Cipher slowly opened his eyes.
"Where am I?" he wondered, looking around.
He seemed to be in some sort of hut. He remembered the battle from earlier - he wondered if the Heavenly Demon had brought him here after she returned.
He got up from his sleeping position and walked out of the hut.
It seemed he'd been out for a while, he thought, noticing the rising sun.
He then noticed the Heavenly Demon sitting on a huge rock in a lotus posture. He decided not to disturb her and sat down.
He summoned his system to observe his progress.
[Name: Cipher]
[Level: 16 (12,000/16,000)]
[Species: Human]
[Class: Cheater]
[Health: 1400/1400]
[Mana: 170/170]
[Strength: 14]
[Stamina: 14]
[Agility: 14]
[Intelligence: 17]
[Stat Points: 4]
[Cheat Points: 140]
[Skills (3/6): Aura (D), Assassinate (E), Mana Recovery (E)]
[Cheats: Cheat Shop (Max Level), Absolute Appraisal (Max Level)]
He looked at his stat points. His True Rank was D now. That wouldn't be good for leveling up.
He distributed the points - two to Agility and two to Intelligence.
Now his Intelligence was at the E-rank limit. He decided not to increase it anymore as his rank would change to D-rank if he did. He would focus on the other stats alone for a while.
He looked at the Cheat Points. He had enough to buy a card.
He decided to see if there was anything interesting. He opened the Cheat Shop.
There were two cards - Mirror and Rework.
Mirror Card (Mod Card): Applies "Inverted" edition - does the opposite of its intended function (ex: healing does damage instead)
Rework Card (Mod Card): Applies "Mutated" edition - changes in unpredictable ways
None of these were particularly interesting to him. He decided to hold his points for now.
As he was about to close the screen, he noticed something else he'd almost missed - a Voucher section. It held an item called "Skill Merchant." He read the description.
It increased the rate of skills spawning in the card section by twenty-five percent.
It was definitely a great voucher, but he couldn't afford it. It was worth a whole thousand points.
Well, it didn't seem to be resetting as he leveled up like the other cards, so maybe he'd buy it later when he could afford it.
As he closed the system screen, the Heavenly Demon appeared before him.
"You're awake. Good. Let's get started right away."
…
"Usually, one would start with learning the basics before they can truly begin learning a technique. But since we don't have a lot of time, I'm going to drill everything into you rapidly while still teaching the basics."
She gestured toward his sword. "Yesterday, I taught you how to hold a sword and had you fight with it to get used to it. Now I will teach you how to control your qi."
"Qi?" he asked.
"That's right. Think of it like energy. It's the same thing you were using when using your Aura skill," she said. "I can feel your energy - about entry-stage martial artist level. You have all this energy, yet you can't use it unless it's through a skill. You need to overcome this limitation."
"Can't I use it through the Aura skill? I can enhance my weapon, and even myself," he explained.
"Try using your Aura," she asked.
He activated Aura, covering his hand with the condensed mana layer.
She watched, nodding to herself.
After it ran out, she told him to use it again, but this time to cover his entire body with Aura.
He summoned his energy. He tried to spread it through his body, but it only reached his chest before stopping.
"It's just as I thought," the Heavenly Demon said.
She explained that the Aura technique was always the same every time he used it - it only took a certain amount of mana, a fixed cost. "It's like a low-level talisman that uses a certain amount of qi from the user. Although good for beginners, it's also a restriction because you aren't using the limit of your mana."
She continued, "What I want to teach you is how to use your own mana however you want. Sometimes, you might need just a little extra mana and won't be able to do it because of the restriction. We need to solve this."
Cipher nodded. This was quite reasonable.
Seeing as his normal Aura could cover almost half his body, didn't this mean he was wasting all that energy while covering just his sword? If he could release only the amount of energy needed to cover his sword and nothing more - although he wouldn't get to enjoy the crit damage effect - this would definitely be much cheaper and more effective when he was running low on mana.
"How do I start?" he asked.
…
The Heavenly Demon began her explanation. "Shut down all your external senses and focus inward. Follow all the sensations you feel through your body up to their source."
Cipher followed her instructions, closing his eyes and concentrating.
"Using your skills can also help you sense where they're getting their power from," she added.
After that, she went silent and let him concentrate.
Cipher activated Aura and began moving it from one point of his body to another, trying to feel where the mana was coming from.
As he moved it around, he realized something. The way the system worked was not through a stream of mana - it was more like a scoop. When the skill was activated, it scooped up the mana needed. Meaning only at the moment it was activated could he feel the mana.
He deactivated Aura and tried to activate it again, but he wasn't able to catch the feeling in time.
He was now out of mana.
He continued meditating, waiting for his mana to recover.
Time passed slowly. About ten minutes later, he felt his reserves fill enough to use another charge.
He activated Aura, focusing intently on that initial moment…
Nothing. He missed it.
He waited again. Another ten minutes of meditation.
This time, when he activated it, he paid closer attention to the instant the skill sparked to life…
Still nothing. Too slow.
He waited. Ten more minutes.
Again. Focus on the source, the origin point…
He almost had it. Almost.
Ten minutes. Again…
Closer. He could feel something, but it slipped away.
Another ten minutes.
He activated Aura, and this time - there. In his lower abdomen. He felt it.
His eyes snapped open.
[Congratulations! You have awakened a skill]
[Skill: Mana Manipulation (A-Rank)]
[Type: Passive]
[Cost: 0 Mana]
[Description: You have gained complete control over your mana. You can manipulate mana seamlessly throughout your body and adjust mana-related skills, limiting or increasing the mana they consume. Limiting the amount of mana a skill uses could lead to a lesser effect and increasing it could lead to a greater effect.]