Diary

The third started much and ended much the same as the first two days. Will woke up, ate breakfast, and went to the library.

Despite checking out the spell books and diary, Will had been too tired to read the diary after dinner as he had planned. Instead of choosing a new topic to read, Will decided to open the diary and see why Elder Thaddeus recommend this restricted book.

Opening the cover, Will could feel a rush of power flow out and for several minutes Will couldn't move almost as he was held in plan and scanned.

After a few minutes passed, he felt, he could move again. "What was that?!" Will thought. Now, he was hesitant to read the book, worried about what might happen if he read the diary.

Nevertheless, he sojourned and opened the diary again wincing prepared for that scan, but it never came. Instead, the diary opened like a normal book.

The diary belonged to Sage Yang.

'Sage, I've never heard that title,' Will wondered. The diary detailed the life of Sage Yang on his quest to extend his life.

In Terra, the average person died around age 50. But, a novice knight or mage could extend their lives to 100 years. An apprentice's life expectancy was around 150 years. Journeymen around 200, Masters could live to be around 300 years. But, it would not be strange for a grandmaster knight or mage to could live for 500 years.

Sage Yang talked about his triumphs and failed experiment to be promoted to Sage, a fabled level above Grandmaster. Sage Yang talked about his quest to hunt dragons and harness their beast cores for his experiment.

He detailed his remote journey to find Sage grass rare herb located in harsh climates where little mana exist.

The diary detailed his search for divine relics left on Terra from the Great War.

His diary was a treasure map, that list the location of hundreds of rare herbs.

If Will could find these herbs, he could monopolize the market and break that damn cabal of a Merchant's Guild.

The only problem was the problem of going to these places. Will had no desire to put his life on the line to go to these places. If only there was an adventure trustworthy enough to get these herbs. Well, that was a question he could answer later.

As Will continued reading, he learned that Sage Yang was a terramancer and a part of the Tiger beastmen tribe.

He believe that races were a superficial reason to discriminate and what mattered most was passing on the legacy of magic knowledge. He explained youth need to be disciplined and cultivate their magic daily.

He explained the best way to expand your mana pool was to constantly drain mana and refill it with mana-filled herbs.

According to Sage Yang, it helped train the body to gain more refined denser mana. He said this was the safest way to increase your mana over time.

A more difficult method, but suitable, was to consume or inhale beast cores. Although he cautioned, the first time using this method should be done with guidance from a master.

The third way was to turn your mana pool into a whirlpool. This whirlpool was dangerous to achieve, and the success rate was high.

According to Sage Yang, the method to create the mana whirlpool mana required an array. The method required, a grandmaster mage to create a magic array to gather ambient mana and funnel it into the mana pool thereby creating a mana whirlpool.

Theoretically, this allowed a person's mana pool to refine its mana on its own, without the use of herbs or pills.

When achieved it allowed mages to continue to suck in ambient mana naturally. However, failure led to mana poisoning or shattering the mana pool. Great benefit, came with a great cost.

Will was stunned there existed a method to amplify mana pools. Conventional knowledge assumed mana pools could not be magnified by spells or arrays.

The science of mana while primitive, consensus existed on to amplify the mana in the body. Herbs, pills, beast cores, and exercise were all fundamental. Herbs, Pills, and beast cores refined the mana, while exercise strengthened the mana pool.

A stronger mana pool allowed, knights and mages to refine denser mana. If a knight or mage did not strengthen their mana pool, it could lead the mana pool to shatter, killing the mana-user.

The physical training class, Will took, helped the cadets increase the strength of their mana pool.

The diary was an eye-opener for Will. He realized, all this other time, the physical training class strengthened his mana pool, that why he could eat more mana-infused food.

Will had never paid attention to my mana pool. If Edler Thaddeus was able to create the whirlpool, he would have more mana to complete the rock armor without running out of mana.

Not just that spell, but the others as well. His mana pool would become a mana whirlpool, sucking in ambient mana and refining it on its own.

The benefits would be enormous. Will could learn not just all the novice spells, but the apprentice terramancer spells as well.

Although failure could end his life. Yet, surely fate did not reincarnate him to die this young?

Even though he did not know Elder Thaddeus' background, he was a Grandmaster Mage and a Master Librarian.

Surely someone as exceptional as he, would not make such an offer lightly. The odds had to weigh in his favor, or why present such an offer?

'No, everything was fine,' Will convinced himself.

Every part of this diary was a gold mine! Every nugget of wisdom was more than equal to the wealth of his parents' barony.

The more Will read, the more amazed he became. Not only was Sage Yang, a world-class terramancer, but he also had a legendary class, Spellsword.

A Spellsword was a combined mage/ knight who could cast and fight. Spellswords used body strengthening magic and cast spells.,

Mages were ranged fighters. Knights were close combat fighters. Spellswords combined the two.

A Spellsword could fight from range or close-up fighting. Thigh-level both worlds.

However every positive, had a negative. No matter the world, there was always a cost.

Spellswords legendary class consumed a lot of mana. A novice, apprentice, journeyman, master knight, or mage had sufficient mana to become a Spellsword.

The Spellswords legendary class was a mana drain. This was even a problem for Sage Yang when he was older.

Sage Yang constantly consumed herbs beast cores until he became a grandmaster and created his mana whirlpool.

This was the reason looked for so many precious medicinal and pharmaceutical herbs.

In the diary, he described his misery of missing a single day's meals of beast cores.

Moreover, the older he got the higher level beast cores he need to maintain his body. By the time he was 15, he could only eat dire beast cores.

Being a Spellsword certainly had its drawbacks.

Sage Yang wrote that he scarred his mana pool for life when he created his mana whirlpool. He wrote that creating a whirlpool that used a lot of mana was tremendously painful.

Will would have to endure that pain.

Could he endure it, though?

Will wanted that whirlpool. Who could refuse such a treasure? Although Will would rather make money, than fight, this was a world ruled by strength.

'What's the good of having money, if stronger people could simply take it for themselves? Will would protect his money at all cost,' Will thought.

After gaining his mana whirlpool, Sage Yang detailed his favorite spells. The most impressive spells were titled [Domain] and [Entomb].

The spell, [Domain] was a combination of two spells. Only after mastering the two spells could [Domain] be cast.

First, casters had to learn the spells [Radar] and [Aura]. The spell [Radar] lets terramancers cast sense people, plants, and animals in their vicinity. At advanced levels, the radius of detection increased and casters could picture their surroundings, learn information about plants, animals, and people.

The spell [Aura] enables magical energy to surround the caster that may intimidate or suppress lower-ranked magic users. Grandmaster could even kill another simply using the spell.

[Domain] was an impressive spell that combined [Radar] and [Aura], that created a square kilometer cube that amplified a caster's magic and suppressed an opponent's magic. Inside the domain, the caster was a demigod.

For example, if a master mage cast [Domain], he could kill a dire beast and mythical monster far beyond his level. Inside the domain, the caster had no equal.

Sage Yang created [Entomb] to kill mythical monsters and high-level undead. Sage Yang described [Entomb] as a forbidden spell. The spell was his ultimate killing spell.

Sage Yang detailed his uncertainly even passing on the spell. He urged the caster to use great caution and urged the reader to cast the spell as infrequent as possible.

The spell, [Entomb] created a coffin made of fey silver. Fey silver was a magical metal that was harmful to the undead and demons.

Once trapped in the coffin the undead would be trapped in a pocket dimension, for all eternity. There was no way to send a monster back to Terra from the pocket dimension.

There was no death in the pocket dimension. The monster or person would simply be incarcerated to the end of time.

The book finished with Sage Yang's philosophical quest for immortality.

In a crude medieval understanding, Sage Yang theorized mana was made up of tiny particles similar to light particles.

In his diary, he liked mana particles to colors of a rainbow. He was talking about a prism that could display a person's elemental affinity. He believed humans would one day create such a prism.

Sage Yang theorized the first elemental mana crystal before they existed. Magic crystal could detect a person's elemental affinity and density of their mana.

He argued the spectrum of mana particles was invisible to human perception. Only the gods could perceive mana in this form.

According to him, humans, beastmen, elves, and dwarves could only crudely manipulate mana to their spirit. Since Elves and Dwarf were closer to nature, that explained their superior casting.

Sage Yang argued humans, beastmen, elves, and dwarfs could become demigods if they could perceive just a band of mana particles.

His unified theory of mana was something not taught in magic theory textbooks. Contemporary magic theory taught elemental mana to exist independently and are oppositional to each other.

Conventionally, humans wrote mana originates from the gods and goddesses, not nature. For Sage Yang's gods and goddesses developed out of mana.

In other words, gods and goddesses were merely the first species born on Terra. Only through history were these people deified. His interpretation would be seen as heretical today.

The last two pages of the book were drawn to his dwelling and grave. Before he died he left his diary with a friend and then sealed himself in a place knowns as Hollow Hill.

One day, in the far distant future, Will would find that place and offer prayers to Sage Yang.