The Record of Orc Civilization

Artur stared at the blue bottle in front of him. The unopened lid prevented the astringent smell from spreading throughout the room, but Artur's nose could still pick it up. He even knew the ingredients to make the blue liquid in the bottle.

The rare plant core was finely ground and dried under 80 degrees Fahrenheit before being stirred evenly. Then it was cooled under luminous stone light before the fine powder was singed. After waiting for several days, the white fine powder turned reddish, forming what was called the Red Brush. Then, the red brush was stirred in the mutated animal's stomach liquid until it thickened. Finally, it was squeezed until the blue liquid came out.

This blue liquid was not yet a mana potion but was called mana ink. Mana ink could be used to create circuits of mana flow that connected mana stones. It was also used to make magic scrolls that could make paper from mutated animal skin release stored spells.

However, to turn mana ink into a mana potion, a rare stone called iranium was needed. Iranium could only be found in mana fields over two centuries old, buried 500 meters underground.

The process of using iranium and mana ink to make a mana potion was not complicated. Iranium only needed to be melted into glass, which would then be used as a catalyst for mixing with ash soda and lime.

Mana ink would heat up to 3100 degrees Fahrenheit. At this stage, it would be left alone until the chemical process was completed. After that, it would turn into a mana potion and be ready to drink.

Although Artur knew how to make it, the main ingredients for making a mana potion were especially controlled by the alchemist association with the support of the human alliance. Therefore, the sale of rare plants, mutated animal's stomach liquids, and iranium were prohibited without special permission.

Furthermore, even if he had permission to buy and sell the three ingredients for mixing, Artur needed permission from the alchemists. Without it, even if he had a mana potion, Artur couldn't sell it. If he was caught with an illegal mana potion, he could face a 40-year prison sentence, a fine of hundreds of kilograms of gold, 20 years of servitude, or hanging.

That's why, even though Artur was a student at the Military Academy, he didn't dare to mess around with making mana potions. Besides, alchemists were the most annoying creatures he could meet on this continent. It was better to deal with mountain dwarves than alchemists.

The mana potion in Artur's hand was not his own creation, but rather his monthly allowance of mana potion that he received after becoming a class A military academy student. This was not his first mana potion, as Artur had already consumed more than five mana potions.

However, he had not yet become a mage as the mana flow in his body had not transformed into a constellation. This was not because Artur had a defective mana flow, but rather he had a very good Heaven-grade mana flow.

The reason why he did not become a mage immediately after his first mana potion was to strengthen his mana flow foundation. This was a new knowledge that Artur would never have known if he had not become a class A military academy student.

Artur used to think that he only needed one mana potion to become a mage. However, in reality, mana potion was only used to form a signal receiver for mana.

Just like building a signal receiver tower, a strong foundation would provide a higher capacity for the tower to be built upon. Therefore, military academy students generally use their first mana potion to build their foundation, except for those who have been consuming mana potion since childhood and already have a strong foundation, such as Robert and some other top-class noble children.

Meanwhile, Artur, who came from a dirt-poor commoner family, needed more than one mana potion to build a strong foundation. Therefore, it was only after consuming his fifth mana potion that Artur reached the limit of his foundation building.

Any more than this and the consumed mana potion would be wasted.

That's why Artur was currently staring at his sixth mana potion, deep in thought. This mana potion would make his dream of becoming a mage a reality.

Artur didn't even know what he was feeling right now. Joyful, nervous, proud, or perhaps scared. He only knew that with one small bottle in his hand, his life would be completely transformed.

As an ordinary human being, just like most people in the city of Heles, Artur would be connected to something much bigger than his own life. Something that had always been there but he had never felt before. However, with this one small bottle in his hand, he would always be connected to it.

Thanks to the fundamental magic class taught by Yu Chin, Artur had read hundreds if not thousands of articles and thoughts of mages about the relationship between humans and mana. So he should know what it feels like to be connected to mana.

But...

Knowing doesn't necessarily mean understanding.

Even most of the articles Artur read couldn't describe with certainty what was happening to them when they were connected to mana. Would it hurt? Would their body change? Would they still be human?

Unfortunately, no one knew.

Artur's feelings were mixed.

*knock! *knock! *knock!

"Artur, you still haven't drunk it?" Robert entered Artur's room after knocking three times. The rule they agreed on after Robert entered while Artur was changing.

"hmm"

"What's making you hesitate to drink it?"

"I'm not hesitating... Becoming a mage is what I've always dreamed of."

"Then?"

"..."

"I don't know," Artur sighed deeply.

Robert sat next to Artur without saying anything.

"Robert, what do you feel when you're connected to mana?"

"I feel like I'm connected to mana," Robert answered casually.

"..." Artur didn't even look, just staring at the mana potion in front of him, lost in thought.

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"Okay, enough! How long are you going to stare at that blue bottle? Its color won't change even if your eyes fall out of their sockets," said Robert impatiently.

"I didn't give an indifferent answer and make your friend even more hesitant to drink the blue bottle," replied Artur defensively.

"Fuck! I'm sorry, okay? But I really can't describe what I felt back then... ahh... I just felt like something changed inside my body and the knowledge of how to control mana was embedded in my mind."

"It's not like I didn't know how to use mana before, but the knowledge became very clear and normal to do. It was like knowing how to breathe or how the heart beats. I felt like I was born already knowing how to use mana."

Robert racked his brain to give Artur a clear picture.

"Robert, I asked what you felt when you connected with mana, not what you felt after connecting with it," said Artur sharply.

"Artur, I know you're my good friend and I'm happy about that, but sometimes I want to dunk your head in water and wait for the bubbles to disappear."

"I suspected from the beginning that there was something wrong with your mind, but I never thought you were a cultist, Robert."

"..."

"Artur, you have to become a mage this week too. Don't you remember that we have a mid-semester exam next week and one of the courses is a mantra exam? If you don't become a mage, you won't get any points from the exam."

"I know... I know... Just..."

"Just what?"

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"My sister and I always dreamed of becoming mages. Maybe the real reason I wanted to become a mage was because my sister wanted to become one. When we were kids, we promised to go on adventures together and when we had enough money, we would buy mana potions.

"I remember we used to argue about who would drink the mana potion first and become a mage. My sister always argued that she was born first, so she should be the first to become a mage. While I argued that I was younger, so my older sister should give way to me.

"Our argument always ended up in a fight where my sister always beat me. Hahaha...

"But...

"As we grew older, our relationship started to drift apart. My parents didn't allow my sister to become a mage, so they forbade her from going to school. All the hopes and future of our family eventually fell on my shoulders.

"I was always busy with my studies and could only meet my sister once a week during school holidays. She was always excited to hear my stories about school and magic. I thought she had given up.

"But one day, when I was coming back from school, I saw her swinging her sword by the quiet river. Her clothes were soaked with sweat, and her beautiful silver hair was messy.

"At that moment, I knew my sister hadn't given up on her dream. She used foolish methods that only existed in fairy tales, practicing until her body gave out and hoping the mana flow inside her would become a constellation. She never gave up... Huhuhu...

"I used to be jealous of her tenacity, which made me feel annoyed with her. But now she has disappeared into the Bog forest, and I am a cadet in the military academy, one bottle away from becoming a mage."

Looking at the blue bottle in front of him, Artur smiled wryly.

"..."

"...you really have a sister complex, Artur."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"...yeah, you are right!" Artur drank the mana potion.