Ginger didn't see the wall which had been peeking from his peripheral vision all this time. Maybe it was because the bulk of his attention was stolen by the nigh literal storm of Mana Essence that washed over him violently, causing his skin and clothes to ripple.

The plump dragonling had always thought of Mana Essence as being reminiscent of a fresh, cool stream since coming to Ravi. This came as a result of him comparing it to Fetid Essence from the Wild, which he and everyone else who could perceive it regarded as sludgy and pungent. Till now, Ginger had never thought he could feel threatened by Mana Essence in its base form, but then again, this wasn't exactly a natural outpour of the energy.

There was some kind of active manipulation of it present here.

The telling detail for the dragonling, was that within the storm of the cool energy, a distorted image snaked its way elusively, haggardly.

It was strange. It looked like…

…

Fai and Shan remained seated, their faces showing rapt focus. Neither of them could have blamed or ridiculed Ginger for being alarmed by the activation of the invisible mural which had been and was always pinned to the wall.

Even Shan, who looked to only be slighter older than Ginger understood that a dragon in their First Year and second Stride of school couldn't have acted any other way, especially when considering the emphasis that dragon schools put on learning Kardia and mostly nothing else.

Fai took a deep breath.

'He noticed the Mana Essence from the mural rather quickly, all things considered. I've always gotten students who were seconds late in sensing it, but proved to be a little more skilled in it later on. Could this boy be different?' he thought with his brows furrowing.

He watched as Ginger collapsed to his knees, his face ashen but still lifted up, drawn to the contents of the mural.

'Hmm. Perhaps not. Draggard-Phoenix is the most flexible school out there. Some others in Ravi even refuse to teach how to manipulate Mana Essence to dragonlings. Maybe the school improved their stance on educating their students about Mana Essence this year.'

Fai was convinced that might have been the case.

'Well, as long as he sees either one of the two beasts and describes them clearly, he's good enough.'

After a little more than a minute had passed, Fai cleared his throat and spoke:

"What do you see, Ginger? A long-fang badger or a twin-tail snake?"

Ginger stirred. He had almost forgotten that he was still in a room with three other people.

The color returned to his cheeks as he blinked furiously and squinted.

Shan was rather eager to hear what Ginger's answer would be. Depending on which of the two beasts he saw, Ginger would either be a valuable asset or a very, very valuable asset. Then again, there was also the possibility that he would see neither of the two beasts.

Ginger opened his mouth, at first failing to voice out his thoughts.

"I... I think I saw both," he finally said.

…

Fai drew his head back with a quizzical look.

"Excuse me?" he said.

Ginger, with visible strain, turned to him.

"I saw both. One thin, black snake with grey spots and two tails, wrapped around a big, brown badger with two long teeth sticking out from behind its upper lips. That's what I saw," he said.

Shan suddenly clutched her father's sweaty shirt tight.

Fai didn't even flinch at this. He was too busy gawking at Ginger with the face of someone who was trying to find the lies in another's eyes.

But he found none.

Ginger was only starting to look unsure of himself because of how the two reacted, but a moment before, he had been firm in his answer.

Seeing that his reaction was suspending Ginger in the worst way possible, Fai took a deep breath and relaxed his face while patting off Shan's hand.

"Oh boy," he said. "Ginger. Where are you from?"

The plump dragonling was taken aback by the question. He stuttered. He couldn't have divulged the answer to that so easily.

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Fai reeled himself in again.

"Sorry. Perhaps that's the worst way to start," he said with a sigh. "You see, you weren't supposed to see both of these beasts. No dragon that I've seen has ever been able to identify both of the beasts from the mural. It's…"

"Unheard of," Shan finished her father's sentence.

Her dark eyes bore into Ginger's once again, and this time, Ginger avoided them.

"I don't understand," the boy said while standing up and looking back at the wall. The images he had seen were gone, replaced by a plain wall again. He turned to Fai.

The skinny man beckoned Ginger to sit down, which he did.

He then appraised the boy for a few more seconds before speaking.

"Ginger, Mana Essence acknowledges people. Before it does, it is usually hard for anyone to perceive it, much less control it unless it is condensed considerably," he explained. "There is a mural on that wall. It is invisible to the naked eye. By taking advantage of Mana Essence's reluctance to serve just anyone, I created this mural to help judge the quality of dragons who come here for Hunts regarding their potential for learning applications of Mana Essence."

Ginger turned stiff.

He then looked back at the wall again.

A mural? He didn't detect even a sign of it.

Was Fai like Ancor?

Was he a Shaman? No, a Sorcerer?

Fai continued.

"If a dragon sees the badger, it normally means they have high potential, but only for three specific mechanisms of Mana Essence or less. For a dragon, that is plenty. However, if they see the snake, it means they are capable of learning nearly all kinds of applications of Mana Essence, though unlikely to fully master them all."

Ginger nodded with interest.

He wasn't quite clear on just how many of these mechanisms or applications of Mana Essence there were, or what they all even looked like, but he got the gist of the idea. If Sorcery was anything like the Pieyro of the dragons, it was bound to be very broad. Come to think of it, Shamanry was also quite diverse.

"I see. I did learn that dragons aren't the best with Mana Essence," he said while mulling over everything else Fai had said.

'So, seeing the badger just means a dragon is more or less destined to master a few applications - like the Charms Ancor used - while seeing the snake means they will be a master of nothing.'

Ginger was both surprised and intrigued.

"So, what does it mean when you see both?" he asked. His eye twitched.

"What do you think?" Shan asked him with her dark stare.

Ginger couldn't have given the answer. It wouldn't have sounded right to say it himself.

Thankfully Fai interjected after a momentary stern glare to Shan.

"Besides the Mimada, and perhaps the Djuka, only a few other species here on Ravi are ever given the title 'Friends of Mana'. We three – Shan, Long, and I – belong to one of those, Ginger. If you saw both beasts in the mural, it means your potential with Mana Essence might eventually grow to be comparable to our own," the skinny man said. He did not hide the immensely curious glint in his eye at all.

Ginger had more or less figured that this was what seeing both the badger and the snake meant.

On one hand, he was very excited, and on the other – much bigger hand – he was a little concerned.

The boy had imagined that learning about Mana Essence would be much easier for him because of his background with Ancor, but never had he thought he would be touted to have such immense potential. Was it because he was a hybrid?

But humans didn't have a high affinity with Mana Essence, did they?

"There have been several dragons in the past who have had astounding talent in Sorcery more than the powers to do with their Kardia in the past," Fai said, drawing back Ginger's attention. "Some of them have even stood on the same stage as the Mimada with Mana Essence alone. Ginger, perhaps you are one of them. You seem to approach this level differently, but I believe you just might be like those few of your kind."

Ginger didn't miss that Fai said all this while sneaking glances at the scales on his neck.

Since Vassilis exposed him a Stride ago, Ginger had begun wearing his scarf loose, exposing his unimpressive cast without a care, after all.

This seemed to be the basis of Fai's conclusion.

He thought that since Ginger's cast was, well, poor, he might excel in using Sorcery instead. The boy didn't think so, for obvious reasons.

"Don't get your hopes too high. Potential only means so much in this world," Shan suddenly said. It was hard for Ginger to discern her intent because of her eyes. "Mana Essence is pretty impatient. If you don't put that talent to good use, all that potential will disappear."

Ginger groaned a little and secretly scratched his thigh.

He understood what she was getting at.

"Don't worry about that. Shan here can get overly serious with simple things," Fai said while aiming another dark look at his daughter.

Ginger nodded with a small smile.

After all was said and done, he still felt like a lot had gone unsaid.

He had a lot of questions but for some of these, he felt like he had already missed his chance to ask. Like what race did Shan and Fai belong to? They looked like humans with barely any features that could say otherwise.

Also, what were Mimada? Ginger had heard this word, or rather name, twice now in this same room. He might have heard it before too.

Perhaps the dragonling could have ignored the awkwardness he felt and just asked, but he felt like exposing his ignorance would perhaps give too many clues to the duo about him.

It truly felt like some of these things were common knowledge.

"Ah, of course," Fai said. "I said as much earlier, but I do indeed wish to know what you wish to gain by joining us. You see, despite how shabby our operation looks, we do have a decent bit of clientele. Our standards are also pretty high, especially when considering that, unlike other Hunting Limbs, we strive to create a balance between us and everyone who joins. We don't particularly tolerate partners who neglect their Mana Essence on Hunts. Many dragons are revolted by the idea, but I get the feeling that besides your talent, you have some interest in Mana Essence. Am I wrong?"

Ginger shook his head.

"Not at all," he said. Fai was on point with that.

He was rather attentive to small details.

Fai gave a friendly smile.

"Indeed. With that, I'm convinced we can work with each other well. But what exactly are you working towards, young dragon?"

Ginger took a moment to think.

This question and the one before highlighted who Fai truly was. What Ginger had seen outside was a mere façade.

The real Fai was an oddly strict man who didn't distance himself from dragons like the other creatures Ginger had passed on the street. Fai seemed to see himself and Ginger as equals.

To the boy, it wasn't strange, but he imagined that someone like Alcaeus would take offense to this.

Ginger smiled.

So, what would his answer be?

What was he looking to achieve here?

There were several answers Ginger could have given, but the one that felt best suited for the situation was:

"I want to test and overcome my limits. While I'm at it, I also want to learn more about everything on Ravi."