Jiran skimmed the three books while sitting at a nearby desk. His frustration mounted with each page he turned.

These books are useless. Might as well call this one; A Child’s Primer on the Mana Body. I don’t want basic information like what tier you unlock it, but actual useful instruction!

Jiran took a deep breath and calmed himself. Flipping through the third book, he was once again disappointed in the lack of useful information.

More of the same. The mana body is unlocked at the fifth Tier. It’s much harder to control than molding, shaping, or casting. Here’s something interesting.

“In order to use the mana body, one must first form a connection. This process has been recounted by scholars as being similar to convincing an unruly child to perform a task they do not wish to attempt, using only your eyes to communicate.”

I don’t remember it being that hard when I started. There was that flashback of memories from when I was a baby until my first tiering. Is that what this author is talking about?

“Before a connection is formed, the mana body will only react instinctively to fluctuations in the user's emotional states.”

That makes sense, emotions are the cornerstone of communicating with mana. It’s not mentioning anything about the sensations of the mana body, being able to see, feel, and think through the connection like it’s another brain. Is that a bonus I received from accessing my mana body early?

“Once a connection is established, basic functions of the mana body can be called up.”

Okay, what are the basic functions!?

The rest of the book was historical references to individuals who had achieved above-average success at controlling their mana bodies. It gave no indication of what they had done exactly, or how they had done it. Jiran closed the book, slightly frustrated.

He drummed his fingers on the cover.

So, the books here are a dead end, what’s my next move? I should try the citizen library or the academy next.

A girl his age at a nearby table glanced at his rhythmic drumming nervously. Jiran looked her way, feeling bad for disturbing her. The apology on his lips was never spoken.

She was stunning. Light blue hair framed her tiny, oval face which housed delicate, smooth skin and a cute upturned nose. Her full lips formed an O shape as she stared at him with large brown eyes.

Her wide-eyed state of alarm and beautiful features were not what arrested Jiran’s attention. His eyes brushed over her features before traveling further up to the top of her head.

As if a beacon had been lit, his aura senses converged on the tightly packed mana that covered her ears, all the way up to a space thirty centimeters above her.

His naked eyes could not pierce the mana camouflage she had wrapped around her skull. However, there was no fooling his mana body.

The girl before him had the ears of a mouse.

Without stopping to think, Jiran thoroughly ran his aura over the girl. He found a mouse’s tail wrapped tightly around her waist. As well as more mana covering her nose to disguise the brown tip and gently waving whiskers that sprouted from it.

The intense scrutiny did not escape the target of his attention. She shot to her feet, now in a full-blown panic. The moment of dismay was all it took to unravel her carefully wrought disguise.

She flung the hood of her cloak over her head and bolted toward the stairs.

Jiran stood from his own seat, staring at the girl’s retreating back. A soft-looking tail poked out cutely from behind her as she ran. It slightly lifted the hem of her cloak as it twitched back and forth with each step she took.

Jiran’s brain, capable of multiple thoughts simultaneously, rapid-fired thoughts as he watched the girl leap down the stairs.

There are only humans in the empire, so what is she?

Only a blind man wouldn't notice a tail flapping around like that.

She was disguised so she didn't want to be discovered.

Is she some kind of experiment? Is there a secret clan of beast people out there somewhere? Is she a spy for another race outside of the empire?

I totally blew her cover.

Sighing at his library time being cut short, Jiran dashed after her.

I’ll just tell her to get that tail under control then leave her be, whatever she’s up to is none of my business.

By the time Jiran exited the building, dozens of people were staring in the direction of the cloaked girl. Her tail was still wildly flailing behind her. It was only sticking out a few inches now but an observant person would quickly realize something was very different about the retreating figure.

Jiran was about to give up and leave her be when she leaped over the low wall of the nearby residential district. When he saw two shadowy figures detach from a nearby building and chase after her, he changed his mind and leaped into a sprint.

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

Am I really running after a girl to talk to her about her tail? That sounds so creepy when I say it in my head. No, I’m only going to confirm that those are her friends, then I’m leaving. I’m definitely not chasing her, I’m not a stalker.

1. Am. Not. A. Stalker.

He absolutely felt like a stalker.

The girl was long gone by the time he crested the small wall. The two shadowy figures were three blocks away and rounded a corner just as he sighted them.

Not wanting to lose them, Jiran used his aura to create a bell nozzle of immense pressure under each of his feet, along with a large panel of pressure behind himself. He then used shaping to force a tightly controlled stream of gas out of each nozzle.

Simultaneously, he pushed mana through his fifth channel. As the mana flowed through the channel, it changed properties to form energy capable of bending light. He wrapped the new mana around himself like a blanket.

Preparations complete, Jiran ignited the gas and exploded forward. He blurred across the three-block distance in under two seconds, leaving behind a rippling in the air like a heat wave.

He came to a stop in mid-air with a generous application of his aura, while also canceling all the effects except the blanket of channeled mana obscuring him from normal sight.

Looking down, he saw the two figures catch up to the girl. They were in a dead-end alley, and the girl had her back to the far wall. Her arms were raised defensively with a dagger in each hand.

Crap, not friends then.

The men approached her with their arms raised, making soothing motions. The girl was not having it, she hissed and waved her daggers threateningly.

Jiran saw when the balance shifted. The man in the lead shrugged and stepped forward in a blur. He easily dodged her daggers and punched her in the stomach hard enough to lift her feet from the ground. Her back was slammed into the wall. The two weapons clattered to the stones beneath her.

He watched until one of the men unfolded a large sack.

That’s a step too far, buddy.

Jiran moved behind the man with the sack before dropping his obscuring layer.

“You couldn’t just talk to her? Nope, you had to pull some kidnapping crap and force me to intervene.” He said in a solemn voice as he reached out and tapped the man on his neck.

The man crumpled in a boneless heap. The fourth Tier, who had punched the girl, flipped around to regard Jiran with wary eyes.

“You better stay out of this, kid. You have no idea who you’re messing with.”

“I don’t really care who you are, even if an emperor tried to kidnap someone right in front of me, I wouldn’t stand by and watch. Take your friend and go, or you can both kiss the dirt together.”

The man didn’t respond. He lunged with all the considerable power and grace of a Tier four combatant.

There was no such thing as a fourth Tier who had not seen combat. Their reflexes and sense of danger had pulled them through hundreds of encounters with deadly beasts easily capable of killing them.

That very sense of danger, which had saved him countless times, screamed like never before as the unknown boy vanished from his sight.

The man felt the slightest prickling sensation on the back of his neck. The tickle rapidly evolved into a spike of pain that penetrated straight into his brain before the mana throughout his entire body went haywire.

Jiran watched with dispassionate eyes as the man fell face-first to the ground.

He felt and heard the girl get to her feet behind him. Jiran moved slowly as he turned to face her.

She was terrified. Her large brown eyes were wide open and darted around the alley. As her search for additional assailants among the shadows came up empty, she began to calm slightly. Until Jiran moved toward her, her breath caught and a whimper escaped her lips.

“Hey there, calm down. I’m not going to hurt you,” He kept his hands down at his sides, palms raised slightly toward her in a gesture that made it clear he was not armed.

He approached her slowly, then bent down and picked up her weapons. She stiffened, pressing her back against the wall behind her.

Geez, this is ridiculous, did I not just save you?

Holding the daggers by their blades he extended them to her.

“Here, these are yours, right?” Jiran did his best to smile at her reassuringly while speaking in a soft voice.

She looked between his face and the daggers several times before slowly reaching out and grasping the handles. Jiran let go of the weapons and took a step back.

“There you go, all better now?”

Her breathing had calmed and her eyes were no longer darting around looking for more threats. She stared right at Jiran with an intense look somewhere between confusion and frustration.

She’s just staring at me, I wish she would say something. She’s probably in shock.

Whatever, not my problem anymore. Besides, I shouldn’t leave Miila at the library unattended any longer.

“Your tail is poking out of your cloak, you should wrap it around your waist again.” Jiran felt stupid giving her advice after she had already been attacked.

He turned and started walking out of the alley back to the library when a squeaky voice sounded from behind him.

“Cease, help, crinkle?”

Jiran turned back to the girl with a baffled expression.

“What? Crinkle? What do you mean?”

She scrunched up her face in the most adorable thinking expression Jiran had ever seen. Her little whiskers waved back and forth as her nose wriggled.

Her expression brightened as if she had just recalled a wonderful memory.

“Help mine, why?”

“Why did I help you? Why not? You were in trouble and I felt partially responsible. Besides, like I told those goons, I’m not going to let someone get kidnapped right in front of me, no matter what.” He shrugged his shoulders.

Her eyebrows pressed together as he talked.

She has no idea what I’m saying, wonderful.

With a sigh, Jiran tried again.

“Me help you, good now, okay?” He pointed from himself, to the crumpled men, then to her as he spoke.

After finishing his in-depth explanation, Jiran pointed to the spot on his lower back where a tail would be if he was like her. Then he made a wrapping motion around his waist while staring at her tail.

Her tail vanished from sight in the blink of an eye and her cheeks flushed a deep crimson.

Seeing that her disguise was back in place, he gave her a thumbs-up, turned around, and walked away.