I was starting to feel like a normal person again, all this drama for some reason had caused a lot of anxiety within me, but having been pushed against some of the truths of this world, I've found some new kind of insight into life and how to bring peace within me and my relationships with others.
Neso and I were sitting by the short end of the pond, where our feet just barely touched the water.
We were sitting silently, the wind was blowing, the sun shining brightly and shyly down upon us, hitting us with its rays just right.
The scene was peaceful. And we sat together, just enjoying each other's company.
My heart felt warm for a moment.
There were some pressing moments at the matter, but nothing that couldn't wait for its right time.
I wonder if it had something to do with Neso's energy, maybe you could call it his aura, or some type of ethereal connection, but it seemed to me like he was connected to mana itself, like he had some type of deep understanding of nature, and was in commune with it.
All the time. Every second of every hour. Everywhere everything all at once.
Was it some type of meditation? I had to ask him about it.
"Hey Neso,"
"Hmmh?" he responded turning back at me, I had converted to my slime form, so I was much shorter than him. He looked down upon me with soft and graceful eyes, he moved one eyebrow up and seemed to have been jolted from his trance for a second but returned immediately. His voice was deep and had an intense tremble.
"Can I ask you something?" I asked, trying not to get intimidated by him. He was my friend now after all.
"Sure," he responded, full stop.
I mumbled shyly for a second and then found the courage to speak up.
"I hope you don't take this the wrong way, but I can't help but notice that you have a certain different type of aura," I said hoping my knowledge of human esoteric practices would translate to this fantasy world.
"Aura, what's that?" he asked.
I sweated a little bit. He looked at me with curiosity. In this state, he was casting a shadow over me, the sun glistened behind him, enticing the curves around his body.
"Like - I guess - humans believed in my old world that they could produce some type of energy field around them that would enclose them in some manner," I said
"Huh?!" he said confused. "And for what would they use it for?"
This threw me for a loop.
"Uh - I'm not exactly sure," I said.
The conversation screeched to a halt.
Millions of thoughts started racing through my brain.
Neso broke the silence next
"Why do you ask?"
"Oh no reason, just because I couldn't help but notice how in tune you are with nature,"
A sudden smile crept on his face, he had actual fangs on his face, and a tooth slipped past his lips.
"Grimalkins have that about them," he understood me, and my idea got through to him. "It's kinda hard to explain, but it's more like we listen to it, and dance to its song, there's some type of balance, we flow through it, and it flows through us, it's been in Grimalkin's teachings for thousands of generations, nature provides us with health and wellbeing, it gives us our food and we give it back, it affects our magic and makes us stand with it," he explained.
"This aura you refer to is not within us, but outside of us, encapsulating us, and through it, we can speak to our gods and borrow magic through them, that's how some types of mana work," he explained.
He changed positions, his legs Indian style.
"Come on," he said tapping his legs.
He wanted me to sit on his lap!
I guess I'll take it.
With one jump I jumped on his lap.
"All right, I'll put my hands around you, and I'll help you, don't worry you got this," he said encouragingly.
I wasn't sure what was there to get, but I was suddenly very warm around his hands and in his lap.
"Now, take a deep breath, and listen to the forest,"
I noticed the sounds around us, the water lilies moving their paws, and how they made a small sploosh sound as they traveled through the water.
I listened to the wind and the trees around us, how the water trickled down to the last sand pool.
The waterfall came into view, it was almost like white noise, it didn't suffocate the rest of the sounds, but instead blended in with them.
Then the whole forest blended into one sound.
This was like some type of meditation, that was the key to it.
So I went back to when I tried to meditate as a human, back in my world.
What was it again?
Look at the thoughts, let them pass by, don't judge them, and just look at them.
Soon I fell into a familiar trance state.
I could hear Neso's voice from the outside.
"You're doing great - "Before he could finish a sudden influx of mana jolted my body, and disappeared in the form of a wave around us, a bubble formed in this state, I could almost thread it, like holding a needle and treading it through yarn, like a wave flowing through the ocean, I could hold it with it my mind.
The bubble filled the whole place, expanding as far as where the sand pool ended, it was an enormous field.
Inside it, bright flashes of orange glow, small bubbles that popped, and fireworks that glowed.
Neso was completely in awe.
He passed his hand through the air, touching it, as it took a material form. I could feel it, even though I couldn't see it.
"This is incredible," he said. I opened my eyes.
The wave came inwards again disappearing from view. "My starts!" he exclaimed.
"I've never seen anyone perform the ritual of reverie with so much mana," he said as he carried me upwards with gentle movements.
"The ritual of reverie?"
"Yeah! It's common for Grimalkin children to perform it," he put me back down, on his lap, and looked forward. I did too.
The scene had changed somehow, the animals were perkier and livelier, the water seemed more clear and shiny, and the forest was screaming for joy.
"It's sort of a test of strength, to see how much mana they can use," he explained. "The bigger the bubble around them, the more influx of mana their bodies can handle," he continued.
"And since you don't have a body" he continued. "Mana can flow freely through you in a sense. You are special you know," he said looking down at me.
That made me incredibly happy.
There were so many questions I wanted to ask, now that I was getting to know how many worked a little better.
He almost looked like he read my mind.
"In time, you'll learn how to control it, how to commune with it, with little effort on your part, for now, let's enjoy this sweet slice of paradise," he said, I jumped off his lap.
At that moment I made myself human and sat next to him. Made myself smaller so that he could still be on top.
I put my head on his shoulder.
"Is there anything in particular you would like to do next?" I asked. I took my head off his shoulder.
"I was only out here to cheer you up," he said dead honest.
"Is that why you're here?" I asked with a cheeky smile. He got instant red.
"You were not supposed to know that," he said choking on saliva.
I laughed it off.
"It's okay, you did that plenty," I said.
"Good," he said, suddenly standing up.
"Come on, you want to go to the Corocona Dungeon, right? It's written all over your face, you should stay a slime if you don't want me to use my military powers on you," he said extending his hand so I could get up.
"Adventure, that's why I'm here," I said and took his hand, feeling some kind of camaraderie forming.