handwriting, detailing plant specimens, chunks of minerals, or vials containing suspiciously glowing liquids. Others sat haphazardly stacked, threatening collapse with the slightest tremor. In the corners, where the walls met at awkward angles, the mess became almost architectural. Piles of sample boxes rose like crude pillars, their contents varying wildly, dried roots, fractured gemstones, lead-sealed canisters marked with radiation warnings.
I whistled, impressed by everything that he had gathered on such short notice. I knew that the university would have a large collection of materials, but clearly, I had still underestimated the city-school. With so much here, it would cut out months, if not years, worth of effort to fully examine so much.
"This is all of the different samples that both the university and I have. Although there are a few things that aren't present, they are extremely rare, and I have them cataloged for you," Morgan said formally.
"Awesome, thanks for the help," I replied cheerfully and released a portion of my true aura.
Although I was not directing it at them, both Rae and Morgan felt the suppression from my aura, but thankfully, they had both experienced it before. Morgan looked at me gravely, as if expecting an attack, yet it was Rae's calm reaction that kept him from doing anything more. Of course, the reason why I released my aura was to examine everything at once since checking them individually would take even me hours, and I had no intention of missing my date with Sarah because of this task. For a full five minutes, they suffered in silence under my aura before I retracted it and smiled.
"Not bad, not bad... three hundred seventy-nine plant samples that are worth nurturing and nearly a hundred and fifty metal and mineral samples that have some usefulness. I'll make a list of everything that I need and the quantities, so if you are willing to help me with securing everything that I need, I'll be happy to give you your own samples once I've enhanced them," I said.
"I should be able to assist you with purchasing the materials that you need, but we will need to discuss the financing," he replied.
"Money isn't a problem for me," I retorted with a smirk. "I just need your connections."
Morgan sighed, but agreed anyways, "Then I will help you get everything that you need."
A/N: I'm back, Readers! Sorry, I ended up going fully vacation mode and did not write much since my laptop did not want to work, but I'll be back to a once a week release schedule.