Capítulo 24: Mana

Lilo couldn't do it. He concentrated with all his might and yet... he fell short.

All the students around his were using mana to move their books and pens around the room.

It was practice time and Wonka was going around the room, checking on all his students.

Everyone but Lilo was succeeding in this demonstration. It seemed using mana came naturally to those who used chi daily to maneuver in the citadel clouds.

There were snickers that went around the room as everyone gave pitiful glances to the struggling student. Even Chalant was moving his objects with ease.

Lilo felt so embarrassed. He had never felt this level of humiliation before.

Anything he ever attempted to be good at, he was capable of putting in effort and achieving that goal.

This thing... magic... was just too alien to him. It was like an invisible incorporeal wall he had to climb. He didn't know where to start to even begin with this process.

Wonka stopped in front of Lilo who was concentrating with all his might on his pen, his cheeks flushed red from embarrassment.

He put every ounce of his being into willing that pen to float, his fingers dug into his temples and his brows furrowed in deep concentraition.

'Come on. Work dammit. Soda, a little help please?'

"I didn't have any trouble using it... Chalant and I were princes so we were taught at a young age. I'm not sure why you're struggling." Soda admitted candidly.

'Thank you for your abundance of help.'

Lilo turned to Chalant, who was currently juggling all of his five text books with ease, looking almost half bored.

Wonka still remained standing and observing Lilo, not saying a word.

Lilo let out a defeated sigh and relaxed his posture, turning to Wonka to humbly ask for help.

"Hey... Professor Wonka... would you mind giving me some pointers?"

His humility was painful but necessary, and Lilo was more than willing to tear down his pride if it meant getting closer to his goals of accelerating in this world and returning to his own.

Wonka flashed a smile and nodded enthusiastically.

"Of course Lilo! I was just waiting for you to ask." Wonka placed a reassuring hand on Lilo's petite shoulder.

"Let's try this with chi first, it's harmless to use for small objects and probably easier to summon." Wonka pointed at Lilo's feet.

"The best place to focus on, is where you are in relation to your object. Close your eyes and dig your toes in to the space you are taking up." Wonka's voice was not demanding but instead encouraging.

Lilo took a deep breath to focus and settled in to close his eyes.

He blocked out the noise, the embarrassment, and all other emotions; to concentrate on his own being.

This was not that different than his meditation ritual before walking out for a fight back in his old world.

He emptied his mind and let the void of nothingness fill it.

It was serene and freeing; but yet it gave him full control of what he wanted to focus on.

His feet dug into the soft pastel clouds. It was malleable but firm. It held his weight with ease and even entire buildings.

He concentrated on what was touching that cloud. His desk, his brother's desk, the others weight on this cloud, the entire classroom; and finally his book and pencil.

Wonka's voice broke through his boundless mind.

"Now, try to witness the vibrations. Everything, every living being and inanimate object, has its own cord... its own string that vibrates and identifies with itself."

'Witness? But I have no vision.'

Lilo tried to imagine it. To create what it would look like in his mind.

At first it was faint. A subtle glow of light in the midst of his empty mind.

When he tried to focus on it and narrowed his concentration; it exploded with immense intensity.

Strings of ethereal light was attached to everything.

All the things he sensed through the chi in his feet was radiating these vibrations that Wonka was explaining.

"Ahhh yes there it is. You see it. Now that you see it, try to grab it, but don't move your physical body." Wonka's voice was still there, a constant supportive presence in this educational process.

Lilo made sure to keep his body relaxed and make his conscious decisions remain in the void of his mind.

He could sense these vibrations and witness the strands without actually seeing it. He felt he must be able to touch it in a similar fashion as well.

He didn't have arms in the void, hell, he didn't even have a body. But he had his senses... his chi.

With that in mind, he reached out and a sensation of touch was felt when he brushed against the strands of light.

A triumphant laugh escaped his lips, almost pulling him out of his mind and into his physical form; but Wonka's hand on Lilo's shoulder gave a subtle squeeze to bring Lilo back into meditation.

"Don't lose focus. Find the string attached to your book and gently tug on it." Wonka warned.

With determination and excitement, Lilo took another deep breath of concentration and reached his sense out to the string of light that was attached to his book.

The string was thin and looked to be fragile, but when he tugged on it, it was taught as a war bow.

An explosive sound interrupted his concentration and glass fell on his face as he snapped out of his focus and opened his eyes.

"What the-" Lilo stammered back wards from the abrupt rain of glass and looked up at where it was coming from.

The sky light was shattered, leaving the window with no glass, and glass raining down on all of the students.

Small cuts opened up on all of his peers around him and cries of shock filled the air.

Lilo looked down at his desk, but realized it was missing.

'Oh Jesus. I did it again... Why do I keep fucking up?!'

"You through your desk through the roof!" Wonka exclaimed, half proud and half concerned for his bleeding students.

With a wave of his hand, all the cuts closed up and healed.

"Another lesson for today. Minor healing magic is a necessity in our field. We can't mend major cuts or broken bones or rearrange organs like the kite riders; but any minor inconvenience such as small cuts can be mended with what you learn here." Wonka said with a reassuring smile.