Chapter 21

Crude Magic

“Focus, Arthur. Focus,” Duliri urged, his lips appearing a little twisted from excitement.

“Better said than done!” Arthur scratched his head in annoyance. “Just stay quiet, I’m concentrating.”

It had been a few minutes since he began attempting to perceive mana again. And this time, Duliri voluntarily swapped places with Hula. He was jovial, too eager even, to see the flow of mana with his own eyes. It wasn’t actually his own, but through Arthur. Hula confirmed a while ago that while their consciousness resided within the boy, they’ll share his senses.

Arthur stared into the darkness as Duliri’s figure gazed back at him. Opening his mouth, he took a heavy breath. “Imagine it, Arthur. Imagine what it looked like before.” Several more heartbeats and the warmth poured all over his body. The heat was much warmer as though a grandmotherly embrace surrounded him. Everything became more vivid, and he could almost picture how the immediate surrounding looked.

“Please, don’t speak Duliri. I don’t want to lose my focus,” he whispered in a low voice.

The man in his head did as he was told, yet his face appeared differently. He looked perplexed like he wanted to say something. Duliri pressed his lips together and remained quiet. Arthur told them before that they had been counting chicks before the eggs hatched.

Arthur gradually opened his eyes. What welcomed him was a view clearer than ever before. His body glowed, as well as the grass, the trees and the flowers – everything. Despite seeing it the second time, his eyes sparkled in wonder and awe. It’s like seeing a starry sky in clear daylight. He lifted his arms and opened his palms. His hands clasped the moving yellowish light, yet they only passed through his grasp.

A wide grin opened his mouth ajar. “Awesome…”

Arthur frantically waved his hand in the air, yet all the mana remained independent. They moved on their own, his movements not shying them away.

“Th- This is… This is mana?” Duliri finally spoke, unable to contain the words within him.

“Amazing, isn’t it?” Arthur stood up. “Even if we move, they will still shift on their own. It’s like I didn’t exist in this plane.” Then he took another breath, Arthur jumped into the air with all his might. The moment he landed on the ground, the view reverted to normal.

Arthur looked at Hula who immediately flew beside him. “Do you think granny and azeah will be happy to see this?”

“Certainly,” Duliri said, grinning smugly. “The lady and your soon-to-be vampire guard will be very happy to see the flow of mana.”

“Then let’s practice perceiving mana until I can see them without effort!”

Arthur sat again and closed his eyes, not minding the blazing heat of the sun. He tried to see the flow of mana over and over again for the rest of the afternoon. Though he failed several times, he didn’t lose heart. In fact, failures taught him several things. Feeling and seeing mana were two different abilities. Feeling required less concentration and it seemed to be much easier to feel the warmth than see it.

In the meantime, he would try to master how to sense the flow of mana. He would take one step at a time. There’s no use at getting excited over things. Much like in his previous life, nothing would come freely to the palms of his hands. Arthur had to work hard – and he would, like always.

***

“Honey!” Katarina exclaimed as Arthur got off of Duliri who had flown from the backyard to the front yard. “What happened to your face?”

The boy scratched his head, grimacing. “It seemed that I played under the sun for too long. It’s painful…” He braced himself not to touch his reddish cheeks. “… and very itchy.”

Katarina briefly looked at Vlanca who remained silent before she stepped closer to Arthur. She slowly shook her head and clicked her tongue. “Is it very painful?”

Arthur nodded.

Katarina gently caressed his cheeks and cast a healing spell. “Next time, don’t play under the sun for too long, okay?”

“Okay.” A timid smile marked his lips. He placed both arms behind his back, his body wobbling slightly from side to side. “Are we going to race now?”

“Just a little bit, honey. We’re almost done for today.” Katarina beamed at him. “Just sit there for a while. You can watch us from a distance.”

Arthur nodded one last time as Katarina got back to Vlanca and resumed their training.

The boy keenly observed Vlanca who was also sitting down on the ground, her eyes closed. The back of her hands rested on her knees as though she was meditating. A few more breaths and her hands began to glow.

“Not like that! You’re putting too much mana on your hands!” Katarina, who stood behind her, cried out in a hard voice, and the light suddenly disappeared. “Repeat!”

Vlanca took a mouthful breath. She stayed still until her hands released some lights again.

“Control your mana! Your hands are glowing because you’re putting too much magical energy. It’s wasteful, and it will make your attacks predictable.”

The same thing happened for the next couple of minutes. It appeared that Katarina was training her mana control. Arthur already understood why she was doing this. All along, Vlanca’s gargantuan strength stemmed from her enormous mana pool. Without properly controlling her mana, she let it flow to any part of her body to strengthen her attack.

Some people called it crude magic. Others called it the lowest form of enchantment magic, even lower than elementary spells. The book also included derogatory names for it: the spell of barbarians, uncivilized and uneducated. Among its weakness, it’s highly predictable because a large concentration of mana released light and it’s also weak against opponents with long-distance spells.

Arthur let out a sigh as Vlanca stood up and bowed before Katarina. The old woman simply smiled at her, pointing towards him. Vlanca followed her gaze. Several more seconds and she was already sitting down to Arthur’s side.

“Are you alright?” Arthur asked, noticing her heavy breathing.

She timidly nodded and smiled.

“You seemed tired though. Should we postpone the race?”

Her head shook profusely. “Lady Katarina said that I can use magic during the race. If I put mana on your Hazu, she’ll run faster. She said it’ll help me control my mana better.”

“Eh?” The boy tilted his head, pouting. “Isn’t that unfair? Then, I’d certainly lose…”

“But wouldn’t it be beneficial to you too, my lord?” Hula commented. His lips bent into a crooked smile. “If she uses mana, you’ll just have to feel it from a distance. That way, you’ll be able to sense the fluctuations of magical energy even when you’re moving.”

The staff flew beside Arthur. “What are you saying, Hula? You just wanted us to lose!”

“No…” Hula’s smile bent wider. “During the race, the lord may partially let me control his body. Then, he’d be able to focus on sensing the flow of ma–”

“Wait… wait…” Duliri interrupted. “Control Arthur’s body? So you just wanted that all along!”

Arthur took a deep breath as Vlanca remained silent, seemingly oblivious to their telepathic conversation. He turned towards Duliri and gave him a sympathetic glance. “This also doesn’t sit well in my mouth, but I feel like I know what Hula was thinking. Let him finish Duliri.”

“I was just thinking that sooner or later, the lord has to get used to feeling mana when we’re moving. This will give him a better idea of how to do it.”

“I admit, it’s a great proposal…” Duliri clicked his non-existent tongue, catching Vlanca’s attention. “But I don’t think I can trust you!”

“Hmmm…” Arthur thought for a bit before he turned to Vlanca and murmured Hula’s proposal to her. “What do you think azeah?”

“I don’t know…” She looked away, arching down. “But I think you can trust Master Hula.”

Arthur’s eyes widened. How could I have forgotten? “Oh! I forgot to ask you... Why do you call him master Hu–”

“Ready, kids?” Katarina suddenly asked behind them. The two turned around and saw that she was holding her short staff.

“Yes…” Vlanca said, her voice barely above a whisper.

Katarina smiled at her. “You don’t have to be so stiff, darling. It’s time to have fun.” Then, she looked at Duliri and urged him to approach her. Once the staff hovered in front of her, she held the yellowish stone atop it. Her hands began to glow while she poured mana to him, and the stone turned even more golden. “Since Vlanca is allowed to use her mana, I channeled some of my mana to Duliri. I guess that will make this race fair.”

Arthur and Vlanca nodded, smiling at each other. “I won’t lose!” the boy declared.

“I won’t lose, either…” the lass retorted as she blushed immensely, her eyes visibly burning.

Katarina raised her staff that fired a small ball of light to the sky. After a second, it exploded. The darkening clearing had brightened once again. She waved her free hand and Alberta immediately ran towards them.

Several more minutes and they settled at the starting point where Katarina explained the rules. She smiled one last time, seeing Arthur’s flaring eyes. It seemed that you inherited your father’s stubbornness and competitive nature, she thought.

“On your marks!” Katarina yelled. “Ready… get set… GO!”