Red & White Princesses

I spent the following week learning about this world and studying magic and combat in the High Gardens. There are a lot of books to read in the study. There are the encyclopedias of flora and fauna with beautiful drawings, books about the mighty kings of Wisteria and a few of them about the various races, their culture and their way of life.

Although I couldn't finish them all, I went through the essential parts and somehow arrived at a conclusion. This world follows the religion of the seven Gods. But, most of the followers are race specific. There is also a central figure known as the Guardian who is known all over the world as a great sage, who taught many things to the people of the races. Many of the laws of this world are said to be discovered by him. And also, it was he who further developed the use of magic.

There is also a historical figure known as the Evil God. He is known as a malicious and notorious God. He used to live a whimsical life, destroying everything that displeased him. In the legends, the seven Gods are portrayed as battling him and defeating him, like the victory of the good over the evil. But that was not an end to it. Some of the historians say that Evil God will return to take his revenge and the world as we know today will change, and, the time is near.

Oh good God! What a time to come to a different world! Honestly, I am not so fond of wars and tragedy. I want to live a peaceful life, earning enough to live without any difficulties and save enough for the future.

Well, come to think of it, that might not be necessary. I won't be getting old anyway. High Sprites have a very long lifespan. The prof. said that some of the sprite races live for thousands of years and they stop ageing after reaching maturity. Also, the High Undeads are believed to be almost immortal, although not much is known about them. So, I can safely assume that I have a long lifespan too, unless, misfortune befall me.

Anyway, I have alll the time in the world to learn and play. For now, I should just sit under the trees in the garden soaking in the warm sunlight and relax...

----

"Kenn...Kennny...Kenny, wake up...It is already noon. Have your lunch quickly. After that, we have the training to do."-Mimosa

Looks like I fell asleep. Ah, it is already noon. I slept the whole morning. Usually, I don't feel the need to sleep. But, if I relax for some time and start wandering in my thoughts, I quickly fall asleep.

The lunch was bread and fish curry today. The curry was light, without too many spices and the fish is called the red-tailed runner. It is big fish, about 1.5 meters long, found in abundance in the lake. Since my race was identified, my diet is no more limited to flesh and blood.

After the lunch, I helped Mimosa do the dishes, and then it was time to practice magic and combat. In fact, this last week, Mimosa has been regularly sparring with me and teaching me the various ways to use my mana.

----

In the beginning, I practised a lot to learn to collect and control mana effectively. When I started, I required much concentration to control mana. But with time and practice, I became able to do that as naturally as breathing. It is like learning to ride a bicycle or learning to swim.

Then I learned to form a ball of mana which can be used as a light source. It is done by compressing the mana into a small ball in your palm until it starts glowing brightly and becomes a little warm. Then it can be released into the air or stuck somewhere in a wall. It shines for quite a while depending on the amount of mana concentrated. By the way, the artificial light in this world is created the same way. Mana is poured into virgin crystal bulbs, and they are hanged on the walls. The crystals can be reused.

On the third day, she taught me about forming small darts out of mana. She pointed her finger at a small tree in the garden. Mana started gathering at her fingertip and formed the shape of an elongated cone. Suddenly, the glowing dart flew from her hand like a bullet and tore off a branch from the tree. There were burnt marks in the freshly cut parts, and the plant's mana was leaking from it.

When it was my turn, she asked me to imagine the shape in my head when forming the dart. I formed a small white bullet, of highly compressed mana and imagined it flying out from my fingertip like firing a gun. The glowing white bullet flew off at incredible speeds leaving a white trail and destroyed my target tree including all the ones behind it and disappeared into the forest...I decided not to practice it in the garden again.

Mimosa stared blankly in the direction of the bullet for a few moments. She said that she had never seen something so strong made out of pure mana.

We stopped magic practice for that day and started our first combat practice.

First lessons were about controlling the amount of mana while doing body strengthening. I could already do that from the running-in-the-forest practice. But apparently, that was not enough. She shot the dart again, but this time she moved fast as soon as the dart left her hand and caught it before it hit the target. Although the dart hit her palm, there was no wounds or burnt marks.

I was confident that I could do it too if I concentrated more mana in my legs. Mimosa shot the dart again, and I ran as soon as it left her hand. But, I couldn't stop right before the tree and crashed into the grove...I definitely needed more practice.

----

That night I decided to make runs in the forest to have more precise control over this superhuman strength, which is very necessary in this world to protect myself. I asked for permission from Mimosa and the prof. during dinner. The prof. was hesitant to let me go alone, but Mimosa reassured him that I will be okay. Although he allowed me to go, he asked me not to go too far out in the forest.

I put on my outdoor gear, attached the small knife to my belt, in case of any dangers, and ran towards the forest.

The cool moonlight, the silence, the occasional breeze and the small wraiths moving in the ground like tiny glowing rabbits; the forest is lovely at night too. I spread mana all around my body and turned on the full body enhancement mode.

When I started my practice, I ran a little faster than usual. Though occasionally I hit the small branches here and there, it was better than not being in complete control. I also tried jumping and doing other acrobatics in the air, which I could never do so easily back in Earth, because of the risk of accidents, but that is not a problem here, as I don't get hurt even if I fall on my face.

I increased my power slowly and slowly, and after some time I was running with all of my strength. The scenery was changing so fast that it almost became difficult to keep track of where I was heading. It almost felt like, I could teleport. The moment I decided on being there, I was there. The speed was overwhelming. Slowly, my reflexes also caught up to my speed, and I never had any small accidents.

And not only my speed but my strength is also at superhuman levels too. Once while running, my feet got stuck in a crack on a big rock, and when I tried to pull my leg out, the rock broke into two. I felt like I was just kicking sand. Afterwards, I tried my strength on some trees and other rocks. They...were obliterated.

----

I kept practising for some more time until my head started getting heavy and my power decreased as my mana levels went down. Suddenly, I noticed some clearing in the distance and decided to head there for a little rest.

When I got there, I was surprised to know that it was the coast of the lake. I was standing on a high cliff, and down there I saw a small sandy lake shore. It was later when I came to know that I went pretty far from home that day and reached the southern coast of the lake and the northernmost tip of the Aster mountains.

I jumped down the cliff and walked towards the water. The calm waters and the big moon in the night sky looked very beautiful. It may be late now, but the moon here is more prominent and brighter than that of the earth. I am sure that the tides will be very high here.

Now now, when you are in such a beautiful shore and don't enter the water, it is called bad manners. So, I looked towards my left and right and sensing nobody, I removed all my clothes and entered the water. The cold water was very refreshing... I closed my eyes and slowly.....

*sigh...I was again swept away by that beautiful feeling. When I slowly opened my eyes, I found myself sleeping on the lap of a lovely lady. Surprised, I jumped up and made some distance between us. I was confused. But it was certain that she had pulled me up from the lake to the shore. Anyway, I decided to introduce myself.

"Hello. I am Kenny. I want to thank you for pulling me up to the shore." I made a small bow and thanked her.

"Ara ara...Why are you acting like we have met for the first time and being so distant?" She stood up and replied to me smiling, in a beautiful pose with her hands in front of her. "And you have become quite a big pervert, haven't you? Sleeping in the lake naked."

"..."

Now, that I recall I jumped naked into the water. That means...I looked down. Oh! Good, God! I am wearing my shorts.

She chuckled. "Don't worry. I slipped those shorts up your legs." My face was red. I was so embarrassed that I felt like I would dig a hole in the beach and bury myself.

----

Well, now that I have a good look at her, she is definitely beautiful. Her beautiful white hair that shines in the moonlight, her pearl-like blue eyes and the simple, yet elegant one-piece dress that she is wearing, beautifully accentuates her curves and she look like a beautiful fairy. But I was confident that I hadn't met her before. Why is she acting so familiar?

"Well, I think...that this is the first time we meet," I said a little nervously.

"Is that so?" She tilted her head a little, looking confused. But a few moments later she gave a smile as if she had decided and said. "Ah...I mistook you for my husband. I always make such silly mistakes. I am really very sorry."

No no no...that is definitely not a silly mistake. I look just a kid right? How can you mistake me for your husband? But I couldn't retort like that when she apologised with such a beautiful smile.

"Let me properly introduce myself. I am Mary. Some people know me as the 'Snow Princess'. I am a High Wraith."

High...Wraith!! Is she like those little white ghosts of the forest?

I was bewildered. But when I observed her carefully, I noticed that her waist long hair changed to Ynni towards the end. Her clothes were also indistinctive at the boundaries as if they were slowly dissolving in the air.

"Ara ara...Kenny has constantly been staring at me for some time. Has my beauty, perhaps, charmed you?" She said in a teasing way.

"No no no...I mean yes...I mean you are indeed lovely *cough, The thing is that, this is the first time I have met a high Wraith."

"Ah..that was the reason. Looks like you were raised by the living in spite of you being an undead." This time I was the one who was surprised and shocked.

"Umm..how do you know about me being a high undead?" I have to know to protect my secret from leaking out any further.

"About that? It was your unique skill which told me a lot about you. You also seem to have sprite blood mixed in you. That explains your extremely high mana affinity." she explained. Then her lips curled up in a teasing manner and said, "And, looks like you are a virgin."

"Though the last part was unnecessary." *cough, That did hurt my pride as a man. "What is this unique skill that you speak off?"

"Ara...are you unknowingly using your skill? I thought you were gathering Ynni and life force from the lake."

Gathering Ynni..and life force? Hmm...it is true that when I go to places with high Ynni concentration, my heart starts feeling strange and I start to get drowsy. Do that goes inside me? If this is related, this might help me to solve my 'automatic switch-off' problem.

I took a deep breath and decided to ask her about this strange skill.

"Mary-san, you seem to know about this skill. Will you please tell me about it?"

"Yes yes...I will tell you everything that I know."

----

We talked a lot after that. I learned many things from her. According to her, my unique skill is powerful as it allows me to absorb Ynni from the environment and convert it and store it in my body as my own mana. This skill also allows me to absorb life force from the living and undead directly. Though I can absorb from the wraiths and other undead like the lich or the zombies by merely touching them, the same is not possible with the living. I can acquire their lifeforce only by touching their internals directly.

This unique skill of mine makes my mana capacity almost infinitely large, and I can do any powerful magic very efficiently. And my High Sprite blood gives me complete control over any magic affinities.

She also taught me how to use my powers. My first lesson was to learn to absorb enough mana from the environment. I dived into the lake again, as according to Mary-san, it is easier to absorb while in water and so it acts as a perfect place to practice for a beginner like me.

As soon as I entered the water and closed my eyes, the wild pleasant feeling assaulted me. My mind was getting empty, and I knew what ahead of after that. I opened my eyes and tried to concentrate on avoiding passing out. Mary-san advised me to try passing enough mana to my head if my consciousness works to slip away. For starters, I moved mana to all my body as extra safety measures and activated the full body enhancement mode.

Mary-san was right. Now, I could feel the Ynni entering my body through my skin and collecting near my chest. But this time the drowsiness was not there. My head was as bright as a beautiful mountain stream. When I enhanced my senses, I could feel the flow of Ynni and the lifeforce of the wraiths floating in the water. My eyes were so sharp that I could clearly see the far fishes through the dark waters of the lake. I decided to test my full power, so I enhanced my senses further. I felt a wonderful omnipotent feeling as if I was floating in a vast open space and my brain was recording everything. I could sense the smallest shrimp-like creatures crawling at the bottom, to the giant water beasts in the far depths of the lake. It felt beautiful as if I was a part of this world.

----

Mary-san was very happy when I told her that I succeeded in my first attempt in the first lesson.

The second lesson was to learn to absorb Ynni directly from the soil. To be honest, it was pretty hard in the beginning. When I told her that I was facing difficulty in learning it, she asked me to activate full body enhancement again and try to feel the flow of Ynni in the ground below. It was pretty easy after that. But, I had to learn to do it usually, as if breathing, without doing any enhancements in my body. I tried over and over again.

Suddenly, an idea popped into my head. I tried to spread some of my own mana in the ground through my feet. I was correct. Because of my high affinity to mana, my mana absorbs a little Ynni. And once I get the feel, I could naturally absorb the Ynni.

After that, I was pleased to know that I would never run out of mana again.

----

As it was getting pretty late, I decided to return home for that day. I wanted to get a little sleep too, though sleep is not a necessity for me as I am part undead. But, being a former human, I can't say no to the beautiful feeling of sleeping. Mary-san said that she should return to her home too, which is somewhere on the plains on the east side of the lake. But before she left, she asked me not to tell others about our meeting. She also taught me a method to contact her if I want to meet with her again.

----

I reached home quickly as I could run very fast now. Finding my way through the forest was also not a problem because of my heightened senses.

When I opened the front door, I found Mimosa standing there wearing a shawl, and...she looked apprehensive. She jumped and hugged me. "Kenny, you were out for such a long time. I was soo worried." She separated and said with moist eyes."You were also outside the perception range of both prof. and me. Where did you run off too? Did you come across some kind of danger?"

"No no Mimosa, I didn't come to across any kind of danger. Look, I am fine. Please don't cry." Her moist eyes and worried look really saddened my heart. "I wanna apologise for making you worried. I also broke my promise of not going too far. I am really very sorry. The truth is, I became so excited when I was able to run fast across the forest that I completely lost track of where I was heading and reached a sandy shore of the lake in the south."

"Southern shore? Did you go that far? The uninhabited shores of the lake are very dangerous Kenny. There are strong wraiths there. You should be very careful while visiting such places." she warned me with a serious look on her face. But she softened shortly after. "Mou...I am delighted that you are safe Kenny. Please inform me from now on, before going to such dangerous places."

Strong wraiths...Is she talking about Mary-san? She did seem to be very strong I thought. Now, I was not sure whether I should tell her about meeting Mary-san. In the first place, I don't know much about Mary-san. Neither do I understand why she asked me not to talk about her. But I felt very wrong to hide it from Mimosa. So, I decided to collect information about High Wraiths before doing anything hasty.

"Ah, please don't worry, Mimosa. The place was not that dangerous. Rather I think that it is a very good place for practising."

"Even so...please be careful Kenny," Mimosa said. "Please never provoke the strong wraiths if you meet any."

"Yes yes, I will never make you worry Mimosa."

She gave a charming smile when I said that. If I had a camera, I would have definitely captured her smile.

As it was almost dawn, we went to our rooms and tried to get a little sleep before another beautiful day begins.