“So, how did your meeting go?” Melly asked after we had all eaten dinner.

“It was pretty good. Samuel doesn’t seem to hate me and is still willing to help, and I was able to talk about my theories on mana traits.”

“So you’re still able to work on your spell with Samuel?”

“Yes. We were even able to make some more progress.”

“That’s good.” Melly sighed in relief. Haa, why does it seem like she was more worried about the spell than whether or not I was getting along with Samuel. Well, I won’t tease her about that, she was really worried that we wouldn’t be able to use the super buff we worked so hard on, after all.

“Hmm, you have a theory about mana traits? Would you mind telling me what you have discovered?” Greg asked.

“Sure.” I agreed before giving him a quick rundown. And, well, it is easier to talk about now that I’ve already explained it once.

Once I’d given them a quick summary, I finished with, “Also, I’m pretty sure I know what my original trait was.”

“Oh, that is interesting. Would you mind telling us?” Greg requested.

“Yeah, control.” I weakly smiled. I, well, I feel like I should at least tell them a little about myself. Yeah, instead of forcing myself to tell them everything I could think of, I could just tell them bits and pieces here and there whenever I felt comfortable.

Though, I probably should have chosen a better location. Just dropping this in the cafeteria when we haven’t even taken care of our dishes yet feels a bit off.

“Hmm, would you mind explaining?”

“Yeah. So, as I said, mana traits seem more likely to be things that you think apply to yourself, even if they are wrong. The reason I thought of that though, was because of my trait. I, well, desired control over my path in life. So much, in fact, that it became an obsession, similar to how pyromaniacs have fiery mana.”

Everyone was quite shocked. I mean, I did just confess to having an obsession similar to actual pyromaniacs, even if I mostly glossed over it. That’s not exactly a normal thing to have happen. Or healthy, for that matter.

“What happened in your life that could possibly influence such an obsession!? In addition, how could the church ever allow such a thing to happen!?” Greg questioned.

“Uh, well. About that.”

“Drop it, Gregory.” Melly interrupted.

“Yeah, you need to calm down. We are currently in a public space.” Rapunzel advised. “And in a church.” She whispered. “And, most importantly, we shouldn’t pressure Eli. If she wants to talk about it, let her, but don’t force her if she doesn’t want to, okay?”

“Ah, apologies, I was too emotional.”

“It’s fine.” I accepted. Haa, I knew this wouldn’t end with, uh, I don’t what I was expecting, actually. I just, felt like talking. Well, I guess that’s the best way to talk about something, as at least I can talk about it that way.

Much better than being petrified over how they might react…

“I’d rather not talk more about this right now,” I say before anyone can suggest moving this to my room or something. Greg’s response scared me off a bit.

“We understand. Just remember, we are always here for you should you ever need us.” Rapunzel promised.

“Indeed.”

“Thank you. And, you know, it’s the same with me. If you ever need help, feel free to ask for it.”

Haa, this might be more difficult to talk about than I thought it would be. I had thought that after telling Cardinal Caitlyn and Samuel I’d be able to tell everyone else, but alas, I see them differently. Well, at least it’s a start.

Anyway, once I returned to our room, Melly asked. “Are you okay?”

“Uh? Ah, yeah, I am. I just, wasn’t ready to continue when I saw how ready to fight everyone seemed to be.” I sighed.

“Is it that bad?” Melly asked in worry.

“Well no. I mean, I really just did this to myself, after all. It just felt, embarrassing, compared to how serious everyone was. I just couldn’t bring myself to continue.”

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

“That’s fine, Eli. You can take your time if you want to tell us.”

“Thanks, Melly.” I smiled.

“Still though, control? I've never heard of anything like that before. I will admit that I’m not particularly familiar with that stuff.”

“I initially only knew some of what the church taught us... Anyway, it does seem quite strong. And, it potentially could do some of the things I can do, even if it’s to a lesser degree.”

“What, how?” Melly exclaimed in shock.

“Well, considering how pyromaniacs are able to ignite most of their spells, and even their raw mana, I think other obsessions have their own uses. It’s something to look into, at least.”

“Huh, I guess so.” Melly agreed. “Oh, I just remembered, is your obsession somehow related to your desire for a- Ah, sorry, I didn’t mean to talk about that.” She quickly apologized.

“It’s fine. And, yes, it is. Well, specifically, it’s because I felt that it was basically destiny that I would have to leave the church, so I wanted to regain control over my fate.” I shrugged.

“Ah, so that’s what it was. That does make sense though.”

“Really?” I said, surprised.

“Yeah. It was something out of your control that to most seemed impossible to change. That’s basically what destiny is, isn’t it? And, it’s not like I don’t understand your desire to stay there. I wouldn’t want to be kicked out of my home either. Yeah, being so obsessed with it that it even changed your trait isn’t good, but your desire seems normal enough.”

“It, it is?” I ask as tears start to fall.

“Of course, it is,” Melly confirmed as she pulled me into a hug.

“Thank you.” I thanked through my tears.

______

Well, it’s been a few days, and a few things have happened. First, I noticed that my robes do, in fact, increase my mana capacity. I mean, it should have been obvious, but they were weird about how they did it. They also increased the power of my blessing. Though, I can barely tell what they did.

Sadly, despite my increased mana capacity, my recovery rate has not been increased to compensate, so it now takes twice as long for me to restore my mana fully. At least my capacity was exactly doubled though, as that’s an easy amount to adjust to. So, while this has messed up my calculations, it should be easy to adapt. And, considering how perfectly my capacity has grown, I’m certain that my robes will always exactly double my capacity, which is quite convenient.

The most important change though, is that I don’t need to spend nearly as much effort balancing my mana between my robes, my halo, and myself now, though annoyingly it is still a problem. Luckily, I figured out that, while casting spells does worsen the balance, I can also cast spells using the mana in my robes directly. So, with some practice, I should soon be able to keep my mana balanced nearly effortlessly.

In other news, Samuel and I have mostly finished a working prototype of our spell. While we still have a lot to work on, it is currently usable and seems safe. I’d love to spend some more time improving it, especially since I think that, with some work, I could use it to control Melly without patient analysis, but, I've been told that the Hero would be returning soon.

Haa, it took him long enough! And, of course, he is arriving at the ‘perfect’ time…

Haa, whatever. I do miss him, you know. And it’s not just because of his food! He, just by being around, gives me a decent amount of confidence. It’s like nothing can go wrong as long as he’s with you.

Still, he’s such a rude brat, leaving when I really needed him… Haa, pouting won’t fix that. And, I was able to solve almost everything without him, so it’s not like I needed his help. It just, it would have been nice to have…

Anyway, he is going to be arriving sometime before lunch, so I should get ready. Knowing him, we might actually be leaving as soon as he arrives.

So, here I am, nervously waiting for him at the Gate. However, most of my nerves were actually because I wanted to practice controlling the light with my halo. I made sure to explain mostly what would happen first, before then asking for permission to do so. They permit me, though I’m almost certain that they were reluctant to do so.

Haa, I tried to assure them that they didn’t have to, but I don’t know if that point actually got across.

Still, it was time for the Gate to open. I took a deep breath to calm myself down before preparing to focus on the light. Hopefully, I can figure out the how of controling the light. I’d at least have a starting point then.

So, once the doors started to open, releasing the light, I tried to control how it moved. At first, I thought I’d succeeded, but I quickly realized that this was just a repeat of last time, as the light flowed around me in its little tornado.

After trying for a while, I was able to slightly reduce the light’s attraction to me, but sadly that was all I could change. I couldn’t even turn off the attraction effect!

As I started getting annoyed at both the lack of progress and the lack of time to attempt anything else, I just yelled, “Why won’t you move!” in frustration.

And then, it did, albeit chaotically as I didn’t give any clear directions.

Before I could even attempt to understand how I did that though, I was interrupted by everyone’s panicked screams, immediately followed by my own burning sensation. Haa, I accidentally activated my aura. I'm so sorry!

I quickly deactivated it just as the light started to disperse, almost seeming like it was the light that saved everyone.

Oh, that, that almost fits, huh. The heavenly light dispels the evil curse that everyone had received. It sounds like something you’d find in a fairytale. I just wish I wasn’t the villain…

Well, no time to dwell on my apparent villainhood, I need to apologize to everyone for hurting them. So, I went to each person I affected and bowed in apology.