When Li Mei meditated in the garden she sometimes saw mana particles dancing in the air. Touching them filled her body with vigor, leaving her feeling refreshed and alert. Her impression of mana was of fluffy friendly warmth, not the scalding torrent scouring her veins at Faust's discretion.

How was he even controlling it? Li Mei frowned, gritting her way through the pain to try and figure out how in the world one manipulated mana. It was easy to talk about refining it, turning particles into thread, and other such complex concepts. But actually doing it? She was a normal person from Earth, how was she supposed to grasp such metaphysical concepts without more detailed instructions?!

Yet all Faust was saying was to guide it into a Core.

What?

How?!

What half-a.s.sed teaching methods!

After having those dreams where she had superpowers like telekinesis, upon waking she felt as though they were just within her grasp, but no matter how hard she imagined using them nothing ever actually happened. Trying to manipulate the mana flooding her body was a similar sensation - power just beyond her understanding.

"Feel the mana, then move the mana." Faust kept repeating the same line until Li Mei was ready to kick him in the teeth. Sure she could feel the mana, all she could feel was the mana! But how was she supposed to move it?! There wasn't a mouse cursor for her to click and drag the mana, there wasn't a console of b.u.t.tons or a special lever. Using her own hands would be pointless, the mana was inside her body! How could she move some weird magic force flowing through her veins, sheer force of will!?

Wait.

No.

Could that be it?

Could it be as simple as sensing the mana itself then imagining a pair of hands and-

Li Mei scowled, her face contorting into an odd mixture of pain and disbelief. It was really that simple.

Only refined mana could make a Core and Faust was providing plenty. Once he sensed Li Mei clumsily manipulating the mana in her body, he provided more detailed instructions.

"Once foreign refined mana enters your body it becomes susceptible to your control. Since I'm not using it to attack the process is much easier for you. Stretch the refined mana into threads, and find the point of convergence. Through manipulation, the refined mana becomes yours. Mana naturally flows through your body in a cycle, out to the tips of your fingers and toes then back in to a point on your torso. Guide the refined mana threads to that point and start weaving them together into a sphere. Don't rus.h.!.+ Don't make it too big and don't leave gaps, you'll regret it later!"

His warning was unnecessary. Li Mei had a strong perfectionist streak, if she bothered doing something it was going to be with her full capability. All or nothing, no in-betweens! Half-a.s.sed effort was a waste of time in her eyes.

She spun mana threads together into something that resembled wires, making a basic frame the size of a ripe plum just behind her sternum. With the frame she'd have guiding lines so the Core wouldn't be lopsided or weirdly shaped. Then she wove threads between the wires, building up a sphere layer by layer.

The pain flooding her body slowly receded, partly because she was using up the mana and partly because she was concentrating too hard to notice the pain anymore. Her breathing became steady and even, muscles relaxing as the Core in her chest took shape.

Minutes ticked into hours. Li Mei didn't move an inch, her attention entirely on the arduous process of creating a Core. Faust observed the process with great interest - she instinctively picked up on the idea of creating a frame, which gave the process a large amount of stability that basically ensured its success. Those who tried to just haphazardly weave a Core almost always failed, or made a substandard Core with a low grade and common Gift.

Li Mei was tenacious and methodical. She didn't rush with impatience, and wouldn't hesitate to unwind mana threads that didn't weave together in a satisfactory manner. Bit by bit, centimeter by centimeter. Once she created a rudimentary Core Faust exhaled a relieved breath of turbid air.

"Now, use the rest of the mana to coat the Core. Don't weave it into threads, slather it on like plaster and influence it to solidify. Refined mana is extremely susceptible to influence, use your willpower to make it firm. Build up walls on the outside, the more uniform the better! Mana can permeate mana so thick walls won't influence the flow or make it harder to use in spellcasting, but the more solid the Core the more impurities will be kept out. Slow and steady, now. Once you feel the walls are thick enough, guide the rest of the mana inside the Core."

Faust initiated the Baptism around lunchtime. By the time Li Mei finished the entire process, two moons were high in the night sky. Both master and disciple were thoroughly exhausted, but Li Mei had an enormous grin splitting her face in half.

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NAME: Li Mei

RANK: 0 (92%)

HEALTH: 100%

AGE: 12

SPECIES: Human (? ? ?)

JOB: Disciple

CORE: 100%

C.GRADE:

C. QUALITY: ★★★★★★☆☆☆☆

MANA: 20/1000

M. QUALITY: ★★★★★☆☆☆☆☆

EXP: -6923874

STR: 5 (20.4%)

CON: 5 (19.2%)

DEX: 7 (8.7%)

INT: 9 (1.3%)

WIS: 10

GIFT: [Barrier Lv.1]

t.i.tLES: [Disciple] [Experiment 44] [Illegitimate Child]

TRAITS: [Enslavement Bind] [Poison Resistance]

SKILLS: [Archive] [Concealment] [Scan Lv.5] [Sense Lv.3] [Storage Lv.1]

SPELLS: [Barrier (Basic) Lv.1]

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[Barrier Lv.1]

The instinctual ability to create barriers.

Mana is only used to create, modify, or repair barriers, not to maintain them. Once a barrier is created it will exist until dispelled or destroyed.

Dispelling a barrier will refund some of the mana used in its creation or modification depending on how much damage the barrier took before being dispelled.

At Lv.1, gain the spell Barrier (Basic) Lv.1. Barriers are restricted in size, not to exceed 2 meters in total surface height or width or 10 centimeters in thickness. No more than 3 barriers may exist at once.

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[Barrier (Basic) Lv.1]

10 mana per meter

Create a square or circular barrier with a base durability rating of 5. Durability can be increased after barrier creation.

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[Spell Casting]

To cast a spell, focus on an image of the spell result in your mind while drawing mana from your Core. Speaking the spell name, or keeping it in the forefront of your thoughts, may help in the process.

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According to the Interface tooltips, raising a stat past a rating of 10 required the use of magic or special treasures. Her Wisdom was at the current maximum, her Intelligence was close behind, while the other stats were on par with most physically capable adults! Health was excellent for once, she gained a poison resistance trait, had a new Job, and the Core creation was a huge success!

High grade, high quality, and a decent Gift to boot. Li Mei was so happy she almost cried. Even if her master was a fiend who didn't understand leniency, she learned a lot and her personal strength was reaching a satisfactory level.

Li Mei concentrated, guiding mana out of the Core to create a small circle barrier in the palm of her hand. It was the same cyan as the Interface display and seemed to give off sparkles. When she turned it over, the surface s.h.i.+mmered and danced like a soap bubble.

"Is that your Gift?" Faust asked, eyebrows raised. Her immediate intuitive grasp of magic nearly left him speechless. Did she even need his guidance at all?

"Yes. I can make barriers!" Li Mei puffed out her chest, looking excessively proud of her tiny little barrier. Her first magic spell! The excitement in her heart couldn't be contained, and she did a happy little wiggle dance.

Bao, who had been waiting patiently for many hours, sauntered over while wagging his long tail. He sniffed at the cyan barrier and, after a moment of thought, bit down on its sparkling surface.

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Barrier damaged! -5 durability!

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Barrier destroyed!

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The barrier disappeared in a shower of blue light, taking precious mana with it. Li Mei glared at the fera, creating another barrier to smack him in the face. "Rascal!"