We?

Sitting next to Arthur, I crossed my legs and closed my eyes. 

The sensation, or the effort of regulating mana inside my body or siphoning it from the atmosphere was still quite odd and foreign...and interesting, in its own way. 

It took concentration to siphon mana from the atmosphere, regulate it through the mana channels—or in my case, mana veins—and then 'purify' the core. In its essence, it is not a complicated thing to do, given the requirement for doing so is that you concentrate and balance mana going in and mana going out. 

Currently I am a black core, however, due to my high sensitivity to almost everything—which feels like a curse sometimes—I can feel Arthur's black core getting a slightly lighter variant of mine. 

Despite not seeing it with the naked eye, I can feel that Arthur's mana pulling and regulating technique is much better than mine. This can be attributed to him coming from a world where mana existed as a tangible concept. 

It is not an outlandish idea, given how I was born in a different world and was reincarnated here. It is highly likely there are other worlds with different constitutions. 

Now, does that make us aliens? 

Probably. 

As I was busy with my thoughts, Arthur's left eye opened which was shining subtly. "You're doing it wrong." 

"Hmm?" I tilted my head. 

Arthur exhaled through his nose, his gaze sharpening as if he was about to explain something to an idiot. "You're brute forcing it. Mana isn't something you just shove into your core and hope it stays there. It's like..."

He tapped his chin in thought before snapping his fingers. "Think of it like drinking soup with a spoon. If you scoop too much at once, it spills everywhere, right? Your mana veins work the same way. You're pulling in too much at once, and it's causing resistance."

I frowned, parsing his words. 

He is right. 

The excessive intake of mana is causing turbulence within my veins, which leads to inefficient regulation. Essentially, I am creating a vacuum effect, resulting in instability and improper flow distribution.

"So, I should take in less mana at a time?" I asked.

Arthur hummed. "Not exactly. Instead of gulping, sip. Let the mana flow in naturally, like you're breathing it in rather than yanking it."

I nodded and attempted it again. 

I focused on my surroundings, feeling the minute fluctuations of mana in the air. 

This time, I didn't force it in, but rather, I imagined the mana slipping into my body like a slow inhale.

The result? Barely anything entered.

Arthur sighed. "Too little. You're hesitating. It's like... a baby learning to walk. If you take a step but refuse to put weight on your foot, you'll never move forward."

That made more sense. 

My control was too tight, restricting the intake. 

I needed to find a balance between pulling too hard and being too passive.

"You are trying so hard to be in control..." Arthur said once again, "...sometimes you can't be in control, not with something like mana. At least not now." 

I adjusted my approach again, this time envisioning my mana veins as capillaries in a closed-circuit system. 

The intake of mana needed to be proportional to the flow rate within my body to avoid blockages. 

Slowly, I increased my intake, testing the limits of how much I could manage without feeling resistance.

A warm sensation spread through my chest. It was working.

Arthur nodded in approval but wasn't done yet. "Good. Now, purification. Right now, you're just hoarding raw mana. That's like swallowing unchewed food. Your core can't process it properly."

"And how do I 'chew' mana?"

I know how to do it, but Arthur seems to be a much better blueprint to study. Even in a matter of a few minutes, he helped my regulation problems. 

I need to learn more from him, squeeze him dry. 

"Knead it like dough," Arthur said, grinning slightly. "Take what you have and push it around, smooth it out. Make it consistent."

Kneading? That was a crude analogy, but I could work with it. 

What he described sounded similar to refining a substance at a molecular level—removing impurities and ensuring uniform energy distribution.

I focused inward, directing the mana within my core. 

Instead of letting it sit in clumps, I began to cycle it, smoothing out the jagged fluctuations. 

The first few attempts were clumsy. The mana kept resisting, dispersing unevenly.

Arthur flicked my forehead. "You're stiff. Let it move naturally. You're not fighting it; you're guiding it."

I exhaled and relaxed my mind. Instead of forcibly shaping the mana, I imagined it settling into a steady current, flowing like a river rather than an erratic stream.

It was strange. Not being in control. Letting someone—or in this case, something—be in control of me. 

The mana within me shifted seamlessly, refining itself without resistance. 

It felt... right. 

My breathing slowed, and my body instinctively adjusted to the rhythm. The effort I had been exerting moments ago was no longer needed. 

It was happening on its own.

I closed my eyes and tried to speed the process up. 

A warm hand landed atop my head, ruffling my hair slightly.

"Good job, kid." Arthur's voice held amusement, but I could hear a rare note of approval.

I didn't respond. My eyes were still closed, lost in the natural cadence of purification.

Hmm...

This is right. I cannot let go of this treasure trove of knowledge and experience named Arthur. 

At least not for now. 

********************************

The dull clanking of the wooden wheels echoed in the silent alley of Ashber city as our parents' former adventurer's party finally arrived. 

After Arthur suggested our parents accompanying us, the Twin Horns decided to help us reach the Floating City of Xyrus. 

While I have not heard of a magic that can make a whole city float, I am assuming there is something other than magic involved. 

As the carriage stopped right in front of us, Reynolds and Alice ran towards them, leaving me behind with Arthur who stood beside me, looking at me like I was some child who is going to throw myself in front of a carriage. 

Well, I suppose from his perspective, I am. 

As the carriage doors flung open, we were able to finally see the members of the Twin Horns. 

Going off of only looks and what our parents had told us about, the man with long red hair and a scar on his face is Adam Kresh. 

A non-elemental spear-wielding mage. 

Subpar. 

As if noticing my stare, Adam's eyes flicked towards me—us—as he crouched down, looking in our eyes. "Oye, you lot! Don't these two look familiar, a bit too much, eh?" He asked.

"Well of course, Adam! They're my sons afterall, haha." Reynolds spoke, spreading his arms wide. 

"Geez, you're a grown man. Stop springing up on people like that." Adam grumbled.

"Anyways." Ignoring his comment, Reynolds turned towards the rest of the people stepping down the carriage. "Fellas, I want you lot to meet my sons. Go on boys, introduce yourselves."

Arthur glanced over at me. 

"Watch and learn." He whispered. 

"Hello. My father has told me great things about his fellow party members—The Twin Horns. Thank you for travelling to Xyrus with us. We will be in your care." Arthur bowed, articulating his words with ease.

Then Arthur turned and glared at me, motioning with his head. 

Why is he acting like I am a socially inept person? I am quite social. 

"Uhh—Julian Leywin. Nice to meet you." 

I suppose not. 

"Awww, aren't they so cute!" 

The rather...well-endowed woman who looked like the 'fantasy world' princess with her blonde hair and green eyes spoke as she picked Arthur up, squishing his face inside her huge bosoms. 

I hope she maintains some level of decency when it comes to me...

...

By the time she was done with Arthur and placed him down, he was out of breath, and he seemed to be dizzy.

Angela, I assume. She is a conjurer. 

"Angela. You almost killed the poor boy." A tall hulking man reprimanded her as Angela pouted. 

"But he was soo cute!"

Durden. A conjurer of earth element. 

"Ah! You must be the new addition!" Angela trudged towards me like the monarch of death. I tried to move away but my short, stubby legs could only take me so far. 

Before I could process it, my face was inside her bosoms. 

Putting the lack of air aside, her bosoms did smell good. There was something oddly nice about the scent that came from them. It was citrusy, perhaps from the subtle sweat. 

Now it did not evoke any strong feeling in me, which made me realize how non-responsive babies are to these situations, and that how much I paid attention and reacted to such things when I was a teenager, without even me realizing. 

I suppose you learn something new every day. 

After she was done with me, she placed me down. 

Unlike Arthur, who was overreacting, I did not feel so...punished? I mean, yes, there was the lack of air in those mountainous bosoms, but it was not that serious. 

"So, this is the one who just awakened himself forcibly?" A sweet voice said from behind us. 

A slim woman crouched as she gently placed her arms on Arthur's and mine shoulders and placidly rubbed her cheeks with me and Arthur's.

She had sharp eyes, sharp and perky nose, thin red lips and an almost boyish chest. 

However, despite that obvious drawback compared to Angela, she was undoubtably the more beautiful one. 

Helen Shard. 

She was the leader of the twin horns who specialized on archery. 

"Damn right." Reynolds exclaimed haughtily, placing his hands on his hips and exhaling proudly. 

In the distance, right behind the carriage was the last member of the Twin Horns. Jasmine Flamesworth. 

I had heard a lot about her. She's the youngest of the twin horns but she had unquestionably the strongest presence. From what I heard, she was a wind elemental dual dagger wielding augmenter. 

"Alrighty! We are ready!" Alice exclaimed as she double checked all of our belongings and then brought a hot pot from inside the inn, beads of sweat lining her face. 

As Durden started to load everything on the carriage, I walked over to Alice. 

Something didn't feel right. 

"Mother, are you okay?" I asked, looking up at her. 

She pursed her lips and smiled. "I am. Are you?" 

I nodded my head and stood close to her. "You are sweating a lot." 

Alice smiled, but it seemed like she was in pain. "I just had to run up and down, maybe that's why?" 

That can't be. The weather was not that hot, and there is a cold breeze blowing. 

Hmmm. 

She might be pregnant, given how she has been nauseous a few times for the past few days. 

I am not sure how to feel about that. Even a single brother is a lot to handle for me, and now there is another one. 

Hmmm. Strange. 

It is not my personal feeling, but the 'baby syndrome' is acting again. It is strange, extremely so. These foreign bursts of emotions that are not mine. While I do not understand them, I can still feel them, despite not being mine. 

"Julian?" Alice called out as she extended her hand to me. "Let's leave, we are running late." 

I let out a breath as I felt the mana inside my now slightly lighter black core swirling restlessly. 

"Yes, mother." 

********************************

As the moon reached its peak, the distant mountain range that we could see from Ashber—small and narrow—had visibly doubled in size, so much that when looking up at it made me feel a cramp in my neck. 

Everything here was high in quality. The air, the sky, the atmosphere. 

I could see every star in the sky like dandruff littered on a black cloth. 

I took in a deep sniff and coughed slightly as the smoke from bonfire entered my nostrils. 

Arthur sat beside me and handed me a skewer. "It's really tasty." 

Taking it from his hands, I took a bite out of it. 

It certainly was quite good, but it lacked seasonings. While the meat quality was good—due to the mana enriched pastures, I assume—there was little to no flavor. 

It was a recurring theme. While Alice's cooking had plenty of them, it seemed like spices were not used a lot in this world. 

"It's alright." I replied.

Arthur smiled as he took a small chunk out of his skewer and ate it silently. "Did you make any progress?"

"It is hard to stay focused in a setting where there are too many people." 

"Right!? Tell me about it!" 

While it was hard, it was not impossible. 

I have been getting the hang of it more and more lately. 

After a while of silence that was occasionally interrupted by the chatter of our parents and twin horns, Arthur stood up and stretched his body. Handing the skewer in his other hand to me, he looked down at me. 

"What?"

"Take it." 

I kept looking at him. 

"Well, you seemed to be hungry, besides; I saw you not going to the bonfire much. I can go and pick up another, so you can take this one." He smiled as he handed it to me. 

As I took it from his hand, he ruffled my hair and then walked away. 

It was strange.

I understood why he did it. 

Humans are creatures of social contracts, exchanging kindness for connection, offering small comforts to reinforce bonds.

But understanding was different from feeling.

I recognized the warmth in his smile, the ease in his posture, the quiet expectation that his actions would bring a measure of contentment. 

Yet, as I stared at the food in my hands, there was an odd disconnect. Like seeing a reflection in water—recognizable, yet distorted, never quite reaching me.

Still, I lifted the food to my mouth and took a bite.

It was warm. Warmer. 

Looking back at me, he winked as he walked towards to where the skewers were being cooked and started to wait for the next available one. 

The cool wind breezed through my hair and the slightest of chill seeped into my bones. 

Letting mana leak out of me, I felt my body temperature rise to a comfortable degree. 

"You are good at using mana."

I looked around. 

I did not feel her until she talked. 

"So, it is true that both of you awakened." 

Helen Shard. She was sharp. I didn't think she was keeping an eye out on the slightest of mana fluctuations from us. 

"That seems to be the case." I lifted my shoulders up as Arthur came back with another four skewers. 

"So, what are your two's core level?" She asked, flashing her pearly whites. 

Not just her, but the red eyed girl seemed to be oddly interested in what we were conversing as well, given how her ears were perked. 

I don't think revealing our core stages is a wise idea anyway—

"Oh, he's black core and I am dark red, although he'll be dark red in a day or two if he keeps going on like this." 

Nevermind. 

I guess it is unavoidable at this point. I wanted to avoid it because...Adam who was hearing us talk suddenly stood up. 

"Oi, Reynolds. Do you mind if I test Art and Julian a little?"

I let out a sigh. 

"What do we do?" Arthur whispered.

"'We'? You are going to fight him." I replied. 

*****************

Author's Note

Keep those suggestions rolling in. I might be up to something. 

Also if you like "totally not toxic" and "humane" discord server, consider joing from the link given in comment to this paragraph. 

And I will see y'all soon. Very soon, my friend. 

Until then, toodaloo, mfs.