Jack held up his hand as he winked at Turrel.

  “One second buddy, got a notification I need to check out. I think I just got another skill recognised.” Before Turrel could respond he acknowledged the itch and his skill information popped into his mind.

  SKILLS:

  —--------------------------------

  Mana Sense (Internal): Tier 0

  Shockwave: Tier 1 - [Overcharge]

  Purge Mana : Tier 1 - [Passive]

  [Growth] : Tier 0 - Infuses mana into a target to stimulate and accelerate its physical growth. Activation and effectiveness is dependent on the user’s understanding of the target's potential development.

  Pondering the vague description as he considered the potential uses, Turrel shaking his body snapped him back to reality.

  “Jack, did you really get the skill acknowledged already? That was the first time you successfully activated it right? How?” An exasperated Turrel said, rubbing his temples.

  “Chill, chill. Yes, I have it listed with my other skills now. I don’t know man, I just thought about how a plant grows, what it needs. Then I thought about what parts mana could substitute? I feel like I kinda did exactly what you were expecting I was going to do after telling that story. It’s not that big of a leap is it?” Jack asked.

  The petrified plant wobbled a little as Turrel shuffled backwards a little. It had grown from the size of a palm bonsai to a terrace pot plant. Glancing around he was happy Turrel had stopped him from using the amount of mana he was initially going to use, the facility was a decent size but the ceiling was not that tall.

  Turrel stammered for a second then took a breath as he collected himself.

  “Well yes, but, Jack. That is not how it works. Understanding is important but any doubt or hesitance is normally enough to cause it to fail. Are you telling me that you were 100% certain that what you were going to do would work? You were that confident in your understanding?” Turrel asked.

  “Well yeah? Look let’s not get too into this really, it’s like you said I had no idea what it was. To me it was a normal plant from my world, it even looked like a bonsai. I knew I needed to get nutrients and other stuff that it needed into the plant. I made a globe because I couldn't see the roots and then just thought about giving the plant everything it needed to grow and boom!” Jack mimed an explosion.

  “It grew and burst the pot and nearly fell over. Not much more to it than that really, Turrel. You pretty much told me how to do it. The fact that I had no idea what it was, meant I had no reason to think that it wouldn't work. I guess if I had thought about giving it water or certain nutrients or carbon, etc., it probably would have failed. I just made it generic because it was too much hassle thinking about the details you know?” Jack shrugged.

  Staring at Jack in silence for a moment Turrel conceded the point by nodding as he started to take notes on the tablet in his hands. Not looking up from the device he asked.

  “Jack, do you think I would have been able to make that plant grow? I only have access to water frequency. How do you think the type of mana would affect the skill?”

  As Jack scratched his head his mind pondered two things: the first was the question that Turrel had asked. That was interesting and he actually had to wonder, it would probably be possible but not as effective. He didn’t know much about the different frequencies yet but as he pondered the question he thought he started to understand something.

  That was related to the second question in his mind, why Turrel had chosen to ask that question now? He knew much more about this than Jack and he seemed shocked with what Jack had managed to do. It seemed like it was shock at how he had done it without understanding. But how could that be related to this question about frequency?

  If he thought about what he did he realised that he never once considered the type of mana as an obstacle. Possibly because as far as he was concerned life and plants were one and the same. When he first was told he had life mana, he immediately thought druid. He had seen Monty do something similar so he knew it was possible.

  But if life mana was life and plants like he assumed, how did he then create nutrients for the plant to grow? Nutrients were minerals right? Wouldn't that be more of a metal or earth frequency? Confused but also excited to test something, Jack reached out and plucked a leaf off the plant as Turrel stared. He scooped up a tiny bit of soil and placed the base of the leaf in the soil.

  Pulling from his vortex once more, less than last time, it was hard to grab such a small amount and he struggled for a moment. Taking a deep breath he moved slowly and managed to get it under control and shaped it into a small ball at the base of the leaf.

  He thought about creating the nutrients that the leaf would need to grow. There was no resonance this time. Nothing he could connect to activate.

  Staring at it and squinting slightly, he thought again to what he thought life mana was. In his mind he pictured plants blooming, trees growing and wounds healing. It was energy, it was growth, and it was substance.

  The mana under the leaf hummed. Feeling the connection snap into place again, he activated [Growth]. The leaf shuddered slightly, Jack felt a tingle on his palm as roots extended down. The leaf twisted and bent as it grew into a small sprout and stretched upwards.

  “Wow… blissful ignorance I guess… Umm to answer your question, Turrel, yes, I think you could probably achieve something similar with your frequency. Well I don’t know if you could but I think I could? When I first thought about what a plant needs to grow, water was one of the three things that I thought of. We also have liquid fertilizer back home so liquid to water isn't that big of a mental jump.”

  Smiling at Turrel Jack placed his little sprout down and stretched his arms as he leaned back. It was strange to experience something like that so distinctly. Such a slight shift in his thought process having such a major difference.

  “I want to argue the point with you about it being a simplistic view, but well it obviously works for you.” Turrel said as he stood.

  If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  “Wait here for a bit, I will be back with some training aids in a moment. I want to capitalise on whatever breakthrough you have just had. Work on your purge while I am gone. Try purging only a tiny amount, about half what you used to make the leaf grow.”

  Nodding, Jack turned his attention inward as he did just that, focusing on trying to split off a tiny amount of mana and purge only that from his system. He fell into a pattern of attempt and fail, adjust and retry. Eventually he managed to succeed after who knows how long. He failed the following attempt, and the one that followed again.

  It took a while but he managed to get that smaller amount to purge twice in a row under his own control, at which point he felt another tingle in the back of his mind. Part of him wanted to wait for Turrel before he checked out what it was, but his missed purge upgrade had scarred him. He didn't have to pick an option yet anyway so it couldn't hurt to check. He tapped the tingle in his mind.

  Mastery of skills has been demonstrated and acknowledged. Skills will be progressed to their next stages.

  [Mana Sense (Internal)] (Tier 0 -> 1) Allows the user to perceive the flow of mana within their own body.

  [Purge] (Tier 1 -> 2) Allows the user to purge mana from their system. The purged mana is gently pushed out of their body and into the environment surrounding them.

  Select Tier 1 Upgrade to [Mana Sense (Internal)]:

  [Sensitivity] - Provides a minor increase to the users ability to sense and manipulate mana. Allows for greater precision when handling minute amounts of mana.

  [Physical] - Provides an average improvement to the users ability to sense and manipulate mana in objects they are in physical contact with.

  [Bulk] - Provides a minor increase to the user's ability to sense and manipulate mana. Enhances the perception and control of high mana concentrations.

  Select Tier 2 Upgrade to [Purge]:

  [Control] - Allows for minor control over the direction and location of purged mana. As mana is purged from the body the user is able to control the location and direction of the expulsion.

  [Force] - Allows for a small portion of the mana that is purged to be converted to a minor physical force as it exits the user's body.

  [Visual] - Allows for a small portion of the mana that is purged to be converted to a minor visual effect.

  Shaking his head he took a moment to let the information settle. He had to admit, he was a little sad there was no special unique option but if he was aiming for Tier 10 he would have more chances. Two skill upgrades at the same time was pretty good as well. Maybe Turrel was pretty good at this teaching thing.

  As if thinking of the man made him appear, he heard the inner door to the training chamber slide open as he glanced at Turrel approaching.

  “Good timing, I just got two upgrade options for purge and mana sense, I haven't picked yet,” Jack said, tilting his head at the handful of assorted objects Turrel was holding. He had a few sticks, plates and what looked like a metal rod.

  Turrel paused mid-step, shook his head and then dumped his pile on the ground next to Jack before taking a seat in front of him again. Letting out a deep sigh he asked Jack to fill him in on the options he was presented with.

  After Jack finished listing them Turrel leaned back and stroked his beard.

  “What were your initial thoughts? If I wasn’t here what would you have chosen?”

  “Hmm. Probably Physical for mana sense. It seems to give the biggest improvement? Average is better than minor? I don’t think having to touch something is that big of a downside?” Jack said as he struck the Thinker pose.

  “Purge though, I have no idea. Control seems like it might be more useful with other upgrades later? Control and Force together might be a cool combination, maybe I could purge fly!” Images of a man in an Iron suit flashed through Jack’s mind.

  “I don’t know about flying, Jack. But yes you will probably see some of these again. Those two would be an interesting combination actually… Not practical for anyone else but could be a nice manoeuvrability option. You are probably right with Control as the safer option for now, however.”

  Not wanting to waste any time, and slightly enjoying the thought of putting Turrel off balance once again, Jack focused on the [Control] option in his mind; he felt the request for confirmation and locked it in. He shivered as a cold pulse rushed through his body and he found himself blinking rapidly.

  “...ana sense goes… Did you just?” Turrel stuttered as Jack's shiver interrupted him. Shaking his head he continued.

  “Ahhh, Jack. Before I lose your attention again: no, I would actually suggest bulk for your mana sense at the moment. Physical sounds good, but as you have seen progress can come faster when you are challenged and overcome difficulties. Making things easier for you in the long run may be a hindrance. With either path you decide to take you will likely be moving large amounts of mana around frequently so better to prepare.”

  Jack nodded, initially confused but he understood the reasoning Turrel presented. Finding no reason to delay, he winked at Turrel and focused on [Bulk]. Once again confirming his choice and shivering as his body adjusted.

  “Done. That was pretty easy. I guess I should eventually test that, but I feel like you have something in mind with all of the props?” Jack nudged the pile and picked up the metal rod. It was about as thick as a finger and about the length of his forearm, it was heavier than he expected.

  Turrel reached out and pulled the rod out of Jack’s hands; he reached down and grabbed a plate which he handed to Jack.

  “Yes, I do have something in mind. Hopefully with it fresh in your mind this might be a quick one. Most skills are simply variations or specialised versions of other more basic ones. Growth is basically a specialisation of Imbue, which would imply that you should be able to succeed with that now.”

  He waved the metal rod around and tapped it on the floor twice, each time a metallic ring sounded out.

  “Imbue as a skill is about taking mana, giving it purpose and applying that to an object. The purpose given here can be much more varied than with Growth. It is still tied to your understanding and knowledge of the frequency that is being imbued.” Turrel tapped the plate Jack was holding with his metal rod; it made a much duller sound.

  “I want you to try to strengthen that plate, I will then hit it with this rod and try to break it. It should be simple and it is something life mana is well suited for.” Sitting back he stared at Jack intently.

  Twirling the plate in his hands as he pieced it together in his mind, Jack flicked the plate. It felt ceramic, if it was wood he would have felt pretty confident in getting this right on the first try. He could pretty clearly link life mana to wood, reinforcing it wouldn't be that big of a deal.

  Leaning back, he was thinking through how to link it together when he realised he was doing this wrong. It wasn’t practical to think about it in terms of the material. He needed to think about the frequency; the material shouldn't matter and he couldn't worry about that every time he wanted to use the skill.

  Keeping it simple, he replayed what he knew. He could cause something to grow; that was using life mana to create something that wasn't there before. He wasn’t great at science but he remembered everything was made up of molecules right?

  If something grew or got bigger, it had to gain more molecules? So if life mana could do that, why couldn't it just stuff more fake mana molecules into the plate? More stuff meant more density and more density meant more strength?

  He already knew what he thought didn’t have to be 100% correct, as long as he was confident and believed it. It honestly made sense to him. Instead of making something bigger in size he was just packing more stuff into the same space.

  It made sense to him, so he decided to take a chance. He pulled from his vortex once more, about the same amount as he did with the plant. As he pulled it through his pathways he thought about the purpose he wanted the mana to have and with little attention to shape, pushed the mana into the plate.

  He held it flat in front of him as he wanted Turrel to strike at it.

  Turrel swung the rod down and as it crashed into the plate with enough force to shatter his bones, a loud brittle clack sounded. The plate vibrated fiercely in Jack's hand but the rod in Turrel’s rebounded without leaving a mark.

  Before Jack had a moment to react, he felt the tingle at the back of his mind again and he broke out into a smile.