Ch.2- Magic Really is Dangerous.

It's been about a year and a half since I woke up in this simulation. Now I am capable of speaking and walking on my own. And by walking, I mean waddling around by quickly throwing my fat legs in front of me.

Even now, I still fall flat on my face regularly. But I shall persevere. I've decided I wouldn't give myself away yet. I was unsure about my objectives, but I'm sure screaming out "I was a Human Death Commando" probably wouldn't help me achieve anything.

I've also finally gotten a good look at myself today. Unfortunately, this home doesn't have any glass for mirrors, but my mother left a bucket of water outside, and I managed to see my reflection for the first time. It seems the simulation has pretty much made me a perfect copy of both of my parents.

I have light tan skin that is a mix between both my mother and father. However, I have my father's raven black hair and my mother's sharp chin and cheekbones. But one of my most defining features is my Heterochromatic eyes, my left eye is a purple amethyst, and my right eye is a golden pool. My irises, much like everybody else I have seen so far, also swirl around oddly.

I was staring intently into the pool of water when I sensed my father trying to sneak up on me. I quickly turned and stared right at him. "Did you actually hear me coming?" he asked with a look of surprise.

Well, of course. My hearing was astounding. I think my hearing is better than it ever was as a Human. It took me a long time to control these ears of mine, but I finally got them down, mostly.

Combine that with my years of hardened combat senses from being a Death Commando, and it was an efficient combination. I also don't think he was trying very hard.

"Ummm… sorry," I tried to say innocently.

"Amazing, you definitely got my hearing after all. But you got your mother's High Elf ears," he said while rubbing my ears.

I usually wasn't a fan of being touched, but having my ears rubbed was actually fantastic. They must have had double the number of nerves in them compared to Humans. And this man knew exactly where to scratch them.

But he said something I hadn't heard before. "What is a High Elf?" I asked curiously.

I had heard my parents refer to me as their "Little Elf." I could only assume that is what they called our race. He went on to explain, "Well, your mom is a High Elf, and I am a Dark Elf. You can tell what race an Elf is by their ears, among a few other things. For example, your mom has high pointed ears, so she is a High Elf. I have ears that point downwards which makes me a Dark Elf. There are also Wood Elves with ears pointed straight out, somewhere between a Dark and High Elf. And, uh sorry… you probably didn't understand all of that," he said while scratching his head.

"Am I a High Elf?" I asked.

"Well… yes and no? You are half Dark Elf and half High Elf, which is pretty rare, but uh… we won't talk about that right now. Most people will probably think you are a Dark Elf since you have dark skin like me," he explained, his face having a tinge of red in it now.

"Mmm… okay," I said.

I had asked my mother many questions, but she would often dodge around questions or answer them with more questions. It seems he is a more straightforward person. Perhaps now would be a good time to ask about magic. My mother had told me she would tell me more when I got older.

But I had nothing else to do than wander around the house. My parents didn't have books that I could find, at least. So I had nothing to stimulate my brain. So to curb my boredom, I had started to pick up random items and bring them to my mom so she would tell me the names of things.

Maybe I could get lucky today.

"What is magic?" I asked.

"It's, uh… difficult to explain to a child that isn't even two years old."

"I'm smart!" I attempted to say in the most childlike manner I could. I even pouted a little bit, hoping to add the extra effect.

"What are you doing?" he gave me a weird look then shrugged. "Listen, Kal. Magic is a dangerous thing for a kid. But how about I teach you about mana?"

Mmm. It seems I won't be getting that lucky. But this is a start. I'll just have to accept it.

"Sure!" I exclaimed with false enthusiasm.

"Alright. How about we take a walk around the village, Kal?" he suggested with a smile.

Finally.

Since my crawling escapades, that witch has kept me on a short leash. I haven't gotten a chance to leave this home for more than a few moments. When I was just an infant, that witch of a mother took me to what I assumed was a market at one point. But she had just fed me, and I couldn't force myself to stay awake, so I missed the entire trip!

"Yes, please!" I said while grasping my hands in the air.

He obliged with a soft chuckle while picking me up and placing me on his shoulders as we walked. I have been able to deduce that my family makes a decent income. We weren't peasants, nor were we some noble lords. But we seemed to have an above-average home that was somewhat out of the way from the general populace.

I had also deduced that this was indeed a jungle. The humidity was high and tree coverage was highly dense. It almost seemed like the trees were crafted to shade everything perfectly.

Only after a few minutes of walking were we at the outskirts of the village. It appeared to be a decent-sized village. The village shared the same architecture as our home, using the jungle wood and accenting it with plenty of greenery. Although it was much different than the metal square and rectangle architecture I was used to, it was still very appealing.

The village just gave off a warm atmosphere, kind of like a log cabin in the forest. At least that's what I imagine it would be like. I've never been in a log cabin before, let alone one in a jungle.

We had begun to walk past people on the road. The village seemed to be a good mix of Wood Elves, with their pointed ears that came out to the side, and Humans. The Humans in this simulation looked precisely like the Humanity I was familiar with, besides the whole swirling iris.

I couldn't help but notice a select few Humans that seemed to be slaves, or maybe prisoners? Thick red iron collars were locked around their necks, and most of them looked worse for wear. Their keepers were not far from them, but they didn't seem like police or soldiers, just ordinary people.

Despicable. Even the Federation didn't enslave the aliens we conquered. I suppose if the simulation attempted to recreate a fantasy world, then slavery would simply be a part of it. But choosing to enslave Humans was obviously a direct, deliberate decision by the system.

Drawing my eyes away from the shackled Humans was what looked like to be some type of Human-animal hybrid. A person with a hood on and a black cat-like tail came out from behind them. They didn't have fur all over their body as a cat would, but the tail that was swishing to the side was a dead giveaway. A pair of black fluffy cat ears stuck out from their hood. I decided to be the "what is that" child and asked as many questions as possible.

"Ah, those are Beastmen. Just like us Elves, they have two kinds and different appearances. That woman is just called a Beastmen. They are Beastmen who have mixed blood just like you, Kal. She looks like she might be a Human mixed with jungle panthers. Then, there are True Beastmen. They look just like animals but stand tall like everybody else. They are a very strong and proud race. There aren't too many of them around here, however." I nodded in response to his information.

This was very informative. I should spend more time with you.

Impressive as always, the Navy really has created an actual fantasy world here. It was amazing and so realistic. But not wanting to get sidetracked from my main objective, I continued and pressed on while asking about mana.

"Sooo, what is mana?"

My dad readjusted me on his shoulders. "You see, son. All living things have mana: the trees, animals, that Beastmen, and even monsters. Mana is simply just the flow of life inside a living thing," he explained while pointing at all these things.

"Then everyone can use magic?" I asked.

"No, just because you have mana doesn't mean you can use magic. But you do need to have a lot of mana and have the necessary gifts to use magic. Lucky for you, your dad is a powerful mage, and one day, when you are older, I'll teach you everything I know!" he said proudly, puffing his chest out.

But he realized too late that he might have already said too much, as the smile got wiped off his face and was replaced with a worried look.

Haha, too easy.

In an attempt to salvage his mistake, he continued with a warning. "Well, you can use magic when you are older, but learning magic when you are so young is dangerous. You could hurt yourself or someone else since you don't know what you are doing. Of course, if you promise me you won't try to use magic until you are a bit older, I promise to teach you everything," he said nervously while a bead of sweat dripped down his forehead.

I couldn't help but grin a little as he looked back up at me.

"I promise!"

I lied.

—

It has been over two years now. Unlike Humans, it appears Elves don't celebrate birthdays yearly. They have one at five years after birth. Then at ten years, then fifteen, then twenty. After that, Elves tend to celebrate birthdays every decade or so. Apparently, Elves have incredibly long life spans. An Elf that doesn't meet an untimely death can live to be almost three hundred and fifty years old if everything goes well.

And Elves who have a lot of mana can live even longer. Of course, this applies to everyone else as well. As far as I could tell Humans tended to live longer lives as well. I've seen at least one ancient-looking Human so far.

I tried asking the witch, Seana, how old she was, but she wouldn't tell me. She said it was "rude for a boy to ask a girl how old they were," whatever that means.

It's just a question...

I finally figured out Seana was my mother's name, my father's name was Alanis, and our family name was Shadowheart. Apparently, when Elves got married, they would often mix the last names together and make a new last name. So that makes me Kaladin Shadowheart. I'm not sure how thrilled I am about being the child of a Xeno, even if this is all just a simulation. I just need to take things in stride.

I have also recently learned Seana was an accomplished seamstress before she took time off to raise me. That teal blanket she would often wrap me in was her handy work. She explained to me that she could imbue the threads with her mana using magic, which allowed the garments to have some interesting magical properties, like helping my mana pool grow.

It appeared that manaweave regulated temperature perfectly. Even though this place was unbearably humid, I was never once miserable in the wraps. Even the skin-tingling sensation it gave me was oddly pleasing. If anything, it was so comfortable it was uncomfortable waiting to be wrapped up in it. I use it more or less like a blanket now though.

Seana had begun taking on work again to help Alanis out. Alanis was a hunter or so I was told. He, along with a few other people from the village, would take small excursions out into the jungle and clear it of dangerous wildlife, gathering their materials and meat to sell back to the village.

It sounded like hazardous work. Yet, I had never once seen him come back home injured or even mildly inconvenienced. The wildlife must not actually be that dangerous, especially since he leaves his armor set and spear at home, opting to use a far inferior wooden spear and bow for his work.

Seana had some coworkers over this morning and they were weaving while gossiping about the happenings in the village. This had been going on a few times a week now and it was a perfect time to make myself scarce and attempt my hand at magic. I slowly crawled my way out of the house and hid behind a tree that was behind our home. So far, any attempt I have made to replicate the few spells I have seen has failed. I simply don't understand the process.

I have been attempting to create a ball of water I can throw, but nothing happens when I try to make it work. I've tried everything from willing it to happen to manipulate an existing pool of water to trying to throw water from my hands. It has been a frustrating few months, to say the least. Perhaps I should try a different approach.

I remember Apollo was a fan of meditating. He rambled on about how amazing it was and how it helped him focus and achieve his goals. I didn't really understand as I didn't need to meditate to focus on my tasks, but I was willing to try almost anything at this point. I remember Apollo saying to clear your mind of unwanted things, then focus on the thing you wanted. Then control and steady your breathing.

So, I plopped onto the ground and crossed my legs. I cleared my mind and focused on wanting to create a small ball of water. I steadied my breathing and relaxed. After about five minutes of sitting on the hard ground, I got up and let out a nice "DAMN IT!!" into the air.

Ah, I feel better. Who needs meditation?

My frustration had hit a boiling point. So I sat back down, shoved my face into my hands, and began to wrap my brain around what I knew about magic and mana.

Apparently, everything had mana, but not everything could use magic. I have seen somebody use magic, but that isn't enough for me to know how to use it myself. I can't seem to feel anything at all when I try to use said magic.

Perhaps the system has created something that I can't use… no, that doesn't make sense. Why would they go to such lengths of creating this magical system and not have me be capable of it? I had the foundation I just needed to think… and that's when I remembered.

I am pretty sure I have had magic cast on me before. When I first awoke that old man did something to me. I was in excruciating pain, and it was wiped away in an instant. I remember that warm feeling spreading from the center of my body as it stretched out towards my fingertips. Perhaps, if I recreated that feeling or at least delved into it a bit more, I could achieve a breakthrough.

I went back into my pose and redid all the steps for meditation again. But, instead, this time, I would focus on that warm feeling in my chest. After what felt like forever, I suddenly felt a tiny bit of warmth in my chest.

It wasn't anything like when the old man did it, but it was something. So I focused on that feeling even more. It began to feel almost like a drop of warm water in the center of my body. I tried to force it to my fingertips, but it died away only after a few seconds as I lost control of it.

Damn. I am closer than I was yesterday. This is a start. I can't stay out any longer today but I shall continue to train.

—

I started my journey five months ago with this little drop of warmth in my chest. It took many…. many… hours of trial and error, but I have finally managed to guide the warm water to my fingertips. I'm not sure what this does but now I am going to attempt to do…something.

So, I sat in my little spot in the shade and guided the warm droplet all the way to my fingertips. Now I was going to try to make a spec of water, the tiniest little droplet. I focused intensely on every aspect that I wanted from the droplet; the size, shape, color, how it was going to smell, even the chemical components.

And I sat there for a long time attempting to do this until…. nothing.

I couldn't do it!

Damn! Maybe I really needed a teacher or something. Hell, even a dang book explaining this would be more straightforward! I kicked a branch in frustration and sat back down to think, I couldn't give up, not yet.

Mmmm… maybe I should use fire? No, I can't. If I do something wrong, I might burn the entire jungle down along with myself.

Maybe… could I try wind? I have seen Seana use fire magic and water magic. So, if it was based on the elements, then perhaps there was wind and earth? Since I didn't know what earth magic looked like, so I focused on making a small gust of wind instead.

I also decided to adopt another approach, I have never seen anyone use magic while meditating, so maybe I needed to be standing for it. I squared myself off with my knees just past my shoulders and dropped my base. I wasn't sure what kind of stance I should take, but I figured this would be fine.

Then I refocused and moved the tiny drop of warmth all the way back to my fingertips, where I imagined it turning into a small gust of wind. As soon as the droplet hit my fingertip, an ever-so-small amount of air came out from my hand, it was barely enough even to shake the leaves of the tree. But I did it! I used magic. Finally!

But my joy was immediately replaced with a feeling of complete and utter death. Only a few seconds after I made that slight breeze I began to feel awful. I felt like somebody had bludgeoned my entire body with a metal bat and kicked me a few times for good measure.

I tried to move, but instead, I just fell forward as I lost control of my body and face planted into the dirt. I couldn't move my body at all, not even wiggle my fingertips as I lay there inhaling the dirt. Nor could I speak to call for help. I just laid there for well over five minutes.

Slowly but surely, the feeling returned to my body as I regained control over it again. I was still in agonizing pain, and I was completely drained. I felt like I needed to hibernate for fifty years.

I waddled my tiny fatigued body back home, where Seana called out to me, "Kal baby, are you okay? You don't look so good... and what happened to your clothes and face!" she said with genuine concern.

I must have looked as terrible as I felt. Seana dropped the fabric she was working on and rushed over, and began to clean my face. "I fell and I don't feel so good," I said.

It was a half-truth. But it was better not to alert her that I could use magic, even if said magic might just be a death trap.

"Go lay down! I'll go get Doctor Jacobs right away," Seana said, scrambling to get ready.

I wasn't sure if I needed a doctor but it probably wouldn't hurt, I doubt they would be able to tell I used magic.

—

"So, you used too much magic, boy?" said the old as dirt doctor.

He was the same old man I remember seeing when I first awoke. The geezer looked like he might fall dead at any moment, yet I didn't actually see him struggle to move. Alanis was currently away hunting, and Seana was running to go get me some soup from one of her coworkers, so it was just him and me.

"No… I no feel very good," I lied. The Doctor once again fixed me with whatever magic he could use. I went from feeling like death walking to just being very very tired in moments.

"Anyone ever told you that you suck at lying boy? From the day I pulled you out of your mother, I knew you were going to be a hellion. But I sure didn't think you were gonna cast a spell before you even turned five!" he cackled.

So apparently, five is the age where people can start casting spells?

"I don't know magic."

I tried to cover for myself as best as I could. I already had a train of lies, I might as well double down.

"Listen here, squirt, I have been putting people back together before your mommy and daddy even thought about having you. I know what mana sickness looks like, so don't you lie to me. Now, what did you do?" he said while poking me in my fatty stomach.

"I made wind."

I take that back. It seems doubling down wasn't going to work here. I wasn't aware there was an identifiable illness associated with this…

There was no point in lying to him any longer. He had clearly seen through me. Now I knew that there were some severe repercussions if I overused magic.

"Huh, you tried to use wind magic, huh? You are an Elf, so naturally, you should be pretty good at it. But maybe you just lack an affinity for it? You try anything else?" he asked.

He seemed less concerned for my health and more interested in my abilities.

"I tried water. Didn't work." I said simply.

"So, you even tried water magic. Fascinating. Elves are famous for having loads of mana and being extremely adept at nearly all types of elemental magic. They even start casting spells earlier than nearly every other race. But at almost three years old? I wonder what you are capable of… " he trailed off and got a far-off look in his eyes.

Oh, no.

Suddenly those emerald eyes of his gazed into me and he moved close to my face with a speed that surprised even me. "I'll make you a deal, boy. I won't tell mommy and daddy about your little magic experiments. But you have to come with me four times a week and train in magic. It will be our little secret."

Wow. All I had to do was nearly kill myself to learn magic? I should have done this sooner. I'd be an idiot not to accept this. Yet I couldn't help but feel I was making a deal with the devil. I decided against my better judgment and agreed.

"Okay," was all I needed to say to secure myself a magic teacher.

I guess magic really is dangerous after all.