The Nameless Extra: I Proofread This World-Chapter 28: The Fundamentals of Mana and Spells (1)

In the gentle hush of the winter’s clemency, where the waning glow of dawn remained, the morning went on, for that day, without rush. The air was not harried by wind, rested in a fragile equilibrium of cold but not cruel.

All of it, perhaps, because it had relinquished yesterday’s temper.

And so, beneath the gentle canopy that morning, a young man sat quietly there. From within its web of branches drifted the soft, tentative song of birds.

His dark hair caught flecks of white where snow had slipped from the branches above. Ruvian did not brush it away. The flakes crowned him lightly.

He sat cross-legged upon the snowy ground, hands resting loosely atop his knees. And despite closing his eyes, he was in a state of profound awareness of his surroundings.

A few days ago, his encounter with the demon had taught him what people might call it a "learning experience."

Thus, what he learned was that...

He needed more Mana Essence.

His Runeheart had already offered its generous verdict; every magical stat slapped him with the [F] indicator.

It was, truly, laughable.

’No matter what, I need to improve my mana capacity if I want to increase my chance of survival.’

He drew in a long breath, slowly, allowing it to settle low in his chest before exhaling with equal patience, as his fingers came together, parallel to his abdomen.

[Mana Essence: 155/155]

After his recent fight, it had somehow increased by +5. Though he had certainly seen better numbers on beginner NPCs.

155 Mana Essence was still terrible.

With that, he began...

[Basic Mana Circulation]

Ruvian closed his eyes and after a while, he began to see in his mind that his body had become a translucent silhouette marked by a curling spiral, the lines etched like a slow-moving current across the spine, limbs and his Spellcore.

Eight subtle channels, sketched like cartography for an organ he hadn’t known he owned.

’To draw essence, slow your breath. Anchor your awareness to your Spellcore without forcing it.’ his thoughts slowly dimmed.

Just as his breath fell into a perfectly even pattern, the world behind his eyes moved.

A warmth stirred deep in his diaphragm, somewhere in that invisible place the world had called it the ’’Spellcore’’.

It was subtle at first, slowly trying to evoke it outwardly. Then, he felt the smallest tremor, the mana inside the Spellcore had accepted his call.

His eyes snapped open in satisfaction.

"My mana control and channeling have certainly improved quite a bit these past few days..."

Then, he continued to repeat the process, slower, more precise. He visualised the core as a cup with invisible water sloshing inside and imagined gently tilting it, coaxing a drop to the edge.

Ruvian wanted to understand the limit more, how many failed attempts he could make before depletion.

If it fluctuated with stress or lack of focus. What were the signs of fatigue?

[Mana Essence: 152/155]

[Mana Essence: 148/155]

[Mana Essence: 146/155]

"...So the rate of depletion increases with each successive attempt."

He murmured to himself.

"Either mental fatigue builds internal resistance, or my channels are still inefficient."

There was a moment, somewhere between his 20th and 25th attempt, a faint tether wrapped around the stillness behind his sternum.

And as he exhaled, he couldn’t help but glance at the upper corner of the system’s overlay once again.

[Mana Essence: 140/155]

He paused and muttered aloud, if only to document his own frustration. "Ah, right. There’s no passive regeneration yet at Spellcore Tier 1."

From what he remembered, Spellcore had seven tiers. Only once he reached Tier 2, would his Spellcore accumulate mana automatically.

His lips parted, then closed again.

"How can I almost forget about it?"

Even after the fatigue from his battle with the demon, Ruvian managed to recover his mana, thanks to Silvena’s potion.

"At this level, I have to refill my mana essence myself every damn time."

’I really am weak...’

He dejectedly sighed. Ruvian let his shoulders relax a little. At least he understood most of the basics now.

"At least, channeling mana is light work for me. All thanks to my absurd mental strength, and the blessing, of course."

Even though his Mana Control was still rather feeble, his high Mental Strength somehow compensated for it. That was probably why he could cast the most basic spells with surprising ease.

"Now I just need to work on how to gather mana."

It’s not like he can level up his Spellcore immediately.

So, he decided to practice gathering the mana into his Spellcore using any knowledge he could remember from the novel.

After a few minutes of gathering mana, he found the process slow, maddeningly slow. It felt less like pulling something toward him and more like trying to breathe in a mist that refused to come when called.

But after what felt like 20 or 30 patient repetitions, he managed to refill his reservoir.

[Mana Essence: 155/155]

It took him more than 15 minutes to raise +15 Mana Essence. With that in mind, he pushed for more training, perfecting his mana channeling and recuperation.

Trial after trial, small adjustment after small adjustment, he began to piece together how the process actually worked.

If he kept at it every day, maybe even several times a day, he would eventually reach the point where his body handled the circulation on its own.

How delusional.

But it’s possible if he practices it for 10 years...

Yet Ruvian don’t have the luxury of time. Hence, he definitely needs to raise his Spellcore Tier to the next tier, nevertheless.

Because having only 155 Mana Essence and needing to refill it manually for a long period was hardly reassuring, especially when he imagined himself in an actual life-death situation.

"That is something I need to be worried about."

He calmly sighed and continued to practice more.

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[Chapter 28: The Fundamentals of Mana and Spells (1)]

A/N: Change of plan. I’ve decided to go premium on the 27th :D

So, starting today, it’s 2 Chapters daily.