"Hello, ladies and gentlemen. This is the Online Sage, welcoming you to my first livestream."

A man stands in the center of the shot. He is donning a robe similar to those worn by monks of certain Catholic orders. Or something more akin to those worn by someone cosplaying as a magical user. It is a plain black robe, made of cotton or linen, with a belt rope tied around the waist.

The person's identify is indiscernible, hidden by a strange mask. It was also pure black, but unlike the robe, it gleams like polished obsidian. It has no holes in it... not even eyeholes. Only an stylish eye of Egyptian design, colored silver, serves as the mask's only distinguishing feature. Even then, the mask exudes a presence that is something not of this world.

"This livestream will be the first of a series where I teach you, the viewers, about Magic."

"Yes.... Magic. You heard me right... Magic."

"You might think that Magic not real. That it is nothing but a hoax, perpetrated by con artists to trick people into believing that they wield supernatural abilities. Nothing more than just figments of a madman's imagination."

"But I assure you, Magic... IS REAL. And unlike those people... those charlatans....."

The person then raised his right hand, pulling the robe's sleeves up to the elbow. They were presented at the front of the camera.

Then suddenly, a spark of... 'something'... bursts out from the palm of the hand. The spark intensifies, gathering more sparkles from an unknown source to itself, like moths gathering to a flame. And a flash, the spark bursts into flame.

"... I came with proof. No tricks. No lies. And this is not CG, my unbelieving viewers.... This is LIVE."

Then the fire intensifies, as if it was a living thing. Twisting and turning, it circles on the top of the streamer's palm. Then another flame bursts from the other hand, this time without the theatrics that the earlier demonstration had.

"You might not believe me. You might think that this is nothing more than an elaborate trick. You might think that this is something that was concocted to fleece you viewers of your hard-earned cash."

"But what if I tell... that YOU can do what I'm doing right now."

"I can teach you how to wield Magic."

"Yes... you, my precious viewers... can learn MAGIC."

"But first... the basics. You can't just cast spell like I did willy-nilly. No... to be able to utilize Magic you have to know how to gather Magical Energy. Or Mana, for short. And how to shape Mana into a spell. Like I did with this simple 'Candlelight' spell I have right now. Or something else more suitable to you, since different people have different talents."

"Would you like to try?"

"Okay then. If you are still with us, then good. That means you are willing to learn. That you are willing to take a leap of faith and harness a source of power that nobody can utilize... until now."

"So let's begin our lesson, shall we?"

"First thing that any prospective Magic user must learn is how to unlock their Magical potential. There are many method on how to do that, but this method I'm going to teach you is simple enough that you can do this by yourself at home."

"The only problem with this method is that it only has a success rate of 60%. Seems ineffective, but this method can be done without any external aid... like getting the help of other Magic users specially trained to 'kindle' you Magical potential. Or special Magical artifacts designed to do the same."

"Because you, my viewers, is looking at the only person in the entire world that can wield Magic. So we have to change that, shall we?"

"Moving on... onto the method. You might think that this will be a grueling ordeal. Yes... this method is a time intensive task. But since I'm the one teaching you, this will be easy and won't take much of your time."

"Let's start with the environment. It's best if you close any source of light or distraction, except for this livestream, of course. Place all devices into silent mode, dim or turn off all light sources, and inform your housemates to not disturb you. This is important... if you lose focus due to this distractions, then you will have to start from the beginning."

"Next... posture. Try to find the most comfortable position you can assume. Sitting or lying, it's your choice. Just make you are truly comfortable with it. Then close your eyes. And then just breathe in and out naturally... do not control it. We want you to focus on meditation, nothing else."

"Relax... just feel it. Let everything else melt away from your senses. Free yourself of an distraction."

"This is where my technique differs from other meditation techniques out there. When you feel that you are calm and free, away from all distractions, then I want you think of an image. Any image, whether it was real or imagined. That image should evoke feelings of focus and calm on you. This image should not be distracting. Do not try to force it... just let the image form in your mind."

"If the image is a tableau of many different things, find the central focal item of the image. Then strip away everything else until only that item remain."

"If the image is something from a memory, feel what emotion evokes it. Then turn it into your focus."

"If the image is an object that is not static but something that constantly moves, just let it be. Focus on the pattern it creates."

"If the image is an object changes forms constantly, do not despair. Focus on its transformation, how it changes from one thing to another."

"The images will be different from one person or the other. Since each person is different, even identical twin, then the image that will form will be very different."

"And now for the final part. Etch that image in you mind. Yes... I want that image to become a part of your own memory, of your own consciousness. This will become the focus point... the 'Core'... from where Magic will flow in and out of you. Don't be too hasty. Just let it form naturally. There are other methods out there, but this is the most comprehensive and most useful for those without access to other sources of Magic."

"You have it? Good... on to the next part... how to cast Magic. This is where the importance of the 'Core' will make itself apparent."

"Feel it, let it flow inward and outward. Feel how the world changes around you. Feel the energies that flows around. Now... use it to feel the 'Mana' in our surrounding. Feel how it interacts with everything around us."

"Then connect this 'Mana' with the 'Core'. Let the Core absorb the Mana. Feel the Mana flow from the environment to your Core. Then from the Core, circulate the Mana into your entire body. This is quite a hard part for many, since Mana will try to flow out of the body, rejoining the ambient Mana."

"For this, imagine a pathway... a canal where Mana will flow throughout you entire body. This will be painful for some, since your trying to introduce something foreign into the body and making it your own. Let the Mana flow through this channels; the Mana carving a path, creating and enlarging the pathways you have imagined thus far. This might take quite a while, since you'll be making new Magical pathways in your body. Take your time, don't rush. Do it right, slowly and steady. Most of the pain from this part will be mitigated if you are careful and deliberate."

"And now, the 'Pièce de Résistance'. Once the Mana channels are formed into your body, especially to your hands. This will be the simplest, and most difficult part. This is where true Magic users are separated from channelers."

"I want you to let Mana flow from your Core to your hands. Then, push the Mana and concentrate it to a point an inch or so above your hand. While you are doing that, let the Core guide you. Form the Mana from the image of your Core. Don't feed it too much Mana, just enough for the form to take shape."

"Then manifest it, will the form into existence. Make it real, make it true."

"And now... now you are a true Magician. Your own first spell. This is what I mean when that you spell might be different from the 'Candlelight' spell I used earlier."

"Also... you might feel exhaustion after this exercise. That is normal... since you use up calories when you use Magic. Magic is never free, it takes a toll on the practitioner. But with time and experience you will naturally increase your Mana control and capacity. And with these increase, will mean a reduction of calories a practitioner needs to burn off."

"If you were able to manifest your first spell, the congratulations. If not, then just continue practicing. You might need to build up more Mana or exert more focus on the form."

"You might also be one of the 40% that cannot use this method to learn Magic. Don't despair... there are many other methods to unlock Magical potential. Only problem is that no one can use these methods. Not until there are enough trained Magic practitioner to use those methods. It sucks... but perhaps in the future, I will share more ways to unlock your Magic potential. Just keep watching."

"And so with this, I now finish our first lesson for this series. I hope you enjoyed my stream, and thank you for watching. This is Online Sage, signing off."

========================================

"And that's that. Phew! That took quite a lot out of me."

<Thankfully, I have three people who stayed until the end of the stream. I started off with 11 viewers, but 8 of them dropped out in the first few minutes. Five of them even dropped out when I first mentioned the word 'Magic'. Sucks to be them, I guess.>

<I have high hopes that those 3 will unlock their Magical potentials. Even if just one of them becomes a true Magician, then I'm very happy. That means I can complete one of my 'Quests'. The rewards will be so helpful to me right now.>

<Those sweet, sweet Upgrade and Shop Points! That will help me a lot with my Magical studies. I hope that I get some of my viewers to awaken their potential.>

<And once I get those, I'm going to buy a 'Basic Alchemy Kit' and more books from the 'Item Shop'. I already have a book on Alchemy... such a waste not to use it. I can also assemble an alchemy kit on my own, but that would take time and effort. And the 'Basic Alchemy Kit' is much better than anything that I could cobble together on my own.>

<I'll have to acquire books on basic Herbalism and Magic spells, too. The 'Comprehensive Guide to Magic' is a good book, but it's quite sparse in spells, especially ones above 'Beginner' level. And also I want to expand my knowledge in the Magical uses of different plants.>

<But as of now, I can't do anything. I might try to prepare some planters for herbs and such. Having a ready source of ingredients will do wonders.>

Yawn. <But for now... some shut-eye. It's been a long week... getting only 4 hours sleep max every day. Studying the books, increasing my 'Knowledge', 'Skills' and 'Spells' levels, and preparing the content and script for my first livestream was really exhausting.>

Yawn. <I'm so tired. I can take a nap... yes, a nap's fine. Yes... a nap's wonderf->

"Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...."