Mana Circulation

"East… It's heading east—into Water Kingdom territory…? Are you sure…?"

With dawning voice, Midas repeated Avalon's words; his way of encouraging the boy made him stress up more—unable to fathom if one storm alone would be large enough to expand across such a broad distance.

If it were to be true anyway, Midas would have to act much faster than planned; he still didn't know where Cle'phoria exactly was. Graf mentioned it lying on the east; he too was unable to tell its specific location—if it really was on the eastern coast, the storm might have grave effects on its people, including Almas's brother.

"Yeah—at least some scientists say so… The rate of how fast it is spreading out isn't that fast, so we still have some time left. We still don't know if it's even… spreading—normally, a storm of this size would just wander off somewhere else and dissolve…"

Midas, still unsure, kept his lips shut for a slim while, his pupils jumping from one grass patch to another, kicking away pebbles with his worn-out leather boots. The possibility of it wandering over the gulf, lingering on his head.

"Will it be faster if it moves off…? Do you know how far it would be able to spread… or what might be responsible for it existing in the first place…?"

Catching up to Avalon, matching his faster pace, Midas looked upwards, eager to find his face, longing for answers to his many questions. Lightly overwhelming the red-haired man, his eyes locked to whatever lay in front of them.

"I have no idea, to be honest… These statements are just rough assumptions that were made by these people—no matter how well you are educated about weather phenomena, no one can truly tell how fast or where this storm will move… Even its origin point is a mystery."

Avalon stopped, blinking at the sight in front of him, raising his finger up while forming a slim grin, finally getting the youth to stare at him—his eyes now set on lush, grassy hills—some corners of the scenery filled with trees. The terrain roughing up to his left and right as a long chain of peaks reached out from the horizon.

"This mountain range is nothing compared to the wall of mountains that lay north from here… A chain of peaks that stretch from one end to the other—a giant wall that keeps the icy winds of the lands that riddle the most northern points from entering the water kingdom and its surrounding states…"

Midas's eyes widen at the view, unable to truly grasp how far the water kingdom's territory truly reaches, feeling tiny in comparison to the peaks that line up in front of him—able to see them, even though he barely entered the land that lies beyond the sand.

"Don't worry about them for now—we won't have to pass through them to get to our destination…"

His finger moved slowly to point to his left—westwards. Midas was able to see hilly terrain, riddled with trees of many forms and sizes; a tiny dark blue band of water made its way in between the cliffs that marked its region. Midas was intrigued by how a whole city could've been built in such terrain.

"I have heard about a carriage service that was set up to wheel people from the border right to that region… We might be able to take the same path; that would be much more secure than wandering around randomly."

The plains ahead of them were hilly, yet much flatter than the rift they just passed. With every step Midas and Avalon took, the grass grew longer and thicker—its green much more vibrant as they headed north.

"Midas—before we make our way there… I should teach you about how to move your mana reserve around your body. It's one of the three fundamentals you will have to take care of in order to use your mana."

Turning to Midas as the two of them made their way up a thin path that led through the hillside, Avalon halted to speak—Midas's eyes wandering around the scenery around them finally locked onto him, growing more concentrated at his words.

"I already know—I have to close my eyes, though... It takes a while to focus my thoughts, but when I manage... I can feel a sort of warmth run through my muscles—I am sure this must be the mana."

Catching up to the man, the ropes that spun around his torso to hold the leather covering his wounds close to him made it slightly harder to extend his lungs, hindering him somewhat from properly breathing. The thin path was made out of bare spots in the grass, trampled flat until new grass was hindered in growing back again. The way the spots—some bigger, others smaller—were lined up gave them the direction to where their path led.

"I see, so you do already have a rough feeling for mana; that will make things easier. Have you ever tried doing so while walking anyway...?" 

Midas stopped in his tracks, his head rising to Avalon again, stopping as he tried his best to leap from one bald spot to the other, 

"That's possible...? You can do that while running...?" 

Gasping slightly, he saw Avalon nod at him, their distance broadening again, as Midas immediately closed his eyes—his brows sterning, trying to focus while his hands were held out to balance, taking loosely planned steps—he eventually made his way down the path, feeling his mana somewhat moving through him—now much slower.

Avalon watched with a raised brow, seeing the boy blindly stumble his way from one dry patch to another, eventually falling flat on his face as he stumbled over a patch of sticking out dirt, the rusty sickle clunking as it fell out of his hand.

"No, not like this... open your eyes, Midas. Try again... I'll carry that for you..."

With a flat sigh, he instructed the boy to go again—his hand grasping the wooden handle of the old tool, his eyes scanning the darkened metal—unsure why exactly this was the youth's weapon of choice. 

His teeth clenching in mild frustration, unsure if the fact he was able to see would slow his mana circulation even more down. His free left hand aided his ankles enough to push his body upwards again—not risking trying to use his bandaged right hand, since he was lucky enough to fall on it in the first place; his shoulder at least seemed to ache much less than before. 

Getting to his feet, his torso upright again, he breathed out shortly, his pupils focusing on whatever was in front of him, sternly looking forward as he took slow steps, trying his best to refrain from looking down to see if he might trip over something again. Passing by Avalon, his pupils twitching down to the man's hand as he held onto his rusted tool.

"Do you feel anything...? Are you able to speed up your pace...?"

Avalon matched the boy's speed, seeing his neck stiffening up while staying behind him—tracking his steps silently, making sure the boy's focus lay on the mana circling through him. The sun passing them, most likely going to settle soon—ending their first day together.

His cramped-up brows and neck made his head ache, sweat running down his forehead, trying to get a grasp of the mana flow inside of his body, searching through his limbs and muscles to find the warmth he had felt before. After another sigh, he finally managed to get a loose feel for it once more, able to feel its movements—traveling through his left arm, through his torso and chest muscles, back to his right hand, repeating the same flow in the other direction.

He tried to push the little mass of whatever energy was running through his limbs at the moment, unable to change its pace no matter the extent of his effort, still letting the mana circle through him in a sloth's pace. His sight beginning to fade with the increasing stress he put on himself, his breathing becoming more prominent with every step.

Hearing the boy pant, Avalon didn't interfere—mildly interested in how far the youth waddling in front of him would want to go to reach his goal. His sight sometimes wandering off of the boys roughed-up hair, his eyes looking upwards at the slim branches that formed the crowns of the trees to their sides—a sight he missed during the time he had spent in the dunes.

"I can... feel it... come on now… just a bit more..."

His teeth beginning to clench as his mental became thinner with every moment passed, his ankles shaky—as the stress of his head grew larger with every loop he was able to complete. Eventually trembling, until he fell to his side—luckily landing on his left arm, landing numbly on the grass surrounding them. 

Briefly smiling at the unconscious boy that lay in front of him, shaking his head before picking him up on his shoulder, Avalon remained walking—the hill they climbed up giving them sight onto a small village as the man reached its top, the path growing broader and less patchy—his tired eyes locked onto the straw roofs of the handful of houses grouped up in front of him.

"This looks nice..."

Avalon spoke to himself, approaching his resting stop.