While going on the walk through the partially damp woods behind the cabin to digest the food, the birds building nests would occasionally chirp. The various trees that sprawled all around them made the small clearing that both Juka and Louise were walking toward seem even smaller. "Okay kid, I'll try to make this explanation as plain as possible," Louise started explaining while she walked. "Mana exists all around us, it's in the earth and everything beneath and it's in the air and all that's above. And everything that has breath and can move can manipulate that flow of mana to do what some would regard as impossible." Louise explained while walking through the woods bordering Stonehenge. Juka walked alongside her and stayed quiet while she continued, "Some creatures are born luckier than others, like the elementals and dragons, they're born with an advanced understanding of magic and its principles. While everything else has to learn about it piece by piece, but to fully harness the mana you have to channel it and shape it into something…..that something could be a spell, an enchantment, a buff, or a debuff"
Juka's train of thought was moving twice as fast as normal, though he couldn't decide whether it was because of his fear of the unknown or his excitement to explore it. Juka didn't even realize that he stopped walking with Louise.
"Still with me kid?" Louise asked at quite a distance. Snapping himself back to reality he jogged a bit to catch up, "Sorry. I got lost in thought for a minute there" Juka said "It's okay kiddo," Lousie assured him "The concept was surprising to me as well" She used her finger and drew in the air, where she traced was illuminated with glowing characters and symbols. "There are seven different mana types which all connect to the Earth in one way or another, Fire, Water, Earth, Air, Ice, Light, and Darkness, some of these elements have sub-brackets that are achieved through mastery of the main element. For example, some Earth mages can control metal and or lava while some Fire mages can control lightning. Though there are a handful of mages that can harness three of the seven types of mana and their sub-brackets, They are named Storm Mages." Louise kept explaining while writing the air. Juka was star-struck by so many new things to learn and understand. "This'll be almost as fun as that time I outran that antelope" "So can one person have all seven?" Juka asked, secretly hoping the answer would be yes, but to his dismay, Louise only snickered and giggled in response. "That only happened once in the history of these lands kiddo. There's very little chance THAT happens again."
She rustled his hair and then sat at the base of a tree. "Eh, don't get too bent out of shape for that, most mages do just fine with the element that they can use," Louise said to him after noticing his disappointed face. Juka scaled the tree with ease and sat on a low, sturdy branch.
"No matter the type of magic you can use...you're destined for greatness kid…..So stop moping" Louise rustled his hair again, Juka didn't even realize it when she got up on the branch with him. "How'd you-...Weren't you just?..." "Magic, kid...Magic" Louise and Juka talked some more on the way back and Louise quickly understood the pain he bore silently when they finally got back the night had fallen and Juka decided to settle in early, leaving his mother and Louise in the living room to catch up.
"You did well raising him. He's a good kid" "I can't take all the credit, His father made sure he laid out the proper groundwork for him, I just picked up where he left off" Averon said while sipping some wine "At times I wondered if I was doing the right thing by keeping him hidden from the full brunt of the world, but Jason always said that we wouldn't be around to coddle him and care for him forever" Louise stared at her reflection in the red liquid that swirled in her cup as she listened. She decided to leave his mana evaluation score for later, it could wait
"You have nothing to worry about Ave, he'll do well out there…..plus I'll be looking out for him" Louise reassured her friend while gulping the wine, emptying her glass in one swift motion. "I see you're still dealing with your little problem," Averon said, taking a modest sip of her wine. "Old habits die hard eh Water Goddess?" Averon blushed a bit after hearing her old party alias after so long. It was quite a refreshing change of pace for her. After a leisurely chat about the past Louise set her eyes on the future "So? Do you want to know where he stands in terms of mana capacity now or should I wait till morning and reveal it then?" Louise asked while getting a blanket out from her bag and preparing for bed. "Save it for tomorrow, I want to be surprised as well," Averon said while gripping the oak railing of the teak stairs, she didn't trust herself not to fall after drinking, "Surprise it is then"
The singing canaries and drilling sound of woodpeckers looking for breakfast came around quickly and both Louise and Averon were woken up by Juka chopping logs in half for the oven. They both walked out to him wielding a battle axe a couple of sizes bigger than him with ease. "Good morning Mom, and Aunt Louise. Did I wake you guys up?" "Yeah kiddo, your mom and I had one too many drinks last night so we're a little more sluggish than usual" Louise replied while massaging her temples, she looked like a carriage had run her over…..multiple times. "Lou-Lou, go clean yourself up" Averon shooed her to the bathroom in her sleeping robes. "You should do the same Mom, I'll get the fire going for breakfast" Averon walked to him and kissed his head, "I'll take you up on that, you are a sweet child" Juka chuckled and set up another log to split. "I know, you tell me all the time" "Well I'll leave you to it then" Averon rustled his mid-length brown hair and headed inside to freshen up for the day ahead. When she came back downstairs after a shower she met Juka striking the flint and steel to get the fire going as he had promised, but the flint wasn't exactly cooperating with him today. "Come on, light you stupid rock!..... Ugh! How does Mom deal with this every day?!" Averon snorted a little before gently moving him aside, "Watch and learn sweetheart" She said with a short incantation, and her index finger slowly started glowing, then she placed her finger on the logs which caught ablaze quickly. "Ta-da, fire started" She kissed Juka's sweaty forehead as his shoulders drooped a little. "I wanted to do it," Juka said in a slightly pouty tone "Most times you handle this, kinda wanted to give you a break"