More time passes as I recover from my last breathing exercise. In that time, my grandparents had taken over babysitting duties, and due to the current situation, of me taking my first steps to magic, Grandma convinced Mum to release all the unrestricted magic literature she locked away.
Apparently, Grandma handles the more social and political side of things in the Silverbrook family and was easily able to talk Mum into letting me read the books about magic that she cleared from all the easily accessible bookshelves.
Grandma stated that it would be best to get me immersed and used to magic literature while I am still young. Jokes on her, I am into that shit.
***
Today is the 7th day since my last mana fluctuation exercise, for the past 2 days my grandparents have been trying to prompt me to try again, but I refuse. I choose to try again while I am in tip top condition, which is naturally after a belly full of milk and a nap.
When I wake up from my nap, I see my grandparents sitting at a table beside my cot, Grandpa has a bunch of parchments in front of him and is scribbling stuff on them, while Grandma is reading a book while sipping some tea.
I let out a tiny yawn which Grandma noticed and picked me up into her lap, “Good morning, sleepy head, do you want to read with Grandma?” she said as she showed me a thick book with a well designed cover titled "A Treatise on Herbology: Volume 2".
Maybe later Grandma, it's mana time!
I started my breathing exercise and my grandparents stopped what they were doing and concentrated on me.
1st attempt failed, but I think I felt a slight tingle on my skin, 2nd attempt also failed but the tingle got stronger.
I kept at it until the 6th attempt, and each time the tingle on my skin got stronger. The instruction book said this is the sensation I should be feeling, so that means I must be close.
Against my better judgment, I push on to the 7th time, Grandpa and Grandma give me worried looks.
Sorry, but I am too close, I don't want to lose this feeling in another week of waiting.
I push on despite the ache in my chest and when I release my held breath and image, I feel like something in my whole body seized up, and I notice something in the world around me was flowing on without me, and just as I noticed that, I felt a sharp excruciating pain jab in my chest, it was so pain that I could not even breath or make any noise, the only thing I could do was curl in on myself and clutch my chest.
From that sharp excruciating pain in my chest, I felt something from within me start leaking out of me and blend into the world around me, but not even a second after I felt the leak, a hand rested on my back and I felt something warm patch the leak.
A few moments later, the pain subsided and I gasped for breath the moment I was not paralyzed by the pain.
If I were to suffer this in my old body, the most I would get is abit teary eyed, but I would just wipe it off and carry on with my day, I had worse when I had bone cracks or fractures. But in this baby body that had never experienced serious pain before, the only thing I could let out was cries of pain as Grandpa cradled me and tried to soothe me.
Through my tear blurred vision, I could see a stupidly big smile on Grandpa’s face as he looked up to Grandma and said, “Call them here, Luke has taken the first step to magic. He had a minor rupture in his mana pathway, but with me keeping it patched, it should be back to normal within the hour.”
Excuse me, But What The Fuck?! That pain was a “minor” rupture? Then what is a normal or even a serious rupture? Do I just die on the spot?
As I was crying myself to sleep, Grandma returned with my parents who burst through the door and went straight to me. Mum wanted to carry me but Grandpa said no because he was still using his own mana to hold the patch over my ruptured mana pathway.
As I tired myself out from the pain and crying, and was falling asleep, I heard the grown-ups talk,
“So what now?” I hear Dad ask.
To which Grandma replied, “Now we keep Luke on a low profile and only have servants around him that we can truly trust, which means getting them to sign binding contracts and taking care of their families to ensure their loyalty.”
As they continue their talks, the siren's call to sleep beckons and I accept the call.
***
When I woke up, the world looked different, there were ripples ebbing and flowing through the air. I wave my hand through the ripples and they deform around my hand like smoke before returning to its normal flow.
Grandpa said I took the first step to magic, which is sensing mana. Are these flowing ripples mana?
But besides the world looking different, I feel different, I can actually feel the ebbing and flowing ripples of what I can only assume is mana on my skin washing over me.
It is just like the "Introduction to Sensing Mana: 3rd Edition" said, my body’s mana is now distinct from the environmental mana, which enables me to sense the environmental mana, which means I can enact my will upon the environmental mana.
I reach out my hand and try to grasp the mana only to have it flow between my fingers like smoke once again.
Wait a moment, the breathing exercise had a component of imagination where I had to imagine a ball of power in my chest, does the same apply if I want to manipulate the environmental mana?
I close my eyes and concentrate, I imagine an ethereal arm extending from my outstretched hand, and I wave my actual hand around.
When I do so, I somehow get double the feeling of mana on my skin, like my arm had doubled in length.
Before I could open my eyes to see what was up with this feeling, I was shocked by the loud shouts of someone behind my cot.
“YES! HE DID IT!” I opened my eyes only to see Grandpa's hands coming towards me, scooped me out of my cot, lifted me high up, and started twirling me around while laughing and shouting. “Not only can he sense mana, Luke can manipulate mana!”
I can? Yay me! But Grandpa, you better stop spinning me or else-
It was too late, I puked on Grandpa again.