CHAPTER 2

Throughout school the next day, Nick could not but think about the experience he had the day before. He had just got to learn the kind of life his father had lived. And that his father was an active practitioner of magic. It didn’t even sound realistic in the slightest, but he had gotten first-hand experience and had no choice but to believe that it was the truth. And now, he had been given the learn magic just like his dad did.

The day seemed exceptionally long as he waited long in anticipation for the final bell, that’d signify the end of school for the day. When the bell finally rang, he hurriedly packed up his things and left the classroom. He walked out of school and straight to his old house. Upon entering the house, he made his way straight to the study, and but the doorknob he had been given on the study door. A slight flash of light came out of the edges of the knob as it was now held in place on the door as if it were always part of it. He pulled the doorknob and the door opened to a sight he was familiar with but not yet used to – the strange office with the girl who identified herself as someone that knew his father, sitting on the chair, behind the office desk. She had a calm, mysterious smile plastered on her face.

“So you came,” Eden said with a small laugh

“Of course, I did” Nick replied with an impatient tone.

“Well, since you’re so eager, I might as well just get right into it,” Eden said, and with a snap of his fingers, the place was turned into the void from before.

“The first step would be, to be able to identify your internal mana or magic power” Eden started,

“Normally, it’d take quite the amount of meditation to achieve that, but I have a shortcut. But it’d make you feel uncomfortable for a while”

“Whatever works,” Nick said, not thinking into it.

Eden placed a hand on his and he instantly felt a large amount of discomfort. It felt like a natural flow in him was disrupted, and it happened so suddenly, that it made him extremely nauseous. He had a spinning sensation in his gut and felt like throwing up. Then he began to feel what seemed to be some form of energy from Eden rush into his body through his hands. At this point, he felt extremely light to the point of floating. After a while like this, Eden stopped whatever she had been doing and let go of his hands. He could now feel the flow of this ‘energy’ inside his body.

“So this is how magic feels like,” he said looking at his hands.

“And thanks to a gift your dad left, you’ll not only be able to feel it, but you’ll also be able to see it in a bit,” Eden said as she flashed a smile in his direction – she was enjoying every moment if this.

“What do you mean?” He asked, tilting his head to the side.

“The ability to perceive magical energies with one’s eyes is usually a very big feat that shows one as a magical genius or a very trained and experienced magician. And normally you must actively channel mana into your eyes to do it, that is unless you could do it naturally” She started explaining

“But your dad found out that by modifying your body’s natural mana pathways and constructing a few magical circuits in the optical lobe and eyes, and then connecting those to the body’s already modified mana pathways, you can get proper spiritual vision, better than natural psychics”.

“So basically, you’re telling me that my dad used me as a human experiment for his magic?”

“Of course not” She replied with a laugh

“He had lots of ways to test his magic except human experiments” She added.

“What I AM trying to say is that all you need to do is flip a switch and you can see the mystical half of the world. Well at least the parts you can interact with, seeing all of it would bring a lot of unnecessary problems”

“So, where do I find this ‘switch’?” Nick asked

“First, we need to get you to move your mana. Doing it is exactly how it sounds. You must try to move the energy like it was a part of your body”

“Hmm, ok” Nick replied as he tried out what she said.

‘Feel the flow, feel the flow, feel the flow’ He thought to himself and after a while, he finally managed to completely grasp the flow of mana in his body. All that was left was for him to purposefully change this flow and direct his mana the way he wanted.

Increasing his concentration, he tried to get his mana to move according to his will. But it didn’t work. It was almost as if his mana was ignoring him.

“You’re doing it wrong”, Eden said nodding at him.

“You shouldn’t try to force it, don’t try to oppose the flow, and don’t see it as something that isn’t you. Think of it as another part of you, like an extra limb, just this time, it’s fluid and doesn’t have any exact form. And don’t oppose the flow, follow it, control it then direct it. Try being meditative”, She further explained, but for some reason, she had glasses on, and she was in a suit, with her hair tied to the back with some in the front at the sides.

“Why are you dressed like that? And how and when did how to get changed?” He asked, flustered. She looked good, so much it felt unreal…

“Oh, I was just dressing the part. And I changed using magic, isn’t that a given?” She answered with a giggle. She was enjoying his reaction, which showed clearly in the smile on her face.

With a snap of her fingers, she was enveloped in light and was back in her regular look.

Turning away from her, he closed his eyes and tried her suggestion.

‘Follow the flow, control the flow, direct the flow’ He thought in his head as he concentrated on the task.

‘As if it were one of my hands. Like controlling the flow of water. Become one with the flow’. He continued deeper into his meditative state, quickly losing his touch with reality, and sense of time.

After a while, he got it right. He was able to make the mana flow to some parts of his body where it normally didn’t reach.

‘She said something about the eyes’ He thought and channeled the mana into his eyes. And his vision was covered in many different colors, even as his eyes were closed. It looked like an artwork. It faintly traced out real objects in some places but wasn’t it enough for him to get a full grasp of his surroundings as he couldn’t understand what he was seeing. He opened his eyes and saw how the colors interacted with the world around him – it was beautiful. Then he turned around and saw Eden, but she looked different. She still had her regular expression, but there was massive deep blue around her; like it was supposed to be an aura, but it was too much. It made her look divine, like a being out of this world. He couldn’t but stare in awe. Her lips seemed to move, but he couldn’t make out the words she was saying, he was just captured by the moment. It looked too beautiful to exist, and her in the picture just made it look like it was out of a fairy tale. With a facepalm, she muttered something again and the blue hue around her died down and became very small, just like a highlight around her figure and barely visible. This brought him back into the real world. “Ah, sorry I forgot to control how much magical energy I was letting leak out into the surroundings,” she said, with a look as if she was in thought.

“That’s just the beginning, there’s a lot more you could do with just raw mana. I’d prefer you find those out yourself”

Then with a very big smile, she opened her arms wide and said,

“Welcome to the world of magic”

At this point, he felt a very big sense of accomplishment come over him, and he smiled. It was the brightest smile he had ever given in years.

“Well, you should be heading home right about now. You spent a lot of time here. That meditation you did lasted a couple of hours you know”, She said.

“Well, off you go. You don’t want to get your family worried now, do you? And you don’t need to come to this house every time. You could stick the doorknob anywhere, even a window or wall and it’ll link you to here.” She added, and as if on cue, the place began to slowly disintegrate into particles.

“See you next time”, she said cheerfully as she waved him goodbye.

When his vision cleared, he was outside the house with the mysterious doorknob in his hand. Then he walked back to his new home.

Opening the door to his home, he was greeted by the scent of food coming from the kitchen.

“Welcome home” A voice came from the kitchen, it was his aunt Leah. His uncle Dan and she had taken him in after the incident with his parents, and he had lived with them ever since.

“Hey Nick, you have to take us out now!”, a girl walked up to him said with a pout, with one a few years younger behind her. They were his cousins May and June. They were 12 and 10. He had lived with them for most of their lives, and they grew up with him as an elder brother.

“But time,” Nick said knowing that going against their wishes was a near-impossible task. A fight he was not ready to fight. But he had to at least show some resistance.

“It’s just past 3, what’s your point?” May said with a slight frown.

“That’s no excuse” June followed.

It was due to their teamwork in times like this that it was close to impossible to say no to them if they really wanted something from you. They could do it all, sweet talk, coercion, blackmail, even straight emotional attacks. With such an arsenal of skills and excellent teamwork, they always got their way.

“Your twelve; you can go on a walk yourself”, He said with the intention of not just giving in.

“I’m twelve, June’s just 10 and you always treat me like a child anyway, so what’s the use of bringing that up?” May started her assault.

“And we’re two girls. Even though it’s relatively safe around these parts, you never know. If you followed us, you could at least ensure our safety. Or are you so weak that your presence wouldn’t make any difference?” She continued with words that seemed to pierce deep past his skin.

“And what of the things we need to buy. I overheard dad saying you had too much money for someone your age, and that your allowance is so big. You couldn’t be trying to be stingy with us, are you?” June added with words that now made it clear. He wasn’t just taking them out. He was taking them out, and letting them wipe his pockets.

“What do you want to do with all that money? End world hunger? You never go on dates, barely ever buy any new clothes, well I understand it’s because you’re single, but you never even treat yourself. So, where’s all that money going to, College? Go change we’ll be waiting” And with May’s finishing blows, he had completely lost his spirits and went up to change.

Coming back down, he met them both with very bright smiles. With looks that seemed to not be capable of spitting the poison they could. May wore a deep blue dress, while June wore a green one. He left the house with them not even knowing where they were taking him.

They went around different stores buying stuff, with his pocket as their fund source. They bought a lot of stuff, including some new clothes, and accessories for tier phones. They had no self-restraint in their spending and bought whatever they wanted. And he willingly spent the money on them. They were the only family he had.

Nick and his sisters reached their house in time for dinner, after which they all watched a movie. A single teardrop flowed down his face.

“Ha! Nick’s getting all emotional over the movie” May laughed

“But it’s an action thriller,” June asked confused.

“There was something in my eye” Nick replied, with a slightly annoyed tone

“Let’s just enjoy the movie” His uncle Dan said with a laugh. And they watched till the end of the movie then went to bed.

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