Chapter 120: The Language of Mana

Cindy turned fully toward him, letting the mana spring’s currents settle on their own now that they were calm. Her frills swayed as she studied him with those silver eyes, and there was something almost teacher-like in her posture.

"Don’t get ahead of yourself," she said. "Just because you can sense mana doesn’t mean you can use it. Seeing the currents is one thing. Understanding them is another."

Gray tilted his bell.

’What do you mean?’

"I mean that sensing mana is only the first step," Cindy said. "A mage spends years learning to read those currents. Where they flow, where they knot, where they thin out. You can feel them now, but if you don’t know what you’re feeling, you’ll just be blind in a different way."

Gray extended his senses toward the calmed mana spring. The currents were faint, steady pulses threading through the water like veins under skin. He could feel them, but if Cindy asked him to explain what they meant, he wouldn’t be able to.

’...Okay,’ he admitted. ’It’s like hearing a language I don’t speak.’

"Exactly," Cindy said, and there was a flicker of pride in her voice now. "So you need to learn. If we’re going to survive down here and especially if we’re going to reach the surface you can’t just stumble around with a mana pool that big and no idea how to use it."

’And you’re going to teach me?’

"I’m the only one here who can," Cindy said, crossing her tiny arms. "I was Fifth Circle. I may be in a small body now, but my knowledge didn’t go anywhere. I can teach you the fundamentals."

Gray drifted closer to her, his serrated bell tilting.

’Then teach me.’

Cindy blinked, clearly expecting more resistance.

"...Just like that? You’re not going to complain?"

’Why would I complain about getting stronger?’ Gray said. ’I’ve spent this whole time learning by killing things. If you can teach me something faster, I’ll take it.’

For a moment, Cindy just stared at him. Then her frills lifted, and a small, pleased smile crossed her new face.

"Good. Then listen carefully, because I’m only going to explain this once."

She drifted in front of him, her silver glow steadying as she raised one tiny hand.

"Mana is not just energy. It has shape. It has flow. Every spell a mage casts starts with understanding the current around them, bending it, and then releasing it in a controlled form. The barrier I use, the healing ferns, the mana spring, all of it follows the same rules."

’So it’s like a current in the water.’

"Yes," Cindy said, and her voice softened with approval. "That’s exactly what it is. And you already know how to read water currents, don’t you?"

’I do.’

"Then you’re not starting from nothing," Cindy said. "You already have the instinct. I just need to teach you the language."

She raised her small hand, and a thin ribbon of silver light curled around her fingers.

"Watch. This is the smallest spell I can cast right now. A single thread of mana. Follow it with your senses and tell me what you feel."

Gray extended his new mana sense toward the thread. At first it was just a vague shimmer. Then, slowly, it resolved into something more like a current, flowing from Cindy’s body into the water, pulsing with a rhythm that almost matched a heartbeat.

’It’s... moving in a spiral,’ he said. ’From you, outward. It’s not just flowing. It’s turning.’

Cindy’s frills lifted sharply.

"That’s..." She stared at him, mouth agape in an adorable look of shock. "That’s right. That’s exactly right. Most students take weeks to notice the spiral."

Gray felt satisfied by the praise.

’I’ve had a lot of practice reading currents,’ he said. ’Just not these kind.’

Cindy nodded slowly, her expression shifting from surprise to something warmer.

"Then maybe you’ll learn faster than I thought."

She let the thread fade and drifted back.

"We’ll start with the basics tomorrow. For now, let’s go home. You need to rest, and I need to recover my strength before I can teach you anything more."

’Agreed,’ Gray said.

He gathered her gently into his tentacles, and Cindy didn’t protest this time. She settled against his bell, her frills swaying with the current as he turned back toward the Verdant Hollow.

"By the way... how did you actually beat that thing?" Cindy ask.

’What do you mean?’

"That thing," Cindy said. "You told me you absorbed it. But that creature was on a completely different level. Even at my peak, I couldn’t have fought something like that. So how did you do it?"

Gray was quiet for a beat, weaving around a pale stone spire.

’Because I beat it inside my own mind,’ he said.

Cindy’s frills stiffened.

"In your mind? You defeated it with... willpower?"

’Yeah,’ Gray said. ’Something like that.’

Cindy thought for a moment, her eyes closed, then opened them again.

"...That actually makes sense."

’It does?’

"When I tried to possess you," Cindy said, "I couldn’t take control. I thought it was because your body was strange. A jellyfish body I didn’t understand. But that wasn’t the real reason, was it?" She paused. "It was your mind. Your will was too strong. I pushed, and you pushed back, and I lost."

’Maybe,’ Gray said. ’I didn’t think about it like that back then. I just... refused to lose.’

"And that’s exactly it," Cindy said quietly. "That’s why you beat the Xytheris too. Its body was made of mana. Its power was beyond anything I could measure. But in your own mind, will is the only thing that matters. And your will..." She trailed off. "Yours is terrifying."

’Coming from the mage who tried to steal my body, that’s a compliment.’ Gray said with amusement.

"It’s not a compliment," Cindy huffed. "It’s an observation. Don’t let it go to your head."

Gray let out a short laugh, then something crossed his mind.

’But something’s been bothering me.’

"What?"

’Why did the mana spring attract something that big? A Xytheris doesn’t just appear out of nowhere. It had to come from somewhere. And it came straight for that spring.’

Cindy’s frills lowered as she considered the question.

"...You’re right. That’s strange." She was quiet for a moment, then continued slowly. "Creatures like the Xytheris feed on mana. That’s their whole existence, they’re born from it, they grow from it, they consume it. A mana spring, especially one that’s overflowing with wild, uncontrolled mana... to something like that, it would be like a beacon."

’So the spring wasn’t just a spring. It was a meal.’

"Yep," Cindy said. "When the mana was uncontrolled, it flooded the surrounding water. That much free mana would broadcast across a huge area. Any mana-feeding creature nearby would have sensed it immediately." She paused. "We weren’t unlucky enough to run into the Xytheris. We were unlucky enough to be standing on top of its dinner."

Gray drifted past a cluster of glowing moss, his tentacles curling thoughtfully.

’So it was coincidence.’

"Pretty much," Cindy said with a sigh. "We just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time."