The second figure was a man, standing a bit further away but close enough to be just as present. He had jet-black hair, short and slightly messy, with a stubbled jaw that gave him a rugged yet caring appearance. His eyes were a pale green and filled with concern and awe as he looked at the woman and the child she held.
They both spoke a different language, it seemed, but it barely mattered; you can see their joy.
¡°What are they saying..?¡±Nyxie muttered to herself, her voice thin and strained.
And then, she heard it.
Voices. Not just her own.
¡°What¡ who is that?!¡±a voice demanded, as if it were coming from inside her own mind. She felt a strange pressure on her consciousness, like she just gotforced out of something.
"Query: What is this place?¡±another voice asked, this one monotone.
She gasped and looked around, her breath catching in her throat.¡°Who¡¯s there?¡±she asked, but the voices didn¡¯t stop.
The realization hit her all at once: there was more than just her here. More than just Nyxie. The voices different, unfamiliar instilled in her mind, speaking over each other, asking questions she couldn¡¯t answer.
"What¡¯s going on? *sniffle*¡±one of them squeaked. Another voice, panicked, joined in.¡°Why am I hearing voices? Who are any of you?!¡±
Someone started crying, this forced tears out of all their eyes.
"EHH?!?!??"Nyxie yelled out.
Chapter 2: Introductions
Part 1: Nyxie''s POV
This has got to be the weirdest few minutes of my new life, and it was only getting more confusing from here. I don¡¯t even know where to begin. Honestly, I''m barely holding it together as is.
The first thing I noticed was just how fast I was forced out of the driver''s seat. One moment, I was trying to reach out to the woman in front of me, to understand what was happening, then all of a sudden from out of nowhere BAM, I was shoved aside. Someone else was in control. I don¡¯t even know how to explain it. It was like they didn¡¯t even need to ask permission. It wasn¡¯t a gentle push either, it felt like someone had charged into me, so I charged back and that repeated for quite a while. The feeling of being knocked out of myself and thrown back in again was unnerving. I don¡¯t even know how long it lasted; it felt like minutes, but time had stopped making sense. That was probably, in part, due to us being a baby.
The second thing was the feeling of calmness we all got when the woman (mother) took us into her arms for an embrace. The man (father) who had left the room had just returned with what looked like a woolen brown blanket, which wasn¡¯t as snug as mother¡¯s arms, but it still carried a certain warmth. The texture of it felt softer than I expected, like it was designed to wrap around us. I''m also pretty sure it was self heating because it was a lot warmer than any of my blankets back home. It seems to me everyone''s calmed down now. At least for a moment.
That calmness actually lasted longer than I expected. It wasn¡¯t like everything was perfect, but for the first time since all this began, it was silent. I could feel everyone else, all of us, breathing together in the same space, sharing the same body. It seemed like everyone took a step back, with only one of us in control it was a lot more comfortable anyway, as for whoever was in control still no clue. A brief respite.
That brings me to now. back to the present.
The light was still blindingly bright, our eyes struggling to adjust to the swirl of colors filling the room. Everything was too soft, too warm, too overwhelming. The woman (mother) was speaking to us now, her voice soothing but still incomprehensible, her golden eyes gazing into ours with tender love.
Her fingers brushed gently against our cheek, warmth radiating from her skin.
¡°Too bad she''s taken, I like her¡± Someone says
Silence.
Absolute, deafening silence.
I don¡¯t even know how to begin processing that, and judging by the stunned quiet, neither does anyone else.
"Alrighty!" The blunt one finally broke the tension. "Since we¡¯re all stuck in here together, we should at least know who¡¯s who."
Clearly distracting from the comment earlier, but its relief she brought it up, kinda like finally getting the first few lines of dialogue after a long ass cutscene... And at least there was a bit of normalcy in a name. A starting point, maybe.
A sigh, drawn out and distinctly unimpressed. "Very well," she began, her tone had an air of superiority to it. "I must admit, I find myself quite befuddled right now, though I imagine I''m not the only one who feels this way. I am Rose Kandemara, daughter of house Kandemara. I trust that means something to at least one of you?"
"Nope," The response came almost instantly. "Never heard of you."
A monotone voice joins in. "Analysis: I cannot find any data regarding "Rose Kandemara" within my stored memory banks. Hypothesis: This name is not recognized or relevant to current parameters."
Rose clearly offended by that, "How.. quaint," her tone is condascending now. "It seems you are as uneducated as you are dull." She pauses "You should consider yourself lucky, Not many are granted the opportunity to have an audience with me."
For some reason, I couldn''t help but roll my eyes, which I''m just realizing now are our eyes and that everyone just saw that.
The blunt one speaks up "You seem like a pleasure to talk to," She says sarcastically. "Anyway, I¡¯m Ashley. Ash, if thats easier." She pauses for a moment. "Not much else to say, really. I¡¯ve lived most of my life on my own. I¡¯m a survivalist, good with a sword, beginner in Ashen Style, and intermediate in Sun God Style.
Sword styles... Yeah that sounded like some fantasy novel, maybe its like ashes of war?
"What about the one who was crying earlier?"
The quiet one perked up, and I barely cought her voice from how quiet she was whispering. "I... I¡¯m sorry," her voice is trembling. "U-um Ogma, that¡¯s my name."
I hear the soft sound of sniffles, and then something wet follows. A sniff, a sob, aaannd she¡¯s crying.
Seeing someone break down like that, then realizing you have no idea how to comfort them sucks. I may not be good the whole comforting thing. But I still want to say something, anything. But before I can say anything about it, the monotone voice speaks over her.
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
"Introduction: I am Celia. Designation: 411C3 Analysis: Dissengaged from the main collective, additional discomfort registering in internal system. Further inquiry required."
Ashley snorts. "You always talk like that?"
"Yes."
"Figures," Ashley mutters.
Celia huh, How is she even here? She¡¯s a robot, right? I mean, get the rest of us being here, but like, she''s not human. I guess i''ll ask later; it seems kinda rude right now.
¡°So, the last one, then¡¡± Ashley begins, her tone casual but with an edge of impatience, ¡°What about you?¡±
Nyxie shifts nervously, and it''s nerve-wracking talking to them now, like standing in front of an audience. "I¡¯m Nyxie," she says, voice firm. "I¡¯ve... uh, had a bad day today." Clearly nervous from the audible shaking of her voice.
"Oh gods, trust me, you have NOT had a worse day than me" Ashley replied
Celia¡¯s response wasn''t any better; her voice still lacking in emotion. "Query: Would you like to initiate a ''feel better'' protocol? Multiple individuals have been designated as distressed."
feel better protocol? "Uh, okay." I say, mostly out of curiosity to see where this leads.
There¡¯s a brief pause, like she¡¯s processing the command before continuing, ¡°Do not worry. You are not alone in this, you are loved. I am here to assist whenever you require it.¡±
I mean, at least she tried? Honestly, I could use some space; although it doesn''t seem like that''s gonna be possible.
¡°Thanks... I guess?¡± I mumble, holding back a yawn.
A wave of exhaustion hits all five of us; the woman (mother) had been rocking us to sleep for quite some time. Her embrace was warm, and the motion had started tiring us out. The events of the past hour had taken a lot of energy to process, too much for us to handle clearly. Our eyes are heavy, it''s hard to keep focus, and before I knew it, the overwhelming tiredness takes over.
"Analysis: Indication present that we are tired. Suggestion: It would advisable for us to rest now. Sleep could help alleviate discomfort and decrease overall stress."
Nobody disagreed. We all felt it, the subtle drift from reality into dream.
PART 2: Update
It¡¯s been around 3 months.
We¡¯ve had a lot of time to explore our environment. We live in a two-story wooden house with about six or seven rooms, and it''s surprisingly spacious. We sleep with Mom (yes I got used to calling her that) in her room, where there¡¯s a large basket filled with pillows and blankets. It¡¯s comfortable and has heating, but I still don¡¯t know how they do it, the blankets are always the perfect temperature... Downstairs, there¡¯s a large open area that dips down a little with some steps; it serves as both our living room and dining area. It has a fairly large rectangular table that can hold about three people on each side and one at each end. There are some couches scattered about, but overall, the space is kept open. Next to it is a small kitchen with pots hanging from the ceiling, and the kitchen always smells like whatever Mom¡¯s making. Which because we are still a baby, and we can¡¯t eat yet, it''s just there to taunt us. There are shelves, but no books, unfortunately. And there are no light bulbs, just candles and lamps. Apparently, I was the only one who thought it was weird, especially since our family seemed quite well off. We got a good look out the window the other day; it was mostly extensive hills and wheat fields. Other houses were scattered about, and the roads were dirt. You could occasionally see people walking along them, some kids older than us playing outside, and some older folks traveling with large backpacks. Unfortunately, with our small bodies, we have to get a lot of sleep, so there¡¯s not much time to look around other than that.
Side note: Being a baby is incredibly boring; we sleep most of the day and night while Mom has to carry us around everywhere. We keep hurting ourselves too... Sorry, it''s just Ashley doing it, she''s the most impatient. She also makes it very clear she''s uncomfortable around Mom, so that''s generally the best time to steal control.
As for Dad, he''s.... trying way to hard.
For the last week or so he''s been really adamant about getting us to laugh. Fake laughing is surprisingly hard, but Ashley seems good at it. Or she actually thinks he''s funny... Which he''s not, but I guess it''s nice that he''s trying. Also, he keeps bringing us these little wooden toys; one of them was a tiny wooden sword, which he got immediately scolded for.
Also, huge news: we have a sister!
She¡¯s only a little more than a year old and already walking around. She¡¯s got Dad¡¯s black hair, which is all messy, and Mom¡¯s golden eyes. We see her a lot; she''s very hyperactive, always poking around in mom''s room looking for things to do. It''s cute how excited she gets when Mom lets her play with us. Ogma is super attached to her; its one of the only times she doesn''t cry, so we usually let her take control.
Finally, Back to us.
We finally got a name! Celia actually told us, she''s been picking up words from conversations between Mom and Dad, trying to understand their language apparently takes first priority for her. We''ve been trying our best to learn too, Celia however, is a terrible teacher, and Rose seems to be the only one who is picking things up. After all that, Celia finally told us our name... Mira. I actually really liked it. I¡¯d been worried we¡¯d argue over it like with everything else, but it turns out, everyone was fine.
I¡¯d like to say we¡¯ve got this whole ¡°sharing a body¡± thing down, but that would be a lie. We¡¯ve established some kind of system, sure, but it¡¯s still a mess. Some of us are still better at taking control than others. Ash has absolutely no problem joining in whenever one of us was doing something she found remotely fun. I¡¯ve lost count of how many times I¡¯ve had to wrestle control back from her, when we can walk its gonna get worse, I''m not looking forward to it. There is however, a major problem to the whole control thing, turns out its not just one person at a time, and when two of us try to take control, it is incredible painful. I''m speaking from experience here; Ashley needs to tone it down a bit, I don''t want Ogma to experience that again.
Finally, after all these idle conversations over the past month, I still haven''t learned much about everyone.
Ash a pain to deal with. She''s always starting arguments, and it feels like she came from some sort of swordsman background, probably one who was still in training. She¡¯s hot-headed, always starting arguments, and constantly itching for something to do.
Then there¡¯s Ogma. I haven''t been able to find much of anything about her really. She barely speaks, spends most of her time crying, and seems terrified of Rose for reasons I can¡¯t figure out. Other than that, I¡¯ve got nothing on her.
Rose, on the other hand, full on noble woman, She¡¯s also the sharpest of us all, right after Celia. She doesn¡¯t seem to get along with anyone here, always keeps to herself. I would like to be friends with her but she''s hard to deal with.
And then there¡¯s Celia. She¡¯s almost robotic in how she speaks, it freaks Ogma out, all monotone. I have a ton of questions about her, but for now, I¡¯ll keep them to myself. She¡¯s dead set on learning the language and teaching it to us, still a terrible teacher.
That should be everything!
Chapter 3: Growing Up
Part 1: First Meal
It¡¯s been a little over half a year since we were reincarnated here. Celia has a full grasp on the language, and with Rose¡¯s help, both me and Ashley can follow most of the conversations around the house. Ogma, though, is still struggling. Rose gets frustrated when she has to repeat herself, and Ogma is¡ very fragile, especially when Rose is involved. We don¡¯t really trust Rose to be patient with her, so for now, I¡¯m planning to take over teaching her, mostly after I finish learning to write.
Lately, we¡¯ve started crawling, and Ashley is ecstatic about it. She¡¯s constantly getting into anything she can reach. And for some reason, she keeps slamming into every wall in the house. I mean seriously, no matter how many times she crashes she always has the energy to keep going. Mom and Dad are starting to worry that we¡¯ll try crawling outside, so Mom¡¯s been keeping a closer eye on us.
Oh! And I finally figured out our family''s names!
Dad¡¯s name is Zayd, Mom¡¯s is Hanae, and our big sister is Layla.
Layla has been walking around the house on her own, which I''m fairly jealous of. Meanwhile, Dad has been bragging to mom about how smart we are. Apparently, he noticed that we were picking up on what he was saying, so he''s been annoyingly trying to get us to talk. Mom noticed too; she started reading us a book she got from the attic, some fairy tale about a hero who defeated a demon king. Celia figured out how to read just from listening to her... like always.
Recently, we decided I would take control of our day-to-day, the others are a bit... special, so this should be for the best. That brings us to now.
Currently, I''m sitting at the dining table opposite to Dad, watching as he leans back in his chair, arms crossed, looking rather irritated.
He looked over at Mom, sighed and said ¡°I went through all that trouble. You know getting this wasn¡¯t easy.¡± Dad had been pouting since he got back from his 4 day trip, apparently having brought something pretty valuable with him. ¡°I just want a bite.¡± He said as he leaned way too far back in his chair. For a moment, it looked like he was about to fall back on the floor. But, in a move I could only describe as completely ridiculous, Dad managed to flip backward, catching himself in a perfect handstand. With a grunt, he pushed off the floor, flipped right back up to a standing position, and casually dusted off his clothes as if nothing had happened.
"Holy shit dad''s got moves!" Ashley exclaimed excitedly. I acted the same, I was extremely surprised; I''ve never seen anyone do that before, honestly it was super impressive. Yet Mom didn''t even pay any mind to it and kept doing what she was doing, almost like it was normal, even though we''ve never seen him do anything like that before. Was dad some sort of gymnast this whole time?
"You know what we agreed on" Mom said calmly, she was too busy cutting bread up into smaller pieces to pay him any mind "We''d agreed to give them as their first meals, you had no problem giving yours up to Layla."
Dad groaned, leaning his back against the wall and dragging a hand down his face. "This one took me twice as long as last time, you know that."
Mom had approached us now, carrying a bowl of tiny bread squares and in the other hand a large blue bud of a flower, ¡°And whose fault is that?¡±
"Your-" Dad fumbled on his words catching himself, Mom glared at him "Mine... but there was only one this time."
¡°You agreed,¡± she said placing the bowl in front of us and taking the spot to our left, "I want her first meal to be special, because she''s a little miracle." She pulled our cheek.
Mom rested the azure flower on the plate in front of me, Dad watched from across, still pouting. She shifted her hands and hovered just above the flower bulb. "Oh god of Shandea, mother of life please provide your blessings, recover what is broken" [HEALING]
Tiny green glowing beads of light began to materialize in the surrounding air; they coalesced towards the bulb, increasing their speed as they neared. As they sank into the petals it began to glow a vibrant emerald green, the glow intensified, becoming brighter and brighter with every particle of light. Even I had begun to feel the healing effects as the pain on my forehead from Ashley bumping into the wall earlier faded. The flower had begun to bloom, its petals a beautiful sky blue, the magic had caused it to slowly unfurl. Eventually it opened up, to reveal a thick golden jelly-like substance which had been in the center of the beautiful flower.
I was bewildered, was that real magic? Why hadn''t she used it before? This world has magic?!? Friggen awesome! I couldn''t keep in my excitement, "you guys saw that right?" I squealed "She just made that flower bloom!"
Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.
Celia responded to her sudden outburst, "Analysis complete: Affirmative. This is the first instance of crysta usage since our arrival. Further evaluation of this world''s ''magic'' is required."
"You have magic in your world?" I dont even know why I was so surprised, if anything, with all that''s happened and how they all talk it makes sense.
"Response: Yes, although its properties differ greatly from what was just demonstrated."
Ashley also jumped in, "I do too, but it''s all circles and utter nonsense, impossible to learn."
Rose chimed in next, "Ah, well, for me, the gods gifted magic to my family at birth. I¡¯ve never heard circles being used as a medium; can''t imagine it being hard to learn."
Ashley scoffed, "Of course, born lucky."
All three of them had magic, I may be singled out at this point.
Ogma finally spoke up, her voice low, "My magic was dark¡ it hurt." She''s almost crying."
Ashley and I started panicking trying to calm her down, mother saw and patted our head smiling, luckily that was enough and she calmed down.
Mom had started to notice our inner conversation, so we put it on hold. Now that we were focused, she cut into the flower''s golden gelatin, taking a portion with a brass spoon. It wobbled as she moved, the golden glow under the light from the candles made it so much more appealing. She held the spoon up to our mouths, allowing us to take a bite... The texture was impossibly soft, quickly melting on my tongue from the heat. It tasted like candy as it melted in my mouth, it was enough to make you want to savor every moment. It had a citrus aftertaste and smelled like oranges. It distracted me enough to let my mind wander away from the thought of magic.
For about 30 minutes, we ate. Mom fed us directly, and every now and then, she would include the small squares of bread that she had cut up earlier, mixing it with the gelatin made the bread a lot tastier. I felt content, finally eating a meal after seven months of well... Not a meal... Really makes the food taste a lot better. My mind wandered back to the magic earlier; it really was beautiful.
In my head I ask, "Hey Celia, you said you analyzed the magic earlier. Would it be possible to use magic like mothers?"
"Response: Yes, it would be possible to use the same magic demonstrated today. However, I further analyzed the current state of this body, based on predicted growth, it is recommended we wait until we are at least 2 years of age to avoid severe bodily harm."
Good enough for me. In just a year and a half, I can learn magic? that''s enough of a motivation for me.
Part 2: Update 2
You wouldn''t believe just how fast time flew by; it¡¯s only been a little over a year and a half since I discovered that magic exists. One thing that changed pretty quickly, though, was that I finally began to take notice of how it was used around the house. For example, remember the blankets that were always so warm? Well, it turns out they have some sort of enchantment that causes them to always be warm or always be cold. Oh yeah, the lanterns around the house are actually some sort of magical device that causes flames to appear, no chemical processes required. I want to take them apart and see how they work... but mom would probably yell at me.
Another thing that surprised me is that birthdays aren''t actually celebrated every year here, which came out as a bit of a shock. I was pretty bummed, but I got over it pretty quickly. Instead, it seems they celebrate every 5 years, with each party being much larger than just a yearly one. I''ve given it some thought, but I mostly chalk it down to the fact that people here just can''t afford to celebrate every single year.
Our legs and waist were finally strong enough for us to walk on our feet. Finally being able to walk around is the greatest thing to ever happen to us. Rose finally started taking control too; she had refused to crawl on the grounds before... which made sense considering her personality. Ashley has already been running into stuff; I swear, with how clumsy she is she''s gonna find a way to hurt us pretty badly.
Also, we can talk fluently; we were able to talk a lot sooner than Layla. Dad thinks we''re some mega genius, which, at this point, may be true, but I don''t want to go around calling myself one. Mom, on the other hand, somehow already knew we were able to talk. Not even Celia knew how... call it motherly instinct, I guess. Whatever the case, she was incredibly happy when we did talk for the first time and still answers our questions whenever we have them.
Unfortunately, despite all that time watching Mom, she never used any spells beyond the ones we had already seen, and according to Celia, we needed more of a basis to go on. The problem is, apparently books in this world are worth their weight in gold, meaning they¡¯re ridiculously expensive. Mom keeps all of ours stored away in the attic, so we¡¯re planning on going up there tomorrow. With any luck, there¡¯s a book on magic up there.
Its been around 2 years into our lives, and how much do I know about the others? Well, still not a lot it seems.
I still don¡¯t know much about Celia, so I¡¯ll skip her for now and move on to Ashley. She¡¯s an apprentice swordsman (knew that) but she also tried being a magician. Turns out, she actually attended magic school but failed, which is also why she has a huge distaste for magic. It¡¯s clearly a sensitive subject, so I try not to bring it up. She and Rose still bicker all the time; it seems like they both have prejudice against each other.
That brings me to Rose. She¡¯s a noble who specializes in contracted spirits. Turns out her "power granted by god" allowed her to talk to spirits in her world and form contracts with them. She brags about how she was top of her class all the damn time; she clearly does it to piss off Ashley.
And then there¡¯s Ogma. She still hasn¡¯t opened up to me yet. The only real progress is that she seems less afraid of Rose now. I did manage to teach her the language, but it took a long time. I''m worried about her; I just wish I could do more to cheer her up.
That should be most of it, here''s hoping magic works out for us tommorow.
Chapter 4: Magic
Part 1: Morning
Lazily, my eyes drift open, the world still blurry from the golden light filtering through the curtains, casting elongated shadows of all the furniture throughout the room. Still stuck in a morning haze, I glance around the room. The door is slightly ajar, and next to it stands a massive dresser, which stands at least four times my height. In the corner, there¡¯s table with all sorts of dad¡¯s toys, all setup like a battlefield. To my right, there''s a small dresser, which has a piece of parchment resting on top, on it is the alphabet scribbled across in messy handwriting. On my left, another bed is against the wall. I squint at it and rub my eyes, noticing the sheets rustled to the side.
I feel a nose poking into my upper shoulder; I look down to see Layla shifting in her sleep; her eyes still closed. Currently, she¡¯s sprawled across the bed wrapping her arms around my torso. Her long black hair lays sprawled out across the pillow and onto my arm. Also, she''s drooling into my shirt, which is kind of uncomfortable. Every night since we started sharing a room she''s been crawling into our bed, likely because she''s still scared of the dark.
I try to move, but Layla shifts uncomfortably when I do. I really don''t want to wake her up. I try again, this time she hugs tighter, locking me in place with an iron grip. Looks like I''m stuck here until she wakes up... Bored, I stare up at the ceiling. "You guys awake?" I say in my head, my eyes still locked on the patterns in the wooden ceiling.
¡°What do you think?¡± Rose replies with a yawn, forcing a yawn out of all of us.
One of the weirdest things about sharing a body is how we don''t share the same dreams. I thought we would finally be able to meet face-to-face when we slept. Unfortunately that¡¯s not the case, we all are off in our own separate worlds, alone, until morning when one of us wakes up. Although if I¡¯m being honest, it''s really nice to have the peace and quiet during the nights.
"We''re sneaking into the attic today," I poke Layla''s cheek trying to wake her up, "Are we bringing her?"
"Can we..?" Ogma says tired
"I don''t see why not." I pause for a second. "Celia?"
I feel myself brutally pushed aside as Celia takes over; she moves Layla and places her hand on her chest "Answer: Layla does not have the required capacity to use crysta"
"So... um... can she come with us..?" Ogma asks with a sad tone.
"Clarification: No, she will likely harm herself in the process. It is estimated she wait another year before any attempts with crysta are made." Celia says coldly.
¡°Okay¡ But we¡¯re not making her use ''crysta''. She doesn''t know how to read, so she can¡¯t accidently use it, and even if she tries to copy us, i''ll stop her. We just need to know if she can come along."
I mostly say this for Ogma¡¯s sake. The second Celia shut her down, I could feel Ogma¡¯s sadness about to burst. I don¡¯t really care whether Layla comes or not, but if having her there stops Ogma from getting upset, then she¡¯s coming with us.
There¡¯s a brief pause before Celia responds. "Conclusion: This is, acceptable... she can accompany us but it will provide no tactical advantage."
¡°Yeah, well, neither does Rose, yet she''s still coming along.¡±
¡°Hey!¡± Rose yells at me.
"BWAHAAHAA" Ashley, you who was quiet before, cuts in, her laughter drowning out Rose who is now yelling at her and me.
Ashley pushes out Celia and takes over control of our body. She was going to do it anyway, so Celia didn¡¯t bother trying to fend her off. Ashley props herself up on the bed, taking a few moments to stretch, which feels really good in the morning. She forces Layla''s arms off of us and wipes the drool off our shirt. Layla rolls to the side slightly, waking up and looking up at us, her golden eyes staring into ours.
Ashley pushed up, sitting down feet dangling off of the bed. She turns our head to Layla ¡°Ay, time to wake up, we''re breaking into the attic today.¡±
Wide eyes looking at us "...Huh?" she mutters.
Ashley grins. ¡°We''re breaking into the attic today. You in?¡±
She gets up on the bed, sitting next to us, tilts her head to the side, looking into our eyes again "Awre we gonna look for books?"
Ashley smirks. ¡°Something like that."
Layla fidgets with the hem of her shirt. ¡°Can you read to me...¡± she mumbles, glancing at the floor.
You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.
Ashley reached up ruffling her hair. ¡°Sure!¡±
I take control back from Ashley; she didn''t even resist. Right after breakfast, we¡¯d be heading up to the attic.
Part 2: Attic
Layla and I finish our food as quickly as possible, slamming our bowls onto the table at the same time. Our eyes meet, and we''re both smiling. Mom looks at the both of us after scarfing down our food, shakes her head and sighs. She''s not saying anything, but she probably already knows we''re getting into something. I jump off the chair and dart to the hallway, motioning Layla to follow. It takes her a second to process before she jumps off her seat and chases after me, "Wait fow meee!¡± Layla yells as I run upstairs.
I¡¯m already halfway up the stairs by the time she reaches me, but I slow just enough for her to catch up. Reaching the top, I poke my head just above the top step, good there¡¯s no one watching. I turn to Layla who is next to me, grabbing her hands in mine.
¡°Layla, your mission should you choose to accept it, is to help me break into a highly secure vault that holds secret books¡± I say.
Her head tilts to the side, eyes glistening with childlike wonder. ¡°What¡¯s a vault?¡±
¡°You good nix? You¡¯re doing it again.¡± Ashley cuts in.
My face turns red embarrassed. "...N-Never mind!" I let go of her hands and run up the steps, pressing my back against the wall and shuffling forward. "Just follow me."
Layla mimics me, pressing herself flat against the wooden wall. As we approach the room that holds the entrance to the attic, I pause, peeking around the doorframe. There¡¯s nobody there¡
I turn back to Layla, lowering my voice. "Two guards inside. Trust me, I got this."
I reach down, grab the small wooden ball that I had stuffed into my waistband earlier, this was one of the toys dad had given me. I toss it into the room and watch as it rolls across the floor. It comes to a stop near the far wall. I plug my ears and Layla does the same.
Three¡ two¡ one¡ BOOM! (I make an explosion sound with my mouth)
We slip into the room, looking around before our eyes fall upon the hatch to the attic. The entrance was already open, likely because dad had just gone up here before he left. There is a large wooden ladder that leads upwards, it was much taller than me. Layla immediately starts climbing up without me, trying to show off.
I step back, watching as she climbs up, I prepare myself mentally to catch her if she falls, luckily she makes it to the top safely. Her legs kick a little as she hoists herself up, and I hear a thud of something falling as she gets to the top. A second later, her head pops back down. "Come on"
I used to climb the large oak tree outside my school, so I make it up there with ease, Layla helps me get my balance when I reach the top.
The attic surprisingly looks like a normal room, the only difference being that this room holds a bunch of swords, spears, and other weaponry. Honestly, that''s most likely the reason we weren''t allowed into the attic, mom''s scared we''ll hurt ourselves. There is, however, two training swords in the corner that are wooden and about our size. Other than that it''s filled to the brim with dangerous weaponry and crates too large for either of us to see into. The room itself is illuminated by a large circular window at the far end. Wooden beams stretch across the roof, and the floor creaks beneath us as we walk around.
Layla immediately took to the two wooden swords in the corner, playing with them.
I scan the room, searching for any place mom might''ve put the books for when she''s not using them. I find a suspicious chest in the corner of the room, with a little upper arm strength, I push it open and look inside. There are around five... no, six books stacked on top of each other along with some currency in the form of coins that I''ve never seen before. I take them all out lining them on the floor. Standing above them arms crossed and proud.
Part 3: Beginner Magic Theory
Out of the six books, two are the stories mom read to us, so I¡¯ll be setting those aside to read to Layla after I''m done. The other four books are different and will likely prove to be useful. These were the four books:
This book mostly contains information about the various kinds of plant life found in Palthea, or whatever country we''re currently in. It even has information on those edible flowers dad got for us.
A book containing the animal life found in Palthea. For the monsters portion, it discusses their known traits and weaknesses. As for fauna, it tells you where to find specific animals in the region.
This book is exactly what it sounds like, a guide for people beginning to learn magic. Its mostly theory, but and It has spells in the beginner and intermediate category, but they are very few. It unfortunately only has attack magic, so any healing like mom used would have to be taught later.
The book has my mother''s name on the spine, I assume it was wrote by her. As for its contents, well... I couldn''t understand a single word, Celia however was immediately obsessed with this book, saying we''re extremely lucky it''s up here.
I read through the first few chapters of Guide to Elementary Magic, and turns out that magic an elementary level is pretty simple. In order to cast magic you must have mana, there are three methods of using mana for magic.
Personal Mana: You can use your own mana to cast spells, this is the most common way mana is used. As for how much mana you have, your maximum capacity is determined from birth by your parent¡¯s capacity. As you grow up, your magic capacity increases exponentially until it stops growing at the age of 15.
Stamina: Your physical strength can be used as a substitute for mana. It works differently from personal mana, requiring as much energy as it would to actually preform whatever action the magic takes. Also it says that running out of personal mana will also exhaust you the same as you would using stamina for magic.
Catalysts: You can use external substitutes for your mana. These include, but are not limited to, mana in the air, other people¡¯s mana, and monster corpses.
Using the mana required two simple steps: First you must actually have the required mana for the spell you want to cast. This step is easy as long as your personal mana is high. As for the second, you use an incantation to force the magic to take the form of a specific spell. This one is the one I¡¯m actually worried about; it seems tedious having to say the spell out loud every time.
Apparently, magic was developed for war, and most of its developments have continued to be for combat. The continent we are on has experienced many wars, and the magic has developed from it. Because of that, the people of this continent developed all the magic in this book for combat..
Anyway, currently I¡¯m standing in the center of the attic. The first spell in the book is a wind spell called "Burst." I want to try it here while Layla is still gawking at the swords.
I hold my hands outward, closing my eyes. Finally, I can try my first spell.