Noah opened the anatomy book and did not find anything useful at all, except for some primitive drawings of the organs and the course of blood circulation, along with some brief explanations of their functions. Some were correct, while most were based on opinions and assumptions. It seemed that because of the nobles’ long lives and lack of diseases, they did not make much effort to develop medicine in general.
Noah continued searching and did not find any details about the marrow, which made an excited smile appear on his face little by little.
Noah continued turning the pages before finding a section concerning mages.
The book explained that mages were divided into low, medium, and high.
In the same grade, the mage with the higher mana is considered stronger than lower.
That was all. The book did not mention the amount of mana needed to achieve a breakthrough, how it was done, or the reason for the difference in mana capacity between two mages belonging to the same grade.
Noah closed the book.
"They described the result and called it an explanation. A group of fools."
The book was not without its uses. It included more than detailed explanation of the technique used by nobles to separate mana from their blood.
Robert had told him about it before.
If a noble is forced to bleed, he can pull the mana from the blood before it leaves his body. The blood then remains red and worthless, making it unsuitable for drinking or making potions. It seemed that the nobles gave excessive importance to this purification, to the point of publishing it in a medical book.
The book explained how to perform the technique, but it did not mention the place where the mana went after it was pulled out. All that was mentioned was that the mana concentrated deep inside the bones to a certain extent.
Noah decided to search for the answer himself.
He made ten ice needles of equal size, one after another, until he drained a specific part of his mana. After that, he closed his eyes and began pulling what remained of it away from his blood.
His limbs gradually became cold.
The usual sensation of mana disappeared from his veins, but he did not feel that it had dissipated. It retreated to a deeper place, as if it were withdrawing from a wide network into narrow cavities inside his bones.
When he finished, he cut the tip of his finger.
A red drop came out.
He waited until it touched the air, but it did not turn blue. The measuring stone also did not produce any heat when it touched it.
He stopped and allowed the mana to return to his blood, then made another wound.
The second drop started red before its color gradually changed to blue.
Noah stared at the drops for some time.
The technique did not destroy the mana or expel it from the body.
It hid it inside the marrow by gradually moving it through the bones. The strange thing was that if you did not focus primarily and carefully on the marrow, you would not feel any change or even movement from it, compared to the blood, in which the slightest detail was easy to sense.
Perhaps this was the reason the nobles had ignored the marrow and its importance all this time.
He repeated the experiment many times during the following days.
Noah amazingly discovered that directing the mana from the blood directly toward the marrow, instead of passing it and hiding it in the bones, forming an empty cycle, achieved the instant activation of the technique without any side effects.
As long as the mana remained hidden inside the bones, the mage unexpectedly lost his full ability to use magic directly. The cycle could take a few seconds to give him the ability to use magic, but the marrow was completely different. It allowed its owner to perform the process almost instantly.
In this way, he could hide his strength and even the level of his magical rank from now on and manipulate people however he wanted.
Noah recorded the result, then moved to the next experiment.
He considered the amount of mana needed to make an ice needle of a fixed size a unit of measurement. It was not an accurate method, but it allowed him to compare the results of his experiments without relying on his feelings alone.
He depleted the mana and waited for it to regenerate before channelling a specific number of units into his marrow rather than leaving them in the bloodstream.
He repeated this process after every recovery period.
Two weeks passed before he noticed a difference.
The mana no longer disappeared randomly inside his bones, except when he focused his awareness on it. He could feel it moving along one continuous path, despite its presence throughout most of his skeletal structure.
It was neither an independent organ nor a mass that could be described as a core.
It was part of the marrow, but different from the marrow that produces ordinary blood.
He called this Magic Marrow.
Noah continued to compress the mana inside the Magic Marrow without stopping.
At first, he thought he had lost control or had reached his limit, but he encountered resistance in the same place each time. It was like a knot blocking a narrow passageway. The mana could reach it, but could not pass beyond it.
He pressed against it with greater force.
Author’s Note
I know the Chapters have been quite short lately, and I’ve just finished writing this one. I truly appreciate everyone who has continued to read and support my novel so far. If you are reading this Chapter somewhere other than Webnovel, please know that this novel has been reposted without permission. I would really appreciate it if you could visit me on Webnovel, where I publish the original content. If you enjoy the story, please consider leaving a rating and sharing your thoughts. Your support means a lot to me. Thank you so much for reading!