110. Tutorial
""Esper?"" Mina and Justin tilted their head and replied simultaneously
"Do you mean something like poltergeist or telepathy?" Mina added. Ghost stories were a regular topic among girls.
Justin immediately catches on when he hears familiar words from Mina "Telekinesis, Pyrokinesis, something like that?"
Priscilla answered with a nod "also, Magic, Elves, etc." she added.
""Haa"" Mina and Justin nodded hesitantly, unable to connect why Priscilla suddenly talked about this. But they knew what she was talking about. Nowadays, even those who do not specially like fantasy know about it.
"Now then, what if I tell you that they are all REAL?" Priscilla said seriously.
""Hmm?"" Justin and Mina looked at each other's confused faces for a moment
""Pu- puhahahaha,"" they laughed out loud. "Si, since when did you learn to tell a joke," Mina said while trying to stop her laughter.
Priscilla stayed still without saying anything. Instead, she kept staring at them, waiting for them to finish.
A few seconds later, Justin and Mina felt a bit disturbed. They felt awkward and embarrassed. Priscilla's expression didn't falter even after being laughed at like that.
Still... "Come on, Priscilla! Your acting is too superb! we almost believed in you!" Mina said, "Isn't it Justin?"
"...yeah" Justin hesitated for a moment before he followed Mina. What Priscilla was trying to tell them was too mind-blowing.
Priscilla knew they wouldn't believe it no matter what she said. So...
"Fireball," Priscilla chanted. Even if she wasn't that good at using Magic, she was at least still able to use the most basic Magic without any need to fully chant it.
""Woah!!"" Mina and Justin exclaimed, looking at the physic defying a small burning fireball on top of Priscilla's hand.
They wanted to say it was a magic trick, but those words could not come out of their mouth. Because, at least from a common sense point of view, what they saw was physically impossible.
And while Mina and Justin were still in a daze, Priscilla erased her fire and changed it into water, earth, wind, etc., before she finally finished.
"Do you guys believe in me now?" Priscilla said with a slightly low tone because they won't believe her.
Justin felt her mood: "Sorry, sorry, it was tough for us to accept it. It was on a level similar as if I one day suddenly went to you and said I'm pregnant," he joked.
""..."" Mina and Priscilla.
Justin immediately closed his mouth, seeing their reaction, and slowly turned his eyes away from them. It was an awkward moment for those three.
*Clack
The door opened and a handsome man that looked in his twenties entered. He was wearing a suit like an ordinary businessman. However, Justin could feel something was off with this man. He didn't understand why, but if someone told him to attack this man in his sleep. He would instead run away as far as he could.
This was the first time Justin ever felt like that.
"Dad," Priscilla called.
""Dad!?"" Mina and Justin were shocked. No matter who saw it, they were more like a sibling than father-daughter.
"Sil, have you told them yet?" The mature man asked
"No, I'm just about to."
The mature man nodded. "It might be better for me, the one who told them," he said. Priscilla nodded in agreement.
"Hello" The mature man sat beside Priscilla, "Justin and Mina, right? My name is Carter, Priscilla's father. Nice to meet you."
Justin and Mina only nodded weakly. They haven't recovered from the shock of Magic being real and how young Priscilla's father is.
"You saw real Magic, right?" Carter asked, and they both nodded again.
"There are many people out there who can use 'Mana' like us."
""Mana?"" Justin and Mina tilted their heads after hearing another unfamiliar word.
"Mana is the energy behind Magic. You can think of it like an MP from a game. I'll explain it later," Priscilla explained. They both immediately understood.
"There are many of us, but the world's surface never knew about our existence. That's why we're called the Hidden World" Carter stopped and took a small breath.
"You two saw it, no? The scene in that back alley."
It was like being splashed by cold water. Mina and Justin, who tried their best to act normal and forgot about that in their mind, instantly recalled that scene. Their body twitches uncontrollably.
"As you two saw, this world wasn't easy. No, it's even more dangerous than the surface world. Survival of the fittest," Carter said, then he bowed his head towards them, shocking the two of them. "And I'm sorry, you two won't be able to return again."
"Eh?" Mina was shocked by his statement.
"Is it because of what we learned here?" Justin, who was calmer, asked. Then, unconsciously, his hand grabbed Mina's hand to reassure her while simultaneously hiding his own trembling hands.
"No," Carter shook his head. "Normally, we would erase your memory about what you saw there and send you to a hospital or home for any kind of reasons."
It was another shocking statement for Justin and Mina ((Erasing memories!?))
"It's because of your state when we checked on you, Justin," Priscilla said. "I told you before that a normal person couldn't survive that. It wasn't that you're lucky or something. What I mean is literally a normal person unable to survive that attack. At that time, we discovered that your body was covered by Mana. That's how you survived."
""Eh?"" How many times have they been shocked today?
Then suddenly, Justin felt a colossal pressure come out from Carter. His instinct kicked in, and he immediately hid Mina behind him even when he was half sitting on the bed. The pressure was gone in the next second.
"As we expected, you felt it. Justin, you fully awakened your soul," Carter said.
"What do you mean?" Justin asked. He stared at Carter, his eyes full of wariness.
"That means you're the same as us" it was Priscilla who answered him. "At first, we thought only you, Justin, had awakened, but when I heard Mina's story, I'm quite sure that she's almost awakened too."
"Me too!?" Mina exclaimed
Priscilla nodded. "Before you two entered the back alley, you said you saw me, no? It's usually impossible for an outsider to see us from the outside, so we expected that you too awakened your soul."
"But to make sure I wanted you two to try something for me, can you close your eyes?" Priscilla asked.
Mina nodded and closed her eyes while Justin stared at Carter, wary for a while, before turning to Priscilla. "Okay," he also closed his eyes.
"Now, feel the warmth on your body..."
"Slowly try to let it flow to your palm..." Priscilla instructed.
"Then imagine a lighter... Imagine a fire from that lighter and say it out loud..."
"
""
"You can open your eyes now," Priscilla said.
Justin and Mina slowly opened their eyes. Halfway it widens in an instant. They saw a small fire like a lighter that was almost out of gas on Mina's palm, while Justin's hand had a fire stronger than any lighter he knew ever made.
On the other hand, Carter watches the three of them with a smile on his face. Because of their identity, he knew it was hard for Priscilla to make friends. And because of her ability and his job, it was hard to make a real friend in the Hidden World too.
(Still... This boy) he watched Justin, who closed his eyes to concentrate. Carter remembered how he was still wary of him even when talking with Priscilla (He might be able to succeed me), He thought lightly.
"This is why you two couldn't return to the surface world anymore," Carter said. "The fact that you two awakened might cause harm to both of you. Some groups or organizations might want to recruit you, especially because you two are naturally awakened. In the Hidden World, we have a rule not to harm an ordinary civilian and others. But those rules were no longer applied to you two. So if someone tried using Magic to threaten you, there's nothing you can do. Except for blame on your own weakness, unable to fight back." He said coldly.
Justin and Mina fell silent to digest the new information for a while. then… "Aren't you the same?" Justin said.
"Kuhaha," Carter chuckled, "That's right! We're the guild. We are similar to the police force of the Hidden World in this city and also wanted to recruit you two!"
"We also able to threaten you two to be our slave," Carter added.
"Dad!?" Priscilla was shocked. She never expected to say something like that.
"We could kill you right now, and you two won't be able to do anything about it. Even your family won't be able to do anything except forget that you two ever exist in this world!"
"Da-!?" Priscilla tried to say something but was immediately silenced by Carter with his gaze.
Mina is already on the verge of tears while Justin grits his teeth.
"That's it! That's the feeling of weakness. This is what will happen if you're weak in this Hidden World" He grinned.
"We'll give you time for you two to familiarize yourself in this world. We will give you two a tutorial period in the game's terms. And the future will be up to you," Carter suddenly said.
""!?"" It was an unexpected development for Justin and Mina.
"Why would you do that?" Justin asked, full of wariness. Justin knew what Carter said was true because he no longer needed to lie to them. But he is also unable to guess what he's trying to achieve.
"You don't want to? Or are you afraid of me lying to you? Then do you want to make a 'Mana Contract'? Those who violated 'Mana contract' unquestionably ended up dead," Carter explained, "You could ask Sil too, you are unable to believe me, but you believe in her, right?"
"Dad…" Priscilla muttered softly.
Justin and Mina fell silent with their hands linked to each other…
[A/N: Hands linked…. LEWD!!]