Three years have passed. Ever since he discovered that his unique ability was to transform clichés into Mana, Winfred had always tried to search for and find clichés around the Emerdine mansion. He was not yet allowed to explore the outside world, so his activities were quite limited, but he still made the most of the moments he had.
Over the past three years, he has also had several moments where this cliché occurred and increased his Mana capacity. For example, when he accidentally gave the macaroni and cheese recipe to Head Chef Arren, it turned out that the culinary art in this world had not yet fully developed. Winfred asked the Head Chef to keep the recipe a secret for the time being.
Another moment was when he was exploring the mansion. He opened the door to one of the rooms, which turned out to be a maid's room, and accidentally saw the maid changing her clothes. Of course, the maid was startled and screamed, but upon investigation, it turned out to be a misunderstanding. Winfred always visited that room just to play around and assumed it would be empty as usual that day, but it turned out the room was already occupied by the newly hired maid.
Another moment when he saw one of the important guests who stopped by the Emerdine mansion was a Dwarf. Of course, the fantasy world would not be complete without a race like the Dwarves. Yes, those typical Dwarves with their short legs, impressive muscular arms, thick beards, loud voices, and love of drinking.
There are two other things he discovered about this ability: the type of cliché affects the conversion of Mana he receives. There are two types of clichés: major clichés and minor clichés.
As the name suggests, major clichés provide him with a significant amount of Mana, while minor clichés provide only a small amount. He realized this when he tried to manipulate the Mana within his body, much like protagonists in stories who manipulate their magical powers at a young age. Of course, this triggered his unique power, but the heat was slightly more intense and lasted a little longer.
Another example was when he argued with Alcott about the education system in the empire, which was enjoyed more by the nobility. The debate was so intense that it surprised Alcott because Winfred's way of speaking sounded like that of an adult. He then dismissed Alcott's words by saying that he had read many philosophy books in the main library. Shortly thereafter, his unique ability activated and filled his body with Mana, but it was not as intense as before and its duration was short enough that it did not interfere with the rest of the day's lessons.
Another thing is that this unique ability is only active when he encounters a new cliché, which means that his ability will not be active when he encounters a cliché he has already experienced.
He has tried it repeatedly when he met and talked to Head Butler Sebastian while wandering the mansion's corridors and when he accidentally entered his father Victor's study and met him during the day. In both moments, his ability was completely inactive.
"Hmmm...I guess this is enough…"
Winfred sat on his bed in a meditative position. Thanks to his brother Ardyn's help, he managed to discover what Mana felt like and his unique ability, so for the past three years, when no one was around to accompany him, he would practice manipulating Mana within his body.
At first, it was quite difficult because moving Mana within his body, but thanks to his perseverance, the difficulty decreased, and he became a little better at moving his Mana.
"Young Master, excuse me. It's time."
"Oh? Really? Let's go!"
Another thing is that Winfred is now 10 years old, which means he is ready for physical training such as sparring, fighting techniques, and most importantly, how to use Mana. And coincidentally, today is his first day of training.
***
Not far from the Emerdine family's main mansion stood a large brown building. The walls of the building looked weathered, with the paint on some parts faded and covered with moss. The building reminded Winfred of a church from his past life, but without any religious symbols such as crosses or angel statues.
Accompanied by Nina, Winfred craned his neck to look up at the entire building. Walking on the stone path, he felt nervous about his training later that day because when he was Ryan, he rarely participated in physical activities.
"We're here, Young Master. Shall we go in right away?"
"...Yes, Nina. Let's go in right away. Sir Alcott said yesterday that my instructor will be waiting inside."
Nina opened the two large double doors of the building. The doors creaked loudly, indicating that the building was indeed very old. Upon entering the building, Winfred was greeted by a strong scent of natural wood and the echo of their footsteps.
Inside, the ceiling of the building resembled that of a gymnasium, and there were many spectator seats surrounding it, stretching to the far end. The interior design reminded him of the Colosseum, but slightly smaller and still neat and intact, even though the exterior walls were cracking.
"Wow...! It's huge! Look at this, Nina!"
"...That's right, Young Master. This is my first time here."
They were both amazed by the grandeur of the building's interior. Of course, the moment was short-lived because they both knew the main reason they were there. As they walked around and looked around, they finally noticed a man in the middle of the field. The man was wearing brown leather armor on his chest with a long-sleeved white shirt, dark blue pants, and thick gray boots.
The man appeared to be the same age as Victor Emerdine, with short, neatly combed pale gray hair parted in the middle, the same posture and height. However, what set him apart were his eyes, as his right eye was covered by an eye patch and he was holding a spear leaning against his left side. Not far from him stood a large bag lying on the ground.
Ever since Nina and Winfred walked through the entrance, the man never took his eyes off them, making the duo feel awkward because they realized they had been stared at from the start. The man's bright orange eyes stared at them both, and when they got closer, he greeted them.
"Ah. You've arrived. It's a pleasure to meet you, Young Master Winfred, Miss Nina. My name is Wayne McPherson."
Wayne bowed and smiled at them both. Nina and Winfred returned the greeting with the etiquette they had learned in their lessons on nobility etiquette.
"Oh! Sir Wayne? Are you my instructor for basic Mana and combat training?"
"That's right, Young Master. For today and the next few years, I will be your instructor."
"Huh... Hmmm... what about my lessons with Sir Alcott? I think it will be difficult if I have to attend two schedules at the same time..."
"Don't worry. At the request of Victor- ahem, I mean the head of the Emerdine family and with Sir Alcott's approval, your formal lessons will be reduced and some of them will be transferred to this training.
"Eh!? This is the first time I've heard about this!"
"I think Lady Olivyn and my mother know about this, Young Master."
Winfred was genuinely surprised. It was true that his formal education with Alcott had recently been spent exchanging ideas or debating opinions, which meant that from the beginning Alcott and possibly his father Victor had carefully planned the education he would receive. It seemed that the basic knowledge of early formal education that he had been taught would come to an end in the near future.
Winfred and Wayne talked for a while, and he asked his new teacher a few questions, such as what elemental attributes he possessed, what weapons he used, his level of power, and what the outside world was like.
Throughout the conversation, Winfred felt that Wayne's manner of speaking was somehow very stiff, often slipping in words as if this was the first time he had spoken in such a formal and polite manner.
Their brief conversation ended when the building's entrance door opened with a loud creak, and they looked in that direction. From a distance, Winfred and Nina recognized two new people entering, namely their mother.
Helina was wearing her usual maid's uniform, but Olivyn was different. She wore a fresh-looking white frilly dress with a bright mint cape, an elegant cream-colored floppy sun hat, and light brown leather shoes. The two of them approached the three people standing in the middle of the field, especially Olivyn, who came with a smile on her face.
"I don't think I'm too late to see my son's first lesson, am I?"
"Not entirely, Lady Olivyn. Me and Young Master were just chatting for a moment. After this, I will begin the lesson."
"Thank goodness!"
"Uh... Mother? What are you doing here?"
"Of course I'm watching my son practice! This is your first lesson concerning Mana. Don't worry! Do your best and don't think about anything else, okay?"
"If you insist, Mother..."
Nina, Helina, and Olivyn moved slightly away from the center of the field and stood on the sidelines. Wayne then began and explained the basic theory to Winfred.
"Perhaps this has already been mentioned by Alcott- I mean Sir Alcott. Mana is a natural substance that originates from the world we live in today. Mana is everywhere, every living creature has Mana, even plants and insects. However, the content and concentration of Mana in each creature differs, and this also applies to each human being. Mana is also related to a person's rank, the higher a person's rank, the more Mana they have in their body. Then there is the matter of magic and techniques, the more complex and difficult a spell or technique is, the more Mana is required, which means that the two are proportional to each other."
Winfred knew this. Some information in the game and conversations with NPCs in the game also mentioned this. He still clearly remembers several crucial and important parts in the Reaneus Saga series that involved enormous amounts of Mana, leaving behind amazing cutscenes.
"For our first lesson, we will only learn the theory and manipulation of Mana. I assume you have had breakfast today, Young Master?"
"Yes, Sir!"
"Good. Because we will immediately practice manipulating Mana and moving our body around for few hours."
Wayne then held Winfred's shoulders and tried to practice controlling Mana directly.
"I'll try to control my Mana and transfer it to you. You'll feel it later, so please bear with it because it might feel a little hot."
Sure enough, a familiar sensation flowed through his body, the heat starting from his shoulders, then moving to his stomach, legs, chest, up to his head, and back to his shoulders.
"Can you feel it? If so, this time please practice what I did earlier on your own."
Wayne stood in his original position and let Winfred control the Mana within him without the teacher's help. Of course, for Winfred, who had been practicing since early on, it was easy, and he managed to do it without any difficulty.
"Hahh... I'm done, Sir Wayne."
"Really? On the first try? Heh, that's rare. Well then, let's move on to the next step."
Wayne then reached into the bag lying beside him and took out a medium-sized transparent crystal ball. Winfred recognized the sphere from the game, it was a Mana Sphere, similar in shape to the snow globe in his previous world.
"This is the Mana Sphere. As the name suggests, this object serves to train one's ability to control, manipulate, and regulate Mana. Do you see the sand? It's special sand that is rich in Mana, while the iron ball is forged using a special method and engraved with runes that can detect even the smallest amount of Mana. Hold the sphere tightly, then control the Mana throughout your body. Once you have done that, channel the Mana into your hands and imagine that the sphere you are holding is part of your body. Let me show you."
Wayne then held the sphere tightly and it didn't take long for him to channel Mana throughout his body and into his hands. Then something that surprised Winfred happened right before his eyes, where the small iron ball inside the sphere floated and was followed by sand that swayed like ocean waves. The game never explained how the object worked, only mentioning that it was used for practicing Mana manipulation.
"Whoa! The sand sloshing like water!"
"That's how you use this thing. An individual can see how much control they have over their Mana. You said you can manipulate Mana throughout your body, right? Please try what I just did."
"I understand!"
Winfred received the Mana Sphere from Wayne and immediately practiced what his teacher had done earlier. First, he channeled Mana throughout his body, then slowly moved it to his hands. Then he focused on imagining that the sphere was part of his body, and sure enough, the small iron ball and sand began to vibrate.
He then imagined both of them floating. The two objects floated together at the same time, which surprised Wayne and the others there, including his mother and the two maids accompanying him.
"Heh! Interesting... Young Master. Follow my commands to move both objects simultaneously."
"Yes, Sir Wayne!"
"Up."
"..."
"Move to the right, then to the left."
"Huu..."
In between Wayne's commands, Winfred exhaled. He didn't know what Wayne's real goal was, but he knew he had to stay focused. As he moved the sand and iron ball, he thought it felt like holding a tennis ball in water and trying to move as quickly as possible. Although it wasn't too difficult, it still required a great deal of focus.
"That's enough, Young Master. Remarkable, it's been a long time since I've met someone who can control Mana as well as you."
"Really? Is that true?"
"If you don't believe me, you can ask Lady Olivyn."
Wayne saw Olivyn walking toward him and smiled at her. Winfred spontaneously looked in the direction of his mother and saw that Olivyn and the two maids were approaching him. Olivyn stroked Winfred's head and held his cheek.
"Oh my! I never imagined my son was that talented! Wait until your father hears about this, he'll be thrilled!"
"That's true. It's rare for someone your age to be able to control Mana that smoothly. It took my daughter and me a long time and a lot of practice to do that."
"That was amazing, Young Master. As a Mage, I know doing that requires considerable effort."
Winfred was touched by the praise he received. He didn't know that what he had done was rare and remarkable. He thought that attributes and potential were everything, but when he experienced it for himself, it seemed that there was still much he didn't know and that it was different from the game.
"Let's continue doing that a few times. Then we will continue with warm-ups and stretching."
"I understand, Sir Wayne!"
For half of the day, until the sun was directly overhead, Winfred spent his first day of training in the building with Wayne, accompanied by his mother and the two maids.