Chương 10: Chapter Ten

Why isn't my mana moving? I'm supposed to watch the mana. Feel the paths, and then move mana through those paths intentionally with my will. I frown chewing on my lip in thought. I managed to tune out everything around me as I contemplated the problem. I'm supposed to move mana. Could I just skip to the end? There wasn't any rhythm or reason about how my mana moved. Just swaying. Bumping into other mana, before coming back. Chaos. Could I just… move it? Try what feels right. Mom said.

Just stop immediately if it hurts. Stop immediately if it hurts. I can do that. Let's just try moving it for now, and see what happens. I can go back to searching for the pathways if this doesn't work. I imagine myself grasping the mana I've been observing in my hand. Clumsy. Like Boyan grasping a stick around the fire. But I felt it. I had it. And I could… Pain shot throughout my head and I immediately let go of the mana, wincing. I rubbed my head and looked back at the mana. It was moving!

Just in a slow circular fashion instead of the swaying motion it was in before. The pain faded, but pressure started building. The mana was moving in a circular motion, pulling the mana nearby along with it… and it was speeding up!

"Uhm… Lyra dear. You're glowing." Mom said, pulling my focus from my mana. I looked at my hands quickly. They had a strong cyan glow coming from them. I groan. My eyes widened and a streak of fear raced across my heart. What have I done?

"Calm down. It's your mana Lyra. Whatever you did you can fix it. Just find the mana you set in motion…" Mom's voice was calming, but Evan and Neera's open-mouthed stares were not. It took several tries, but I manage to look into myself again. Finding the mana was easy. I could feel it. Moving. Circling. Growing! I felt my whole being start to shift.

"Lyra…"

"Shhh!" Mom's voice cut through Neera's like a knife. Whatever she was going to say, Mom wasn't going to let her.

"Your will did this, and it can undo it. Imagine taking a small piece of your mana, the smallest piece you can imagine, and slowing it to a stop. It's okay if mana's stopped, it will return to its normal rhythm without your intervention. But, you need to stop it now." Mom was worried. I could hear it in her voice no matter how calming she was trying to be. Ok. Smallest. Smaller than a handful. That hurt. I imagined a drop. Then I imagined controlling the drop. Then I started feeling the drop.

It was moving fast, and getting faster. But the drop wasn't what was giving it speed. Something else was. But maybe, that drop could slow it down. I pulled. Hard, trying to slow the drop. It stopped almost immediately causing a lot of the mana around it to slow, and some even to stop completely. I tried to grab that mana too and found that I could. Love what you're reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. The pressure in my head was increasing.

I hurriedly grabbed more mana, stopped it and added it to the first. But for every bit of mana I stopped more seemed to join the cyclone that was growing inside me. It wasn't working! I look around trying to see what's different. Where it's different. My status page did that thing again. This time I open it, hoping that somehow it would give me an answer to my problem. Tier 1 Soul Shard has been consumed! Level Increased: 1 → 2 WILL stat increases by 1. 1 Unused stat gained: 1. Tier 1 Soul Shard has been consumed!

Level Increased: 2 → 3 WILL stat increased by 1. 1 Unused stat gained: 2. Tier 1 Soul Shard has been consumed! Level Increased: 3 → 4 WILL stat increased by 1. 1 Unused stat gained: 3. Attribute: Mana Sense Leveled! 5 → 6 Attribute: Mana Sense Leveled! 6 → 7 Skill: Mana Awareness Leveled! 5 → 6 Skill: Mana Command Gained! Level 1 The notifications showed for just a moment, disappearing as soon as I consumed the information. But what the hell? Mana Command?! I'm not commanding mana! It's completely out of control!

And I can't stop it by controlling little bits of it! Control… Command… Command. An idea flits across my mind and I don't hesitate to try it. I stop worrying about drops and think about lakes. Lakes big enough to hold all my mana, even if the far shore can't be seen. When I had it all. All the mana that's moving. All the mana that's just being dragged into this cyclone. All the mana so far away that it has yet to feel the cyclones pull I act." Stop!" I yell.

Pain unlike anything I've ever felt rips across my mind, before my vision goes black and I feel myself tilt before falling. Skill: Mana Command Leveled! 1 → 2 I wake up on Evan's lap. The conversation stops before I could understand what they were saying. It was all a jumble. I reach for me head, only to find Evan holding a cloth to my nose. I take it instead and look at it questioningly. It was covered in a thick cyan substance.

"You're still bleeding." Evan says, guiding my hand back to my nose where he pinches it hard enough for me to feel. Was that my blood?!

"I got it." My voice comes out nasally as I begin holding it in place myself. Why was I bleeding cyan?! I take a breath trying to relax when Benna, who had come over while I was asleep, piped up.

"Here you go kiddo. A thanks for not blowing up my inn. Remember. Cre-a-tion. Definitely the path for you." She moved the stick she had given me earlier into a new mug and gave it a quick stir before walking away. Oh, that cup looks lovely. I reach for it with my other hand.

"How are you feeling Lyra?" Mom asked. I didn't answer, but took a slow drink from the mug. The cold juice slides down my throat chilling me. I sat the mug back down and looked. I didn't look like I did before. I learned. This was my mana, all my mana. And I will look at it all. My mana was calm. And I see what my problem was. I was in my mana pool. And it was a lot bigger then a 'small pool'. Lake doesn't even do it justice, but what's bigger then a lake? Ocean?

I can feel rivers bringing mana into my pool from one side, rivers taking out mana from the other side. But those feel smaller? Then the ones bringing mana into my pool. That was the mana Mom meant for me to watch. I sighed, and opened my mind. Ignoring the ping the system had given me.

"I'm fine now. My mana is calm." I let them know. Still holding the cloth to my noise, my voice still nasally.

"Good." Evan said squeezing me.

"You scared me." Neera nodded taking a deep drink from her ale.

"I'm glad you got it under control. I think let's not practice that again without direction, hmm?" Mom said. I couldn't tell if she was upset or relieved. Perhaps both. Both describes me pretty well at the moment actually.

"I think we should eat and retire for the day." Mom continued.

"I think we could all use some time. Lyra, we'll go to town and look for your alchemy supplies tomorrow okay?" I smiled at the idea of being able to make money, and not live entirely dependent on Mom and Evan. A warmth spread in my chest knowing that she had little to no interest in alchemy. She was doing this for me. I nodded acceptance of the plan.

"And we can talk about how you almost blew up a few city blocks."

"Neera!" Mom chided. Unimpressed she simply shrugged taking another drink.