After the small celebration was over, I approached my father and is cutely as possible asked him
" Dad, what is mana ?"
he looked at me then raised me in his lap. Endric was next to us, so my father picked him up too and placed each one of us on a leg and said
"you are seven years old now, Endric, well you probably know this but I'll explain it to you too"
"first of all, what is mana?, tell me Endric"
"Mana is the energy that enables us to perform magic, without mana we can't produce any magical feat. Mana is present in every living thing and …"
"that's good Endric, that's enough. As you said Mana is energy and the essence of all living things. So how do we measure our Mana?, tell me Sacha"
"we measure it with two different measuring orbs just like I did today. One measures our mana density and the other our mana pool"
"that's right, we measure mana according two parameters one is density and the other is how much mana we have, we refer to that as mana pool. you see this parameters each defines something. well mana pool is self explanatory which means how much mana can someone possess and density signifies many things, the most important ones are how fast would you be able to naturally recover your mana, and also the more your mana is dense the more your spell strength output is greater. for example, if you make a fireball spell with a mana density of 1 you will make a certain degree of damage, but if your mana is two times denser than the damage you will deal is doubled. and after measuring ones mana density or pool we give it a Rank which will tell people an idea of your strength. I don't know if you understand me, you're still too young, you'll learn one at a time don't rush it"
"okay dad "
I said as I hopped off my fathers lap and went to my room. I was sharing my room with my brother. he has some kind of weird attitude, he seems calm and uncaring if you look at him, but deep inside he is so loving. I caught him many times covering me in blankets when I go to sleep. a he would also pat my head. I think he finds it embarrassing if someone sees him doing that.
he kept getting bigger and bigger in my eyes, well all of them did. I didn't know when but I grew attached to this family. I don't know why maybe because they give me my old family vibes. or maybe because I was already a family guy. I don't know I always liked being around family feeling their warmth and care. I still can't go over the idea of having someone younger than me treating me like a child. well I kinda am, physically. but Mentally I am 37, I am an adult. I guess it's pride or something like that but I was getting over it.
so far, I like my new life, I guess it has been a while since I had it this easy, no responsibilities, no obligation, just living at my own pace. well my previous life was so busy. after high school, I went to university to study physics and became a scientist who specialize in physics. then I got a job at the National Space Administration or NSA. I did many research about space and space rockets. I did a lot of military training and astronaut training that's why I was recruited to help with the Chinese rocket event. so my life was so busy.
I laid down on my bed and contemplated what my father told me. magic is everything in this world, I guess. so someone must be strong to stay safe. I didn't know if I could use magic, but from the way people talk to my parents and how they respect them, and from Sacha's test today I think I would be good. I think that my parents are some kind of bigshots. I'll know later.
Still I still had some unanswered questions how did my sister is able to perform magic without even awakening any affinity yet? how do those orbs work? can someone increase his magical powers?
I really wanted to be able to wield magic. Well back on earth, it was a fantasy and millions dreamed of having supernatural powers and abilities and right now, I had the chance to make it happen.
"what's wrong Edward, can't sleep?"
I heard my brother's voice.
"y-yeah kind of"
"what's on your mind?"
" Magic, Mana "
" you sure are obsessed with magic. Every time you see it, your eyes start sparkling and shining"
"what, really?"
"you didn't notice yourself?"
"what? no, I didn't. Well it looks cool"
"I think you have some questions haunting you, about magic?"
"yeah, it's so mysterious"
"hmm, go ahead ask me anything you want. I'll try to answer you?"
"REALLY?"
"shush, every one is asleep, of course, ask me anything you want"
"well, I kept thinking how did Sacha know how to use her mana before even awakening her affinities?"
"hmm, well you see, before awakening our affinities, we have still have mana, but is blank that means mana with no attribute, well we can't use in anything. now how did Sacha know how to use her mana. there's something called mana sensitivity. the more you are sensitive to mana the more you can feel it. It's like how you feel heat from fire or cold in winter. Most people start sensing mana at the age of 8. Sacha for example started sensing mana at the age of 7 and I was able to sense it last year at the age of 6."
"the sooner you start sensing your mana, the denser it becomes but your mana pool won't increase a lot. the mana pool increases by how strong your body is and your age. it grows with you until it reaches a maximum when you're in your mid-twenties. and it will stabilize there."
"How can I sense mana?" I stated hurriedly.
"shh, lower your voice, mom is gonna wake up"
"okay, sorry " I said as I put my hand on my mouth.
Endric chuckled lightly before speaking again
"well, as I said, it depends on your mana sensitivity but I think you are still young to sense it you have to wait at least 4 more years to be able to sense it"
"hmm"
"any other question you have?"
"ahh, yes, what were those orbs at the Magic Hall?"
"well, those are called magic orbs they are artifacts or magicon created by magicon makers. they craft those orbs by using some kind of magic stones. these kinds absorb mana and emit a certain color, and in the case of the affinity detecting orb or they will vary in the intensity of the light emitted for the mana density and mana pool orbs. these kinds of stone are rare and expensive so only very rich people, nobility and royalty can afford them. and they are different from the mana stones we use in the house for keeping the food cold or the lights working"
"wow, Endric you know a lot, how did you know all of this?"
"you know I visit Mister Abraham's library. I read many books there and this year I went to school, can't say I like it though it feels like every kid there is a baby. They just keep crying wanting to go home. And they teach us things that I already know."
"hmm, you are too old for your age."
"hahaha, look who's talking a 2 year old he is asking about magic hahaha"
"what …"
*SLAM*
the door opened, and from it everyone's most terrifying nightmare entered with steam blowing from it's nose and fire from it's eyes. It was an Angry Mama
"you two go to sleep right now"
She yelled and Me and Endric threw our blankets on top of ours hands and went to sleep.
And just like that a year and a half passed, Sacha has been attending a Magic Academy where she was training in magic and other subjects. in the evening dad would train her at martial arts and combat. He said that she needed to train her body so she doesn't rely entirely on her magic.
It was a good opportunity for her, as dad decided to retire early from his job. Apparently he was an army general for the kingdom we lived in, his retirement was because he wanted to take care of us and train us to get stronger. My mother was a judge in a magic court, it was a high position in the society. that was why everybody knew them and respected them like that.
Endric is eight and a half years old, but he decided not to attend school anymore because he wasn't learning any thing helpful. So he took some tests given to him by the teachers and he passed them with flying colors. Thus he got passed his time by either going to the library or working to improve his mana density.
In this half a year I read a lot of books and gathered many information on various things.
Apparently, we live in a planet called Zerd. it has eight continents. It was a huge planet, I estimated it would be twice as big as Earth. It was made of around forty percent land and sixty percent sea.
The most dominant species on this planet were humans. but there exist many other species such as Elves, Demons, Monsters and hundreds of other species sentient and not.
Some were peaceful by nature and made themselves Kingdoms and cities. Some were not driven by instincts and would roam the world trying to live as they see fit. Humans would make contact with the peaceful ones, establishing alliances with them while defending themselves from the mad ones who seek trouble and conflict.
There were more than a hundred countries across the continents, and the one lived in is called Alexandria ruled by House Alexanderson. It was made by Alfred Alexanderson the first who was it's first king and it continued until the actual king Alfred Alexanderson the seventeenth.
It is located in the north of the continent of Eurasalia which is located on the equator of the planet.
In the past year and a half, I kept my dad on how to sense mana but he told me I was still young and that I would feel it when I was ready.
I asked him if there was any way someone can increase his mana pool or mana density and this was his question
"Well there are some people who try to do some experiments in order to increase their magic prowess, but it is generally forbidden and a taboo to do those experiments because usually those were conducted by mad people that would kidnap, kill and sacrifice other people. They think they would make themselves stronger by doing so and any one caught trying to do those experiments would be sentenced to death. other than that people tend to absorb mana from mana stones to replenish some mana if they were exhausted but generally, who did that were rich people with low mana prowess."
So I surrendered myself to fate and chose to wait until my body spontaneously sensed mana. there was no helping it.
And finally that day came when I was four years old. I started to feel a ticklish sensation in my whole body. I asked my parents and they told me to concentrate on it.
I sat down and I was trying to sense what was causing me to feel this way I felt my Skin starting to get hot so I opened my eyes and I saw all of my family looking at me with their jaws hitting the floor. I looked at my hand and saw a white surface covering it completely.
That was when I knew it.
Everyone looked at me and said at the same time
"What? you sensed mana at four years of age ?"
And that was my first time feeling Mana.