Astra PoV
Cleaning ourselves off, Yiksa and I returned to the side of our daughter, who was staring at a swirling sphere of leaves, roots, and soil, all hovering just above her outstretched palms.
Swiftly making my way towards her side, I stared at the sphere with awe, while Yiksa stiffly walked forwards to join us, her emerald eyes fixed on the sphere.
"Look Mama! I just tugged at the threads that looked like Second Mama's eyes and this appeared!"
Blinking, I activated {Mana Sense} and observed the sphere, a wry chuckle escaping my lips as I saw the tight knit ball of dark green threads, woven together and spinning above her palms.
It wasn't the same green as the breeze, which meant it wasn't wind, so...
Glancing around, I turned my gaze towards the trees, which had some of those dark green threads flowing off of their bark.
Was it nature magic then?
Switching the {Mana Sense} off, I crouched beside Kalia and stared at the sphere, before hesitantly reaching forwards.
My fingers briefly brushed against the swirling threads, before it crept away from my touch and closer to my daughter, almost like it was shy.
Pursing my lips, I took in Kalia's grinning face as she started playing with the ball, making me let out a sigh as I sat down opposite her.
I was curious, so...
Taking out a vial of blood, I grimaced at the dripping red threads that spooled inside the small glass vial, and Kalia shivered as she looked at it, her pink eyes turning slightly afraid as she stared at them.
I couldn't blame her, as the threads themselves gave off a rather eery vibe, while the dripping liquid made even me shiver looking at it.
Returning the vial to my inventory, I smiled at Kalia and stroked her fluffy hair, watching as she relaxed gradually.
"So, what can you do with these threads dear?"
Distracting her was easy, as my question made her eyes brighten up instantly as she started showing me what she had learned during my absence.
Yiksa was interested as well, listening intently to our daughter as she explained that the sphere had formed when she had felt them 'tug' at her heart, and when she grabbed them they drifted closer and closer to her.
Hearing that, I wondered if that was how people with {Mana Sense} learned their element; attempting to grab and weave the colored 'elemental' threads...
However, I was also rather curious about the power that the pure mana threads contained, so I looked over at Yiksa and asked "Earlier you said you needed to give the magic an 'order' for it to do something, to have some kind of... intent?"
The older Dark Elf nodded, her emerald eyes still transfixed on the sphere in Kalia's hands.
"If you will the magic to do something, it will respond to your orders. Many can't even feel magic, let alone shape it like you two can..."
Nodding, I activated {Mana Sense} again and grabbed the pure white threads, swiftly and efficiently weaving them into a sphere.
Next, I took the sphere and transformed that into a flat disc, which I 'willed' to fly and cut into the tree.
Tossing the whirling disc, I watched in amazement as it shot through the air, before it sliced into the bark of the tree, cutting an inch or so deep.
Blinking a few times, the clearing descended into silence at my display, and Kalia was the one to break that silence by gasping, her eyes wide with excitement as she moved over to me.
"Mama, mama! How did you do that?!"
Seeing how excited she was, I gave her a wry smile as I repeated what Yiksa said.
"I just... wished for the threads to do something, then gave it a little help... like I wanted that disc to 'fly' and 'cut', so it... did?"
Kalia pursed her lips, staring intently at her own sphere.
"Why cut?"
Hearing her innocent question, I froze, not knowing exactly what to say.
"What would you have made it do, Kalia?"
Thankfully, Yiksa crouched down and stared warmly at the Dark Elf child, who grinned as she said "I want it to grow!"
Chuckling, Yiksa gestured towards the ground around us, saying "Then try it. Ask the magic to grow something."
Nodding, Kalia lowered the sphere to the ground and whispered "Grow into a pretty flower please!" to the earth, and we all watched in amazement as the sphere slipped into the soil.
Sprouting instantly from the ground was a small, but vibrant flower, the deep violet petals speckled with splotches of crimson.
Staring at it, I smiled warmly at Kalia, who blushed slightly as she saw that I realized why the flower was 'pretty'.
My daughter reached forwards and gently plucked the flower from the ground, moving over to stand before me and holding her hand out, the long green stalk between her gray fingers.
"Here, Mama..."
Her blush deepened, making me grin at her as I took the flower.
Bringing it to my nose, I nodded at the rich floral scent wafting from its pistil, before raising it up towards my violet hair.
Slipping it into my hair, I reached forwards and pulled Kalia into a hug, warmly saying "Thank you for the flower, baby..."
She nodded in my arms, and I chuckled as her stomach grumbled.
"Hungry?"
Seeing her nod again, I lifted her up into my arms, the young girl instantly nuzzling into my chest as I walked towards the house, Yiksa following behind me.
"Well, you can have a little milk before Dama and your sisters get home, alright~? Besides that, I do need some help cooking again~!"
Kalia smiled at me, and I leaned down and rubbed my nose against hers, chuckling at how she placed a quick peck on my cheek.
"I love you too baby~!"
With that, Yiksa watched on as I fed our daughter before we started preparing a good dinner for the family, Kalia kneading the bread while I let the meats simmer in a thick broth.