As I came out of the room to what seemed like a balcony, I stood silently at the edge as my eyes fell on the vast space before me. "What is this?" I couldn’t see clearly as it was still dark.

"What do you think?" The smile on his face never left. He was having too much fun, wasn't he? I looked closer but couldn’t think of anything that resembled it. I narrowed my eyes a little, and they started to adjust to the darkness. The ground became slowly visible, but it was still empty. This was a house, so is that some kind of dried-out lawn? That seemed more likely. "Now throw in some light." The lantern he lit was still inside the room, burning. Didn't he say the resources here are scarce to begin with? "You can use magic, can’t you? I am not sure how, but that must also be one of the reasons you survived."

My eyes widened in surprise. Even my master couldn’t find the mana flowing inside me. Then how did he? Was it because he helped me heal while I was unconscious? Should I ask him? No. Maybe he only knows about my newly formed core, and if I asked him, he would definitely figure out that I was hiding something. He wasn't even looking at my side while he asked that. From his tone, it felt more like a casual question than something he wanted to pry into. Closing my eyes, I tried to concentrate. My mana core has been replenished during the time I spent healing. Responding to my breathing, a flame conjured in my right hand. The size was bigger than the first time I tried doing it. Even he couldn’t stop glaring at the burning flame in my palm. This made me internally smile a little. The surroundings became slightly visible as the light spread over the area.

"Now, what do you see?" He asked.

Far into the empty space, exactly at the centre, there was high ground. A platform of some kind. As I narrowed my eyes even more, I could see some kinds of red stains on that platform. Blood? It covered the entire floor. All in red, thick, and dry. In the light of the burning flame, the colour of crimson screamed with unfounded darkness. I looked at the old man's face to see what he was going to say, but he just stared into that distant space. "Did someone die here?" I asked.

"It’s not someone but something, and it’s plural. It was an arena for monsters. The actual ones." He stressed the last words as if to remind me where I stand in the food chain. Do you mean to say monsters fought with each other in this organised space? Are they capable of doing that? No. Monsters only rush with their instincts, not intelligence, and something like this was way above them. "It's like their way of having fun and entertainment. Look around and above you." I looked around once again and knew what it was after a few seconds of observation. A stadium with an arena in the middle. A coliseum. There were floors upon floors, with multiple rooms in each one of them. Each room was separated by thick walls on both sides, with an opening towards the centre of the Coliseum. The structure was old, with most of the walls crumbling. But the rooms on floors one and two were still intact, with the ones beyond that in shambles.

"It can also be humans who fought in there." I voiced my thoughts. "That’s a possibility, isn’t it? One can never be sure."

"They were monsters. I’m sure of it, boy. How do I know? With how it smells?" He pointed to the arena. "All blood doesn’t smell the same. Monster blood may have the same colour, but it is thicker compared to ours, and the stinky, lung-burning scent it has is what differentiates it from human blood." I had first-hand experience with that. "To add to that, there were cages the size of a room down there."

"It could also be humans fighting against monsters." I could tell he was guessing all that from his questionable tone.

"Could be." He left me to believe my own speculations.

"I wanted to ask, are you a mage?"

"How did you get that idea?" From how you decided, I can use magic. There was no other explanation.

"What are the elements you are proficient in? And which circle are you?"

"Now, don't club me with one of those whack jobs." He breathed in deeply, and when he exhaled, a thin coat of green light covered his hand. I couldn’t forget that. I know it all too well. I have seen it many times during my sister's practice. It was a little dull, but that was… Aura. "Now you get it?" He was an Aura user all along. Then how could he have known? I heard only a mage could detect mana. "Are you wondering how I was able to know you could use magic?" The question bugged me, as did the creepy, enlarged smile he made as if to mock me. "Don't tell me you were trying to hide that fact." Acting all mysterious, and it’s not even been an hour since I woke up, and I'm not sure if I’m on the side of trusting him. "Now, don't look at me like that. Mana is just another form of energy. If you can detect that energy in its converted form, like when you form a certain spell, then you can detect it in its natural state too. You just need to know how. It doesn’t matter whether you are a mage or an Aura user." He jumped out of the balcony and casually walked to the centre of the arena, onto the high ground. "What are you waiting for? Come on."

I didn’t understand what he wanted to show. But I can’t jump from the first floor. So I turned back, took the half-broken stairs, and hopped into the open space. The space itself was empty, with no particularly visible contraptions. As I walked, I could smell the stinky smell of blood he was talking about.

"What do you want me to do?" I asked, standing beside the raised platform.

"It's an arena boy. What do you think people do here?" It was already hard enough for me to stand, and now he wants me to fight him? What kind of crazy old man is he? "God, you are so tiring. Just jump in!" He urged me. So I hopped in and stood facing him on the opposite side. "Now, conjure another one of your flame spells."

I followed his instructions. The small flame burned aimlessly in my hand. I looked at it as if it were something out of this world. Something that defies logic. There wasn’t much distance between us both. The overall space was enormous, but the stage in the middle was small. I could tell that it was made for something physical. For a mage, distance was the key, as he can throw the spells that he conjures, but with this short of a gap and a free chance to conjure a spell, it was almost impossible for the person on the receiving end to escape. He just stood there without taking any defensive position.

With the overflowing mana in my core, I used every ounce of strength to make the spell bigger. As the size of the flame increased, the surrounding view became even more clear. That never-diminishing smirk on his face made me even more agitated. The heat from the flame made my wounds under the covered bandages tingle a little. I was sure I wouldn’t miss him at this distance, even if I wanted to. I know that Aura users can mask their bodies with Aura to protect themselves. But I didn’t think that a flimsy shield would be enough to completely avoid an attack fired at close range.

I took a step back, holding my breath, and swung my hand as if throwing something. The ball of fire was near his face in a second. I couldn’t see his face behind the spell. It was too late. His body glowed green. But that wouldn’t work. I was sure. In the next moment, the spell was sliced in half, with a mocking smile clearly visible. But even before I could express my shock, a green mass of Aura struck me right in the face. I lost my balance and fell on my back. It all happened in an instant. I could only think back on what exactly happened with a searing pain in my face. He walked towards me and stood with the same old, mocking smile. He lifted one of his feet and shoved it deep into my stomach. As I crouched in pain, he pulled off his foot from my abdomen and, with even greater force, shoved it deeper into my stomach again. "That’s the kind of expression I like. Now get up. We are done with our warm-up." He was crazy. Dangerously enough.

---

I got up. Got hit. Got down. The process repeated itself with no breaks whatsoever. There was no time to talk, no time to think, and no time to breathe. I was greeted with pain when I stood up and even more pain when I fell down. I accepted it, getting used to the beating. Every time I failed to hit the old man in front of me, he would punch me straight in the abdomen. I healed. Quicker and better. That was a punishment in and of itself. "Is it getting too much for you?" He asked, knowing the answer. I wanted to land one hit. So badly. "Are you lost for words after seeing my greatness? Hahaha!" I only wanted to punch him once. Right in his face.

I threw another ball of fire, the size of my fist. His body, covered in a thin coat of green Aura, didn't budge the slightest after the direct hit. I threw in another few of the same elements, but the result was the same. Condensing a ball of water had no effect, as did a spear of air. Controlling the ground around him, I formed pincer-like structures with him as the sole target. As hard as it already was, I spun those rocky spear formations at a speed that I could barely control. I released them as soon as I felt I had reached my limit. The coat of Aura surrounding him expanded in a flash, decimating his entire surroundings. The rocks that were fired at him burst without ever reaching a strand of his white hair, and the remaining rubble flew at me at a speed I couldn't dodge. I covered myself with my bony, little arms, but that didn't stop the force that was thrown at me, making me fall to my back, followed by a surge of pain left by the gashes of wounds made by the piercing rocks. Sweat turned to vapour as the sound of my very breath reached my ears and the beat of my heart rang in my every vein.

Even in that state, I got up, sat on the floor, and looked at the old man before me. He was kicking some rubble on the floor, along with the dust that rose from time to time. My body trembled with a lack of energy and mana. I placed my hand on the floor and pointed the other one, with a missing wrist, towards him. A thin slice of hot flame in the shape of a crescent moon formed near it, grabbing the old man's attention. It lacked enough mana to actually make any difference. I condensed it more and more as the gleam on his face only grew wider. The flame got brighter and its shape became clearer, and the moment I released it, it flew like a bird without wings, reaching him in an instant. He tried to dodge at the last moment, but with my hand on the ground, I manipulated just enough rock near his feet to hold him where he was. The scene was like a flame scythe put on his thick neck. A spurge of Aura covered his body as he brought his head close to the flame scythe and opened his bearded mouth wide, showcasing all his old teeth in a display when he bit through my attack, making it disappear into thin air. A little bit of his beard and moustache hair burned, and he burped, releasing a puff of smoke.

I ran out of mana, and my sight became blurry. Before I could hear the usual thud of my falling back, I heard my head ring as it hit the floor, and my eyes opened wide in sudden distraught. The old man's face was right before me as his fist drove into my stomach, little by little. The passage of time that felt slowed down rushed at me with another surge of pain, making me hold my stomach in soundless agony. I gritted my teeth as my intestinal fluids kept flowing out of the gaps in my mouth and nostrils. "Who said you could sleep?" He said, throwing a kick into my abdomen. I gasped for air as a numb sensation spread over my body, with the exhaustion hitting me right the next moment. My ears rang the lone tone of echoes as I watched the dark, vine-filled cave ceiling. The old man came and sat beside me. "No break for you until you hit me properly."

He held my right arm in his hands and rubbed his palm all over my arm. He then moved his hand under my chest and did the same. I could feel a warm sensation wherever he touched me. Aura? He repeated the process multiple times for a while. "What are you doing?" I asked, not being able to get up.

"Checking."

"What?"

"Your gender." He then moved his hand from my chest to my abdomen, and he didn’t stop there.

I rolled to the side in reflex, not able to understand his intentions. "Where is your hand going, old man?"

"We are all male here. So why worry?"

"That doesn’t give you the right to—"

"Touch your family jewels? I don’t have any weird fetishes, boy. Especially with kids like you."

I should believe that?

"I checked your body condition with my Aura. It’s healing surprisingly fast. You should have already died many times over with the number of beatings you received from me."

You think?

"But you stayed alive. That’s good. I am not a physician, so I don't know about your body's constitution, but it works fine for me if you live another day. One thing I observed was that you don’t seem to have Mana channels, boy. That could also be a reason why you run out of mana so quickly, among other things. But how were you able to cast spells without opening up your mana channels? As far as my knowledge goes, I don't think that's possible."

I was so happy that I could use magic that I forgot another important step that comes after forming a mana core. Creating mana channels. They were invisible, root-like pathways that allowed one to release and use mana from any part of the body. The more pathways there are, the easier it becomes to move mana throughout our body. They also act as a two-way pathway, allowing one to replenish the core as mana isn't generated inside the body.

"Why are you gazing so long at that old ceiling? Don’t fret over it too much, boy. You will figure it out once I beat the shit out of you." What do you think you have been doing till now? My body became more mysterious the more I learned about it. "Now get up. You had enough time to relax." I got up on my foot and prepared myself for another round of pain and suffering. It became easier to stand, even with half of my left leg missing. But my entire body weight was put on my other leg, which made me a standing doll. "Don’t try to randomly throw your spells. It’s a waste if you miss them." He said as he stood opposite me at the other end of the arena floor. I was trying to aim, but the difference in our power was too obvious. It didn’t matter whether the spell hit him or not. "And again, you should be thankful that I didn’t try to hit you once. If I had any intention of hurting you, you would have already reached heaven ten times over. So stop thinking and come at me with all you have." I have been running on empty fumes for a long time. Can’t he see that?

I closed my eyes and felt the tiny bit of energy at the depth of my newly formed core. My breathing became even more ragged as I concentrated on moving the leftover mana, but I couldn’t. It was hard. Breathe. I could only do that. Concentrate. It was even harder when it became more painful. The mana core, which was like another organ being added to my body, screamed out in agony. With pain near my chest, it signalled for me to stop. The Mana moved with much effort. Like a drop of water squeezed from the desert sand. I gritted my teeth as veins started to bulge all over my body, and the mana moved even further, responding to my command.

I extended my right hand, putting in more strength than I could summon, and pulled out every speck of mana inside me. The energy was so soothing as it danced between my fingers. I stared at him. A chance was created by my continuous failings. A moment of carelessness that I can utilise. The mana drawn out of my hand has now transformed into a spiral of gusts. The only element that can be felt and was also invisible. My hand shook even more with the spiral of gusts generating enough pressure. I tried to compress them as the dense line of air began to revolve around my arm, spreading to my shoulder. The gusts gathered more air as they rotated and revolved at the same time, with their sheer magnitude increasing by the second. The force grew big enough that I felt myself losing control over it. Just plain concentration wasn’t enough any longer.

I remembered the presence of another core. The one I was born with. I had used its power at some unprecedented time without knowing it was mana. And the current problem was that it felt like it was closed off by something akin to a barrier, similar to the one outside the cave. But far greater in the application. Closing my eyes, I searched for any cracks around the barrier, even the slightest ones. The black sphere-like core, which was larger in size, didn't have a single opening. Normally, a barrier, even if it is superior, should have functionality similar to one that's basic. Even if there were cracks before, it must have been repaired in the time I haven't used it. There were reverberations all around it, and my senses couldn't seep through. I tried to sense it again. The Mana inside. It was like aimlessly searching for light with my eyes closed. I followed a path of no direction as a string of fluctuating energy greeted me. I got hold of it and felt even more mana inside the black sphere. I tried to pull it outside the core, but the barrier around it stopped it from leaking through. I used even more force, and it was to no avail.

I then pushed the mana away from the barrier to the centre of the black core. As I kept pushing, I could feel the energy surrounding the barrier becoming a little pale and myself losing control over the mana as it went further away from my senses. But I kept up the struggle of this mindless tug-of-war until the barrier around the core became thin enough for a small crack to form. The pain slowly left my body, and a small string of light appeared from the black sphere. It was tiny, but the mana I was suppressing inside the core burst out, following the path to my hand as it filled the spiral of evolving gusts. The size increased further as I tried to make the tiny crack stay open. My wish only lasted for a brief moment. But it was enough. The small crack closed off, and I opened my eyes, a powerful mass of energy turning into gusts surrounding my whole hand. The power was more than I could handle. But I no longer needed to handle it.

I let go of the attack. Within a step's distance, the compressed wind expanded as if returning to its original state. And it happened so quickly that I was thrown off to the second floor without a single thought to defend myself. I flew like a piece of meat into the air, and I could see a green Aura covering the old man’s body. Even then, he was too late to defend himself from the brute force the spell released. He was pushed back, leaving the arena. Out of the fighting ring. That's one for me. With an unreasonable sense of victory, I smiled as my body hit the ceiling and fell limp onto the balcony. The moment of victory was more pleasing than I imagined.

---

It was a woman. She was beautiful. That's how my mind interpreted it, even with the whole blurry image of the scene. I sat on a chair opposite her, with a small, round wooden table separating us both. A bottle of wine, half-melted candlesticks, and a dinner of unknown sea cuisine were just served. It was a perfect setup that complemented the light yet warm atmosphere. Whenever I turned to my right, outside the glass window, the view of the ocean with its tides hitting the sandy, night beach was so soothing. Accompanied by a scent of lavender mixed with a tinge of alcohol, it was something that greeted my nose constantly. I looked at her side, whose face I couldn't picture, however hard I tried. Yet her warm smile, accentuated by this atmosphere, was enough for me to share the same feeling. Happy. The occasional words she spoke while holding my hand didn't reach my ears. But the movement of her lips made me interpret that one short sentence at the end. After finishing what she had to say, she rushed over to my side and hugged me tighter. Her nails dug into my shirt, and I ignored that tinge of pain as I hugged her back. The mosaiced faces of people in the shop looked at us when the wall clock rang with all its hands pointing to the top. Her scent covered my entire being as I woke up from this dream once again. The vine-filled ceiling of grey and black greeted me with tears rolling down my cheeks, and I failed to understand this unknown emotion. "Woke up?" The old man’s face covered my sight. "What's with that disappointed face? Did you expect your mother to greet you?"

I got up, leaning myself against the bed. "You couldn’t have laid me in that?" I was still on a mattress on the floor. How could he be so stingy when he beat me nonstop?

"Who will clean that when it becomes dirty, huh?"

"I am not a kid to have watery dreams in bed."

"What are you even saying when you are five years old? Listen to yourself once in a while, boy. And with the power you tried to hide, don't try to act innocent with me."

"It’s the first time I've used that," I said with my earnest eyes. I wanted to grow. Grow to be strong enough to protect myself. This spark of inspiration rose when I had a feeling of victory. It wasn’t much, but I did win.

"You aren’t joking, right? I haven’t seen many mages who could do that at your age."

"I am an exception, then."

"It makes you less cool if you say it out loud. Here, I thought you would like the gift I prepared out of my goodwill."

Gift? I looked around the room, but there was nothing new. Same old things I saw before. Even in his hands, there wasn’t any sort of object.

"There is no need to rack your brain. Just look at yourself."

My eyes shifted to myself with his words. The places where my limbs were missing—my left hand and left leg—are now covered with what seemed like a black glove and a black boot. I removed the glove from my left hand, only to find a steel skeleton attached to my flesh. It was fixed as a nut and bolt, and I still could not move it. I beat my left foot against the floor, only to hear a metal clanking sound. "What did you do?"

"It’s only temporary, but aren’t you happy?" He removed the left glove from his hand, and it was the same as mine but had a more complex mechanism at a glance. "I had to cut the thing off with my own blade. But I don’t regret it for a second." Within his everlasting smile, I could see a tinge of regret for the first time. "You didn’t say whether you were happy with your gift or not."

"Happy? That’s a strong word. It’s just a piece of scrap metal." I beat my hand to the ground to show him how useless it was. "But you did give it to me. I mean, look at this. You even took your time fixing it on my arm and leg in that short time. A gift is still a gift." I said with a teasing smile.

"What do you mean, a short time? Do you know how long you have been out? You've been asleep for a week, princess."

I couldn’t believe it, but the pain in my body was no more, except for the muscle-tearing ache in my chest. I tried to look at my core, and it was completely filled, but moreover, the new core was smaller and closer to the bigger black core, and the size of the black core... increased?

"What happened? Are you feeling pain anywhere?"

"No, my mana core has shrunk in size," I said in disbelief. I never heard of that happening. It’s not a liquid to become less, but a solid mass, a vessel for mana. The discovery of a new power made a change in my body, which could become my blessing or lead to my doom.

---

I stood beside Viscount Nathan outside the mansion gate. The rails, made from pure gold, and the thin, sturdy metal spikes extending towards the sky with a snowflake-shaped emblem at the centre of the gate truly represented the Winters nobility. It was early morning, but a thin line of clouds and mist covered the sky, blocking the usual sunlight. The days would start to become shorter, and the snow would cover the entire Riverdale as the early winter was right around the corner. Some people won’t have enough food to survive the chilly season. But more than that, they need warm clothes if they don’t want to die from the freezing cold. "Feel free to ask me anything." His smile was pleasant as he handed out another set of warm clothing.

"We are very sorry to be such a burden to you, sir." The woman in ragged clothes had a weary smile.

"You are the people of the land I rule. My responsibility is to fulfil your wishes and take care of your needs to the best of my ability. How is that a burden?" His words were even more pleasing than his smile. And the woman covered her mouth, tears rolling down her wrinkled cheeks as she bowed with gratitude.

"You are a man of good heart. We are truly grateful for what you are doing." Bowing one more time, she went back, taking the clothes with her.

I handed him a new pair from the side, as he asked. "How many more are they?"

"If I count the people gathered around each other as families, a little over a dozen, I'd say."

"You distribute the remaining ones, Cedric." As he was leaving, a lady in ragged clothing pulled on his clothes, falling to her knees before him. Her three children were hiding behind her with dried cuts and wounds, covered with black soot. I tried to calm her down, but the Viscount stopped me in the middle. I remained by his side as he kneeled down to face the lady. Her eyes were tearing. Her fingers that dug into his clothes were covered in dried mud. "You don't have anything to worry about. Please calm down and tell me your problem. My assistant will take care of it." He asked in a soothing voice. I handed him a blanket, which he used to cover her. "The kids must be hungry. Show them a room outside the mansion for now." I could only nod, tightening my fist at her insolence.

"Th-Thank you." She didn’t let go of his hand and gripped it even more tightly. The husband, who was in much better condition than the kids and the mother, stayed at the back, watching over the situation. There were always people who wanted more, and no one could blame them as it was the only thing they could do. Hopeless leeches. They know nothing but to blame the rich for their misfortune. Even with a healthy body, they don’t do any work but leech on others. These are the kinds of people who turn their backs if their needs aren’t met.

"Now, now. I have matters to attend to. Cedric, meet me inside after you are done here." He left, saying that.

I did as he asked and distributed the remaining set of clothes and blankets to the people who left. More were joining the line, and some even sent their other family members to join the line a second time. No matter the place, the poor always search for a way out. They don’t care about the blemishes on their dignity; it's just their way to survive. "Mam, you have already received your share. Please go back." I said it as politely as I could. She was the same woman who cried after receiving gratitude from the Viscount.

"Sir, as you can see, my child is very young and needs more garments to keep him warm. I could only ask you again, even though you have helped us." I know all too well what they are trying to do here.

"If it’s really necessary, please come back at a later time. I'm sure Viscount Nathan won’t turn his back on his people." I said it in the same tone as before.

"Y-Yeah? If you say so, thank you for your show of kindness." I could see unwanted anger welling up in her eyes as she went back, clicking her tongue. She already forgot why she came here in the first place. And she wouldn’t have been able to make the same request in front of the Viscount. It will come back to bite her if she misuses his kindness and demands more. After a while, all the people left as the guard closed the gate, and I turned back to leave.

"Oh, wait for me!" A familiar voice called out to me. The gate opened again as a two-horse carriage returned inside.

"You have returned, sir Shaka?"

"Hello there, Assistant. What’s with that not-so-welcoming expression on your face?" Shaka. A homeless mage.

"I would never say that."

"You would never, but your face is saying it all, you know?" I didn’t respond. "Why are you so stiff when it’s just us, Cedric? Well, I’m tired anyway, so let’s go and meet the Viscount before I go back to sleep." He yawned while stretching his body. While I went outside for work yesterday, young master Ash tried to form his Mana core with the help of the person in front of me, but I heard he failed and had to receive punishment once again. Meaningless. However hard he tried, he was still a child. We both stood outside the Viscount's room, and I knocked on the door. "Are you not coming in, Assistant?"

"Please call me Cedric." He went inside as I waited by the side wall. It took about fifteen minutes before the door opened again. Giving me another wide smile as if to lure a child with candy, he left the hallway, and I went inside.

"The man is very arrogant, isn’t he?" The Viscount asked as he leaned back on his chair, closing his eyes.

"All I can say is that he is an odd one." I voiced my opinion and gazed out of the window right behind him. The sun revealed itself behind the clouds. A warm glow, revealing the shades of red and orange, fell into the room as Viscount Nathan fell asleep in his chair.