“There we are. Take off your mask.” I heard Jenny say, and I did as she said. I didn’t hear anything but some birds and the calming sound of water, so I didn’t fear harming someone by inadvertence. When I opened my eyes, the scene that took place before us stunned me for some seconds, leaving me without voice. I couldn’t take my eyes off this enchanting scenery. We were outside the walls of the city, and the sun was about to go down. What I was looking at was a lake within the forest, and the lights the fireflies that flied around made as well as the pink light the sun emanated made the scene breath taking.

“Why are we here?” I asked when I finally took my eyes off the water.

“You… have some trouble because of your situation, don’t you? I mean, you would rather see with your own eyes, but you can’t because of your power. Am I wrong?” She said without answering my question.

“W-Well…” I didn’t want to acknowledge it, but I didn’t want to lie either.

“I see. I will take that for a no, then.” She continued. “I’m sorry to say that even with my vast knowledge of magic, I can’t provide you with an immediate and permanent solution to your problem. Your eyes are indeed special, and I do not know yet if there are any stories about eyes like yours that took place in the past. For this reason, I do not want to try anything harsh on you, and I can’t tell you things like ‘I’ll seal them,’ or ‘I’ll teach you how to control them.’”

“Oh…” I understood that too well. People wouldn’t have treated me as a monster from birth if there had been a way to control my eyes.

“But! There are two things I can teach you. The first will help you a lot in your current situation, and you should be able to put it in practice within a month, if you work hard. You will still have to wear something over your eyes, though. The second, well… is more of an hypothesis. I actually have never heard of something like this, but I believe it is possible to create with some determination and hard work.” She said, making me listen attentively. “Alright, let me explain. The first option doesn’t actually act on your eyes, but more on your perceptions of things. I will teach you how to feel the surrounding mana – That’s right, you will become a mage. But your training will focus on feeling the ambient mana. If you can manipulate it, that’s nice, but that’s not what the training will be about. Actually, if you succeed at this, you will be able to know what is where without seeing it with your own eyes, only by feeling the changes in the mana flow! What do you think, do you want to learn that?” She asked.

“Of course!” I said hurriedly. What was there even to discuss? This was the perfect occasion to be a little bit more independent and get rid of my fear of unknown places. I would be able to discover new environments, new people and all sort of new things with my mask on and without having to rely on someone! I wouldn’t have to be afraid of Jenny letting go of my hand and getting lost! I would finally be able to rely on no one else than myself! I had been dependant of Jenny for no more than a day, and I was already sick of my own incompetence. “What about the second method? What is it?” I asked with high hopes. If the first thing was already this great, what could the second be?

“The second will probably take years to achieve, more if you don’t put in enough dedication and efforts. I am willing to help you complete it, but you are the one that will have to put the most time in it. Well, let’s explain: I believe it would be possible to create a unique magic that would stay on your eyes at all times. At first, it could be simply to make it impossible to see through it. This would be less noticeable than a mask or anything physical. You wouldn’t be able to see either, though, and I think this part should be easily achievable. It is simply about learning to put a wall where you want to with precision, making this wall as thin as possible and putting it in front of your eyes. You would need to think of something to make it so it doesn’t hurt your eyes, to be able to close and open them with it on as well as to entirely block your ability. The next step is the real challenge: making it so YOU can see through that wall, but still block the effect of your ability. I’m not really sure how we will do this, and I’m sure a lot of tests will be needed, but if you are willing to do it, then so am I.” She explained.

“I am, of course!” I approved. That plan seemed interesting. I didn’t have any goal as of now, and the only thing I knew was that I needed to live, as my mother wished me to. This kind of research would occupy my mind and time for a while, would improve my conditions of life and might help me learn one or two things about my ability.

“Great. Let’s start with the beginning then, and have you learn to feel mana. This is why I took you here: The concentration of mana is really high. Have you ever tried to learn magic?” She asked.

“I tried, but failed without ever feeling the slightest thing,” I confessed.

“Hmm. Do you know what mana is, then?” She questioned me.

“I know, in theory. It is the source of all life and magic. There is mana everywhere: In living beings, in the air, the soil, the water… And, huh, that’s pretty much all I remember about mana. I read some books about magic, but they didn’t really explain what mana is. They were mostly about the different Elements of magic…” I explained.

“That’s already a good start!” She encouraged me. “Mana is a complex phenomenon that is still being researched, but not much progress had been made regarding it. Mana, as well as the way to feel it, is not something that can be described with words, and must be experienced for yourself to understand it. If I had to make a comparison, it would be like trying to explain what colors are like to a blind person. It is obvious to people who can see them, but those who can’t cannot imagine what they are unless they experience them for themselves. I’m sorry for not being of much help about this. I assure you, you will understand mana way better when you can feel it than you could ever by listening to me talk about it.” She said.

“Oh, I see. Then, how must I train to be able to feel it? I tried for over a week not even a month ago and didn’t see any progression.”

“This here, is something I can help with. I cannot show you how to do it, and you will have to understand mana by yourself, but I can at least make your life easier… Well, just watch.” She said as she picked up a branch off the ground and started drawing on the ground.

“… A magic circle?” I tried.

“Yes. Wait a second, it should be done soon…” She continued drawing and writing on the ground for about 40 seconds before finally standing up and looking over what she just drew. “… Yep, everything should be there… Okay, now, I’ll activate it. Go over there, just in case something happens.” I moved a little further away from the scene and observed Jenny as she started to cast her magic. It looked like she was enveloped in magenta fireflies, but I could guess it was her mana being transmuted to her Element. Then, she pointed towards the circle, and the small, flying lights followed her arm, her fingers and then parted from her body until they covered the whole circle. Finally, she inhaled sharply, waited a few second, expired slowly, and an explosion of magenta, purple and pink lights blinded me.

When the lights finally faded, I looked at the place where Jenny was standing before, but I couldn’t find her. The only thing that was apparent was an oval, dark purple hole that was standing above the place where the magic circle was previously.

“Jenny?” I asked cautiously. What was she trying to do anyways? She couldn’t have failed and been disintegrated, right? I approached the magic phenomenon slowly, curious about the thing that had appeared.

“Oh, here I am.” I heard her say, but couldn’t see her. The voice was coming from the dark hole.

As I was about to try reaching the other side of the hole, a leg came out of it, then an arm, another leg, and finally, Jenny came out of the thing. “What did you do?” I asked, impressed.

“That’s teleportation magic. I simply had to go in to check if the exit was at the right place.” She said calmly.

“Te—Teleportation magic?” Did this kind of magic even exist in the first place? I had never heard of such a thing.