Capítulo 4: Chapter 4 : Finally Inside
The fluctuation of mana stopped. Vega felt his body was full. Not full because of food, but because of something else. He tried looking around, finding that the warmth of the sun touching his skin had decreased, not because he got used to living on an island thing, but because the sun was sleepy.
Vega threw his sight at the beautiful red lines in the sky. This was the first time he actually enjoyed the sunset, not trying to find shelter to spend the night. The breeze from the ocean caressed his skin. He was sure that sometimes, his ears caught the gentle sound of waves, which helped him to relax. It wasn't just that. He felt a tingling sensation all over his body akin to thousands of ants crawling his skin.
Finally, only the sound of the night accompanied him. Several crickets sang together and the sound of waves got bigger. The growing cold hit him, hug the cloak closer to him, Vega looked around and found his books and the pouch by the door. His medal shone, reflecting the light from the moon. He grabbed it and felt coldness spread to his right hand.
The book told him to concentrate on the sensation of his mana to activate his magic So, following the book, he concentrated on the feeling in his navel area.
'What sensation? And what is mana? Useless! And no. I don't want to sleep outside after having my first real home. What should I do? Vega thought hard about things he could do to actually access his room.'
He thought back to the smiling face of Dion. Can I trust him? A noble at that, the similar kind to the one who chased him around for three days straight until he had to keep hiding, not eating and only had rainwater for hydration.
Unbeknownst to him, Dion, like the other apprentices, felt the gathering of mana and went outside to check, and after walking around, he saw the silhouette. It brought him a memory of when he was younger. He was trying to master the sword, and his brother looked around with a confused look. Smiling, he approached Vega. I believe him now when he said he was from the outside.
'No wonder he can't get in. I really want to see what place Vega is talking about. How does a place without any knowledge of magic can survive?'
"Do you need help?" Dion spoke softly, not to startle Vega.
Even though Dion's voice was soft, Vega had grown used to the silence at night and didn't notice his surrounding, so that voice made him flinch. He dropped everything, his books, his pouch, and his medal, disturbing the silence in the night.
"Y… yes. Please," Vega crouched down and tried gathering his stuff back. Fortunately, it wasn't much.
"Can I see the medal?" Dion asked him.
"Here, I tried everything, but I'm not sure how it works. I even drank my first...what was it again?" Vega scratched his head, "Ah, Mana Starting potion."
"Good for you. No one disturbed you, and your belongings are still there." Dion used his mana and touched upon the medal. Noticing that it hasn't been claimed, understood the reason.
"Here, prick your blood with this and spread a little bit of your blood to the medal to claim it yours first." Dion gave Vega back the medal while offering a needle for him.
"That's how you do it? What's with you guys and violence?" He asked the noble, remembering the sight of blood spilling on the ship would traumatize him for life. He knew it wasn't necessarily related to the adepts or nobles. But the memory of controlled slaves greeting Vin on the port and the noble that kept him from living another peaceful life reminded him again about people with power and their antics.
"That's the unfairness of the world. The nobles exploit the commoners, and the adepts exploit the nobles. I think we even do the same with the animals knowing that they can't do anything to us because we're bigger and stronger than them." Dion sighed and recalled his childhood.
"Even though we look peaceful from the outside, in the shadows, we do everything we can to benefit ourselves. Like on this islands," he flailed his arms around. "People looked like they were not paying attention to you, but they were just waiting for the right time to catch you off guard before attacking. I believe people have been trying to attack you before, but for some reason, the masters or elders stopped them."
Dion explained to Vega he remembered that even though he is a noble but being the fourth in line, he was treated as useless by his father before he showed his talent when his father finally noticed him.
Vega nodded, understanding what Dion told him. He winched, trying to prick his finger with the needle. The blood reminded him of something that transpired in the library, and he recalled the book with empty pages. But putting it aside for later, he smeared his blood on the medal. He felt something, not physically but intuitively. There was a connection between him and the medal.
"You finally made your first connection with a magic item!" Dion raised his eyebrows.
"Yeah, what do I do now? Is it normal?" Vega told Dion the feeling he gained after his blood touched the medal. He tried to feel another connection on the edge of his mind with the strange book. He smiled because he felt the connection between him and the book. Forget about it. Let's try to listen to Dion. He has been kind to me so far.
"...connection will be built upon claiming magic items. The more powerful you are, the harder it is for people with less mana to steal it from you."
Luckily Vega didn't miss much because Dion prattled around, and in the end, he demonstrated what he meant. Dion touched the two medal together by showing the number on the bottom left of his medalr. Sure, the number was still the same.
"See! Later on, if you finish a task from the academy, you can get contribution points, which can be exchanged for spells or even magic items. But don't bother with the magic items. The academy probably will price it higher than the apprentice's trading hall." Dion showed the place on his map. Of course, the poorly drawn map didn't show Vega a clear look at the trading hall. It was just a scribble of a square with a little description on the map.
Vega learned a lot by listening to Dion. Luckily the noble was very talkative and explained a lot of things in detail, even though Vega felt bad for occasionally letting his mind wander to the book. Finally, he learned how to open the door. He heard the clicking sound of the door being unlocked, and he finally saw his first home for the first time.
A cozy bed with windows overlooking the pathway behind him. Desks, a simple wardrobe, and a table to entertain guests. He doubted that he would use it anytime soon. He realized Dion was still outside, knowing that he had to invite him at least. Inviting Dion inside, Vega used the table for the first time.
Dion looked around the small room and sighed. "Even my room is bigger, but it's not as warm as this one." Dion joked around but he really like the environment in the small room.
Vega scoffed. He thought that the bigger the room was, the nicer it was. At least now, he had his own room to protect himself from at least the rain. For the cold, he looked at the bed. At least the academy provided him a blanket to hug at night. Knowing that he felt safer.
He stood up and looked inside his wardrobe or even the closet drawer for something to give his first guest. Nothing, the wardrobe and the drawer were empty without anything, not even a speck of dust to entertain Dion.
"I'm sorry, but I don't have anything here. See? Empty," Vega flipped his pillow showing Dion the empty bed. Recalled his first job stealing something from a noble house. He had to entertain his guests by giving them tea or something to drink.
Dion laughed, "You're funny. I know the bed is empty. Who would put tea on the bed? It's okay. I'm not hungry anyway. I think you can visit my room later. The environment there is better for mana absorption."
"Mana absorption? Another new word? What's with all these fancy words? Can they use simple terms to describe things??" Vega had enough reading the whole vocabulary he didn't understand from the book from the library. Luckily he could understand the context of the paragraph. But when he heard the weird terminologies, he still didn't understand anything.
"I'm sorry, that's the official term. To absorb means to draw the mana around you and to retain, sorry, keep it inside you. I'm not trying to be a know-it-all, but do you want me to help you read? The books will have many new words for you to understand."
"It's okay. I think I need to enjoy my room first. I think I can handle the book myself. How hard can it be?" Vega tried to be as polite as possible in rejecting Dion. The kindness Dion showed him was not something normal. No one was that kind enough to explain everything without asking for something in return.
Dion nodded. He understood Vega. Even though it was weird for him to get rejected. The commoners in my area would gladly accept any help from a noble like me. He thought that the gap between the Islands and the outside words was getting wider and wider.
Dion excused himself without anything else to talk about by suddenly hugging him. Vega froze. This… what is this?. Dion realized it and apologized. Bowing several times to him. Vega assured the knight that it was okay. Finally, after the awkward exchange, the door closed behind him, and he sighed.
Having the room to himself for the first time, he ran and jumped to the bed, feeling the soft, bouncy cotton hugging him. The comfort was too nice until his eyes got heavier. His old man's words echoed in his mind. Practice comes first. By practising, you get better. With a heavy heart, he slowly opened the leather cover, knowing that the book was a gift from Dion.
At a glance, even though Dion was right about new vocabulary in the books, he understood most of it based on the context alone. Yes, he had little books to read when he was surviving alone in the wild under the concrete walls, but the old man had praised him for being smart. He was now certain that his old man came from somewhere unknown.
Aside from giving him useful quotes, the old man would often describe a city with tall buildings and the flying machine that can bring him to another place, strange moving humanoid metal with help from the power of the lightning. He thought the Islands were the place his grandfather talked about based on the magical things Vin had done on the ship and in the ocean. But upon arriving, it wasn't the case.
Back to the book, the pages weren't much, and it only contained general information about adepts and the apprentices. He has some knowledge about the lives on the Islands, which he finds really useful to not look like a fool in front of Dion. More knowledge of elements, ghosts, beasts, demons, and some things he had to watch out for. They talked about practitioners, what the adepts called abominations. Someone who utilizes the power of will and spirit to grow themselves to become powerful.
Vega nodded, and his curiosity grew to learn more about the things mentioned in the book. Because the book was not clear about the difference in elements or even what ghosts are. Yes, he heard of them while living on the street. Sometimes kids his age would disappear at night and not reappear the following morning. Whispers of ghosts would soon follow. But he was not sure that the ghosts the book mentioned and the ones talked about on the street were the same.
The night grew quieter, and the new place offered him a lot of things that made him not ready to sleep yet, lest everything was all just a dream. He hid the thin book under his pillow to not lose it and opened the other one. The one that made him lose concentration while listening to Dion.
At a glance, the book was not different or even unique. The thickness was the only thing separating this book from the previous one. Papers upon papers are stacked inside the book. He recalled the new vocabulary Vega learned from the previous book. Vega thought the empty book was perfect for him to take notes.
He opened the book the sight of empty pages greeted him. Closing his eyes and praying to whatever beings up there, he closed then reopened the book. Still nothing. He tried closing his eyes and finding the connection he had in his mind. Trying to put the paper under the light or even touch the book to his forehead.
Annoyed, he even threw it across the room. But he ran and took it back, afraid that he might break the tome. Still, he found nothing. Without anything to do, he could only close the tome, tidy up his room, and finally went to sleep.
PENSAMENTOS DOS CRIADORES 
strigidae713
strigidae713 Adepts - using the power of mental and souls.
Practioners - using the power of will and spirits.
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