After waking up as the sun began to rise, I was fed a light breakfast of what seemed to be oatmeal and fruit. Once I was done, I was given light clothes that were easy to move around in, seems everything has been figured out for my training regimen. Once I changed out of my pajamas, Anna led me to the roof of the castle. There was a building on the roof that was around 2 stories high. Anna brought me into the building and what looked like a lecture hall from a college was there. At the bottom of the mountain of desks was Aqua standing on a platform in front of a chalkboard. Next to her were stacks of old looking books. After reaching the bottom of the stairs, Anna proceeded to move to the wall on the right side of Aqua and me.

  / Step. Step. Step./

  Once Anna was in position, Aqua began to speak with an upbeat tone.

  " Welcome John! This is a classroom I had built when My Children were little so I could educate them on different subjects. But now I'll be using this more as a study room for you exclusively!"

  She seemed really happy to be teaching someone. Maybe she's really big into education? She seems to be really into explaining magical concepts to me. Maybe it's a holdover from teaching her children? Either way, I decided to meet her enthusiasm with my own.

  " Thanks for agreeing to teach me Aqua! So, what's first?"

  " For now, I suppose I should explain how Magic works in this World."

  Leaving out the more complicated matters she told me about. There are more or less 2 types of Magic in Gaia. Basic magic, which anyone can learn, examples being Self-Cleaning Magic or Vision Enhancement. Then there is Exclusive Magic. Or, in other words, Magic that is tied to having a Specific Class, like my Holy Heal Spell. After the explanation I asked what was next. Aqua said it was Mana Awakening and Control. She began to explain it to me.

  " Well... Usually, the first step is Meditation to Awaken your Mana, but since we've already done that, we can move onto Mana Control. Which is quite simply, the most important Ability that Magic types should never skip out on practicing! Once you're able to control your Mana Effectively, this will grant nothing but Benefits for Magic Users such as ourselves. From increasing Mana Efficiency when Spellcasting, to the power and speed of your Spells even! As you gain better Control over your Mana, you'll even begin to be able to Temper it through Meditation, making your Mana's Quality and Quantity Increase proportionally! Which will funnel back into your Mana needing more Skillful Control! Along with the use of Magic Spells for the next 3 months, you should be able to match up with that Hero with ease when it comes to Magic!"

  Aqua answered with her index finger on her chin for some reason. Then looking exited as she realized we got to skip a step. She then unloaded a vicious circle on me. I began to speak, trying to see if I grasped her words.

  " So basically, in order to grow as a Magic User, I need to first Control the Mana leaking from my body and then on top of that, I have to Temper it through Mediation in order to increase the potency of my Mana as well as the amount. Which will lead to Spells taking less Mana and time to use? which will feed into me using more Spells, which will also increase both my Quality and Quantity of Mana?"

  " Correct!"

  Aqua nodded and gave me affirmation. After which she explained how to Control Mana in practice.

  " Now then! I've already explained to you the basics of Mana Control after we jolted you! So more or less, it's a more extreme version of that! Continuing on in the explanation I used before, instead of just attempting to stop the flow, you need to learn how to dam the waterfall and circulate the river in your body."

  " How do I go about that?"

  I asked the most important question I could think of in response to her explanation.

  " Simple! Anna is going to help you! Her Abilities are much more suited to supporting you than my own."

  " But didn't you Awaken my Mana before?"

  " Yes, however, before was more of a brute force approach, this is something that requires a more delicate touch. Thankfully, once you feel the sensation in your own body, being able to do it yourself will come naturally. From now on I expect you to keep Control over your Mana as best you can all day! If you fail, I'll be giving out strict punishments!"

  Aqua explained in a serious tone, to which I naturally had a question.

  " What type of punishment? If I can ask?"

  " Simple! if you fail in My Class, I'll join My Husband in the sparring sessions later in the day! As well as that, you will skip the next meal! The punishments handed out in other Classes will be up to the Teacher's discretion!"

  Thankfully, the punishment was more normal than I thought. I then turn to the books on the desk and decided to ask what they were for.

  " So, with that out of the way, what's with all of these books?"

  " Ah! these are Magic Tomes! More specifically, they are Tomes on White Magic Spells and Technical Guides on the Summoner Job Class! After all, what good is having a massive amount of High-Quality Mana if you have nothing to use it on? I'll even be teaching you a few Custom Spells I've created with Warrick! together with all of this, you'll become a monster like us in no time!"

  Thinking about the amount of work I'm undertaking with just my first class of the day, I can only imagine the hell that the following 2 classes are going to be. After taking a breath, I figured it was time to get things started.

  A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

  " So, I guess we need to start with Mana Control, right?."

  " Yup! And for that, you need to sit down on the floor. Anna, come along now."

  After I was told to sit down, Anna moved behind me with gumption in her step. Then Aqua began to warn me of a few things.

  " At first this going to feel very unnatural to you. But in time, it will become 2nd nature! The goal of this entire Technique is to make Mana Control a type of muscle memory for a person. To the point that even while sleeping, your Mana will still be controlled."

  " This is going to be rough mentally, isn't it?"

  " Yes, but you'll get the hang of it! After all you're the man Sarah Chose!"

  Thinking of a certain pair of purple eyes, I quickly blink to try and focus on the task at hand.

  " Anna. Whenever you're ready."

  " I'll begin in a moment, Master."

  * Press.*

  I ask Anna to begin. She placed her hands on my back for some reason... They were warm... Then I felt something else.

  * Warm... Swish...*

  I think it's Anna's Mana, she began to instill her Mana into me. At first, I don't feel anything besides her Mana moving around in me, but it feels like that warm sensation was traveling though my body with ease. While I was getting used to that, Anna began to speak to me.

  " I'm going to start Controlling your Mana now. Are you ready, Master?"

  " Yes."

  * HEAVY!*

  After my confirmation, the warm sensation changed. It felt like it became lead and it filled my limbs. Then it spread all over my body, I felt 200 pounds heavier! I spoke through a strained breath as I tried to bear what was happening.

  " I have to keep this up everyday?"

  " Yup!"

  " Yes, Master!"

  The 2 women both answer my question with enthusiasm. After the feeling settled... No, after I realized that this was how life was going to be, Anna moved away from me and Aqua instructed me to keep the Technique going. After about 30 minutes of constant instruction, I finally figured the method out, to which Aqua then asked me to do some basic tasks like walking while keeping Control. After another 30 minutes I was sweating like I was in a heat wave in the Sahara Desert. After continuing to hold it even after running back and forth from wall to wall, Aqua said it was time to move on but reminded me to keep the control going.

  " Now that you can do basic physical movements, we will move on to studying the Tomes for the next hour."

  " Really, I have to do it like this?"

  " Yes, and if you lose Control, no lunch for you!"

  " Isn't that a bit much, Aqua?"

  " That's Mrs. Aqua While studying!"

  Fighting back tears of bitterness I apologized, then made a promise to myself to pay her back at some point for this. After that, with great difficulty I read about 50 pages each of White Magic and Summoner texts, but with no results for the Spells. Apparently, I will only practice Spellcasting after I grow more accustomed to my Control Technique. For now, it's just trying to mentally and physically get used to it...

  " !"

  Dear God... I have to do Swordsmanship Classes after this! Damn... I don't think I'm going to be eating dinner tonight. I felt the depression begin to sweep over me as Aqua began to speak to me.

  " Now that we finished our reading for the day, we will move on to the next part of the Class! Learning to Temper your Mana!"

  " Wait! Don't I need to get the hang of this first?..."

  * Stare!*

  " Mrs. Aqua!"

  Noticing a stern stare, I quickly addressed my teacher from hell. She accepted my added-on address. Then began to speak.

  " Until you are capable of Control with little to no effort, Anna will be helping you to learn this part. What's important for this exercise is to remember the Technique to Temper your Mana. Afterwards I want you to spend 30 minutes every day from now on Tempering your Mana through the Technique!"

  " Understood! Mrs. Aqua!

  Assuming the same position as last time, Anna came along again behind me. Aqua explained that Anna would show me how to Temper my Mana and then she would handle my Control as I attempt to Temper it myself.

  " Master. I'm ready when you are!"

  " Ok. I'm ready, Anna."

  * Warm! Soothing!*

  Once again, Anna began to gradually move her Mana into me. The sensation stayed in the middle of my torso this time. It was equal parts warm and soothing this time. After a second, the Mana began to spin in place and then drew my Mana into the spin and began to compress it into the spinning sensation. Once the Mana had fully compressed and combined into something that felt as small as a grain of sand, the process was repeated 3 times with more of my Mana until there was a small amount of Mana left from being compressed, about the size of a head of a needle, then the spinning sensation stopped and the small amount of Mana left was recirculated into my Mana Pathways. Once it was all done, I felt Anna bring her hands from my back and I think I got it...

  " So, you focus your Mana on a point, begin to spin it, then add more Mana to join it. By compressing the Mana into the spin, it takes away the impurities of itself and the mana you add, then you stop the spin and readd what's left to your Mana Pathways. thus, increasing the Quality of Mana by a small amount? But if that's the case, how does this increase the Quantity of Mana a person possesses?"

  I explained it what I thought was correct and then I had a question pop up in my mind mid-explanation. I looked at Aqua and quickly asked it to her.

  " At the same time you spin and compress your mana, it also forms cracks and splits your Mana Center. Oh! That's right! We never explained the Mana Center to you! My apologies! The Mana Center is what it sounds like, it's the vessel in the body that Creates and Stores Mana, which then goes out from the Mana Center and into your Mana Pathways! The Mana Jolt you received went through your arms and entered your chest remember? After that I spread the jolt throughout your body. That's because the Mana Centers' opening is in the chest, after cracking the opening, it's about opening the secondary Pathways to allow the Mana to flow all throughout your body."

  Aqua schooled me on a piece of information I never received. After finishing the explanation, she remembered her train of thought and began to continue the explanation.

  " Anyways! When the Mana Center is cracked and split from internal pressure, the Mana Center "Stretches" as it were. Like a well-developed dough! It then heals while stretched! This creates more room for it to create more Mana."

  " Hmm... I see. And I have to do this every day while controlling my Mana as well, life as a Mage can be quite stressful in the beginning."

  " Yes, but as you said, you like to earn everything from honest work, so this should suit you fine!"

  " Yes, that is true. However, I will complain every now and then about something as stressful as this."

  " That is fine, in fact I know of a certain Princess that will love to complain about how hard these 3 months will be with you! You have a lunch appointment with her today after all! Oh! And you're allowed to eat!"

  Aqua smiled as she said that. But I gave a wry smile and told her I wanted to try Compressing my Mana now. After 30 minutes of trial and error, I was able to spin and compress my Mana once. As I was drenched in sweat again, I realized how Skilled Anna was. Aqua said that her class was done for the day and for Anna to take me to Crest. She then reminded me to Control my Mana all day and to Temper my Mana for 30 minutes before bed. She said all of this with a guiltless smile on her face... She's really a spartan! One day... I don't know how or when, but I will get her back for this! I swear it here and now!