The Mana Realm

Well, I'll take this outside then. I got up and left the house under Penguin's watchful eye.

Let's try over there. I walked beyond the pond where Nuwa was lazily splashing around and terrorizing the smaller fish.

Deciding it was too noisy for me to even attempt to concentrate, I continued outward. I've never really explored this area further. I guess there's a reason for that. It was always empty. Just pitch black. Now I'm trudging through the great outdoors into the treeline that had magically appeared along with everything else. The branches swayed in the wind, and I sighed. Secluded enough.

Now what?

I set the book down on the black grass and sat down before it. Grass tickled my legs, and I adjusted uncomfortably. Just mediate. Om and all that.

Concentrate. Find your center.

Heartbeats. That's always easy. Just focus on yours. Focusing was easy once I cleared my head. All I could think of was this stupid mana realm. Come on. Come on.

The book rose from the ground and started to emit an ominous red light. My hair lifted with the wind, and suddenly I felt…lighter.

Like a weight had just removed itself from my shoulders. I opened my eyes and almost lost it. Oh my god. It's so dreamy and saturated. Too many colors.

I feel like I'm gonna throw up.

The room swam, and I tried to get up. My body. It looks like Aja's now. Transparent and floaty. I swam around a little bit and even floated upside down.

"Weeeee..."

Enough fooling around. The next part of the book says you have to see your mana pathways with your own eyes and then identify the elements you are attuned to.

I floated over to a platform made of stone and stepped foot on it. It rumbled, and an orb ascended from a hole in the floor.

"..."

"Sick."

It rotated in a circle. Then several stands of colored light exploded from the ball. Vibrating in tandem with my heartbeat, it attached itself to the walls of the grand hall we were in. Floating pieces of infrastructure randomly attached and detached themselves from the platform. I counted the strands.

Why are there so many?

The light began to grow blinding, and I thought hard about leaving.

The room swam and turned completely on its head. 

"..."

What is this place? Gone was the chaotic scene of a building in ruins, frantically trying to rebuild itself. Green. So dark, there were shadows inside the color. A lone forest stood still like it was waiting. Just waiting for someone to walk in.'

Damp dirt stained my feet, and my toes curled up. Is this part of it?

"Don't trust her."

I whipped my head around and tried to see into the foggy distance. Woah. Stepping back, I tried to get a wide view of the scenery. A huge lake with fog rising above its surface barely hid the figure kneeling in the middle of that lake. 

Her figure faded in and out of sight. A backless black dress held up by chains alone, and discarded feathers littered the surface.

More.

I caught a black feather and turned around. More feathers were flying, sailing across the air, and landing on the tense surface.

"Who?"

She lifted her head of inky black hair drifted down her shoulders. She turned her head ever so slightly so I could hear even from far away.

"Do you know? Do you know the snake?" She got up slowly, and the water rippled. Her voice cracked into sobbing wails. "You do? Don't trust her...DON'T TRUST HER!"

Go away. Go away. Go away. Go away.

Crashing into the ground was bad, but the headache that came after was worse. "Fucking hell." I dragged a hand down my face and moaned in pain. Oh my god. That felt like acid on a cracker.

Holy shit.

I groaned and got on my hands and knees. "What the fuckkkk…" I'm gonna throw my cookies. Yup.

"I'm guessing you just entered the mana realm. Without protective runes or charms."

Aja leaned over me, and her long hair swayed in the wind. I moaned in response without actually saying any words. Sighing, she sat down in front of me so I could look at her.

"Would you like to tell me what you saw first, or would you like to rest?"

I crawled backwards until I was sitting on my thighs and feet. "Everything. It was so…raw dude. That was the worst."

Who was that?

"I'm sorry to hear that, but can you be a little more specific. What colors did you see? Point at the ones in the book if that helps."

I threw up a little in my mouth and resigned myself to doing as she says. She's one of the nicer gods I've met, and she seems pretty harmless, but I'm a firm believer in looks can be deceiving. While she's helping me, I'll take advantage.

Holding my head, I looked at the book. Swatches of colors were underlined and associated with elements. Think. What did I see again?

Shit ton of green and purple. Then there was some silver and blue. Red. Blood red. What else?

Black. That was definitely there. I think that's it. My finger hovers over black, and I take it back. She looks contemplative as she digests everything.

She furrows her brows. "Well…there's good news, great news, and bad news."

Of course. "Bad news first."

"You don't appear to be attuned to any fire elements, which are pretty useful in healing, but I suppose you can supplement that with your psychic ability or spells."

I shrug and lie on the ground. My head hurts so much. "What's the good news?"

"You have an attunement for blood, which is incredibly helpful and rare in the healing arts. So that's very good news."

"And the great news?"

"You have an attunement with plants. It's not a lot, but it's there, which is also very helpful."

"So, how many do I have in total?"

She leans over me, and when I open my eyes, she's basically towering over me. "Shadows, ice, psychic, blood, plants, and unknown."

"Unknown?"

"The book says that it's not specified what purple means. So, for now, it's unknown. That's beside the point. You have an affinity for a great many elements and are very suitable for the arts."

"Yay?" I raise a fist and weakly pump it in the air. She tilts her head, tracks the movements, and copies it. "Yay?"

I let my fist fall and close my eyes in pain.

What now?

Penguin yelled from the soul intercom. "What did you do? Why am I getting notifications of you awakening elements?! Ria!"

"..."

I flinched and covered my face with the grimoire.

I can't see you. You can't see me.

"Would you like to learn one of the spells in here?" She leafed through the pages audibly and mumbled something under her breath.

"..."

"Why? He's just going to yell at me, or I'll do something stupid by accident."

She sighs and switches back to another page that had caught her eye. "Accidents happen, Ria. And it seems like you have an innate talent for this. A strong talent. As a teacher, I would love to help you realize it. Imagine you had the strength of a Titan but no idea how to control it. It isn't your fault, but it is your responsibility to learn. Let me help you."

A teacher, huh? That might be it. I taught kids, too. For years, that was my dream…college. Degree. Volunteering. And finally…a little school of my own. With teachers who wanted nothing more than to teach just for the sake of it. It would require money and sacrifice. I'd have to get experience in administration.

I sent out essays. I kept my grades up even when...I had no one. Sacrificed my weekends to work so I could afford school supplies and solar batteries to power my laptop, because god forbid I ever raised the bill.

I was prepared for it. I was ready. I was so close. This. Fucking. Close. Now it's all gone.

"Whatever."

She frowns but opens the book to the mind section. "A basic spell for mind witches is 'The Barrier'. It can shield its user against both magical, mental, and physical attacks. The book seems to have both sorcery and witchcraft here…That's unique. We'll use witchcraft. It's easier. Open your hand and push out some of your mana."

I open it and push out the familiar tendrils.

"Now imagine wrapping yourself in a cocoon. Continue imagining this image…"

A cocoon made of shimmery transparent tendrils wraps around me, and I imagine a pillow too. My head is splitting, and I feel like I'm having the worst sugar crash ever. "Did it."

"..."

"Oh…you're having those." The barrier wanes, and she tries to poke it. It dispersed pretty easily without me actively maintaining it. I'm tired. I just want to sleep. She sighed and pushed her hair behind your ears. "Entering the mana realm can often leave you feeling…low. It's ok to feel unhappy as long as you get up again."

I made no move to get up and closed my eyes to block her out. "Why don't we try cooking to lift your spirits. Come on…"

She grabbed my hand with her cool fingers and dragged me back to the house. Wait what? "When did you learn how to do that?" 

I pluck a piece of grass from the ground and tighten my fingers around the stupid book. Is this edible for humans? I mean, it's pet feed, so it should be. I've had worse.

"Offerings offer me more power, which is why it's important…ugh…You can help the process. Which is why we need to make more. Help!"

Melinoë rushes over from the field and hisses when she sees me. "She smells like sadness."

"Don't be rude. Grab her feet and get her in the kitchen. She needs a steaming cup...of positivity. Let's go."

They drag my limp body through the grass and up cement steps to the kitchen. Penguin has a similar stench radiating from him as he sits and stares at the book he had poured over obsessively."Impossible. I timed everything just right…Why?"

I snickered and rubbed it in. "You're a fucking moron."

Melinoë cackled with me, and Aja shook her head in disapproval. Penguin glared at me with actual anger in his eyes. Not manufactured anger for shits and giggles. Real anger.

That cheered me right up.

I laughed heartlessly at his expense, got up when I felt up to it, and took the book from him. What is in here that's tripping him up so bad?