Asuna biship POV
I launched myself through the forest, my body filled with worry.
What happened? I thought as I recalled the image of my childhood home decimated burned into my eyes, sending even more mana into my legs.
I had to remain calm or I wouldn't be able to keep the little faint trail I have on moms mana. It was already hard enough.
I couldn't help but bite my lip as I soar throughout the tree branches.
Why did mom have to use her mana, did something bad happen and I can't sense a hinge of dads. My chest tightened at the thought of something bad happening while I was so close.
Crossing over the tunnel of trees—that almost seemed alive—that led to that magnificent waterfall.
But I had no time to gleam at its beauty, I leaped over the trees as the moon caught my eyes as I glided through the sky like a butterfly.
Focus. I thought as the trail of my moms mana picked up.
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A large house—like a mansion—came into view as I left that forest.
Hope filled my body as I could almost sense moms mana clearly, and I could sense a fire element that I could only assume to be dad's.
Ignoring the houses' landscape I dashed closer when I got hit with the feeling of running through solid air, a sensation that I knew all too well.
I had passed through a barrier, but the force didn't resent me nor did I have troubles entering so whoever made this barrier didn't want whatever was going on inside to be let out.
The scent of moms mana overflooded my mana sense as I felt it coming from the backend side of the building.
I quickly formed two layers of mana around my body, as I whipped around the corner when a window came into view, ignoring the consequences I would have to face, I clutched my swords' hilt as I leaped through the window.
As soon as I felt the glass break I created six spears encircling my body as the harsh winds from my aura let loose. I felt someone grab onto my body.
With the force of a bear my body got thrown into a hug, "Honey, she's crying don't be too hasty." A voice I knew all too well made my heart skip a beat.
I unconsciously began to cry from being wrapped within my dads arms.
Soon I had bawled into his arms, I tried to stop the tears, but they just kept going, "Asuna." His voice full of remorse as he spoke, "I'm sorry we had to meet together as a family like this."
"I'm sure you were worried—" he said, placing his pointer and middle finger on my chest. "—I should've at least taken the time to make something to let you know we were alright, I won't make any excuses for what I've done, at least this time, but I was sure that you'd find your way here; if you didn't come, I'd tear down everything beyond here looking for you." He laughed, his voice wavering slightly.
Mom wrapped her arms around my neck before she placed the same two fingers over dads, "Asuna, you've gotten prettier lately, haven't you?" Moms calm voice chuckled.
What I thought was going to be a moment of empathy was short lived.
A surge of unsteady and violent pulses of mana began pulsating throughout the room.
My body began to tense up as I unconsciously drew my spears. I could feel my mother's hands twitch as she stared into the center of the room.
"Jasmine, Kai, reinforce the barrier!" Ryan barked, holding his daughter slightly closer to his side.
Surges of mana began to shake the entire room. I gazed over at my little brother, noticing he was the cause of this. Was he going through his first dream? Or rather, a nightmare?
I withdrew my spears rushing to my brother's side.
"Your brother is pretty special, isn't he?" Ryan said it in a lighthearted and sarcastic tone. "He managed to use a spell on his first day of awakening, and now he's threatening to draw everyone in this vicinity here." Ryan turned, giving me a wry smile.
"Kai, can you go scout the area? Make sure there aren't any rogue beasts being drawn to the boy." Ryan spoke as if it were an order.
"Keep a watch on the family while I'm gone, Asuna." Then, in a moment's notice, he vanished from the window I entered.
My mom assisted Jasmine as I stood beside Igris, looking at his features, which seemed like I barely came to know.
His untidy black hair trailed slightly over his ears, his face seeming like a little version of our dad, and his nose and ears drew attention to Mom's soft features. Good, I thought with a small laugh, you haven't grown up too much on me.
However, every mana pulse emanating from him felt... different. It felt a little off from the typical intent that your mana may impose. It felt strange.
I could feel the tiniest bit of mana quivering with every pulse, which shouldn't be possible for him, but it might also be mana being pulled in the direction of the barrier.
Slightly intrigued, I placed my hand on his chest, wanting to see what his core was like, though I'm not sure if I'll be able to see anything. Closing my eyes and then inserting mana into his core, I was hoping I could do this properly, but sensing a core was rather difficult. I could feel my little brother's core hungrily trying to absorb my mana, but I ignored the sensation as I tried focusing on his core.
When I was able to completely sense his core, it felt like I ran into a wall. I was left with a dull sensation throughout my entire body as I saw his core. His core, which shouldn't have been visible, was shining a light blue—similar to that of his eyes—showing that he was in the waxing gibbous stage of his core. To find out where cores began and where the breakthrough relies, there have been many studies showing that a core's "refinement process" is similar to a moon. Though the stages of a new to full moon are the only ones we usually notice, the waning gibbous, etc., would essentially be the core adjusting to its new stage and would restart its journey to achieve even greater heights.
But my little brother, who seemed to be in a deep sleep, had already reached the third quarter of his first stage.
Attempting to withdraw my consciousness from within his body, I felt a feeling of tugging?
My consciousness withered between my own body and my little brothers, and for a solid second I started fearing that I wouldn't be able to enter my own body, but then it felt like my consciousness was jerked back into my body, sending me into a fit of pants and gasping. I caught my mom, who saw my face in distraught, but in that moment another surge of mana pulsed from him, this one more powerful than the last.
Sending tremors up my spine, but that was the last to come.
Mom came running over, asking if I was alright, but the only words that came stumbling were, "He's almost on the breakthrough to his fourth quarter."
"It looks like I've come back at the right time." Dad spoke up, breaking the almost smothering silence.
Dried dark blue blood stained his clothing. "There were only a few straggling beasts," he reassured Ryan, whose body almost seemed to deflate from the sudden announcement. "Welp, good to know things have gone rather pleasantly." Ryan shooed his daughter off while his wife walked her back to her room.
"Kai, what else is it?" Ryan asked with a serious look on his face, "Hahaha... you caught me." My dad's voice trailed off into pure silence.
I began to grow anxious from the anticipation. What was it that Ryan had picked up on? I thought, slightly biting down on my lip.
"Something—someone else was out in that forest beyond the lake. I don't know what it was, but I'm sure that it had to also sense that last surge of mana. I saw something create a portal or something before disappearing. I tried to reach them before the gleaming blue light completely faded, but then a few beasts randomly attacked me; I hadn't sensed them at all. It was like they never existed until that very moment, not to mention those beasts were stronger than normal."
"And I couldn't help but feel an ominous feeling protruding from whatever it was, Ryan. This could all just be some coincidence, but there's something out there. I don't think a strong mage that is capable of what looks like teleportation would be around these parts; unless we just got lucky enough for that to be the case, it looks like we may have some trouble on our hands, but hopefully it's nothing." Dad finished with a sigh.
Surprisingly, Ryan jeered, "And I thought I was the worried one. It'll be fine if anything happens; you and I will just go get 'em, or I'll just call some higher-ups to investigate. Surely you haven't forgotten who you've made friends with." Ryan was going to pat his back until he noticed the blood.
"If anything we should be looking into, it should be that boy who's sleeping, but for now, I'll leave it to you guys to decide; I'm going to also rest." Ryan left the room, waving Dad off.
The room was filled with silence. I'm sure everyone is shocked by what's just occurred, my brother, and now something out of the ordinary has happened in the forest. Little Iggy might've caused more trouble than intended.
I sat on the edge of the bed, feeling even more tired, even though I hadn't done anything but stood in this room.
"—una" Mom's gentle voice snapped me out of my daze. "Your father and I should let you rest. We'll have to get up early tomorrow, so it'll be best." I'm sure there will be a lot to talk about tomorrow, but my mind kept trailing off until a thought that had been on the edge of my mind resurfaced, "Where is Stella?"
"She was the one who was forming the barrier you probably felt when you first came; she's probably a little tired. You'll get to see her in the morning." Mom then walked over and kissed me on the forehead and did the same to Igris before walking off to the door with Dad. He shot me a smile and said, "It's good to have you back." His few words made my heart flutter.
The door slowly closed, and as I lay down at the end of the bed, I felt a blanket of tiredness try to overtake me, but I didn't fight back. I just let sleep overtake me, letting all of my thoughts run wild.