Jace the Elemental

"Do you plan on keeping us in suspense?" Ethan teased, smirking.

Jace rolled his eyes but got straight to the point. "Alright, listen up." He leaned forward slightly. "I'm assuming all of you have experienced the pain that happens when you try to cast a spell while completely out of mana, right?"

The group murmured in agreement. Having all started training at a young age, they had each made that mistake at least once.

"Well, I don't know if you ever noticed," Jace continued, "but after that extreme amount of pain, your mana capacity actually increases, just slightly."

Silence fell over the room as they processed his words.

"It's a super small increase," he explained. "Like, if your mana capacity is 100 and you burn through all of it, you'll end up with 100.1." He paused, letting the numbers sink in. "It might not seem like much, but depending on how much your body can handle, you can do it multiple times a day."

Aurora's eyes lit up with realization. "So what you're saying is… the higher our mana capacity, the greater the increase?"

Jace met her gaze, nodding. "Exactly. The more mana you have, the bigger the boost."

He let the information settle before continuing. "And with the mana rooms we have access to, it doesn't take long to recover between sessions."

The room was quiet for a few moments, everyone turning over the idea in their heads.

Felix adjusted his glasses. "If that's true, then theoretically, with enough dedication, you could drastically increase your mana reserves over time."

"It's not just theoretical," Jace said. "I did it quite a bit while growing up, at least until I got tired of the pain."

Ethan leaned forward, curiosity in his eyes. "Just how much have you increased your capacity?"

Jace thought for a second before answering. "I don't know the exact numbers, but I'd say probably fifty percent. Combined with my naturally high mana capacity, I think I have close to double what most people at my level would."

"Fifty percent?" Orion asked, incredulous. "That's insane."

Lyra let out a low whistle. "No wonder you can throw around those massive spells without dropping."

"But wait," Astra cut in. "If this works, why doesn't everyone do it? Or why haven't the nobles been forcing their people to do it?"

Jace exhaled, leaning back in his chair. "Because it's not exactly a fun experience. You've all done it at least once, but never noticed the increase. The only reason I caught on was because of how reckless I was as a kid. It took me five or six times before I realized."

Ethan nodded in understanding. "That makes sense. I definitely only did it once."

Selene, who had been quiet up until now, finally spoke. "It's training through suffering." Her voice was calm, but there was a sadness to it.

A heavy silence settled over the group as they considered whether or not they were willing to go through with it.

Then, a voice cut through the quiet.

"All training is suffering." Everyone turned toward the source of the broken voice. Elias met Jace's gaze, his expression steady. "I'm doing it."

Astra looked at her brother and sighed. "Well… there's no way I'm letting you do it without me." She smiled, giving him a playful elbow.

"You know I'm willing to do anything to get an advantage," Aurora said simply. Knowing what kind of person she was, Jace had already expected her answer.

"Pain is an old friend of mine," Lyra murmured. There was something behind her voice, something darker. Her fingers absently traced the scars along her arms.

Jace felt a pang of sympathy. He still didn't know how Lyra had gotten those gnarly scars, but whatever it was, it hadn't been pleasant.

"I understand wanting to improve, but count me out," Selene said, shaking her head. "I never want to experience that amount of pain again."

Felix nodded in agreement. "Yeah, same here. Never again." He shuddered slightly at the memory.

"If I had known about this, I would've been doing it for years," Orion said, running a hand through his hair.

Lucian shook his head. "You're all crazy. I'm going to pass."

Everyone had made their decision quickly after considering it, everyone except Ethan.

He sat in silence, eyes locked on the table, his expression tense with something unreadable.

Until, with a frustrated exhale, Ethan pushed back his chair and stood up. Without a word, he strode to the door and slammed it behind him as he left.

The room fell into stunned silence.

"What was that about?" Selene asked, brows furrowed.

Jace, already getting to his feet, looked toward the door with concern. "I'm not sure, but I'll find out."

With that, he left the strategy room, heading after Ethan.