Chapter 20

The Flow of Mana

Arthur looked the other way, hiding the grimace he held upon reading the words he dreaded. Hula laid beside him, the obsidian orb that sat atop its open mouth had gradually changed to golden topaz. The sun now shone brightly, much hotter than what he could bear. Arthur stood up and sat near the window of his room as faint voices and thuds echoed from the front yard.

“Children Loved by Mana,” the title read. He couldn’t help but let out a sardonic laugh.

The staff that still bathed under the sun gently floated and tilted towards him. “Any problems?”

Arthur shook his head, while Duliri laughed victoriously in his head. “Speak a word, Duliri. I’m telling you, you’re minced meat.”

“Trust me. I wouldn’t dare.” Duliri was still laughing when he turned his attention to the book. “And I told you so, you’re one of them. Look! It said, ‘Most children awaken at the age of five, some at six or seven. A very limited number of them, however, awaken earlier. Scholars called them, the children–”

“Okay! I can read it on my own, okay? Just stay quiet!”

Duliri raised both his arms. “Alright… alright… You don’t have to be so mad.”

Arthur heaved a sigh. Then he traced the book and continued reading. “These people who awaken at such an early age usually have larger mana capacity and can control and perceive mana better than others. According to the accounts recorded from Dupulu Papal Library, it seemed that all ‘The Children Loved by Mana’ have at least one ‘Gift’ from the moment they were born.”

His brow rose in reflex as Arthur flipped back the pages. His heart racing from the possibilities. “Gifts are extraordinary abilities that one acquire at birth. The most common being able to learn all forms of elemental magic with relative ease while others may include being able to use rare forms of magic such as Space Magic or Time Magic. The rarest of the kind was being able to use magic without incantations and being able to put an enchantment on one’s spell.”

“Duliri…” Arthur whispered, staring at the book. His lips and hands trembled. “You said that Grandmother has the rarest form of Gift, right? Doesn’t that mean that she also awakened earlier than most children?”

“No!” Duliri immediately answered. His eyes half-closed mockingly. “This is what happens when you get too excited. Return to the pages earlier.”

Flip. Flip. Flip.

“Read the next paragraph… See? It says, ‘One shouldn’t be confused, however. Not all gifted are children loved by mana while all children loved by mana is gifted.’”

“Then, what do you think is my gift?”

“It’s gonna be amazing… But please, Arthur…” Duliri said in an overly dramatic and slow tone as though he was about to cry. “Finish the book first. There are only two pages left.”

“Alright…” Arthur nodded, scratching his head and looking away. Then he skimmed through the remaining two pages of the book. It was rather unimportant and nothing but additional trivia, much like the things he had been reading for the last hour. He could have started trying to perceive and control mana a while ago, if not for his own self-made completion syndrome that he should finish every book he started reading, however unbearable it was.

***

“Just concentrate a little more! Stop complaining!” Duliri exclaimed, hovering just a few inches behind Arthur’s ears.

“I am concentrating! But it’s hard!” Arthur sucked a breath, running both hands on his hair. “Hula, honestly, has a very creepy face… Can you let him control the staff again?”

“No! It’s in the agreement.” Duliri glided away. “I control the staff beginning in the afternoon until midnight. Then, it’s his turn from midnight through the afternoon. Aren’t you the one who said that we couldn’t break it?”

Arthur pouted. “Fine!” He closed his eyes and told Hula, “I’m sorry, Hula, but can you turn around? Not to offend you, but even your unsmiling face has this unnatural scary smile.”

Hula laughed mildly, making Arthur jump back. “I didn’t know that you, Sir Arthur, are a scaredy-cat.”

“Yeah… Yeah… Just turn around. I’m a jumpy child, alright?”

“Resorting to being a child, are we?” Duliri sneered.

Arthur hissed as he opened his eyes. “Yeah… And thankfully, even with a scary face, Hula is more considerate to children. Unlike a certain someone in front of me.”

“Is that supposed to be me?”

A sarcastic smile bent his lips. “Obviously?”

Without waiting for Duliri’s response, Arthur sat on the grass again and closed his eyes. He stared unseeingly against Hula’s broad back as he recalled all the things he learned from the book.

Mana could be traced to any form of matter – air, water, stones, rocks, soil – and even to the bodies of living things. It is the fundamental energy that enabled life to exist in the first place and how the world came to be.

Inhale. Exhale.

“Yes, like that,” he mumbled. “Feel it, Arthur. Remember all the times your grandmother use magic in front of you. Think that mana resides within all existence.”

Inhale. Exhale.

“Remember it. That warmth, the first time granny cast enormous fire magic into the sky. Yes, the warmth that protected you from the heat.”

Inhale. Exhale.

A smile crept on his lips as he felt a familiar warmth on his chest that surged to his veins, spreading it all over his body. The surrounding emitted faint heat and behind him, it also radiated some cold air to his neck. “Yes, just like that, feel it.” Large drops of sweat seeped from his forehead. All his body hair stood at full length. His eyes slowly opened and within half a second, they widened, larger than ever before.

Small yellowish dust surrounded him and radiated faint light. He had to partially cover his face because the grass, the trees, the small pebbles on the ground, the sky, the clouds – everything within his peripheral view – also glowed.

“I can feel it… I can see it…” he mumbled.

“What can you see?” Duliri suddenly appeared in front of him, the orb atop the staff emitting a blinding light.

Arthur shut his eyes the next second and his heart almost jumped.

Hula welcomed him to the darkness, his face visibly shocked. His mouth opened agape. The unnatural smile on his lips had disappeared.

“What can you see?” Duliri repeated.

A few more breaths and Arthur looked at him, unable to see all the lights he saw before. “Mana… I could see mana just a while ago! I could see it on the trees, the leaves, everything!”

“What? You see mana?” Duliri inched closer, letting out a nervous laugh. “You’re kidding me, right?”

“No… I’m telling you. If you hadn’t spoken, I wouldn’t have broken my concentration and I will s–” He stuttered. “I will see them, even now.”

“Arthur… I can’t believe you,” Duliri said as a matter-of-factly. “You know no one could see them outright. We can feel–”

“Shush, Duliri!” Hula said telepathically, his tone coming out hard and commanding. “It’s just a glimpse, but I saw it too. I saw the flow of mana through the lord’s eyes. It might be one of his…”

Duliri gasped. Then a brief silence dawned onto them.

“Superus Dupulu!” Duliri first broke out from the quiet and flew excitedly into the skies, taking Hula’s consciousness with him. “This gift… this gift…” He added as he dived back towards Arthur. “I’ve never known anyone who has it!”

Hula, who briefly jumped back to Arthur’s head, shook his head and clicked his tongue. “Stop exaggerating! There is one in history who has it…”

Duliri abruptly stopped. “C’mon, Hula. That’s just a legend.”

Hula smirked, his face becoming more villainy. “Might be. But our lord certainly isn’t. He might even actually be the first to reach the Absolute Magical Rank.”

“Okay, stop, stop…” Arthur raised both hands, palms open. “You’re both exaggerating this too much.”

“No!” Hula and Duliri said in unison.

“Siglein Ariston might be a legend. The only person who can see mana and reach the theoretical rank but...” Duliri said smugly. “Just think about its uses, the uses of your gift. Interference Magic will certainly one of them!”

Hula’s smile bent wider, seemingly oblivious that he had been agreeing with Duliri for a while now. “Yes, if you could see the flow of mana, then it will certainly easier to interfere, cast, or use any magic.”

Arthur raised a brow. “It’s that good?”

Hula nodded while Duliri exclaimed a resounding ‘yes’. “With the right ways to use it, it’ll be formidable,” they both added in unison.