My Brother

From the first moments that he was conscious, he had never been alone. Even in the dark where everything began, he had always noticed that someone was next to him. It gave him a sense of comfort and, even before he knew what the world was, he wanted to protect that person and remain by their side. Only for a moment were they separated, but he was quick to follow.

"It's a boy," cried a voice from somewhere out of sight.

"They both are," cried another voice.

"Bring them here," whispered an exhausted voice.

Slowly opening his eyes for the first time, the first thing that he saw was the black haired baby being cradled in front of him. Almost immediately, he was turned to look at the woman holding them both.

"We'll name the black haired one Crun," said the woman softly.

"Then the silver haired one shall be Rea," added a man from out of sight.

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'What should I do today?' Rea sighed to himself as he rested in the crib beside his twin.

Four months had already passed since they had been born and he had been doing his best to gain an understanding of what was happening around him. He had attempted to talk with his brother, but to no avail. He didn't know if it was because he couldn't talk right or if his brother wasn't fully awake yet.

"Oh, the little prince is awake," said one of the maids as she descended from cleaning the ceiling. He had discovered that she was called Marry, and could use wind magic. "Oh, the little princes are so cute. I wonder what their statuses will be like what they grow up."

'Status?' Rea wondered to himself. This was a word that hadn't heard before.

Almost immediately, a pale, blue screen appeared in front of him with some sort of writing.

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Name: Rea Greenshorn

Titles: Third Prince of the Greenshorn Kingdom, Earth's son

Race: Dryad / Dragon (Moon aligned)

Age: 4 months

Level: 1

HP: 100/100

MP: 600/600

Abilities (Hidden):

- Nature's blessing

- Memory retention (partially unlocked)

Abilities:

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'Oh? This is interesting,' Rea thought after examining the screen for a moment. 'Maybe this memory retention thing is why I can understand what is happening around me. Now, HP makes sense to me, but what about MP? Maybe it has something to do with magic?'

Ding!

'Gained Appraisal, due to repeated action'

'Oh, maybe this will be useful,' Rea thought.

Looking at the MP section of the screen, he used appraisal.

MP - energy used in magic. Is produced within the body and circulates throughout it. Is also called mana.

'Oh, this is very useful,' he exclaimed. 'Hmm, it is within my own body?'

Intrigued by the thought of using magic, he began to focus his thoughts on the inner parts of his body. Slowly, he began to perceive something flowing sluggishly within him. He tried to get a better feel for it, but it was slow going. After a couple more day's he finally managed to make the mana within his body begin to circulate smoothly.

Ding

'Gained Mana manipulation'

'Finally,' Rea thought smugly.

It had been slow going to finally reach this point. He had found that mana wasn't something that could be easily grasped. It was almost as if it had a mind of its own. At times he had almost managed to circulate it, but then something would change and he lost it again.

'It is a really peculiar sensation,' Rea noted as the mana began to establish a constant rhythm as it flowed. 'I wonder if I could help my brother do the same thing?'

Looking at his twin who was sleeping calmly beside him, he carefully extended one of his chubby arms and rested his hand on his brother's arm. Slowly, he pushed against whatever barrier existed between them and attempted to feel the mana within his brother's body. For a second, he caught a glimpse of his brother's mana, before it vanished again.

'Right,' Rea thought determinedly. 'Let's see if we can do the same for Crun.'

Throughout the coming days, Rea continued to try and feel his brother's mana. Except when they were being carried or feed, he focused all of his attention on breaking down the barrier between him and his brother.

"Rea is so attentive to Crun," his mother commented one day.

"I would almost think that he was the older of the two," answered his father.

"I don't get it," commented the young boy that Rea had recently discovered to be his older brother. "He's just touching his arm."

Ignoring all of these comments, Rea focused one the sole object of his attention. And so it would have continued, had things been different.