Chapter 55: Control
With Charlotte's mom having gone away to continue her business, we're back to going inside Luna's lab which housed all the many creatures and monsters. I'm a bit nervous being back down here, but with how much I've improved, I'm more curious to see what it's going to be like.
"Want to try with the goblins?"
"Nn..." I nod at Charlotte's question as she leads me in front of the cage with the goblins.
Just like the other times, Charlotte took her place behind me, and in the next moment, takes off my mask. I felt the sudden wave of heat spread through my body, but it was in no way painful.
"Eh?" What's more, the goblins in front of me are still alive, which seems to have surprised Charlotte. No, I'm also surprised... "How are they-" Charlotte couldn't even finish her sentence as she watched me looking at the goblins.
She soon came around to the front of me and the moment I locked eyes with her, I felt the heat course through my body more. I was startled by the sudden increase in heat, but after realizing that Charlotte is still okay, I calm down within seconds.
"Your mana's completely stabilized?"
"N-no..." I end up voicing what I think. If this heat inside my chest is the mana everyone is talking about, then I'm not sure if it's stable. Well, it's at least more stable than it was before as even now, I can look at Charlotte's eyes without worry. "I feel a bit different when I look at you."
"Different? But I don't feel anything."
"Really?"
"Yeah." I'm glad. I was worried she was hurting since my body felt hotter than before.
I soon look back over to the goblins as Charlotte also steps back behind me. The heat dissipates slightly, and just like a moment ago, the goblins are still fine.
"Let's go along like this, okay?"
"Yes!"
Feeling excited about what's to come, Charlotte and I walk along throughout the lab, looking through all the different cages. Every creature and animal however was the same as the goblins, as not even a drop of blood was shed. Apparently there's more floors that go deeper, housing larger creatures, but we only stuck with the ones at the top most floor.
"Not a single one, huh." Charlotte looked on in confusion, wondering what to make of it. But I couldn't help but feel as though something was off.
"But Luna, your auntie. She was feeling pain yesterday, right?"
"Yeah... That's what's not adding up." I watch as Charlotte holds her chin, her eyes looking off into the distance as if she's deep in thought. "My guess is that your mana is more defensive. Like maybe your body naturally felt threatened by her and mom..." That kind of makes sense.
"I did feel a strong pressure from your mom."
"Yeah. She has an extreme amount of mana, so maybe your mana felt as though it had no chance against her. Which would mean that your mana thinks it's on par or even stronger than Luna?"
"But then why doesn't my mana want to hurt you?"
"Hehe, maybe because we've spent so much time together that your body's used to living with my mana." I guess that makes sense.
"So then you think the longer I hang around your auntie, I won't need to worry about it?"
"That's my guess, yeah."
"Then what about Lisa?" Naturally, I would start thinking of Lisa. She's also part of Charlotte's life, so I want to be able to comfortably live with them without them feeling hurt, or even killed. I had to wear the mask when we came back home because of Lisa, but maybe it might be okay?
"We'll take it slow, just in case. Maybe wait a week or two, or when mom is back. We can figure that out by then."
"Okay." Still, I'm glad that I've made progress.
"However, we do need you to be able to control your mana."
"Huh?"
We soon moved back over to the goblins, my mask still off, and the moment we stopped in front of the cage, Charlotte put her hand on my shoulder whilst standing behind me.
"Shiro, I want you to try and kill these goblins."
"What?" Is she saying that I still need to kill them even though I can look at them just fine?
"I know, I should've explained this to you before, but we do need you to be able to harness your mana, making it take form. Before, your mana acted on instinct, so now it's time for you to use it yourself."
Her words leave me speechless as I'm left clueless. I'd like to not kill if I could, but I know that I probably need to do this in order to stay by Charlotte's side. The only problem is-
"How?" I ask the question, still wondering how one even uses their mana.
"Well, your origins are from this world, so your mana should be all around your body. It might feel like a warm, tingling feeling inside. What I like to do is imagine that feeling concentrating at a single point in my body." I watch as she extents her hand out, and in the next moment, a small flame suddenly appears in her hands, unlike the wave of flames that happened at that hotel. "And just let that feeling leave your body." I watch as Charlotte then moves the flame in her palm, maneuvering it in between her fingers before extinguishing it with her hand.
"O-okay..." I end up following her instructions, raising my hand up towards the goblins. I try and focus back on the heat inside my body, imagining it all flowing into my outstretched hand. After a few moments, I feel nothing happening, so I try harder, even straining my body to try and push that feeling to my hand, but again, nothing...
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone