The sounds of the various Reflections grew even louder now that Rain had entered the training hall. In the distance, he could see a trainee controlling a whistling dagger cutting through the air, while another created glowing sigils on the floor, and as a training dummy appeared on top of it, it started flowing in the air, reversing gravity. While the Selection and the Mirror were a curse on the world, he couldn’t help but be awed by the sight of it and had to admit, the Reflections were indeed astonishing.

  Looking to the side, he saw Officer Trant waiting together with Lance, who walked ahead.

  “Alright, seems like everyone is here. I hope what happened in the locker room stays there, Lance?”

  “Ah…Yes, I’m sorry.”

  ‘He already knows about it…I wonder how much surveillance they have.’

  “We don’t want any incidents like these around campus. While I understand he provoked you first, try to keep it civil. I’ll speak to Group C2’s Officer about his behaviour.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Good. Now, let’s begin.”

  Taking a few steps back, Officer Trant turned to face the trio.

  “Our main goal here is to increase your control over your Reflection. As you’ve probably noticed yourself, while all your Reflections are very useful in terms of your survival, you can’t use them indefinitely. That is what we are here to improve, and if you learn new ways to use your sorcery…Well, that’s just extra.”

  “Start by feeling the threads of mana around you, with this many others using their Reflections, our training hall becomes a pool of mana, so before activating yours, try sensing theirs.”

  Rain closed his eyes and focused on the energy around him, sensing mana here wasn’t very difficult with this many Blessed around, but pinpointing the different mana threads to their owner was a different challenge. Rain was surprised by how easily he could tell the different mana sources. While he, for now, didn’t know their origin, he could clearly tell them apart.

  Each mana thread felt different; he could lightly feel a cold aura close to him, which was most likely Lance. Further away, the whistling dagger felt like a slight spring wind. At the same time, the sigils gave him a bit of vertigo. It was as if he was grabbing the moving threads, following them throughout the space before they dissipated into nothing. Opening his eyes and readjusting to the bright lights of the training hall, he could still see the faint outline of the numerous threads around him.

  “Good, Rain. How far did you sense?”

  Burrowing his eyebrows in thought, Rain responded:

  “Uh, not very far, I could sense the different threads, and the way they felt…But I couldn’t reach the origin.”

  The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

  Officer Trant seemed surprised by his answer, noting it down on his tablet.

  “Alright, seems like your mana senses are better than most. Normally, trainees take a day or two to sense the difference between threads. This is good, it means that you might be able to control your Reflection faster than others.”

  “Oh…That’s…good.”

  ‘That’s the first bit of good news since I got here.’

  Rain looked to both sides and saw Lance and Yuol with their eyes still closed, in a deep focus.

  “Since you’re a bit faster, let’s try something else, summon a flame for me.”

  Taking a deep breath, his anxiety began to curl up, and the paranoia of another vision began to crawl in his mind. That helplessness he felt in the strange abyss was not a feeling he was missing.

  ‘Come on, don’t screw me.’

  Focusing within him, he sensed his own mana, and a slight warmth came over him. Pulling on the thread, a whirl of mana surged from his hand, creating a flickering flame. His mind slowly calmed down, as his consciousness did not fade, and his body relaxed. This was the first time he had properly created his flame, and he felt overwhelmed. Sensing mana was different than manipulating it. One was watching someone shape clay into a vase, while the other was doing it yourself.

  Straining himself, Rain found it difficult to control the flame whilst also taking in the rest of the physical environment, as well as the numerous other mana threads around him. Pushing through, he thought back to his first vision. The way the mana flowed through him, the rising inferno inside of him. It felt similar, just less explosive. Through his prior traumatic experience, he found himself regaining control for a minute longer before the mental strain became too much and the flame fizzled out.

  “Arghh.”

  Holding his temples, his mind felt like it could explode any second, as an extremely potent migraine washed over him.

  ‘Shit, it’s more painful than I thought. But I think I did pretty well for my first try.’

  “Very good, sit down for a second. Have something to drink. You held your Reflection for exactly three minutes and twenty-four seconds.”

  Groaning, Rain struggled to stand up straight, but he forced himself to keep up appearances.

  “I’m alright…Just need a little break.”

  He noticed small droplets of blood dripping down from his nose onto the cold floor.

  “Was that…Good?”

  Rain felt like a little kid hoping for affirmation from his parents; even so, he wanted to know. The faster his Reflection grew, the more he could focus on his spearmanship. One month was a short time to learn a weapon, but he was confident he could at least grasp the basics to help him fend off some Shards.

  “Honestly, I’m surprised. It’s hard to measure the different Reflections, but your control of yours was good for the start. You even managed to regain some of it after nearly letting it die.”

  Rain was quite happy to hear that; he felt like he did a good job, but receiving praise from an Officer like Trant made it all the better.

  While taking a short break, he observed how Lance and Yuol were controlling their Reflections. A thin layer of frost swirled the air around Lance, followed by a terrifying wraith.

  ‘Just looking at it sends shivers down my spine.’

  Yuol, at this point, had already turned himself into a massive bear. Standing at almost two meters on four legs, he was truly gigantic. His goal was to maintain this form for as long as he could, whilst also moving. While Lance tried to reduce the output of his Reflection first, so as not to suffer bleeding like in his exam.

  ‘Everyone is trying their own way. Guess I can’t slack off either. Let’s try the next step.’