“This is a technique that I like to call ‘Core Strengthening’,” the instructor said as it pressed one of its prehensile roots to the upper-middle of its green “stem” which served as the creature’s torso. After a moment, it withdrew the appendage, revealing a cavity that led all the way to its Mana Core. The mystical organ emitted a pale blue light, which brightened and dimmed at regular intervals. While Charlemagne had examined his own Ember Core many times with his mana sense, he had never before seen a Core with his eyes. Feeling strangely compelled to stare, the rooster used a bit of mana to enhance his eyesight. The magical orb immediately grew more distinct, allowing Charlemagne to examine the perfect sphere in minute detail. Well, the almost perfect sphere. Looking closer, the rooster noticed that there were small raised ridges placed at what appeared to be regular intervals across the Mana Core. Before he had much time to process what he had just seen, the instructor resumed speaking.

  “I find that it’s easier if my students are able to visually inspect my Mana Core during this demonstration. Now, please observe what I’m doing closely. This will take a while, but I promise you that it will be worth it. Once you learn this method, strengthening your core is just a matter of dedicating as much time each day as you can to this or similar exercises. There are a few variations, but since you’re new to all of this, I’m going to show you the simplest one. Understood?”

  Charlemagne bawked his agreement and the instructor got to work. It curled its roots up into a strange pattern as it closed all of its dozen or so eyes, humming slightly as it turned its focus inward. After a few moments, the rooster detected a slight change in the mana cocoon that surrounded the strange creature. A thin stream of mana began to flow inward toward the exposed Mana Core, spiraling gently around like a piece of string being wound on a spindle. The Mana Core pulsed slightly brighter during the process, allowing the foreign mana to approach its surface but not yet making contact.

  Minutes slowly passed as the plant-like creature made minute changes to the swirling mana around its Core, forcing it to compact itself while regulating its speed and position. The process seemed needlessly delicate to Charlemagne: too fast and the mana would never adhere to the Core, too slow and it would not have taken on the correct properties. But he was intrigued by the process, having never before thought about altering the gift that the Squiggles had brought him so long ago.

  More time passed as the free-floating mana continued its slow orbit, straining against the instructor’s control but nonetheless remaining on course. Every revolution saw the mana condense just a bit further, until it was practically as dense as that stored within the magical organ. Finally, with a grunt of effort, the instructor pulled the winding strand into contact with its Mana Core. There was a powerful flash of bright blue light as the instructor’s Mana Core assimilated the ambient mana, transforming it from simple energy into whatever mystical substance composed the creature’s Core. When the afterglow subsided, the rooster examined the result.

  “Bawk,” he determined.

  “What do you mean?” the instructor panted angrily. “That’s how it’s done! No, it’s not pretty, and it only adds the tiniest bit at a time, but there’s no better way to expand your Mana Core over time than Core Strengthening.”

  “Bawk!” the rooster angrily denied.

  “Well, I can’t help it that it’s not entirely symmetrical! You know what, I’m not going to argue with you. When you can suggest a better method, I’ll be all ears. I mean, I don’t…I don’t have ears, and I’m not sure if the System correctly translated the metaphor. But anyway, I’d like to see you do better!”

  “Bawwwk,” Charlemagne announced.

  “Well, I’m waiting…” the instructor retorted as its roots whipped around chaotically. “How would you improve on this process that is so old it likely predates life on your pathetic world?”

  “Bawwk, bawwk bawk bawk,” the rooster explained.

  “That’s how you’d do it?” the other creature scoffed. “Seriously? You’d do it from the inside out? That wouldn’t work: you’d blow up your Core in the process! Maybe, just maybe, if you were the absolute best ever at manipulating mana, but you’d need a strong Core and perfect control as you both stretched and reinforced the walls at the same time. And even if you could do that, you’d need a lot more mana than my method to create the right level of pressure inside the Core.”

  “Bawk!”

  “Well, yes it would look prettier because it wouldn’t have any imperfections on the outside…that is, if you actually did everything just right. But there’s no way…”

  A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

  Charlemagne shut out the instructor’s complaints and focused on his own Ember Core. By slightly overfilling his Core, he was able to pressurize the entire organ. Condensing the mana that was making contact with the walls of the Core at the same time as sending another surge of mana into the organ to force it to expand was difficult, but the rooster managed it with a minimum of discomfort.

  “Bawk,” he announced casually. As he did, the Squiggles saw fit to reward his latest Achievement.

  “I…I can’t believe it!” the instructor gasped, flailing wildly until it was yet again forced to reset. “I’m never going to live this down. Look, please don’t tell anyone about this, okay? I really need more students, and if people find out that you’re better at this than I am…”

  “Bawk,” the rooster answered, and then disappeared.

  “But our time isn’t over…you know what, whatever,” the instructor said as it assumed a complex pose and attempted to regain inner peace.

  It failed miserably.

  Charlemagne, for his part, had decided that there was no point in waiting any longer. It was time for him to finally challenge the Wave 40 boss, Ehuud, and put him down in order to earn the reward that he had been promised. He fought with the efficiency and precision he had gained over his iterations through the Battle Simulation, never slowing down as he quickly destroyed creature after creature. Before he knew it, he had once again arrived at Wave 40.

  The Boss gave his speech once again. “I am Ehuud, Arch Arcanist, the Siege Breaker, Conqueror of the Planes, Keeper of the Seven Hearthstones, Lord of Dungeons, and Master of Magics. I would know your name, you who are worthy of my personal attention.”

  Charlemagne, not in the mood to bandy words with the System-generated creature, had already begun to charge up his most potent attack.

  “What manner of creature are you?” The Boss cried as per usual, backing away and putting up his shield.

  “Buck-kawk!” the rooster cried as he unleashed the mana ball he had formed.

  The blue-white ball slammed into the Boss’ mana shield, causing a flash of light so bright that it would have momentarily blinded the rooster had Charlemagne not remembered to close his eyes. Blinking rapidly to adjust, he saw that his attack had done about the same amount of damage as last time. Although bleeding, the Boss appeared hale as it clapped in encouragement.

  “Impressive! Very good indeed. You have bested my defenses, and I sense that the fire you possess will not fail easily. Very well, you have earned the right to see the ultimate in ice magic. It was a pleasure fighting you, Charlemagne. Absolute Zero!”

  As the heat within the room was transformed into mana, Charlemagne made his move. He reached out and started stealing the mana that was released by the transfer of heat before the spell could make use of it. He forced as much of it into his body as it could handle, instantly growing to double his normal size. Then quadruple. Then even larger.

  “What…no!” shouted the Boss as his Absolute Zero spell began to falter. “How are you even doing that?!”

  For the first time, Charlemagne felt like he had the upper claw against the Boss. But still, he waited, not wanting to make his move too soon.

  “This will finish you, foul beast!” the Boss cried as it channeled all its remaining mana and expelled it into the air, giving its spell new life. “Maximize Magic!”

  Once again, the temperature plummeted as heat became mana and that mana stole more heat. But Charlemagne wasn’t finished either. He continued to steal away bits of magic as fast as he could, racing against the spell’s ability to accelerate given sufficient mana and heat to work with.

  For a few long moments, the two were at a stalemate of sorts. Then everything changed as Charlemagne reached his limit: he simply couldn’t keep all the mana that he’d stolen inside his body. So he didn’t.

  The Absolute Zero spell raged as the rooster prepared his own final attack. The temperature plunged dangerously low, threatening to flash freeze the rooster in his tracks. But the sheer thermal energy stored within Charlemagne would take time to dissipate. Time enough, he hoped, for his attack to strike home.

  The ball of mana that formed within his open mouth was so powerful that Charlemagne could feel the air roiling around it. The searing heat felt good in the frigid air, but that was a double-edged sword. The Boss’ icy spell was even trying to rob the heat from the glowing ball of energy, and it took all of the rooster’s concentration to keep the attack contained. In fact, he launched the attack as early as he felt ready, just in case the Absolute Zero spell had any more surprises.

  “Buck-kawk!”

  The look of fear on the Boss’ face was satisfying as it threw up a hasty shield with the last dregs of its power.

  “This isn’t…this isn’t possible!” it shouted as the crackling mana ball broke straight through the shield and slammed the Boss straight into the back wall before detonating.

  Within the confines of the Battle Simulation chamber, it was so bright that Charlemagne’s retinas burned away entirely twice as his body rapidly healed the minor yet devastating damage. The overpressure wave from the explosion likewise destroyed his eardrums, causing the rooster to stumble for a moment.

  When he had regained both his sight and his balance, the rooster looked around. He was back outside in the great open area that housed the Simulation rooms. He opened his messages from the Squiggles with great satisfaction, wondering what his reward for clearing Wave 40 would be.