Chapter 6- circles and stars

Thalia POV. 

The ticking of the clock echoed in my room in the silence as the rattling of the window from the snow storm occurring outside began to get louder. 

The small book on my hand containing law information didn't seem to get into my head as I sipped my tea. 

Well, it's not like I couldn't understand it…it just felt like I couldn't focus. 

"Bella…" 

"Yes..my lady ?" 

She replied with a stammered expression. She always did have a low self-esteem but it was what I liked about her. 

"Do you think I'm going down the wrong path ?" 

"...what…what do you mean, my lady ?"

"...well ....our genius younger brother said something I never thought of 'obtaining power to protect what is ours…'....I never thought of it that way".

"...my lady if I may…every body's destiny is different…"

"...yes….but to be unable to protect what is mine….imagine if I was not strong enough to protect you, Bella" 

".....there's no need my lady…because I shall be the one doing the protection…" 

"....that's right…you're a 7th circle magician…" 

'Honestly....most of our maids are mages…and if not mages then swordsmen….I'm honestly surprised how we haven't started a war with this kind of power…." 

"...does…does my lady want to learn magic ?" 

I stared at her quietly. She saw through my questions. 'Yes…swordsmanship…looks like something I wouldn't want to learn…the sword is a beautiful thing but…I don't have the time and patience for that…magic on the other hand that requires understanding…that is what I want' 

"...yes..seems like I'll have to take a short trip to Fiona's room". 

Meanwhile

Fiona's POV. 

"...wh…wh..what did you just say ?" I had to repeat the question. It was a question that I had to ask because of the statement that my younger brother just made. 

He was currently in my room and without my permission. 

I turned towards my personal maid, Isabel and quickly notified her to leave. 

"You…you want to get yourself killed ?" 

He shook his head rather adamantly. 

"Creating a mana heart…I want to do that". 

He repeated his earlier statement. 

Though my curiosity as a mage took the better of me, my worry as his sister was much stronger. 

"You can't have both…it's impossible". 

"....what if….I tell you there was a way…."

"...what ?". 

"Though… I'm simply bringing up the topic to you now….I truly wish to form one" 

"..what method do you have in mind ?" 

I couldn't help it. My curiosity got the better of me.

"The reason why it'll be impossible to form a mana heart and a mana star in the same body is because of the conflicting mana's purpose in the body. 

Where the star is to form aura which swordsmen use for fighting…the mana circle is used for magic…to make the impossible the possible" 

"Well…obviously…" 

"So….it's impossible to form the two at the same time…so we form one first before the other. 

And instead of absorbing new mana to form a circle…we use the mana from the stars to create one….linking the two together" 

"...that….that…." 

The process was rather simple but it was just theoretical. There was no sure answer that it would work that way. 

"That's not something you should try on yourself….we need to go through some trial and error before we can use it on a human…" 

".....". He let out a sigh and I was hoping he was going to give up his weird dream when he looked up at me. 

"...can you at least give me the breathing mechanism for a mage…." 

I squinted my eyes at him. I saw no issue giving it to him but I felt like there was more to it since he was the one asking for it. 

"I…."

"Fiona !". 

Just in the nick of time, Thalia stepped into my room. Once again…without my permission. 

"Yes ? Since when did you guys start entering my room without my permission?" 

"What ? Why are you all the way at mother's castle…." Thalia ignored me while staring at Raffaelo.  

Well it's an expected reaction but I'm older.

There are three mansions in our complex. One in the middle which is our meeting and social mansion while the one at our far left is Father's mansion. We call them castles just because it's convenient. 

'Don't even know why they have three..'. 

"Just having a talk with Fiona". He smiled at her. 

'Some talk…'. I sighed.  "Is there something you need, Thalia ?" 

"..oh yes…I want to form a mana heart…I believe you were at the 6th circle ?" 

".....".

I stared at her surprised. "...re..are you serious?" 

"....would I joke about something like that ?". She replied with another question while adjusting the glasses on her face. 

She doesn't even have an eye defect…this girl. 

"Alright then…" I came down from my bed and pulled out a book from the pile of magic books I had behind my bed. 

"Read this…it should be easy to understand…and just do what it tells you to do…" I handed her the book and she nodded. 

"Is this why you're here ?" She asked Raffaello and he nodded.

'This kid…' 

"Oh alright then…let's read it together in my room…" 

"Wai…wait ! He already has a mana star…" 

"Hmm….he's just reading it…there's no harm in that". She pulled his hand and walked out of my room while I watched with a baffled expression. 

'Did….I just make a mistake?'. 

****

Normal POV. 

Thalia pulled Raffaello to her room while dismissing her maid. 

They both sat on her bed while Thalia opened the book. 

Raffaello stared at her with a smile. 

"..what's so funny ?" She asked as she flipped through the pages. 

"You overheard what we discussed didn't you ?" 

She remained silent. "So what if I did…" 

Raffaello chuckled. "You're too nice" 

"..I'm not…" she stopped skimming through it and dropped it. "Fiona was right…I understood it easily" 

"...well..you are a genius" 

"Nonsense". She waved her hand for him to quit his compliments. 

"Alright". He picked up the book and opened it as well. 

"You….you shouldn't push yourself so much….why do you want to learn magic ?" 

".....I can get stronger with magic and swordsmanship" 

"....you already possess a trait though…" 

"...you shouldn't be satisfied with just one thing when you know you could have gone for more…" 

Thalia stared at him and sighed. "You…are you even 10 years old ?" 

"...who knows" he giggled as he stopped at one part of the book. 

"...I want to start practicing this…can you call for Fiona if anything goes wrong…" 

She stared at him and turned towards the book. "....don't…try anything you can't handle" she muttered slowly while taking a meditating position. 

"I'm going to try it out as well….and I'm sure Fiona will come if she notices something bizarre occuring… " 

"....well…true..". 

They closed their eyes almost immediately to begin the mana breathing. 

It was a simple yet difficult process where they have to feel the flow of mana in the air then try to incorporate it into their body and slowly move it to their heart where the first ring slowly forms after circulating round it for a while. Stabilizing it was also a difficult process.

Though it was a whole different thing for Raffaelo that already had a mana star at his dietian. He had to still incorporate the mana into his body around his heart to form the mana heart while substituting his star for the better part so it could balance each other out. 

He was in the middle of the process. The mana had penetrated his body through his body and reached his heart…this was where the difficult part started. 

Raffaello POV

I could feel the mana gather around my heart smoothly but then the conflicting mana from my stars had begun to fight it out. It's a natural process that would occur but the pain it caused was tremendous and the mental fatigue caused was exhausting. 

I had to take heavy breaths just to maintain my current position. 'Now…what comes next….'.

Sucking out mana from my stars and moving it to my heart to substitute for the mana that my body won't accept. 

I felt blood dribble down my lip as I clenched my teeth to the pain. I was almost done. The circle began to form from the mana stars and it began to surround my heart carefully. 

I was already feeling relieved that the process was about to end when my heart suddenly thumped and the mana trembled. My hand gripped my chest as blood spurted out from my mouth.

"RAPH !" I could hear Thalia's voice as heavy footsteps rushed towards me. 

"Idiot ! Mana isn't enough!". 

I suddenly felt an influx of mana rush into my body from one of my sisters. 

The pain began to subside and the mana circle was stabilizing more. 

"Quickly…form the circle !". 

I sat back up and quickly stabilized the excess mana in my body to my heart. A circle formed instantly but mana still roamed freely in my body. 'If I stop now..then this excess mana…' 

I gathered them around my heart again and using my 2nd star, I formed a 2nd circle. The mana left wasn't enough to form a third so I distributed it equally around my stars until it stabilized. 

I panted lightly as the pain slowly ceased. 'I….I did it…' 

My mind slowly went blank as I fell limply on the bed. 

"RAPH !" Thalia screamed again. 

"Relax…he's just exhausted…this kid…he really did it.." the second voice I heard was from Fiona. 

'I guess her curiosity as a mage took the best of her in the end' 

My lips curled into a weak smile as their voices slowly faded away.