Chp.13: The secret of invisibility

Haku watched with satisfaction the look of pure terror that had painted on the faces of the two fairies, especially the one with the brown hair (Mirta, if he wasn't wrong). She hadn't been the one being tortured, but she was clearly more frightened than the other.

The last time he had tortured someone, specifically Freyar, Haku had used a less aggressive and direct approach: instead of immediately asking what he wanted, he had feigned indifference and he had experimented on the fairy until she had started to tell him what the magic items without him even having to ask. But this time he had the option of using a faster method, since the fairies in his possession weren't just one, but two.

Haku and his siblings were bound by a deep feeling of brotherhood, or at least Haku felt bound to all of them by it. If someone started torturing one of his siblings in front of his eyes, Haku would have given them what they wanted. Therefore he had no reason to think that it would have been different for the newcomers. Indeed, the newcomers were decidedly more emotional than the dragons: even if the two fairies weren't related by blood, one of them would have still felt a strong pain to see her companion being tortured.

And in fact, after having witnessed that macabre spectacle, Mirta bit her lip with clear indecision. It was evident that she was torn between sparing her companion more pain or keeping the secret of the invisibility. Taking advantage of this, Haku increased the dose of fear: "No one? All right. Darbi, can you..."

"NO!" Mirta didn't let him finish the sentence. "Don't hurt her anymore! I'll talk!"

"Mirta, no!" the other fairy, Ella, yelled shaking her head violently. "You can't do that! It's a secret of our people!"

Mirta was clearly feeling guilty, but despite that she didn't stop. "I know what I'm doing, Ella" she whispered. "Don't worry. We'll be fine. Just trust me"

Ella seemed to want to retort, but then she closed her mouth. Haku didn't know if it was because she really trusted her companion or because she was too weak or in pain to keep talking. "Stop chitchat" he said approaching the fairy with brown hair. "So, the secret of invisibility? And don't try to fool me, I can notice lies"

Mirta swallowed, then she murmured: "My heart"

"What?"

"The secret of invisibility is in my heart"

"And what does this mean, excuse me?"

"Open my chest and I'll show you"

Haku narrowed his eyes, trying to notice the slightest sign of deception, but he saw none. Mirta's expression was terrified, but he didn't recognize the typical gleam of a lie in her eyes. So he raised one of his paws and began to cut the skin of the fairy's chest.

Mirta grit her teeth, trying hard not to scream as a claw sharper than a sword pierced her flesh as if it were butter. Haku was very careful not to damage any internal organs, not wanting to risk killing the fairy; he didn't exclude that this was precisely her objective in order to have a quick end and not risk revealing the secrets of her people. After ripping off all the flesh and muscle on the surface, he reached her ribs and split them open, and this time Mirta couldn't suppress a cry of pain, which Haku obviously ignored. At that point, he finally saw the fairy's heart. And here, Haku was surprised.

The fairy's heart was no different from a normal heart: red, small enough to fit in a hand, intent on continuously pumping blood throughout the body. It was identical to that of any other living creature... except for a big detail: the thin layer of tissue that formed the outer part of the heart had in fact been artificially engraved to form a rune. The rune had the shape of a circle dotted with different symbols, connected by a set of lines that converged on a central point vaguely shaped like an 'S'.

Haku was quite surprised. To carve that rune anyone would first have had to open the fairy's chest, which meant that all the ninjas had to have undergone that operation. "What is this?" he asked.

Mirta gasped, fighting the pain in her chest and the respiratory distress caused by her broken ribs. "That is one of the most powerful light spells there is known from my people" she explained. "It is a rune that draws its power directly from the mana present in its owner's life force. Simply put, it draws it from the heart"

"Is that why it's engraved exactly here?"

"Yes. The mana present in the heart is the only source of energy strong enough to feed it. It isn't enough to extract someone's mana and channel it outwards, as is done with common spells: the rune must draw it directly from the heart"

"Why?"

"Apparently, as soon as mana emerges from the body it loses energy. Not enough to prevent you from using spells, but it does. If we etched that rune into an object or even on the skin, there wouldn't be enough mana to power it. There is no energy source outside the body strong enough to keep the magic stable for long periods... so the only solution is to put it inside the body. And since the heart is constantly flowing with blood, that is the best place to engrave the rune"

Haku reflected. What the fairy had told him matched his current knowledge of mana.

From what he had been able to establish thanks to his experiences, mana was undoubtedly an external energy: it could clearly be seen from the fact that it was more present in some areas such as springs. However, Haku was sure that mana must be found almost everywhere, since all creatures use it and must replenish themselves somehow; but in most cases it had to be too faint to be noticed, since otherwise its effects on the environment would have been evident. But the bodies of living beings seemed to be able to absorb mana and release it only when they needed it: so spells and magic worked. Mirta's explanation of how the rune drew its power from its owner's mana made sense.

However, there were also contradictions. His mother had told him that mages were generally 'stronger' than warriors, but that didn't fit Mirta's version. If indeed mana weakened when it emerged out of the body, then shouldn't it be the other way around? Shouldn't it have been the warriors, who used mana to fortify their bodies, the ones who were the strongest?

He wanted answers, so he didn't hesitate to voice his doubts. But Mirta seemed to know what he was talking about, because she immediately retorted: "I'm afraid your knowledge of mages and warriors is terribly fragmented. Warriors fortify their bodies using their mana, and that is true. However, mages don't use the mana from their body to do magic: they use the mana present in the surrounding environment and meld it to cast spells. This is why mages are unable to fortify their bodies even in dangerous situations"

Haku's eyes widened. Sure, how could he haven't thought of that! These were two different sources of energy. Warriors drew power from their own bodies, while mages from their surroundings. That's why their mana usage was so different! "Doesn't this involve a greater expenditure of energy?"

Mira shook her head. "Actually, no. Mages draw a small amount of mana from their body or from an object and they use it to draw all the mana in the area into a powerful spell. While it costs a lot of energy, it's still less than the way used by warriors, who instead move the mana in their body with just their willpower. This not only allows mages to use a greater amount of mana, but also to expend less energy. This makes them 'stronger', at least in non-close combat"

Haku weighed those words well. He hadn't understood much of it, but he would have had plenty of time to think about it. He had to admit, though, that understanding the use of mana was a really complicated concept. Perhaps once he gained his own domain then those explanations would have even seemed silly to him, but now he was having a really hard time understanding them. "So since that rune use your body's mana, ninjas are actually warriors? I thought they were mages"

"It's not impossible for a mages to use an invisibility spell" Mirta explained. "But it would require a lot of preparation, a lot of concentration and it wouldn't last long. On the contrary, for warriors this isn't a problem. Since the rune is continuously fed by the mana in my blood, I just have to think that I want to disappear and instantly I disappear"

Haku was surprised. "Is that all? Anything else? No magic formula?"

"The rune is already active and fueled by mana. That's all that is need" Mirta replied. "If I want to disappear, then the rune casts a strong magic that deflects the light from touching me, and so I become invisible. If I want to reappear, then the rune stops casting that magic. Some of the more experienced ninjas can even create illusions to fool the enemy. But the rune remains constantly active, even when I don't use it"

"Constantly active?" Haku weighed those words well. "It must cost a lot of energy"

"Indeed. That is why ninjas are so difficult to create. To create a ninja, it takes a person with a strong affinity for light magic and extraordinary talent. Then he must undergo a strenuous training to fortify his body and spirit in order for them to get used to having insufficient energy, and finally this rune must be engraved. And once the rune is engraved, a ninja can't last long. This rune is not like the normal use of mana by warriors"

"What do you mean?"

"When warriors use mana, they only do it at that precise moment and then stop, giving the mana in their bodies time to re-accumulate. But this rune continuously feeds, leaving no time for mana to recover. A ninja needs to eat much larger quantities of food than an average soldier in order to make up for the lack of energy, and even so the body over time struggles more and more to gather mana and store it, until the heart fails"

"It fails?"

"It stops. Basically, that person has a heart attack. This rune is a double-edged sword: it grants you great power, but after a while it kills you as if it were a parasite"

Haku had had a hard time keeping up with those explanations. There were many terms he didn't understand: affinity, light magic, talent, fortification of body and spirit. However, he had understood one thing: that rune killed its user, and since it was engraved on the heart, it was impossible to remove it. "Why did you let that someone put in you that parasite, then?"

"It was my duty. A soldier's duty is to die for his people. I have no regrets about that" the fairy replied.

"Was there really no other way?"

"As I explained, there are, but they would require too much concentration and too much energy, and they would last too little time. To be a ninja, you have to be quick and have eyes on everything"

"Isn't there an item that can provide this power?"

"Obviously yes, this rune can be inscribed on anything. But activate it would require an equal energy source"

"And isn't there one?"

"Even if you had a source of mana, such as a spring, you would have to soak the rune in it for several weeks to be able to charge it enough to maintain invisibility for only one hour. This method is simpler and faster"

Haku sighed. It just seemed that it was impossible to activate that rune without placing it on his heart or without finding a source of mana far greater than the springs from which he and his siblings normally replenished. Basically, he didn't have a chance to use it. "I understand. Thank you for your cooperation" he said.

"Can you heal me now?" Mirta beg, pointing her chin at the hole in her chest.

Haku snorted, but he still had a lot of questions to ask the fairy, so there was no point in keeping her chest open and risking her dying. So he went over and poured some regeneration potion into it, which quickly closed again. "That's it. In the future we will still have a lot of which..."

He couldn't finish the sentence: Mirta snapped as if she had just been crossed by an inhuman force and bit his paw. Haku let out a sob in surprise and pushed the fairy away with such force that she slammed into the stone wall. Luckily she didn't hit it with her head, or she would have died instantly.

Haku looked at his paw. There was a small cut at the point where the fairy had bitten him, but it wasn't due to Mirta's teeth: in fact they had collided against his hard scales without causing him any damage. That cut was one he'd gotten when he'd leapt from a tree to catch faeries, and still a little blood was dripping from it. Just a few drops.

Darbi let out a growl and stormed over to Mirta. "How dare you attack one of us! Now I'll show you..."

"Darbi, stop!" Haku stopped him.

His brother looked annoyed. "You can't want to let this offense go unpunished!"

"We'll have to ask her more questions in the future. We'll take our revenge later" Haku replied. "I got what I wanted to know. The secret of invisibility was the only thing I was interested in knowing right away, since we could have used it for our plan, but since it seems impossible for us to use this magic, we will stick to the original plan. We're going to rest now; we'll have to leave soon and we'll have to be fresh by then. Any questions I still have to ask him can wait for our return. When we will get back, you'll can do whatever you want to them"

Haku had captured those two fairies for two reasons: one was to get the incendiary items, the other was to know the secret of invisibility. Now that he had both of these things, he had no reason to rush to ask further questions. It was best to rest, since they would have been leaving in a few hours. So he and his two siblings made their way to the top of the cave. "Since I understand you don't need energy or concentration to draw that rune, I must warn you not to try to use your invisibility to escape. Our noses are more than enough to know where you are" he warned the two fairies, then he disappeared down the tunnel.

Mirta didn't even listen to him. She pulled herself up with difficulty, fighting against the pain of her body that most likely had some broken bones. When she managed to sit up again, she found Ella staring at her with concern. "Did you drink it?" she whispered to her.

Mirta nodded. She was sure Ella would have understood her actions. "Yes"

Ella gulped. "And now?"

Mirta leaned her head against the rock wall. "Now we wait and hope that the legends are true"