After a brief interrogation, and I mean truly brief, I had my answers. Like everything so far, it seems that even this supposedly supernatural mana was easy to access.

And so, as Aiden went to sleep, I found myself meditating. Now, he said something about focusing on your breathing and looking inwards, but I don’t breathe and already know that inside me is the soul spark I accidentally got. So, I suppose I’ll have to figure something out on my own. Still, if it’s so easy for humans, and it’s supposed to be even easier for Familiars, then I’ll get it in no time.

Hmm, so what have I actually seen of mana so far? I quickly run through everything that I’ve experienced so far and eventually arrive at one conclusion. That rude transportation fella that teleported must have used magic, or rather, mana!

Aha, ok. So, how did that feel again? If I remember correctly, then just before we teleported, it felt like being enveloped in something, something familiar. But what did that feeling remind me of? Well, there was also a similar sensation to being summoned, and when that happens the… mist… envelops me. Was that mist mana all along?

Ok, doesn’t really matter if they are one and the same, at least not for now. What does matter is whether or not it behaves similarly. Then again, all I know about the mist is that it swirls around when I pass through it.

I try to access my mana for the rest of the night, but no matter what I do, I cannot seem to get there. How can I do it if there isn’t any here?! Or if there is, without perceiving it?

Morning comes and I’m still none the wiser. So, out of ideas, I ask Aiden to release some mana into the air. He agrees, and yet nothing happens. Still, he swears that he did as I asked of him, so obviously the problem is with my perception. We try for the rest of the day, occasionally taking breaks to go over some passages in the book and further polishing our skill in that, yet at the end I am still manaless.

So, seeing as I am all out of ideas and the book is frankly useless in this, head to the only place I know. The headmaster’s office.

The flight there is once again magical and exhilarating. Approaching the small window once again, I see the familiar duo inside, so I bump into it to alert them.

The head master, tired as he is, still lets me in and I begin my signature circling. Eventually, I ask my question.

“How do I access my mana? Or how do I see it all?” And then, directed purely at Grintoa, the squirrel-snail hybrid, I add, “is the mist mana?”

The headmaster is content doing his work and so it is Grintoa that answers me, after a very rude snort. “No, the mist is not mana. Seriously, someone needs to teach to you unformed ones. And you’re seriously having trouble sensing mana? You’re not from a material world, your perception isn’t made for it. Just stop seeing the material and it’ll become obvious. As for accessing your own mana? Maybe try breathing a bit.”

Honestly, that’s just rude. I’ve barely been alive; how can it expect me to know all this? Or maybe it is that my instincts are supposed to guide through this. That would be bad, since I’m not getting anything from them.

As I’m about to leave though, Grintoa lazily adds, “Just remember that you aren’t from here.”

Frustrated, I leave and settle on the roof of a different tower. After checking if there’s anyone inside of course. Who do they think they are, lording their knowledge over me like that. Do they know no manners? I would have expected more from the academy’s headmaster and his Familiar.

Still, it’s couldn’t hurt to try what they recommended me. Ok ok, I am not from here. Well obviously, I’m from the noble spirit realm! But apparently this is something called a material world? Weird, very weird. Ok, so let’s just try to see the world as I do when home, that should be hard?

And as I slowly focus on my perception, I realize that who know when it became all stiff, as if I were constantly straining it. Is this what Grintoa meant? I slowly relax, and as I do my vision starts to… darken? Shatter? I don’t know, but it’s slowly replaced by the gently glow of a familiar yet strange mist. Unlike the mist of the spirit realm, this one is much thinner and instead of glowing silvery white, it glows a pale blue.

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Slowly, carefully, so as to not disturb my new vision, I look around and see a completely new scenery. The walls of the academy are practically spotlights compared to the air. The few people about at his hour in the surrounding city aren’t that bright, yet they are magnificent in their own way, the mana moving throughout them at different speeds.

And as I look inward, I realize that I too am full of mana. Almost too full, I’d say. It’s almost as if I were at least half made out of mana. Is this why familiars have such an easy time of learning magic? Other than the fact that we are built to perceive it of course.

Ok, headmaster and Grintoa, you are mostly forgiven. This is truly amazing.

Then, what about your second piece of advice? Breathe a little? What does that even mean? I don’t breathe. Then again, when combined with the fact that I’m not from here… What do I breathe? Was I breathing something in the spirit realm that I stopped here, similarly to my perception?

I might as well try it. So, I try pull. On what, I do not know. I try to pull something into me, and surprisingly, it actually works. Soon, a mote of mana is absorbed by me, and at that point instincts took over. At least I know that I do have them.

I pull in more and more mana until I’m full. Then, still guided by my instincts, I slowly start to release it again. This though goes much slower, and I notice that not as much is leaving as went in.

Happy that I finally figured it out, and with the instinct provided knowledge that I’ll have to wait some time before repeating the process, I head back to our room. Though I once again forgot about the window, so I’m stuck outside ‘till sunrise.

Which doesn’t take long to arrive, seeing as I spent of the night outside anyway. I once again bump into the window and soon Aiden opens it and lets me in.

The rest of the day is normal, back to our routine of practicing with the book, though we do have a little celebration when I share that I figured it out.

With this little victory of mine, my mind comes back to its previous mystery. How do I get a cool body like the other spirits I’ve seen? Yes, Grintoa said that I should wait and it’ll come naturally, or something along those lines, but I still want to know. And if it’s anything like the mystery of growth, then there’s a good probability that Aiden know a bit about this too.

“Hey, hey Aiden!” I speak and startle Aiden out of his book reading. Seriously, you’ve read that so many time already, you can stop now.

“Do you know how I can get a different body? Like the other Familiars?”

A brief look of concentration crosses his face, but he soon come out of it with, what is hopefully, an answer.

“As far as I know it happens simultaneously with an advancement.”

“Ooh, that sound interesting. What’s that? When will I get mine?”

“Oh, um, it’s when you practice magic, edification according to this book, for long enough. At some there’s a jump or something like that, when you suddenly get a lot better. Sorry, most people don’t know much about this stuff.” Ha, it’s nice when he goes into lecture mode. He sounds much more confident then. “As for how long till you reach yours. Well, uh, that’s never certain, but most people who only just started practicing expect to do so in less than a month. Just in time for the academy to officially open.”

Good, that’s very good. I won’t have to show myself in front of the other spirits in my unformed state. Hmm, but he did say practicing magic, not just growth.

“Hey Aiden!” I start once again. Maybe that should be my catchphrase? Or maybe some more generic, like: Hey, hear! Who knows, but for now I actually do have to ask Aiden something. “Do you know any magic? You know, to practice so that I can do this advancement thing sooner.”

Turns out that he does know a couple of what he called basic spells. So, the rest of the day was spent with him teaching me magic. And guess what? I’m a genius at it, if I do say so myself. I picked it up after only a couple of tries. Admittedly, they aren’t revolutionary spells, but I now can produce I little bit of heat, cold, push or pull light objects and create a very weak light. Which is a bit useless considering that I am a much stronger light than what that spell can produce.

And so our time was spent, each day practicing magic, our bond and growth, which I am refusing to call edification. At night I sometimes stayed in the room and imitated sleep, and sometime went out to a night time stroll. Is it still a stroll if I am flying? Slowly the days, and for me nights, passed and the opening day of the academy approached.

A week before we must have read the book at least a dozen times. We knew all the intricacies of our bond and could cast all the spells Aiden knew even in our sleep.

Five days till opening day, and I began to slowly grow nervous. I still hadn’t advanced, and my time grew ever shorter. I asked Aiden if I would know if I am close to it, but he just said that before the first advancement most people can’t tell.

Three days, and I was constantly anxious, awaiting it to happen at any moment. Yet, it never came.

The last day before the start of the school year, I resigned myself to my fate. All the spirits, nay, all the humans even would know that I’m an unformed spirit, barely out of the metaphorical womb. Aiden tried to reassure me that it was fine, but I could sense that even he was a bit worried about my lack of progress.

And then, at the morning of the day, when I still hadn’t change one iota, I fully resigned myself to my fate and hid away inside Aiden.