History Blah Blah Blah [2.3]

As I walked to a table, Miss Dean winked at me. "Make sure you finish your plate. It's not good to waste food."

I forced a smile and sat down. As soon as I did, other children crowded around me. They all began asking me questions while giving me a headache. My face twitched, "C-Could you please quiet down? This is giving me a headache."

One spoke, "You like carrots?!"

"Uh…" My smile twitched as I wondered if I should tell the truth or continue with my lie. It's just children, right? Surely I can tell the truth and avoid this disgusting taste.

Another shouted, "Idiot! Didn't you hear the cook? The cook said she loves them! Isn't that right, Miss Dean?"

Miss Dean who had moved behind me without my knowledge spoke up, "Young one, do not call people idiots. It is very rude."

The child deflated, "Sorry Miss Dean…"

"It's alright. Just learn from your mistake." Miss Dean smiled as she continued, "Also, you are correct. She really does love cooked carrots. You children should be more like young Reika and eat your vegetables."

The children all looked at their vegetables and frowned. They glanced around anxiously and slyly moved their carrots onto my plate. I stared at it with a dark expression. Miss Dean noticed their actions and let out a small laugh, "Oh, you children. Do you really think you are sneaky and that I wouldn't notice?"

They looked away with guilty expressions. One spoke up, "B-But… She likes them and you said we should make newcomers feel welcomed. Shouldn't we give her our carrots?"

Another nodded in agreement, "Exactly! We are giving her our carrots to welcome her!"

This is why I can't stand children. They didn't give me this to welcome me. They didn't want to eat it. But I don't either!!! ARRG!

"You children really are kind." Miss Dean let out a carefree laugh and turned to me with a smile, "Don't be shy, Reika. Go ahead and eat up."

I looked at the plate wanting to toss it on the floor. Would they believe me if I "accidentally" dropped it? But, I don't really trust the Lady boss. She's smiling but I feel like it's a viper's smile. She may actually force me to eat it from the floor. This world may not have the same cleanliness standards as the modern one had. Ugh… Should I tell the truth? I glanced up at Miss Dean who was watching me and waiting. I gulped. Nope… I'm in too deep. I have to eat it.

As I forced myself to take a bite, the children began to speak over one another. My head ached from their incessant questions. One of the children moved even closer to me, "Can you use magic?"

Another cut in, "Of course, she can! This orphanage is only for those who have excessive mana!"

The one spit her tongue out, "Shut up! I was asking her a question!"

"No, you shut up!"

As they all argued, I felt myself getting more and more annoyed. They were fighting with me directly in the middle. If I had less control, I would have smacked them by now. But these are children. I can't lose my composure over children. Miss Dean seemed to notice this as she smiled at me, "I'm surprised. Usually after a backlash, people can't control their mana like you. They either lose control and hurt those around them, or their attributes cause problems. Yet, you can still control it as if the backlash never happened."

Attributes? That's a new word. This world has too many of those ambiguous terms. I desperately need to learn these terms if I am to figure out what happened and how I can get home.

One of the older girls blinked in disbelief, "What do you mean, Miss Dean?! Is she one of those who suffered a backlash?"

Miss Dean nodded, "Yes. That is why she is here. Since the workers here all have experience with calming down fluctuating magic, it is only natural that someone of her nature should live here. She's less of a danger that way."

This b*tch. Did she say this on purpose?

Everyone turned to look at me in horror. Even the younger children knew enough about a backlash to think that I was a risk to them. They all quickly dispersed from my side leaving me completely isolated. Well. This is fine too. At least I won't have to deal with these annoying children anymore. As I went back to my meal, I found that my food seemed to have less of a taste. I ate it silently and got up to bring the tray back. Under the wary eyes of everyone in the room, I turned in my tray and left the dining hall. I could feel Miss Dean's malevolent smirk under that gentle appearance of hers.

Not knowing what else to do, I went to the library. I searched the limited shelves for books on magic until I finally found some. I started to read it closely with anticipation. In reality, magic didn't seem too hard for you to learn. However, it preached harmony and not to use magic too often as most bodies can't handle the sheer strength of magic. This world viewed magic as if it was its own entity. Those who took advantage or got too greedy would be attacked by this supposed entity.

Magic as an unknown entity? No. I doubt that. It may be a magical world, but even that is a bit hard to swallow. It seems more like when you are exercising and work too hard then accidentally pull a muscle or burst a vein. It just wouldn't make sense for all this to come from a single entity. I bet a backlash is actually from using more magic than you are capable of.

I quickly searched for the meaning of a magic backlash and read it. Magic backlash: The event where magic backfires on the user and injures them or anyone around. Possible events would include: explosions, death, disfigurement, paralyzed limbs, loss of limbs, blindness, madness, personality changes, vegetative state, and [insert more terrible side effects].

Wow. I'm glad none of THAT happened. I pulled out more books and began to read more about this world. After reading successfully all night, I came to realize specific points.

One: A wand is like a cheat sheet. It's not required to use magic, but it makes it easier to use without wasting as much mana.

Two: An attribute is a naturally occurring phenomenon. Humans were born with attributes that allowed them to access mana and to use magic. Some examples of attributes would be Earth, fire, water, air, dark and light elements. Each element has a specific category.

For example, Earth has wood, flora, metal, and stone attributes. Earth Elements were typically good at either healing or crafting. Fire had magma and flame attributes. They were typically better at offensive spells. Water had rain, lake, and ice attributes. They were more fluid (pun intended) and could use their attribute for defensive or offensive spells. Air elements had wind and astrology attributes. Astrologists were also referred to as prophets. They could read the stars and divine the future. Of course, good prophets were hard to find. It wasn't hard to read the stars, but it was hard to interpret their meaning.

Dark and light elements were rare. Dark elements were associated with demons. Since it is a thing only demons used, they didn't have attributes like the elements. Instead, they specialized in illusions, brainwashing, necromancy, and curses. Light elements were even more secretive. The only thing mentioned was the Holy Light. It was magic that could kill any demon and cleanse any soul. However, this form of magic had been lost. The last known user was the greatest magician ever known, but she had been dead for a while.

Three: Necromancy was learning how to raise the dead or use specters for their own use. Also, the thing I was accused of.

Four: Yup. You read number three right. There are ghosts here. Not interested in seeing that firsthand.

Five: A familiar is something that signs a contract with you, either willingly or not, and follows your orders in return for mana. This could be either a Selkie, a Fairy, or a demon.

A selkie is merely an animal-like creature born with mana. This is a common kind of familiar and nearly everyone has one. They can use magic and will protect their owners they have a contract with even if it means death. Some Selkie's are high-level enough to speak while even others can take on the human form. This is extremely rare to find, however. A fairy is what you would expect. Those cute adorable balls of light just float around. Fairy's are extremely powerful and because of that, they are unlikely to form a contract with a human. Although, it is still possible.

Demons are a lot like humans. The only difference is that their magic seems to be more associated with darker elements. They are skilled at manipulation, curses, brainwashing, possession, and just general mischief. For this reason, humans despise demons and think of them as lowly creatures who only want the destruction of humanity. The hate is mutual of course. Demons and humans have been fighting for centuries in order for their race to reign supreme.