The next morning comes all too soon. My last day before battle. Emily is working on my hair. I'm sitting off the side of my bed. I don't really know if I slept well last night or not. I've been so wrapped up in my own head, it's kind of hard to tell.

My last day. What can I accomplish today?

"Hey, Aria?" Emily asks.

"Yeah?"

"Are you worried about something? You seem... tense."

"Yeah..." That's all I say at first. I bite my lip. Part of me wants to talk about this in private, but it's eating me up inside. I don't know if I'll be able to wait that long. "I found out what I have to do." I feel her hands freeze behind me. Our roommates glance over, but they don't have the context to know what we're talking about.

"That's... a good thing, right?" I nod a little, trying not to move too much as she resumes working, more slowly now. "Is there something else then?"

"Yeah..." I take deep breaths, trying to keep myself calm, even as worried tears try to force their way out. "It's... It's tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?!" Emily gasps. Now everyone is listening intently.

"What's tomorrow?" Eve asks from the next bed.

I give a forced smile. "I have something to do."

"Are you sure it's tomorrow?" Emily asks.

"Yeah." I've thought it over already. While there are supposed to be about eleven days left until the battle, I know that it will take place during a full moon. If it was going to be two weeks from now, there's no reason Reena would need to give me a vision about it, rather than just waiting until church to tell me. If it's tomorrow, I won't have the opportunity to talk to her again before then.

"I see..." she mutters. Our roommates slowly lose interest as we continue to sit in silence. One by one, they head out for breakfast. When Emily is done with my hair, I finish removing the last bit of earth mana from her, and we go down as well.

As soon as we arrive for breakfast, I realize that word of last night's incident has already spread through the house. I glance down, seeing that the water on the floor has dried up at least. But I can hear kids mentioning hearing things quietly to each other, and lots of eyes follow me as I go.

"Umm, what happened?" Emily asks in a quiet voice as we sit at the table before breakfast.

"About that..." I glance around a little. "They probably all heard Mister Fredricson shouting at me last night..."

"Why was he...?" she starts to ask, then just puts her hand to her head, shaking it sadly.

"Well, it's related to what I told you earlier. I'll explain... later." She nods quickly. Every other child in close proximity is definitely listening right now.

So we eat and get ready, just like any other day, and head out to the forest. Today my goal is to work out the basics of the mixed mana types, seeing if I can find out if they're all unique or if they're just simple combinations of other mana types. From there, I'll see if there are any last moment discoveries I can make or plans I can come up with. Oh right, I also want to test out the new air mana and see if any of its effects will be useful in battle... I should probably start with that actually, before I get into the more difficult tests.

As we walk through town, I continue to think things through. I've identified seven types of mana. Four of them seem to have effects on my mind and body. Air, fire, lightning, and earth. Well, I still have no idea about air, but it would fit the pattern. I'll figure that out later. Are there any connections I can draw between them? If I can figure out something like that, it might help me nail down where to focus my tests and what to look for. The most obvious connection I can draw is the emotions. So far, each one has had an effect on one of my main emotions. Happiness, fear, and anger. I can understand how fire lines up with anger, and lightning sort of makes sense for fear now that I've experienced it myself, but I still don't see how earth relates to happiness.

So for air, what might it be? I think for a bit, but can't get anything to come to mind. As far as the big, primary emotions I've grown accustomed to feeling go, I can only think of happiness, sadness, anger, and fear. That just leaves sadness, but I just don't get the feeling like air would be that. Air just doesn't really feel sad. I mean, there are lots of other emotions, not to mention that they affect things that aren't just emotional, but just like, in my head. Like intuition and honesty. I wouldn't really call them emotions, but they're definitely things that happen in my mind.

Then there are the smaller, more specialized emotions, like worry and anxiety too. I've only lined that one up with earth so far though. Let's see, I've figured out two physical effects and three mental effects with earth. Three physical effects and one mental effect with fire. Two physical and two mental effects from lightning.

None of the numbers line up... Either there are different numbers of different effects from different mana types, or there are more effects I've missed. Fire for instance. I don't know anything beyond it making me angry, since I had to abort my very first test with it.

Well, besides all of that, I have been able to find that each mana type increases the effectiveness of one of my senses. With three already taken, that just leaves sight and hearing. No, I should still test all five just in case, I think to myself. I've been searching for patterns, but who knows if the ones I've found will hold true or not? I can't dismiss things too early, or I'll end up missing more ideas that should be obvious.

Thankfully, we reach our hunting spot for the day without any trouble, or anyone following us again. Once we get set up, I prepare myself to start testing. First things first, I do my sense test. I take a nuvrite coin and the glass, and use the glass to create air mana. But I stop after a moment. Like some of the metal, it has an effect on the glass. As soon as I let the mana flow through the nuvrite, the glass just seems to disappear. But when I stop, it appears again, just like it was.

I hold the coin further away, slowly bringing it near the glass to watch as the effect gets stronger and stronger as it enters the field. Bit by bit, the glass grows more faint as I move the coin closer. So the stronger the effect, the more invisible the glass becomes? I try holding it in my hand while it's invisible, turning it around a little. I can still touch it, even when I can't see it. Sometimes I can just barely see the faint bit of an edge, but for the most part, it becomes completely invisible after applying a moderately strong mana field to it.

I have no idea how I might make use of that yet, but I'll leave it for now. I don't have the time or money to get more glass anyway. I continue with my sense test. Looks like air also follows the pattern of one sense per mana type, enhancing my sight this time.

"Ooh..." I gawk, staring down at the ground below. The green of the little leaves of bushes and blades of grass is so clear... I can make out the rippling texture down their lengths. Then I look below them, picking out clumped grains of dirt, and even spot a tiny little insect skittering slowly through the brush on tons of teeny tiny legs.

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I shake my head. It almost feels like I see too much like this. "Moving on, moving on," I mutter. I make sure to test the others briefly, seeing the same expected results: no changes to anything else. With that out of the way, it's on to the physical tests.

However, it's difficult to test the physical changes when I'm sitting here like this, I wonder if there's a way...? I was only able to figure out lightning related to breathing and fire related to fatigue by running. Think, think... Hearts and lungs are vital organs, muscles aren't. If I still want to assume this all follows some sort of pattern, there should be a vital organ related to earth, but I don't know what it is... Leaving that for now, what vital organ would relate to air?

No, I'm still thinking about this wrong. Rather than focus on what organ it may or may not actually have some effect on, which besides things like my heart and lungs I have no idea how I would even be able to feel the difference... Let's focus on the way it will affect what I can actually do. For earth, it's muscle strength. Lightning may come from the lungs, but its effect is on my breathing, so I don't run short of breath. Fire gives me energy so I don't get tired. So what does air actually do for me?

Let's go over the possibilities that might matter in battle. If it's not one of those, I can probably just figure it out later. For battle... Of course the ones that are already covered are really helpful. Since Reena told me that I have to focus on defending rather than attacking, energy and breathing will be great for running away. And muscle strength will let me run away faster.

What about air? What other part of my body do I use for things like that? Leaving aside my muscles and the energy they use, I also have my bones and the joints which hold them together. Bones are hard and durable, I feel like they don't really relate to air... What about my joints? They are what let me bend and flex. Is air... flexible?

I don't know. I've never really thought about air that much. It's just all around. I breathe it, it's sort of always there. Well, the air is what makes wind, so it can definitely blow around. If I wave my hand in front of myself, I can feel the air blow into my face. There is definitely something there, it's just invisible. Invisible like the glass when it reacts with mana... The connection immediately becomes apparent, but I have no way of knowing what it might mean, so I just leave it for now.

So air is composed of something. It can move and blow around, sort of like how water can flow. That brings my thoughts to an abrupt halt. Water? It feels like all the pieces connect at once. The water on the floor last night. And the water on the ground in town after it rained. And even the water soaked into the dirt here. It all dries up. What does that mean? What is 'drying up?' The water can't just disappear, can it? Wouldn't all the water everywhere vanish eventually if that happened?

No, it rains, that brings the water back. But where does all that water come from? I learned that Saras is the god with power over the weather, does that mean he just creates more water to replace what dries up?

No no, that can't be it. Remember, Arcanas is The Goddess of Creation. Only she can create something from nothing. So all that water must come from somewhere. Then my mind jumps back over to my last thoughts. We dry all of our clothes using the air and wind. Could it be that the water doesn't just disappear, it becomes invisible, like the glass did, and gets blown away by the wind?

Could it be that the air and wind are actually water that has disappeared? "Hmm..." I scratch my head a little. How should I know? Is there even a way to figure out something like that? For that matter, why do we breathe air but not water?

Wait, that's right. I know firsthand, you definitely can't breathe water. So air shouldn't just be water. Unless becoming invisible somehow also makes it so we can breathe it?

Aren't I getting a little off track? The logical part of my mind finally kicks in and reminds me that my curiosity has carried me a long way from what I'm trying to figure out right now. That's right, I was trying to figure out what parts of my body, and what I can do, how those may be affected by air mana. My rambling thoughts have me even more convinced it shouldn't do anything with my bones, which I can't test anyway. Breaking a bone the day before battle would absolutely ensure my death.

So let's go with joints for now, I'll try to come up with more after that. Since I already have a whole bunch of air mana, I just stick my leg out along the branch in front of me and bend to touch my toes. I'm already flexible, but... this is definitely different. I lie my entire body down on my leg easily. Did I actually just guess it in one try?

Let's see... I stretch my other leg straight out behind me to do a full split on the branch while balancing with my arms. Still no problem...

So I sit up straight, grab my front leg, and pull it up toward my chest, still holding it out straight. I can only lift it a little before it starts to feel like I'm stretching. When I reach the limit where the stretch just starts to become a bit painful, my front leg is most of the way up to my chest as I sit up. Way past a full split. That feels like as far as I can stretch like this, so I release my foot and let it come down on the branch in front of me.

"Ok, I have to ask. What are you doing now?" Emily asks from behind.

I turn back when she suddenly speaks up. "Oh, I figured out that air mana makes me more flexible."

"Ahh... I see..." She gives a conflicted smile. "Well, you should probably fix your skirt..." And she points.

"Hmm?" I look down to see that all the stretching has pushed my skirt up so it's all bunched up at my waist. "R-right," I stammer, blushing and pushing up from the branch so I'm not doing a split anymore, and quickly straighten out my skirt. Well, that won't be an issue in battle at least, but... will more flexibility help? Maybe somewhat, for dodging... I consider the thought, but so far I get the impression this one will be the least useful in combat.

"Umm, Aria?"

"Yes?"

"Why are you hugging me?" It seems that while my mind was wandering, I went over and hugged Emily.

"I wanted to say thanks for telling me about my skirt," I say while rubbing my cheek against hers. "Wait." I suddenly stop. This definitely isn't normal. It must be the air mana. More silly or something?

"Umm..." Emily is sweating just a little, smiling awkwardly at my weird behavior as usual.

"Ooh!" My attention is suddenly diverted by movement. I spot a hobin approaching and leap out of the tree. I land on the hobin, knocking it out. Then spin back, holding it up for her to see. "Look, I got one!" Emily stares at me, blinking a few times. But something else catches my eye, and I duck down to the ground. A long way off, I spot another hobin moving through the brush, its dark coat catching the few bits of stray light that break through the dense treetops above.

I glance around, spotting a few others, picking out the light jostle of brush and leaves, their movements too sudden for the breeze to have caused them. I can track their movement from the slight rustles, the connection of separate swaying leaves, moving aside and shaking as they pass. They form lines, describe the motions of the small animals as they go. Every twitch of movement is perfectly clear, laid out in front of me in an instant.

Dashing off that way, I hear Emily call, "Aria?!"

I slip behind a tree, waiting a few moments for one of the hobins to go past, and grab it. It goes down, and I dart over to another bush. I can see the outward spiral this group of hobins is moving in. I can definitely catch them, no problem! Lying on the ground, the next hobin ducks into this bush right in front of me. It jolts when it sees me right here, waiting for it, but I've already grabbed it.

Now with two hobins in my arms, I run over to the next area, dodging past a very spiky bush with lots of painful looking red thorns. I stop near an open area and glance around. No suitable cover nearby. So I put the two hobins in my mouth to free up my hands, and run up a tree. I clamber along the branches on all fours, staring down until I see another hobin darting across the open area below.

My pulse quickens as I leap after it.

"Aria?!" Emily's cry comes from nearby, causing the hobin to stop briefly, so my leap takes me too far. Rolling my body in midair, I manage to get a hand on it as I come down a little bit in front of it, grabbing it and rolling from the extra momentum, right into a bush.

"Aria?!" Emily calls one more time as I work to get myself untangled. Once I have my feet under me again, I pop out of the bush in front of her. "A-Aria?" she stammers. "Umm... What are you doing?"

Standing here with two hobins hanging out of my mouth and one in my hands, I wonder to myself.

What am I doing?