To simply fling a large amount of mana at your target is a waste. Like any other projectile, the shape of your mana plays a huge role in its effectiveness. There are several effective shapes but the easiest to achieve would be a rod (10 to 14 inches long) with a pointed tip, like a spear.
Luke looked up from the text, thinking about what he’d read. The fact that he had to use [Allspeak] to understand the strange language meant that reading it was unusually tiring. He looked around for a while before going back to reading.
A common mistake that people make is trying to shape their mana under their palms just before releasing it. While this is possible and actually produces a better result, it requires a bit of skill to do correctly. But if you’re reading this spellbook, then skill is the last thing you have.
Luke sighed, even the spellbooks were insulting him.
The better way to do it is to start the process before it reaches your palms. Accumulate a small amount of mana in your wrist area. Do the same thing in your shoulder but with significantly more mana. Then, push the two forces towards each other. The higher quantity of mana in your shoulder will defeat the mana in your wrist area but the resistance will naturally shape it like a sharp rod.
Luke read the paragraph a second time before shutting the book and standing up. He looked around, trying to pick a target. Luke noticed the village wall as he did, he didn’t realize he was so close to it.
Here goes nothing he thought as he faced a sturdy looking tree. Following the instructions from the book, he created two opposing forces of mana in his right arm. A few seconds later, he pushed them towards each other and felt a bizarre sensation.
Before he could wonder about it, he felt a powerful force leave his body and crash into the tree ahead. It wasn’t a sweeping force like the mana blasts, it was focused and strong, leaving a hole in the tree trunk.
Luke grinned at the damage, this was an attack that was almost as powerful as his [Cut]. Unfortunately, it had a far higher mana cost so Luke couldn’t use it as much.
I should start investing in the soul and spirit stats he thought as he walked back to the village. By now, the sun was going down. They’d only returned from the dungeon a few hours ago but Luke couldn’t wait to learn [Mana bolt].
The large doors to the village opened up and he could immediately smell meat cooking. The others had set up a fire in the middle of the village and were spit-roasting several chickens with it. Matt walked up to him, clearly intoxicated and offered him a bottle of beer.
“What’s the occasion?” asked Luke, after he’d taken a sip.
“Emma’s a ranker now” said Matt.
“What class did she choose?” asked Luke, he wasn’t particularly surprised by the information.
“Didn’t ask, I just took the opportunity to get drunk” said Matt with a laugh.
“I’m a rogue…” whispered Emma from right behind him.
“Stop trying to scare me, it doesn’t work” muttered Luke but she’d already disappeared.
He and Matt walked over to where Jim and Johnny were standing and the four of them talked for a while. Luke paused for a second to look over at the others, he was glad to see that the mood was much better than it was in the morning.
“So did you learn that spell?” asked Jim.
“Yeah, it’s really good” said Luke.
“I should get to doing that” muttered Matt.
“Did you at least learn [Mana infusion] and [Mana shield]?” asked Luke.
“Yes to both” he replied proudly.
“Can we buy another map to a dungeon?” asked Johnny, all of a sudden.
“You wanna go at this hour?” said Luke with a scowl.
“No, I just want to know if there’s another one available. It’ll be easier to get to level 15 that way” he said.
“May as well” agreed Matt.
“Don’t bother, you only get one map. You need to upgrade the shop for another” called Maya from a few feet away.
The four of them let out a collective groan. Hunting monsters around the village was always a pain in the ass. Luckily, it was right then that the meat finished cooking, giving them something to be happy about.
It’s just like the beer thought Luke as he went in for a second bite of the drumstick. It was literally just plain chicken cooked over a fire but everything from the shop was unusually tasty. The bread and butter on the side completed the meal, it was simple but delicious.
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“How much do these cost?” asked Luke, looking at the now empty paper plate he was holding.
“You get a hundred of them for a single game point” said Jim.
He was about to keep talking but something made him go silent. Jim just smirked slightly and walked away, leaving Luke in a confused state until he heard a timid voice behind him.
“Hi Luke” stammered Mary, it was the first time she hadn’t called him sergeant.
“Hello, Mary” answered Luke cautiously, not sure if he should entertain whatever this was.
“Uh, do you like chicken or are you a fish type of guy?” she asked, shifting awkwardly.
“Are you okay?” asked Luke, wondering if she’d hit her head during the trial.
“W-what? Yes, of course!”
“Alright then, I prefer chicken” he said.
“…”
“…”
“Well, it was nice talking to you” said Luke and hurried away to his house.
“Hold up” he heard Emma say, right before he was about to go in.
“What?” asked Luke.
“She may have fucked that up but you should give her a chance” said Emma.
“I’m not sure what she wants but I can’t waste time on this type of stuff” replied Luke.
“Love is not a waste of time, Luke” retorted Emma.
“Mary’s only awkward cus she’s never done this type of stuff before” she continued.
“She’s never been in a relationship?”
“Nope. She hasn’t even had her first kiss. Poor girl’s convinced she’s ugly” said Emma.
Luke looked over at the blonde haired girl. She was short and skinny, certainly not model material though there was nothing wrong with her. Her facial features were quite plain but she did have pale, unblemished skin.
“She’s far from it” said Luke.
“That doesn’t mean I want to date her” he added, seeing Emma’s big smile.
“Just promise me that you won’t force yourself to not love her” she said.
“No” said Luke unceremoniously.
He went inside and saw Emma sigh with annoyance as he shut the door. He wasn’t interested in having a girlfriend and he especially wasn’t interested in it right now. Right now, all he wanted was another drink. Luke plopped down on the sofa and grabbed the bottle of whiskey on the coffee table.
This was way too expensive he thought as he poured it into an equally expensive glass. As he sipped the fine whiskey, Luke couldn’t help but think about his last relationship, if you could even call it that.
12 years ago…
“Why didn’t you tell me? How could you just go and do something like this?” cried the black haired woman.
“Why do you care so much, Lisa?” muttered Luke.
“Why do I care that you went and joined the army?!” she exclaimed.
Luke sighed, he could tell that she was about to cry. Indeed, tears started rolling down her cheeks soon after. Luke didn’t feel anything as he saw her weep, she cried a lot these days, it wasn’t an unusual occurrence by any means.
“I needed a change” he said.
“That’s not the problem! You never tell me anything, you never talk to me!” said Lisa, wiping her tears away.
“…”
“Do you even care about me?!” she cried.
“…”
“W-well, do you?” she stammered with a note of desperation in her tone.
“I don’t think I care about anything” muttered Luke.
Back in the present
Luke poured himself another glass, he just wanted to forget the painful past. The way he’d shattered Lisa’s heart still haunted him. Everything from before he’d enlisted haunted him, his emotionlessness had been on a completely different level back then.
I’m not like that anymore thought Luke, trying to convince himself of it. But was he really? Even when he promised to let no one else die, he didn’t know if that was out of love or because he felt like he’d failed in his duties.
The doubt rose up in him and he reached for the bottle once more. A few minutes later, he poured himself another glass. A while after that, he had his fifth glass and an hour later, Luke was blacked out on the couch.
“luke…luke?...LUKE!”
Luke shot up, awakened by the shouts and knocks on the door. He groaned as he stood up and walked towards the door. Unsurprisingly, he had a hangover but a rather mild one considering the circumstances.
Luke opened the door to find Johnny, Matt and Jim which was to be expected. What he didn’t expect was for Emma to be with them.
“It’s almost noon, you’re usually an early bird” said Jim suspiciously.
“I stayed up thinking” said Luke as he shifted slightly to try and hide the empty bottle behind him.
“Well, can we go hunting?” asked Matt.
“I’ll be ready soon but why is Emma here?” asked Luke.
“I thought she could tag along. Do you think she needs to level up more?” asked Jim.
“No, it should be fine. I’ll be ready in twenty minutes” muttered Luke and closed the door.
He let out a sigh as he walked up the stairs. Last night’s mental breakdown was unbecoming of him, he shouldn’t have dug up old memories. Shaking his head, Luke stepped into the bathroom to have a hot shower.
Ten minutes later, he was in front of the shop, drinking the cup of coffee he’d bought. The others were there too, watching Emma pet the cat. Maya purred in satisfaction which seemed a little weird to Luke.
“Why do you enjoy being pet if you’re sentient?” he asked.
“You enjoy hugs, don’t you?” retorted Maya.
“Wrong person to ask, Maya. Luke has no emotions” joked Matt.
It stung a little more than usual after what happened yesterday. Emma noticed him flinch slightly so Luke tried playing it off as a sign of sleepiness.
“You done with the coffee?” asked Jim.
“Yep, let’s go” affirmed Luke, eager to leave before Emma confronted him.
The five of them walked out of the village before picking up their pace and moving with a light jog, a light jog with which they moved faster than regular people could run. Luke lagged a few feet behind the others, he didn’t want to talk right now. Unfortunately, he didn’t get his wish.
“What’s wrong with you?” asked Emma as she matched his pace.
“What do you mean?”
“Don’t bullshit me. You woke up looking miserable and I saw the way you flinched at what Matt said” she said, trying to keep her voice low.
“I just didn’t sleep right” lied Luke.
“You know people care about you, right?” she said after a few seconds of silence.
“What?”
“People care about you. I care about you. Jim, Matt and Johnny care about you. The rest of the platoon cares about you too, at least a little bit” she said.
“The reason we care about you is because we understand you. Even though you don’t show it, we know that you care about us too. So if you ever need help, we’re here for you” finished Emma.
With that, she picked up her pace and left him behind. He watched the four people in front of him, thinking about what she’d just said. He looked at the trees as they passed by, the autumn season was changing the color of the leaves.
One of the red leaves flew in front of Luke and he grabbed it out of the air. He looked at the once green leaf in his hand and smiled.
Things have changed he thought.