In Between Thorns and Roses

Chapter 9: Mana and Magic

Chione's POV

I closed and opened my eyes in the ballroom currently draped with a dark curtain.

"Please stay behind me Lady Chione." Said Favion.

I knew and distinguished him from the rest because of the mana that flowed through his body and then his sword.

How did I learn about mana though?

In my fourth life after dying thrice, I realized that something was common in my life. It was the three-month mark of my mana awakening three months ahead of my regression.

In that life, I chose to study magic and harness it.

That study and training with my teacher caused me to know how I'll be able to see the mana of the people around me, it's flow also helps when perceiving how the user currently feels.

Or sometimes, that glow helps in knowing who you are up against in the dark.

The people who could use it freely, however, were only a small amount.

They are what we call 'Wizards', 'Sword-Masters', 'Mages', and 'Magicians'.

Wizards were the ones who were given a special license to use offensive, healing, and defensive magics, in a way, it meant every type of magic was accessible to them.

Sword-Masters put their mana in their swords and specialize in physical attacks amplified by magic, they are a rare kind and do not usually require a license. Take Favion or my two brothers for example.

The third one, who are the mages supports the wizards and can use healing and defensive type of magic. This job is also licensed.

While the fourth and lower kind, although not least are called the magicians, they also do not need any license because they only use magic that aids in errands and uses it in healing. They can defend but must make sure it would not hurt or restrict other people because that is within the bounds of the law.

I had planned to use magic a lot of times, many times actually.

But the death I experienced after pursuing that magic was far worse than the other ones.

It would cost me to cross paths with that guy again.

A man who was not bound by reason, a man who lived blindly and depended on what he wanted to kill and what he should not kill based only on his raw feelings.

There was already the Duke, Kaiver, Keister, Favionn, and Zephyr to kill me. I don't want to add another one that I must always flee from.

My already small world is becoming even smaller.

Apart from that, magic needed something such as a magic stone to work. A device used to protrude magic. Something which I don't have today.

An example of that is the stone engraved on Favion's sword, and the one engraved on the knife I gave that old woman when we were attacked in the bridge.

Come to think of it, I never met her again.

That old lady saved me a second time when she reported my location to them.

Well, out of all the four types of people that use magic, Favion belonged to the second type.

That much is also the explanation for why I can tell that the ones who invaded the event were poorly chosen, people.

Favionn looked knightly in his appearance that he hid me behind his back, but the amount of trust you could have in his loyalty was also the very same amount of distrust I could put in him as I was not truly the one he served.