Chapter 318 The Power Of Mana (Part 2)
Mako was amazed as he learned the fact that humans could manipulate mana this entire time but then the obvious question arose in his mind.
"If humans can manipulate mana then how come I haven't seen anyone use it before nor have I ever heard about such a concept in any book about abilities that I have read," Mako said.
"In some cultures, it was referred to as Chi, in others it was called Ki. Some referred to it as the power of the soul while others attributed it to as nature's favour. There were many interpretations of mana through human's long history but one thing remains common through each interpretation that it was extremely difficult to grasp and utilize and only a select few could ever harness its power." Rose began to explain.
"The people throughout history who were able to harness and manipulate mana were always those who had spent their entire lives in discipline and training. There were monks who would meditate for years in solitude in order to grasp the workings of mana within their very bodies while there were many warriors throughout history who pushed their physical bodies to their utmost limit and shattered through the barrier that prevented them from harnessing and storing raw mana inside their bodies."
"And of course, there were also those who received blessings from birth and would go on to harness great power which would change the course of the world," Rose concluded.
Thinking back at some of the stories that Mako could recall hearing from his grandmother, the hero of the story would always have some sort of supernatural strength or power that would allow him to even the most impossible of odds.
Now looking at it from the brand new perspective that Rose had given him, Mako realized that Mana Manipulation fit the description quite well for all the supernatural and unexplainable feats that humanity had accomplished throughout its history.
"So I am guessing you are one of the blessed ones who could manipulate mana from birth which shows by how easily you can influence your surroundings," Mako stated after realizing the truth and evaluating Rose based on the explanation she herself had just given.
"Oh... Ha ha ha!" Rose erupted in a light laughter after hearing Mako's assumption. "Do you really think I am someone who was blessed from birth, your naiveness really amuses me, Mako."
*Giggle*
"No, I am someone who couldn't even be compared to those who have received blessings from birth. They are in a league of their own and trust me, you wouldn't have to assume whether they were blessed or not if you ever meet them. You will just know to follow and submit in their presence," Rose elaborated, still in a joking manner.
Mako didn't what to make of this as on one hand, Rose had been able to do so many extraordinary and amazing things that it was clear she was far stronger and greater than him in every regard even if she didn't possess any actual abilities.
However, on the other hand, she claimed that she wasn't even comparable to those who were truly blessed from birth, people who were born with a specific purpose and had the ability to have a huge impact on the world.
Then who were those amazing people who had such power and blessings?
Embarrassed by his childish behaviour Mako apologized and composed himself. The conversation quickly drifted back to the original topic which was... mana.
Rose told Mako that it was quite difficult to utilize mana in the past, but they now had a greater understanding of what mana actually was and so it was far easier for a person to gain the most basic understanding of mana manipulation if they had their concepts solidified first.
She also explained to him about how ability and skill books worked.
"The reason why beasts who can use abilities can't learn any other ability other than the ones that they are born with is because they actually lack the ability to harness and manipulate mana unlike us."
"This is why you find a crystalized core inside their bodies. That core is basically solidified mana and it stores the aura of the ability that those beasts utilize."
"After you kill the beast, most of the aura inside its crystal is immediately dissipated as the body isn't alive to contain it leaving a minimal amount of it remaining inside the crystal after harvesting; however, the stronger the beast is the more aura is retained in its crystal after death."
Rose explained to Mako that the raw crystals each containing some percentage of an actual ability are then refined by several processes to properly extract the abilities and skills that were stored inside the crystal.
Rose didn't elaborate much on the actual process of refining crystals as one of the students who had been meditating behind Mako this entire seemed to be quite struggling and Rose wanted to wrap up their little chat quickly so that she could tend to her other students.
She asked Mako about his actual experience with man to whichMako told her that he was able to visualize the small bubbles of different auras that resided within his core and even the mana highways that were linked inside his body.
Rose was quite impressed to see that Mako pretty much had the basics understood and it would be long before he could show her some actual results.
She dropped the water bubble that was encasing their table and gestured Mako to come and join her other students.
"I want you to relax and close your eyes. Since you can already visualize the mana highways inside your body, your next task is to try and observe the mana that is coursing through them at very high speeds." Rose instructed as she gently placed her hands on Mako's shoulders while he was sitting cross-legged on the floor, with his eyes closed, deep in concentration.
"Once you are able to observe the very mana inside your body, diverting and controlling is easy as long as you have the willpower to do so," Rose added before leaving Mako alone to concentrate.
Some of the other students had broken their concentration and were visibly confused after not seeing any results. Rose quickly moved to help those students but not before turning back towards a concentrating Mako and almost whispering, "Oh... and welcome to the mana training class... I expect great things from you..."