"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.
She was so confused about how could this happened. Turns out there weren't any half spirits existed before.
"That's weird. There's no way mana leaking from my cocoon could have caused this."
"Then what do you mean? How did this guy gained powers and sentience?"
"Hmm? Is it about the lake?"
She focused on the lake. Water of the lake was shining with brilliant light. It was mesmerizing. I could have fallen into trance while watching it but instead I turned towards the Kairi. Her burrows were furrowed.
"What is it?"
"There is unusual amount of Aether in the water. And somehow it was able to mix with mana leaked from my cocoon. Somehow my cocoon ended up inside of that lake. And it caused this weird phenomenon. But this still doesn't explain the Aether inside of it."
"How does Aether work?"
"It's a mysterious energy even more complex than Mana itself. It exists every dimensions and every part of the worlds. But it only flows in the air. We don't know why but earth and water somehow makes it disappears."
"Woah. It really is mysterious. But... how can this water have Aether if any water and earth makes it disappear?"
"I don't know. But it should help you gain more mana."
"Is it safe to drink? And how exactly does it help me gain more mana?"
She scooped a handful water with her hands and she directly drank it. After drinking it she closed her eyes and thought for a while.
"Yes, it's perfectly safe. As for how does it help, it's already changing your body little by little. I observed both of you and noticed that this cute rabbit has a organ dedicated to produce mana."
"Nibi? What is mana, nibi?"
"We'll fill you in after this talk over. Now, please go on, Kairi."
"Very well. I can't control Aether but I can easily perceive it. And there's a huge amount of it in your body. Well, huge if you compare it to this rabbit. Anyway, it condensing around your heart. There's a Aether construction similar to yours in the body of the rabbit too."
"I see..."
So my body will be able to generate mana with this new organ forming inside of my body. But is this really safe? Well, I can't really go to hospital and ask them. Let's ask Kairi.
"Is it really safe? As far as I know it's incredibly dangerous to modify human body and it's organs. It's said to be even a little change can cause severe damages."
"Well, this is Aether we are talking about. I don't know for sure but if anything happens to you I can always fix you."
"Thanks. That took away some of my worries."
Hmm... An organ made of Aether that would regularly generate mana. I should really learn how to observe the flow of the mana and aether. This is just an idea but maybe I can find a way to control aether thanks to this organ.
"By the way, I think we should name it. We can't keep calling it to rabbit forever."
"You are right. We should name her."
"Her?"
"Yes, I'm a lady, nibi!"
"Oh... anyway. I think you should name her, Kairi. After all, she gained sentience thanks to you."
"Hmm... let me think a little."
Kairi looked deep into the rabbit's eyes. Those eyes were like two beautiful rubies. Maybe something about red or crimson can be used as a name for her.
"I got it. How about Akane?"
"I love it, nibi!"
"A name from far east, huh? It does sound good and she liked it too."
The rabbit seems like she liked her new name. Still, a far east name... Now that I think about it Kairi might be a far east name too. Is she from the far east? Wait that's not important now!
"Hey, Akane! What happened to my friends?"
"Nibi? Who are you talking about, nibi?"
"These guys who are lying on the ground."
"Oh them! They were searching for you, I think, nibi. I made them unconscious just in case, nibi."
That's understandable. Their finding of the lake could be dangerous or have unexpected results. I would want to share the magic with them but the situation is has a lot of unknowns now. So, until I find out more, they can't know about it.
"How to handle this?"
"I can manipulate their memories. If it's any help..."
"That would help a lot actually."
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
I focused my mana on the water inside of the plastic bottle. Mana is harder to control when it is outside of my body. I tried to control mana-infused water but nothing happened. After an hour full of failures I finally stopped. I changed the volume of the water but it didn't help. There must be something I overlooked. Mana inside of my body isn't much but it should be just enough to move a glass of water. I started with the bottle half full and lower it to the glass half full. And yet no success. Maybe I should start with drops of water. You know starting from the bottom. Then why I didn't do this from the beginning. I admit that I'm impatient. I hate this. It is working. I spent an entire hour just at a bottle and glass of water. I feel embarrassed. Not just with the useless hour but the number of water droplets I can control too. It is just a five water droplet and takes almost all of my mana.
"I'm being haunted by the spirits of the leaky ceiling." (Jason) "What?" (Rick) "While we were at the class, drops of water kept falling on my head. But whenever I look up I couldn't find where that god damn waterfalls?!" (Jason) "..." (Rick) Rick couldn't find a word to utter. Seeing Jason telling weird things with a serious face is probably shocking for him. Right now we are sitting in the cafeteria. The morning lessons are over and we are having our lunch break. We sit at the table right next to the door of the cafeteria after getting our meals. At our table, I, Jason, Rick, Matt, Mason, and Lucas. We are friends from back in middle school. Not all of us are at the best friends level but still we are all on good terms. Rick Ortiz. When we were in middle school he was in the next classroom. He is a good guy but I never have talked much with him while we were in middle school. I don't know
PE class was the last two hours of the afternoon right after the history class. History class little bit boring. Maybe it's because everyone was waiting for the PE. I'm not sure about the others but I definitely can't wait for it. It will be the first time for me to see to what extent mana enhances my physical abilities. When the bell ringed everyone rushed to the changing rooms. I can't wait to show my strength to Jason, once again. We compete against each other since we were kids. I think this is one of the things that made us best friends. Our endless efforts to surpass one another. The changing room was crowded. I get to the less crowded side and started changing my uniform into PE clothes. PE clothes school gives us is a basic white shirt and black shorts. At the back of the white shirt is the school's emblem. "Hey, Oscar ?" "Hmm? Rick?" "Did you hear that PE teacher, Mister Weaver made the Cla