I am sorry, oh great and awesome magic force. Please forgive this dumb me for not knowing and living with a false assumption of your name.
I stretch out my handy towards the ceiling of my room, so that the thought prayer will reach the heavens and stay in this position for a moment.
What I am doing? Begging for forgiveness, isn't that obvious?
It has been 8767 hours since I woke up in this room, that I by now count as mine. Normally this would be a little bit more than a year but because in this world a day has 30 hours and a year is made out of 300 days, it is actually a bit less than a year.
Nonetheless, I learned quite a lot in this time.
First of all my greatest sin. The airlike, magical stuff that is in literally everything and that I called Mana because of my book; it is called Aether.
Maybe this is the reason I can't use magic – the Aether is angry with me for giving it a wrong name. Because of this possibility I start my day with an apology to the Aether. One apology per day for each time I called it wrong… today is the last day…
Of course I know, that it won't change anything.
The cool magic gramps taught me a lot about magic so that I have quite a good understanding of it. But I just can't use it. Well, there is the exception of my healing, but this is a more special case and it has the slight possibility that this is the reason I can't use normal magic.
I would trade this ability for magic without a second thought. Sadly I can't.
There is a knock on the door and I take my hands down.
Without waiting for an answer the door gets opened and a young girl enters the room. It is the small kid, that I saved from the weird lizard about a year ago. Well, I can't call her small, because in this short year she had a growth spurt and is now 6,32 centimetres taller than me.
My body wont grow for some reason, so she will be way taller than me in the future I suppose. I'm not sure if I like that…
"Good morning Pura." she greeted me with a warm, singing voice and walked towards the table to place down a tablet she brought with her.
Ah yes, I learned the language. It was actually quite easy because I already know the information that is send out with the words anyway. But like this it is a bit easier to understand. Now I don't need to concentrate on the presented information and can just listen to the words.
I followed her towards the table and sat down on one of the chairs. On her tablet are a few slices of bread with meat and cheese on them and a small loaf of bread. I reached for the loaf and placed it in front of me to get the cup of water too.
The stained bread and the tea that is still there is for Nema – that's the girls name – herself. I started to drink water so it won't seem weird but I will not try any of this corrupted food or drinks.
Nema placed her palms together. Her thumbs touching her chin and the tips of her index fingers touch the bridge of her nose on a point between the eyes. This is the gesture of praying in this world. Or at least in this land.
I won't pray. I am pretty sure that there is no god or any being worthy of prayers.
If there was one, then some things should never had happened… The numbers in the back of my head get louder for a moment and I concentrate on them so I won't think any further.
Also, why is an advanced species like humanity believing in a god like this? It may be just a year that had passed but in this short time the city had some extreme changes.
When I woke up here, it was somewhat medieval with a few exceptions like the guns, that actually work with magic.
But because of said magic and seemingly the right knowledge, humanity far surpassed the point of civilisation that I knew from my old world within only a few months. Humans are weird.
The girl stopped praying and reached for a slice of bread. This was a signal so that I could also start nibbling on my loaf of bread.
Ahh~ No matter how often I eat this, the taste is always perfection.
"How did you sleep? Had any nice dreams, Pura?"
Oh yes, the other thing beside the language. That word "Pura" is something like a name for me.
Well, it is more like a title but it is used as a name too. For some reason it counts as ill mannered and will bring misfortune if one talks to me without using the title – another reason why humans are weird.
"Don't just space out every time you eat."
Huh? Oh…
My bread is gone.
To be fair, I would always prioritize a meal over talking, so she can't really be mad at me.
I nod at her.
She starts to pout.
"Answer me with at least one word."
No.
I take the information of this thought and present it in front of her. Sadly humans seemingly can't really take in an information just like that.
I have a theory about this.
The more developed a living beings sense of self and their ego is, the harder it seems for them to grasp the flow of Aether in their surroundings. This is why most animals can get my spread out information and I actually have a perfect understanding with the so called potted Pixies that live in the plants of this city.
Humans on the other hand have a very high sense of self and everyone has their individual ego that they are focused on unconsciously. Because of this I have to spread my information right into them and let it mix with their Aether until they understand. Talking would be easier, but I don't want to do that.
This theory got tested and mostly proved over the last months but I still just want to call it a theory.
The reason? Simple. What does this theory say about my own sense of self. Me who has a large field of perception and interacts with the information in the Aether all around? Better not think about it.
"Hmmm, you are weird, Pura."
Did she get what I was just thinking or was this the reaction to my "No" that I gave to her? Probably the latter.
"Anyway, Gramps said we train in the garden today because the weather is nice so better get ready fast or he will be angry."
Aw yes, learning!
For some reason, I am not allowed to go to school, even though there is one in this city and instead I have to study together with Nema under her grandfathers supervision. He knows a lot and shows us loads of magic, so this is fine.
Nema smiles at me once more and then takes the tablet again to bring it back to the kitchen. This will also give me a moment to dress up.
…
….
The garden is really nice. Hundreds of colourful flowers are arranged in perfection in the flower beds, the warm air smells like honey and sand and I can hear buzzing bugs, the singing of birds and the chuckling of potted Pixies all around me in the trees.
Sadly I can also hear the hustle and bustle of hundreds of humans on the streets behind the tall garden walls. I can regulate my field of perception, so I won't have to [see] them but I could still hear them with my normal senses.
The big mansion, that is now behind me, has quite nice walls and sounds rarely enter it from the outside. It seems to function as a city hall but there are also people living in it like me and Nema and her family and even more.
At first our classes were in a room in the mansion too and the theoretical studies are still held in it but since I blew up a room while trying to use magic under the instructions of the old man, the practical studies are held outside when the weather is good.
As Nema and I left the building, her grandfather came towards us with a slightly clouded expression. Behind him are two middle aged men, who seem to be in pain.
Urgh…
Why can't people just stop getting sick?
No, actually they rarely get sick. And even then, there is good medicine and very capable doctors. When they come here, then it is normally because they are hurt.
I [observe] the men. One has his left arm in a medical sling, a bone on his forearm is clearly broken and he has some serious bruises there too. The other man seems fine at first but seven of his ribs are cracked slightly.
For fifteens sake, what did you do?!
If that is from a work incident, then you should consider another job!
As I scold them in my mind, I concentrate on the injured bones. The Aether connects them, pretends to heal them and the physical body follows in an instant.
By now I have done this so many times, that something as small as this won't even take 10 seconds, even though there are multiple injuries at once.
In the beginning I had to patch up about a hundred people per day but as the city developed and got safer day by day, the people who needed me got less. By now it's just on random occasions and usually only when there is an incident of some kind. That is good, because strangers creep me out.
While they are walking, the men's expressions loosens up and they seem to notice, that their injuries are gone as the pain must have vanished.
Immediately both of them sink on their knees, the hands in prayer in front of their faces.
"Oh great Pura R'lar, we thank you for your kindness!" the one man shouted.
"Be sure that our gratitude is always with you, great Pura R'lar!", his companion added.
Uh… just leave already and stop praying.
Shoo… no? Okay…
They remained in the kneeling prayer position for a few minutes, then got up to bow a few times and finally got lead away by Nema's grandfather.
As soon as they were out of vision, Nema bursts into laughter.
Is my annoyed face funny to you?
"Absolute!" she laughed as an answer towards my presented question.
I have no problem to heal the people up, to be honest.
I can do that quite easily by now and I don't even need to get to close to them for that. Also this feels like some kind of compensation for me being in this place and getting nice bread a few times every day.
But for fifteens sake stop with the damned worship!
It's disgusting.
Even the name – bah!
The meaning?
Well, if there is a mysterious person that suddenly heals people even though healing magic doesn't exist, then of course it could be some kind of miracle.
But it isn't.
I know that humanity tried more than once to create a direct healing method but it failed every time. Medical practices and even surgery are quite advanced but an instant way of healing does not exist. So I, who just does it, must seem rather weird.
But it doesn't stop there.
The thing that makes it even worse is the religion.
I call it a religion but actually it has quite a lot of evidence in it. Not that I really care though.
It just annoys me more than anything else.
A part of this religion lies in the past; in the fact that the world gets reset in time. This happened before too and every time it happens, humanity gets blessed with one or two chosen ones that are empowered by the gods to help humanity grow back.
Nonsense… right?
Actually not. There are detailed informations about this happening all over the world, every time the time resets.
The people affected are worshipped like the gods themself and get a title befitting to them, as their old name gets removed.
From what I know, Nema grew up in the knowledge of becoming such a person but then I showed up…
The rest is easy to understand.
The ability to heal even the most gruesome wound or a sickness that would plaque a person for weeks in mere minutes, nay even seconds – this must be a sign of the gods.
Meh!
I healed up the cool magic gramps in the forest but it seems, that people still didn't really believe what had happened. Then the woman who still takes care of me hurt herself with the hot hair dryer and I even healed up this. When she told other people about this, some old doctor came to visit me.
He asked if I really could do stuff like that and if I could show him. When I nodded he took out a knife and cut his finger. As promised, I healed him up.
This was a mistake.
I got my name – well, title that is – and starting from the next day had to heal up many people until the medical technology got better.
I could have just refrained from doing so, but when I start something like that, I could at least see it trough though… and the bread maybe played a role in this decision.
That bread is just a blessing of food, this was not fair.
On that note; my name is a blessing too. Not as a metaphor, though.
The ones chosen by the gods get a title in the ancient language of the gods. It is quite simple.
The "R" is a multiplying factor, "lar" means human, so "R'lar" is humanity. The first name "Pura" means blessing so I am literally called the blessing of humanity.
I am no blessing though.
If the people around knew the real me, then they would probably act different.
Would they still worship me? Probably not.
But because of the time that I spent with the people around me and the ability to heal, I strongly assume that they wont get hostile towards me.
Should I show my real me?
I asked myself this question a lot and it crossed my mind more regular as the time passed.
…
Hmmm.
It is not really a good idea but they will find out that I am not a human eventually.
I don't grow, I won't gain weight and I don't age. In short; my body didn't change the slightest bit since I came to this city. Also the fact that I don't really have human needs. I only ate bread when they gave it to me, I didn't drink anything at all in the beginning, I never used the toilet and I never sleep. Well, the last two are harder to notice though.
For one or two years this would still work, but then questions will arise.
I'm quite sure that the cool magic gramps has some thoughts about this and the doctors that check on my overall state every now and then, seem to have assumptions too.
So, should I reveal myself?
When I get found out eventually, it will give a feel of betrayal, right? Then I should clearly show it by myself. But then it would be the sooner the better…
Ahh I feel stressed now.
Hide it and get found out eventually is no option so I have to show it… But how?
When?
To whom?
The last one is easy. I will show it to the old magic gramps and Nema. Also the woman that cares for me and the young doctor that always wants me to eat more.
Haaa… this will be a pain in the two.