[Clematia. Wedi forest clearing]

{Day 18}

After talking well into the night, and nearly exhausting my mana several times, Ellie eventually grew tired. While spirits can supposedly stay awake for a long time, she was searching for me for two weeks, and apparently hadn’t slept the entire time. Thankfully, she only needs a night’s sleep to be fully revitalized. Though according to her, not sleeping enough will wear down somebody’s mental state, even if they don’t require it, herself included. As such, she prefers sleeping every three to four days.

When the sun was nearing its peak, Ellie awoke from her slumber yawning and stretching like a normal person would. She seemed a bit confused as to where she was until she looked at me and remembered last night’s events. After exchanging pleasantries, Ellie brought up something I hadn’t considered since my rebirth. Magic.

Had I a body, I would have facepalmed at that moment. I have many new mysterious powers, why wouldn’t magic be one of them?

Ellie gave me a skeptical look but decided to not press the issue.

I try to do what she asks of me with little to show for it. At the very least, I can tell my mana went down due to my status changing, so it went somewhere. After an hour with no visible success, Ellie decides it’s time to reevaluate the situation.

Some people are born with magical abilities called innate talents. They tend to awaken around a child’s fifth birthday, and are known to be incredibly hard to imitate with magic. Telepathy is one of the more well-known innate abilities, but it is still rare to have. Only about one in a hundred people have one, and even then only about one in twenty of those have mind-based powers, with telepathy being the weakest type. I could tell Ellie about the system, but something tells me that would be a bad idea, at least for now. Still, lying to her wouldn’t be good for building her trust, so I’ll just give a non-committal answer instead.

I pause for a moment to think before continuing.

I shut off my perception and focus, recalling the |Light ball| spell. I feel mana leaving me, and so turn my perception back on, seeing the glowing ball I created. While it’s not particularly bright and doesn’t last long before dissipating, the fact I was able to cast magic at all is a relief. Practicing more should improve my efficiency and mana pool simultaneously. While practicing more is a good idea, that’s not really a viable option at the moment.

[Mana : 12%]

For some reason, I felt sadness, followed by longing upon hearing this. I must have subconsciously recalled something upsetting, perhaps a now-deceased comrade. Try as I might, the specifics of it elude me, but that first part somehow feels right.

Two hours pass, and my mana has fully regenerated, allowing me to continue my practicing until I once again run low on mana. With each successive cast I grow faster and more proficient with |light ball|, and by the end of the day feel I have sufficient mastery to move on. Trying to infuse my mana into the grass around me, I feel it moving in the right direction, but it dissipates shortly after leaving me. Still, I’m undeniably making progress.

{Day 19}

Repeating the process with the other two cantrips I know and feel safe using has led to me improving my mana control even more. I can now successfully infuse my mana into the surrounding grass without it immediately dissipating. Perhaps it’s already time to ask Ellie to assist me in my next endeavor. After all, I still don’t know how much time I have left before danger comes to me, so it’s best to grow strong enough to not have to worry as quickly as possible. Making up my mind, I reach out using [Telepathy] once again.