Call of the Void (3)

"Berkah, wake up my son."

Hawke gently shook Berkah to wake him up from his two hour long nap.

"Ugh..."

Berkah groaned, his body begging him not to wake up.

He rubbed his eyes to shake away the drowsiness and glanced up at his Harpy father.

[Huh? You're still here?]

Berkah wondered, raising his body off the green pastures, he stretched his arms and the wings on his back.

He looked around and noticed that it was only the two of them that stood on the open field.

"Uh... where's mom?"

Berkah asked, his voice tuned by drowsiness.

"She flew to a nearby village to find us a place to stay for the meantime."

Hawke replied, reaching into his bag.

[Hm... I guess we won't be returning to the nest... well I did kinda destroy it.]

Berkah smiled bitterly.

"Here... you must be hungry right?"

Hawke opened the container and handed Berkah his sandwich.

"Thanks!~"

Berkah greedily munched down on the sandwich.

"Haha! Slow down or you'll choke."

Hawke reached into his bag again for a water pouch and placed it next to Berkah.

[I wonder if he'll be able to clearly explain what happened?]

Hawke mused, putting into consideration that Berkah barely just started talking so holding a conversation with him may prove futile.

[Putting the matters of Anaise miraculously healing and the Wyvern corpses aside...]

[I'm interested in knowing exactly how he awakened mana, and how he came down from the nest on his own.]

Hawke mused, patiently waiting for Berkah to finish eating.

[Dude can you stop staring at me? I can't eat in peace!]

Berkah screamed inwardly, avoiding his Harpy father's gaze.

Soon after, Berkah finished eating the sandwich.

[Whew... that was delicious... though I wish it had some sauces in it.]

[Do they not have them in this world?]

Berkah pondered, wiping his greasy hands on the grass.

"That was delicious!"

Berkah declared loudly with his squeaky voice.

"Haha! Anything should be better than your mom's cooking. "

"..."

"..."

"...please don't tell her I said that."

[Keke, I'm definitely gonna use that to blackmail you one day.]

Berkah said nothing in response and only smirked at his Harpy father.

[... She's going to kill me...]

Something about Berkah's expression told Hawke that he was definitely going to tell on him.

"Ahem!"

Hawke cleared his throat to change the topic.

"Berkah... can you tell me what happened?"

[Fuck... no way I'll tell on myself for destroying the house.]

[I'll blame it all on those lizards!]

"Those things wanted to hurt me... mom came and saved me."

[Haha! I'll be as vague as I possible can!]

Berkah snorted inwardly.

"Did you see what happened to make their bodies like that?"

"Nope."

"Was there anyone else that came and fought them?"

"Nope."

"What about the nest? Did that big one destroy it?"

[I'm not gonna snitch on myself!]

"Nope."

"Then what happened?"

"Don't know. "

"*sigh*... then how did you get down from the nest?"

"I jumped."

[Ugh... this is pointless. ]

Hawke became weary of the conversation and pinched his eyebrows.

He knew that Berkah's wings were still underdeveloped, so there was no way he could have flown from the nest.

[Keke, he looks so exhausted...]

[What did you expect questioning a two year old? Hahaha!]

Berkah slapped his knee inwardly, relishing in Hawke's visible exhaustion.

Hawke pondered:

[It's clear that a third party was involved... That's the only thing that makes sense.]

[Berkah may not be able to remember anything because of the trauma he experienced, so I should probably stop asking him questions.]

[It was probably also due to said trauma that he awakened mana...]

Hawke mused, his expression slowly turning sour.

[I failed to protect my family because I prioritized the city's defense...]

[None of it would have mattered if I lost them...]

Hawke bit his lower lip in regret, his large navy blue wings slightly trembling.

"Okay son..."

*pat*

"You did a great job."

Hawke said, patting his son's curly head.

"Now then... We won't be joining your mom for a few days, there are things that I want to teach you now that you've awakened mana."

Hawke raised his posture and his expression as stern as steel.

"Get up my son, I will teach you how to properly wield your mana."

[Finally! My training arc begins!]

Berkah excitedly raised his body and stood up straight, facing his Harpy father.

"I know you may not be able to understand most of what I'm about to say and show you, but try to keep up okay?"

"Okay!~"

Hawke smiled softly at his son who was showing a willingness to learn.

[Now that I think about it, this is the first time I'm spending time alone with my son...]

Hawke put on a bright smile and his heart beat excitedly.

"Every living creature is born with Mana Veins and a Mana Pool."

"A Mana pool is where your body stores all the mana you have accumulated and Mana Veins are the paths that your mana flows through, allowing you to utilize mana."

"We're all born with a little bit of mana already stored in our mana pool, but it takes years before one can actually access it."

"The average person will only be able to access it once they turn 15 years old, some later and most never do."

"In rare cases, some people have a such a high affinity for mana that they awaken before the age of fifteen!"

"I happen to be one of those people! Hahaha!"

He puffed up his chest and put his large fists on his waist and laughed out proudly.

[Damn he's been yapping nonstop for five minutes, did he forget that I'm only two years old?]

[But... it's actually very interesting... mana...]

Berkah mused, processing all the information from Hawke.

Hawke continued speaking:

"But... in all my years I've never heard of anyone awakening mana at such a young age... You're barely even self aware."

[You dissing me bro?]

"It's not hard to imagine how much your life would be put in danger if people knew..."

"The royal family or other powerful forces would take you away from us."

"I... Your mother and I would never be able to cope with losing you. "

[I see...]

"Okay... I also want to stay with you and mom."

Berkah said with a serious tone and expression.

Hawke's eyes went wide at the surprisingly mature and calm response from his son, it was as if he actually understood the situation.

"Listen carefully my son, there are four stages after you awaken mana."

"The first stage is Mana Augmentation this stage occurs immediately after you awaken. Mana courses through your body and strengthens it, granting you heightened strength and agility."

"The second stage is Mana Enhancement..."

*Crackle!*

Hawke enveloped the entirety of his bulky frame with the blue hues of his dense mana, intense power radiated from his being.

[!!]

[Woah! He's so strong!]

[He's waaaayy stronger than those Wyverns!]

Berkah cried inwardly, sensing the intense power radiating from his Harpy father.

"Mana enhancement allows you to coat your body with mana, it works well as both defense and offense, further enhancing your durability and strength."

"The third stage is..."

*Crackle!*, *Zap!*, *BZZZZZTTT!*

The mana enveloping Hawke's body turned into bright blue lighting violently surging around him.

"...Mana Elemental stage, which awakens the true nature of your mana that you inherited from your lineage."

"What do you think? It's awesome right?! Haha!"

[Just get on with it dude...]

"This stage also allows you to project your mana and cast spells."

"As you can see my mana element is lighting, and your mother's is wind, you will awaken either wind or lighting once you reach this stage."

"Can't I have both?"

Berkah asked, with his eyebrow raised.

[Hm? He's inquisitive? That's good!]

Hawke smiled before answering Berkah's question.

"I have never heard of anyone having two or more mana elements, but who knows you may be the first haha!"

Hawke declared jokingly, though he said that, he didn't actually mean it, it was completely unheard of for someone to have more than one element.

"The fourth stage is Mana Dominion..."

Berkah gulped and waited expectantly, that was the only stage he hadn't reached yet so he was extremely curious about what it could do.

"Well... I can't show it to you since I myself haven't reached it yet... hahaha..."

Hawke said, awkwardly scratching his head.

[Tch!]

Berkah clicked his tongue inwardly and furrowed his brow.

[Huh? Why does he look so disappointed??]

[Only handful of people are at the fourth stage you know?!]

Hawke cried inwardly.

"*Ahem!* Since you are surprisingly already at the second stage, I'll teach you how to control your mana and how to hide it from other people. "

"It'll take a few years for you to reach the third no matter how talented you are, so I'll just teach you mana control for now. "

[Ah... he thinks I'm only at the second stage?]

[He'll definitely start tweaking if he found out that I'm actually on the third won't he? Keke]