I turned to Seray, who was the last one. I had already awakened Helen. To be honest, Helen was easier, perhaps it was talent, or maybe she endured more than her boyfriend without grunting.
Just as I had asked Helen, I also asked Seray: "Lift only the back of your shirt. Just up to your solar plexus."
I watched her do as I asked. With a mere quick movement, I placed my hand on her back and began imbuing mana into her, just as I had done with Damian and Helen. Repeating the process.
The awakening proceeded normally, which isn't exactly uncommon, nor is it common. I can even see a certain hypocrisy in that. The process went well. Near the end, as I finished forming the core, I felt a strong source of mana that helped complete the core, relieving me of the burden of exhausting the rest of my mana. I could investigate it and perhaps come up with a hypothesis about what it might be, but the exhaustion weighed heavily on my shoulders, and the fatigue from depleting my mana made me sweat. Gasping and out of breath, I decided to leave it for later.
"Now, you can repeat what I did with the mana inside you." I placed my hand on her bare back again and began circulating mana through her. "Simply follow the flow I'm creating. This will be your exercise forever. It's a way to evolve and strengthen the core, as well as purify and absorb mana. As the years pass and you accumulate experience, your core will evolve faster."
Everyone listened without saying anything, since they were focused on doing what I had told them to do.
At the same time, I felt Neses's presence, and by observing the reactions of the other three, I realized that they had felt her presence as well. Judging by their expressions, they were frightened, since her level was higher than theirs and they weren't accustomed to this feeling. Besides, they probably didn't know how to recognize that it was caused by mana.
"What the fuck is this?" she exclaimed in shock and surprise. "They awakened? What happened here?"
"Well, I can explain it to you if you want."
"If I want to? Just fucking tell me!" A vein began throbbing on Neses's forehead. "I'm responsible for them. If something happens, I'm the one who's going to get fucked."
"Don't worry." I tried to calm and reassure her. "I'm the one who awakened them."
"Oh, so it was you." She spoke with a smile on her face, until she realized what I had said and froze. "You did what?!"
"Relax, their awakening was much easier than mine." I said, holding my head after getting punched in the head. "I discovered a method to awaken while training with Hajba and analyzing my core."
Neses trembled slightly, took a few steps backward, and asked with a stammer and a crooked smile, "Really? And what did you discover?"
"The core is like a mana bone. The body gradually absorbs mana because of the body's impurities and because of age. When the body matures and has absorbed enough mana, the individual awakens the core." I explained.
"I don't know what to say." Neses spoke with a haunted expression. "You're a genius. I hadn't thought of that."
Neses pondered for a while, her right hand over her mouth and her left hand holding her right elbow.
"Can you make the necessary notes?"
"Yes. Why?"
"Can I publish your research? Of course, with your name. Just to share this discovery."
"I don't know."
"Think about it. You might even get a scholarship at the magic academy to study. Besides gaining some recognition as a scholarly mage."
"As long as it helps me in the future, fine. I'll give it to you the next time you come."
My group finished strengthening their cores, both reaching the dark-black stage, close to evolving to the next stage. Then we left. We were all very tired; the day had been especially exhausting for me, and we had class the next day. So I didn't even think twice about lying down in my bed, and I only woke up the following day.
The next morning at school, as soon as we arrived, I went to my classroom. Seray followed behind me, since we had been in the same class ever since she arrived. As soon as I sat in my chair, I lowered my head and tried to take a nap.
Seray, on the other hand, sat in her usual seat, which was beside mine.
I spent most of the classes sleeping, trying to recover my mana, which I hadn't been able to recover yesterday because of exhaustion. And, to be completely honest, if it weren't for the country's education system, and of course the world's social caste system, I would be studying something more productive. The education system is actually the country's basic learning system, designed to discover people who are skilled at certain things, certain trades.
But it's not as though it were really something incredible, since it has some obvious flaws. Most people pretend not to see them because of their daily routines, and it ends up becoming something automatic. And even if they notice something wrong, if it isn't harmful, it doesn't mean anything, nor is it necessarily useful.
Anyway, I was woken up by Seray a little before recess. So, like a good student, I waited until the bell rang. During recess, after getting a snack, I joined the group as usual.
"Do you feel different in any way?" I asked with far too much excitement. "Tell me how you feel!"
"I don't feel anything unusual." Damian said without enthusiasm.
"Same." Helen followed.
"I feel more… I don't know…" Seray paused dramatically, perhaps considering something or choosing the words to describe the sensation she was experiencing. "Light. I feel lighter and more energetic."
"Now that you mention it…" Helen stood up from the chair she had been sitting in and jumped a little. "It's true! I really am lighter."
"Now that you can use mana, you're going to train with me." I said enthusiastically, with a huge grin on my face. "After class, I'm going to teach you something. A way to make your bodies even lighter and stronger."
"Really?" they all said in unison.
"Yes. I'm going to teach you mana techniques from the awakening level." I said. "To explain it quickly and in an easy-to-understand way: there are levels of spells. For each advanced core level, the ability to use more advanced magic becomes possible. However, it depends on your mana reservoir. More advanced spells are stronger and use more mana."
"And what does this 'awakening' mean?" Seray asked curiously.
"It is the first level. It only allows the use of mana within the body to enhance physical abilities. Giving you greater strength, endurance, lightness, and a higher-than-normal rate of self-regeneration."
Damian, who had been listening, pondered for a moment, looked at us, and asked his question. "And are there more levels beyond this one?"
"Calm down." I replied, making a gesture with my hands, slowly moving them up and down. "I was getting there. After the awakening level come the apprentice, beginner, intermediate, proficient, expansion, and finally divine levels. I use intermediate-level magic because my core is at the initial brown level."
"Does the mana core have more stages besides the colors?" Helen groaned at the information in dismay.
"Yes, it does. I'll let Neses teach you that. I'm not a good teacher when it comes to theory."
Recess ended, and my group's enthusiasm for learning more about the world of magic wasn't all that great. Damian has some interest, Helen follows my brother, and Seray seems to simply follow us. However, Seray has been changing her attitude toward us for some time now, including toward me. She is becoming more involved with us and seems interested in magic. She has been asking me many things at home, and we've been spending a lot of time together because of it. Sometimes, we even slept together because we studied so much. I didn't mind. Finally, I had someone with whom I could share my knowledge without fear of not being understood. After all, I am young, and the people in the village have no magical knowledge, except, of course, Grandma Neses. The age difference between Seray and me isn't great; she is only one year older than me.
Recently, there has been some secret whispering among the adults, planning a sixth-birthday party for Seray to celebrate her birthday. In this world, birthdays are celebrated at six and twelve years old, but a person is only truly considered an adult after fifteen. I don't judge; if something exists, there is a reason for it as well.
Leaving that aside, after about three lessons covering both theoretical and practical basics, they learned the fundamentals, but even so, they still hadn't advanced to the next level, gray. I think it's because of experience or a lack of mastery of the awakening level of magic. Right after those three lessons, we stopped studying in the village. It seems Neses, Hajba, and Guapho are busy with some investigation inside the forest. From what they told me, the forest extends from the village, with the village almost at its center, and stretches farther until connecting to a border with another county.
Honestly, I don't know the details very well. It must be serious for those three to be together. I'll take a look to find out what's happening around that area.
In any case, I'll train them myself. Who knows, maybe I'll make some progress as well and help them advance.
There are about six months left until Seray's birthday. I'll try to think of a good present.