Chapter 2

It has already been a couple of weeks, 3 to be exact, since I first manifested magic, Of course it wasn't technically any spell or technique. It was just a mist of water, a low density liquid or a slightly heavier form of water vapour.

I am calling it a heavier form of water vapour because it still behaved somewhat like vapour but was like a liquid having viscosity and being heavier than air due to its inability to rise like vapour.

I have trained this "Mist" spell every night for the last few days, It seemed that my mana would increase by a small amount every time I exausted it, it was explained in the anime how rudeus would double his mana everytime he exausted it.

But my increase wasn't that much, Probably only around a third everyday, which means I doubled my mana pool every three days.

Plus it also allowed me to fall asleep almost instantly which helped me restore my energy efficiently.

I am not actually producing mainpulating water itself, I am just willing it to appear. The magic in this world seems to be strange, every time I use the as I am dubbing it, it seems that I need to predetermine it's properties before actually casting it.

Say for example I wanted to make it cover a larger area with less thickness or density and thus it being more translucent and if I wanted to make it cover a smaller area with more thickness and density with it being less translucent.

Currently I am able to make a completely opaque box of this on the ground with a volume of a single cubic metre (1m³) give or take a few cubic centimetres.

It was around the middle of the day right around noon, I was practicing swordsmanship when I started to feel a lot lighter and the weight of my sword felt weightless for a split second before I felt a sudden surge of exhaustion.

This must be the "battle aura" or utilised by almost all swordsmen of this magical world. I have trained diligently for a long time now, to be able to suddenly tap into it, even for a split second is a huge milestone for me.

But it has exausted me and strained my muscles, I should probably rest for a day or so now since I cannot properly train without the danger of muscle tears and long term damages to my body.

I picked up my sword with difficulty and slowly walked myself to my house before immediately falling asleep on my bed.

-Linebreak-

A month has passed since I awakened .

I have started incorporating harder training methods to my list of exercises, pushups and squats have changed into Burpees and I have added pull-ups to my list alongside planks.

I have started jogging multiple laps around the village in the morning and a few rounds of fast paced running laps around the village in the evenings to increase my stamina.

Even though all this training has allowed me to strengthen my body more I have still not tapped into Touki after first awakening it again. I might need to actually fight in a life or death situation to be able to use it. Either that or my body is still too far to actually use it effectively.

While I have training in basic sword slashes for a long time, I have still not picked any sword style to actually practice in, I think I might meet to meet up with Paul again if I want to learn those.

My magic has been getting even more stronger lately, I really don't know any actual way to use it effectively in battle.

I could go with the route of honing it to the point that it could be used as a cover for my attacks by decreasing the opponent's eyesight, blinding them.

But I would also be blinding myself obviously and with no way of defending myself from the opponent.

I was also thinking of turning my mana into tangible strings like those used by puppeteers in the Naruto franchise and laying them out into the ground to have instant knowledge of the opponent's location whenever they are triggered.

I not been able to produce these strings but I have been able to shape my mana into the size of ropes so it leaves me hopeful that I might be able to produce these strings some day.

Another Idea I have is to get a mana sight demon eye from the demon lord Kirishika but I have no chance of meeting her until the mana disaster happens and teleporting myself along with rudeus and Eris to the demon continent.

And there isn't even a guaranteed chance I might be able to get that specific demon eye though. So, there is no point even attempting to get the demon eye.

I guess my best bet is to learn to turn my mana into strings then.

The spell has progressed quickly as well, I am able to generate a Mist in an area of 10x10 meters with a height of 5 meters, it is not approximate and just a general measurement.

It's density is to the fullest I can generate currently and the maximum view range is just two meters from inside this box of mist.

I have been practicing this spell outside recently near the forest since I don't want to disturb and/or scare my mother.

I have also learnt to release my mana out of myself quickly since I have difficulty falling asleep nowadays without fainting, I reabsorbed the mana I released the next morning.

Everytime I do so I increase my mana amount by 50% everytime, taking me only 2 days to double my mana amount.

-linebreak-

It was the next day, when I was doing my morning jog. A large group of hunters were standing near the hunting route near the forest.

"I heard Harry has disappeared a few days ago."

"I think a mutated magic beast might have dragged him to its den."

"How can you be sure about that? He must be with his family at this time."

"No! I asked his wife, she said he hasn't come back home for a few days."

"There have also been sightings of strange beasts recently, We must stay vigilant and carefull while hunting."

I managed to overhear one of thier conversations. A guy named Harry had disappeared into a forest, and there was a rumor that a magical beast might be the reason.

Strange beasts have been appearing in the forests, I must also stay careful since my house is so close to it.

-a week later-

It has been a week since I last heard those rumors about strange beasts around the forest and several hunters have also disappeared into the forest.

I have a suspicion that the main reason for the appearences of these strange beasts is because a dungeon has appeared in the forest.

Anyways I have been taking short trips in the forest behind my house to confirm that there aren't any monsters, I must be better safe than sorry.

I was strolling around the fields of the village, it was noon and the sun was bright as ever, My mother was still at home probably and I couldn't help but worry about her.

I didn't have any friends in the village, the only companions I had were a few adults in the village whom I assisted in time to time to help them do simple chores for a few ashura copper coin to support my mother.

I saw a group of villagers assembling near the centre of the village, some crying and some looked depressed.

"Why are they crying?" I asked an old man, He looked at me sighed.

"You have heard of the strange monsters appearing right, apparently a few kids were playing near the forest and a large humanoid wolf snatched them.

"Where were these kids playing?" I asked with curiosity.

"Towards the south, near that house over there." He pointed at the small hill to the south, my eyes widened.

"T-That's my house...Mo-Mother!" I said in a hurry, running towards the direction of my house. Adrenaline rushed through my veins and my heartbeat started getting louder and faster.

"Kid don't go there it's dangerous!" The old man tried warning me but I only had one thought in mind. That was to make sure my mother in this life was alright.