The Harukian Chronicler

Dande had come to visit a few more times, using her magic to check on mom to make sure nothing was damaged in her channels. She also checked on our channels to make sure everything was fine; though I had to keep a low profile so had Mala hide a few things from her… lucky for me she didn"t have things maxed. Though she did seem to notice a few things; as she kept asking mom to let her teach me later on… in her words, I was a natural mage. Might just be the influence of Hann that she says this. That has to be it; not the fact that I was gathering Aero mana in my body to try and awaken the element.

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["Awakening an element is very key to using it; and in order to do it you need to have access to a large amount of the mana for the element that you are wanting to awaken within your forge. There are twenty different elements in total within this world, and each one has their own differing ways to attack and defend."] Mala explains to me, as usual, as I try to gather more and more of the Aero mana within my body; ["When you awaken an element, you can also utilize that element for when you use runes and or seals. There are no restrictions to the amount of elements one can awaken; but most people stick to a few due to the strain on their forge it puts."]

("Heh, weaklings… with my help, the Holder would be able to awaken all of the elements to use them as he sees fit. He can turn the very planet itself into his weapon or shield.") Hann snidly states over in his corner of my mind. ("That woman has some good senses though; you would make a natural magician of any form… could even become a Sage or Hierophant cla.s.s if you so chose…") Now he went to thinking…

Baal sighs, a little annoyed at how Hannash was talking… he sounded a lot better now that I was eating some solid foods, though he still felt a bit emaciated to my mind. At least I am more prepared to utilize Consumption when I am able to;

Dralath doesn"t talk much, but he does give some helpful hints whenever he is willing to give out any; though not to the degree of Mala… he"s probably just asleep in his corner of my mind. Though none of that is my business right now; just slowly breathing as everyone else rests in beds, with father just reading a book while sleeping mama cuddles him with a happy look on her face. Using an old method of meditation I learned way back when; seven in, hold for ten, out for seven; in through the mouth and out through the nose. This allowed me to get into a trance like state, Grave"s Patience, and helped me draw in more and more of the Aero type of mana.

The Aero in this area was relatively normal, so says Mala, stating that there were higher concentrations in lower alt.i.tudes, and lower in higher alt.i.tudes. Which made sense to me, that"s how oxygen worked back on Earth, but with those thoughts I just continued to bring the Aero into my forge by circulating it into the channels. Drawn in through my mouth and my horns, I could feel my forge beginning to fill to the bursting point; which was what was supposed to happen.

["An elemental awakening, is when you draw the mana into your forge to the point your forge is going to overfill; then you condense the mana into a more solid form. This takes some time, as you need to make a sphere of the element in your forge that is about the size of a marble."] My ever present guide lets me know; it"s surprising how much I could get done with her around, and I feel lucky I chose her and this particular ability… and even paid the cost to max it out. Once I got to the point that I was able to create the condensed marble of Aero; ["Okay, you"re good now, begin to condense the mana into the crystaline form. What you need to do is just… picture the mana bending to your will? It"s difficult to describe… everyone does things differently for this… stronger people bend the Mana to their will; weaker will try to make a deal with the spirit of the mana. Try doing what feels natural to you…"]

And that was all she could tell me… sighing softly to myself, now I had to think of a way for me to do this… would I bend the mana, or bargain with it… neither of which felt like they would fit my own personality. If I had to think about it… there"s only one thing that I would do to make things work out for me, but would that work here?

Worth a shot?

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As Mala explained before, this is my body, so I am able to do with it what I will. So, since I am within the place of my body where my patrons are… I should be able to enter into my forge as well… and speak with the mana itself. With just a will of my own soul, and my own being, I go from the dark room with each patron in their own corner to a bright place. This place looked… like an underground lair, of some form.

Brickwork and stone lined all the walls within this area, with stalact.i.tes hanging from the ceiling in the center. Light shone from the open ceiling to… a never ending void of stars and galaxies… you could even see planets from this place. Made one wonder where these planets lead. There were also a few places in the walls where light bled through, but no matter if I looked through, I could not see into the holes. The floor was cobblestone lined, with some dusty patches here and there, and my oh my was it actually quite nice on my feet.

There was some light furniture in the room; a desk with a chair off in the corner, with shelves lining the walls here and there with maybe a couple of books or three spread around. The desk had nothing on it save for a small candlestick holder, and some writing equipment. From the looks of this place, it could probably be filled up more as I age into life… but first things first, where is that Aero spirit…

And as if being summoned from nowhere at all; a small creature flits itself onto the desk off in the corner… bidding me to sit in the chair nearby. I of course do that; though I can hear Mala and Hann telling me to be careful, sitting in the chair and getting a good look at the creature before me.

This little creature, looked to be a mixture of an avian and a reptile; claws and scales on its four limbs, and leading down its twin tails. As you go up from the limbs, towards the head, there"s a beak and some feathers on top of the head, mixing with the scales on its underbelly; the scales are more cream colored, while the feathers took on a blue or tan hue. Starting at the shoulders, and running along the edges of its spine to just above the hind legs, were a pair of feathery scaled wings… with an impressive wingspan… if I had to guess, two foot. Without its tails, it was maybe only a foot long, and half a foot at the shoulder, so quite small… then it spoke…

"Good day to you sir-ah. I can see that you decided to bring enough Aero mana into you to try and awaken I, the spirit of Aero mana itself." It bows its head gently; "Well… one of the spirits of course. I have no name to call my own, but considering that I would be the first element you awaken… I could be persuaded to stay within and fly in that expansive star ocean. What does sir-ah have to offer for me?" It stood on its haunches, and gave me a sly smile on its beaked face… I took in a deep breath, and gave it a gentle smile;

"Family."

"What?" The creature itself was taken aback by my simple answer, tilting its head, as if not used to an answer such as that. "Would Sir-ah be willing to detail what it is that you mean?"

"Of course. It"s very simple when you think about it, and when you realize there is no double meaning to what I say. I can offer you the one thing most spirits don"t have in this world; a family." I nod to myself with a smile, "A family is someone who would support you, and never betray you in any way, and I plan on making a rather large family if I am able. What could be better than to become the first child, and thus be the older sibling to every other spirit that comes to live in this place?" The spirit looked a little dumbfounded, though it was thinking things through, with a thoughtful expression…

"So, you"re willing to make a familial contract with a spirit? That means, if any Aero elemental or spirit were to ask you for help, then you"d be contract bound to go to their aid… no matter what. Though they would wait until you"re…" The spirit looks around; "A bit older and useable… you"re fine with this?"

"Of course. Nothing is better or stronger in this world, than a proper family. I am willing to offer you anything that entails; even my own life if that came down to it." I smiled gently at the creature; giving it my hand, as that was my offer for use of the element Aero, a familial contract. I could hear Hannash constantly saying no; Mala was trying to give me advice on a better deal; and Baal… he was laughing, him and Dralath were laughing in their void… before too long though, the Spirit shook my hand with a pleasant look on its face.

"I shall accept this offer, Sir-ah. Name me as you will, and I will be your personal connection to Aero mana."

"Gaotha, it"s something from my old tongue, meaning North Wind. Feel free to fly as you will, and let me know if there"s anything that you need."

With that, the deal has been struck, and a bargain has been made… Gaotha flew through the opening in the ceiling to fly amongst the star ocean. I would never know, but this spirit was looking at the vast ocean, and having an air of surprise… how could one have a forge as large as this… and so free…

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Days later; Dande would come by again and actually give my mother a surprise… telling her that I was able to freely bring in and merge Aero mana into my forge… as her eyes tell her. A baby as young as me, being able to command an elemental mana like this was quite surprising, but not outside the norm. Though… it was the comment on how pure the mana appeared to be, that could have some interesting connotations. I just giggled and coo"d at the woman petting my horns, just acting the part of a baby; though Hannash was not pleased in the slightest.

Mala had told me that a contract like the one I did was one of the more powerful ones, even more so than master-servant type contracts with creatures… though the Familial Contract was not used so often due to total leverage. I just shrugged it off; I had this feeling deep in my heart, and my soul, that no matter what… family was the most important.

End of Chapter 15