Chapter 10 The Questioning

A couple of hours later, Evernya woke up and immediately broke down, body heaving from sobs, curled up in a ball with her mana cocoon wrapped around her like a safety blanket.

I thought she was different! I thought she wouldn’t hurt me. I was wrong. Everyone hurts me! To think I nearly told her about the full truth. Why do people keep hurting me? I’ve done nothing wrong? All I want is to be free!

After hours of crying, she ran out of tears, feeling empty. She just laid there, staring at nothing, feeling nothing.

Around the same time, Meira approached Evernya’s bedroom door. Despite knowing Evernya must be awake, she refrained from entering. She placed a bowl of Northern Furred Chicken soup by the door before retreating, only to return a few hours later to find the soup cold, untouched. With a heavy heart, she placed Evernya’s next meal, taking the cold soup away.

The routine repeated itself three times a day for the next week. Every time the food was cold and untouched. With each passing day, Meira’s depression worsened.

Meanwhile, in Evernya’s bedroom, she continued to stare at nothing with the same vacant expression. Over the week, her body thinned from malnourishment and inactivity.

To protect itself, her stomach growled, breaking her out of her stupor. Her nose twitched as she tried to pinpoint the enticing scent. Upon locating the scent, she crawled out of bed, weakened from malnourishment. With unsteady legs, she shuffled to the door to find lukewarm eggs and bacon with milk. After grabbing the food, she retreated into her room, closing the door behind her. She perched herself on her bed, inhaling the food.

After she set the plate down, she spotted a note on her right nightstand. Unable to resist her curiosity, she picked it up and read it.

Dear Evernya,

I am very sorry I hurt you. I did not intend to cause you harm. I hope you will forgive me for my mistake because I don’t think I can forgive myself for what I did. Don’t worry about me barging into your room. Your room is your safe zone. I won’t intrude unless you permit me.

Sincerely,

Meira

Tears formed in her eyes as she finished the letter. She set it back on the nightstand as the food coma forced her to lie down to sleep. She gave in to her body’s desire to sleep, too tired to think about the letter or anything else.

A few hours later, Meira found the plate of food missing, causing a smile to bloom. She itched to comfort her kitten, but she made a promise to stay out of Evernya’s personal space. After setting another plate down, she trotted down the hall with an added bounce in her step.

A few days later, after sorting through her thoughts on being stuck in an unfamiliar world, Evernya realized she needed at least one ally. Meira is the only one who’s helped me, so she’s the best candidate. I’m not sure I can trust her yet, but I should at least give her a chance to explain herself. She even leaves food for me multiple times a day.

After reaching her decision, she jumped out of her bed, already recovered from her week of fasting. She surveyed her bedroom, spotting all the differences she didn’t see before. None of the brands were familiar, such as the ManaVision TV. However, most designs differed slightly from Earth but remained close enough to seem familiar at a glance. How didn’t I notice sooner? It’s so obvious now, but I guess I had too many things on my mind to notice before.

As she left her bedroom, her thoughts wandered. I hope someone takes care of my cats. I guess subconsciously I still hoped that I could return to my old life. So having it proven impossible forced another panic attack. Even if I was still on earth, I knew I couldn’t return to my old life. Unless I get some sort of dimensional travel power, I can never go back.

Does everyone have magical powers? I am so clueless about this world. I need to do a lot of research if I’m going to survive here.

First, I need to stop losing control of my emotions. I won’t get anywhere if I can’t keep my emotions in check. I wasn’t this emotional as a human. Is it because I’m a shifter, not human, or is it this body specifically that’s to blame? Though being fair, I doubt many would remain calm after the shit I’ve been through.

She descended the stairs to the ground floor. Apparently, I’m 19 years old again. Most people would kill for the chance to reset their life. I’m not sure it’s been worth it with how much shit I’ve been through since I first woke up. At least I’m an adult. Well, I don’t know laws in this world, so maybe not. Still, reliving my life from birth would suck. Though at least I wouldn’t be as clueless as I am now, or I would be in some lab trained to be a soldier. Really, there is no way of knowing what could’ve happened. What’s more important is focusing on the now.

Evernya made her way down to the main living area of the house, finding Meira sitting on the couch watching the morning news. She silently sat down on the recliner to Meira’s left. Evernya eyed Meira with a scowl and whipping tail, waiting for the elf to notice her.

After almost a minute, Meira jumped in surprise upon finding a pair of sapphire glowing eyes drilling into her. Meira turned off the TV before sitting back on the couch, turning her full attention to Evernya. “Hello Evernya,” Meira greeted with a nervous but hopeful smile.

Without beating around the bush, Evernya demanded, “Why and how did you hurt me?”

Without a hint of hesitation, Meira answered, having spent many hours imagining this very conversation. “I used my mana aura to assert my dominance over you like a shifter would. As an elf, I don’t have the alpha trait in my aura, but with our strength differences, it didn’t matter.”

She let out a shuddered breath while clenching and unclenching her hands nervously as she continued to speak. “Since you didn’t know how to offset my mana aura with yours, you received the full force of my aura. I should’ve realized you wouldn’t know how to release your aura, especially when you weren’t in your right mind. If you were calm, you might have instinctually released your aura to protect yourself.”

Tears escaped Meira’s eyes as her emotions got the better of her. “I made a huge mistake by releasing my aura on someone who couldn’t protect themselves. If you were an unawakened human, the results could’ve been disastrous. At a minimum, I would’ve damaged your mana veins or core or worse. Fortunately, you are much tougher than an unawakened human, but it doesn’t excuse my actions.”

Meira wiped the tears from her eyes and cleared her throat before she revealed. “If I released my aura on an unawakened human, the local Mage’s council would hunt me down and arrest me. To make it worse, the Council wouldn’t grant me leniency since they are all humans. The severity of my punishment would depend on the importance of the human, but I doubt they would cripple my mana system. I am way too valuable to this area to cripple, but they may force indentured servitude or a heavy fine to bankrupt me.”

Meira paused while maintaining eye contact with her kitten before apologizing. “So you see how big of a mistake I made. I am truly sorry I pushed my aura on you. I swore to myself never to hurt you, but I still did.”

Her apology appears to be genuine. Though I was never good at reading people. For all I know, she could be a master manipulator with her centuries of experience. Even if she was, I have little choice but to accept her apology.

After taking a few minutes to digest Meira’s explanation and apology, Evernya replied, “It may take me a little while to trust you, but I accept your apology. I understand you didn’t mean to hurt me, but I’ll need some time.”

Meira’s shoulders slumped in relief as tears brimmed in her eyes. “Thank you for giving me a chance to atone for my mistake.”

Evernya shifted gears, allowing her curious side free rein. “So, I have a bunch of questions about the terms you mentioned.”

Meira wiped her face with her sleeve before pledging. “I will answer all questions the best that I can. I owe you.”

“What is an unawakened human?” Asked Evernya.

Meira enthusiastically rambled, eager to atone for her mistake. “An unawakened human is a human who hasn’t awakened their magic class yet. As I mentioned before, usually humans awaken between ages 15 to 18. Every magical capable race goes through an awakening. Before the awakening, which is the solidification of one’s mana system and awakening of their magic class, their mana grade remains below one. Some unlucky people never awaken. Society calls these people mundanes or cripples. As a human, if one doesn’t awaken by the age of 25, they face exile from all Sespina Federation controlled cities. It is the same for most races, but only humans produce mundanes regularly.”

Just as Meira finished her explanation, Evernya had another question queued up, refusing to let off the throttle. “What is a mana grade?”

Meira took a breath before answering. “A mana grade is the measurement of how potent your maximum output of magic is. Everything magical has a mana grade categorizing its potency, including items. Almost everything magical passively leaks a small amount of their mana aura, allowing others to gauge their strength to a point. One can limit the amount of mana leakage, but it is almost impossible to seal up all leaks. I had heard rumors of people capable of it, but I didn’t believe it was possible until I met you. Somehow, despite your total lack of control over your magic, you do not leak any mana. It is like you are a ghost, no smell, no mana leakage, and you are scarily silent on your feet.”

“So being scentless isn’t normal for a shifter?” Evernya questioned with a scowl.

Meira smiled at Evernya as she explained, “Everyone has a scent, especially shifters. Shifters have particularly potent scents. Even those at the highest known mana grades have a scent. Though it’s usually subtle and pleasant.”

Fantastic, not only am I in an unfamiliar magical world, but I am an outlier in said world. Nothing I can do about it now if people don’t like my uniqueness, then screw them! Evernya thought, growling under her breath before returning to her questioning of the elf.

“So, I’ve gone through this awakening then?” Evernya inquired.

Meira thought of how to explain for a minute before responding, “Yes, you have. However, I have no way of knowing when with your elusive race. Typically shifters awaken near the end of puberty, around 14 to 16 years old.”

A thought came to Meira prompting her to inquire, “By the way, do you know your shifted form? It should be instinctive.”

“Like an animal form?” Evernya questioned, trying to wrap her head around the fact people could transform into animals.

“Yes, for example, a black-haired catkin’s fully shifted form is a black panther,” Meira explained.

Evernya fell silent for a second before stating, “I don’t think I can transform into an animal.”

“What can you shift?” Meira inquired, leaning forward, showing her curiosity.

Evernya closed her eyes, focusing on racking her brain for what she needed. A second later, she found she could, in fact, shift parts of her body. Despite knowing which parts she could shift, she didn’t know their appearance. She sent the trigger to shift, then watched with curiosity as mana left her mana core to race off to her head, hands, and feet through her mana veins.

A moment later, she opened her eyes to inspect her hands and feet. She found six centimeters long, gleaming, razor-sharp sapphire claws in place of her finger and toenails. At the same time, her tongue came into contact with two familiar pointy fangs descending from her upper jaw. Another change she discovered was her eyesight. Shadowed areas were now clearly visible, but brighter areas were almost blinding. She turned her attention back to the elf to her right, who was watching her with interest.

Meira materialized a handheld mirror, holding it up to her kitten. Evernya inspected the changes tail tip waving on her lap. The only obvious changes she noticed were fangs poking out of her upper lips and her eyes turning catlike with the vertical pupils. She shifted them back and forth a few times before becoming bored.

After shifting everything away, she turned her attention back to the mirror. “How did you make the mirror appear?” Evernya inquired.

Meira pointed at a thin crystal ring on her right thumb as she explained with passion. “This is a dimensional storage ring. Wealthy mages usually have one. Most use dimensional storage devices as a symbol of wealth, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t useful. Luckily I didn’t have to buy my ring because they cost a fortune even for a small one. The cost of buying a dimensional pocket created by a spatial mage alone drives the price sky-high not to mention the complex enchantments required to establish a stable connection.”

Interesting, so they have storage devices like in cultivation stories in this world. Having one of those would be really convenient, no need to bring luggage anywhere. Evernya thought, while eyeing the ring with greed flashing on her face.

While keeping her eye on the ring around Meira’s right thumb, Evernya commented, “Thank you for explaining. I’d love to have one of those.”

“I’m sure you will get your hands on one, eventually.” Meira hinted after storing away the mirror.

After a few seconds’ pause, Evernya continued her question barrage, “What are magic classes?”

Without missing a beat, Meira responded, “Upon awakening, the system governing all Magicals assigns a magical class or classes to the person dictating what type of magic the person can use. For example, I am an enchanter and an air sorceress. I can place enchantments on anything that is enchantable and use air magic. What I can’t do is use spells or say fire magic, because those are not a part of my magic classes. The most common magic classes are warrior, wizard, and sorcerer with enchanter, and healer somewhat uncommon. There are other rarer types, but I would say ninety percent of people fall into those types.”

Unable to contain her curiosity, Evernya blurted, “What class am I?”

Meira paused for a moment before replying. “I’m not sure. We will have to get you tested. It isn’t safe to experiment with random types of magic, as it could cause a severe backlash. Most shifters have the warrior class, which allows them to use one’s magic to strengthen their body and speed up healing. Unfortunately, humans don’t recognize the warrior class as a valid class because it’s one of the few classes humans rarely, if ever, awaken, but that’s a topic for another day.”

Meira cleared her throat before continuing. “At first, I thought you were an air sorceress, but now I’m not sure. Unlike wizards who have a near limitless amount of spells to learn, sorcerers can only control an element or two if they are lucky. Sorcerers have the advantage of a much quicker application of their magic, as they don’t have to cast spells. They instead convert their mana into their attuned element. In fast-paced combat, a sorcerer will have an advantage over a wizard despite their limited scope of magic. I don’t think you are a wizard. Even if you were, it is incredibly dangerous to cast spells without supervision, which I’m not qualified to provide. You could still be a sorceress, with an unknown element similar to air, but I don’t think you are. Either way, we won’t know for sure until you get tested. Unfortunately, I can’t get my hands on a class appraising orb since the humans don’t trust I will keep the enchantment formula to myself.”

Evernya deflated, tail drooping lifelessly, “So, I can’t learn more about magic until I get tested?”

Unable to handle her kitten’s depressed expression, Meira offered, “There is still plenty to learn about magic without knowing your class. In fact, after I make us lunch, I will teach you a magic technique.”

“What is it?” The curious and excited catgirl blurted, tail waving behind her.

“Not telling. Wait until after lunch to find out.” Meira teased before standing up.

With a teasing smile, Meira ordered, “Wait here, I’ll be back in a few minutes.”