Ting! Sense Magic has obtained levels 568-579!

I meditate, feeling the beauty mana in and around me. While another mind is studying mana, this mind is forming a better connection to my Bond. There's way more to the Bond than I ever thought there could be. It's not a magical connection, but it is related to mana... or is it? The way the dragons fought the cursed being suggests something else.

It's as if the Bond is more profound, something more fundamental to reality. I still can't make heads or tails out of it, I am missing a large part of the picture, and [Inquisitive Perfection] doesn't have much to work off to guide me.

Instead, I do what I know. I bath myself in beauty mana, many types of it, from the serene to the elegant, and even the seductive form of it. Beauty is whole; it is pure; it is primal and natural. Beauty can be formed by many little things; it can be formed by things that aren't even beautiful. It is emergent, greater than the sum of its parts.

I continue meditating until Mom and Dad come back from rebuilding the village.

Ting! Your Bond has obtained levels 385-387!

"Momara is coming back," I tell the twins. With my real body, I have been playing with them and Tana all day. It's a little refreshing to use my minds to do many things at once again, but at the same time, it feels a little lonely. I am the only one doing this, the only one studying magic and my Bond so much. I have no one to share my theories with, or to have excited conversations with when I make a discovery. Well, there's Kayafe, but I can only talk to her so much before running out of mana, and the Guardian... she likes to be left alone. I lack any real connection to anyone outside of my family, and it's only getting harder to relate to others.

I take the twins home and wait for my parents. Once they arrive, we have dinner and then go to the Lojyo, meeting in an open city square. Everyone enjoys themselves and rests after a long day of restoring the village. Yet another way I am distant from everyone, they all work while I play, but what would I do? How would I help?

“Alysara,” Chofel comes up to me with a smile. "Let's play the next song!"

If I can't help them rebuild, then the least I can do is help them relax after a hard day's work. I form a flute out of mana and follow Chofel to the stage.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Feyan can't help but smile. Aly is training again, but now she isn't ignoring her social life as much.

"I hate to say this, but it seems we just need to get her used to her old ways again," Kanato admits. "We may have to send her into the dungeon again."

"I'm not so sure about that, but making dresses for everyone may help her; also, so many people lost all their spare clothes," Feyan suggests.

Kanato wraps her arms around Feyan and nuzzles her neck. "As long as it helps her heal."

The next morning Feyan sits next to Aly at the dining table. The twins are happily digging into their food, cracking open a Domr leg and dipping it into butter. Aly is doing the same, but there is an odd sense of elegance and beauty to her movements despite their normal, everyday nature.

When did she learn to do that? Feyan wonders.

"Aly," She says, getting her child's attention. "You want to help, right?" Aly nods, a small movement that makes her appear elegant and collected. "Most people have lost their clothes and now only have the one set; it's going to take a while before enough are made."

"I understand. I'll get started on them now." Aly summons a clone, who walks upstairs with straight-backed elegance. "Blankets and towels too, we've been managing with the bare minimum on those."

Kanato helps the twins crack open the hard shell of the boiled Domr to get to the main body as Feyan studies Aly with her [Sense Mana]. Aly seems to be more comfortable now, even if she still seems a little more distant than before.

Once breakfast is over, Feyan and Kanato board the airship. It still has not been repaired, and large parts of the flooring are unusable, but it only needs to ferry people back and forth over a short distance.

Arriving at the village, they immediately get to work, holding piles to drive them for others to drive into the ground, setting up sections of wall for the builders to nail in and decorating their work.

They are only building essential infrastructure for now: workshops, shops, warehouses, and anything else that is needed to maintain a village. After that, they'll work on residential housing, playgrounds, baths, and other non-essential or luxury things.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Ting! Your Bond has obtained level 388!

After a day with deliberate movements, I get a level in my Bond. It's not just using my Bond that matters, I have to live with it; I need every aspect of my life to be in tune with beauty and its domains of elegance, serenity, and more… although I’m avoiding ‘seductive’ for the time being.

I have made about a hundred clothes, being limited by how much mana I have and can produce. This is something that I'll need to work on for a few weeks. I trained more with Tana by throwing solidified mana pebbles at him for him to cut out of the air; later in the day, we hunted Domrs at the edge of the city and helped train the twins' Bond levels. In the evening, we played a few Bond games until Mom and Dad came back.

I continue my studies of magical frameworks while my real body plays music at the Lojyo, beating the drums tonight. I study other people's magic frameworks; Esofy and Chyzu, with their two classes. The levels of each Class are becoming apparent now. Each skill's breakthroughs make a connection to the outer ring of the skill, which aligns to a connection to the Class's outer ring; each connection has a certain level of luster to them, representing the level of the breakthrough. This also lets me know the level of the skill even if I can't yet know what the skill actually does. The Class has the same type of level indicator; the richer the saturation of its color, the higher its level is.

The color determines the tier of the magic framework. The color isn't based on any visual light like blue or red; it's its own unique color that I simply can't explain. I continue to scrutinize the magical frameworks, trying to decipher every little detail of them when I realize that the Race magic circle seems to be... different; not turned off but not quite on the same... for lack of better words, layer. Same with my Class, now that I know what I am seeing. They both seem to be placed on my soul, but not quite. The magic circle that governs my general skills is fully placed on my soul; my Race is partly on it but also placed on my... body? It's hard to describe. That would mean that my Class is partly placed on my Bond.

Looking at others with normal Classes, they seem to be placed fully on their soul, with their Race occupying the soul and the body. Tana, who has a Bond warrior Class, has his Class placed on both his soul and his Bond too. This is very... interesting; Esofy, with a warrior Class, has skills that augment her body, and, while the magical framework is placed on the soul, the skills that slot into it seem to 'touch' the body. Some of my general skills do, too, like [Graceful Movements].

I feel like this is related to how monster materials are formed. If the residue of the magical framework is somehow left or imprinted on the body, then it may augment certain parts of the body.

There is still more to learn. I need to see the exact moment evolution takes place and how that changes magical frameworks, I need to see how magic frameworks influence the body when a monster dies, and I need to see how magic frameworks are created. What's more, I need to see if magical frameworks are on other things, such as magic items.

I move my focus from my magic frameworks to my Kyhosa, peering deeper into it until I see the faint signs of a magic circle. It is different; it doesn't have skills that resemble Classes. There is a centerpiece in the middle, which I think was the original framework when it first became a magic item. Next is a set of five ellipses that connect the centerpiece to the outer ring, giving it the appearance of a flower. This layer probably represents the additional power gained when it evolved.

The magical frameworks of Classes and items are different. They both evolve, but how they evolve may be different. If I, and [Inspirational Perfection], are right, then a magic item adds more layers, while I don't really know what Classes do. It is clear that since Classes can swap skills in and out, they have basic functions that are different. Magic items aren't built to change; instead, they grow. Classes and Races, however? They are a lot more complex and will require more comparisons. The addition of skills and their connections change things. I still have a lot to learn, and I still need to study cursed skill and skill frameworks. So much to learn.

Ting! Sense Magic has obtained levels 580-584!

The Lojyo ends, but, while I am walking home, I can't help but feel like I am missing something... a connection to people. I can call Chofel my friend, but outside of music I don't know her. Tana, too: outside of training, what do we have in common? Despite my efforts to fill this void, I feel I am still lacking. Is this just a teenage thing? Is it part of being a Runalymo? Is it because of the last two years that I have become afraid of being alone? I am... lost, and I don't know why or how to find my way.

"Momara?" I ask, grabbing Mom's hand.

"Yes, Aly?" Mom gives me a smile.

"I..." I don't know what to say or how to explain my feelings. I've never really felt this way before. Am I just looking for attention? I'm too young for love, right? But Runalymo do start puberty earlier, so am I equivalent to a fifteen- or sixteen-year-old human? "I can't help but feel... like I am... missing connections to people. I thought that maybe it's just because of the last two years that I miss you guys so much, but..."

Mom lowers herself and pulls me into a hug. "You finally realize that community is important, Aly."

I'm not entirely sure it's just that. Why now? Surely it is just a developmental thing, right? Dumb hormones running rampant; I've always been introverted, after all. But maybe... Maybe it's just that simple?