Chapter 42 - The Sea of Stars

“…He lost, but it was a close call. God also became powerless. The primal dragon still believed that he was right. So, when the weary God was unable to stop him, he acted according to his belief.”

“What did he do?”

“He gave all of his power to the world and humans. We called that power the legacy of the primal dragon and…”

Who were ‘we’? Azriel looked back. With a calm face, Rhema continued. “…Today, we call that power ‘mana.’ It’s the beginning of magic.”

“That’s… magic?”

“Right. It’s the dragon’s power that goes against the nature established by God, a way to make miracles, the devil’s law, ‘magic.’” Surprised, Azriel opened her mouth. “I, if so, is magic bad?”

“Well… Azriel, we talked about how we name mana using Lemm text.”

“Yes.”

“That Lemm text is God’s legacy.”

“What?”

“When the primal dragon gave mana to humans at his will, God also gave power to humans according to his will. That is Lemm. It’s God’s law that puts a leash on dragon’s wild mana and regulates it.”

“God’s law… Then it’s not a bad thing?… It’s hard.”

“It’s okay if you don’t understand it now. Well, let me tell you a different story.” The sun was up completely. Beneath the sky that turned bright in blue, Rhema quietly continued. “A very long time ago… there were primary wizards. They could use magic like breathing from the moment they were born. It was the time before the word ‘magic’ was used and the existence of mana was known. How could the primary wizards use magic even before learning about it? How did they know that the world was full of mana? Can you imagine?”

“Ummm… Is it because they sensed mana?”

“Anyone can sense mana. If you can’t feel it, you can’t be a wizard in the first place.” Azriel frowned. As she struggled, Rhema gave her the answer. “They could see mana, Azriel.”

“They saw it? With their eyes?”

“Yes, they inherited the eye of the primal dragon. In their eyes, they saw the flow of mana and because they could see it, they could touch it. That’s the beginning of magic.” Rhema moved his hand as if he was touching the air. At the tip of his hand, Azriel saw faint stars sparkling. She asked in a murmur. “Is that sparkling thing mana?” Rhema’s hand stopped. Azriel could feel his chest heaving as he breathed in. Azriel turned around and looked up at him. With a face mixed with fear, astonishment, and delight, Rhema whispered. “Do you see this? You, too?”

At the tip of his fingers, the stars spun around dizzily. When Azriel paid attention, she could see the movement more clearly than before. “I see it. They are twinkling and spinning. Is this mana?”

“Is it in the form of stars to you?”

“Yes, I think it’s stars. When you told me to sense it earlier, I saw stars all around. It’s like they were up in the night sky…”

“You didn’t just feel mana but saw it?”

“Yes, I clearly saw it. The stars were everywhere and it was dazzling.”

Rhema covered his face with his hands. Through his fingers, the grey eyes sparkled with a mysterious gleam. He let out a hoarse voice. “Stars…”

“What?”

Rhema stretched out his hand toward Azriel’s face. His long fingers outlined her face like groping bubbles. His fingers were trembling. “Really… Oh, god, really…” Rhema was acting strange. Azriel could not understand the emotions that were passing by him. They were too deep, dry, and old for her to understand. She became scared a little but did not avoid him. For a long time, he did not say anything but stared at Azriel. Stiffened like an inanimate object, his breathing had stopped. The hand that wrapped her face was not taken back for a long time but he did not grab her.

“Rhema?” Azriel leaned her cheek against his hand and called him. Rhema Reshith breathed in deeply as if he was being revived, slowly breathed out, and slowly blinked his eyes. Then he took off his hand. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s alright.” Azriel did not know why he apologized but nodded her head. Then she asked cautiously. “Rhema, are the stars I saw mana?” Rhema raised his hand between him and her. When his fingers tapped the air, very faint and weak stars sparkled there.

“What do you see here?” he asked.

“Whenever you take off your finger, stars twinkle.”

“…The magic I just used was to open your senses to limits. You said you saw stars everywhere then, right? That’s the image of mana visible in your eyes. It’s your own world.”

“Only me? You can’t see it?”

“I see it in a different form, not stars. It’s normal for everyone to see it in different forms as the mana that each individual is born with has different characteristics. A decent wizard would name his mana according to its characteristics.” Rhema smiled faintly. “When I first saw you, the vastly spread mana felt like a night sky full of stars, so I named you Esthera… That must’ve been accurate.”

“What does mana look like to you?”

“To me, it looks like moving lines.”

“Lines? I can’t imagine that so well…”

“It’s similar to a spider web or the veins of a leaf.” Azriel tilted her head and asked carefully. “Umm, if I got to see mana because of you, shouldn’t I see it in lines, too?” Rhema put on a strange face. It looked like a smile and crying at the same time.