A world of Magic

The sound of crunching as feet fell heavily on the forest floor could be heard amidst the chaos of forest noise.

The wind continued to howl and the skies above were still heavy and gray, obscured by the thick roof of forest canopy. Michael still felt the vestiges of what just happened in his lower abdomen. He felt an emptiness there that was never existent before. The strength the process afforded him still coursed through his being; he flexed his hands thoughtfully.

Caster was not quick to make the situation clear to Michael.

By the second, their relationship was becoming clearer.

For a moment, Michael had allowed himself to think Caster actually gave a fuck about him. It was a good crutch for his unstable hope and fractured soul, yet, it was still just that; a crutch. The realization was disheartening; it sucked.

If Caster didn't care, however, why was he doing all this. Why did he save him back then and allow him around? It made no sense to him. He couldn't conceive himself doing the same were the roles reversed.

He had concluded that Caster had ulterior motives and he still held onto that conclusion.

From the look of things, Michael was, if not extremely crucial, then a back rank piece on Caster's chess board. It was conflicting and confusing, but wasn't his whole life? A giant mosaic of rough puzzle pieces. This trail of thought never got him anywhere before, it wasn't going to now.

He sighed heavily.

His thoughts wandered back to what Caster said after 'helping' him out. After the talk about a mana core, his curiosity was aroused. He had so many questions; not uncommon, but Caster's unwillingness to expound on the topic deterred him from asking.

Caster was already a ways ahead of him, silent and lost in whatever went on in his mind. Michael would have wished to know what went on in the mans head. Unless he learnt telepathy like Caster seemed to be capable off, it would remain a pipers dream.

He allowed his mind to calm down, the answers he sought far from his grasp. His feet fell on the hard ground in measured steps as dew wet his pants and the call of animals filled the air.

The fear he had felt earlier was almost forgotten, the terror of something happening to him almost gone. Almost.

He was still vigilant and weary of his surrounding, but all the thinking had lessened the weight of this apprehension.

That was not to say he had lost his curiosity. He recalled how he had perceived the world differently during his meditation, doing it again would be easier this time. He trained his focus to the emptiness he felt in his lower abdomen; where the mana core would have been had he succeeded. In his mind, he could perceive the flow of energy all through his body. A river of vibrant rainbow waters flowed through him in a constant cycle; from head to toe, unending and unperturbed.

It was a marvel.

Beyond his navel, the emptiness felt vast, as if it opened into a bottomless hole of nothingness. During his meditation, there hadn't been that feeling of emptiness; as if the energy was pouring into an abyss. Did the mana core breaking somehow open this channel? Where did it lead? The feeling was familiar too, he had felt it back in the void.

The world around him faded into the background as he focused on the sensation of energy coursing through his body in an attempt to make out where it went beyond his navel.

He took in a breath, and the energy around him surged into him swirling and flowing into his whole body and through where his navel was. Then with his exhale, the energy was expelled out. His mind was all riled up and feathers of his curiosity ruffled. The phenomena was unique for him, fascinating and curious, so much so that he stopped in his tracks. Hope flooded him as he felt like himself make progress. He was scratching at the tip of the iceberg; if he pushed hard enough, maybe he would see it in its full gait.

He took in another breath then exhaled and the phenomena remained the same. This was accompanied by a feeling of invigoration as the energy filled him with strength. He puzzled over the occurrence.

The rainbow waters, they had to be mana. He had always fantasized and seen in webtoons, that mana was purely white or purely a single color. Yet in this reality, it appeared like fractured light on the surface of a soapy bubble.

Did this mean then that he could cast spells like a mage? If he was capable of interacting with mana to this degree, it had to be possible. The logic held.

An ember of joy ignited in his heart.

There was the issue of a mana core. Him lacking one had to inhibit him greatly. He speculated it to be essential to him wielding magic. He was still reserved with his conclusions, the nature of how magic worked unfathomable to him. His mind went on to wonder how wide spread was the practice of magic and was what he was doing common knowledge?

He followed the flow through his body and out. His mind was focused and calm, the world around him distant and vague. Instinctively he had closed his eyes, focusing only on the energy as it flowed in and out of him. Then, as he followed it out of his body, as it interacted with the energy flowing freely around him images formed in his head. Whatever the energy touched, a silhouette of it flashed in his mind like a burning white flame.

Varying shades of white and gray opened up in his mind.

Where he stood, the ground appeared grayer, the plants around him were of a vibrant white, the trees even more so. Beyond where the flame of the bushes burned, he saw white flames move along the gray surface in haste. He perceived smaller white flames detach from the looming white of trees and get swallowed by the air as they disappeared from his view. His mind processed the images, associating them to the closest thing he was familiar with.

The implications of this skill were clear; somehow, he was able to perceive the world by this mystical sense without the need for his eyes. It opened up a world of possibilities for his future.

"I am surprised you actually figured that out on your own." Caster's voice resounded from somewhere ahead. He trained his mystical senses to find the man but he saw nothing. There was no flame in the silhouette of a person or any shape that gave up Caster's presence so he ended up having to opening his eyes.

Caster was seated on a fallen tree on the side of the path, feet dangling off the giant trunk. He appeared relaxed, too relaxed for Michael's comfort. Spite painted his eyes as he bore at Michael with his condescending glare. Micheal hated being looked down on.

"What do you want?" Michael asked his face twisted in annoyance. The joy of his latest discovery feeling hollow as the man stared at him unamussed.

"Do you know why you can't form a mana core?" He asked ignoring Michael's question.

...

Michael remained silence, bearing no desire to answer the man, but still curious of where the conversation was going.

After a brief silent, the man spoke.

"I thought so. Me neither. Anyway, that thing you were doing, it's called mana sense. Now, unless you want me to throw you a party, keep walking" And with that he rose from where he sat and levitated just above ground deeper into the forest.

"Oh, before I forget. Does any of this look familiar to you?" He asked waving his hand at the forest. Michael was about to retort, until his gaze fell on the familiar grotesque plant life that was a part of his nightmare.