<Alex, Real - Endure, High School Class Room>

Alex closed his eyes and took a deep, calming breath.

This time, rather than focusing primarily on the clear, magical box between his hands, he put his focus on the magic within himself, leaning heavily on his Basic Mana Manipulation.

He had been trying to thread a needle by focusing on the needle. Now, he was going to focus on the thread… or something like that. More to the point, he was going to try to improve his tools.

Basic Mana Manipulation seemed to mainly be a skill for general, macro movements, and that just wasn't cutting it. He needed something with a bit more precise control. He'd been advised to not try to push a skill until his mastery of it was at least Uncommon, and thankfully, he was Uncommon in this skill.

He recalled the distinction from his two training sessions with Master Adams. The second time, he'd leaned on the skill, trying to let himself simply follow what it already held. That had increased his mastery of that skill. The first time, however, the skill had been a simple augment to Master Adams' instruction, and the feel of his own body.

That had advanced the skill itself.

In this case, he didn't have an instructor, but he thought it would still be possible if he let what he was sensing and experiencing guide him and inform his use of the skill. Toward that end, he closed his eyes and focused on his mana as it flowed around his body.

Well… 'flowed' wasn't exactly right. Honestly, it seemed to be on the stagnant side, and that lined up with what he'd been feeling while attempting the operation with the box.

He talked to himself to try to help align his thoughts. "It was almost like pulling toffee, if not quite so stiff. Maybe more like trying to move playdough around to pick up all the fragments? Or rolling out sugar cookie dough?"

He nodded–that odd elasticity and stretchiness had added to the difficulty, as he'd had to control the ever increasing extension as it went, keeping the whole length from touching the sides.

"So, my mana is stagnant and sluggish… What if it was moving instead? Isn't that something suggested in all those 'cultivation' novels?" He actually wasn't very sure. The few that he'd read didn't spend a whole lot of time on the fictitious moving of mana… Maybe he should have read different books?

That brought a chuckle from his lips before he dismissed the notion. With a shrug, he began using his Basic Mana Manipulation skill to move his mana about.

At first, he pushed it down his arm, then as it built pressure in his hand, he pulled back, allowing it to expand again. He then pulled that expanding area, drawing the mana out and down to the leg on the same side. From there to the other leg, and so on.

It was a bit like rolling a ball of dough and pressing it into the corner to slowly pick up more and more of the scattered ingredients.

The mana didn't really seem to greatly affect his physical body as it moved through it, except for the occasional feelings of pressure. Alex thought he could also feel a bit of negative pressure—almost like a weak vacuum against his skin—as the mana drew away, but that was the extent of it. The mana was bound by his physical body's edges, however. Though, that was likely because he was keeping firmly in mind that that is what he wanted. Either way, it worked.

The process was working, but it was quite effortful, and if anything, his mana seemed to be coagulating, getting thicker to better stick with his active movements.

When the oscillating waves passed his head for the fifth time—causing a bit of a headache at the pressure—a notification surprised him.

Notice: Mana circulation 'technique' detected: Mana Dough-Ball

Mana Dough-Ball Throughout the purview of the System, many varied techniques have arisen to enhance a mana user's abilities. This one puts them all to shame.

Truly, they are all ashamed to be in the same category as this one, whenever it is 'rediscovered.'

Pros: Your 'technique' is self-sustaining. Mana regeneration rate is doubled. Static creations of mana have a 10% increase to their coherence.

Cons: Mobile creations of mana have a 50% decrease to their coherence and speed. Educated Mana users may attack you upon detecting this technique in an attempt to remove the stain upon the System.

Sigh

Do you wish to adopt this circulation technique? Y/N

Apology Tutorial Addendum: You can only have one circulation technique at a time, and having one makes it significantly harder to learn another.

Alex groaned at just how much sass the System was throwing at him, but the decision was pretty clear. "No."

It was odd that the System had seemingly sighed at him, but he decided not to make a whole thing about it.

He almost wanted to say yes, given how many times he'd read about MCs taking 'trash' techniques and using them to great effect. He did not think that such would be possible in this case.

As much as it might be better than nothing, the cons list did make it seem like that wasn't the case. Besides, if one mana circulation technique existed, there had to be others.

He somehow doubted that anyone would really have attacked him over a mana technique, but he supposed he really had no idea of how society worked under the System. For all he knew more advanced forms of Mana Sense would render those with distasteful circulation methods as repugnant as someone who hadn't bathed in months, not including their regular baths in a sewer.

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He grimaced at the mere idea. He wouldn't attack such a person, but he would probably try to keep them away…

Regardless, he had said no, and that meant that he needed to figure out something else.

Immediately, the label of 'mana circulation' made him think of the circulatory system. At some level, he felt like that would actually work very well, but the complexity of it made it a non-starter. Even if he had infinite time, he didn't have enough understanding of the human circulatory system to mimic it.

He was about to start delving into other potential possibilities, when he heard someone burst into the room next door. "Alex? Are you in here?"

He frowned. "Kaylee?"

A moment later, Kaylee burst into the room he was using. "There you are!"

"Here I am… What's going on?"

She raised an eyebrow. "I was going to ask you the same thing. Why was your mana generation rate doubled?" Her eyes unfocused. "Why is it back to normal, now?"

His eyebrows rose. "It was doubled, even though I didn't accept?" He frowned, then. "Wait... How do you know it was?"

She hesitated, then turned and closed the door quickly. "Well, with the new Initiates, I wanted to get a good idea of if I could trust them. So… I asked for their stats."

He blinked a few times. "That's personal… I think? I mean it should be like a person's weight pre-System."

She shrugged. "It likely is, at least a bit, but we're running a base here. Besides, they seemed to understand, and I got the list."

"Okay… how does that tell you my mana regeneration rate? How would that help at all?"

"Generation rate. I don't know what your regeneration rate is, just how much you generate for the base."

"Okay… I'll try to remember the distinction. Now, how?"

She grinned. "There was a base add-on that let me get a detailed breakdown of all residents' contributions."

His eyes widened. "Oh! And you could compare that with their stated stats."

"Exactly!" She grinned. "From what I can tell, they are being honest. Interestingly, I think that Stephen—the death mage and their leader—has at least an uncommon class, if not rare. It's hard to tell, because not all classes of the same rarity have the same point grants."

"Fair… Wait, death mage?"

She shrugged. "He explained that unlife was a perversion of death, so he guessed death magic was a great counter for the undead. It seems like he was right, at least if those traveling with him are to be trusted, and seems like they can be, at least a bit."

"Huh… okay. So, you got this detailed breakdown of contributions, and through it, you saw my mana contributions?"

She nodded, smiling as they got back on track. "Excatly. It doubled about a quarter hour ago, and it only just dropped back to 'normal' a minute or two ago, while I was looking for you."

He grunted. "Well, I suppose now's as good a time as any to convey the info. I think I discovered something rather important."

"Oh?"

He smiled. "Let me tell you what I know about mana circulation techniques."

It only took about half an hour for him to convey all he could. It should have taken less, given how little he knew, but he wasn't very good at explaining in a way that she could understand.

Everyone thinks differently I suppose. Still, it had been a bit frustrating.

Finally, she sat back—having pulled up a chair near the beginning of their discussion—and seemed to get lost in thought for a moment. She began nodding after that moment. "This seems really important, Alex. It also seems like something a bit above 'basic' information, which is why there weren't really explicit mentions of it in our Systems Basics books."

"Not explicit?" He frowned. "What are you thinking?"

"The books did talk about how instructors, clans, sects, schools, and other groups could offer all sorts of benefits, including training in 'useful and practical techniques of all kinds.'" She huffed a humorless laugh. "Not that that is very helpful."

He grunted. "Ahh, sure. I can see that."

"Regardless, we know about it now. We should be able to crowdsource it, find something that will work?"

Alex shrugged. "Sure, but if it matters, it felt…" He frowned, trying to put words to it. "It felt personal? It was like the effects—both pros and cons—were as a result of me."

Kaylee hesitated at that. "Okay? What does that mean?"

He shrugged. "I honestly don't know, but I think that it means that a good technique for one person might be suboptimal for others."

She gave him a flat look. "Alex…"

"Yeah?"

"A truly trash technique—if what you conveyed is true—would double your mana regeneration. Sub optimal is still fantastic."

He opened his mouth to argue, but then shrugged. "Maybe so, but I'm still going to continue on my own. It feels like those that I discover on my own will be better for me."

She shrugged. "Do as you wish. I'll pass this information out. I think most of us would prefer sub-optimal to death, and this might just prevent that. It will likely gain us even more good will from the new Initiates, too."

"Oh? Is that needed?"

Her expression only flickered through a grimace for an instant, but Alex caught it.

"What's up?"

"Most don't like that we have so many non-Initiates here. They aren't too vocal about it directly, but we've caught mention of how much more we all could eat if the dead weight were gone and that sort of thing."

"Is it going to be a problem?"

She shook her head. "I don't think so. A few of us have quests that are aided by the non-Initiates being here, and we've let them know about the somewhat inexplicable ability of the non-Inititates to have the knowledge and willingness to train us in various useful skills. It's helped that you were referenced as the primary one with quests relating to them."

Alex pulled back a bit. "Me? What? Why?"

She gave him an incredulous look. "Alex, come on. You saved them, and they know it. You threw yourself into a horde for them. Every one of them knows they are alive because of you."

"Natasha went too."

"And she has made sure they knew that she went because of you."

Alex sighed. "Fine… so, this info coming 'from me'...?"

She grinned. "Exactly. That will smooth things out even further and give you more relational equity for future use, if we need it."

He sighed again, almost laughing at the jargon. "Very well…" He looked around. "Any chance I have time to take another crack at it?"

She gave him a long-suffering smile. "Didn't you say you wanted to try to open the clear boxes?"

He blinked a few times. "Oh… Right! Biscuits, that's why I was trying this to begin with."

"To make your mana more pliable? Easier to control?"

"Exactly, yeah."

"Well? Take another crack at the boxes. If you have achieved a better improvement by trying the mana circulation technique, you know where to invest your time." After a moment's pause, she smiled. "I'll send someone up with food for you for each meal. Take as much time for this as you think it's worth. I know at least Natasha is excited for the spear that's locked away."

Alex nodded. "Alright. Thank you, Kaylee."

She waved off the thanks. "It's fine. I might be 'in charge' here, but I'm well aware that most of what we have here is due to you, either directly or indirectly."

Alex frowned, but before he could object, she held up a hand.

"I'm not going to argue with you. I just wanted you to know that's how I see it. Enjoy your experimenting. I'll send someone if we need you, and if you hear anything like an attack, please come help?"

He chuckled despite still feeling a bit awkward about the praise, indirect though it was. "I will. Thank you."

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