3 The Outside World

Evelyn replied, a bit hesitant :

" I know that there is fire, water, earth and air magic. Magicians proficients in their elements will be able to go further into it like ice or thunder magic and will be able to unleash more powerful spells with it."

'This is not even near the truth... What did those damned scholars while I was stuck in here, did they regress or what? Maybe it's because she come from a backwater village.' Jack thought.

"Your answer isn't false, but isn't good either." Was what he replied. "Mana is simply the energy of this world, the beginning of everything and through our body we can use it to weave spells. The type of mana is simply altered by you depending on what you wish and your understanding of the said type. For example, I am pretty knowledgeable about necromancy and am able to create Death mana without any trouble, leaving it free to weave whatever spell I wish. If I have a shallow understanding of what fire is, I'll have more trouble to turn the pure mana into a fire one since I don't know what fire is. How could I create fire mana, the primal base of fire, without knowledge?

The other important part in spell casting is your mana heart and veins. First, humans are born without it and need to create it from scratch. If you are really linked to an element, your heart and veins will form according to it to facilitate the creation the said element's mana and it's transportation.

Then come spells creation, alias weaving. You need to form the wished effect with strands of elemental mana and are free to use whatever method you wish. Some use music, some use their voices, some use items to cast through or simply move their body like me. We'll need to first create your magic heart and then see what's your favorite method to cast."

Pausing at the end of his speech, Jack noticed that Evelyn had fallen asleep while standing. Sighing, he gently took her frail body in his arms and sat on his ruined throne. Seeing her sleep peacefully reminded him of his prime time when he simply wished to have a daughter.

'Sweet times are far away aren't they... I've been freed yet all I do is help a traumatized girl to sleep, I guess that nobody can flee from is true nature. I hope my dear wife is proud of me right now, seeing me becoming a damned babysitter.'

Her tears stopped his self pitying and he gentle swiped them, cuddling her to better dreams. While thinking about what he should do with her, time flew fast. When she woke up from an agitated nightmare she profusely apologized seeing that she slept on Jack's arms. He simply chuckled and dismissed the whole thing, standing up and giving his hand to his disciple. She took it while smiling, seemingly unaffected by the fact that the hand was bony and cold.

Seeing that she was pretty frail and light to carry earlier, Jack asked with a bit of concern :

"By the way Evelyn, how old are you ? Aren't you a bit hungry either? And why are you calling me "master" exactly? "

"I'm 10 years old master, and I call you like this since you were kind enough to take me as a student and disciple. As for the food... Well you don't really feel the hunger when you get used to it." She said while looking at her bony teacher with her two ocean's blue eyes.

Jack simply grunted while saying that she was crazy and that she should have told him that first and they went together through the dark and damp cave until they saw some sunlight rays. The undead suddenly started to run, dragging his student with him in his exhilaration.

The sight that welcomed him was simply breathtaking. He stood there, gazing at the pine forest which covered the ground, stopped only by the other mountains standing there. The snow on them looked thin and Jack could see that the earthquake earlier made a few landslide happens. Fully bathing in the sunlight, appreciating the green of the grass and the yellow of the buttercups he finally felt alive after so many years. He also took in as much mana as possible, enjoying its density after having to absorb it through a small gap in his barrier.

Evelyn was simply looking a him bathing in his happiness and saw that there was no more smoke column coming from where her village was. When she first entered the cave, it was visible but now it seemed like the raging fire had died. Thinking about what she had left behind, she lost herself in her thoughts only to be shaken by Jack who was looking at her with renewed intensity.

"Do you remember what I told you about the magic heart or were you already sleeping?" He asked, half joking. "We will start creating your heart right now since the mana density is pretty high."

'And that's weird,' He added while thinking. 'It's even denser than during my prime, what the hell is happening?'

"What should I do for it then master ?" Evelyn asked, fully focused. She seemed really eager to learn and it warmed Jack's undead heart. Chuckling, he replied :

"First thing first, we should find a river and some fruits on our way. You should start learning with your full abilities, not while your stomach is empty and you're this dirty. As a girl, you should be more coquettish you know?"

The skeleton laughed even harder seeing his small apprentice blushing and being fidgety as he made her quite uneasy. Patting her head in order to quieten her, he asked while smiling :

"First question of your studies : How would you find a river in here without opening your eyes nor moving ?"

"By listening, I guess..?" Evelyn mumbled without any conviction. She seemed truly focused, concentrated while trying to find a better answer than this but she sighed, finding nothing.

"By feeling the world's mana and sensing where is the highest density of primal water one. As I told you, mana is the origin and the energy of this world. We breath it in as a pure product, untainted, but with some training you will be able to feel all the already used and existing mana that's flowing in the air, dirt, trees and even in your flesh. " Jack explained, looking at his amazed small companion.

While walking, he continued to explain her about the structure of the world, the origin of magic and what the scholars were researching. He also grabbed a few edible berries on the way, giving them to his ravenous little companion. They then reached a small flowing river which was coming down from the mountain's snow. It created a beautiful scenery with the water flow and all around it life flourishing, the peace of the place disturbed by a young girl washing herself and a skeleton swinging a stick on the side.

Jack's activity quickly interested Evelyn who put on her rags, having nothing better to wear. Yet even with those clothes she could have been called "cute" with her round facial features and her beautiful long blond hairs tangled all together. Seeing that she was fine and clean, the undead stopped his weird activity and told her with a skeletal grin:

"Are you ready to start doing some magic?" Seeing the stars in her eyes, he took that as a yes. "First, close your eyes then focus on your heart beating and each of your breathes. Try to imagine that every time you take in some air, you take in some mana with it. Give it the appearance you wish, me I imagine it as a light blue smoke. Hold on each breath for a few heart's beating then let it go. Every time your heart beat while the air is in your lungs, it take some of the mana and pump it in your body."

Slowly, Evelyn lost herself in her exercise and found it quite relaxing, even pleasant. After some time, she felt something weird and hot in her torso and quickly started panicking, opening her eyes. All she saw was the starlit sky, a campfire lit near her and her teacher who was cooking some mushrooms on it. Her hunger came fast and while wolfing down her mushroom's skewer she asked :

"Master, how is it possible that so much time passed ? I feel like I closed my eyes five minutes ago. And there was something weird which woke me up, I started to feel a burning pain near my heart without any reason. Did I do something wrong ?" She asked, feeling a little bit down. In her meditation state, all her worries and inner devils were away. Now, they came back biting at her with more strength than ever.

However, Jack simply looked at her as if she was dumb then laughed a lot. It took him a few minutes to be able to speak clearly and he simply said :

"Welcome in the family, Mage Evelyn. This burning pain is simply your body telling you that it's full to the brim of mana and it need time to process it. Also, you lost your feeling of time since you were fully immersed and focused on your meditation. Honestly, you amazed me. I never expected you to last this long and to create the germ of your magic heart at your first attempt. Well done !"

The young girl looked at Jack, the fire's light reflecting in her wet eyes. She then rushed on him and hugged tightly, trying to secure herself this present where all isn't pain and despair. Crying softly, she felt a skeletal hand gently patting her while her mental dam broke because of those hopeful words.

Finally, something good had happened to her. After fleeing the slaughter of her birthplace, she had to endure a lot more. She reminded herself of her last week, walking on the road only to flee some weird people, getting lost and hungry in this forest to tumble upon a weird cave were maybe she would be able to sleep a little safely...

All those experiences flooded out of her mind through her tears and she found some peace of mind in the cold, bony cage that wrapped her. Looking up, she saw the two soul fire looking at her, basking her in their light. Smiling faintly, she thanked her dear teacher before falling asleep.

Looking at the stars after he saw that Evelyn was asleep, Jack fully enjoyed his first night out and made himself sure that the fire never went out in order to keep his student warm. While trying to soothe the pain that he was constantly feeling since he cast the Spirit Storm he noticed that the mana density was truly way too high and that the flux was running amok. Sighing because he knew that overthinking wouldn't help, he simply stared at the sky and admired the star's movements above him while waiting for the sun to lighten up the world.