NOVEL NEXT Chapter 106: Help
"Well, that's enough old history for the day," Grinned grandmother as she stood up and lazily stretched her limbs before turning her gaze towards me, a dangerous glint flashing through her eyes.
"So little Aether, do you want to do something fun?" She asked, her grin never quite leaving her face. "Something fun?" I asked hesitantly as I subconsciously took a step back. Grandmother didn't seem to mind as she hopped off the large rock and slowly made her way towards me.
I still had a few second thoughts about the whole fun part. While grandmother did seem like the most reasonable one out in our family, I was still a little bit hesitant since I witnessed firsthand just how strong she is, hence why I had some concerns about what she could consider to be fun.
And so, while taking extra care not to sound disrespectful, I asked hesitantly, "What fun might you mean, grandmother?" To that, the glint in her eyes seemed to shine brighter for a second as she brought her face very close to mine, leaving mere inches between us before whispering.
"Did you ever visit the land of the Gods?" She asked. Hearing that, my eyes suddenly widened as I slowly understood the implication behind her question. "The land of the Gods? Is It another continent?" I asked as my curiosity took the best of me.
Shaking her head with a gentle chuckle, grandmother then answered. "Oh no, the so-called gods believe that living on the plane itself to be beneath them, and so they have a massive flying continent instead that circles around It," She explained.
"A massive flying continent?" I mumbled, as I subconsciously raised my head to glance at the clear blue sky, my mind slowly drifted back to our own floating mountain. Seeing me lost in thought, grandmother continued. "You can't see their continent little Aether, they use magic to keep It invisible. Well, you could see It If you learn how to effectively use your mana," She added.
"Grandmother, you mean It's up there right now?" I asked in curiosity. Reaching out to my heart energy, I gently guided It to my eyes as I felt my vision slowly change. The world turned more colorful with brighter and more vivid colors as the various strands of mana became visible.
Yet, no matter how hard I searched, I was still unable to see this so-called massive continent. Cutting off my heart energy, the world slowly blinked back to normal as I turned to glance at grandmother with a questioning gaze.
"Impressive, you can already use your Inner energy to such an extent. Not bad little Aether," She praised me with a smile, as she gently patted my head with her paw.
"But no, although I don't like to admit It, the Gods are still talented when It comes to magic, so I'm afraid It's going to be difficult for you to see through their formation using your Inner energy," She explained to which I nodded in understanding before asking.
"Does that means you can easily see through It, grandmother?" At that, a slight chuckle escaped her mouth as she puffed her chest proudly and replied. "Of course! Who do you think your grandmother is? Do you want me to teach you?" She asked with a wide grin.
"You can??" I muttered unconsciously in excitement, this was a chance for me to grow stronger while being taught by grandmother, 'At least I don't think her teaching methods can be as bad as my grandfather who straight-up tries to murder me,' I inwardly thought with a shudder as I recalled the previous memory.
"Of course I can, for this, you don't need to use your Inner energy, instead you can use your mana. You see little Aether, while Inner energy is generally stronger, It's also harder to control. Mana on the other hand is much easier to control," She slowly explained to which I nodded before asking.
"So does that mean you are only using mana to see through their magic formation?"
"Yes, It's easier and more efficient to do so, rather than to use Inner energy,"
I nodded before replying. "I understand, grandmother, but I have one part I'm a bit confused about,"
"Hmm? What is it?"
"With the mana divided into different elements, wouldn't that be a problem for me who my main element is water to use It to try and see-through this formation? I'm not sure If you understood what I want to say..." I said, lowering my head embarrassingly to which grandmother nodded with an all-knowing smile.
"I see, you have concerns if your water magic is compatible for something like this, right?"
"Yes!"
Smiling reassuringly, grandmother continued. "You don't have to worry about that little Aether, no matter the element, mana springs from the same source, and that Is the mana stream. This means that all elements are similar to one another," She paused for a second before adding. "Well, the pillars of existence are a bit different though,"
"I see, so which element should I use then?" I asked.
"It's best you go with your water element since It's the one you are the most familiar with," Said grandmother.
"Okay," I nodded in confirmation.
"Good, now give it a try, and remember, don't use your inner energy, use mana instead," She gently reminded me before taking a small step closer to me.
Doing as I was told, I slowly reached out to the water mana in my surroundings, asking for its help. Soon, I could feel It react to my request as It hastily rushed towards me as If it was a dam that broke loose.
I tried to will the mana towards my eyes, feeling It move inside my body like a stream. Still, I subconsciously felt like I was using too much of It. Sensing that, I attempted to slow the rush of water mana inside my body, which was surprisingly hard to do since the mana seem so eager to comply with my request.
It was then that I felt grandmother gently put her palm on my back, her soothing voice slowly drifted to my ears. “It’s good to be respectful and gentle with the mana, but you must also know when to be firm,” She said as I felt a strange energy seeping inside my body from her palm.
‘Wind mana?’ I wondered, grandmother’s voice then sternly reminded me. “Don’t lose your concentration, I’m only giving you a small push, now be firm as you guide the mana. I’m sure you already have a faint sense of how much you need to use,” She said, to which I nodded unconsciously.
She was right, I had a vague sense of the amount of mana needed. Not too much, yet not too little. Grandmother’s wind mana moved inside my body like a gentle stream, helping me gain better control over my mana as It assisted me in guiding just the right amount into my eyes.
Surprisingly, It wasn’t that hard. Soon, the world changed before me into one I had never seen before. My mouth hanged open in surprise, as grandmother's chuckle reached my ears.
“Pretty right?” She said to which I simply nodded in shock.
“Very...”