All living beings possess mana, but:
Before cultivation, it is dispersed and chaotic.
It can only be used in a crude and inefficient way.
The objective of the system César devised is:
To Gather.
To Order.
To Solidify.
To Specialize.
To Perfect.
Advancement depends solely on:
Physical endurance, talent, resources, and—last but not least—discipline.
Before opening the mana veins, one must first gather the dispersed mana within the body.
The cultivator gathers scattered mana toward the Arcane Center.
Universal location: the chest region.
Methods:
Natural absorption (slow).
Mana-rich plants.
Beast meat.
Result:
The formation of a Gaseous Mana Sphere.
Once achieved, one enters the rank César named:
First Level of Novice Mage.
Only then can the true process of opening the mana veins begin.
There are 16 Primary Mana Channels.
They connect the body to the Arcane Center.
Opening them:
Is painful.
Consumes mana.
There is also the possibility of failure:
Damaged channels.
Permanent blockage.
In extreme cases—death.
Once the first two mana realms were spread among the tribe, life began to change.
Aside from eating, hunting, and building, the goblins no longer spent their days merely reproducing. Instead, they sat for hours with closed eyes, meditating in silence, striving to gather mana and quickly pass the first realm so they could begin opening their veins.
Many advanced through the first realm rapidly.
But the next step was where they stagnated.
Most achieved nothing—not even half of a single channel.
Others, through excessive effort, ruptured their veins during the process. They collapsed into convulsions, feverish, their screams etched into memory.
César watched without intervening.
'This world is not fair,' he thought. 'Not everyone is born with the capacity to advance in mana.'
By the third dawn, those who had failed to open even a single mana vein began gathering separately, far from the warm wooden houses. Gradually, they returned to the dark caves where they had always lived.
Yet that brief time above the mana vein had been enough to make their return bitter.
The failed goblins felt lost.
Their future seemed shapeless and dark.
But among them were those who refused to surrender.
One stepped forward.
"If we can't use mana," he said, his voice hoarse yet resolute, "what else can we do to advance?"
César looked down from a makeshift wooden platform.
He observed the goblin who had dared to ask and smiled inwardly.
'Those who refuse to give up are the most valuable.'
"There is another path," César replied calmly.
He pointed toward the clearing north of the settlement—a stretch of trampled, barren earth.
"That is where the army will train."
A murmur spread.
"Those who choose to join the army will not require mana," César continued. "The path you will walk is the path of Aura. But understand this now—it is slower, more painful, and far bloodier."
He paused deliberately.
"You will not receive the same privileges as those who cultivate mana."
His words were sharp and intentional.
"But do not be discouraged. You will still receive many benefits. Take this opportunity. Aura allows the ascension of those who were not born to be magi."
Silence thickened.
Then, one by one, the goblins nodded.
César was not lying.
In this world, Aura was considered the path of commoners. Unlike mana, it did not extend life. Its destructive power was inferior, and its rank always fell below that of a mage at the same level. In the distant future, the creation of the Ether Core would render Aura nearly obsolete, allowing some to cultivate both magic and aura simultaneously.
Much later, one of the villain protagonist's heroines—lacking mana talent—would walk the path of Aura with mc guidance, becoming one of the furthest to ever advance upon it.
That very afternoon, training began.
There were no refined techniques.
Only strikes. Endurance. Repetition.
Run until collapse.
Lift stones until arms trembled.
Clash bodies until balance was learned through pain.
César watched from afar.
And then he saw him.
Gobol stepped away from the mana aspirants—those who had partially opened their veins—and walked toward the army clearing.
"What are you doing?" César asked sharply, climbing down from the platform.
Gobol stopped in front of him.
"I can open my veins," he said. "Not as many as you. But they're there."
César frowned. "Then stay. Meditate. Open the remaining ones. The faster you advance, the higher your rank."
Gobol clenched his fists.
"I want Aura too."
César narrowed his eyes.
"I haven't even explained what Aura is. Why do you want to learn it?"
"I don't know what it is. But you said it has to do with the body."
He flexed his powerful arms. He had begun the same training regimen as César—push-ups, squats, endurance drills—and now surpassed him in raw muscle. Where César was defined, Gobol was mass.
"You would abandon mana?"
"No."
César sighed at his brother's stubborn gaze.
He could have used his influence to force him back.
But he didn't.
Part of him wanted to see it.
"The dual path is not easy. It breaks bodies. You could lose both."
"I understand."
"Cultivating Aura will not make you superior to mana refiners."
César spoke truthfully. Only by uniting both cores and creating Ether could that limitation be overcome—a possibility that still belonged to the future, something even he was not certain he could achieve.
Gobol lifted his chin.
"But it will make me harder to kill."
For a moment, César said nothing.
Though he did not want to admit it, for the first time since his reincarnation, he did not feel completely alone.
Without telling anyone, he too intended to walk that path—despite knowing its dangers.
Still, he offered one final warning.
"If you fail, you may lose the ability to use mana entirely."
Gobol grinned, baring his fangs.
"I will never give up. I've decided."
That night, the clearing echoed with shouts, impacts, and ragged breathing. The future soldiers trained under the moon, pushing their bodies to the limit, seeking that desperate instant when Aura would awaken.
César watched from atop the mana vein.
'The mana users will be the pillar.'
'The Aura users will defend.'
That would be the structure.
But as he watched Gobol train to exhaustion, his own determination deepened.
He would give everything as well.
He would walk that path.
The path of Ether.