I sat cross-legged near the back wall with everyone either setting up camp for lunch or learning their skill books. The skill book Meditation resting lightly in my palms, the cover was unassuming. It has a soft brown leather covering with no title engraved on the front. It looked more like a journal than an artifact that would grant powers. But when I held it, I could feel something pulsing beneath the surface, like it wanted to be opened. It was watching me, waiting for me to know all its secrets.
"Let's see what makes you so special," I murmured, activating Analysis.
[Item: Meditation (Skill Book)]
Rarity: Common
Description: Unlocks the basic skill [Meditation].
Effect: Allows the user to enter a calm, focused state to regenerate mana over time and heighten internal awareness. Required to unlock mana sensitivity and use mana-based skills. One-time use. Disappears upon activation.]
With a steady breath, I opened the book and placed my hand against the center of the first page. The paper pulsed warmly beneath my palm like a hand warmer. So, how do I use this? I don't see any words, so do I think about learning it?
Before I had any other thoughts, the book dissolved into a flare of soft white particles, like ash caught in a slow-motion breeze, scattering upward and vanishing in the air. I watched it fade in amazement, feeling a strange weightless sensation bloom behind my eyes. Then boom, it hits me.
Not pain, not pressure, but a rush. Like a tidal wave of information flooding through my mind, not in words, but instinct. It wasn't much different from how I'd learned to meditate during training, where the focus was on discipline, breath control, and maintaining mental clarity under pressure. But this... this was deeper. More primal. The difference was like learning to swim in a pool versus being dropped into the ocean and suddenly knowing how to float.
This method was about alignment and attunement. I suddenly knew how to center my breathing, not just to calm my body, but to sync with the energy around me. I understood the rhythm of drawing in awareness, not forcing it, but welcoming it like water through a gate. My spine straightened on its own, my lungs slowed, and my heartbeat dulled in my ears. A subtle warmth filled my chest, and I felt the barest ripple in the air around me, a hint of something waiting just beyond reach.
The noise of the mall faded, replaced by something else entirely.
I closed my eyes.
[Skill Unlocked: Meditation]
[Wisdom stat unlocked.]
[Mana detection enabled.]
At first, nothing happened. I sat still, legs crossed, hands resting on my thighs, and focused on breathing: inhale, hold, exhale, hold. You are supposed to silence your mind, but mine was anything except quiet.
My thoughts surged in like floodwater breaching a dam. Cameron was locked in that prison trying to find a father who was surrounded by criminals who would most likely kill him with no hesitation. Raine, Taylor, and Skyler are stuck in the high school, likely fighting off monsters with nothing but their fists and probably others holding them back. Robin, alone in the wilderness, smart and silent, but still my little girl. My dogs are probably scared out of their minds or in pain from mutating. The home that I built overrun by monsters. The damn boss we still hadn't found with the missing woman and the Base Core I needed for the future. The world was being ripped apart piece by piece, and I couldn't control any of it.
It felt like I was choking on my own mind.
I cracked one eye open. Across the room, Nicole sat with her arms folded, posture relaxed but eyes scanning every movement like she was waiting for something to go wrong. Sol stood near the vending machine, shifting his weight from foot to foot as if trying to decide whether to sit or stand to practice his new skill. Neither of them noticed me struggling. Or maybe they did, and they were giving me space.
I exhaled sharply, forcing my eyes shut again.
No more chaos. No more spiraling. Just breathe in, hold. Out, hold.
Again.
And again.
I imagined sweeping my thoughts aside, one by one, like sweeping my kitchen floor. Until all that remained was breath, rhythm, and stillness.
And then… quiet.
Real quiet.
The world dulled around me. My heartbeat slowed. The noise in my head softened like static lowering beneath calm waters.
Then I felt it.
Like a whisper at the edge of my senses. A stirring around my skin, cool and foreign.
My eyes opened—and I saw it.
Thin trails of light, drifting lazily through the air like dust in sunlight. Mana.
They came in different colors: wisps of red, blue, green, silver, and faint black. Tiny, weightless threads of energy floated freely in the air like dust falling, but they didn't drift aimlessly. They pulsed, shimmered, and moved with purpose. Fire, water, wind… and something else I couldn't quite name yet.
The red was strongest near the stove, where Amber had rigged up to heat food. The threads danced around the flames before dispersing into the food. The blue curled lazily near the cooler corner of the wall, hugging the metal fixtures where condensation gathered. Silver twisted above us, always rising, threading toward the ceiling like it belonged to the air.
And then… black.
A slow, oily ripple like smoke in reverse. It clung to corners and shadows. I saw it when Sol stepped past me, headed toward his pack. With each movement of his Quick-Step, the air shimmered behind him, and those black threads twitched, followed, and echoed. The same skill he had used earlier but now, I could see its residue.
Mana.
It wasn't just real—it was everywhere.
My eyes widened. I hadn't moved, hadn't breathed too sharply, afraid to disrupt it.
I looked at my own hands, wondering if I could pull the mana toward me? Touch it?
I tried. Reaching, not physically, but mentally like flexing a muscle I haven't ever used before.
Nothing.
I tried again. Slower. Steadier. Still nothing.
The threads danced around me, tantalizing, just out of reach. But they didn't respond. I could see them, but I wasn't part of them. Not yet.
"Jasmine?" a small voice interrupted. Karen. I blinked, eyes adjusting to the noise again.
She held out a dented mess tin. "Lunch is ready."
I blinked, then looked down at my watch and saw that 30 minutes had passed. A good sign.
I took the tray from her and glanced down. On it was a scoop of rehydrated rice, a few chunks of canned meat warmed over the camping stove, and half a protein bar cut into rough strips.
Someone had even added some green—dried herbs for flavor, probably scavenged from the emergency rations.
"Not bad," I said.
Karen shrugged. "Sol helped. He says you like things crispy, so he nearly burned the meat."
That got a real smile out of me. "Tell him he's not wrong."
She sat across from me, watching as I took my first bite. It was bland, chewy, and just salty enough to be edible. Not the worst thing I'd ever eaten.
"Were you… meditating?" she asked.
I nodded. "Trying to learn how to feel the mana around us."
"Is it real?" she asked. "Mana?"
"It is," I said. "It's like the wind. It's always there, just invisible until you pay attention."
Karen looked at her hands. "Do you think… someone like me could learn it?"
I studied her for a moment and saw hope in her eyes.
"If you want it bad enough, and if you're willing to be patient," I said, "then yeah. I think you could."
She smiled, and for once, it didn't look forced.
I looked down at my tray again. My first taste of magic, my first proper mana scan… and crispy canned meat. Not a bad combination.
The mana was still there floating and waiting. I don't know for what, maybe a command but I would learn to reach it. I just needed time.