《Through Norr's Eyes》 Chapter 1: Birth In a certain town existed a married couple who didn¡¯t love each other. The man was a rich and powerful bishop, and the woman had been assigned as his breeding partner. He was born in a family of respected clergymen, she had come from an adventurer family, and had awakened the White Magic element. He had as much money as he could wish for, she was poor. Their parents arranged their marriage so that each side could profit from it; The clergymen would have one more White Mage in their ranks, the adventurers would receive more money than they could spend if they sold their daughters to them. And a year later, in the same town they were sent to succeed the prior bishop, the woman was in pain. ¡°Miss Mary! What is wrong?¡± A maid approached her hurriedly, as the woman was starting to lose strength in her legs. ¡°It¡¯s¡ªThe baby¡­ I need to¡ªhaa, haa¡­¡± She tried to go to her bed, but the distance was too great, and she fell on her knees, out of breath. ¡°The baby is coming! Go get Mister Abbot! Quick!¡± The maid yelled to the curious villagers who had stopped near the window. He understood the situation quickly and departed for the church, where said Abbot worked and lived. ¡°Miss Mary, your husband will arrive soon! I will help you lay on your bed, please try to relax.¡± ¡°Yes, I¡ªhaa, haa¡ªI understand¡­¡± --------------------- ¡°Mister Abbot! Mister Abbot!¡± A villager rushed in the church. ¡°What is it? Why do you yell in this sacred place, Alexander?¡± Asked the bishop, annoyed at the sudden noise. ¡°Its, it¡¯s Miss Mary! She¡¯s giving birth! You need to go see her!¡± ¡°Oh, finally. Hmm. Alright, I¡¯ll go. Maggid, you¡¯re in charge until I return!¡± He said to a pastor in a rigid manner. --------------------- When Abbot arrived at his home, Mary had already given birth and she was sleeping. He overlooked his wife and asked the maid, who was taking care of the baby, to take him in his arms. ¡°Sure, please wait a moment, I will simply finish to wash him and put a towel around him.¡± She said, concentrated on caring for the infant. When she was done, the baby opened his eyes, looked around, and then locked eyes with hers. She suddenly felt incredibly dizzy, and only had the time to put the baby on the table before she lost consciousness. ¡°Hey, what¡¯s wrong? What are you doing?¡± Abbot asked, at first annoyed at her, then with anger. He turned her around and discovered she wasn¡¯t breathing anymore. He panicked slightly before finally going outside the house hurriedly, calling for help, and a doctor arrived shortly after. ¡°What happened to her?¡± The doctor asked, looking at the maid. ¡°I don¡¯t know, she had the baby in her hands and she suddenly fell¡­ So, how is she?¡± He asked, uninterested. ¡°¡­ I¡¯m very sorry, I¡¯m afraid it is already too late to save her¡­ Her heart isn¡¯t beating anymore, and my potions didn¡¯t have any effect.¡± ¡°Oh, I see. How about my wife? And do look after the baby too, please.¡± Abbot continued, not caring in the least what happened to a mere maid. She could easily be replaced, after all. ¡°Huh? Oh, yes, sure.¡± The doctor answered, not used to have this kind of response when announcing the death of someone. ¡°Your wife is fine, she simply passed out from the pain. Her body still needs rest, but she should wake up within two or three hours. As for your kid¡­ He¡¯s healthy too, and¡ªUrgh..¡± After his eyes met the baby¡¯s, the doctor fell on the ground and passed out.Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. --------------------- ¡°Waaa, waaa!¡± I cried, as I came to my senses. I felt weird, having to breathe for the first time and leaving the comfortable place I was in for 9 months ago. ¡°Shh, calm down, it¡¯s alright¡­ There, there¡­ Miss Mary, congratulations! It¡¯s a boy!¡± I heard a woman say. What is she saying? I don¡¯t understand... I felt my consciousness fade as she lulled me to sleep. I woke up as the woman from before put me in a bath of warm water. It was very comfortable, and I looked around happily. When she took me out of the water and put a cloth around me, I looked at her face, and our eyes met. I felt a weird sensation for a short moment, but her grip suddenly felt weak, and I almost fell. She put me on the table and I saw her fall on the ground, emotionless. I started crying, unable to understand why this was happening, as the man who was in the room left hurriedly while yelling some incomprehensible things. He then came back, accompanied by a man. The new person opened a case and took a vial out of it after having checked the condition of the woman. He tried to make her drink something, but it didn¡¯t seem to go as he had planned. The two men talked shortly, the newcomer went to the bed, where a beautiful woman was lying, and then approached me. I looked at him in the eyes, felt the same sensation as earlier and he fell on the ground. After this, the man that was still standing muttered some things before taking me in his arms, avoiding to look at me. He took me in a way that made me unable to see his face, and he left the house with me in his arms. ¡°Everyone, look at this baby! It is the son of me, Abbot, and my wife, Mary! He has been blessed by the Gods, and will grow up to be a fine clergyman, like me!¡± The villagers arrived by dozens, trying to peek a glance at me. But, every one I locked eyes with fell on the ground. ¡°What is happening? Why is everyone¡­? Mom?¡± Asked a child whose mother just passed out. ¡°It¡¯s this child! Everyone that this kid looks at dies!¡± Yelled a man. ¡°He is not blessed by God, but by a demon!¡± Said a woman. ¡°He must be killed! He will bring bad luck to our village!¡± Yelled someone. ¡°Yeah! We must not allow him to live any more!¡± Added a villager. ¡°Everyone! Please, calm down, and listen to me. This kid¡­ I feel a great power in this child. We must not act harshly! Remember that he is my son, I, who is in a direct relation with the Gods! This baby, I tell you, has the blood of God flowing in him! We must not kill him!¡± Said Abbot with determination, as he hid my eyes with his palm. ¡°That must be true, he is the one who said it¡­¡± The people trusted their bishop blindly, since religion was known to be absolute. ¡°But, you saw what he just did¡­ We can¡¯t allow him to kill any more people! His eyes must be sealed!¡± Someone added. ¡°I agree with you on that point. But, as I said before, let¡¯s not act harshly. Those eyes might be a blessing of the Gods! We cannot allow ourselves to damage them. We have to, instead, revere him so that the God will be pleased.¡±¡± Retorqued Abbot, still hiding my eyes. I started drowsing off, fighting against my fatigue. ¡°Yeah, and what do you want to do? Let ourselves be killed every time we come across the child?¡± The villagers started to get impatient, because trust cannot be kept when their own lives are on the line. ¡°Then, we must hide his eyes! We cannot allow him to see!¡± I finally lost my battle, and I fell asleep. --------------------- When I woke up, I tried opening my eyes, but I couldn¡¯t. Something was pressing on them, making it impossible to see. I started crying, and I heard some noise. ¡°He¡¯s awake! What should we do?¡± Asked a man. ¡°Go call Mister Abbot! I¡¯m not entering this place!¡± Answered another. After a while, steps could be heard. ¡°Where is he? In here? Oh, Abbot, what have you done to our child?¡± Asked a woman. ¡°This child is dangerous, Mary. But we must let him live, and raise it ourselves, in order to be able to use him efficiently later on. The villagers will be way easier to control if I can make good use of his power.¡± Abbot answered. ¡°What are you talking about? This kid is ours! Why would you want to use him? We need to raise him and love him like parents should!¡± Mary said angrily. ¡°Mary¡­ I do not remember giving you permission to talk to me in this manner. And you do not have the authority to go against my orders either. If I tell you that we will raise him this way, then we will, and you do not have a say in it.¡± Abbot answered, annoyed. ¡°Ah¡­ Yes, please excuse my attitude just now. I have been rude. May I ask if I could at least name him?¡± She pleaded. ¡°Sure, I don¡¯t care about that kind of thing.¡± ¡°Then¡­ He will be known as Norr, son of Mary¡­ and Abbot. May I go in and meet him?¡± ¡°If you want to. I¡¯m going back to the church, make sure she doesn¡¯t do anything stupid.¡± He ordered the guards. ¡°Yes, sir!¡± They both answered. Chapter 2: Mother, I love you 10 years later. ¡°Norr, I am here.¡± I heard a familiar voice behind me. ¡°Mom. You shouldn¡¯t pass so much time with me, Father will get angry at you again.¡± I turned around, happy to have her near me. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about that! You have it worse than me, being locked here all the time, and having to do those horrible things¡­ I¡¯m very sorry about this. If only I had the power to do something about it, your father wouldn¡¯t have been able to use me to gain your obedience.¡± Indeed, I had to obey Father¡¯s orders perfectly, or my mother would get hurt. He made me punish all those who opposed his restrictive laws and demands by looking at them in their eyes. I felt disgusting helping this tyrant achieve his goals, but I didn¡¯t want to involve my mother in this matter. My father had, at first, raised me lovingly, trying to win me over to his side. When I was finally old enough to understand what he was making me do, he repulsed me more than ever, and I locked myself in my room for almost a month before he dropped his gentle act and dragged my mother in our conflict. He beat her up right in front of my door until she lost consciousness, even after I begged him to stop and promised I would do as I said. He knew I loved her more than anyone, and used her to threaten me. I didn¡¯t have any other choice than to obey. But, my heart was raging, and every day, I trained both my mind and my body, hoping to get strong enough one day to free myself and my mother from this situation. ¡°Mother! I told you many time before. It¡¯s not your fault, it¡¯s mine. If my eyes weren¡¯t this dangerous, we wouldn¡¯t be in this situation. If only I was stronger, I could free you from Father. I promise you to escape with you from this town when I gain more power.¡± I felt her gentle hands on my face. ¡°Mom?¡± ¡°¡­ I¡¯m sorry¡­ I was just wondering if I will ever get to see your face¡­¡± ¡°You know I need this mask. If I didn¡¯t wear it, you wouldn¡¯t be allowed to even come near me.¡± I said. We already had this conversation many times, but Mother seemed to get more depressed every time. ¡°I am dangerous, after all. I wouldn¡¯t want to hurt you.¡± ¡°I love you. You are very precious to me, Norr.¡± She told me calmly. ¡°I love you too. Without you, I would have gone mad.¡± I answered honestly. I wasn¡¯t ashamed of telling her my true feelings, because she was the only person in the world that cared about me. ¡°You know, Norr, the people are starting to rebel against the church,¡± she whispered to me. ¡°I think it won¡¯t be long until they take up their arms, and at that time, their first target might be you.¡± ¡°What? But, they know what fait awaits traitors¡ª¡° Mother hugged me and continued talking. ¡°Your father is abusing his power too much, and his threats aren¡¯t as powerfull anymore. He can kill a few people to set an example, but he even he won¡¯t go as far as to kill every villager simply to keep his position. He needs them to prosper, and they know that. The people also understand that he uses God for his own will and that he doesn¡¯t really serve Him. He raised the tax yet again, and most of it goes directly in his pocket. Also¡­ They will probably target you first. You are the only reason some people hesitate t fight your father; they are afraid of you. If you are gone, the rebels will win. Your father is too drunk in power to even realize this, and he probably won¡¯t be of any help.¡± ¡°I¡­ I understand their reasoning. It is normal that they would want to kill me, too. I don¡¯t blame them. I only blame my father.¡± The villagers always hated me, for good reasons of course, since I killed a lot of them. It was all my father¡¯s wishes, and I was doing it reluctantly, but in the end, I was the one killing them. ¡°Mary, your time is up! Come out, you¡¯ll get more time with the monster next week,¡± I heard a soldier say. ¡°I need to go. Be strong, I will come back with more news. Here, take those books. I¡¯ll take the ones from last time,¡± she said as she gave me a pile of books and took back the ones she brought last week. This had become a ritual for us. At first, it was so that I could learn to write and read, but recently, the books I received were getting more and more practical, aiming to help me get stronger. I read them in my free time, when the guards weren¡¯t watching and I could take off the mask sealing my view. The books were very diverse in genre, going from stories to informative books, as well as newspapers. I learned a lot because of those, and I enjoyed reading them. When I heard the door closing, I took off my mask and skimmed through the books I received. An Introduction to Magic, Reading the Flow of Combat, The Daily News (7), 99 Tales of Legendary Heroes, The Basics of Magic, Everything there is to know about Alchemy. Five books and seven newspapers. And of the five books, only one was fictive. This was all fine to me, because after reading so much about the Legendary Heroes, I would be lying if I said I wasn¡¯t interested in learning some of their skills.Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. I started the week reading about magic. There were two books on the subject and both said pretty much the same thing: There are a lot of Magic Elements, which need to be awakened in order to use them, like White Magic, the one my mother used. But even without awakening to an Element, one can use magic by feeling and manipulating the ambient mana. The Elements are used to transform that mana into something else. For example, the Fire Element changes the mana into Fire, White Element transforms it to heal wounds, etc. Pure, raw mana can also be used, but is often seen as useless and powerless. In fact, every mage needs to train with mana before using their Element. It is a basic training, and every mage out there has to know how to manipulate mana. I passed time trying to feel the mana around me. It was a really hard task as I wasn¡¯t sure how I was supposed to go at it, and I was never able to do so. The rest of the week was spent alternating between reading, trying to sense mana and doing some exercise. My father didn¡¯t contact me this week to do some ¡°cleaning¡±, so time passed quickly, free of stress. ¡°Norr?¡± I heard my mother¡¯s voice and turned towards her. Of course, I had my mask on. I only took it off to read, but I put it back for everything else. ¡°Mom! How is it outside?¡± I asked her. ¡°Actually¡­¡± She seemed worried about something, and I was going to ask her about it when I heard other people talking. ¡°Here it is. The monster¡­¡± ¡°Shhh, it might hear you!¡± ¡°This mask does suit him actually. If it didn¡¯t wear it, we might think it¡¯s human.¡± People were whispering about me in the direction my mother was. ¡°Mom, you didn¡¯t come alone?¡± I asked. I felt her warmth as she embraced me, and heard her sobbing. ¡°They decided to execute you, as I thought. They want to execute you publicly to show everyone that you are no longer a threat to their freedom. They plan on killing your father and me afterwards. I begged them to come see you one last time.¡± She whispered. ¡°Why didn¡¯t you run away? You could have survived¡­¡± I started crying, hearing that my mother would die soon because of me. I didn¡¯t want this! I didn¡¯t care about me being killed, I had it coming. But my mother never did anything wrong! ¡°Oy, Mary, get away from him! We¡¯ll lead him to the plaza. We only agreed to have you follow us! Don¡¯t rush it, your death will come after his!¡± I heard a man yell at my mother. He gripped her and separated us, so I started yelling, crying and swinging my arms at everything and everyone around me. ¡°Boss, what do we do about him?¡± Asked another man who came behind me and restrained my arms. I started kicking him, but he didn¡¯t budge. ¡°God, he¡¯s annoying! Will you calm down already?¡± He yelled. ¡°No! I want my mother! Don¡¯t you dare touch her with your filthy hands! Where are you? You coward! Don¡¯t touch her! Mother! Where are you?¡± I cried, still trying to get away from the man¡¯s grip. ¡°Hmm¡­Excuse me?¡± I heard my mother say. ¡°Huh? What do you want?¡± Their boss retorqued. ¡°I think he would be way calmer if I was the one leading him there¡­ Would you let me do it?¡± She pleaded. ¡°¡­ Okay, sure,¡± the boss said. I felt the soft hands of my mother on my neck, and I immediately calmed myself. As long as she is with me, I¡¯m willing to do anything! I thought. ¡°Norr.¡± She whispered once again. ¡°You will escape this. I promise you.¡± ¡°What?¡± I tried asking for more information, but she didn¡¯t continue. I felt her hands go from my neck to my shoulders as she moved behind me, and she gave me a light push in the back, indicating I needed to start walking. Mother led me all the way to the place I was going to get killed. I felt my mother hugging me, and I tightened my grip around her arms. I was afraid. What I thought earlier wasn¡¯t true anymore. I wasn¡¯t willing to die, even for her. No matter how much I loved her, I didn¡¯t want to die. I was afraid. I was afraid. Too afraid. I didn¡¯t want to leave her. I didn¡¯t want her to leave me. ¡°Norr.¡± Her whisper cleared up my mind. ¡°Look at me.¡± How did she want me to look at her? I had my mask. ¡°Open your eyes.¡± I tried opening my eyes. The sun hit my pupils and I had to close them right after. Why wasn¡¯t my mask there? I had it on the way. Did it fall? ¡°Open your eyes, Norr.¡± Her gentle voice calmed me down. I didn¡¯t have to think this hard. She was right there, by my side. If she was the one telling me to open my eyes, I simply had to do it. I believed in her. I slowly opened my eyes and saw her face for the first time. I quickly looked down, afraid of the consequences if I met her eyes. ¡°Norr, you are not a monster. You are my son, and I love you for who you are. Please, run away. You need to live. You lost your childhood because of your father, but you are still alive. Run away, find your path and follow your dreams. Please, live your life fully, so that you don¡¯t regret anything. Live for me.¡± She took my head in her hands and lifted it up. ¡°Mom! I don¡¯t want to! Please! I don¡¯t want to live without you! Don¡¯t!¡± I resisted and shut my eyes tight. ¡°Norr, look at me in the eyes when you talk to me. You won¡¯t kill me. Even if you do, I¡¯ll forgive you. I love you. You are not a monster.¡± I slowly lifted my head, observing her face, but dodging her eyes. She was beautiful, had a perfect, slender face and long, silver hair. Finally, I looked at her brilliant, blue eyes. She smiled warmly, murmured ¡°I love you, don¡¯t forget that,¡± and slowly fell to the ground. Time seemed to slow down. I really did it, I killed the only person that was dear to me. I looked around, lost, not knowing what to do to. Then, I remembered what she said: ¡°Run away. Live for me.¡± I took back my mask from her hand, and met eyes with everyone around me. They were the reason my mother died, the reason for her distress, the reason she was so lonely. They had to pay a price, and this price was having to look into my eyes. The Demon¡¯s eyes as they liked to call them. Finally, when there was no one left but me standing, I ran away from the town, straight into the forest, leaving my dear mother behind me. ¡°Run away, live for me.¡± One of her wishes had come true, now I had to live for her. Time came back to normal, and I ran until I couldn¡¯t know where I had come from anymore. I was lost in the woods, without food or any mean of survival, but I had successfully ran away. I crawled in a nearby cave and cried myself to sleep, grieving my mother. Chapter 3: The Guild I opened my eyes slowly, recalling yesterday¡¯s event. They were swollen from crying too much, and I still felt like I was going to burst in tears any time soon. ¡°Finally awake?¡± I jumped when I heard a voice next to me. Looking around, I saw I was on a bed, in a well lit room. Was I caught again? ¡°Who are you? Why am I here?¡± I asked roughly, paying attention to not look at his face while I searched my mask. ¡°My name is Tetsu. I found you asleep in the forest, so I brought you here. That¡¯s it. Any other question?¡± He answered, a hint of sarcasm in his voice. ¡°Where are we? Why did you take me here?¡± I ignored his annoying tone of voice. ¡°We are at my place. You looked like you were going to die, so I took you back. Anything else?¡± ¡°Wh¡ªI wasn¡¯t going to die! You could have simply left me there!¡± I said, looking at him by habit. ¡°Ohh, you¡¯re finally looking at my face!¡± He said happily. As he said that, I quickly looked down again. Shit, did I just look at his eyes? I¡¯m not sure. Crap. I hope I didn¡¯t. I don¡¯t want to kill anyone else, I thought. ¡°Where is my mask?¡± I asked him. ¡°Your what? Oh, that! Yeah, I hid it, ahaha!¡± He answered happily. ¡°Why? Give it back!¡± I said angrily. How dare he take away the only object linking me to my mother! ¡°Well, I don¡¯t think you need it. Your face looks good, why would you want to hide it?¡± ¡°You don¡¯t need to know that. Give it back.¡± I was relieved nothing was happening to him. This meant I didn¡¯t actually look at his eyes. ¡°Hmm, would it have anything to do with those Special Eyes of you?¡± He said, looking uninterested. ¡°!!¡ªHow do you know about that?¡± I took a defense position, suspecting him to have something to do with my father, or the rest of the villagers. ¡°Actually, I¡¯m sorry, I had a peek at your stats earlier, I just couldn¡¯t help it!¡± He said while laughing. ¡°You don¡¯t look sorry in the least! And what are those stats? Speak clearly!¡± Annoyed, I snapped at him. ¡°You don¡¯t know?¡± He looked surprised. Apparently, that was common knowledge. ¡°No, I don¡¯t! Stop trying to waste time and tell me already!¡± ¡°Well, if you don¡¯t know about that, I guess you don¡¯t know about the adventurer¡¯s guild either¡­?¡± He looked impressed while saying that. ¡°Stop mocking me! So what if I don¡¯t? Explain, already!¡± He really was making fun of me, this Tetsu guy. I lowered my guard instinctively, as this person had an aura that made him seem trustworthy. ¡°Here, put your hand on this, I¡¯ll explain after.¡± He said, giving me a crystal ball. I did as he said, and a card appeared out of nowhere, going straight to my unoccupied hand. I caught it and read it: Name: Norr Rank: G Age: 11 Level: 8 ¡°What is that? Why does it have my information on it?¡± I asked, impressed. ¡°This is a guild card. As of now, you are officially an adventurer! I mean, you don¡¯t have to act like one if you don¡¯t want to, but at least, you can if you want.¡± He said. ¡°I see, a guild card. Actually, I don¡¯t understand more, so explain for real! What are those Level and Rank things?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s see¡­ How do I explain this? Oh, I know! Jenny!¡± He said, calling for someone. After some seconds, a woman entered the room. ¡°You called, Tetsu? ¨C Oh, who is that? A guest?¡± ¡°Yeah, actually, his name is Norr and I picked him up in the forest!¡± The guy answered. I raised my head slightly to see what the person looked like, but payed attention to not let my gaze go anywhere near her face. She was wearing an elegant white shirt tucked in her long, black skirt. ¡°Not again? I told you to stop bothering people! We have enough adventurers here, no need to go in the woods and get some child into this kind of work!¡± She scolded him. ¡°Young man, I¡¯m sorry about Tetsu. He lacks some common sense¡­ Where are your parents? I¡¯ll bring you back to them.¡± She then said with a much gentler tone. Remembering my mother¡¯s death, tears came to my eyes and I looked the other way to make sure they didn¡¯t see me cry. ¡°Wha¡ªWhy are you crying? What¡¯s wrong?¡± The woman hurriedly asked. ¡°Hoo, Jenny, you just said something you shouldn¡¯t have! That¡¯s surprising, coming from you.¡± Teased Tetsu. ¡°Shut up, you! You are not better than me, so you can¡¯t say anything! Norr¡­ I¡¯m sorry, did something happen to your parents?¡± She asked me. ¡°¡­ Hm.¡± I had finally made the tears stop flowing, and I felt that if I opened my mouth to talk, they would come again. I didn¡¯t want to cry in front of strangers about my mother, I still had my pride. ¡°I see. Do you have a home to go back to?¡± She continued. ¡°...¡± I shook my head from right to left. ¡°Alright. How about you stay here until things get better on your side? I¡¯ll arrange something for you.¡± ¡°Huh? What are you doing, Jenny, inviting him to live in MY house?¡± Asked Tetsu, more amused at the situation than anything else. ¡°And you, what do you think you are doing, taking an orphan here without actually taking responsibility for your actions?¡± Retorqued Jenny. ¡°Ouuh¡­ Good one, Jen.¡± ¡°I told you not to call me like this! So, what do you think, Norr? Want to stay here? I¡¯ll take care of your expenses for a while.¡± She turned towards me once again. ¡°¡­Why¡­¡± I muttered.You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. ¡°Hm? What did you say? Look at us when you¡¯re talking!¡± Said Tetsu. ¡°Tetsu, shut up. Continue, Norr.¡± ¡°¡­Why would you do this?¡± I asked her, still showing them my back. ¡°The real question here is why wouldn¡¯t I, isn¡¯t it?¡± She said as a matter of fact. Weird lady. Who would just take care of any orphan they find? ¡°Actually, I lied, sorry. I saw your status when I entered the room, and there¡¯s one of your Passives that I just can¡¯t get myself to ignore; Special Eyes ¨C Steal. Would you happen to know what that is? I would like to say it is fine if you don¡¯t say it but¡­ It seems like a dangerous ability. Is it why you avoid looking at us?¡± She said. I didn¡¯t know what half of the words in that sentence meant, but one thing was certain: my ability had been exposed, once more. Will I be imprisoned again? I don¡¯t want to. What should I do? Hear her out? It¡¯s 50-50. They might imprison me, try to use me or kill me, or they might want to help me. Actually, it¡¯s more like 75-25. And it¡¯s not in favor of the helping me part. My other option is facing them and running away. I don¡¯t know their strength, but simply looking in their eyes should do, right? Targeting the strongest looking one ¨C Tetsu ¨C should be the most efficient. I don¡¯t want to kill more than necessary, but it¡¯s better than being captured, I thought. And so, I decided on using my ability once more. I turned around slowly, staring at the ground. I then lifted my head quickly and stared at the guy¡¯s face, since he was the most dangerous looking. He was already quite old, judging by his grey hair, but his body was more then healthy. He had a scar across his jaw and a short beard that made him look a little bit wiser, but it contrasted so much with the rest of his body that it simply looked ridiculous. His eyes were ferocious and black. I shivered slightly when I looked in them. ¡°Ohh, he¡¯s looking at me in the eyes, Jenny, look at this!¡± He said excitedly while supporting my gaze. ¡°Right, he¡¯s probably trying to use his ability¡­ Which means he thought you were stronger. He¡¯s not entirely wrong, but¡­ I must say my ego has taken a hit, being compared to you in this way¡­¡± She answered. I started panicking, seeing how nothing was happening to the man. I changed my target to Jenny, but she stared at me back, alive and well. Why weren¡¯t they affected? Did I lose my ability? Why now? I had so much questions, and the woman started talking. ¡°Look, we really do not want to harm you in any way, so please don¡¯t be so wary of us. I¡¯m sorry for peeking at your stats earlier, I realize I shouldn¡¯t have, but what is done is done, right?¡± She apologized. ¡°Yeah, I must agree with her, but what is your power anyways? You gave me a real headache simply by staring at me! I mean, that¡¯s overpowered! No one should be able to hurt me, right, Jenny?¡± The man foolishly said. ¡°I told you to shut up, didn¡¯t I? I think you should be happy to get away with only a headache, by the way.¡± She told Tetsu harshly. ¡°Boy, I will explain to you all you want to know, so please promise me to tell me about your power, hm? I will do all I can to help you later on.¡± She pressed on. ¡°¡­ I will see after I heard you talk. Explain first.¡± I answered, wary of them. If I couldn¡¯t take them down with my eyes, I didn¡¯t have the choice. I had to cooperate. ¡°Haa¡­ Alright, let¡¯s do this. What do you want to know?¡± She gave in. ¡°First. What are those stats you keep talking about? And who are you guys?¡± I asked. ¡°Isn¡¯t that two questions? Aha, he¡¯s so funny, right, Jen?¡± Tetsu barged in once more, but Jenny ignored him blatantly. ¡°My name is Jenny and he is Tetsu, as you might have understood. We are part of a group of five people who started the Adventurers Guild. I am currently acting as Tetsu¡¯s secretary, and he is the guild master. Back in the days, we were a party of adventurers who traveled everywhere, solved problems for people and explored dungeons. Now, we only participate in very dangerous and important missions, so we don¡¯t get to go outside as much as before¡­¡± ¡°What is the Guild?¡± I cut her. ¡°It is an organization meant to create jobs and solve different kind of problems that involve some danger related to, most of the time, monsters. People or groups give us missions they wish to see accomplished as well as a reward to give to those who complete it, and adventurers who register at our Guild can take those requests and make money with them. The Guild takes a small commission off each quest completed. Of course, there aren¡¯t just quests to make money. Adventurers can also sell things they gather to the guild, like herbs or body parts of monsters, and we buy them at a competitive price. We then resell them on the market, or exchange them for equipment to crafters.¡± ¡°¡­I get it. Now, what are those stats?¡± I asked. ¡°Every single person has them. Stats, or statistics, are a numeric representation of someone¡¯s physical and mental abilities. People with the skill can see those statistics in the form of a grid. There are other ways to see the stats of others, but this one is the most common. It allows to see the person¡¯s name, age, level, strength, agility, dexterity, intelligence, wisdom, as well as the passive and active skills. You received a guild card earlier, right? Some of those things are on the card, as you saw, and they are automatically updated when you level up, rank up or age. It is a nice way for people without to keep track of their progress.¡± ¡°Next. Why do you want to help me?¡± I asked once more. I hoped she would be honest this time. ¡°Right, let¡¯s see¡­ There are multiple reasons. Of course, there is a sense of responsibility that I have towards you, since that idiot of a guild master took you here. I can¡¯t exactly chase you out of here, knowing you have nowhere to go! There is also the thing about your eyes¡­ Actually, most of the reasons are about those. I¡¯m not 100% sure about the details, but I think I¡¯ve grasped what they do, in general. And, if they are what I think they are, letting you alone isn¡¯t really an option, since you could be a potential danger to people. I¡¯ll explain after I confirm my suspicions. And, there¡¯s also a bit of selfishness in this, since I think it would be a waste to let someone with your ability work for someone else! I mean, if you want to know everything, I planned to train and raise you into an extraordinary adventurer. But, all in all, we really do want to help you and have no plan on making you stay here later if you wish to do something else. We would simply need to watch over you until we can be sure you won¡¯t be a danger to the public, but we would make sure to do so in a way that doesn¡¯t affect you too much.¡± ¡°¡­ I get it. I¡¯ll stay here for a while. I¡¯ll see what I do later.¡± I said. She seemed sincere to me, and my situation wasn¡¯t the best to begin with. Even if I refused her offer, where would I go? And, how would I survive? I decided to stay and trust her for a while, until I knew her enough to judge by myself what her intentions were. ¡°Great. Do you have any other questions?¡± She asked, obviously waiting for me to talk about my secret. ¡°No. ¡­ Alright, I¡¯ll explain what I can about my eyes¡­ But I don¡¯t understand them very well, so don¡¯t expect too much details. Actually, the only thing I know about them¡ªOr rather, I thought I knew¡ªIs that when I look at someone in the eyes and they look into mine, the person dies. That¡¯s what happened to everyone who crossed my stare until now, but you two just blew the only thing I knew about my eyes. That¡¯s it. I don¡¯t know more.¡± I said, helpless. I really didn¡¯t know about my eyes that well, now that I thought about it. The only thing I did until now was to cover them up whenever someone was close, and I only got to observe their effect twice, including that one time when I was a baby. ¡°I see. I have one last question for you, feel free to refuse answering, but if you do, please do not lie.¡± She responded. ¡°I know this might be very hard for you, but would you tell me about your past? I¡¯d like to know as much as possible, so that I can do some research on your specific situation.¡± ¡°I¡­¡± I didn¡¯t mind talking about my past, but most of it involved my mother and I really didn¡¯t want to think about her now. Tears started coming to my eyes once more and I hid my face under the bed¡¯s sheets. ¡°It¡¯s okay, don¡¯t push yourself too much. If you want, you could also write it and I will read it later. It could also be a good way for you to take some distance with what you¡¯re going through¡­ Oh, can you write? I¡¯m sorry for proposing this, you are still very young, it¡¯s not surprising to not be able to¡ª¡° ¡°No, I can.¡± I cut her harshly in her excuses. ¡°I¡¯ll do this. Thanks.¡± ¡°Buahahaha! Jenny! That was so funny! I never saw you panicking like this before! Pff¡­¡± Tetsu once again barged in our conversation. ¡°Okay, thank you, Norr. I will leave some paper and ink on the desk,¡± she said as she ignored once again the guild master. ¡°We will leave you alone for a while now, so take your time. I will go to the library to do some research about your eyes, but Tetsu will stay here. If you need anything, ask him. Oh, and this room will be yours for now, so make yourself at ease. I will be back for diner.¡± She finally said, leaving the room. ¡°Heh? I have to stay here? I didn¡¯t hear anything about that before? Why? ¡­¡± Tetsu argued, but Jenny acted as if she didn¡¯t hear him and closed the door as she left. ¡°¡­ I guess there¡¯s only us left here, buddy.¡± He looked disinterested as he said that, and I simply stared at him in the eyes without saying anything. ¡°¡­ Okay, I get it, I¡¯ll leave you alone. Call me if there¡¯s anything.¡± And just like this, he left the room. Chapter 4: Expedition ¡°¡­ So, what do you think?¡± I asked Jenny after she finished reading my story. I had written it the night before, putting in all the details I could remember of my life. She looked at me with eyes filled with compassion. ¡°That must have been hard.¡± I wasn¡¯t sure why, but this comment irritated me. ¡°It¡¯s ok. I lived.¡± I said, more harshly than I wanted. ¡°Right. Then, I¡¯ll do some research with the information you just gave me. It should take around a week to get results. What do you want to do until then?¡± She looked at me from head to toes. ¡°Actually, before that, let¡¯s go shopping. I¡¯ll show you around the city and buy you new clothes. What do you think?¡± ¡°Sure.¡± I didn¡¯t have any spare clothes after all, and those I was wearing made me look like a beggar, as they were covered in mud and had holes at some places. ¡°Give me my mask before we go.¡± I needed it. It felt really uncomfortable being around people while able to see, since I felt like I could kill them at any time if I was careless. I didn¡¯t know why Tetsu and Jenny weren¡¯t affected by my ability, but I didn¡¯t want to make any assumptions regarding the other town people. ¡°Oh, here it is.¡± She said as she handed my mask back to me. She watched me as I put it back on and proposed: ¡°Wouldn¡¯t it be better to wear something lighter, that would only hide your eyes? It would make you stand out less, I think. Let¡¯s buy something when we arrive at the market.¡± ¡°¡­Yeah, sure, we¡¯ll see.¡± I said reluctantly. We went down the stairs and arrived in a place where there was a lot of noise. It seemed as if there were a lot of people here, and, curious, I slightly pushed my mask in order to see where we were. It was a big and spacious hall. There were hundreds of people in here, either looking at a gigantic board on which were thousands of papers, waiting in line at a counter where a receptionist argued with an adventurer, or were sitting at a table, talking with other people. Probably noticing my intrigued look, Jenny started explaining to me: ¡°This is the Guild Hall. It¡¯s in this place that most transactions related to adventurers take place. There is a Guild Hall in every major city but this one is probably the biggest there is, and lots of adventurers come here at least once in their life to experience this place for themselves. The counter over there is where you have to go in order to receive the reward for completing a quest, or to sell the materials you gathered. The board is the place to go if you are looking to start a quest, or to check the price of the materials for the week. Quests are classed by difficulty, from G to A. There are also S, SS and SSS difficulties, but those are only available to the few adventurers who have the ability to complete them and are most of the time treated as secrets, due to their importance.¡± ¡°¡­I see.¡± I said. I was indeed interested in this kind of job, as it seemed really thrilling and fulfilling. I had read so much stories about adventurers that I started wanting to experience it for myself. ¡°Oh, if it isn¡¯t Miss Jenny!¡± A man said, approaching us. I hurriedly put back my mask into place.The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. ¡°Hi, Mark. How are you?¡± Jenny said with a polite tone. ¡°I¡¯m great, I just came back from a rank C quest and received the reward, it feels good indeed to have some money in your pockets, ahaha! It took us almost a month to finally complete it, and we¡¯ll be celebrating as soon as my party is done with the paperwork. What about you, why do we get the honor of seeing you here with us today? You rarely show yourself in public, even more in the Guild Hall!¡± He continued enthusiastically. ¡°Oh, good job! Actually, the Guild Master just picked up this child, and we were about to go buy some new clothes for him,¡± she said, talking about me. ¡°Another one? Gah, Mister Tetsu really doesn¡¯t show any restraint¡­ Oh, my teammates are done at the counter! I¡¯ll be going then! Have a good day, Miss Jenny! Good luck with the kid, ahaha!¡± ¡°¡­Who was that?¡± I asked when the man left. ¡°Oh, it¡¯s an adventurer I traveled with some years ago.¡± She answered. ¡°¡­Are rank C quests difficult?¡± I continued. The man seemed happy about finishing this quest, and I wondered if it was really this hard. ¡°It depends for who. Mark is only a D ranked adventurers, so this quest must have given him some trouble.¡± She said quietly. ¡°Hmm¡­ How is the rank of adventurers determined?¡± I asked. I wondered if I really was only ranked G, as my Guild Card said. ¡°Mostly by quests completed. You need to complete quests of your rank and of the higher rank in order to rank up. For example, a rank E adventurer can do G, F, E and D ranked quests, and need to complete 20 E quests and 5 D quests to rank up. Failures are¡­ Well, you can only fail 2 quests per rank before risking being down ranked.¡± She explained patiently, holding my hand as we went towards the exit. Walking without seeing anything in a place I didn¡¯t know was something I wasn¡¯t used to and was difficult. I had been in the same room for most of my life, and I knew the place by heart. I didn¡¯t need to look where I was going then, because I knew where everything was. But now that I was in the dark in a new place, I felt for the first time in my life the urge of taking off my mask and looking around me with my own eyes. I continued relying on Jenny¡¯s hand without saying anything, tensing up slightly with each step I had to take. I was afraid of this unknown world, where I wasn¡¯t sure about anything. What would happen to me if Jenny let go of my hand? What if she was leading me somewhere only to leave me there and lose me? What if¡ª ¡°Hey, what are you so stressed about?¡± Jenny cut me in my overthinking. ¡°You are trembling and gripping my hand really strongly.¡± She pointed out. ¡°¡­ It¡¯s nothing.¡± I said, trying to calm myself. ¡°¡­¡± She said nothing back, but she had stopped walking. After some time passed, she let go of my hand. ¡°Huh? Why did you let go? ¡­ Wh- Where are you?¡± I panicked slightly. Were my fears becoming real? ¡°Jenny? ¡­ Are, are you there?¡± Nothing but silence answered me. Ah, that was it. I took of my mask and opened my eyes slowly, looking at the ground to make sure I didn¡¯t cross the eyes of anyone. ¡°Heeh?¡± I closed my eyes as soon as I opened them as the first thing I saw was Jenny¡¯s face. ¡°What do you think you¡¯re doing? Why didn¡¯t you answer when I talked to you?¡± She kept silent, and when I opened my eyes slightly again, she was still staring silently at me. ¡°¡­¡± I turned around, annoyed at her strange behavior. ¡°Oh, sorry, I was lost in my thoughts.¡± She finally said. ¡°Why didn¡¯t you answer sooner? I was afraid you were¡ª¡° I stopped suddenly, realizing I was about to say something I didn¡¯t want her to hear. I didn¡¯t want to let her learn about my weaknesses, and the fact that I was afraid of going around with my mask on was the last thing I wanted her to know. ¡°You were afraid of what? ¡­ Oh-¡° She suddenly brightened up, as if she understood something. ¡°Alright. Let¡¯s cancel today¡¯s expedition. There is something I have to show you.¡± She said hurriedly. She then put my mask back on, took me by the hand and made me follow her once more. Chapter 5: Mana ¡°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 ¨C That¡¯s right, you will become a mage. But your training will focus onfeelingthe 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.Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ¡°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¡ªTeleportation magic?¡± Did this kind of magic even exist in the first place? I had never heard of such a thing. Chapter 6: Feeling the mana ¡°This gate will stay there as long as I have some mana to give it. It leads to your room, in the city.¡± She explained. ¡°Huh¡­ I don¡¯t see how it will help me learn to feel mana.¡± ¡°There is really no way to learn how to feel it. People often learn it from a young age, or are born with the ability to. It is really rare to see someone try to learn it after 10 or 15. We will be trying a new method now, but I¡¯m pretty much certain of it¡¯s efficacity. It is actually quite simple: You will go back and forth from an environment where mana is dense, here, to a place where it is scarce: the city. You will be doing this until you feel, know and then understand what is mana. By feeling for yourself the difference between a place rich in mana and a place which has close to zero mana, I am confident you will be able to learn to feel it.¡± She said. ¡°Hm, I understand. Let¡¯s start training, then. I don¡¯t have any time to spare!¡± I exclaimed. ¡°That¡¯s the spirit. I will be at the Guild Hall, come see me when you are done. I will pass by every few days. Oh, and I will leave some food in your room three times a day, but you can always eat with us if you are feeling lonely.¡± ¡°Alright, thank you so much for your help.¡± I said sincerely. ¡°Then, I¡¯ll see you later,¡± she said as she disappeared in the dark gate. I stared at the magic phenomenon for a few seconds, intrigued by it. ¡®Will I be able to cast something like this?¡¯ I wondered. ¡®Well, there¡¯s no point in hoping for something like this if I can¡¯t even manipulate mana. So, how am I supposed to feel that¡­ She said to compare the feelings I get from here and from the city, but I don¡¯t feel anything¡­ Meh, I might as well try teleporting over there. I¡¯ll compare after I felt both in a rapid succession.¡¯ I thought. I approached the gate and tried touching it. My hand passed through it, but I couldn¡¯t see it coming from the other side. That was a weird experience. I then put my right leg in the hole, and, taking a big breath and closing my eyes, jumped rapidly in it. ¡°Whua!¡± I couldn¡¯t help but be impressed once more by this magic, as I opened my eyes and recognized the room I had slept in the night before. ¡®Mh... I don¡¯t feel any different,¡¯ I thought. I went once more trough the portal, but still didn¡¯t see any difference. Just like this, a week passed by, and I still hadn¡¯t been able to grasp the difference between one location and the other, but I did feel a weird sensation, like something was amiss, whenever I went too far from the gate. ¡°Oh, you¡¯re here. How is it going?¡± I heard Jenny say as her head passed through the portal. ¡°I¡¯m still stuck, somehow. However, I get this feeling of¡­ I don¡¯t know, emptiness? Whenever I go away from the gate, especially in the city.¡± I said. ¡°Hmm, that¡¯s nice.¡± She answered, seemingly talking more to herself than to me. ¡°What is?¡± I asked, curious. ¡°Well, you see, this feeling is a proof that your body is getting used to mana. I completely forgot, but this portal emanates some mana and it influences its surroundings too. Which means that whenever you were near the lake or the gate, your body was exposed to a large quantity of mana, and when you get to somewhere where the density of the mana is poor, your body feels like something is missing.¡± She explained. ¡°Heh¡­¡± I said, already thinking about the next step. Now that I knew this, it meant that I didn¡¯t need to come to the lake or use the portal anymore. As long as it was present, there would be mana around it, and I only had to go away from it to feel the lack of mana. ¡°Thanks for the info! It will be useful!¡± I said hurriedly, going through the portal one last time and arriving in my room. ¡°So, it means the feeling I have now¡­ which is quite normal¡­¡± I left my room and went down the stairs, arriving in the living room. ¡°And the feeling I have now, which is annoying, are the proof I¡¯m able to know when there¡¯s mana around.¡± I concluded, satisfied.This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. I started off by trying to understand exactly what I was feeling by approaching slowly the gate. As I walked towards the gate, the feeling of dissatisfaction gave place to one of comfort. I continued walking around the gate until I was too tired to stand, trying to feel the mana. I knew I was close to understanding it, and I didn¡¯t want to stop there, but I needed to eat and rest a little or I wouldn¡¯t be able to be productive. ------------------- 1 week later. ¡°I feel it! I understand it! Jenny!¡± I shouted, satisfied as I finally was able to clearly feel the flow of mana. ¡°Ohh, congratulations!¡± She said happily when I arrived in the living room. ¡°So, how is it? Do you think you¡¯ll be able to understand mana enough to actually go around without your vision?¡± She asked. ¡°Hmm, I think I should manage to do this. If I keep improving like this, it should take around¡­ a month? Maybe?¡± I answered. I wasn¡¯t really sure about how much time it would take, since my progression hadn¡¯t been really stable. I was stuck for a long time without seeing any difference, but then a single clue made me progress so much that it wasn¡¯t yet possible to know how fast I would improve in the future. ¡°I see, good luck with this, then. You know where to find me if you have any problem.¡± She told me. At this point, I was only able to know approximately how much mana there was near me. ------------------------ 1 month later. ¡°Alright. I think I can do this, now.¡± I said as I put my mask on. I went down the stairs and walked in the living room, paying attention to the flow of the surrounding mana. I could effectively feel where everything was, be it a person walking around, a table or a mosquito, simply by comparing the mana it emanated to it¡¯s surroundings, as well as, for moving things, how it disrupted mana. ¡°Oh, Norr! Are you finally able to go around with your mask on?¡± I heard Tetsu say. He hadn¡¯t talked to me much since I had arrived here, and didn¡¯t see too interested in my progress, but I didn¡¯t hold that against him. He seemed like he had lots of work to do, but he still was always happy and energetic when there were people around. ¡°Yes. It drains me to concentrate this much on my surroundings though, but I think I¡¯ll get used to it. It¡¯s simply a matter of practice until it becomes natural.¡± I said confidently. ¡°Alright, good luck with that! If you want to learn swordsmanship you can always ask me, I don¡¯t know shit about magic but I¡¯m confident if it¡¯s about the sword!¡± He said happily. Learning the sword, huh¡­ It wasn¡¯t something I was really interested in, at least for now. What I wanted the most was to learn magic and find a way to seal my ability, or at least control it enough so that it didn¡¯t kill people as soon as I looked at them. But to use magic, I needed an Element, and I didn¡¯t even know if I had one¡­ It was possible to cast magic simply by manipulating mana, but it was powerless compared to Elemental magic. Jenny wasn¡¯t currently in the apartment, so I went down the stairs once more and arrived in the Guild Hall, hoping to find her there. ¡°Oh, Jenny!¡± I waved as I felt her mana near me. Everyone emanated a different kind of mana, and I could recognize her due to this. The difference was small and I couldn¡¯t recognize anyone else than her and Tetsu, as I passed a lot of time near them. ¡°Norr, how is your training going¡ªOr should I say, congratulations on completing it?¡± She asked as she realized I had my mask on. ¡°Yes, it was thanks to you that I was able to achieve this! Thank you so much.¡± I appreciated all she had done for me, even though I couldn¡¯t repay her kindness right now. ¡°It¡¯s okay, I didn¡¯t do much. It¡¯s your hard work that made you learn this fast.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not true! Without your magic, I wouldn¡¯t have mastered it this quickly.¡± I retorted. ¡°What are you two talking about?¡± A man asked. He seemed to have listened to our conversation. My magical perception of things still needed some work, as I hadn¡¯t noticed him before he talked. I seemed to have dropped my concentration while talking to Jenny. ¡°Oh, if it isn¡¯t Meil! It¡¯s been a while! How was your trip? Did you just come back? Ah, let me introduce you to Norr. He was taken in by Tetsu and I helped him learn about mana,¡± Jenny explained. ¡°Norr, this is Meil, a magician. He has awakened a lot of elements, and I must say he¡¯s quite impressive. He was in our party when Tetsu and I were still mere adventurers, and he was a big help in founding the Guild. He refused to be given any important position, though, so he¡¯s only a A rank adventurer officially¡­ But I don¡¯t think anyone ranked S or SS would be a match for him,¡± She explained proudly. ¡°I¡¯m pleased to meet you, Norr! How old are you?¡± He asked gently. ¡°I¡¯m 11 years old. Pleased to meet you too.¡± I said. He seemed like a really nice person, but his background made him a little intimidating. ¡°What is that mask for?¡± He asked to Jenny, pointing towards my face. ¡°Oh, it¡¯s¡­ Well, it should be fine if it¡¯s you, right? Do you have some time? I could use your help.¡± Jenny answered. ¡°Sure, let me just go grab my reward for that last quest. You can wait for me upstairs.¡± He said as he went towards the counter. ¡°Norr, let¡¯s go. I have some news for you about your eyes, and I think Meil should be able to help you with your situation too.¡± Jenny told me after the magician left us. Chapter 7: Special Eyes - Steal I waited in the living room, practicing my newly acquired magic to feel things around me, while Jenny prepared tea and Meil completed his quest downstairs. Finally, I felt the newcomer walking up the stairs. ¡°I¡¯m done, Jenny. What did you want my help for?¡± He said as he arrived. ¡°Thank you for taking the time to hear me out,¡± Jenny answered. ¡°I know you are a very busy person, but I think this case should interest you.¡± ¡°Not at all! Don¡¯t start being all polite with me now, you know I don¡¯t like this. We¡¯re friends, right? Furthermore, I don¡¯t have any quest that I need to fulfill right now, so I have more free time now than ever. But let¡¯s cut the small talk, should we? Could you explain what is going on?¡± ¡°Okay, sorry. Where should I start¡­ Well, first of, could you use on Norr?¡± Jenny answered. ¡°Hmm¡­ I don¡¯t like using this skill without permission, so, Norr, do you allow me to look at your status?¡± Meil asked me. ¡°Huh, sure, I don¡¯t mind, those two guys did it already without my consent, so I guess it doesn¡¯t really matter now, does it?¡± I said nonchalantly as I pointed Tetsu, who was concentrated on some documents in the room behind us, and Jenny. ¡°You did?... How many times must I tell you to¡ª¡± Meil started his sentence, heated up, only to give up half way. ¡°Ugh, you never learn. Luckily only some of the Guild¡¯s staff can acquire this skill, or everyone¡¯s privacy would be hard to protect. But still, overusing it is no good, you know? You¡¯ll end up depending too much on it,¡± He lectured her. ¡°Sorry, I¡¯ll keep that in mind. But for now, please¡­¡± They seemed to have had that conversation already. I wasn¡¯t sure to understand what it was about, but apparently the skill was rare and had some restrictions. ¡°Alright, then here I go, Norr,¡± he said as mana swirled slightly around him and I before forming a sheet of mana before him. ¡°Wha¡ª¡­ The stats are normal, but the skills¡­¡± He said, thinking out loud as he stared at the sheet. ¡°Right? And, look at the Passives. I think all of that is caused by his Special Eyes,¡± she answered. ¡°What is wrong with my¡­ huh¡­ skills?¡± I asked, confused. ¡°Oh, sorry. Norr, do you know what skills are?¡± Meil asked. ¡°Are they like special abilities?¡± I guessed. ¡°That is correct. allows one to see another¡¯s statistics, which represent the body and mind¡¯s raw power, while the skills are things one can do. There are both Passive and Active skills, or Passives and Actives, with the latter being the more common. You can easily acquire any kind of Active skill by repeating over and over a certain movement or by practicing a magic spell, for example. When one masters a skill enough for it to appear in his Active Skill list, the ability is enhanced and can be furthermore enhanced by using it and refining it. I don¡¯t want to go too deep in my explanations, so you simply need to remember that Active skills are abilities that can be acquired,¡± he explained. ¡°Oh, okay. What about Passive skills?¡± I asked, curious. ¡°Those are much rarer, and the methods to acquire them aren¡¯t very clear yet. A lot of people are, of course, researching that, but we don¡¯t know much about them yet. Most people get their Passives at birth, though some do by other, unknown means. Your eyes are defined in your Passive skill list as . You also have , which allows you to transform mana and cast healing spells,¡± he explained. ¡°I¡­ I have the White Element? Like her¡­¡± I thought about my dear mother, who used to be a White Mage too. I battled to keep the tears from leaving my eyes. ¡°Sorry, I was just a little shocked. What is wrong with my skills?¡± I asked after controlling my emotions. ¡°Actually, the list of your Active skills is way too long for someone your age and with your status. While it is indeed possible to acquire an unlimited number of Actives, but doing so requires both time and effort. The process of acquiring a skill usually trains simultaneously the mind or the body, which would raise some, if not all, statistics. One¡¯s level might even go up while training. Yet, your statistics are quite normal for someone your age. Some stats are a little higher than the norm, but, by looking only at your stats, you shouldn¡¯t have more than 3, maybe 4 Actives. And they should be low leveled, too. You have 7 Actives, and most of them are above level 5. That doesn¡¯t make any sense!¡± Meil said.The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. ¡°Wh¡ªWhat did you say? I have this much Actives? What are they?¡± I asked. ¡°Plowing, level 11. Bartering, level 2. Human Language, level 14. Spell ¨C Healing, level 12. Spell ¨C Detoxification, level 1. Sword Wielding, level 5. Lumbering, level 6,¡± he answered camly. Somewhere, in the back of my mind, I had understood everything. I had already made the link between the events in my life and my skills. But I didn¡¯t want to admit it. I wanted to be wrong, I wanted Jenny or Meil to tell me that I was simply a genius, or that my Eyes didn¡¯t have anything to do with that. I wanted to believe I was born with those abilities, not that I had stolen them. I wanted to believe that I hadn¡¯t robbed my mother of her magic before she died. I wanted to believe I had inherited her Element, not that I had taken it from her. ¡°Oh. Okay. Yeah. That¡¯s, that¡¯s weird, huh? I, I don¡¯t recall practicing any of those. Ha, haha¡­¡± My mind was a mess, I was understanding things I wish I hadn¡¯t, I was recalling events I didn¡¯t want to. I was blaming myself, and, once more, I was disgusted in my eyes. ¡°¡­ Are you okay? Did you, perhaps, understand something¡­?¡± Meil asked, concerned. Jenny¡¯s aura grew agitated, too. I must have been acting strange. ¡°No, I¡ªI mean, yes, I¡¯m fine, really, yeah. Uh, I didn¡¯t, I mean, I don¡¯t think I¡­¡± I panicked slightly as he questioned me. ¡°If you say so¡­ Should I continue?¡± He asked. ¡°Of course, go ahead,¡± I answered hurriedly. ¡°Okay, here is what I think. That¡¯s what you wanted me to tell you, right?¡± He asked, turning towards Jenny. ¡°Yes, please.¡± ¡°Alright. I believe Norr¡¯s eyes make him steal other¡¯s abilities when their gaze meet. I don¡¯t know if it takes all abilities from the person, if it takes only one, or something else, but I¡¯m pretty sure it at least takes one,¡± he said. ¡°Furthermore, I think his eyes can also explain the level of Norr¡¯s skills. Maybe, when they steal an Active, they keep its original level. It¡¯s also possible that, if he tries to steal an Active that he already has, he¡¯ll end up making his existing skill stronger. That¡¯s pretty much all I could think of right now, I hope this helps.¡± ¡°Yes, thank you. That¡¯s pretty much what I had thought of, but you did add some information there. As expected of you,¡± Jenny answered. ¡°Hum, what about¡­ Er, I mean, when I look at people in the eyes, they usually die?¡± I asked. ¡°Oh, that¡¯s interesting. I didn¡¯t know that. Did everyone you looked at die?¡± ¡°No, he looked at me and Tetsu before, and we didn¡¯t get any skill stolen. We only felt a slight headache too,¡± Jenny answered the visitor¡¯s question. ¡°Interesting. Hm¡­ I¡¯ll tell you what I think, but, really, this is all just a theory. I could be entirely wrong.¡± ¡°That¡¯s okay, I want to hear your opinion on that matter,¡± the Guild¡¯s secretary encouraged him to continue. ¡°Well, I think it¡¯s a matter of level¡­ or, maybe, simply strength. It¡¯s like this: Norr is level 8. Quite the low level, but this is actually really high for a non-combatant child. A normal adult¡¯s level is usually around 5, maybe up to 10 if he¡¯s strong. I think, and correct me if I¡¯m wrong, that Norr only ever looked at non-combatants before you two,¡± he explained, looking at Jenny. ¡°This means that the difference in levels between him and his victims was probably always less than 10. And so, I think his ability only works on people who are weaker than him, or that do not exceed his level by too much. Tetsu¡¯s level is a lot higher than Norr¡¯s, and yours too, Jenny. That¡¯s probably why he couldn¡¯t steal anything from you,¡± Meil explained. ¡°I see, that would make a lot of sense. What about the deaths, then?¡± Jenny asked, intrigued. ¡°I would assume that the deaths have no direct link to Norr¡¯s eyes, but rather with the fact that their bodies lack an ability they are used to possess. The backlash from this was probably too much for their body to handle, which resulted in death. Yet again, this is only an hypothesis, but I think if a combatant, or someone whose level is higher than¡­ let¡¯s say, 15, had to meet the eyes of Norr, even if one of their skill was stolen, they could survive,¡± Meil finished his explanation on this note. ¡°They could survive¡­ That is really interesting, Meil. Thanks a lot,¡± Jenny closed the conversation with this sentence. ¡°If you ever need anything, please come see us, right? The Guild is indebted to you, yet you never ask for anything.¡± ¡°Please, Jenny, don¡¯t say that. You know I don¡¯t count such things. It is only obvious that I would help you. Oh, and I really don¡¯t need anything. The only thing I seek is knowledge, and you already gave me access to the highest level of the library. I cannot possibly ask for anything else, as I simply need to experience more things.¡± ¡°I see¡­ But still, if ever¡ª¡± Jenny insisted. ¡°Of course, of course. Then, if you don¡¯t need me for anything else, I¡¯ll go grab another request,¡± The magician said as he left hurriedly. ¡°¡­ Norr, did this help you?¡± Jenny asked when Meil was not in sight anymore. ¡°Yes. Thank you.¡± I had wanted to deny my ability, but everything leaded me to believe that Meil¡¯s words were true. I couldn¡¯t even find a single thing that could make it false. But the last thing he said interested me much more than the rest: It is possible to survive it. That meant¡­ I didn¡¯t want to build my hopes for nothing, but if it meant that there was still a very slim chance for my mother to be alive, I wanted to believe in it. I just had to. If my mother was still alive, then she most likely was taken in again as a prisoner by my father. Or, maybe the villager succeeded in their rebellion, and they took her as a prisoner. If they didn¡¯t execute her, that is. Chapter 8: Lets get out of here My mind was clear. I now had only one, precise goal: finding, and then saving my mother. There was no place left for any doubt. A few hours earlier, I learned of the possibility of survival of my mother. It was just a small ray of hope at first, but as I thought single mindedly about it, the ¡®maybe¡¯ became a ¡®probably¡¯, and ¡®probably¡¯ transformed into ¡®certainly¡¯. It had become, in my mind, impossible for the situation to be any different from this: my mother was alive, and she needed me to rescue her. ¡°Norr, what are you doing?¡± Tetsu asked as he entered my room. He seemed to have grown bored of all the paperwork and had pushed it onto Jenny. ¡°Oh, nothing, I was just practicing my magic,¡± I answered as I hid my bag behind me. I was actually packing, and I planned to leave during the night. I lied since I didn¡¯t want to risk being discovered and having to stay here any longer. My mother was in danger, and she needed me as soon as possible. If Tetsu or Jenny learned of my plan, they would have me prepare thoroughly and I would lose a few days at best, months at worst. ¡°Huh, you¡¯re lying, aha! Are you¡­¡± Tetsu approached me and whispered in my ear. ¡°¡­planning to sneak out of here?¡± ¡°Heh? I¡ªI mean, no?¡± Startled, I tried to lie confidently, but I stuttered. ¡°I see¡­ Hmm, let me come with me, please?¡± ¡°¡­What?¡± I wasn¡¯t sure to understand what he was saying. Wasn¡¯t he supposed to try to discourage me? ¡°I mean¡­ It¡¯s so boring here! I need some exercise once in a while! I need to adventure! I¡¯m not made to stay indoor all day. So, please? Let me accompany you, and I won¡¯t tell anything to Jen?¡± He pleaded, still whispering. ¡°Err, I¡­¡± I hadn¡¯t prepared for something like this, and I didn¡¯t know how to answer his request. While I could certainly use his strength, he didn¡¯t have anything to do with me or my mother, so asking him to help would be quite shameless. And, what if he was just bluffing? He might be. He was the Guild Master, why would he need to run away? ¡°¡­ Do you know where I¡¯m going?¡± I tried gathering more information before deciding. ¡°No! Ahah! That¡¯s what makes it even more interesting! Exploring, fighting, saving people¡­ Those things are even more enjoyable when they¡¯re unpredictable!¡± He answered right away. ¡°Nowadays, I can only go out to do quests that were specifically requested for me. That¡¯s not fun! So, I often sneak out and do quests with other adventurers. Their face when I tell them I¡¯m the Guild Master, it¡¯s priceless! Hahahahaha! ¡­ Hum, back to the topic, take me with you?¡± He whispered once more. ¡°I¡¯m not sure¡ª¡± He cut me before I could finish my sentence. ¡°Oh, even if you refuse, I¡¯ll still come. See you tonight! I¡¯ll be waiting at the exit of the city!¡± And, just like this, he left my room. ¡°Gah¡­ He really doesn¡¯t care about what I think¡­¡± I expired. ¡°Well, back to packing. It doesn¡¯t do any good to think about him too much. He¡¯s strong, so he might help, at least¡­¡± I said quietly as I double checked my backpack¡¯s content. I didn¡¯t have much, just some clothes I had been given by Jenny, the mask my mother left me and a map of the country. I had bought the last item during the day, and had studied it a little bit already. I knew that we were in Rossell, also known as the Adventurer¡¯s city, and that the town I came from was named Elgothas.If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. ¡°I¡¯m ready. Time to sleep a little. I¡¯ll go out in about four hours.¡± My sleep was filled with dreams of a heroic me who saved my mother from all kind of monsters and bad guys, only to have her vanish every time. I woke up in a cold sweat as my dream self got beaten up by my father¡¯s army, my mother in his arms. ¡°Wha, where am I?... Oh, right that was just a dream. Okay. Yeah.¡± I looked out the window, and, noticing that the sun was no where to be seen, I put my mask on, took my bag and slipped outside. The Guild was almost at the entrance of the city, making it a short walk to exit. It was located there so that it could be easier to find it for all adventurers. The city also wanted it to be there so that adventurers could be at the front line if ever anything attacked the city, be it monsters or humans. I arrived at the exit, encountering a first problem: The door was closed. There was a giant door that opened as the sun arose and close when the night arrived. Why didn¡¯t I think about this sooner? How was I going to escape now? ¡°Yo, finally there?¡± I heard behind me. ¡°Let¡¯s go, then. The trick to escaping is to do so quickly. You don¡¯t want to stay here too long, Jen¡¯s radar is super strong these days,¡± Tetsu praised the secretary. ¡°Huhh, I¡¯d like to, but can¡¯t you see that?¡± I said as I pointed towards the exit. ¡°What are you gonna do about that? Wait until tomorrow morning?¡± I asked, slightly pissed off. ¡°What, you consider that a problem? Pff, amateur,¡± he snorted. ¡°What did you say?... Okay, how are we supposed to leave then, oh, Grand Master?¡± I retorqued with a hint of sarcasm in my voice. ¡°Simple,¡± he said as he took me in his arms and princess carried me. ¡°You just,¡± he squatted and gathered strength in his legs, ¡°JUMP!¡± He jumped, covering half the height of the gigantic wall. ¡°WhA¡ªGahh!¡± He then ¨C yes, I know, this sounds like I¡¯m making this up, but, believe me, I was there ¨C proceeded to run on the wall towards the sky. ¡°Nice, I succeeded in only one try this time! Ahaha! Some exercise is always refreshing.¡± I took off my mask after we stopped moving, sensing no one except from Tetsu near me. We were now on top of the wall, and I could see both in and outside of the city, which was bathing in the moonlight. The scenery was breathtaking, but Tetsu didn¡¯t leave me any time to contemplate. ¡°And now, we go down! Close your eyes! AhahaAHAHA!¡± He laughed as he took a step, making us both fall. I closed my eyes, scared from seeing the ground approach me quickly and feeling the wind hitting my face. Suddenly, after a few seconds, we stopped moving. ¡°¡­ What was that¡­?¡± I asked, opening my eyes slowly. ¡°Hm? We just passed the wall, young man! How was it, your first experience? Wanna try again? It¡¯s fun, right? It¡¯s a nice boost of adrenaline, at least!¡± He answered confidently. ¡°Eh, no thanks, I¡¯ll pass on that.¡± ¡°Oh, okay. Where are we going?¡± He asked nonchalantly. ¡°Elgothas. Do you know how to get there?¡± I asked. ¡°I do, but didn¡¯t you buy a map?¡± ¡°Yeah, just¡­ I mean, if you know how to go, the map isn¡¯t necessary, right?¡± I answered nervously. ¡°Oh, don¡¯t tell me¡­ You can¡¯t read a map?¡± He teased me. ¡°Eh? No, of course I can! Who do you take me for?¡± I answered angrily. ¡°Oho? Alright, where do we need to go from now? You must know, since you can read a map!¡± ¡°Err, it¡¯s¡­ this way!¡± I pointed towards the forest. Actually, Tetsu was right. Even if I had already seen maps, I never had to find my way using one before. And so, I pointed in a random direction, hoping to be right. ¡°¡­¡± He took my arm, pushed it to the right, looked around a little, pushed it again, and then, he approved. ¡°That¡¯s about right.¡± ¡°Yeah, let¡¯s go!¡± I blushed as I put my mask back on. I was really off the mark on that one. ¡°I need to learn to read maps¡­¡± I murmured to myself.