It's nice to read "Thank you" comments and replies, but I could use some constructive criticisms and the like. Well, at least there was one that did back in Chap24, and some who spotted some plot holes here and there. Aside from that, 22 users have rated my fic out of 800 (I count the least constant number of views, average views are funky), and out of those 22, two have given what they thought about it.
I would love to have better/harsher feedback regarding my fic since I also plan to submit two to six other stories here and, probably, elsewhere. So, yeah. If you find the time to give it some thought and do it, thanks.
"BTW, yeesh, over 80 unregistered guests reading my fic. Thanks for reading. (Though it is a far cry from the best rated fics on this site)." says the author as he laughs dryly with that last statement, "Anywho, have a chapter."
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"That was mana?" Aimi questioned the burning sensation that spread throughout her body.
Cavaron nodded, "Yup, despite the vast number of worlds, aside from the SciTech worlds, first time mana users feel like they are down with a fever." as he explained, "The first time I experienced it, I felt like someone dropped me in a tub of scalding hot water while having open wounds."
Aimi noticed something he mentioned, "SciTech? Science and Technology?" and asked again.
Cavaron readily explained everything to her, "There are three types of worlds: Magic worlds, SciTech worlds, and MagiTech worlds. The Terran world you came from is a SciTech world. These kinds of worlds have little to no mana. Magic worlds have a massive abundance of mana. This world, Edeortha, is a magic world as it can be seen by the mana-well we are sitting on top of."
Aimi looked down on the ground and beneath her bum when he mentioned the mana-well, "Haha, you can't feel it just yet. Give it some time and training, and you'll eventually be able to manipulate it. Moving on, MagiTech worlds have both branches of Magic and Science, albeit less advanced than the other two. To explain, we'll use rankings." Cavaron unsheathed a sword to draw on the ground.
"When it comes to SciTech worlds, their sciences and engineering puts them at the number one spot, followed by MagiTech worlds then by Magic worlds. The rankings are reversed when it comes to magic and mana manipulation with Magic worlds taking the top spot, followed by MagiTech worlds then by SciTech worlds. Now, do you notice something?"
Aimi only looked at the drawings on the ground, "MagiTech worlds are the middle ground." and answered.
"That's right. MagiTech worlds, albeit not as advanced as the other two, have the best of both SciTech and Magic worlds. Although their mana is not as much as magic worlds, and their technology is subpar compared to SciTech worlds, they have combined both and are able to handle the weaknesses of the others."
Aimi processed the information she received, "But, why the need to know this?"
Cavaron revealed a grin, "Because there are MagiTech worlds that can convert SciTech electricity into mana. Just in case we get stuck in a SciTech world, especially newbies like you, it is best to visit a MagiTech world and acquire that technology." Immediately, Cavaron opened the space by his side and pulled out a cube as big as a fist. It looked like an ordinary steel cube with nothing on it. That is, until he fed his mana into it and opened it up. The cube broke into sixteen equal pieces and revealed a mechanism inside.
"This is a Converter. So far, I have only visited two worlds with the same idea. You place this into a source of electricity and have it converted into mana as you hold it. Useful for when you're in a pinch, like getting blown off course into a SciTech world." Cavaron explained the cube to Aimi and gave it to her, "That's yours."
Aimi received the Converter, "Um, thank you, but..." with hesitation, "Why do you assume that I'm already part of the business?"
Cavaron frowned for a while but smiled immediately, "Because once you get summoned, there is no way out even after death." and rubbed Aimi's head, "Even after death, our soul travels worlds looking for the right one. And, with our souls, we retain everything because of our job."
Aimi looked at the solemn Cavaron, "Soul? Travel? You mean, reincarnation?" and asked once more.
Cavaron heard a very familiar word, "Haha, similar to that, but we keep everything. Once our bodies die, we become Soul Travelers. Essences of champions who roam worlds looking for another chance at life." and explained before having a nostalgic face, "I have been reunited with many colleagues of mine who once died years ago and were reborn in other worlds. Sadly, like I said, we cannot escape the life of being summoned champions even after death. The only plausible way to do it is to kill the gods of fate."
Cavaron tightly closed fists shook when he mentioned the gods. After a brief silence, Cavaron breathed in deeply and sighed, "Well, shall we continue with the lecture?"
Aimi silently nodded.
"Okay, you've felt your mana. We'll go into the specifics later, but we'll need to know your strengths first. Magic is divided into Fire, Ice, Thunder, Earth, Wind, Water, Light, Darkness, Space, and Time. The first six elements are Tier 1 elements, Light and Darkness are Tier 2 elements, and Space and Time are Tier 3 elements. These ten elements make up the magic we use. However, there are some elements that are not part of these three tiers. These are magic unique to the worlds and people they belong to. We call them Tier 0 magic, and these include my mastery of mana manipulation of having no specific element aside from my mastery of Space Magic."
Cavaron paused for a while to see if Aimi absorbed everything. Unexpectedly, she brought out a pen and notebook from the pockets of her skirt, "That's good. Taking the initiative to take notes. What else do you have on you?" Aimi looked up and smiled at Cavaron before continuing to write down notes.
"Okay... let's move on." Cavaron felt something weird from her smile and decided to drop the question, "Hmm, what else? Ah, right. This one is a specialty of champions, we don't need magic formulas to use magic."
Immediately, Aimi stopped writing, "Magic formulas?" and looked up to ask.
Cavaron explained, "Ordinary magic users, magicians, wizards, witches, sorcerers, whatever you want to call them have to adhere to strict magic guidelines. Not following the formulas or guidelines ends up in two ways: failure or death. It's also the reason why the magi of many worlds have to resort to low level magic or long-winded chants. Champions, however, don't need those things, aside from my contracts which need chants to direct the mana into calling them from another world, to cast magic. All we need is this and this." and pointed to his head and his chest, "All we need is our belief and our imagination. The belief that we can achieve anything, and the imagination to produce anything. Here, I'll show you."
The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.
Cavaron stood up, lifted his arm, and opened his palm upwards, "I'll make a ball of mana." the space above his palm became hazy due to the concentration of colorless mana, "Next, I'll make it red." Immediately, a red ball of glowing energy appeared above his palm. Aimi's jaw dropped in amazement, "Haha, now I'll have this red ball revolve around you and explode into many smaller green balls." Cavaron threw the glowing red ball of mana to Aimi, which made her flinch, and had it revolve around where she sat. Aimi followed the red mana ball before it exploded into a dozen dancing green mana balls of a smaller size.
"Now, this takes a bit more concentration." As he said that, the small green balls of mana changed into many different colors: red, green, yellow, white, pink, orange, and many more. It's like he made a mini disco bar out of mana. Finally, Cavaron motioned the balls of mana to converge and fly high up into the sky before exploding like fireworks before the setting sun.
Aimi just sat there in silence watching everything unfold before her until Cavaron sat back down across her.
Cavaron looked at Aimi, "So, what do you think about magic?" and asked happily.
Still collecting her memories of the dancing mana light show, "Magic is beautiful. I would love to learn more." Aimi replied.
Cavaron crossed his arms and nodded, "Yes, magic is indeed beautiful but," brought out a finger, "Magic is also lethal like what you witnessed in the battle before. So, never drop your guard and always train your abilities. Nothing beats hard work like grinding yourself to perfection. If you master mana manipulation enough, it may fuse into your soul and make you ageless like me."
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Cavaron's magic lecture continued until the sun has set. While Aimi was learning from Cavaron, Avani erected a two storey earthen house with four bedrooms, a kitchen, and a bath. Tirta, who was tasked to find potable water, came back with the locations to Cavaron. Burkhard was in Floating Shield form flying around Aimi.
Although the house had four bedrooms, the elementals Avani and Tirta preferred the outside basking in the presence of the mana-well. Burkhard, being a spirit, is able to sustain enough mana to maintain his duty to guard Aimi indefinitely. Aimi took the bedroom across the stairs next to Cavaron's that was by the stairs.
The pillows in their bedrooms were also produced by Cavaron in his inventory. He even had a variety of pillows: plain white, pink frills, polka-dots, green-white stripes, black leather, etc. He even has a massive stuff toy depicting a fat black sleeping monster. The variety made Aimi's brow raise at Cavaron, "Always good to be prepared~" he replied to her. Aimi took the massive stuff toy saying, "I won't ask how you got this, but I'm taking it." and left to her room.
After eating dinner, they both went to their respective rooms.
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Aimi's room.
She placed the massive stuff toy on the bed in front of her, 'How did Cavaron-senpai get a limited-edition Kabigon?' as a thought went through her mind. 'I had to line up to get one only to have it sold out.' Apparently, the massive stuff toy Cavaron brought out was known as a Kabigon toy in Aimi's world.
'So much has happened in a single day... is this what will happen from now on?' she worried about her future, 'Still... the person who actually hurt me a lot in that weird place was actually this nice... is it really fate, I wonder?'
She removed her eyeglasses and placed them on a table next to the bed. Aside from the table and bed, there was an earthen rack where clothes could be hanged. The room was fairly small at 4x8x5 meters big like a shoebox room. She laid next to the toy and hugged it before going to sleep. "Good night, Kabigon."
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Cavaron's room.
Cavaron never bothered with the comforts of the bed. He just replaced his armor with casual wear: a silk shirt, linen pants, no underwear, and a pair of cotton slippers. He washed up a bit from a basin he produced and filled with Tirta's water before lying down on the cold, hard stone bed. Contrary to Aimi's room, his room is empty aside from a stone bed.
'How long has it been since I've had a proper sleep?' he thought as he gazed at the earthen ceiling. 'I won't even count my knockouts in Ladenras and Belfron. Ah, sleep. You really are a luxury.' with a final thought, he turned in for the night.
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Outside.
Avani was with Tirta, chatting with one another. The two of them created a small pool for them to relax in.
"Tirta, do you still remember the events a century ago?" Avani asked the elemental submerged in the pool as she stared at the night sky, "Do you think that child has recovered enough?"
Tirta surfaced, "You mean the disaster we caused?" and remembered the past, "Of course, it was the first time we felt so much pain transcend the barriers of space and time."
"Fear, grief, anger, hate... such powerful emotions exploded from this world and brought us to that child." Avani laid back on the ground, "I don't want him to experience that pain again."
Tirta sat next to Avani, "Did you know what happened before we arrived?" and asked.
Avani just shook her head, "I cannot say. The only person who knows is that child himself." and replied to Tirta, "Time can only tell when he will share it with us."
While they were reminiscing the past, Burkhard flew down from Aimi's window, "We have a visitor." and told the two elementals. Avani stood up to welcome their visitor. The three of them faced the entry where the visitor will be coming from. From the shadows of the forest, a lone individual appeared.
Sky Queen Ethra.
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He washed up a bit from a basin he produced and filled with Tirta's water.
Tirta's water.
Get it?
Okay, I'll drop it.
Flashback next chapter.