For the next thirty minutes, Zane continued his shooting practice, trying to improve his aim. The improvement wasn't as much as he wanted, not only because of a lack of instruction, but because he had to stop once in a while to meditate and recuperate his mana, which usually takes close to ten minutes. However, today was just a way to get acquainted with using the facilities, so he did not mind the slow training pace.
After seeing signs of progress, Zane stopped, his body and mind showing signs of fatigue. Five minutes later, he was hydrated and revived, so he continued the training; this time around, he chose another mode: defensive training. The training dummy changed to one with an open mouth, and before Zane could react, it shot a black ball at him. His attempt at evading failed, and the ball hit him in his stomach.
"Damn, that hurt," Zane thought. There was little to no force behind the ball despite its velocity, but the pain was intense. Pushing through the hurt, Zane concentrated his mind to cast his Mana Shield. The process was not easy under the bombardment of these black balls, but he persevered, which then led to his success. Unfortunately, he soon realized that his success meant nothing. These balls were relentless, and even with his shield, Zane couldn't last long as his mana soon ran out and he had to stop the program.
"Until I have more mana, defensive training is not recommended," Zane thought, feeling the pain all over his body. It's fine to train casting his defensive spell, but he won't put himself in such a miserable state before he has a larger mana reserve.
"If only I had Mana Potions," Zane sighed. With Mana Potions that can instantly recuperate more than 60% of his mana, he could train for as long as he wanted. But in this world, there is no if. Since he was poor, he could only use a poor man's training methods.
The ache in Zane's body stopped after a few minutes, and he continued the grind; this time, he reverted to the normal training mode. However, his focus was not on adapting to the magic staff. Instead, the focus was on mental channeling and mana projection without the staff's assistance.
Zane had long noticed the issue with mental channeling. The process of condensing his mental energy alone took him about five seconds, let alone channeling the energy to his motor cortex; that usually takes an additional 8-10 seconds. His goal is to do these things instantly and instinctively, a process that requires months of training.
"First, let's try to do it without closing my eyes," Zane thought. The act of closing his eyes was a way to improve concentration and energy sensing. So, if Zane could concentrate his mental energy without closing his eyes, it would mean his concentration and control over it have improved.
The process was not easy. Zane could sense the mental energy in his brain, but when he directed them to condense, they resisted, fighting him like a toddler who did not want to eat their vegetables. It took Zane more than half a minute just to condense them together.
"This is not going to be an easy process," Zane realized. Good news for him is that, like mana channeling, mental channeling can be practiced at any time of the day as long as he is willing. So, Zane dispersed his mental energy before trying to condense them again, repeating the process for close to an hour. Unlike the library, the training hall was open 24 hours, but Zane had no desire to remain after close to 2 hours of practice.
Packing his only belonging — the expensive magic staff — he headed back to his dormitory. Now that he had an inkling of how things operated, Zane made a schedule for tomorrow morning's training; he had decided his focus should be on improving his aim at moving targets. Once he has mastered that, he'll change his training mode. As for mental channeling training, he can do it throughout the day, just as he does for his mana channeling.
"Hey, brotha, can I talk to you?"
As soon as he heard these sudden words and sensed someone approaching him, Zane's heart skipped a beat, and he entered a fight-or-flight state. His arms were raised defensively, ready to punch someone. His mana channeling operated effortlessly, enhancing his arm and leg strength.
"Devonte?" Zane asked, looking at the speaker. A young black man in basketball clothes walked out from a rock about 15 meters from the entrance. Typically, someone such as Devonte would be a bright lamp in the knight in Zane's perception. Unfortunately, his senses were not passive, and without focusing, his perception is no different from that of ordinary people. As for his nose? Well, the odor of sweat coming from his body was no different than Devonte's, maybe even stronger since he had just finished.
"My bad, man, I didn' mean to scare you."
"It's alright," Zane sighed, lowering his arms. "Were you waiting for me?"
"Yeah, I wanna ax you something," Devonte nodded.
"Alright. Let's talk while we walk," Zane uttered, leading the way.
"You said somethin' I want to verify. Did you make money from killing that beast?"
"Beast? Oh, you mean the magical beast from my second shift?" Zane nodded. "Yes. After I killed it, I sensed mana inside its body and dug a core. I sold it for its 20 magic crystals."
"Does that mean all the beasts have this core?"
"No, there is only a 20% chance the core will drop, but the other parts are also valuable: you can sell the skin, meat, bones, and everything else for gold coins."
"True? I can't believe I wasted all that money."
"You also killed your beast?" Zane asked.
"Yeah, but I didn' do it alone. I had this girl who protected me with a golden shield and even healed me," Devonte explained.
"Golden shield? What was her specialty?"
"She says she was a Ligh' Mage."
"That makes sense," Zane nodded. "Are you thinking of hunting magical creatures?"
"If I can make money from 'em, then in the next shif', I ain't gonna miss my chance."
"You don't have to wait for the next shift," Zane explained.
"Whatchu mean? Is there somewhere else I can hunt?
"You're sharp," Zane nodded. "There is a hunting guild designed specially for this kind of thing. You can even take a mission, and they will pay you."
"Such a good place exis'? Where?"
Zane then explained the location and entire hunting system to him.
"Imma head there as soon as I go back to Earth," Devonte said with shining eyes.
Zane wanted to tell him he was dreaming since they cannot register for the hunting guild before August 13th, but remembered this rule was only for Mages. Instead, he said: "Be careful. Those beasts are dangerous. Money is good, but not as important as life. It's probably best to go as a group."
"That's probably not a bad idea. Brotha, howbout you come with me?"
"Mages cannot take a hunting mission until the 13th," Zane shook his head.
"Thats a shame."
"You can try Ahmed," Zane suggested. "He seems like a cool guy. You can talk to him and observe his character for the next 24 days. Then, you need to agree on how to share the profit beforehand, and there shouldn't be an issue."
"I dunno about all that. I dont even know him like that," Devonte shook his head.
"That's why I said you need to observe him first — find out what kind of man he is."
"…I'll think about it."
"It's just a suggestion. You can decide whether to listen to it or not," Zane shrugged. "By the way, how much can you deadlift?"
"Why are you axing this?"
"I just want to know how I compare to a top knight."
"Top Knight? I dont know about all that."
"Just tell me," Zane insisted.
"720."
"Kilogram?"
"Yah."
"Damn. That's 200 more than I can."
"That's still pretty good," Devonte replied. A lot of the guys he works out with still can't lift 200 kg.
Zane then asked for his other perimeters, and the results left him rooted on the ground in shock. Zane had surpassed all human records by 5-15kg, but he was still in the realm of human possibilities. It may take a while, but these records will definitely be broken. Meanwhile, Devonte was already superhuman.
"Let's race back to the dorm and see who gets there first," Zane suddenly said.
"Why?"
"Come on," Zane uttered before running as fast as he could while channeling his mana. Devonte stood for a while, his mouth slightly agape. However, after seeing how fast Zane had run, his competitive instinct kicked in, and he followed. In just a few seconds, he caught up to Zane and surpassed him, even keeping a few meters of distance.
"As expected of a top knight," Zane thought. "I can probably run the hundred meters in 8 seconds or less, but him? He can probably do it in 5 or 6 seconds."
Despite the obvious difference in their skill set, Zane did not stop running. And even when his mana channeling time ran out, he would immediately start over. During the process, he was also observing the flow of energy in Devonte's body. In the early stages, Mages don't have many advantages over knights, but one of them has always been their perception.
"During channeling, I prioritize mana over life energy, but it's the opposite for knights. Their life force is more vibrant, and they have less mana, which makes sense why life force is above mana. This implication of such an approach means that the enhancement acquired from channeling is higher."
Zane tried to prioritize his life force above his mana during the channeling, and the result was counterproductive. The advantage of Mage is their control of mana, not life energy. While it is easier for them to learn mana channeling, it doesn't mean it is easy for them to control life energy. Without a breathing method to nourish their life energy and make it vibrant and potent, without months of training, it's not easy to control life energy since it is woven into every aspect of the body.