The Beginning After The End (Early Years Book 1) (2 page)

I was a King.  I could have my
country’s army assemble at my front feet kneeling down with a snap of a finger.
 I’ve outdueled my competitors from different countries as well as my own
to settle disputes and maintain my position.  In terms of swordsmanship
and controlling Ki, I was second to none, for having personal strength was
essential to becoming a ruler in my past world on Earth.  Kings weren’t
born but were raised.  Yet, I can’t think of a prouder moment than now.

I can crawl baby!

‘Till now, I had to make do with
the stories mother would tell me while trying to make me fall asleep.  I
grumbled out noises of complaints when she stopped too soon.  My father
would sometimes sit me on his lap while idly talking to me about his old days,
which gave me some hints as to what kind of world this was and what it was
filled with.

Reynolds Leywin, former adventurer,
(apparently that’s an occupation in this world) had quite a lot of experience
in this field.  He was in several parties that went on expeditions to
search for treasure and fulfill missions they acquired from the Adventurer
Guild.  He eventually settled down when he met my mother on the borders of
the Kingdom in a city called Valden.  He proudly told me how my mother was
head over heels for him at first sight when he visited the town’s Adventurer
Guild hall she worked at, but I suspect it was the opposite from how my mother
slapped him across the back of the head and told him to stop telling Art lies.

My name is Arthur Leywin now, by
the way.  Art for short, which, as a former King, sounds a little too
cute, but hey, after getting a glimpse of myself in the metal sheet they use as
a mirror in the washroom, I looked freaking adorable.  I got my mother’s
glowing auburn hair while my eyes are a bright azure color, inherited from my
father.  I don’t know how my facial features are going to turn out as I
mature but as long as I don’t turn out fat, it’ll be okay.

Watch out future ladies! Prepare to
be heartbroken!

Weeks of attempting to crawl, yet
only succeeding in barely scuffling in place, I succeeded in crawling, managing
to sneak into the family’s library/study room while my mother was hanging the
laundry out to dry.  Mother rued the day I started to become mobile,
sighing, “I swear, you’re going to become as hard to manage as your father.”

______________________________________________

I closed the encyclopedia down and
situated myself more comfortably on the ground, which meant I just
laid
back on my tummy because crawling and sitting upright
is damn tiring.

Pondering what I just read, this
world seemed pretty underdeveloped.  From what I can infer, there doesn’t
seem to be much technology.  The only source of transportation seems to be
horse driven carriages, varying in size for land, and ships with sails for
rivers.

Weapons were freely allowed and not
really regulated unless you were visiting the royal family or people of that
much authority. For God’s sake, it continues to baffle me every time I see
people carrying weapons while shopping for groceries.

Sure, in my previous world, Earth,
there were soldiers and guards who carried concealed weapons, but they weren’t
for the purpose of killing but to deter crimes from happening.

But here, I witnessed a thief who
stole a couple of items from the armory store the other day get chopped in half
across the waist by a large, bald mercenary carrying a polearm.  Seeing
that, the citizens even went as far as to applaud that oversized monk!

A similarity that both this world
and my previous world shared is the system of monarchy.  This continent of
Dicathen has Kingdoms where each Kingdom consists of King and royal family that
rules.  Unlike Earth though, the King is chosen based on lineage, going
from the son of the King, to his son and so on.

After scanning through the
encyclopedia, there doesn’t seem to be much information on other continents
besides the one we’re currently in.  That’s strange, there are ships that
carry goods and passengers across the continent through rivers, but maybe the
technology on ships haven’t been developed enough to sail across oceans.

One thing that was going to be hard
getting used to is the whole premise of magic in this world.  If we’re
talking about superhuman powers, sure, the countries on Earth relied on people
with them.

On Earth, practitioners learned how
to condense and utilize the innate ki that they had in their body.  Think
of it as a muscle if you will.  Breaking the ki center down through
overuse and resting it caused the ki center to become stronger, allowing for a
bigger pool of ki to access from.  Then the ki is channeled through the
body at will and utilized for strengthening of the body.

In this world, instead of ki, it
seems to be called mana and the more surprising thing is that it exists in the
atmosphere of this world.  Thus, Practitioners, or Mages, would use the
surrounding mana and draw it into their body and condense it in their mana
core.  In my old world, Earth, ki only existed and was formed inside the
body.  Whether ki never existed on Earth in the first place or ceased to
exist because of the pollution caused by humans, we didn’t know.

On Earth, while practice was
incredibly important, your innate ki center size was extremely important
because of the limited amount of ki you have in your body is all that you can
work with, does that mean one’s innate mana core size doesn’t matter as much
because of the available mana in the atmosphere?

The bigger the cup, the more you
can hold right?

While in my old world, even though
my ki center wasn’t that large, I was considered a prodigy at channeling and
utilizing my ki effectively to make up for my not so big ki center.  With
the way I utilized every bit of my ki, I was able to become the strongest of
the elite division of Duelists, earning the right to become King.

Now, if I can still practice the
ways ki practitioners use their ki, but do it with mana that is both innate
inside the mana core and in the surrounding atmosphere, can’t I essentially
double? No triple the strength that I had before?

The book that I next managed to
pull from the bottom shelf, explained a couple of questions for me.

“Beginner’s Guide for the Privileged Mages”

“While the power to control mana is
largely genetic, there are many cases where children of Magi come out as unable
to sense the mana around them.  A recent census shows that roughly 1 in a
100 children are able to sense mana but can only be tested to show the extent
when the mana core first completely develops, which can be anywhere from early
adolescence to late teen years.  It is apparent when Magi first awaken by
the initial repellence of the surrounding mana around them when the mana core
first forms.  This results in a translucent barrier formed around the
awakened that lasts a couple of minutes.”

Flipping through the pages, I find
something that catches my attention.

“…Mana can be used in a couple of
ways.  The two most common methods of utilizing mana comes through
enhancing of the body through mana use (Augmenter), and emission of mana to the
outside world (Conjurer)…”

“…. Augmenters are most commonly
seen among warriors, utilizing mana and channeling it around their body to
strengthen their body and attacks.”

“… The practice of Conjuring is
seen in Mages, who, after utilizing their mana, can cast spells to give it a
certain effect on the surrounding area or directly on the target.”

Weaknesses and Limitation

“While Augmenters can possess
incredible strength, defense and agility, their weakness lies in their limited
range…”

“Conjurers possess unfathomable
powers, being able to bend their surroundings at will.  However, such
powers come with limits.  Unlike Enhancers who utilize most of the mana
used from their own mana core, Conjurers need to borrow mana from the outside
world in addition to their own mana core to exert mana into the surrounding in
a form of a spell.”

“While both types of Mages, or Mana
Manipulators for the more scientifically accurate term, depend on and is
categorized by their mana core, Augmenters and Conjurers also have different
ways of measuring their aptitude.”

“
flip
”

“An Augmenter’s prowess or talent
is measured by the power of mana channels in their body, which measures the
speed and efficiency in exerting their mana from their mana core into various
parts of the body...”

“…A Conjurer’s power and talent,
comparatively, is measured by the power of their mana veins, which indicates
the speed and effectiveness of absorbing mana from the outside world
to cast a spell.”

“
flip
”

“…Mages (Mana Manipulators) are
typically categorized into one of these two divisions since attempting to be
proficient in both is incredibly time consuming and inefficient.  Most are
born with a skewed difference in their mana channels and mana veins…”

“…Augmenters do not need very
strong mana veins because they mostly utilize the mana from their core, while
Conjurers do not need very powerful mana channels because they do not spread
their mana into their own body.”

Hmm… So my idiot father seems to be
a competent Augmenter and a less than average Conjurer.

That healing light though… What was
my mother?

“
flip
,
flip, flip”

AHA!

“There are a few, rare deviants.
 While there are still some undiscovered, ones that are highly sought
after are the Emitters, more commonly known as healers.  Healers possess
the rare ability to cast their unique restorative mana unto others, directly,
recovering injuries and impairments.”

Wow… mother is the best.

Fundamentals of Conjuring

“The proper steps for utilizing the
mana for Conjurers is to gather the surrounding mana in the area, drawing it
into your body, then, after circulating it into your mana core to stabilize and
purify the atmosphere’s diluted mana, you channel it into an appropriate
conductor (a staff, wand, ring, of some sort) with the incantations as a mental
controller for your will into shaping the mana to whatever spell you want…”

“
flip
”

“…The more powerful the spell, the
longer it takes to draw in from the surrounding mana, store it in your mana
core where it condenses and purifies it, and finally channel and release…”

“
flip
”

“Because Conjuring involves
exerting focused mana into a particular spell, Conjurers will notice that they
have a special aptitude of certain elements (Air, Water, Fire, Earth).
 But with proper training, can become adequate in the basics of all
elements.

“
flip
, flip”

Fundamentals of Augmenting

“Unlike Conjuring, much less time
can be spent gathering the surrounding mana.  Efficient use of Augmenting
requires speed and precision in the use of the mana from your core and less
from the mana in the atmosphere
..
”

This is where it clicked….
Augmenting was very close to using your ki except you can also draw mana in
from your surroundings.  The reason why there weren’t any kinds of
conjurers in my old world of Earth was because there was no mana in the
atmosphere to draw in and create a phenomenon.

My gaze tensed as I read on.

“…Augmenting requires proper
distribution of mana into different parts of the body depending on how the user
sees fit.  While it seems simple at first glance, Augmenting requires much
insight into the individual’s own body.  Being able to utilize the mana
channels efficiently requires years of both mental and physical practice.”

“
flip
”

“Because Augmenting involves
extracting the user’s mana core, the purest form of mana, there are no highly
notable distinctions in an elemental sense.  However, Augmenters are able
to control their mana more freely, resulting in vastly different forms of
fighting through Augmentation.”

“
flip
”

“The phenomenon called ‘Backlash’
occurs in both types of practitioners.  For Augmenters, it occurs from
depletion of the mana core, causing extreme bodily pains depending on how
strenuous the damage to the mana core is. For Conjurers, backlash occurs from
overfilling of the mana core.  This is caused by overuse of spells beyond
the practitioner’s capacity or using a spell too powerful for his or her mana
core to handle.”

Closing the book, I propped myself
up to my butt, digesting the overload of information that I just read.