Franz spent most of his time reading the first book until darkness came, signifying his time to take a bath and rest a little before dinner. After taking a bath, Franz went back to his room and lied down in his bed, still thinking about the things that he read about in the books, mostly his theories towards mana.
"So if each and everyone of us is supported by mana, then that means the main reason why those people who leans towards physical strength is because their body has mana, especially those who are physically gifted, they probably have more than the average person.."
"So why are most of them inept towards being mages then? Is it because of the type of mana that has been accumulated in their bodies? or is it because of other factors that haven't been tackled by the people of this world before?"
"Well, there's probably no solution to this yet, I'll read more later, but for now I need to eat dinner with the family."
After finishing his ruminations, Franz stood up and went towards the castle's dining area, where he found that his Father, Mother, and his Brother are already sitting down waiting for him.
His mother Lady Guinevere, with her flowing black hair and healthy face look dotingly upon her dear son and said smoothly; "Franz, take a seat beside your brother, Karl so that we can start eating"
Franz nodded towards his Mother and took a seat beside Karl, the brothers smiled at each other, while their Father, ever the stoic immediately took it upon himself to eat the food served in front of him.
After his first bite, their Father, Lord Louis looked at Karl and asked;
"How's the borders Karl? Did you and our men encounter any trouble?"
Seeing his father talk to him, Karl immediately swallowed his food despite just taking a bite and said;
"It was a grim sight to behold Father, we tried our best holding out against the undead but the weather in the north is unforgiving as always, and it's not just the cold that we have to worry about too, the undead requires no sustenance, they can neither feel fatigue nor pain, we are in a constant skirmish against them day and night, I'm just glad that the Chief Commander of the Army, Ser Gareth is resourceful and made it so that each and every member of the army take shifts, this strategy of his made it so that we take less casualties and cancel out the undead's advantage" Karl's face looked grim, born out of the hopeless situation that he has witnessed in the frontlines.
Lord Louis understood his son's pain and said; "Don't worry, it's going to be my turn now and take your place there, but don't be fooled my son, the frontlines might be grim, but due to our precarious situation, staying here is also not a walk in the park, especially since the crown's attention is towards the north, those wolves and hyenas that eye our lands grow restless, just a week ago, some of our scouts have reported increased activity towards the Duke's lands. Their extravagant parties were postponed, they might be gearing towards a move on us, especially Franz who's going to study in the Royal Academy."
Lord Louis looked towards his younger son with a hint of worry, but didn't linger on it.
Acknowledging his father's reminder and noticing his worries, Karl immediately thumped his chest and said loudly;
"Don't worry father! I know Franz, he's actually stronger than me when I was his age, and I survived that blasted Academy myself! He'll do just fine, he just needs to focus on his training, who knows? he might even have affinity for magic right? It's been a long time since our family produced a mage borne from our blood after all."
Hearing his brother's boast, Franz nodded and chided in, saying;
"I might not be physically stronger than Karl, but I will do my best to maintain vigilance in the academy, and I trust Karl's strength, he's already an Adept Knight after all, enough to defend a small territory like ours, don't worry about me, I trained a lot with Karl and our soldiers, I think I can handle whatever those Gerbil rats sends towards me, they can't send someone stronger than a Peak Apprentice Knight after all, given that most Adept Knights have been deployed to lead in the frontlines. Besides, I am confident that I'd be able to run away from people that are below Adept level, whether they are Knights or Mages, it might be tricky to run away from an Assassin but I think I can manage that too."
After giving assurance to his family, Franz looked towards Karl and said; "But more training won't hurt, so I hope that I can train more with you, Karl, because I don't think being an Early Apprentice Knight is enough against those monsters whom I have to compete against inside the Academy." Franz grinned and Karl grinned back.
"Then be prepared for hell little brother, I will surely drill into you all those things that I've learned during this past year!" said a devilish looking Karl.
...
Lord Louis and Lady Guinevere looked dotingly towards their sons and then met each other's eyes, a look of determination flashed past both of them and then it vanished, replaced by stoic faces that betrayed how they felt.
...
The main family members of House Karling continued on with their meals, and even though darkness looms towards their future, hope remains in their hearts.
...
After eating dinner, Franz hurried back towards his room and immediately read most of the contents of the books that were given to him.
Reading became part of his daily routine, half of the day he trained his knightly skills while also juggling his responsibilities as a noble, this includes a lot of studying, especially etiquette and the overarching aspect of history.
Franz didn't complain though, it benefits him a lot because as someone who came from Earth, being suddenly transported to a world without any type of entertainment that resembles the ones that he got used to, makes it really hard to entertain oneself, and it alleviates a lot of his longing.
Keeping himself busy has been a trend ever since he first came in this world, at first, he was extremely bored, being limited to just waving his arms around almost made Franz insane, add to the fact that he doesn't have anyone to talk to, it took a toll on his sanity, as any normal person would in that situation.
So when he finally got the ability to move, Franz didn't stop until his body gave up on himself, this helped psyche Franz up to become such a person as he is today, the non-stop training and studying didn't seem to be a bother to him, it became his respite from boredom and his escape from the peculiarity of transmigration.
....
At night, during one of Franz's Magic studying sessions...
"I'm finally done reading up all three books regarding magic, I guess it's finally time for a practical test huh?"
As he said that, Franz stood up and went to an empty space inside his room, within his hands is the book with regards to channeling mana and those three crystals his brother gave him.
Franz started skimming through the book and when he is confident enough, he put the three magic crystals in front of him, ready to start a step towards the unknown.
"So according to this book, I need to meditate first and try to find and distinguish the mana particles around me, and then, when I'm done with distinguishing them, I then need to feel which element I resonate with, which will help me distinguish what sort of mage I will be in the future."
Franz sat down and grabbed a magic crystal in his right hand and started meditating
"I need to stop thinking"
As Franz tried to feel the world around him, he noticed subtle things that he hasn't noticed before, the stillness of the night helped as he felt where the wind came from and the subtle shaking of the land, while in his lips, he felt the dampness that helped moisten them up..
Seconds turned to minutes while minutes turned to hours..
Franz can't help but be frustrated as he felt like he is chasing something that is elusive, at one moment he feels like he can grasp it and then when he tries to feel around it vanishes, like smoke, like the wind..
But as he persevered, he finally felt something, and despite closing his eyes, the darkness around him helped him see and construct countless motes of light around him..
Despite closing his eyes, a new world opened for Franz...
He can make out the world from these motes, and it made it easy for him..
After successfully being able to distinguish mana, Franz then tried to attune himself with every single element..
Fire felt warm and relaxing for him, yet deep inside, it also burned his passion, making him irrational.
Earth is like a solid foundation that will never yield, never waver yet inflexible and rigid.
Water is free flowing, refreshing and soothing, like a mother's touch, it makes one feel comfortable yet at the same time it is arbitrary, and restless.
Air is everywhere.. it is painful and gentle, it soothes but is prone to anger, it is peaceful yet dangerous.
Each element have their own unique interaction with Franz, yet it also made it hard for him to figure out which one of them fits him best.