Seyran

Chapter 2: Mana

Seyran laughed. A resounding sound in this otherwise quiet room; it was mesmerizing and pleasant to the ears but it wasn't inviting to laugh back, for it was without mirth and tinged with too much sorrow. Not knowing what to do, Yenaigai lowered his head even more, not taking any chance to meet her eyes. Somehow, he got the impression that his mistress wasn't laughing at all but crying and he didn't know how to make her stop.

Wasn't it funny? Making her life easier they said. Indeed! Been dead was so much easier than been alive! She laughed for a while, before suddenly feeling a little dizzy, the room seemingly spinning. She gripped her right knee.

"Yenaigai" she called with a weak voice she had trouble recognizing as her own. She lacked way too much mana right now! "I'm going to sleep, put out the candles" she said more harshly than intended. The light was pricking at her eyes making her a little snappy.

Yenaigai bit his lower lip, not voicing his complains. 'Sleep?' He wanted to say. After sleeping for so long she still had it in her to continue even more? Ah, then where was the need to wake up at all. But he said none of that, and diligently extinguished all the candles' fire, wishing for once she would sleep like a normal person and not make it months or years.

"Wake me up at dawn... no actually wake me up when the sun will be the highest in the sky" she ordered when the last candle was snuffed, appeasing her martyrized sight.

Happiness burst in Yenaigai's heart. This was clearly saying that she will be awake tomorrow right?

"Yes, this servant definitely will" he answered light-hearted from delight before sliding the rice paper to go.

Left alone in the dark, Seyran clenched and unclenched her fists several times. The more she went on, the less she could use force to close them properly. She was too frail to even clench her fists correctly! She let a long sigh and lay down on the big bed. Her eyes closed, slowing her breath; she breathed in and gently breathed out, trying to gauge her mana's quantity.

In Unzu, mana was equal to one's energy. It flowed through blood, muscle, bone and skin and was one of the most important parts in been a wizard or a witch. And although one could live without ever needing to control it or even feel it, facts remained that the weaklings were bound to die in this world were might was right. So people would struggle to increase their mana.

It was their mana that let them have the ability to create what their mind was thinking about, be it an element like fire or a weapon like a sword. That same mana was used for summoning familiar which then would feed on it. And in their earlier years, Unzu's inhabitants would often use mana to strengthen their bodies making them resistant against all kind of natural aggressions so that little diseases, hunger or all those tiny things that were lethal to those without mana, were bearable for them. That been said, once the strengthening started, a good portion of mana would be require and even against the user's will a certain amount of it –and if needed be the whole of it- would prioritize the body's wellbeing over anything other.

For a witch, to lack mana was equal to be deprived of energy. Without any energy left in her body, how was she to move? Or was it that this body didn't have mana at all to start with? But, Seyran realized, it wasn't that she couldn't feel her mana. Mana flowed through her whole body however the quantity was extraordinary small. And given her state, she could guess that it was just a quantity enough to keep this body alive even in her comatose state. Like she was right now, even the smallest movements were very tiring.

For someone who had previously an unlimited quantity of mana this was really challenging.

Seyran opened her eyes and for a time stared at the darkness that surrounded her. She closed them again. Tomorrow morning, she would see what she could do about it, for now she was just too exhausted.