Chapter 13: Breakthrough

We looked at the scorched wood and collapsed buildings. The devastated village around us.

"Look at this, children," Elder Yukika said gesturing to the destruction around. After yesterday the two living Elders had a meeting with the parents and they all agreed to give us all a lesson, even the kids who didn't learn how to use their bonds. Mom and dad came home late and I am sure they had a lot of explaining to do.

"This is what can happen if you use your powers carelessly. Think of everything you've lost. Your homes, your possessions, even your family. You must know when to use your powers. You can hurt yourself or even kill someone"

The memories are still pretty raw in our minds, This is honestly an effective lesson for many, me included. Our powers are real, it can do real damage. It's not like I'm back on earth where magic doesn't exist, where the system doesn't exi... Hang on, I know what Earth is! Terra Firma! The third rock from the sun! And that’s pretty much it...

Although it's nice to know my memories and knowledge is coming back this is reality now.

"Absolutely none of you are to use your bonds without supervision from your parent's. Severe punishment will be given if you do." Elder Yukika gave me an extra long look.

Don't mind me I'm just a blind five-year-old girl! Actually, people are catching on now, I'm not as blind as they think I am.

After that, we were released to go play, although some of the teenagers have been sent to watch us. Everyone over ten years had been helping the rebuilding efforts, everyone under is too young to work and would generally get in everyone's way.

Unfortunately for some, they were not paying enough attention to why some teenagers are with us and thought that since no adults are around no one would catch them using their bonds. After the first few kids were punished no one had the bright idea of using their bonds.

Several kids were playing hide and seek and I was even invited! Teaching everyone how to use their bonds must have earned me some goodwill. It was fun until I was the seeker. My ability to [Sense Mana] helped me see people behind things. Some kids even tried to "hide" right in front of me, not understanding that I don't need my eyes to see.

I mean, the kids probably think, "Oh her eyes are covered, she can't see" and never question how I don't bump into things. I can't exactly blame them, they've never given it a second thought.

"How do you know where we are?! You can't even see!" one of the kids complained.

She was giggling madly behind a crate when I found him.

"I have ears, I could hear you laughing. Besides I can sense mana, yours included." I gave a simple explanation.

From then on I was never allowed to be the seeker. Which I was fine with. We played other games until dusk. By then no one could call me blind. Even the lonely Tanafyam was included in the games, a bonding experience for everyone.

Although playing with the other kids was fun, and honestly after years of almost only focusing on my Bond and [Sense Mana] skill I've burnt out on them. It was great just hanging out without a care in the world but as the days passed I felt a gnawing at me, telling me I should make use of my time and be productive, that I'm wasting the time I have as a youth and as an adult I can't dedicate as much time to improve my skills. I did my best to ignore that feeling and just enjoy being a normal five-year-old child.

The next day I walked through the village after playing with the other kids for most of the day, noting how much of the damage had been cleared away. I thought it'd have taken a lot longer but I was wrong. There's only a little bit left. I saw my parents hauling away a burnt beam. the things looked really heavy yet my parents were handling it just fine, just how much do they have in their strength stat? I stayed at a safe distance, out of everybody's way, watching them work. They were efficient, I guess days of this made you good at clearing the rubble.

Soon the after-work bath time came and I ran up to Mom and Dad, both covered in soot. I hugged them, thankful they are still here. Mom pats me on the head and we entered the baths. Both Mom and dad sighed as they slid into the waters, letting the heat soothe their stressed bodies. I snuggled between them, purring until the oil was distributed. With so many baths burnt this one was fairly crowded yet no one complained. Myrou had her usual neutral expression. She had cried on the day of the disaster, something I had never seen before, and by how many reacted, most people hadn't seen her do that too.

"Just a couple more days," Dad said, After oiling up. She didn't say it to anyone in particular but elicited several murmurs of agreement.

I didn't feel the need to brag about my day when my parents did a lot of work. Like, seriously, it'd be pretty insensitive of me to do that. So i mostly kept my mouth shut and let my presence comfort my parents.

The days flew by and now all the damaged part of the village had been removed. The Elders from the other villages attached to this island got together and set up plans for a disaster relief location just off shore. A place to house anyone and just about everyone in case another village got burnt down. It wouldn't be comfy but it's only temporary.

Over a third of the people who lost their homes moved to other islands to family and friends who could better support them. Although this meant more work for everyone it also meant fewer houses to rebuild. The houses like mine that was damaged but still usable were repaired first.

The next to be rebuilt is the warehouse and bath oil production facility; it is made larger this time, and probably needed an expansion anyway.

I was getting pretty popular with the other kids, and went from being excluded to having me picked for teams first most of the time. My ability to Sense Mana helps me play that volleyball-like game with those nets, Netball. I think it's mostly because I don't hog the ball and play more co-operative that really helps my team win. All the other kids want to be the star of the show and it hurts their team overall.

But if anyone's better at physical activities it'd be Tana, he's the fastest runner, and good at netball. If I'm picked for one team the other picks him so it kinda evens it out.

Today however is a water storm and rain is being dumped just as much as when the Guardian had summoned rain, if not a tiny bit worse. It was actually pretty intense, weird how there's two very intense storms in a row.

Today everyone is inside, honestly, the probability of drowning standing out in the rain isn't zero. I am currently using this chance to see how water element mana is interacting and boosting creativity essence. Both are acting like waves constructively interfering with each other, creativity essence is getting a massive boost while elemental mana is getting a minor boost. Honestly, if understanding that doesn't get me a breakthrough then there must be one more key thing I need to understand.

Why is elemental mana getting a minor boost? Well essence is very weak. Essence gets a massive boost because elemental mana is really strong. Perhaps, it's energy related? Elemental mana has more intensity? Is it capable of storing more energy? Or is it like elemental mana is like x-rays while essence is like radio waves?

What can mana do? Just about anything. It can become anything. Elemental mana is way more common. It is defined more clearly, it is more stable. Essence is rarer, it's subjective. It's less stable? Are elements different? They are clearly linked in some way. It's like essences are an expansion to elements. What if elements are the base and essences are a higher form of elements. There are in betweens, sand, rock, these are element-like as they are more defined but clearly fallen under "earth". A higher form, but not as subjective as essences.

I've been stupid! I was too focused on watching creativity mana and ignoring the other water essences that I completely missed what was really going on! Water mana is transformed into an essence, Since it's so intense it forms so much more essences.

But that doesn't work, if it worked that way then water mana would not get a boost, it'd get weaker, also I don't see more essence just that's it's more intense

I paced in a circle with a hand on my chin, wracking my brain for any explanation.

In the end, the wave hypothesis works best. Essence and elements have to be similar enough.

I mindlessly thumbed my Kyhosa bracelet on my right arm.

Why does my Kyhosa give a bonus? There is a ton of elemental mana in it, as well as creativity and beauty essence, but the essences isn't any more intense. When I use my bond without it it's normal but with it, it's more intense, The environment itself is acting like a magical item!

But that still doesn't work! The mana in my Kyhosa is being counteracted by the opposite element! Of course it isn't making the essences more intense.

I sat down with a sigh, everything is leading back to the wave hypothesis. But I am learning. I am learning what isn't right.

"What's wrong Little Aly?" Dad asks. She's been sitting in a rocking chair and whittling a wooden flute, now moving on to burning decorations into it.

"I've been trying to figure out this breakthrough, I'm so close! But everything I think of is wrong!"

Dad thought for a bit. "Why don't you go over everything from scratch, perhaps there's something you've not considered?" She said, still working on decorations.

It was worth a try so let's review how mana interacts with itself. It disperses, finding an equilibrium pressure. It acts like a fluid, forming currents. It also has an attractive force of the same element, but not essences. Essences do not have an attractive force to their respective element. Let's call it mana magnetism or the MM force. It still forms currents or maybe it's pushed along with elements? But this means Mana is acting as both a wave and a particle. Or is it? I am only assuming wave theory because of the boosting during storms.

If Elemental mana has the MM force then is there another force that interacts with both elements and essences? What if there's a force that excites mana the closer it is to an essence or element? Very similar to magnetism? If during a fire storm water and ice based essences get weaker. How many of these forces are there?

If one is negatively charged and the other is positively charged when they meet they cancel out.

Fire is opposite to ice and water. Earth is opposite to lightning, water, and air. It seems there are eight forces. A water force that boosts ice and lighting but is opposite to earth and fire. A fire force opposite to ice and water but boosts lightning and wind. An earth force opposite to lightning, water, and wind. A wind force that boosts fire and opposite to earth...

I flop on my back

This is too complicated, I'm just tossing around ideas. Maybe I'm not as close as I think to this breakthrough. I think I've made progress but now I don't know how to apply it. The MM force is probably a thing and so is that exciting force but how essences and mana interacts with each other I really have no idea.

What if it's like the element just has a proximity boost to essences and essence has a proximity boost to their parent element? It's just that way, because magic.

Ting! Sense Mana has met requirements for a breakthrough. Sense Mana will now continue leveling past level 80!

Ting! Sense Mana has obtained level 65!…Ting! Sense Mana has obtained level 72!

You're kidding, right? I guess I was just way overthinking this one, I couldn't get the breakthrough because I held the wrong basic assumption.

Sense Mana: You have opened your mind to one of the energies that fuels this world. You can now sense mana in its raw form.1st breakthrough: You have sense an overwhelming pressure of mana, now you will be able to better sense mana in such quantity and better see slight difference in mana levels.2nd Breakthrough: You've learned to perceive different containers of mana letting you see the general shapes of mana containing objects around you.3rd breakthrough: You've learned to see different types of mana, letting you see elemental mana.4th Breakthrough: You've learned how to see mana Essences, letting you see the many types of essences.5th Breakthrough: You've learned to see different amounts of mana within objects, letting you better see how much within certain parts of things and people.6th Breakthrough: you've learned how to expand your Sphere of sense mana, letting you see farther.7th Breakthrough: You've learned of and seen the relationship of essences and elemental mana. Now you can better study them.

Getting quite extensive, and I still have many possible ways to improve it. Still, I can see it now!

I can see the water essence mixing with the creativity essence in the air, producing something akin to electricity. Little zaps almost imperceivable in the air. The creativity essence is vibrating within me due to all the water element mana around me. Little bubbles around clumps of elemental mana like magnetic fields. It's all clear to me now. I see several creativity spirits clumping around the fields like they are feeding off it, growing ever so slightly.

Ting! Sense Mana has obtained level 73!

I saw a swirl of creativity essence pass through another clump of water essence and sparks zapped through air.

The excess energy is being transferred? rebalanced?

Ting! Sense Mana has obtained level 74!

So many levels, the extra are probably thanks to the intense water storm that I can see and understand more.

Realization suddenly hit me.

"I DID IT!!!" I jumped in joy and cheered. "I got my seventh breakthrough!" I shouted as loud as I could, unable to contain my excitement. Mom, Aunty, and Nyam all came into the room to investigate the noise.

Joy essence poured out from me, weakened by the water element around.

"Congratulations Aly." Dad said with a proud smile.

"I got ten level ups from it too! I knew I was close!" I bragged with a huge grin plastered on my face.

Aunty had a shocked look of disbelief on her face while mom and dad both had a "that's to be expected" smile.

Nyam had an admiring look in her eyes.