Chapter 2

Hortensia Village, year 1212.

A little girl wearing a lemon green dress raised her hand. She looked at the the older girl who is sitting in the middle. She asked, "Sister Rere, what is manifestation period?"

The other children simultaneously looked at Aretha. Aretha peeked on the excited face of each children.

She opened her mouth, "have you all know about Blessed Ability?"

The tallest boy sitting next to her answered, "it's an innate mana within our soul."

Another boy, smaller than the first boy added, "wasn't it pure mana?"

"Both are right," she replied.

Another little girl chirped in, "what is that? I never heard about it though."

Aretha smile. "Then, we will learn about Blessed Ability first, okay?"

"Okay!" The children replied.

Aretha clapped her hand, and everyone silent. The silence was full of anticipation. Even the little fairies hiding in the bushes not far from the children was eager to listen.

"There are two main things you need to remember," she said holding out her forefinger and the middle finger, "one, Blessed Ability, and, two, Skill."

The children nodded. The little fairies nodded. The branches and leaves swayed as the wind passed.

Aretha continued, "Mana is a type of energy within our soul. Just like how our body need air to keep breathing, our soul need mana."

Calix, the tallest boy of the group added, "does it mean, if there is no mana, we will die? Like how if there is no air, we will die."

Aretha nodded her head, "that's right. However, there is difference between our body die and our soul die. If the body die, our soul still there. But, if our soul die, it means, our soul will perished, as if it never exist. Well, that will be almost impossible, no worries, because mana exist everywhere, and our soul instinctively absorb mana."

Antonio, a boy sitting next to Calix interrupted, "if our soul instinctively absorb mana, why does everyone have different amount of mana?"

Aretha smile. "Does everyone remember the history of humankind I told you before?"

The children nodded. The little fairies also nodded.

"When the souls are born, the Angels will blessed the soul and share blessing with the soul," she said, "humans used to be so powerful and have a longer lifespan because of the blessing that was given by the Angels. But humans make mistake and thus punished. Their blessing had been taken from them, lessen their power and lifespan. However, there are humans that strive to protect, and Angels, give their blessing to those humans."

"Ah! I see," Antonio said, "Because some will use it for bad stuff and some use it for good stuff."

"That's right," Aretha nodded.

"But, that was then, right?" Calix said, "That was the past, now is the present."

"Do you think it's unfair?" Aretha replied.

Calix nodded, "a bit."

"You see, Calix, each human have been given mana, all of them. Not a single person are without mana. Everyone is given with a life. Why do you think it's unfair?"

Calix furrowed his eyebrows. "Urgh… But, why does everyone have different amount of mana, then?"

"Because everyone is different from each other," she said. Aretha stared at Calix's face, "Calix, you can take your time to think about it. Because it is something that are easy but also difficult to understand. Try to think it in more broader view."

Calix opened his mouth to argue but was blocked by a little girl.

"Sister, you still don't tell us about manifestation period," the little girl said.

"Sorry, sorry. Let's continue," Aretha said, "mana could be divided into three type. Pure mana, neutral mana, and, dark mana."

Aretha took three rock near her and lined them in front of her. She pointed to the first rock. "Pure mana is mana within our soul," she pointed to the next rock, "neutral mana is mana that exist around us, there are mana in the air, the tree, the water, even this rock," she pointed to the third rock, "and there are also dark mana that are taken from the dead body."

"Wow~"

"Now. What is Blessed Ability?"

Harvey, the boy sitting next to Antonio, replied, "pure mana energy within our soul."

"That's right," Aretha said, "pure mana energy within our soul. It's within our soul not our body. Which is why it's need to go through manifestation period for the pure mana within our soul to properly fused with our body."

"Why? What for?"

"Although our soul become one with our body the moment it enter, the state of our body is still unstable and not mature enough to use Blessed Ability. So, once we go through manifestation period, we can use our Blessed Ability without worry and any backlash."

"Then, when will we go through manifestation period?"

"It usually at the age of sixteen to nineteen. There are also cases where someone go through manifestation period at very old age."

Aron, the boy next to Harvey, asked, "how long does manifestation period last?"

"According to the record, the shortest period is one hour, the longest is one month," Aretha said, "because everyone have different level of pure mana."

Daphne, sitting left to Aretha, asked, "Um… Sister Rere, does that mean, everyone have to wait for manifestation period to use Blessed Ability?"

"That's right."

"Then, everyone will be weak before manifestation, right?"

Aretha shaked her head, "no, that's not true."

She added, "remember two main things that I mentioned?"

Diana, the youngest girl, shouted, "it's Skill!"

Aretha nodded, "right. Skill. Skill is mana energy that could be acquired by training or meditation or both, depending on a person capability. Skill could be obtained at any age, by anyone."

Cole, the youngest boy, asked, "but… didn't you say that our body need time to fuse with mana?"

Aretha chuckled, "our body need time to fuse with pure mana, because pure mana is too strong for our body. But, neutral mana is much lighter than pure mana, so our body could absorb neutral mana as much as it could."

"I see…"

"We can talk more about Skill next time, for today, do you have any more question on Blessed Ability and manifestation?"

All the children shake their head.

"They might need some time to digest the information," Calix said.

Antonio raised his hand. He asked, "Sister Rere, do you have Skill?"

Aretha grinned, "I do."

"Can you show us?"

Aretha placed her thumb and forefinger under her chin. "Hmm… That will be a bit hard," she said.

"Why? Is it dangerous?"

"No, my Skill is not dangerous."

"Then, can you show us? Please~"

"It's difficult because I, myself could not grasp fully about my skill."

The children tilt their head. Aretha looked at the palm of her hand, 'this skill is not even recorded in the book.' She looked at the children, "Why don't we ask the adults? We could asked uncle Joe."

The children was excited.

"Aretha! Calix!" a lady shouted. The lady was seen rushing toward them looking anxious. The children was shocked and alarmed. The little fairies fly away.

The lady grabbed Aretha's shoulder. "Aretha, you and calix, go, bring these children to hide in the basement at your house," the lady said with sweat on her face, "do not come out until your grandparent come, understand?"

Aretha's heart was about to leap out of her mouth. "Why?" She wanted to at least know about the situation.

"There is no time to waste. Hurry!" The lady urged Aretha. She grabbed the two of the youngest and carry them in her arms. "Aretha!"

Aretha wanted to run toward her grandparents, but her feet was glued to that place. She glanced over the trembling younger children and put her plan away. She and Calix held the children's hand and ran toward her home.

As soon as they arrived, the lady warned, "Listen, no matter what happen, do not come out. When everything is over, your grandparent will come. Understand?"

Aretha and Calix nodded. Both of them are at the same age and the oldest in the group, thus making them the one responsible for the other young children.

"What about the other children in the village?" Aretha asked the lady.

She answered, "Don't worry, the other adults have already brought them to the safe place. We didn't manage to find you on time. That's why, for now, you guys need to hide here."

Aretha noticed the trembling hand of the lady. Aretha stop asking and guided the children to the basement. She turned back one last time and saw the lady nodded her head. Aretha nodded her head and turned, closing the front door of the house.

The lady quickly ran back to the town hall.

Aretha opened the door on the floor. "Everyone, be careful with your step."

Once all them went down, she close the door from within. She lights up the candle.

The younger children were hugging each other. The boys looked somber. Aretha and Calix looked at each other.

Lucy and Diana was the youngest children in the group. Lucy asked Aretha, "Sister Rere, when is my mom and dad will come? I'm scared."

Diana added, "I'm scared too."

Aretha hugged them and try her best to comfort the youngest, "They will come soon, we just need to stay a bit longer."

Calix pray in his heart, 'may the Angels protect everyone.'