Chapter 23 – Back to Home (4)

Finally, Aleen and Claire decided a name for the skill; 'Lightning Rush'.

To be honest, Aleen was not completely happy with the name, but in the end, he could not think of something better so he simply decided to make his sister happy.

The pair also decided to find a place where Aleen can practice his skill freely, without fear of being seen. Aleen was not sure about how the government was going to approach this situation, but to avoid troubles, it was better if nobody else knows about his abilities.

The siblings thought that a private place far from prying eyes that is at least seventy meters long was required as the place to practice. It was because Aleen's skill had a range of around fifty meters, so the place needed to be longer than it.

The only trouble was that finding a place like that was not going to be ease. Aleen could think of two or three places that fulfilled those standards, but none of them was a place that the pair could access easily.

In the end, they decided that the best option was to practice near the forest. Fortunately, Aleen already got his driving license, and their house was not far from the forest, so the pair could go to the forest daily.

After resolving the issue of the place to practice, Aleen and Claire spent the rest of the morning practicing the use of mana. Different from Aleen's skill, the practice of mana was pretty silent, so nobody would notice something as long as the pair don't provoke a commotion.

After the pair finished the mana training, it was already noon. The two went outside to eat lunch before going to the supermarket to buy the ingredients for dinner. Fortunately, the pair did not have college on Saturdays, so the pair did their best to enjoy the day. After all, though Aleen tried to behave normal, the stress of the dead game was still present; Claire, on the other hand, understood that her brother needed to relax, so she simply accompanied him during the day.

After the pair finished shopping, they were going to leave the supermarket. But before they could, something on the television caught Aleen's attention.

'… Apparently, a crocodile approximately 20 meters long escaped from the swamps of Florida. The authorities are unable to determine how the beast grew up to that size and the reason because it left the swamps. Until now, the number of confirmed victims is of 12 deaths and 36 injuries. Fortunately, the police responded quickly, avoiding greater damage.'

'It's the second case of animals attacking human settlements in the last week. Four days ago, a berserk gigantic boa killed seven people in Lima, the capital city of Peru. The experts affirm that the attacks are an outcome of the extremes climate changes recently experimented…'

"Brother, is it related to the thing with the dimensions?" Claire asked softly after hearing the news.

"I'm not sure, but I read that animals change with mana. I will ask the next time. Anyway, we better are careful when going to practice in the forest."

"… So it's the mana." Claire signaled.

"…"

"Yes, it must be related. You told me that the so-called United Dimensional Planes increased the amount of mana on earth, right? How was it called…? Yeah, manation. The strange incidents with animals began not long ago; same with the manation, so it must be because the animals have began to be influenced by mana."

"… To be honest, I'm can see how you reached that conclusion."

"Think about it, brother. If mana can help humans to become stronger and get superpowers, why can it not help animals too? If I remember, the document about mana said that it's possible for animals to become stronger by following the path of 'Nature', right?"

Claire's words made sense, but Aleen didn't want to think that they were true. If her words were true, then there were more things to worry about. What would happen if a gigantic beast attacks Claire when he is not around?

Even worse, what if a human with powers decides to attack his sister?

For the first time from when he returned to earth, Aleen finally realized that the world he knew was changing.

A new era was beginning.

Unfortunately, he was not sure if the changes brought for this era were for the better.

The pair returned home while thinking about the changes happening around it, but they left it aside once dinner began.

Like that, Aleen and Claire spend the following days together, only separating to attend to their respective classes.

But after four days, the dreaded notice finally came.

The date for the next game had been decided.