Chapter 24 - Revelation

In the library, Jiran was pleasantly surprised to find three new books on his table; Fundamental Principles of Elements, Jayling’s Memoirs on Relative Density, and the Systemic Corruption of the Arlinth Kingdom.

I’m going to memorize every page if I have to, even if most of what’s in these is total rubbish. I’ll do whatever it takes to discover the technique Filibree wants me to learn.

No, it’s Master Filibree. If even Samris refers to him as master, then I should too. I wonder how much more powerful he is than Samris.

Goosebumps ran up his arms at the thought. Jiran scooped up the first book, got as comfortable as he could with his injuries, and soon lost himself in the pages.

Fundamental Principles of Elements soon had him laughing and groaning in equal measure as he flipped through its contents.

They actually believe that fire came into being for the sole purpose of countering the existence of water? Is this author for real or is this entire book satire?

I wonder if they are still alive, I would love to see their serious face when they talk about the elements being sentient and that they are in a constant battle with each other across Madra.

Does Master know this entire book is a steaming pile of crap? What does he want me to learn from this?

Jiran felt like he was reading some strategy guide for a game with how outlandish the theories were. By far the most laughable was the back-bending, convoluted, and inane lengths the author took to convince the reader that light was just a by-product of the lightning element and not its own element at all.

Jiran reigned in his mirth and diligently continued his reading, soon finishing his first skimming of all three books.

There has to be a clue in here somewhere. Something vital that can help me communicate with my mana.

He said I need to ‘speak with my mana, and hear its voice in return.’ He also said not to be misled by the teachings of others.

These mixed messages are seriously frustrating! Do you want me to learn this crap, or ignore it and figure things out on my own? Maybe these books are a red herring and nothing in them is useful.

Would he completely mislead me like that? Why?

Jiran tore back into the pages in an attempt to find something he might have missed. It felt like he had only been in the library for an hour when a knock came, reminding him of lunch.

Jiran stomped into the dining room and grumpily sat before the meal that had been left out for him. Without even seeing the food he shoveled one scoop after another into his mouth.

There is definitely nothing in those books about communicating with mana. So far, I’ve managed to learn pretty quickly by just trying things and feeling my way through. Might as well stick to what I’m good at.

Jiran closed his eyes and prepared himself for his first attempt.

I don’t think he meant to listen to something inside my body. I’ve heard the phrase ‘listen to the mana’ before, plenty of times. Mom used to use it all the time. In church as well, they would say it over and over, ‘listen to the voice of the mana.’

But what does that mean?

He pushed out all the distractions around him as he focused on the mana coiled tightly in his chest. The blob of energy hung there passively, waiting for thought and intent to give it direction.

Jiran tried to look deeper, isolating the smallest section of mana that he could. A single murky speck of the magical energy appeared before his mind's eye. He saw a zoomed-in version of it, like a cloudy liquid that slowly churned in weaving patterns.

It has physical properties but can pass through matter easily enough. Is it a solid, liquid, and gas all in one? Maybe it shifts so rapidly through the three states it just appears as all three simultaneously. Can it also turn into a plasma? What would that look like?

What’s important is that mana somehow moves between the particles of matter. It does so smoothly, causing no pain, so it must not be interfering with my body’s cells. Yet the mana can repair damaged cells and even create new cells.

Slow down there Jiran, don’t get distracted. I need to listen and open myself to its voice, deeper, I need to go deeper.

Jiran refocused his efforts, straining with every fiber of his being to discern some pattern or sound in the movement of the ghostly energies.

Pain suddenly exploded across his forehead as the heavy metal ladle landed a critical hit.

“Get the depths out of my kitchen, Jiran! If you want to take a nap, do it somewhere else.”

https://imgur.com/ZlJXB3o 

Jiran’s brain short-circuited as shock rippled through his consciousness. When his sluggish thoughts finally realized what had happened, he shot to his feet with a sheepish apology and retreated from Sharaal’s oasis.

Still on autopilot, Jiran headed to his delivery box as he usually did after lunch.

There were only two deliveries, both at the pier. Placing the letters in his satchel, Jiran headed out of the manor and took off down the street in a pain-filled jog, eager to finish his duties and return to his practice.

Twice on the way to the pier, a cloud burst and he threw himself to the ground, a layer of Coating on his hand. He only managed to match the fluctuations of chaotic energy once.

Coating + 1

I’m getting a lot better at this! With another day or two of practice, I could probably match the densoon wave with my entire forearm.

Jiran raced through the nearly empty streets of Feylon. For most townsfolk, densoon was a time to bunker down, a break from the hard work of the previous season.

Jiran found himself loving the constant threat of the chaotic density. Now that he could absorb some of it, feelings of conquering the storm, standing up to nature and emerging victorious flooded through him.

Neither recipient for his deliveries was at the warehouse, so he left the letters plainly visible on a desk before leaving.

Back at the manor, he made himself comfortable in the yard.

Once more, he lost himself in the practice of attempting to listen to his mana.

What would mana even say? Does it have an actual voice that speaks words? That would probably be the most surprising thing to hear. I would expect something more along the lines of the vibrations from the densoon.

This isn’t working, I need a fresh perspective. What does it mean to listen?

To listen is to communicate, to bridge the gap between two entities of thought.

I’m already doing that when I use Molding, but it’s a one-way street. I gather emotion and intent and then send it to my mana and it does what I want. There is no emotional response, no intent that comes back to me.

Maybe there is though and I’m just not receiving it. If my intent travels through my body and to the mana via an emotional bridge, can I somehow let the mana do the same? Give it an emotional bridge to share its intent with me.

But the bridge I create is clogged with my own thoughts and intent. What would happen if I gave my mana a connection free of those disruptions?

Jiran focused on emptiness, a void, the lack of everything. He stripped out thought, sense of self, and pain. He discarded sound, smells, and even the sensations of the wind brushing against his skin.

Then without any sense of wanting his mana to do anything, he gingerly extended a strand of consciousness to the cloudy energy in his chest.

Static?

No, that’s not a sound, more a jumble of impressions. Like a thousand thoughts, emotions, memories, and sensations all mixed together.

Pain?

It’s too much information, I need to focus on one thing at a time.

Suddenly the bridge faltered and failed. A grin crept across his face nonetheless.

I did it!

His thoughts raced trying to figure out how he was supposed to maintain a void of thoughts and emotions while also picking apart the thoughts and emotions inside the static.

That felt like juggling an egg and a fifty-pound dumbbell in one hand while doing a puppet show with the other.

I can’t split my brain in two, there has to be another way to do both at once.

I need to use the Molding skill!

That way, the mana maintains its connection automatically.

Closing his eyes, Jiran made another attempt, this time with the use of his skill.

Another failure.

Jiran didn’t give up, with each attempt he got a little closer, and learned how to hold his focus a little longer.

For hours, he created a rotation of all the different steps and cycled through them as quickly as he could. Not focusing on perfecting any step, just quickly cycling through them. Thought, emotion, command, release. void, connection, static, release.

Jiran was so absorbed in his practice that he failed to notice the tap on his shoulder from the girl who had been calling him for dinner, nor did he notice the suns go down. It wasn't until Samris nudged him roughly with his boot that Jiran snapped out of his trance.

Darkness engulfed the world, split only by the soft lights from the manor’s lanterns. Jiran followed Samris inside where he found a meal that had been left out for him. Later, in his room, he stared at the ceiling while considering what he could do better before exhaustion took him.

Jiran swirled within a churning sea of impressions. His sluggish thoughts tried to reach out and touch them, but they shifted just beyond his grasp no matter how he moved.

“Why won’t you talk to me?”

His words echoed endlessly through the sea. They caused two ripples that grew in strength as they moved away from him. The waves picked up speed and gave structure to the vast sea which now appeared as an enormous tunnel.

They traveled down opposite sides of the tunnel, becoming vast tidal waves, until they intersected far in the distance.

Where the waves met, Jiran swore he could see something looking back at him.

https://imgur.com/h2lzy7e 

He jolted awake, sweat covering his body in the darkness. Closing his eyes, he formed the familiar connection with his mana but this time he added a single thought, just one desire; to see those eyes again.

The static came and deep within its expanse, the eyes from his dream stared back at him.

“Talk to me,” He pleaded.

Amid the jumble of static, a few of the impressions changed their form. It was such a subtle shift that he nearly missed it but while staring at those eyes, it somehow became obvious what he needed to do.

Jiran focused on just those few impressions while ignoring everything else and their message snapped into clarity.

Destruction, vastness, flawed, improvement, replacement.

The response was not words, but images that triggered all his senses at once by pulling on his memories and emotions.

He was so shocked at the clarity of the message that he nearly lost his focus entirely. Refocusing, he asked another question.

“What are you?”

The response was instant now that he knew what to look for.

Stormcloud, cooing baby, vastness, change, growth.

What the hell does that mean?

The confused thought snapped him out of his trance and he lost the connection completely.

CONGRATULATIONS - Revelation technique discovered