Chapter 9

That day, I couldn't look at my father without feeling a myriad of emotions. Fear he would do the same, sorrow for not letting him in my heart, and guilt for subconsciously treating him as if he would do the same when he has shown nothing but affection and warmth for me over the past 2, almost 3 years. Throughout the following days my contact with my parents notably decreased. I was left with the question of what my mother did to make me subconsciously reject her as well. Or if she did anything at all. Eventually I got over myself and came to the conclusion that it is unfair to treat my new family based on my previous treatment. While I couldn't grow too attached quickly, I slowly accepted them more and more, which ended with them coming to tears after days of being avoided by me, thinking that they had scared me off with their vicious fight.

It was lucky they were too wrapped up in their own battle to feel my own fighting intent rise, as they would've known something to be off if I had enjoyed the fight yet avoided them after.

"MY BABY, I THOUGHT YOU HATED MAMA!. I'M SO SORRY IF I SCARED YOU!" my mothers high pitched tone grated against my ear drums, and she held me in a death gr... hug, staining my current attire with tears. I saw my father making his own attempt at hiding his tears behind his arm, failing miserably as they fell down his face. My heart tightened painful at the sight, knowing I had caused them so much worry.

"Mama, it's not your fault, I just had a bad dream and was too sad.." it pained me to lie, but the thought they would reject me if I told them the truth was almost unbearably torturous to me. And in all honesty, I was scared that the emotions that had been dulled, whether it be from being in a different world or the passing of time, would burst forth like a tidal wave again.

Upon hearing my response my mothers icy-blue eyes stared deep into me as she pleaded

"Really? You don't hate us?", to which I just shook my head with a small smile. My father ended up ruffling my tea coloured hair, his cheeks stained with tears and his eyes bloodshot.

"You made us worry, you brat. You better not do it again" he chatisised with a light tone and slightly uneven cadence.

"Mm" smiling happily I nodded while voiced my agreement. After that incident I continued with my usual routine of playing with my sister, reading, and attempting to influence the development and completion of my mana pool, throwing in exercise that would leave me tired but able to continue the next day. While with my sister in the library I had learned that your body needs to be in a good condition before it can use a substantial amount of mana, and be conditioned to its use, usually meaning children are forced to do physical exercise and basic mana exercises for a year, meaning Ela started her proper magic training around the time I was born. So in an attempt to better prepare myself, I started incorporating light exercise.

Time flew by and there's only a few weeks until Ela has to leave for the human capital, known as Lacoria. The continent is split into 3 kingdoms, the dwarves rule the mountains and its surroundings, known as Ferrum to the northwest. The elven kingdom takes the majority of the east side, as it is completely covered in forest, known as Iustus. The human kingdom takes place in the south, the kingdom goes by the name of Malum. however in the centre of the kingdoms is and area with a diameter over 500 miles. This area is the so called no mans land. No one shall approach, the dungeons alone make it difficult, however this area is littered with something known as paradox zones.

These zones are areas of highly condensed mana in the environment, causing effects such as minor headaches to the illusion of being on fire or being struck by lightning. The beasts use this to their advantage as they are more easily able to read the mana currents, therefore navigating the planes easier, leaving it to be an untouchable area for current civilisation. Don't get me wrong there are paradox zones all over the place, we even have one cordoned off in our forest. While it took me a while to notice I finally realised we were stranded, when I asked why that is, all I got was "for the good of the family", whatever that is supposed to mean...