"Ugh... So can you at least tell me who you are?"
"I am a spirit. A Great Spirit to be precise. I don't have the usual firepower of the Great Class Spirits because of my almost empty mana reserves. As I have said I'm from the Undine Clan."
"Spirit? Like, as the souls of humans?"
"Nope. We are simply living beings but made of mana. I can teach you mana later but I don't think you can be able to use it. After all, aside from spirits, no one can use mana correctly. Hmm, now that I think about it if we made a pact maybe you could use mana."
Mana? Is it the same one I know of? I hope it is.
"Really? I don't know if we are talking about the same mana but I'm really curious about it now. Can you tell me more?"
"Normally pact is performed between spirits grant others to powers for a limited time. But before I went into the cocoon, my father did create a new version of it. This version is permanent and creates a mana link between two parties. But since you are human we need to modify it a little bit. The only way to do it is Contract Magic. And as we are not equal because of our different races, we need you to be recognized as spirit. Even if it's just partially it would be enough. You will have to let's see, sacrifice a part of your body."
"What?"
"I will store my 'Spirit Mana' in the place you choose. After that, we will perform Contract Magic and you will be recognized as half spirit? Then I can teach you the way of controlling the mana. Ah, by the way, the place you sacrificed won't be usable for a while but it's should heal over time."
"In short, I have to make a sacrifice because I am not a spirit."
"...Yes."
It is... Never mind. I'm pretty excited by the idea of mana. Why? Because mana is known to be the source of all magic! At least according to the fantasy novels and shows, I have watched. So far everything seems absurd and hard to believe. So why not go for it?
"I am prepared. You can take my left arm. You said that it will heal anyway."
"Very well. I, Kairi of the Undine choose you as my partner, Oscar Williams. As your sacrifice, I will take your left arm."
Suddenly I felt pain in my left arm. On my forearm, two runes appeared. Mannaz and laguz. Mannaz means divine union. Laguz means water. So contract magic marked me with runes. So this means the contract is established. Everything feels surreal. Even the runes I know of appeared.
Suddenly my ordinary world turn into a fantasy! Wait why does this sound like a light novel name? Eh, whatever. I wonder if I can make Rune Magic somehow by using runes. Apparently, they have powers in this world.
Magic is real! Let's go! It's the magic time! Heck yeah!
"You will be able to use weakened versions of my spells for now. Don't forget. When you use my spells you can't use your left arm afterward. Not for a long time with the condition your body is at."
"Thank you, Kairi. I can't wait to learn mana and magic!"
"Your welcome."
"Hey, I have a question. Does something like Rune Magic exist? I know of the runes on my arm. They are from the Norse Mythology. They said to have powers but I didn't think they really would."
"I know that some spells use runes. Actually, we spirits are instinctively using mana. So magic and spells are just some basic methods that are recorded on the archives of some clans. I need to look into the Archive of Undine Clan. But as far as I know, there isn't."
So, magic exists but because of spirits being able to use mana at the reflex level, it isn't researched much. Still, apparently, there were some who created spells. Hmm, maybe I can create Rune Magic if I work on it.
There are a lot of runes, so I need to look more into this. Even this Contract Magic apparently used only two runes. Maybe I can use more runes to create stronger spells.
While thinking of the possible ways to use mana I couldn't stop my excitement from rising over the top. Just being able to cast magic sounds incredible. But my world is an ordinary modern world. So casting magic in the modern world is literally dream come true.
Now that I think about wasn't I was with Jason and Hope? What were ve doing again?
At that time I wasn't aware of how much my mind was being influenced by the mana.
I'm Oscar Williams. My new life begins today. I'm going to be a high schooler. Middle school was, boring, and full of bad memories. But high school going to be amazing. I will make sure of it. Because I really need a change of pace. Make lots of friends, then have amazing adventures with those friends! That is my master plan. The adventure part might be difficult to realize but I will somehow manage. I got up early and quickly had breakfast. Then I wore my school uniform and after saying goodbye to my mother I left for school. At every step I take, my excitement rose higher. My high school adventure finally begins. I'm going to enjoy my youth to the fullest! When I arrived at the school, I stop in my tracks. The school building is massive. There is a little anxiety in my heart. New school, new environment and most crucial of all new people. In this school, I will have an amazing school life! With excitement and hope, I walked to the clas
Now that I'm feeling better I look around again. Things I saw were unnerving. The water I get out of was no water at all. It was blue and incredibly shiny. I could say it was magical. This shiny blue liquid comes from massive blue crystals. They were shining so much that it takes some time for my eyes to adjust themselves. Did I fall into some kind of... eh, I don't know anything to compare with this. It looks fantastic. There is just a little, even tiny thing that worries me. My necklace, it was used to be my grandpa's. It is blue crystal covered with black strings. Blue crystal in it was like glass. You could see through it. But now it is shining. Just like the surrounding blue crystals. I am a little confused right now. Did my grandpa fall here too? I don't know and it is hurtful to imagine. But I can breathe here. Which means there is air. Then there should be a way out of here. First I have to check my phone and flashlight. But my flashlight isn't here an
"A talking rabbit?" "Wait, are you the lake, nibi?" "Hm? Yes, my cocoon was inside of the lake." Somehow I get the feeling that the rabbit's eyes shined with excitement. It jumped at Kairi and hugged her. She was surprised but nonetheless she hugged it back. Magic is already weird enough so I think I can get used to the talking rabbit thing. Still, in one night my whole life changed. It's weird but I think I can get used to it. "Thank you for granting this powers to me Mother, nibi!" "! Wha-what!" After the words of the rabbit she blushed down to her neck. It took some time to calm her down. After she calm down we listened the rabbit. Turns out it fell into the lake two years ago. While it didn't gained the ability to control mana like me thanks to my contract with her, it gained a powerful body. According to her, it turned into half spirit.
Let's research mana! After Kairi manipulated memories of Jason and Hope, I talked with them and we returned our homes. They think we just sat at the upstairs of the church and just chatted. Magic is amazing! Spell Kairi used is so useful that I'm so envious. Don't get me wrong. I have no interest in manipulating people's minds and memories. What I'm envious of is how easy she cast a spell and how useful it is. I'm fully motivated to research mana. Being told that magic is real and seeing it is totally different. It was fantastic. I can't wait to cast my own spells. After the thing with Jason and Hope, I left the cave. Kairi is staying at the cave. She said that lake might help her recover her mana. I don't know the details but turns out spirits can't really generate mana. I'm going to ask for details later. Now it's time for mana research! Why mana but not magic? It's because magic is the man
When I practice with mana after a little time my head starts to hurt. But the worst thing is after I woke up I thought I was the worst. I regretted everything I've ever done. Manipulating mana puts a heavy burden on my mind. I guess it also kind of gives depression. It was bad. I'm going to name it mental depletion. "Oscar, are you okay? You have a fever." "I caught a cold, I guess. I will be fine if I rest a little." "Fine, you can rest home today. But if anything happens you will call me okay? And if you don't get better till night we are going to a hospital." "Yes, mom. Don't worry I will get better." "I going to work, I will call you later." "See you, mom." It's a good thing that mom let me rest for today. If I was to go to school right now, things can go bad. I don't know all of the effects of mental depletion. Depression side effect is gone after an hour. But I don't feel any mana in my body
"I can see an outline of Aether on my chest." "Wow, that's great. Are you able to inspect it?" I focused on my reflection in the mirror. Right now this is the only way for me to observe what is happening in my body. I took off my shirt to observe clearly. I can see the outline of mana and Aether in my body. Still, I can only see the outline of them. I can't inspect or further observe how they move or act. "It's no use. I can't further inspect it. This isn't enough to give me any idea about Aether." "I see. It's unfortunate." I was very hyped about it. I guess I will focus on mana from now on. Kairi taught me a few more basic spells. From their magic circle, I learned a few more magic runes. There's one magic rune that exists in every last one of them. I think it means water. Little by little I will figure out this magic system. I know now five water spells. [Water Ball], [Wate
"Am I going to be get caught?" I muttered to myself. This isn't good. From the voices, I'm hearing there are three people upstairs. They seem to be searching for something. What should I do? Should I inform Kairi? It's better if I do that. I quickly ran to the lake. She just slept but this situation can turn into an emergency very quickly. I don't think I should deal with this alone. Better to be safe than sorry. I arrived at the lake. She is sleeping at the bottom of the lake. I immediately dive into the lake and swam towards her. I grabbed her and immediately swam out of the lake. "Kairi! Wake up! We have an emergency!" "Wha-what!" "Quick, wake up. There are several people upstairs. I don't know what should I do!" "What to do?!" Even she doesn't know?! Are we doomed? We are doomed! How can we solve this? Wait, we have mana! And she had that mem
It was already late at night and the city was buried in silence. Agustin was sitting on the balcony watching the moon that was peeking through clouds. He took a deep breath from his cigarette. "Just what kind of a mess I get myself into?" He kept thinking the same thing for a while now. The job was an odd one. Finding a stone that has mysterious energy? Look for it in an abandoned church full of trash? He would take it as nonsense if not for it coming directly from the big boss of the organization he was part of. He wasn't an innocent person. He was part of an illegal organization that has a pretty bad history with the government. They are criminals who have done very bad things. Murder, theft, and even human trafficking at some point. Obviously, the boss of this kind of organization can't be someone normal. In the country of Utuvis, he was the most wanted criminal. Agustin looked at the two