Mana cores are the center of mana in the body, and is located in the abdominal section of the body. All creatures that had the ability to use mana had a core. Once mana is gathered to an extent, the core forms, as a place to store the mana.
Over time, the mana in the core purifies, and the higher a mage's realm is, the purer the core and the mana in it. The purer the mana is, the more powerful spells become.
The mana core acts as the container that stores an individual's mana, and according to how much mana one's core could contain and how pure the mana was, it would determine the class of that person.
One might have a huge amount of mana, but lack the purity to go with it, and one might have the purity, but lack the quantity. Under normal circumstances, these two aspects blend and are not so different amongst everyone.
Connected to the mana core are mana veins, which work in a similar way just as the veins and arteries that circulate the blood pumped by the heart through the body and back into the heart.
Mana veins distribute mana from the mana core to various parts of the body. Unlike the cardiovascular system where the arteries spread out blood and the veins bring blood back into the heart, the mana veins only send out mana and do not receive or return mana back into the mana core.
Regardless of the fact that they function as arteries and not veins, they are still referred to as veins.
Back in the day, Aaron developed a technique after studying mana veins and the way they operate.
The technique allowed him to render mages useless in battles or one on one combat once it was used.
Because mana veins only carry mana out from the body and not back, it meant that any mana dispelled cannot be brought back into the core. If he were to use this technique on a mage, the mage's mana veins would be blocked. Any magic that mage casts will cause mana to leave his core, and with no where for the mana to leave the body due to the veins being blocked and the fact that it wouldn't be able to return back into the core, and explosion was in order.
If that mage were to cast a big spell right after the technique, he or she would explode immediately because of the pressure.
Anyway, now that Aaron's mana core was damaged, his veins were still intact, so he still had a shot at using magic. The only magic he could use now was one that uses mana from outside the body.
Aaron concluded there was nothing he could do if he just sat there idly doing nothing, it wasn't as if anyone would come save him.
"I need to start doing something to help myself fast, this won't do." He had gotten a little energy from the fruit he just ate, and also something else surprising.
'After eating this fruit, I could feel as though mana washed through me. Does this fruit contain mana?' "I wouldn't be surprised if it did. For it to grow so close to that river, it has to possess some special qualities, otherwise, what's the use?"
"Ahh, somehow I feel better after eating." As Aaron pushed with his hands to sit up well, he felt himself up the best he could to examine his condition.
He had broken bones in his left forearm, several ribs, some fingers, his right tibia, and dislocations throughout his body.
One part of his body that was fine was his right arm, which was his dominant one, "Thank goodness, my right hand's good."
He slowly reached for the branch stuck in his left leg and started pulling it out little by little. It had stopped bleeding, so he didn't wasn't to be too rough and open up more than he would by doing it slowly.
The pain was no joke. Even after speculating the reduction in pain due to lose of blood, it still hurt. "To think this is the reduced version of the hurt. It's even worse doing it myself." It's safe to say Aaron isn't used to pain, since he was always the one giving out injuries, not the other way round.
He kept the pace and after minutes of gritting his teeth and bearing the pain, he managed to pull out the full length of the branch out of his leg. "I suddenly feel like more of a man, pretty soon, I'll be a Viking after I cross that river." He said in a sarcastic tone to himself.
"Alright, I should cast the magic right away, the wound's bleeding again. I can't loose anymore blood, that would be dangerous."
He immediately dipped his finger into the hole in his leg, and started drawing a magic circle on his stomach. He seemed to be feeling pretty barbaric at the moment, and didn't even care about bacterial infections.
As soon as the circle was done, he tore part of his remaining shirt and folded it into a ball before stuffing his mouth with it. Just then, the magic circle on his stomach lit up bright red, and with the glowing light, came Aaron's groans that carried pain in them. After some moment, it seemed he couldn't handle the pain and passed out.
…
'Ahh, shit.' "That shit hurt like hell. Guess I must have passed out. Weak." 'Either increase your tolerance to pain, or increase your strength so you wouldn't have to fell pain. Me? I choose the second option.'
He slowly opened his eyes, bit by bit, and as he did, he supported himself up with his hands. He checked himself again to examine his state, then he noticed the changes.
The wound in his thigh was almost completely healed, and most of his broken bones were back to normal, with just a few partially healed. 'The spell worked an did it's job. But looks like I was in such bad shape that it didn't go all the way.'
The spell Aaron just used was a healing spell a kingdom up north from theirs used on slaves. It takes the body's own essence to heal up wounds, and was mostly used for treatment of internal injuries, since most healing spell couldn't do that.
"Who would have thought that I'll be using this spell… Anyway, I'm even hungrier than I was when I first woke up, and I feel so weak. This spell is no joke."
Aaron helped himself up and stretched out a bit after he stood up. The sun was going down, and as his hands went behind him, he brushed his right arm over the tattooed artifact on his lower back. 'Good thing I have this, if not…'
'This artifact uses the surrounding mana, and I don't think there is a limit to how long it could stay activated, but since it has stayed active for this long, hmm. One thing is for certain, there's no way in hell I'm turning this in off.'