The next morning, Osric returned to the library shortly after it opened.
The old librarian barely glanced at him as he took the entry fee, before returning to his work.
Most of the tables were still empty.
Osric sat down in the same spot as yesterday and opened Foundations of Mana once more.
The book was old and several pages had been repaired over the years.
He turned to where he left off.
There are only two known paths through which an individual may interact with mana.
The Knight Path and the Mage Path.
Osric continued reading.
The Knight Path begins with the mana seed.
The Mage Path begins with the mana heart.
No third path exists.
His eyes lingered on that sentence.
The book spent several pages explaining the differences between the two.
Individuals with a mana seed must first experience awakening.
Individuals born with a mana heart possess mana perception from birth.
Knights could only feel mana after awakening.
Mages could perceive it from birth.
The two paths were entirely separate.
Osric quietly turned another page.
Individuals capable of becoming knights are born with a mana seed.
The seed remains dormant in most cases.
Once awakened, it grants the ability to feel mana and interact with ambient mana on a basic level.
A mana seed may awaken naturally any time from birth until age sixteen.
Osric frowned.
This part appeared again.
The author clearly considered it important.
He continued reading.
Earlier awakening generally results in greater potential.
Later awakening reduces the maximum ceiling that can be reached.
However, even late awakeners may still become powerful individuals through sufficient training and proper guidance.
Osric thought of Franklin.
Then Jayson.
'He probably wasn't discovered earlier because he only awakened his mana seed at 15. At least that's what he told me.'
Then the various apprentice knights he had seen around Ashbrook.
The book's explanation matched what he had observed throughout his life.
Nothing surprising so far.
He turned another page.
—
That same morning, inside Franklin's office.
Franklin slid a mission parchment on his desk towards Jayson on the other side.
"Here. This is your first mission."
Jayson picked it up.
His eyes widened slightly.
"This is E-Rank? Sir, I thought I would take an F-Rank mission?"
"The most difficult F-Rank missions only involve facing one F-Rank monster, which would he too easy for you."
"That E-Rank mission is perfect for you. It's very easy for an E-Rank, but difficult enough for you to actually learn something."
Jayson's expression remained unsettled.
"But this says to eliminate a whole giant rat nest?"
Franklin sighed. "Read the whole thing."
Jayson looked more carefully this time.
'Four Giant Rats and no alpha.'
"I see. But I'm not sure if I can handle them all at once, sir."
"Use your head, kid. You can take them down one at a time if you do it right. How you handle this is up to you. This is a test to see whether you are ready to follow Osric."
Jayson clenched his fist.
"You have many more things to learn before I teach you anything about your mana seed."
"Yes sir!"
"Now go. This is one of the nests inside the city's canals, not the monster forest. I already gave you all the basic equipment you need, as Osric requested. Show us what you got."
"Yes!" Jayson turned around and left the office.
—
At the same time, Garrick was dragging Dustin along with him to the monster forest.
"Mister Garrick, please reconsider. I just barely managed to complete an F-Rank mission—
Why are we on our way to face an E-Rank mission??"
"Hahaha. Of course it's so that I have something to do too. You might have forgotten, but I'm not your mentor or something. I work for Osric, and he wants me to train on our break."
"To me, that means getting used to fighting monsters after a while. This will also he a good experience for you. Don't worry, since I'll do most of the work."
"But the mission parchment said that it's a pack of six Feral Dogs!" Dustin shouted in desperation.
"Exactly. You already faced one yesterday. So it's good to face something you're familiar with and repetition helps you improve."
Dustin's fear of his death made his shyness practically disappear right this moment.
'Why did I choose to follow such a lunatic?'
'Is Osric really also a lunatic, to have someone like this working for him? I did just meet him once, so how well do I really know him?'
Dustin had never been this scared.
Garrick however, was excited. A few Feral Dogs weren't much for him.
One didn't need to have a mana seed or be an apprentice knight to handle some F-Rank monsters. And Garrick was strong enough to handle any E-Rank monster by himself.
He wasn't a D-Rank mercenary and elite underground fighter for no reason.
'This is going to be fun.'
—
Inside the city of Ashbrook, Jayson walked down a small path leading into the canals.
'Ugh, it stinks like shit.'
'This has to be the worst mission adventurers choose to take.'
He now stood in front of the small and dark tunnel.
'Fuck. This is scarier than I thought.'
"Crack."
A thin layer of ice broke beneath Jayson's boot.
He froze for a moment.
The dark tunnel remained silent.