Chapter 4 - Birthday

The orphanage was on the outskirts of the Elysi, where the land began to stray from its urban counterpart becoming rural as it led to the countryside.

The orphanage's living room was one of the larger rooms and Lewis had seen it comfortably fit all 29 residents of the orphanage. It contained a great stone fireplace which provided most of the light in the room along with the two large square windows on either of its sides and the huge golden chandelier at the rooms centre. Its grey-brick walls were lined with dark bookcases making it look like a library. Tables and chairs were placed near the bookcases, made from the same wood, with many dark-brown couches placed around the fireplace.

The living room was filled with the children of the orphanage and the sounds of conversations and laughter bounced around the room. Eri sat on the couch directly in front of the dormant fireplace surrounded by family, a large pile of wrapped presents and cards in front of her. Lewis quickened his pace across the room not wanting to keep her waiting any longer. Kate and Lucina sat on the same couch as the Eri and eyed him curiously as he approached, he didn't blame them he usually wasn't late. On the couch to their right sat Arthur next to him was a boy called Ike, he had short thick navy hair and an athletic build with the height to match it, he was the same age as Lucina and Arthur. He gave Lewis a nod as he strode across the room towards them, before returning his attention to the group conversation. On the couch beside them sat Alex Athra a man with messy white hair. A boy with thick black hair in a similar style to curtains, but he hated it if you said that, sat next to Alex. He was the same age as Lewis and was called Eric Renki. Lewis passed the couch seating Becka and placed his presents on the pile before he sat between Eric and Alex.

"Alright sorry I'm late, you can start now Eri" Lewis stated feeling everyone's eyes on him as he sat. An excited smile grew on the girls face as she dropped to the ground in front of the pile and grabbed the closest present.

"How come you got up so late?" Eric asked Lewis as they watched Eri tear away the wrapping paper from her gifts, revealing a plethora of clothes, books, and accessories.

"I was out late yesterday" Lewis answered to which Eric responded with a nod before turning his attention back to Eri. They watched as she picked up a long rectangular present different from the rest, this one was wrapped in thick brown paper and bound with rope.

"That one is from Korra, she wasn't going to be able to make it here this morning, so she sent it to me ahead of time" Alex explained as Eri eyed the present with curiosity "I don't want to spoil it but be careful they're real".

Korra had been gone for three months, supposedly on an operation for the military but Lewis didn't know much about it, supposedly only the generals knew although he assumed Alex also did.

Lewis flexed his finger and the ropes instantly severed with clean precision, Eri then pulled off the paper revealing a long black box. She removed the box's lid revealing twin daggers about as long as her fore arms with guards around the handle forged from a black metal. She then Pulled one of them from its leather sheath revealing a pure black curved blade that seemed to be made from the metal as the guard, that Lewis didn't recognise, it reflected no light.

"Daggers! she's 11" Becka exclaimed, her eyes now like daggers staring into Alex, "Why did Korra get her those?".

"She asked me what Eri wants for her birthday. So, I asked Lewis" Alex quickly said while trying to avoid her glare.

"I regret nothing" Lewis said bluntly trying to ignore Becka's stare and watching everyone forcing themselves to stifle their laughs unless they bring on the wrath of Becka.

Lewis had watched Eri improve in her training these last two years and believed she was ready. He'd been even younger when he'd started training with weapons. Was it responsible probably not, but he didn't care he had made worse decisions, and he knew she'd love them.

"They're so cool!" Eri suddenly burst out, her eyes glistened as they studied the smooth black blade. Her sudden outburst of joy resulting in laughter and smiles among everyone.

"I've never seen anything like them" Kate stated while analysing the blades "Who made them?".

"An old friend of mine and Lewis" Alex replied, "Oh and Lewis, he says you now owe him".

"Of course he did" Lewis grumbled.

"Old friend?" Eric asked Lewis quietly.

"The deranged man I called master" Lewis replied, causing Eric to hold back a small laugh. Lewis should have realised there was a catch when it offered to forge them, he'd had only asked if he knew any respectable blacksmiths in Eneasia. Gods knows what he'll want in return, but Lewis knew one thing it won't be fun.

Eri sheathed the dagger and gently placed them both back in their black box. Sliding the box to her side, she then continued to open her gifts until the pile was almost completely gone, only Lewis's two gifts remained. Lewis hadn't told anyone what he had got Eri, so everyone watched intrigued as Eri opened a small box that fit in her palm. Inside the box was a pendant similar to his own, it was forged from a golden metal and gleaming gemstone that matched her ruby eyes.

"It's beautiful" Eri stated with sparkling eyes. Everyone stared in awe at the pendant in girls hands.

Alex leaned in towards Lewis "That must of cost you a fortune".

"I called in a few favours" Lewis replied, a smile growing on his face as he watched Eri study her gift.

"It's also a storage relic not just jewellery" Lewis explained drawing Eri's attention to him "You infuse it with mana and can move things in and out of it. It's got a decent storage size as well".

"Well go on then Lewis put the pendant on the birthday girl" Lucina suddenly spoke up. Before he could even reply Eri bounced towards him and handed him the pendant with a smile. She then turned away and sat down in front of him and moved her hair out the way. Lewis carefully wrapped the black rope around her neck and tied it into a knot loose enough so it could fit over her head. Eri then stood and moved to where they could all see. She was then swarmed with compliments causing her face to turn slightly pink and then to a bright red as the other kids in the room began to join in. Her eyes suddenly lit up like she just realised something and then she darted away.

They continued to talk while the they waited for Eri to return, many of them asking Lewis how much it cost and how he'd got his hands on something like that, but he wouldn't say. He then noticed Kate glance at the clock at the far wall and suddenly curse.

"Its nine" she stated while glancing at Arthur, Ike, and Lucina. Hearing the time everyone but Lewis began to stand realising they also had to leave.

"Ready to go" Lucina asked.

"I just need to go grab my sword" Ike said to them while heading towards the door.

"Well hurry, we'll wait outside" Lucina stated as she left the living room, Arthur following closely behind, giving everyone a wave before leaving.

"Kate, are you going to the Crown intelligence HQ?" Eric asked, while making sure he wasn't forgetting anything and putting on his black coat.

"Yeah" she replied.

"You might as well walk with us then, we're off to a meeting" Alex told her. Now that they were standing you could see how Alex and Eric towered over everyone, standing well above 6 feet. The three exited the room with Becka, who had to go to work, leaving Lewis alone on the couch.

Time passed and all the other kids had left the living room before Eri came bouncing back in with a happy expression stuck to her face. She dived into Lewis giving him a hug.

"Thank you" she stated thrilled, her voice muffled due to her face being planted in his chest.

"I just looked in the mirror then, it looks amazing" she said while taking a seat next to him.

"Of course it does" he confirmed, "Why would I get you something that didn't?".

"Where did everyone go?" she asked confused, only now realising the room was empty.

"They've all got busy days" Lewis explained.

"Have you?"

"No, I'm free until later tonight. Hey, you've still got another present to open" he told her while pointing to the remaining gift. Her eyes lit up and she dropped to the floor to open her final present.

The final gift was a book. It was thick and dark brown with the word Athra engraved in the gold on the front.

"It's a book I made with the help of some others" he explained to her as she skimmed through pages "It pretty much contains everything you'll need to know. Also all the stories you always ask me about it's all in there".

"Whoa" hearing this Eri's stared down at the book like she was holding the greatest treasure in the world.

"Will it help me with my mana training as well?" she asked.

"It should be able to if you read it properly" he said, jokingly poking her forehead. Lewis started helping her train her mana as soon as she joined the orphanage 2 years ago. However, she'd been born with incredible amounts of mana, that would probably break records if made public, Lewis believed she already possessed ten times the amount of mana as the average person. This made her training especially difficult.

"Good, I'm starting to even get the hang of Org- wait no Aug … erm".

"Augmentation?"

"Yeah that one" she stated happily.

Augmentation was the process of infusing mana into your body, such as your muscles and enhancing their capabilities. People commonly augmented their body for increased strength and durability as well as heightened senses.

"That's good, augmentation is a fundamental skill. It also teachers you to easily move mana in and out of your core and control its flow" he explained to her.

"It's still really hard to control how much mana I let flow from my core, but I'm getting there" she told him proudly "I done my nose and was able to smell the food from the kitchen while in my room and when I infused my ears I could hear conversations on the other side of the orphanage".

"That's good, you weren't even able to concentrate mana in your body a few months ago".

"If I infuse more mana into my ears I think I could probably hear people in other buildings".

"Possibly. But remember what I told you, augmentation isn't only just dependent on how much mana you use. It also depends on your mana channels" he explained, but she just tilted her head at him "remember, they're also known as mana veins".

"Are they really that important?"

"Extremely important. Even though there are genetic aspects, mana channels are essentially forged over time by continuously infusing our body parts with mana. Doing this creates pathways that allows mana to flow and augment the desired parts of the body more efficiently and more easily, to where it will eventually become second nature to you" he explained "Eventually you'll create enough channels to form a system of mana channels and then you'll be able to take the next step and infuse your entire body with mana.

"What do you mean genetic aspects?" she asked confused after processing what he'd said. Lewis turned to face her directly as he thought of how to explain it to her in a way she'd understand.

"Think of it like muscles" he finally spoke.

"Muscles?"

"Pretty much everyone can grow more muscle and get stronger if they train however, some people just naturally grow more muscle and are stronger, due to their genetics. Mana channels are similar in a way. Some people will have a greater number and more efficient channels than others".

"What do you mean by more efficient?".

"It means their mana channels or veins are more efficient at utilising mana." She continued to stare at him confused "let's say you have efficient mana channels in your muscles and we're comparing you to someone who doesn't, if you both infuse equal amounts of mana into your muscles, your augmentation would be a lot greater than theirs. This is also why unlike techniques and affinities people have limits to how much they can augment their body. Eventually your channels can reach a limit to how much mana they can utilise and therefore how much they can augment your body."

"So having lots and lots of mana isn't always good because if your mana channels can't handle it your body won't be augmented any further" Eri stated.

"Exactly, if you don't train and forge your mana channels to match your mana levels you'll be limited to how much you can augment your body. You can even damage your body if you try and overload your body with mana and bypass your channels limits. It's why we always tell you to be careful" Lewis told her. Eri sat there stunned as she processed what he had told her, a mix of excitement and shock on her face with a hint of fear.

"Will I be able to forge mana veins to support my mana?" she asked worried.

"Yeah definitely, I'll make sure of it" he reassured her.

"Are you good at augmenting?" she asked curiously.

"I'm good at augmenting my body and I'm alright at enhancing my senses" he answered.

"Will I ever be able to enhance my strength? I keep trying but It never works" she asked annoyed "what if I'm someone who can't?".

"Everyone can augment their body a bit and even if you're not that good at it there are other ways around it. But you don't have to worry about any of that you'll be just find at enhancing your strength. I can tell" he answered with a comforting smile. She matched his smile and then jumped from the couch.

"Can you help me train now?" she asked him eagerly.

"Later we've spoke about magic enough today. I thought you wanted to go into the town" he reminded her.

Her eyes lit up "Can I get changed first?".

"Of course, Let's take your presents up to your room" he stated while picking up the heaviest ones. "Hey, you should place the book in your pendant, so you always have it on you" He suggested.

"Oh yeah" she said however then paused, "How do I do that?"

"Hold it in your hand and infuse a little bit of mana into it, you'll feel a weird sensation like something had just opened in your mind".

"Yeah I feel it" she said, her face creasing as she concentrated.

"Now think about placing the book in that space" he continued to instruct her. After a few moments the book disappeared in a flash of red sparks.

"There you go" Lewis congratulated her, "To pull it out just do the exact same thing but think about taking it out".

"So cool" she said staring at the pendant. She then grabbed all the clothes she'd been gifted, and they headed towards her room.

"Hurry up!" she shouted as she ran off.

"I'm carrying the heavy stuff you know" he sighed.

"Then just augment yourself, you said you're good at it" she teased him. A small smile shone on his face as he chased after her.