After the conversation with his parents, Kanashimi spent some time alone in his room, staying there until evening.
Previously, Kanashimi had refused to have anything to do with magic. Therefore, he suppressed his mana. As a result, he learned to suppress it so effectively that it seemed non-existent. He was like someone from another world, someone without any mana, not feeling it in his body at all. It didn't even flow within his soul; for it, time had stopped, and it seemed frozen forever.
Kanashimi didn't know how to restore its flow. So, he resorted to the simplest solution.
'If you don't know how to get down from a tree, descend the same way you climbed up. Or fall.'
He didn't know how to "fall," so he used the first method. He remembered how he used to suppress his mana and eventually stopped it completely. Now, he tried to do the opposite.
At first, he felt nothing, and nothing happened.
Hours passed, but he still felt nothing.
'Useless. Why would I even do that?'
Kanashimi wanted to stop; he had no desire to restore the flow of mana in his body.
Then, after agonizing hours of silence and solitude, he felt it. It was a strange, unfamiliar sensation. Something inside him was different from before. Something alien had awakened within him and surged through him like a tsunami.
The sensation was so intense that Kanashimi clutched his chest and curled up, groaning in pain.
He had always felt his mana very distinctly, as if it were something physical inside his body.
'I never thought I'd feel this again.'
Kanashimi decided to try stopping his mana again. If he could stop and restore his mana at will, he wouldn't have to live with this strange sensation.
'How can anyone live with this feeling all their life?'
He began to stop his mana again. This time, it worked much faster, taking only a couple of minutes. Repeating this cycle, he managed to do it even faster.
By nightfall, he could complete a full cycle in about a minute.
To rest and distract himself, he went to the window.
He saw the familiar view: the shore and the endless ocean. The sun had already set, and the sky was studded with thousands of stars. His family lived by the ocean, far from the city and villages, but Kanashimi liked living there; he enjoyed looking out the window, watching the ocean.
An idea came to him. Why not use his ability to stop mana as a magical skill?
He smirked.
Kanashimi decided what his magic would be.
The next morning, Kanashimi left the house early. Andrian was already gone, having left before dawn.
Kanashimi went straight to Shiro's favorite training spot. About ten meters from the house stood a solitary tree. Andrian's great-grandfather had planted it a very long time ago. Even Andrian didn't know where it came from. Its trunk was very wide, about two meters, and it stood about seven meters tall. It resembled an ordinary oak, except for one detail—its foliage. The leaves were very dense and started almost at the base of the trunk, leaving only a little over a meter visible. Most of Kanashimi's body was always hidden within the foliage when he stood under the tree.
Approaching the tree and crouching, Kanashimi joined Shiro and sat next to him, leaning against the wide trunk.
Shiro was meditating at that moment. A dark blue aura emanated from him, more like smoke. It was as if he had been doused with boiling water, but the steam was blue.
Shiro, still emitting the strange smoke, looked questioningly at his older brother.
Kanashimi broke the silence first.
"Do you know about the letter?"
"From the nymph?"
"Yes."
"Both of us are going to be sent there."
"I know."
"Then teach me magic."
Shiro paused for a moment, then laughed nervously.
"Are you kidding? You've avoided magic your whole life, and now you want to become a mage?"
"I don't intend to become a mage."
Shiro smiled.
"Relax, Father warned me. I'll teach you what I can."
Finally, the blue smoke disappeared, and Shiro adopted a different pose, sitting cross-legged and turning fully to face Kanashimi.
"Sit more comfortably."
Kanashimi sat in the same pose.
"Now focus. You need to feel your mana as clearly as possible. So clearly that it feels not distant within you, but very close, as if it's right under your skin. This is a fairly quick process since everyone can feel their mana from birth. Even without studying it, at your age, you should at least feel it as part of your body, not just your soul."
"It's not like that."
Shiro tilted his head and looked at Kanashimi in surprise.
"Seriously? How do you feel it?"
"It's like something physical, inside my body, flowing like a stream."
Shiro opened his mouth, revealing all his teeth in a mischievous smile.
"Has it been like that for long?"
"It's always been like that."
Shiro's smile faded, replaced by surprise. He laughed nervously.
"Well, that's a surprise."
"Will it be a big problem?"
Shiro lowered his head.
"No, it won't be a problem at all. It's just... even I don't feel it that distinctly."
Shiro cleared his throat and began explaining magic.
"So, let's start with what magic actually is. Magic is easier to call a fantasy that, with enough persistence, can be brought to life. You can create almost anything; there are only two limitations: your mana supply and your imagination. The more complex and powerful the magic, the more mana it requires. Let's set aside the methods to increase your mana for now and focus on what you want to achieve and what it should be.
Shiro waited a few seconds.
"And now, the most important part. What type of ability are you planning to create?"