For two days, Leo practiced with the mana thread ball, but saw no visible results.
Each attempt left him more puzzled than the last as no matter how he tried to mobilize mana, without having even a basic understanding of the force he could not grasp how to wield it.
It was like solving a math problem without knowing what the signs meant, however, Ben kept encouraging him to keep trying as he was confident that Leo would suddenly gain enlightenment one day.
Leo practiced for hours daily, yet the ball remained a tangled enigma, unresponsive to his silent pleas and focused stares.
Then, on the third day, something shifted. As Leo sat in quiet desperation, his mind wandered back to an old memory from Earth—a parlor trick of trying to bend a spoon through sheer will.
As a kid, he had seen a child's TV show about how someone with psychic abilities could bend a spoon with just their thoughts and following that show, Leo remembered spending countless hours trying to bend a spoon with an imaginary force that simply did not exist.
Naturally, he never succeeded, however, that memory remained vivid in his brain till this day.
Back on Earth, it was an impossible task, as no psychic powers actually existed.But here, in this realm where magic breathed through the very fabric of existence, Leo's thoughts lingered on that memory, drawing a parallel that felt almost absurd in its audacity.
He closed his eyes, envisioning the spoon from his memory, feeling its weight, its solidity, and the invisible force of his will pressing against it. He then redirected that focus onto the mana ball, imagining the tangled threads as the spoon, bending to his will.
It was a ludicrous idea, treating the intangible as if it were tangible, manipulating something as if it were physically there under the press of his fingertips.
But then, it happened. A faint sensation, like a whisper against the edge of his mind—a thread within the ball shifted.
Startled, Leo's eyes snapped open, staring at the ball. The change was imperceptible to the naked eye, but he felt it, a tingle along the bond between his consciousness and the ball.
Encouraged, he concentrated on the threads on the ball, deepening his focus.
He imagined his will as a gentle force, coaxing the threads apart, untangling them not with hands but with thoughts. It was like trying to move water with a wish, to shape air with a hope. Yet, under the guidance of his concentrated will, the threads began to respond. Slowly, painstakingly, they moved, guided by the invisible force of his intent.
The breakthrough was monumental. Leo managed to untangle a small section of the ball, and with that success, a rush of exhilaration flooded through him. It was a tangible victory, achieved not through physical manipulation but through the power of his mind interacting with mana.
[ System Notification - Congratulations Player 'TheBoss', you have managed to perceive and manipulate mana and have unlocked the mana stat! ]
[ System Notification - Congratulations player 'TheBoss', you have became the 9822nd player within the game to unlock their mana stat and since you are within the first 10,000 players to do so, you have received a bonus +10 points of mana ]
Two system notifications alerted Leo that his mana stat had been unlocked as a bright smile spread on his face!
' I did it!' he thought as he opened his stat panel and took a look at the newly unlocked mana stat.
He had 150 points of Max mana of which 120 units were available for him to still expend.
The sensation of being able to feel mana was unlike anything he had ever experienced; it was as if he had reached out and touched the intangible, learning a way to interact with a force that he did not understand how to interact with before.
Surprisingly, it was just like handling a psychic power, like imposing your will into existence.
But while it was impossible on Earth, it was very real on Terra Nova.
Unfortunately, Leo could only impose his will upon the special mana threads within the mana ball as he could not actually move physical objects with it, however, just being able to sense that imaginary force was like unlocking a new dimension for him.
After the initial breakthrough, Leo's progress with the mana threads improved significantly.
He could slowly sense all the individual threads within the ball, each one appearing as a distinct presence under the influence of his focused thoughts.
This new ability allowed him to approach the task of untangling the ball with a methodical precision that was previously impossible, as his speed of untangling each thread improved significantly.
By the end of day3, he managed to untangle the ball in full as Ben congratulated and praised Leo for comprehending mana so quickly.
From not understanding how to move the threads at all, to untangling the ball in a single day, was remarkable progress.
On day 4, with more practice, Leo found that not only could he untangle the threads, but he could also manipulate them in increasingly complex ways.
The mana responding to his intent, bending and flowing under his command as Leo could feel his control over the mana improving with each passing hour which reflected in the form of his mana stat improving after every few hours of practise.
[ System Notification - Your mastery over mana has improved, mana stat increases by +10 ]
Apparently, unlike the physical stats that only improved after rigorous practise or leveling up, the mana stat improved rapidly with slight practise, encouraging Leo to practice controlling it harder.
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/// A/N - Instead of doing a large time-skip that shows no details of how each character developed, I have decided to depict everyone's training progress in a fast paced setting.
This is not usually how I show these scenes, so your feedback on this matter would be most appreciated.
Are you satisfied with the pacing or should I show if faster/ slower? ///