Golden eyes reflected in them a night sky dotted with unending glitter, it was a mesmeric sight, one in which Mori had found herself unable to look away. But as her eyes meandered from one constellation to the next, it dawned on her as she unconsciously bit her lips, 'I don't recognize any.'
Those thoughts had put to rest any doubts she had about if she was in a different world or if she was just extremely high on some over-potent drugs—not that she would willingly do them, losing control over one's body even the very thought is just dreadful—No mind could make such detailed illusions after all.
Mumbles tumbled out of her mouth, "All that I did, gone? My carefully crafted life, all gone? My career...Fuck! I put so much effort into it all!"
With a deep sigh, she calmed herself, "Focus you, imbecile, the past's gone, you have the present to deal with."
Soon a review session started, and she recalled the day from the moment her eyes opened till now, 'Amature mistakes,' she grumbled when she reached the part about her revealing herself, she hadn't even checked to see if she was bound to the child, that is to say, she had donee potentially dangerous without even exhausting all her available options—like trying to flee.
Though as she explored the mansion she soon realized that she indeed was bound to the girl, she couldn't go that far away for her.
"Good morning," Were the words uttered by Mori as she levitated down through the roof levitating down with gentle grace.
As she positioned herself as if she were seated in the chair arranged opposite Xale, who in turn also returned her greeting, "May the morning sun bless you."
"So what will you teach me today?" Mori asked recreating the posture she had presented herself in the first time they met—her legs crossed over one another and her body laid back but this time she wore a small smile, nothing genuine but still there.
Xale didn't bat an eye, yesterday she had been completely taken off guard by the ethereal beauty in front of her but the effect wasn't the same on the second viewing—not to mention that was her first encounter with a spirit, this was her second, straightening her hair she looked at her, "Nothing much today I will teach you simple mana sensing and manipulation, you'll have one week to master it."
"Mana is something generated by our souls and something which has over the years saturated the world and so all the denizens of our world can use mana, some more than others—that's what the archmages say at least and it is supported by the existence of elementals and spirits such as yourselves," She said with terrible vigour it was clear to Mori that Xale was very let's say, enthusiastic about the mystics of the world but she didn't share the sentiment, "I see," but alas information was information.
They had begun when the sun rose from its sleep behind the hills, now it was at its zenith—higher than the tallest peaks yet this woman in front of her droned on and on about it, "[...] But alas King Evrind won us over, I think it was a good decision don't you agree?" She said to Mori, and with an "Um-hum, yeah it was an appropriate decision given the circumstances," Mori nodded with a smile but on the inside, 'Fuck You And Your Council!'
"Now then!" Xale switched without any apparent dent in her energy levels, which almost made Mori want to rip her throat out—not that it was possible, "Would you look at the time! Hurry let me teach you mana sense!" The woman was now very amiable with Mori perhaps she considered them friends, 'Babbling while having your opinion reinforced does make oneself seem friendly with the tortured.'
"Let's get on it, mana is particles that you will to move and exercise effect in the world, now how responsive the mana is, well that depends on one's soul, to sense man you should meditate and empty your mind, for human it takes a while to see the mana but since you are a spirit it should quite easy—" She stopped as her eyes went to the particles of mana gathering in a bead at Mori's palm. Xale had heard that spirits were naturals in mana manipulation, but the sight still made her envious yet the thought that it would go in service to her granddaughter made her take some comfort.
"It seems you are a... natural, but I advise meditation still, only once you build a solid connection with mana we can genuinely start, today was a short lesson, but this is the very base of magic, if you need help do ask me." She said as she stood up and walked out the door.
The sound of the dragging chair snapped Mori out as she saw the lady leave, her teeth ground against each other, it was frustrating, 'Hours of superfluous bullshit! And only two lines of guidance!?'
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"Breath in. Breath out." She said following through with her actions, calming herself down.
Mori was angry, but what had slipped the former earthling was, that the world's pedagogy ran on an archaic system—the master-apprentice, with no time constraints, the lack of any sort of institutionalized tests, and with mana pushing the human longevity much longer than Earth's humanity, they feel time differently. For the people here, life doesn't have the same milestones.
The nights in this place were cold, this one especially so. Mori could see that well as the family huddled under the fire light in the communal rooms' fireplace. Well, to her, an incorporeal spirit, it made no difference—she couldn't feel anything, her sense of touch, smell, taste, hunger, fatigue...they no longer existed—something which to her surprise didn't bother her.
Aurora was quietly asleep in Nisha's lap, 'A docile child, probably for the better, this type don't annoy me.'
The boys were playing with straw stitched balls while the sister was watching the drizzle of water raining down from the darkened sky, it was the rainy season, not one week ago the days were a blend of the scorching heat of the sun and the dry winds, yet it had been overturned oh so quickly, in the last week many had fallen ill with the dramatic shift in the temperature, 'Even mana doesn't save you from diseases.'
"The Milatian Kingdom—their crown prince burnt down nearly half their grain store, says there's plague afoot," Nisha said, "The town crier was relentless in his announcements today." Added her husband.
Xale did not show much interest in the conversation, perhaps too absorbed in her thoughts as he hurdled herself near the fire covered with a blanket to keep away the cold.
As for Mori, she was her usual self floating around in her less than warm—or decent—dress, she had discovered that her clothes were a permanent affair, at least with her current level of comprehension. In Nisha's words, 'It's uncanny seeing her dress like so and frolic about in a hail storm.'
"Burning of grain, not afraid of mass starvation?" The floating spirit asked.
"Starvation? The Kings of Milatian are hoarders, they have the stores to outlast it." The bear-like man, husband of Nisha said.
"Fair enough," Her words conveyed hiding a sort of puzzlement at the man's apparent apathy. 'No comradery in the lower classes?' She thought but quickly changed the tune of her mind, this family lived out in the middle of nowhere, relying more on hunts than farming, more on meat than grain, so a grain plague, in a kingdom far away was hardly on their 'to-worry-about' list.
"You are as a child, curious. You are one too." Xale, said her eyes unmoving from the fireplace, "You assume humans are like family, like our family, but they are not, I suppose I will have to teach you that too."
"Sure," She replied almost unconsciously, like muscle memory her lips moved only stalling a second to her mind review. The woman who had promised to teach her was learned, she had gotten on in the years and had experienced a lot, more than five times her life at least, so while she absolutely despised the speed of the impart, she didn't despise the knowledge that was imparted.
"Yes, Yes, enough about the training..."