Chapter 3: Mana Core

ARTHUR LEYWIN'S POV:

About two years have passed since I made my difficult journey to the study room.

From then, I had been constantly trying to gather the little bits of mana spread out in my body and focus it in an attempt to form a mana core. Let me tell you, it was a slow and arduous task. I would find myself having an easier time trying to learn how to walk on my hands and eat with my feet in this damnable body than trying to will my mana core to condense.

I could see why the book said that it'll take until at least the adolescent age for a person to 'awaken.' If I had let the mana particles in my body move by themselves, it would take at least a decade for them to gravitate towards each other to form anything remotely close to a mana core.

Instead… A perk in having the mental capacity of an adult meant that I had the cognitive ability to consciously will my mana particles together. This was something I did as a child in my past life in school, where they taught you from childhood to learn how to control ki.

Essentially, it's being able to sense the ki, or mana now, in your own body and force them together near the solar plexus. If left alone, the particles will eventually slowly float towards each other anyway, but I'm just grabbing the feathers and shoving them into the twill sack instead of waiting for them to float down by themselves, figuratively speaking of course.

Daily rituals consisted of me trying to spend as much of my limited energy as possible on gathering my mana while avoiding suspicion from my mother and father.

My father seemed to think that throwing a child into the air would be quite enjoyable. While I understand there would be a kind of adrenaline effect that may excite some people, when mana was used to reinforce his arms, and I got thrown into the air like a high-speed projectile, the only feeling I had was nausea and a traumatic fear of heights.

Fortunately, my mother had a pretty firm handle on my father, but my mother scared me sometimes. I often caught her staring at me and Tori, half drooling, looking at us like we were some kind of premium meat.

I tried to adapt to my body by only talking in very simple sentences. After I first said "mama" to let her know I wanted more food, she almost burst into tears of joy, which I found rather dramatic. It's been a long time since I received this sort of motherly affection. Since then, I limited myself to just trying to talk enough to get the point across, no grammar necessary. But, I can now completely see why my mother had reacted that way.

I had the same reaction when my cute brother had managed to say something understandable to me. I had been doing my usual routine, gathering mana to form my mana core when I heard little Artorias say, with his usual apathetic face, "Bru-da, wha are yu duwin?"

Brings a tear to my eyes.

I swear my brother was an angel. He inherited our mother's eyes and our father's hair–the complete opposite of me–whilst also having our mother's temperament. Unlike me who is constantly on the move and wants to learn new things, Artorias was quite the silent individual. He seemed somewhat apathetic and cold, unusual of a child his age, however I've noticed that he would always try and help mother, even if it was only minimal.

He even looked embarrassed when our mother was changing our diapers–A slight blush on his cheeks whilst tilting his head to the side.

I can feel your pain bro... As a king, this had utterly destroyed my dignity. 

Besides that, the pace of my training was strenuous and slow, but I was getting a pretty big head start compared to everybody else so I wasn't complaining.

These past two years, have not gone to waste, for I finally gathered all of my mana into my solar plexus and was in the midst of condensing a mana core when…

*BOOM*

-

ARTORIAS LEYWIN'S POV:

I was in the front yard with mother and father as I was taking in the fresh air. The sun was gently kissing my skin as the wind was softly brushing against my face.

Around 2 years had passed when I started forming my mana core. Everyday had been an enjoyable one, despite me not having really done much.

I would soon 'awaken' in around a month, so I was always looking forward to meditating and forming my mana core whenever I had free time. I've also gathered more information about this world. I now know that I am currently in the continent of Dicathen and I've also learnt of all the Kingdoms and races that inhabit each of them.

Today was a peaceful one, the ambience was calming. However, it was suddenly interrupted by a loud explosion.

*BOOM!*

I quickly turned towards the source of the sound and my eyes shrunk into needles. The house that I had been living in for over 2 years had 3/4th of it completely destroyed, but that wasn't important.

Arthur had been inside the house when the explosion happened which made my emotions stir. Despite only knowing him for 2 years and a few months, he was still my younger brother. If his life had truly ended, I wouldn't know how I would feel. But, it definitely wouldn't be good.

"ARTHUR!"

I heard my mother scream his name as my father quickly shielded us both.

After that, I saw my father go towards the source of the explosion, debris and dust slamming into his body.

It was only then that I heard father laugh out loud with a hint of disbelief.

"Haha..."

Mother then grabbed my hands and tightly held it as she walked carefully towards father.

"Reynolds! Honey!" She spoke as father turned around with his mouth agape from shock

"Reynolds! What happened? What's going on? Where's Art?" She asked hurriedly, worry etched onto her face.

Father didn't seem to be able to reply as he simply pointed at a direction.

Looking at where he pointed, I saw Arthur having a translucent barrier surrounding him. I easily connected the dots.

Ah, I see. My genius brother had finally awakened his mana core. 

This made me think about my awakening which would be happening soon. When I'm close to completing my mana core, I definitely shouldn't finish the process near my house...