The Reincarnation of Alysara. Chapter 10: Bonds

AN: I thought that I'd get this chapter done a long time ago, but life got in the way. There's going to be a 4-year time skip between the end of this chapter and the next, and I want to do two or three side chapters that take place in that time. I want them to be more slice-of-life showcasing Aly's normal day and other people's perspectives, and maaybe, if I feel ambitious a small arc of Aly dealing with Nyam, her bully.

AN2: Got some editing suggestions? Suggest it on the Google Docs here:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1WnWdv7m2ohgDGBYnJB9f3pcs79JksMT1Gca_H8NmN5U/edit?usp=sharing

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Essences all but shine to me. They are more vibrant and rich than elemental mana. The impressions of sensations and feeling I feel from them are that much more, but also different. Fire elemental mana feels warm and passionate, but life essence—which appears to be derived from fire element—is… well, lively.

Essences is more abundant than I thought. They are all around me, and it is more or less easy to figure out what most of them are by the impressions and feelings I get from them. But that wasn’t all that happened. I used a spell, and the mana of that spell is right in front of me.

There’s so much to study. I didn’t complain; in fact, I wished for more. My only gripe is that I can only study one thing at a time. If only I had clones or something to do everything at once.

With my heart beating with excitement, I poke the ball of beauty essence from my spell. 

I wonder if I can retrieve this mana? It would be useful if I can regain lost mana if I ever need to.

I concentrate on sucking in the mana and feel it flow into my body with ease! However, the mana didn’t return to where it originated from. Instead, it flows to every part of my body, from my bones to my skin and hair, almost like it is reinforcing my body.

A buffing spell? I can probably skip the step of pushing the mana out of my soul and body and instead directly infuse it into my body. I theorist the spellcraft, but soon shake my head. One thing at a time! I need to choose, study spells or mana!

On one hand, I really wanted to cast spells, but on the other, I just made a breakthrough in [Sense Mana Essences], which one should I study?

I’ll get in trouble if I start using spells, so following my better judgment, I’ll study mana. I am a good kid, after all. I nod to myself.

Looking around, I see a ton of ambient creativity and beauty essence around me. It’s less than the amount of elemental mana, especially light elemental mana, as it is currently Light season.

Where does all this essence come from? I wonder. Looking at myself, I can see a mix of mana flowing out; random elements and essences, but some of it does seem to be beauty essence.

If it all came from people, then wouldn’t there be more of other types of mana? I muse, but come to the conclusion that there must be another source. However, it is no coincidence that beauty and creativity are the most abundant essences, which match Myrou’s domains of beauty and creativity. 

Do gods influence the amount of mana? That would imply Myrou is around here somewhere or something, so maybe faith produces the essence?

There are too many variables, and all I am doing is speculating. For now, I’ll just observe and figure out the source later.

Days pass, and I do figure out the source of the beauty and creativity mana. It seems that actions influence the amount of and type and mana exuded by a person; it’s only semi-random. If someone dances, they exude more beauty, passion, and other types of essences that coincide with what the person is doing and even feeling.

Yes, even emotions have their essence counterpart, although it is mostly produced with intense emotions, and normal level emotions don’t exude much.

Considering the art and beauty-centered culture, it is very obvious why there is so much beauty and creativity essence. But now onto another mana mystery, the abundant amount of wisdom mana in me.

I didn’t notice it before the breakthrough since both wisdom and creativity are derived from lightning mana, but I have more than average amount of wisdom essence compared to others, even adults around me. Is it because I was reincarnated? Or is it because of something else?

I have no way of finding out right now, so I set that mystery aside.

I finally set my focus on learning spellcraft, and to do that, I need to look inward. I can’t just stumble my way into every discovery, so by learning the process of casting spells, I can improve my spell-casting abilities.

I start by casting my beauty essence enhancement spell and watch the mana flow inside my body. It seems to come from nowhere, but I know it came from my soul. The mana flows through my body, seeping into every part of me.

I feel… warm? Not quite, more like the holistic essence of beauty is filling me. I feel more elegant, more graceful, more refined, and that a calm serenity is surrounding me. I feel the confidence and self-assurance that a positive self-image would bring someone.

What does this spell even do? Make me feel more beautiful? I guess the confidence can help in some cases, but does it affect how I look? Or maybe how I look to other people? Further testing is required, but that means interacting with others, and they might find out I can use spells, which I’m not supposed to… I’ll figure it out eventually, I can study other things first.

Like, if I can focus what type of enhancement this spell can do…

I dismiss the spell… but nothing happens. Maybe I have to wait until it wears off? Okay then, onto the next spell to test out.

Beauty essence is derived from light mana, and I have a vague memory of light being able to form concentrated beams, so maybe beauty essence can too? It’s a bit of a stretch, but it’s worth a try.

I stick out my hand and focus on gathering mana in front of it before blasting a laser at the wall and charring the wood.

It actually worked! Uh… oops. Maybe I should have thought ahead before I broke something. Mom’s going to kill me. So this is why children aren’t allowed to use spells, it was super easy to cast an attack spell.

Just then, I hear Mom’s footsteps approach, and panic floods me as I feel blood drain from my face.

What do I do?! Can I repair it? Maybe I can cast an illusion? But then I’ll have to cast it every day… Maybe.. Maybe I can restore it, like returning it to a beautiful state? Maybe that will work… right?

I crawl over to the wall and get up to stand on the tips of my toes to try and reach the burned spot. Why did I have to aim so high?!

I gather mana in front of my hands before showering the spot with my mana. Slowly the wall loses it’s char, too slowly.

“A-ly-sá-rá!”

“Eek!” I jump is terror as I feel an ominous presence coming from the doorway. I really have to find a way to expand my field of vision! “M-Mo-Momárá”

I hear a deep sigh as mom steps into my field of view. She walks over to me, and my tail trembles in fear, and picks me up.

“What am I going to do with you?” Mom complains.

“Sorry…” I mumble, my ears and tail drooping.

“Little Aly, you really hurt someone if you are not careful. Promise me you will never use your Bond without supervision.”

“I-I promise,” I say, grateful that mom isn’t yelling at me or anything. “Will you teach me?” I ask, pouring in as much [Charm] as I can; tilting my head and cutely flicking one of my ears.

“Aw! You are too cute to say no to!” Mom says, crushing me with a hug.

“Urg!” I struggle in her embrace until she let me go.

“We have to teach you now, anyway, so no using spells without us, alright?”

“Alright!” I nod, “Can you teach me now?” 

“I suppose I have time for a small lesson,” Mom agrees. “Everyone has an innate connection to an element or essence. We call this connection the Bond.”

“What is my Bond?” I ask, although I am confident that I already know it.

“You have a beauty Bond” Mom says with a warm smile. “It is said that those with beauty or creativity Bonds are loved by Myrou.”

Hmm, Myrou did say that she’d give me a ‘gift of beauty’ I wonder if she gave me my Bond?

“Does everyone have a Bond? Can it change? How is someone’s Bond chosen?” I fire off several questions.

“Slow down, Little Aly.” Mom pats my head and ruffles my hair. “Yes, anything with a soul, has a Bond. Even plants have Bonds. As far as we know, it cannot be changed. As for what determines someone Bond… well we aren’t sure. We know it can be passed down from parent to child but there are many other factors that is at play.”

So Bonds are hearedical, but maybe the environment has influence too? 

“Are there many with beauty Bonds too?” I ask, trying to find out if worship of Myrou might have a factor in what Bond someone might get.

“Yes. Many priests have beauty and creativity Bonds.”

“What about something like… uhh…” I look around for an essence not related to anything I’ve seen anyone do. “Death Bond?” I say, seeing some life essence, and decided to ask about its opposite.

“Hmm..” Mom hums in thought. “ That’s really rare. I don’t think I heard of anyone with a death Bond.”

Assuming no influence from any sources, a Bond should be random, right? And I am not baselessly speculating here. Bonds are a connection to an element or essence, which is what mana has a connection too. Mana produced and leaked out by people is generally random, as all sorts of essences and elements are produced. However, what is actually produced is influenced by many factors, from worship, to emotions. It might be that bonds are very similar so this begs the question, did Myrou give me a beauty Bond intentionally? Or was it coincidence?

Her boon could have influenced what Bond I have, or not. Maybe I am just like many who just happened to get a beauty Bond. I ask all this because I want to know what her ‘gift of beauty’ is, Mom probably doesn’t know, but maybe a priest does?

In any case, this mystery can wait. My plate is already full between learning spells and mana.

“How do I get better with my Bond?” I ask, returning to the main topic.

“Practice.” Mom answers. “That's enough for now. You’ve already practiced today, so you should play for the rest of the day.”

But this is playing for me. I complain inwardly.

We go to the baths, where Mom tells Dad what happened.

“You are such a genius!” Dad crushes me with a hug.

Why do they keep trying to squeeze the air out me me?! I lament in my thoughts.

When we return home, Mom announces that she has a present for me.

A present? What could it be? I muse. Mom is holding a thin book, but I don’t see anything else. Is my present a book? Why a book?

I tilt my head. “What is it?” I ask.

“It’s a skill book!” Mom says with a wide smile.

A skill book? A skill book! I can learn more about my skill! I feel my tail start to wag uncontrollably as excitement fills me.

“Unfortunately, it doesn’t have much, only five breakthroughs, but you might still be able to learn something from them.”

My excitement dies down a little, I already have four breakthroughs, but I hope the book has a couple of different ones. 

Mom starts reading me the first chapter, which is a general overview. The first three listed breakthrough I already have, to sense high concentration of mana, and to differentiate between ambient mana and mana in objects, and to differentiate between elemental mana. The last two are one that I don’t have yet! It makes me giddy to know that I can gain two more breakthroughs! The two are to sense different amounts of mana within an object, and to expand my field of vision, just what I needed!

In addition to two breakthroughs, the book also covers how to get some of the levels. Not all the levels, so I’ll have to learn the rest myself but that’s not a bad thing; I love studying mana, and experimenting with it, so I hope to have a productive next couple of years learning spells and mana.