Morning came fast and the sun quickly rose. The sun's rays seeped through Alya's window and landed on her face. Her hair seemed to glimmer under the light, as well as her delicate face which appeared to be transparent.

Seconds later, her eyelids flew open to reveal glowing fiery orbs that sparkled under the sun's reflective rays. She quickly shielded her face from the sudden brightness with a groan.

"Where am I?"

Her eyes were hazy, and the rest of her senses were still numb from sleep. She slowly scanned her surroundings but found nothing familiar.

She wasn't in her room anymore?

She rubbed her eyes, confused by what was going on. She unconsciously touched the bed with her palm, it was surprisingly soft.

"Huh?"

She slowly glanced over at the window beside her and peeped through it. She gazed at the scene of what seemed to be a charming old-world village, with the streets bustling with strange-looking people in archaic attire.

It took her a while to fully grasp what she was seeing. Her once hazy eyes became bloodshot at the sudden realization.

"So it's not a dream........"

'I had really died.....'

With a frown, Alya slowly sat back down on the soft and comfy bed. Her brows then furrowed as she pondered deeply.

She had indeed died on earth and had reincarnated into another world, a world full of magic and monsters.

She had consciously pinched herself just in case, but nothing happened, she only felt the pain and had caused a small bruise on her forearm.

This was undeniably real. She had reincarnated.

She had surely seen an old man flying in the air and was taken home by a mysterious cat girl.

'Mysterious indeed.......' she muttered cautiously as she bit her nails.

Her sudden thought made her senses go numb.

"Nyx......."

In Alya's way of thinking, it was definitely strange. Why would someone who knew nothing about her easily take her in, feed her, and use her own money to buy tons of things for her, with no ulterior motives?

Alya couldn't shake the thoughts from her mind, the idea had reached her countless times within a single day.

Nyx was a strange girl she had just met the moment she appeared in Dosir. A girl she knew nothing about, from a world she knew nothing of. A girl that could no doubt kill her if she wanted to. It seemed too good to be true.

She had really let her guard down in just one day. What if Nyx had murdered her while she slept, or maybe she had planned to sell her off to the so-called 'teacher' she talked about yesterday?

Her breath ceased the moment she felt Nyx's dense and chaotic aura for the first time. Alya did not know how she could see it, but she did, for a brief moment. Alya's thoughts were all over the place, she could feel a shiver go down her spine.

She had gotten too relaxed, just because she had left her world and had reincarnated into a fantasy one. As long as there were people, there was danger. Alya felt conflicted; she didn't know whether to stay or to run away.

'Can I even run away? Even if I could, where would I go?'

She felt hopeless; she knew absolutely nothing; she was more defenseless, even more so than a child.

The only thing she could do was sit and wait; maybe she was overthinking it.

Alya unconsciously glanced over at the drawer beside her bed, her eyes narrowed at the wooden box perched on top.

"......."

Her body unconsciously moved towards it and her hands reached out. She held on to the wooden jewelry box that was perched on the drawer. Her fingers played with the delicate carvings etched on the surface until she stopped at a keyhole in the middle. Her other hand felt the other side of the box until it stopped at a certain spot then pulled out a small silver key.

She placed the key into the keyhole and then turned it gently until she heard the click of the latch. The box opened up to reveal the beautiful jewelry she had gotten yesterday. Alya didn't have the time to admire their beauty at the moment. Instead, she dug through it until she reached the bottom of the box to find what she was looking for.

Slowly she pulled out a silver dagger from the bottom.

With a steady grip, she held the weapon while carefully placing the box back on top of the drawer. Her eyes closely examined the short blade, contemplating its sharpness while her fingers delicately traced the edge of the blade before coming to rest at its pointed tip.

"Just in case.........."

She played with the dagger for a while before she placed it back at the bottom of the box.

Alya quickly got up from the bed and rushed to the door. She needed to go to the bathroom. She had forgotten to ask where it was yesterday, she also needed a bath.

She opened the door which led to the hallway, then glanced at the three doors confusedly. Nyx's room was beside hers, which meant the bathroom could be one of the two doors opposite hers.

She rushed to the one facing Nyx's door and tried to open it, but unfortunately, it was locked. She grunted as she tried pushing and pulling, but all was in vain.

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'Why is it locked?'

The door was engraved with strange carvings, possibly a language or symbol, but she couldn't figure it out.

She didn't think much about it, as it wasn't her business. She walked to the other door and turned the knob. Luckily for her, the door opened so she quickly ran inside, but found another strange scene in front of her.

The room was made with solid stone walls and a stone floor and had two windows placed opposite each other, allowing natural light to flood in. There was a big bathtub attached to the wall, with two small stones attached to the edge.

The stones had strange carvings, one in blue, and the other in red. And in between them was a small hole.

On the other side was a stone sink and a mirror on the wall, right above it. The sink was the same as the one in the kitchen.

And at the far corner of the room was a stone structure, which looked like a toilet. the same stone with blue carvings was embedded on top. There was some toilet paper at the side, but no water.

Alya was so confused; the bathroom looked so simple yet so complex. She stood there flustered and also irked.

"What is this?"

"What's what?" A faint and lazy voice asked casually.

Alya's body jolted, she quickly turned to find Nyx staring at her with a white towel draped around her shoulder. Alya felt somewhat relieved, yet also scared at the same time. She hesitantly walked over to where Nyx was with her head lowered in fear and shame.

"Um........how does this work?"

"The bathroom?" Nyx asked with a raised brow, unsure of what she was talking about.

Alya nodded.

Nyx lazily stared down at Alya.

'.......'

'Is her world really that different from ours?'

Nyx silently walked towards the tub and touched the stone with red carvings.

Suddenly, the red carvings glowed brightly, causing hot water to gush forth from the small hole into the tub.

Alya was dumbstruck, her gaze was fixed on the flowing water. Hot steam filled the room as hot water continued to fill the tub. Before the tub was halfway full, Nyx withdrew her hand from the stone, stopping the flowing water.

"This only works when one infuses mana into the stones," Nyx stated as she placed her hand on the stone with blue carvings. The carvings glowed like the former one, but cold water gushed out instead.

"Whoa!"

"Mhmm," Nyx muttered, then walked towards the toilet-like structure. She touched the only stone there, and as expected, it glowed. And water flushed out.

"These stones are called Mana stones, they work by infusing mana into them. By the carvings, you can tell its function. You'll learn more about them later. Do you understand?" Nyx asked gently, like a teacher talking to her pupil.

"What's mana?" Alya curiously asked.

"To put it in layman's terms, Mana is the energy that surrounds us and is within us, it's the source of magic and our abilities. Without it, magic wouldn't exist.

"Then how do I use it?" Alya raised her palms then stared intently at them, then at the tub. She needed to learn as much as possible. While she was in thought, Nyx suddenly grabbed her hand and led her to the tub, then placed Alya's hand on the stone with blue carvings.

"Try to sense the flow of mana within you. Once you do, focus that mana at one part of your body, in this situation, your palm, flowing into the stone."

"How do I do that?"

Unexpectedly, Nyx raised her index finger and pressed her fingertip on Alya's forehead.

"Since it's your first time, I'll help you, just this once."

The moment Nyx said that Alya suddenly felt a rush of warmth flow from Nyx's fingers to her forehead.

"Just focus, don't get distracted."

Alya reluctantly did as she was told, she closed her eyes and tried to focus on nothing else. Nyx's voice was heard moments later.

"Good. Since you're a fire type, you should feel a rush of warmth flow from your forehead to the rest of your body."

"I've made it easier for you to sense your mana; all you need to do now is find your core."

"How do I do that?" Alya frowned, feeling stumped.

"Figure it out."

"...."

Alya followed the flow of mana from Nyx's fingertip to the rest of her body. The moment she reached her heart, the warmth quickly spread forth towards every part of her body, from her bones to her muscles, arteries, veins, organs, and even her blood.

Alya felt it was extremely warm around her abdomen.

She followed the flow of mana towards her abdomen. As soon as she reached her abdomen, a large glowing ball of fire caught her gaze. The object in front of her resembled the sun up close, swirling around in one place and casting an extraordinarily blazing glow amidst the darkness.

Surrounded by the swirling ball of flames were countless streams of mana that looked like fire, flowing from all directions like a blazing river. It was a jaw-dropping sight to behold; Alya could only sigh in awe at its flaring beauty.

"Have you found it?" Nyx inquired with her finger still pressed on Alya's forehead.

"I have."

"What does it look like?"

"A giant blazing sphere, surrounded by streams of fire."

Alya's words caused Nyx's finger, as well as her body, to stiffen; a moment after, her features slowly softened as her lips gently curved up, intrigued.

'Intriguing.........'

"Good, you're doing well." Nyx's soft voice echoed.

"Is this what everyone's core looks like?"

"Not at all. Everyone's core is different. Most beast-kin cores are very ordinary compared to ours." Nyx lazily answered with a yawn.

But yours in particular.............is very peculiar."

Nyx exerted more pressure on the finger touching Alya's forehead.

"It is?"

"Very much so......."

"Is it because I'm not from here?"

"Maybe........but we'll talk about that later. Don't lose focus."

Alya went silent.

"Now that you've found your core........."

Nyx slowly withdrew her finger from Alya's forehead, stopping the flow of her mana into Alya. Her once swirling, hot, and blazing core felt warm and dormant the moment mana stopped flowing.

"Concentrate on starting the outflow of your mana from your core."

Alya did as she was told. She focused on her dormant fire core. Moments later, her body temperature slowly began to rise.

Her core was gradually becoming warmer and was also turning brighter. The flames surrounding her core rekindled and slowly spun around. Soon enough, hot streams of blazing mana gushed forth from her flaming core towards every part of her body.

As her mana traveled through her bones, muscles, veins, and blood, her body's temperature got even higher.

"Very good. Now, try to focus on the mana around your palm, flowing into the stone."

"Am I doing it right?" Alya asked, unsure.

Nyx stared at the blue carvings on the stone. Sure enough, the runes glowed, and cold water gushed out of the hole and into the tub.

"See for yourself." Nyx lips slightly quirked up.

Alya was a bit hesitant to open her eyes, but she had to. She slowly opened them and the moment she did, her ears and tail perked up.

"I did it."

"Yeah..........way to go junior."

Alya was so excited she could burst.

Suddenly, the mana stone Alya was infusing her mana into started to vibrate slowly.

Both girls quickly noticed the sudden change.

"Um...... what's going on with it?" Alya's eyes stared intently at the stone as she asked.

"Hmm......I think it's about to explode......" Nyx nonchalantly stated.

"WHAT!!?..."

Alya found herself frozen in shock as the mana stone erupted in an explosion, sending a rush of freezing water all over as stone shards scattered in all directions.

Nyx's reflexes kicked in instinctively as she evaded the cold splash of the water within a fraction of a second then swiftly and effortlessly caught a piece of the stone hurtled towards her mid-air.

Nyx nonchalantly stared at the stone in her hand, then at the wet stone floor where she found her towel sprawled on.

With a small frown, she picked up her now-drenched towel and held it in the air while cold water continuously dripped to the floor. With slightly narrowed eyes, she sighed.

"Guess I can't use this anymore........."

Amid her little distress, she reached out and brushed aside the drooping wet towel that obstructed her view, revealing Alya, who, unlike Nyx, was completely drenched.

Her cold body trembled under her soaked, freezing clothes that clung to her skin, and drenched red hair that stuck to her face. The shock left her momentarily frozen in place, her breathing came out in short, shallow bursts as she gazed far off with bloodshot eyes. Her discomfort was evident.

Nyx's face went poker at the sorry sight.

"......"

The room was awkwardly silent.

Moments later Nyx held the drooping towel towards Alya.

"Guess you can't use it either........"