Richard remained stiff on his chair for seconds, bedazzled by his new discovery.
He had barely recovered from the fact that he had a very minute Mana Reserve as a Mage. Sure, he was surprised when he found out. Broken too. But that was still normal; it happened to a few people.
Even on earth, there were those with defects and all that. You know, lacking body parts or senses that every normal person would have.
But the fact that he couldn't even channel his own Mana to cast his own spells was just appalling. That was being weaker than the weakest. He was outright useless as a Mage.
Why didn't his family just leave him to live as a normal human?
'For the love of God, of all bodies to be transmigrated into, it had to be this weak-ass guy that looks like me,' he clicked his teeth as he complained inwardly. Then he had a short flashback to when he first got here and looked in the mirror, 'Ugh, why do we have to look to alike? But this is still messed up either way. If it hadn't been for my family, I would have been...' he paused and sighed. 'Why though? Even if I had Mage-like tendencies, I could have been better off going on hunts with Hunter. My body should be more heightened as a potential Mage.'
Fineas took a glance at Maya, who turned to Claudia, who in turn looked at Fineas. The three of them blinked repeatedly before shifting their gaze toward Richard, giving him a blank stare.
"Is he... Is he okay?" the usually-quiet Fineas asked.
"He seems to be lost in thoughts," Claudia muttered half-heartedly.
"The two of you talk like he doesn't do this any time we're about to do it," Maya sighed depressingly, taking one last sip from her mug of tea. She wasn't bothered about Richard at that moment. She was running late. She wasn't supposed to be late.
One would wonder why she was so concerned about keeping to time, since she was more or less a graduate. Richard should be the one dragging her to the Academy everyday. The Irony.
For one reason or the other, Maya's nonchalant words broke Richard out of his psyche. Her voice always found a way to pull him back to reality.
He blinked twice and met their listless gaze.
'I really need some time alone to think. Or should I skip class?' he thought, taking a gentle swig of tea. Then he stood up and grabbed his bag in silence.
He slung it across his chest and raised his hands, "Come on, let's get this over with. We'll be late."
His family simply nodded and stood up. They didn't want to probe him any further that morning. It was a miracle that he hadn't gotten emotional about his low Mana Reserve.
With a soft hum, Claudia began to recite an inaudible spell with closed eyes. She swatted her left hand over the dining table, from Fineas, to Maya, and then to Richard, who was tapping his feet impatiently. He wanted to leave as soon as possible and get some alone time.
Wisps of Mana flowed out of the three of them, each colour to their unique Mage Path. They swirled around each other, weaving into one thick strand, that snaked through the air and entered Richard through his abdomen.
His eyes flitted a mild red glow before returning to normalcy.
'This is lame,' he muttered inwardly as the foreign Mana flowed through his system.
Then a sudden realisation dawned on him, 'Hold on, we were in so much of a hurry yesterday and they weren't able to give me their mana. And yet... I was able to stand my own against Lucas. Well, I buffed him, but that's still something. Then in the woods too... I think I was able to cast at least four spells yesterday. Does that mean my Mana Reserve is growing? Because I'm sure the ones they fill me with dissipates before the day ends.'
He blinked and found himself in a rickety carriage that was driving out of Khadar.
Though he was lost in his sea of thoughts, his body was conscious of its environment and had moved out of the house and unto the carriage.
The sight was almost the same as yesterday. He could see a group of Sentries chasing after a shop thief.
"Heh. They really don't have anything else to do," he said with a scoff.
Sizing her younger brother up, Maya couldn't help but comment, "Richard, you're... Different."
"Huh?" Richard looked at her side with scrunched brows.
They got to the Academy a few moments later and went their separate ways. Richard was tempted to sneak after her into the strange building, but he had other things to worry about at the moment.
'Or maybe I should have asked her about Prince Kaiser,' he thought with a sly smile. Again, that wasn't his emotion. He never had a real sibling to feel this way. It was as though his thoughts, intentions and action, were blending with Chad's own.
He shrugged it off and strolled towards the lecture building. He met his brown-eyed and brown-haired friend, James Blackwood, at the entrance. He was dressed the same way as him, only that his tunic was deep blue.