"....Wait! I think I see something!" William exclaimed as he looked at the edges of his senses. He could see something floating around. It has a golden shine to it and looks like a fleck of something rather than a separate particle.
'Is this mana?' William wondered in amazement. He could see the regal movements as it floated in the air. 'No wonder, the voice made me wait so long; it's so pretty?'
William watched in amazement; he was truly bewildered by this experience; he didn't think he was—
[Wait! That's not mana!]
The voice interjected into William's serene experience, making him frown, "What do you mean it's not mana? Look how beautiful it looks!"
[That's not mana, that's dust! Dust that's floating in the air!]
"Dust? There is no dust in my room! How can there be dust when Mother made the maids clean it up?" William asked as he frowned, somewhat offended by the voice's accusations.
[That's not visible dust! It's too microscopic for those maids to see! Although your mother can see them, she didn't do anything; is that too much clean air that could also harm a baby!]
"Why would clean air harm a baby?" William asked in confusion. 'Wouldn't being clean be better?'
[It's true that being clean is good for your health! But that doesn't mean it's always useful! If the baby isn't getting some kind of attack from diseases, how will his immune system develop?]
William was silent at the voice's question; he knew what the immune system was, as he had learned it from the voice. "So it's like a necessary danger?" he asked, trying to make sense of things.
[Yes, you are correct! Now back to the topic; since you have lost all concentration, do it from the start!]
William pouted at the voice's instructions, but still followed them and closed his eyes. "He then began to focus on the area between his eyebrows until he felt the sensation of a thumb being pressed on him.
He then slowly began to expand it outward while focusing on the pressure, making sure that it remained constant throughout the covered area.
After a few minutes, he had successfully covered his entire face with that pressure. "Should I continue, or should I cover my whole body?"
[Try to see it one more time, and if you still fail, try to cover your entire body with that pressure!]
The voice advised.
William followed its advice and tried to sense the surroundings of his face. He could see the dust floating in the air; it swayed randomly with grace, 'Are you sure that this is not mana?' He asked, it still looked too graceful to be mere dust.
[Yes, I am sure! Now focus!] the voice reprimanded.
William refocused on the surroundings as he looked with greater focus.
[Now, try to focus on a single point!]
"Then why did you make me cover the entire face?" William asked, confused.
[Focus!]
However, instead of answering, William yelled at him to focus as he knew that he was close, close to starting his journey and reclaiming what belonged to him.
William was baffled at first, since it was the first time it had raised its voice against him. But he did what it told him as he knew, 'maybe I am close!'
William focused on a single point in his surroundings, alienating the rest. The image in his mind kept changing as the golden particles of dust changed as it zoomed in further.
William's mind was amazed as he looked at the tiny creatures that made the dust particles their home. He wanted to know more about them, but the voice interrupted him.
[Focus!]
TSK
William clicked his tongue at the voice, 'Should I not do it?' A rebellious thought crossed his mind.
[I know you're angry at me, but focus!]
But at the voice's words, 'I will listen now and ask about it later,' he decided to focus more. The image zoomed again as it kept zooming in further and further.
William's mind was in overdrive as it tried to understand what it was seeing. At first, after the minuscule creature, William saw what seemed like broken shards of glass; then flower-like patterns filled his vision. It kept changing in total randomness as William zoomed in further.
William focused further, then his vision caught sight of something: tiny particles, really minuscule. Even with all the zooming, William could barely make them out.
'Are these pitch-black things mana?' He asked the voice. In his vision, tiny pitch-black balls floated around; they didn't interact with anything but floated around.
Whenever they got close to each other, they changed their trajectory just enough that they would not hit each other.
[Yes, that is the purest form of mana!]
The voice said, while looking through William's vision. It looked at the familiar sight, the familiar sight of mana.
William didn't say anything and just observed the mana floating around. But then, something caught his eyes.
At the corner of his vision, William could see a tiny black mana particle suddenly turn green and fly off.
SWOOSH
It didn't interact with anything but just flew off at unimaginable speeds. "What was that!" William exclaimed as he was baffled by the incident.
[That is how the purest form of mana turns into different types of mana! You don't need to know about it yet as you are not ready! You will know about it in the future!]
William was a little disappointed that he couldn't know about it yet; he wanted to ask about it to the voice anyway, but the voice interjected him by saying,
[From now on, you will train in how to see mana!]
"But am I not able to see it already?" William asked, confused, totally forgetting about his question. 'Wasn't that mana? I am able to see it, so why more training?' he wondered to himself.
[You are able to see mana, but that is only because you have concentrated for about six hours!]
"Six hours!!?" William blurted out as he shot open his eyes. It was still dark so he couldn't really sense how much time had passed.
[Yes, you have concentrated for six hours! Your training is to shorten it more and more until you are able to see it without any effort!]
The voice explained, further surprising William. 'Has it really been six hours!?' he questioned to himself.
[You have to train until you are able to see the mana, even on a battlefield!]
"Do I really have to train that much?" William asked. Although he didn't hate the idea of training as he could grow stronger faster, 'Mastering that means training for hours!' he grumbled inwardly.
[Yes, it is essential! If you don't, then there is a real chance of you and your family dying!]
The voice said, suddenly. Making William frown and glare at the air in front of him. "What do you mean by that?" he asked. His voice held no hint of his previous innocence, but it was like a command, a command that cannot be ignored.
[I cannot tell you much, as it will be harmful to you and your family!]
"I don't care; you have been threatening me with that long enough. I am tired of it! So, tell!" William's voice echoed in his mind as he commanded the voice.
But the voice was adamant.
[I know what you are feeling, because I am feeling it too! Remember, you and I are the same. But I truly cannot tell you much, because even thinking about them will alert your enemies!]
The voice said, bewildering William, "At least tell me, how strong are they?"
The voice was silent for a while before it broke the silence and said,
[They are emperors, emperors of such strength that even their weakest citizens can pinch this world to death!]
William turned silent, there was a turmoil raging in his heart like a tornado! 'Can I face beings like them? What will happen to mother!? Will they come for her too?' William's heart started to pound like a maddened drum. His mind was imagining the scenarios of his defeat against the overly powerful beings.
[Calm down, they are not here yet, and you are not fighting them now! You still have time! Time to train and also experience life!]
The voice reassured him, claiming that he still had time. But that didn't reassure William; he still kept thinking about what would happen to his mother.
[That was why I didn't want to tell you! I haven't even said their names, and you are getting affected by their powers!]
The voice said, making William frown, but before he could ask what it meant, a golden aura enveloped William almost instantly.
It shone brightly as it covered his entire baby body. It entered his brain through his nostrils and his heart through his mouth and covered them too.
[Calm down!]
The voice said in a soothing tone; William relaxed a lot as his beating heart calmed down visibly. His mind felt like it was submerged in cold water as a fresh fragrance filled his nose.
Only after a few minutes, the golden aura had receded, ensuring that William calmed down.
[I have forcefully opened 0.0000001% of the seal; I have to go into a deep slumber to manage the repercussions from hitting your body! It will take a few months to a year, so train until then! Goodbye!]
The voice ended, leaving William with many questions that left unanswered.