Awakening (part 1)

Time does fly by when you are able to occupy your mind. It feels like not long ago I was still just a student, and now I am learning how to manipulate mana in order to use spells.

I am currently shaving, my beard is... not to my taste. It follows my jawline without gaining on the cheeks, I can't have the thick bird look I would like to, so I just shave it.

I will need to ask Omegon if he has finally found my stuff. My backpack, the books I had in it, and my phone would be useful to me. And they are now the only link I have to my world.

I thought much about it, and it has become evident that I am not on earth anymore. Hygiene, common-sense, too many things are as if I was back in time by many centuries.

But even if 'magic' had been used according to some history texts, I don't think they have much value compared to what Omegon talks about.

And talking about magic, it does not make any sense. Omegon made a 5 kg (11 lb) appear from his mana, he materialized that much matter without breaking a sweat.

In any child story or online novel that would not be worth any particular mention, but when you think about the energy necessary to create matter, it must be absurd!

I am no professional physicist, but when you know that 2g of matter disintegrating can produce an explosion comparable to an atomic bombe (1g antimatter reacting with 1g of matter), it quickly becomes horrifying. He just made 250 times more mass than that! Can he nuke the entire world?!

The answer is no, there is a discrepancy between the matter made by magic and the energy it would cost to actually materialize this much matter.

I rinse my face and inspect myself in the mirror, my train of thoughts slowly dissipates, I finished shaving and don't need the distraction anymore.

I still don't know enough about magic to just assume I am right because I know science stuff. I should learn first, and theorize when I have all the knowledge necessary to have a foundation to base myself on.

I wash the blade I just used to shave, a razor sharp blade long like my hand, fingers extended. That would be a way better weapon than my puny screwdriver.

I then wash myself, which is just scrubbing myself with soapy water and then rinsing. As I said, hygiene is a bit behind here, and a reason of concern to me.

It has now been around a month since I have been summoned, and if it is indeed another world, it would mean that bacteria, viruses, parasites... Many micro-organisms which my body never encountered before are present here.

And that is a bad news, because it means that my immune-system has no anti-bodies for them, and is not prepared to counter their activity.

Many would not bat an eye about something like that, but don't forget that during the colonization of the American continent, thousands of natives died because of the flu, which did not exist there before.

I am still healthy right now, but I could get sick really easily. Hence my decision about magic: I will learn healing magic.

An easy choice, really. What did I study both by myself and at the college? Medicine, so why not continue here? Healthcare is greatly limited by how we can help our body heal, magic would be of tremendous help.

After all, you can't heal yourself, you can only help your body heal easier or quicker. You do that by either attacking what attacks you, or preventing it from acting. But magic? Can you not regrow limbs with it? I have to ask Omegon about it!

*Knocking at the door* Oh? That sounds like a nice timing, I just finished dressing myself too. "Come in." I say with what must be a terrible accent.

"You.. Understand better" I understand him say. He should have said something like "You made progress with the tongue", but with the difference in grammar, conjugal forms and the usage of words as a whole. Yeah, I made good progress.

"Yes, I speak better. But work more need to." I answer, and he takes a second to understand what I mean. We equip the ear pieces to ease our dialog.

"You learned quickly, your sentences are broken here and there, but I must say I am impressed you could learn that much." He compliments. "It is a shame you did not put all that effort solely on improving you mana control." And here he goes being dumb again.

I would sigh hard if it would not worsen our relationship, but it is already hard to bear with it, I will not make him hate me. He is already annoying while trying to stay proper, I don't want to have to cope with even more closemindedness.

"I will need to learn the language anyway, the sooner the better." I answer simply, which, by his expression, does not please him much.

"You do not realize how important it is that you learn to control mana as best as possible." He says with mild irritation in his voice. I would answer him to shove his ideals where I think, but alas, I won't entertain his stupidity.

"It is exhausting to manipulate mana, I can't do it all day. Having something else to focus on helps, I already explained this though." I tell with a neutral tone, as if uninterested in the topic.

"And while you are here, I sensed something weird yesterday night." I say before he can relent on how working more on something is valuable even with some diminishing returns.

"Around my lower back, at the level of my lumbar spine, their is a build-up of mana." I indeed felt it yesterday. It feels like something is enthusiastically absorbing mana, but I am sure there was no built-up there before.

Omegon brighten up to this sentence. "Really?" He asks as his eyes look a bit unfocused. I guess he is focused on his mana sense.

"It has indeed begun! Quick, follow me." He urges, grabbing me by the shoulder and going for the door. I am a bit confused right now, and just follow him without thinking.

"Why are we speeding? And where to? I don't underst-" I begin to say, asking for information. But Omegon interrupts me.

"This mana build-up is a sign that your bond is going to awaken. When that happens, you will experience a part of his being, while he does too with yours." He quickly explains as we pass by many people in corridors.

Omegon instructs some of them while passing by. "Inform Vhalart that the Teneren is awakening! Quick!" Some people start running in different directions as if a race just started but nobody knew the goal.

"Who's Vhalart?" I ask between two breaths, the pace we walk at beginning to get me out of breath. A month without exercising did not help my endurance.

Omegon does not respond immediately, but still gives me an answer after we arrive in a big room.

"He is your senior, he should be here promptly. But we don't have the tim-" I am suddenly hit by vertigo, and I take a knee to the ground not to topple over.

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I hear Omegon continue talking, oblivious to what is happening to me. I don't understand what he says, and I don't try to, all my focus is on why the fuck am I feeling like that?

I feel both hot and col in waves, when I try to stand up my vision darkens and everything seems to warp and morph around me.

This effect grows, crouching helped a bit at first, but now it does nothing. Second after second the effect becomes stronger.

Before long I can't see anything anymore, and I don't even know in what position I am right now. I feel ground under me, but also on top of my head, the middle of my back AND on my whole stomach.

It does not make sense, I try to move, and feel as if I trapped in a thick liquid. Moving is hard and tiring, and as time passes, the sluggishness becomes thicker and thicker, and the feelings in my limbs are diminished until i can't feel anything anymore.

Then a flash blinds me, but not become of some light, no. The flas was a flash of darkness, I don't know how, but is was as if the darkness became even stronger, deeper, more profound. And it is all I can sense now.

Not my body, but the darkness, it is pouring in an ever more intense flow, somehow feeling more... I don't know how to describe it, words are not enough to describe how it changes, how it behaves.

Time passes, the source of all this darkness growing forevermore, until it suddenly stops growing, and just spreads itself.

Then I recognize something getting out of where all of it came from. A tentacle, then two more, dozens sprouting from nothing, exploring all that is around.

Unable to move, I can't do anything to get away, nor to dodge the tentacles coming towards me. And when one of them touch me, all of them freeze, to then come towards me.

In a few seconds I am entirely covered, tentacles first cover every centimeter (inch) of me. Then it enters me, not by orifices, but I could have preferred that.

It is a horrible sensation, while not painful, it feel like pockets form from your skin and plunges in yourself... If I could shiver, I would.

I am quickly filled by them, as if I was made of tentacles instead of flesh, blood and bones. And still more tentacles came in, until everything is contained in me.

I feel all the tentacles' movements, they twitch, slither, and oddly enough, they fuse and divide. They reorganize themselves in me, and when they finally stop, I feel all the darkness around me begin to enter me.

As if I was a magnet, and it the ion filings, all of it begins to accumulate around me, and then just like the tentacles, darkness enters me.

It fells... I don't know how to describe this, the sensation is what I would imagine being made of eels, and adding crude oil as blood.

To my surprise, trying to move now bears fruits, just not good ones. I try to move my right leg, and I feel hundreds of thin tentacles respond and move, but chaoticaly, without coordination.

Any other movement is met with the same result, uncoordinated tentacles moving in random ways, impairing themselves.

[Are you done playing yet?] I hear. I look around, searching from where that voice came from, but I am still plunged in darkness, what entered me was... darker.

"Playing?" I say, and hear echoes of my voice. I hope that what talked hears me. "If I was playing, I would find all this amusing."

[You are trying to hide your fear, human. But I can feel it all.] It says with its strange voice. I can't find it comes from, it feels like it is coming from all around.

"What if I am afraid? Not feeling fear would be proof of utter stupidity." I answer my mysterious interlocutor.

[You may not be stupid, but your fear is proof of you weakness. And the weak have no choice, they bow to the strong!] It says first with a bit of frustration, but the second sentence is filled with it's satisfaction.

I think I know who I am talking with. "Will you not show yourself to me? Or are you afraid I will stab you again?" I try to feel as happy about it as possible. And that is not hard, thinking about tricking the thing that hurt me? It feels downright satisfying.

[You dare imply I am weak?!] It half asks, half asserting. [I could peel your flesh from your bones! Pierce your innards and hollow your skull!] It exclaims, anger obvious.

"You underestimated me, and you paid the price for it. And now you don't even dare to approach me." I giggle, just to taunt. And I am successful.

I suddenly feel him appear in front of me. It is weird, I don't see it, I feel it. It is like how sometimes you feel observed, but way, way stronger. It feels like a weight you sense without touching it.

Before it can speak, I do. "If I understand everything, we are linked now. Bonded with one another. You know what that means." I ask rhetorically.

[You... You are cocky! Arrogant before your better!] It says with hate and frustration. And I can somehow feel regret in it.

"Before my better?" I scoff. "We are bonded, and in a world you are unable to survive in without me. I may be weak, but without me you would die here. Sure, make me suffer, destroy every possibility of us working together, I may suffer, but I will make sure to return everything you send my way."

I say it with as much anger and spite I feel. Why do I do that? To make it understand, it can hurt me, while I can't. But I have many, many ways to ruin opportunities if I have to.

It seems baffled, unsure. [You would prefer to die, instead of serving a master?] It says it as if it is unable to understand.

"What? You can't understand something as simple as freedom?" I ask, more neutral this time, but still with a bit of smugness.

[You are a fool, there is and there will always be someone stronger. When you are in front of someone stronger, you either die or become its servant. And you would choose death?]

"I would choose to do as much damage as I can, and if I can flee? I would, to return and once again sow destruction in an endless cycle." I say, entranced without knowing it.

"Why would I give up? Why would I admit defeat if I can destroy what my enemies hold dear? If I have an enemy, I want them to suffer, to pray for mercy." A creepy smile forms on my face.

[You... Are not how G̴̔͛͊r̵͋̄̂̔a̶͊̐͒̕l̸̄̓͐u̶̎͛̾͘͠ḿ̷̒̅́͠ described humans.] It says, somewhat confused.

I scoff at that. "Why would I? Your... I don't know how to pronounce that word, probably know only of the common man. The scourge, unable to plan and extricate himself of difficulties."

I feel... Strange. Why am I saying all this? It is what I think, but why am I saying it? Why am I so open all of a sudden?

[You mean to say you are not common?] It says, I am sure something is happening, and it knows what.

"Indeed, I hate-te. Fuu-. WHAT, Did you dO to meeEE?!" I begin to talk, reflexively so at first. But I focus to recover my control. And instantaneously I feel it, my rage.

It is as if it had been contained, and now, everything that has been bottled-up is coming to the surface.

[How can you resi-] It begins to say, but what I can't restrain is all this hate. And I interrupt it.

"How what? How can I resist your shitty fuck of a mind control?! Fuck you! That how!" Why can't I restrain myself either? I feel even angrier because I can't restrain my anger like I usually do.

[You should calm down or-] It begins to say, but at the hint of a threat, all the anger come forth.

"Or what?! What will you do? Kill me and then die too? Just shut the fuck up while... I-" I am interrupted by a searing headache. Which is weird because I don't feel my head, nor the rest of my body for that matter.

I quickly jump to conclusion. "What are you doing?" I ask, letting my anger flow through my tone.

[Poor human, you do not even know what you desire. Should I talk or not?] It says with a good amount of sass. I walked into that one, did I not?

The headache is still there, but it is slowly subsiding. From what I feel, it did something to me, but I have no way to know what.

I try to find where this pain comes from, but without a body to feel, I don't know how to trace down where it comes from. My only deduction as to what is my pain's origin, would be my spirit.

I remember Omegon said something about it, the mana sea, once open, is lodged inside of the spirit...

He later explained that beside our material mind, our brain, the spirit is our true self, unique to ourselves, even twins have different minds; according to Omegon at least.

What did he say about it again? When you are able to concentrate enough mana in yourself, it slowly enters the spirit the then form the mana see by stretching a pocket in it.

I don't know what is happening, what is about to happen, but I feel my anger rising again. And I think I can feel something now, my grasp on it is weak, and I am not capable of focusing on it right now.

[WHAT, DID, YOU, DO?] This time it is not words manifesting themselves to express my thoughts, it is... I don't know, but it feels like all around me is vibrating with all of my rage. And I like the effect it gives.