I frowned. The Trashy Novel had not mentioned other ways to use mana.


    “How do you think spells work?” Miss Emily asked.


    “A spell is a moment—a powerful moment with so much emotion that it connects with an element and gets the surrounding mana to act with it. That is why it is more efficient, a part of the cost is borne by the surrounding mana.”


    Miss Emily groaned. “I did not know that. And I cannot tell you if that is true, the workings of a spell are a mystery to me.”


    I noticed something then. Miss Emily had a very distinct way of speaking before. But now she spoke normally, no she spoke she was nobility herself. Perhaps she was, or had been at some point of time. This was the Lake of the Forgotten after all. There were plenty of runaway nobility here. Miss Emily could very well be one of them.


    “What I do know is that a spell has a structure.” she continued. “There are parts that tell it how much mana to use, what shape to make and how to do it. If you are careful, you can make altered, weaker versions of it that can do different things. The effect isn’t as powerful as a spell, or even your emotion based magic, but it works. That’s how most people do it.”


    “Oh.” I answered.


    “Try casting a spell.” she began.


    I interrupted her. “I don’t know any spells.”


    “Not even one?” she asked, frowning.


    “No, I haven’t had the chance.”


    The healer just glared at me. “How do you use mana then? If your element is what is worrying you, then I assure you that -”


    “No, it’s not that.” I said, interrupting her again. “I just awakened my mana using emotions as base.”


    “What? Ho- how in the world did you manage that? I have only heard of such a thing.” There was quite a bit of interest in her voice now. Miss Emily had seemed largely tired and bored by me before. Now she was looking at me like I was her favorite meal.


    “Was it hard? Can you tell me about it?”


    Hmm, it had been hard. But honestly not that hard, once I figured out what I needed to do, mana had answered my call rather easily. Did it have something to do with the Forest of Tragedy? That place had a much higher amount of Darkness mana than normal. Perhaps there was something there that just made Darkness mana more active.


    “No, leave it.” she said. “Tell me whenever you feel like it.”


    I really wasn’t against telling her. I just didn’t know what had happened myself. For all I knew, it could have been an effect of the Court of Justice.


    “What did you want to do again? Learn how to sense your own mana, yes? I can help you with that.” she said.


    “Ok.” I replied, straightening my back and looking at her.


    “First, focus on yourself.” she began. I did so…kind of. I tried to be aware of my body. The terminology was common enough that I knew what to do. I just wasn’t very good at it. Paying attention to just one thing for extended periods of time was not my strong suit.


    “Then look at it.”


    I looked up in confusion. “Look at what?”


    “At yourself.” the healer answered. “That should be enough. A mana cloak is not difficult to view, just wish to do it and it will reveal itself.”


    I frowned, following her instructions. I had tried stuff like that, but it hadn’t worked before. Why would it be different this time around?


    As expected, no cloak became visible.


    “I can’t see it.” I stated.


    Miss Emily narrowed her eyes, getting up and crossing the table to stand beside me.


    “Stand up.” she said. I did so.


    “How do you see other’s cloaks?” she asked, waving her hand in the air.


    I looked at it. I sensed mana move around it in a revolving pattern, mana circling it like it was jewelry. That was some impressive control. And here I couldn’t even see my own mana cloak, let alone use it like that.


    “When I look in their direction, I sense that something is there. Then I realize that there is a power moving there, and my brain just realizes what it is. I can’t really explain it, the information just appears in my mind.” I explained.


    Even to myself it didn’t make much sense. The workings of mana sense weren’t easy to understand. Why would it work this way?


    “I see.” Miss Emily said, a smile emerging on her face. “Now close your eyes.”


    I frowned, but still did so. Where was she going with this?


    “What about now?” she asked.


    I opened my eyes to look, only to be greeted by Miss Emily shaking her head. “No, keep your eyes closed.”


    “But I need to keep them open to see mana.” I protested, and then stopped.


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    Did I need to see the mana? I had been thinking of it that way, but was it true?


    “No, you don’t.” Miss Emily said, confirming what I was thinking. “This is something I am familiar with.”


    The healer headed back across the table, taking a seat. I took my own.


    “What you are feeling right now is something most commoners face when they awaken mana. For most of us, the surrounding mana is so low that our undeveloped mana sense cannot sense it. But once our mana awakens, it is suddenly there.” she said.


    I frowned. I had been able to sense mana even before I awakened it, or was that because of the large amount of mana around?


    “But you see, this causes a problem.” she continued, sounding very eager. There was an excitement to her voice that had not been there before. Miss Emily was enjoying this. I suppose she liked being able to solve medical issues. That moment when she was able to solve it was probably great to her.


    “The body and mind are used to only five senses. The mana sense is not exactly a sixth sense—it isn’t nearly as expansive or varied as the others. But it still doesn’t fit into the way your body perceives reality.”


    “So the human brain, strange thing that it is, decides to force the sense into its own perception of reality. A reality made up of five senses. So, of course, it tries to act like the mana sense is just an extension of one of your existing senses.”


    “In your case, it tries to make mana something it ‘sees’. As for why you can’t see your own mana cloak, well, that is just your brain being stubborn. The thing knows that what you are looking at is your body, it can feel it, and the physical senses tell it that mana isn’t there.”


    “I would even go as far as to speculate that it is your sense of touch that is causing the issue. But either way, it ignores what mana sense is telling it and so you do not sense your own mana cloak.” she finished.


    “Oh.” I said, wondering what I should think. That sounded like a serious issue. The explanation had been pretty long too. At the same time, she had said that it was common. Perhaps it had a solution?


    “So is there a way to -”


    “Just give it time.” she interrupted, going back to her normal self. “That should let your brain adjust.”


    “I, ugh, I am not sure if I have the time.” I replied. “Not knowing how much mana I have gets in the way of -”


    “Why does not being able to see your mana cloak mean not knowing how much mana you have? As it is, such things are painfully subjective. Just keep shooting arrows of Darkness or something until you run out of mana. That should tell you how much mana you have. And then you can plan from there.”


    “But that would leave me vulnerable! I would be out of mana for however long it took for it to recharge.”


    Miss Emily looked at me strangely. “The gaps in your knowledge are…very strange. But if you just conjure the arrows and tell mana to remain out of your cloak just a few meters away, it will not take long for it to return. The amount of time it takes for you to regenerate your mana is exactly as much as it takes for the mana to travel back.”


    “Because that’s literally what it is. The mana is yours to begin with. The reason you cannot use it is that it is too far away for you to impose your will upon it.”


    Oh, I knew that part. The area I could impose my will on it was actually just my mana cloak, though sometimes some simple commands could work. If mana was listening, it would follow the orders.


    “If I send my mana away, how will I tell it to come back? Wouldn’t that require it to be in the mana cloak?”


    Miss Emily rolled her eyes. “Walk to it. Or send your last arrow into the mana and tell it all to come back. Even if you don’t, mana won’t stay away from you for long. I haven’t been able to keep mine away for more than an hour.”


    The healer stood up, smiling as she did so. “Now I shall have to get back to work. I’m sure you have more questions, but they will have to wait. I don’t know much about your emotions based magic anyway. And I really should get back to my patients. If you want to use your spells here, go ahead. Just don’t destroy anything.”


    “Is there anywhere I can get spells?” I asked her as she put the truth orb back in its place and closed the bookshelf.


    Miss Emily sighed. “The two Guilds and the City Lord should have one or two. The royal knights have them, of course. But I am not sure if you can get them -”


    The woman stopped, her eyes narrowing as she stared at my face. “Hmm, perhaps there is a way. I shall see what I can do, but don’t get your hopes up. There’s a reason the awakened have their own section of the city.”


    Miss Emily left the office and I just stared at my surroundings. Was I sure this was the place to be practicing spells? There were an awful lot of things here.


    Or perhaps she expected me to be able to control my mana. Well, that was fair. I was sure I could. And perhaps the things weren’t that valuable?


    Did that mean she had more than one of those truth orbs? Just who was she? Why would she even have things like that?


    sc


    The Butler whistled as he cleaned his Great Master’s shoes. A long time ago he had a name. But the Great Master had taken it from him. And he’d deserved it. The crime of falling for the schemes of that bloody blonde haired child was greater than he could bear.


    The fool had escaped from his Great Master’s mansion. To even think of leaving this great place. The Butler could not imagine it. A part of him, some part he wished he could forget, screamed at the thoughts. Like it was telling him to notice something, to snap out of it.


    How idiotic. This was the Great Master’s home, and his place was serving here. Cleaning his shoes.


    A sound to his right had him looking up, though he did not dare stop in his task. The Great Master had assigned it to him. But perhaps if it were more important, he could spare some time. The Great Master might even reward him if he did well.


    A young boy lay on the floor, blood seeping out of his chest. Master Leif stood above him, gazing down at the disgusting creature. What had he done to anger the Great Master’s son?


    But it was not his place to question. There were other tasks that had been given to him. The shoes still needed more cleaning.


    “What do you think of him?” Leif asked.


    The Butler looked around for the person Master Leif was speaking to. How had he missed them?


    “I’m speaking to you.” Master Leif said, sounding annoyed by his lack of response.


    The Butler was terrified. The feeling came from that voice that refused to keep shut, and this time it refused to let go. Even as he tried to quiet it.


    “Do you think he will be obedient?” Master Leif asked, his purple eyes gazing into the butler’s.


    “Perhaps Master. I could not tell.” he answered honestly.


    “Hmm, I suppose I shall see.” Master Leif said, sighing as he waved his hand. The wounds on the boy’s body healed. In seconds, he looked like he had not been injured.


    “I hope my brother appreciates this little birthday gift. I put in a lot of effort to prepare it.”


    “I am sure he will, Master.” the Butler said, returning to his task. “What fool would not enjoy such a gift?”


    A part of him was wondering what the gift even was. But he did not dare ask.