Free Training Day IV
The pain was exquisite.
'G-Gah!' Falael felt as if their mana pool, which was located somewhere in their chest was going to explode...
And that wasn't far from the truth!
'It hurtsss.' Their eyes snapped open and went bloodshot. Their mind screamed at them to stop immediately. To cease this madness, curse Xander to his last generation, and never try it again.
And yet, through the haze of pain, he clocked a specific fact.
'While it's... possible... to take damage to one's mana pool directly... Those are usually caused by external forces. It's... very hard to cause self-harm... to one's mana pool. But the fact that I can feel it... The fact that I can feel pain...' Their teeth gritted so hard their gums nearly bled.
Then they moved it again.
And the resulting pain genuinely caused tears to fall from their eyes.
They couldn't even scream. A soundless gasp just left their mouth as they almost doubled over.
It was terrible. Maddening. Downright torturous...
But Falael kept doing it.
Over and over.
With each maddening movement.
Their smashed their mana into itself with so much force. Crushing it harder and harder until all they could focus on was the pain. Until their bodies felt faint.
But... It was happening.
Arduously, yes. But it was happening.
They could feel the mana in their mana pool changing its shape.
It had now become a dense sphere, compressing further and further with each harsh movement. However, as Falael continued, the pain only grew worse.
'Something is... wrong...' The sphere was vibrating ominously, a clear sign of instability.
'But... if I stop now, it might explode out... I... need too!'
"Falael!" A voice pierced through their haze. Urgent, but firm.
'What's... who...?'
"You aren't just meant to condense your mana! Remember, equilibrium. Gravity smashes together, energy explodes out. You're crushing everything, even the resulting energy. Remember. Equilibrium!"
'... Right.' They remembered.
The gravity would smash the particles together with such force that they would really large amounts of energy. But that release of energy would serve as a counterbalance, preventing everything from simply imploding in on itself.
'Allow... the release of energy...' The pain was great, but ironically enough, due to how terrible it was, it became the only thing Falael could focus on.
They stopped just crushing their mana into a small point, and instead, they allowed the resulting blasts from it colliding with itself within the sphere to ring out.
Once they did, their body shuddered as now, the mana struggled to erupted outwards from the resulting energy.
Then they started to condense it again. And when that started to become too much, they started to let the energy erupted out again.
It was slow. Painfully so.
But each time, they gradually got closer to a middle point.
'Almost... there...' They thought vacantly, drool dripping down their chin.
It was close. So close. Just the right amount of crushing force... Just the right amount of energy bursting out.
A little more of this... A little more of that... And then...
SHIIIING
Something changed.
Falael tensed, preparing for the next surge of agony. But... it didn't come.
No, this was different.
'This is...?' Suddenly, they finally took in the form of their mana 'pool'.
If before, it had been a shallow pond. Now, it was a very small sphere. Barely the size of a marble...
And it was bright.
It was hard to explain the concept of brightness within a space like one's mana pool. But that was indeed the case, and this 'brightness' filled the remaining empty space of their mana pool, making it feel... warm, almost.
'... Wow.' That was all Falael could think in that moment.
They inspected the orb closely, inside and out. Inside, they could see the process of the mana colliding and releasing energy had become automated, and they could also see the force preventing all this energy from just exploding onwards like a bomb.
'It's so... heavy.' Despite the small size, Falael could feel a 'weight' within them. So much so that they could almost feel the empty space around it... curve, slightly. Like someone pressing on a large pliable surface creating a dip, and making everything around it fall inward. But it didn't hurt anymore.
'So this is a star.' Despite practicing Starlight Magic, Falael had never seen a star before. Not up close, anyway. And they had never understood how they worked. Simply viewing them as unreachable entities to be observed from a distance.
And yet, staring at what they had created, within their own body, no less...
'It's incredible. Beyond my wildest imaginations.' They sighed.
The pain had been harrowing and terrible. But... as they observed the end result, they felt like it was worth it.
"... Have you come back to your senses?" A voice reached them.
Reluctantly, Falael opened their eyes, and they were a bit startled to see Xander sitting down cross-legged in front of them, his sword sitting on his lap.
They stared at Xander for a few seconds, then they looked around, surprised to see that both of them were surrounded by a dome of ice that hid everything inside.
"What is...?"
"In case you lost control and exploded." Xander explained with a shrug, and Falael stared at him with an incredulously gaze.
"You... What?" They didn't know whether they should feel enraged or not, since them exploding had been a real possibility.
'... He seems relieved.' Falael suddenly noticed as tension bled out of Xander.
Had he been worried?
Another thing the didn't know how to feel about.
They inspected their body and grimaced. Their clothes were soaked in sweat, and their face was covered in tears, drool, and snot, making them look quite unsightly.
They quickly cleaned themselves up to the best of their ability, and Xander spoke in the meantime.
"So, how do you feel?" Falael paused and glanced at him through their fingers.
"... Feel, huh." They mused.
'... Actually, now that I think about it... I feel great.' They looked down at their body.
Besides the sticky feeling born from the sweat on their body. They didn't feel bad. They felt good, even. Like they were full of energy.
"... It feels nice." They finally said, and Xander nodded.
"What about the star itself?"
Falael hesitated, then he explained the way it felt. The weight, the warmth, and the strange 'bending' around it.
Xander rubbed his chin before nodding.
"Yup, sounds about right." Falael stared at him.
"Can you explain?"
"Well, stars are very heavy. So heavy, in fact, that they bend space around them. Imagine a large rubber surface and you drop a heavy object in the center. It will sink. Then if you place a light object on the edge of that sunken area, it will fall towards the larger object. That rubber surface is 'space' and that heavy object is the 'star'. What i just explained is gravity pretty much. Anyway the bending feeling you described is most likely the result of the weight you feel. Which makes me curious..." Xander trailed off, and Falael tilted their head.
"What is it?" Xander rubbed his chin in that telltale way.
'He does that a lot...' Falael noted.
"Hm. Just an experiment, could you open up your mana pool to draw in mana? Just don't actively absorb the atmospheric mana." Falael blinked at the response.
"... Okay?" It didn't really take much effort. Opening up one's mana pool to take in mana was a pretty basic ski– Huh?!
Falael's eyes shot open.
"What... This is???" Their mana pool... it was filling up.
Not just the passive absorption rate most people experience. No, it was like the mana was pouring into a well.
'Its as I thought.' Xander smiled to himself, feeling both glad and relieved. 'The 'star' has its own 'gravitational pull' that attracts the surrounding mana. So not only does it produce mana faster, it also sucks in the ambient mana with that same speed.' He sighed.
'With that, the mana issue should be... Hm?' Xander paused as he suddenly noticed something off with Falael, and his eyes widened.
... They were crying.
They were bent over, hands clenched in the dirt as they tried and failed to stifle their sobs. Their face was flushed red, and fat tears streamed down their cheeks to the floor.
It wasn't the same born from the agony of condensing their mana pool, though. Rather, it was mixed with relief, joy, and immense regret.
'Ah...' Xander realized.
'Right... I had forgotten.' The people here... The people of this world, they were all real.
He'd known it in hindsight. It was obvious. But up till now, he'd still been viewing this place as just a 'fantasy world'.
But seeing someone be brought to tears. He realized that the people of this world still struggled. Still strived.
When he had given his teammates that knowledge and taught them. He hadn't really thought about the impact it could have. In his mind, he just wanted them to improve.
He still did. But he finally let the fact that no one in this world was simple or an 'NPC' sink in.
'... Right. I suppose I've been a bit narrow-minded.' He blew out a breath.
Then he simply sat there. Not saying a word, as Falael let out feelings that had built up for who knows how long.