Mana cores

"Shit, it seems like the explosion was much bigger than anticipated," I whispered in my heart as I looked around at the chaos surrounding me. Debris scattered everywhere, trees torn out by the roots, and the reigning chaos surprised me, as I thought that just getting away from the house would be enough to avoid a disaster.

ꟷMama, someone destroyed the backyard!ꟷ I exclaimed in my childlike voice, as if I didn't fully understand what had happened.

ꟷHaha, little Alex is quite the genius,ꟷ laughed Reynold, as he picked me up in his arms and lifted me, trying to divert attention from the mess that had been created.

While I was in his arms, I could see the expression of doubt on my brother's face. I wondered what he might be thinking of me at that moment. Would he believe that I too was a reincarnate? Or would he have other theories? Although I didn't really care too much, as I had ways to distract him.

Unlike him, I had no intentions of sharing my secrets. The truth about my reincarnation, my Grand Sage ability, and the system were aspects I preferred to keep secret.

Although it might sound selfish, I considered that this knowledge should stay in my heart and not be shared with anyone else, not even with my closest beings in this world. There were things that were only mine and didn't have to leave there.

After that incident, my father cheerfully took me inside while my mother held my brother in her arms. Both tried to comfort him, assuring him that he would also awaken at some point.

Once inside the house, my father left me on the couch while he went to find someone to help us fix the backyard. Fortunately, because I got away in time, the explosion didn't affect the house.

While waiting for my father to return, I found myself in front of a mirror in the living room. My reflection showed a small child with soft, white skin like a cotton ball. My golden eyes shone brightly, attracting anyone's attention who looked at them. My silver hair cascaded from my head like fine threads of crystal, and on my forehead stood out a beautiful crescent moon, adding a touch of elegance to my face. In addition, pointed ears completed my appearance.

All this created the image of a beautiful and tender child, capable of melting anyone's heart with just one look.

"I must say, although I hoped my appearance would be like Arthur's, I really hit the jackpot, as I never would have imagined that I would look like Sesshomaru, which is really handsome," I thought to myself, quite satisfied with it. "Although fortunately, I only have the crescent moon mark on my forehead and not the magenta marks on my cheeks, nor on the joints of my hands."

Although it's not the first time I've seen myself in the mirror, I never cease to be surprised by it, as like anyone, I also care about my physical appearance.

Similarly, the first time I saw my reflection, I pondered for a while, as I had obviously discovered those characteristics and knew that I shouldn't be Art's biological brother, nor Alice and Reynold's son. My royal family should be part of the elf race, but I wouldn't know beyond that.

Although after thinking about it for a bit, I realized that it didn't really matter much to me, as I was raised with them and they are the ones I could consider family, so after that, I stopped thinking about that topic.

As I looked at the mirror reflection, Art came up beside me, which brought my attention back to him, who was looking at me curiously.

ꟷHow did you do that?ꟷ Art asked, pointing to the backyard.

Upon hearing his question, I couldn't help but deny in my heart, so I simply answered in the same way I had planned.

ꟷDo what?ꟷ I said hesitantly, as if I didn't understand what he meant.

ꟷThe explosion in the backyard.

ꟷI don't know,ꟷ I replied, shaking my head. ꟷI just went out, and while doing the same thing you did once, I felt a warm current in my body and it happened.

ꟷCopying me?ꟷ He said, doubting, as he pointed to himself.

ꟷYes!ꟷ, I responded, nodding. ꟷOnce I saw you sitting strangely, absorbing some points of light in the air, so I decided to do the same. But after a while, I got bored, although my body continued to do it on its own, so I just stopped."

ꟷCan you see the points of light normally?ꟷ He asked, quite surprised.

ꟷYeah, don't you?ꟷ I asked, as if I didn't understand what he meant.

Upon hearing my response, I could see a light dimming in his eyes. Apparently, he really believed that I was a reincarnate. But I didn't give it much importance, as I knew that would be the best way to handle things.

After that, Art didn't ask anything else and headed to the library. As I watched him, I couldn't help but try to sense the forming core in him and was surprised to realize that in less than a month he would also awaken.

But things were a bit different than I thought, because what I thought would finish developing in three weeks, in less than five days had developed, and Arthur's core condensed five days after mine.

This delighted Alice and Reynold quite a bit, I even noticed a bit more than before. But it was understandable, after all, he is their biological son. However, I didn't pay much attention to it, as I was happier for him, equally, for finally awakening his mana core.

Although after that, and unlike the manwha I had read, Art apparently learned something from the awakening I had and instead of doing it indoors, he quickly went to the backyard and condensed his mana core, leaving a mess similar to the one I had left, so dad had to go get people again to help fix it.

As I remembered, the information about Arthur's awakening like mine remained hidden for a while. Then came the time to celebrate Art's birthday. In my case, I'm not sure when my birthday is, but they celebrated it with him anyway.

Our parents gave each of us a small wooden sword, which made us both very happy. After that, we continued with our studies plan. Since Alice caught Art and me entering the library, she decided to teach us to read and write. So after the birthday, our days returned to normal, only now Reynold took us out to the backyard to train.

He tried to explain to us as best he could the basics of mana and how we could start training. He also talked to us about the phases of mana, from the black core to the white core and its subdivisions.

After insisting a bit, thanks to Art, who was very grateful, our mother provided us with several books about the functioning and manipulation of mana, along with the basic use of some weapons.

So, a year went by.

A year may seem short when you count it, but for someone like me who was there, that year was quite long and allowed me to do and learn quite a few things.

<< Name: Alex Leywin >>

<< Gender: Male >>

<< Core: Black (light; or final stage) >>

<< Unique abilities: [Great Sage], [Predator] >>

<< Extra abilities: [Language comprehension], [Body control], [Mana rotation], [Magic perception], [Low-level healing], [Basic sword handling], [Fire manipulation], [Air manipulation], [Fortification], [Mana control] >>

Looking at my progress in this last year, I can't help but feel quite satisfied. At first, I learned many things quickly, but as the days went by, the teachings became less and less effective and fell behind.

That's why, in secret, I decided to learn on my own. So I was able to master some tricks of wind and fire magic, trying to recreate abilities I had seen in my past life.

This led the Great Sage to eventually combine those skills, creating a new one, which was the manipulation of both wind and fire.

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