The orphanage had been built on the outskirts of the Elysi, just before the land started to become rural and shift into countryside.
The building's living room was easily still its biggest room, and Lewis had seen it comfortably fit all thirty-four residents of the orphanage. Its interior hadn't changed much over the years, consisting of a stone fireplace, which provided most of the room's lighting along with the two vast windows and the grand chandelier hanging at the ceiling's centre. Its grey-brick walls were lined with dark wood bookcases, when Lewis had first arrived here they'd all been empty, now almost every shelf was filled. Tables and chairs were placed near the walls and new dark-brown couches were positioned around the fireplace, the old furniture was lost in an accident over a year ago.
Lewis entered the room to find it filled with the children of the orphanage, the sounds of conversation and laughter bounced around the room. Eri was sat on the couch directly in front of the dormant fireplace surrounded by family and a large pile of colourfully wrapped presents and cards lay before her. Kate and Lucina sat on either side of Eri, eyeing him curiously as he approached. He didn't blame them he was never late, that nightmare had kept him trapped in sleep. On the couch to their right sat Arthur and next to him was a boy called Ike. He had thick, navy hair and an athletic build with the height to match it, he was the same age as Lucina and Arthur. They both gave Lewis a nod, before returning their attention to the group. On the couch beside them sat Alex Athra, a man with messy white hair, a similar style to Lewis', and silver-white eyes. Next to Alex was a boy the same age as Lewis and Kate, with parted, unruly black hair called Eric Renki.
Lewis passed the couch seating Becka, placed his presents on the pile and he sat beside Eric and Alex.
"Alright sorry I'm late," Lewis apologised, feeling everyone's eyes on him as he sat.
An excited smile grew on Eri's face as she dropped to the ground, in front of the pile, and grabbed the closest present.
"Up late?" Eric asked, whispering, as they watched Eri tear away the wrapping paper from her gifts, revealing a plethora of clothes, books, and accessories.
"Something like that," Lewis answered, not feeling the desire to express his nightmare.
Eric responded with an understanding nod, before turning his attention back to Eri. They watched as she picked up a long rectangular present which stuck out compared to the rest due its unusual wrapping of parchment and thin rope.
"That one is from Korra, she wasn't able to make it here this morning so she sent it ahead of time," Alex explained, as Eri eyed the present with curiosity. "I don't want to spoil the surprise but be careful. They're the real thing."
It was only then Lewis remembered what the present was. He'd even helped pick it. Korra had been gone for over three months now on an operation for the military, but Lewis didn't know much about it. Supposedly only the generals knew although he assumed Alex and Grey also did.
Seeing Eri struggle with the present's tight wrapping, Lewis flicked his finger, and the air turned sharp, severing the ropes with clean precision, allowing Eri to pull off the paper and reveal a black box. Inside were a pair of twin daggers, hidden away in their sheaths. They were about as long as Eri's forearms, the handles were leather wrapped and dyed black. Eri pulled one from its leather sheath revealing a curved, black blade. Lewis didn't recognise the metal, but noticed it reflected no light, causing them to appear so dark you could mistake them for shadows.
"Daggers! She's eleven," Becka exclaimed, her eyes stared into Alex like knives. "Why did Korra get her those?"
"Me?! That was all Lewis," Alex said, quickly shifting the blame.
"I regret nothing," Lewis shrugged, ignoring Becka's glare and watching everyone forcing themselves to stifle their laughter unless they wish to bring on the wrath of Becka.
For the last two years, Lewis had watched Eri improve in her training and believed she was finally ready. Besides, he'd been half her age when he'd started. Did that validate his decision? Make it responsible? Probably not. Did he care? Definitely not. He knew she'd love them. Anyway, he'd done far more idiotic things before and was still standing. What was the worst that could happen?
"They're so cool!" Eri exclaimed, her eyes glistened as they studied every detail of the blade. Her sudden outburst resulted in laughter and smiles among everyone, any tension being instantly erased.
"I've never seen anything like them," Kate said, glancing over Eri's shoulder and analysing the blade herself. "Who made them?"
"An old friend," Alex replied. "Oh and Lewis, he says you now owe him."
"Of course he did," Lewis grumbled.
"Old friend?" Eric asked Lewis quietly.
"The deranged being I called master," Lewis replied, causing Eric to hold back a small laugh.
Lewis should have realised there was a catch when he offered to forge them himself, they'd only asked if he knew any respectable blacksmiths in Eneasia. Gods knows what he'll want in return, but Lewis knew one thing it won't be fun. And it'd definitely be exclusively his problem.
Eri sheathed the daggers and gently placed them both back in their black box. Placing the gift safely at her side, she then continued to open her presents until the pile was almost completely gone, only Lewis's two gifts remained.
Lewis had taken great pleasure in telling no one what he had got Eri, so everyone watched intrigued as Eri opened a small box that fit in her palm. Inside was a pendant, similar to his own, it was forged from a golden metal and a gleaming gemstone, that matched her ruby eyes.
"It's beautiful," Eri murmured, her eyes sparkling.
Everyone stared at the pendant in awe.
Eric leaned in towards Lewis, "That must of cost you a fortune."
"I finally called in a few favours," Lewis replied, a smile growing on his face as he watched Eri study her gift. "It's a storage relic, not just jewellery," he explained drawing Eri's attention. "You infuse it with mana and can then move items in and out of it. Got a decent storage size as well."
"Woah," Eri said.
"Well go on then Lewis, put the necklace on the birthday girl," Lucina suddenly spoke up.
Before he could even reply, Eri bounced towards him and handed him the pendant. She then down in front of him, facing away and moving her hair out the way.
"It's a pendant actually," Lewis corrected his sister.
Lucina responded with a gesture of teenage attitude.
Ignoring his sister, Lewis carefully wrapped the tiny black rope around her neck and tied it into a knot, loose enough so it could fit over her head. Eri jumped up and moved to where they could all see. Immediately, she was swarmed with compliments causing her face to turn slightly pink and then flush to a bright red as the other kids in the room began to join in. Suddenly her eyes lit up and she darted away. Without delay, conversations sparked as they waited for Eri to return, many of them asking Lewis how much it cost or how he'd got his hands on something like that, but he wouldn't say. It wasn't some grand secret, he just took pleasure in the annoyance it brought Kate to not know. In between her irritated grumbles, Lewis noticed her glancing at the clock at hanging on the far wall. Kate cursed.
"Its nine," Kate announced, glancing at Arthur, Ike, and Lucina.
Hearing the time everyone but Lewis stood, realising they also had to leave.
"Ready to go?" Lucina asked Ike and Arthur.
"I just need to go grab my sword," Ike informed, and then rushed away to his room.
"Hurry! We'll wait outside," Lucina said as she exited the living room, Arthur following closely behind, giving everyone a wave before leaving.
"Kate, are you going to HQ?" Eric inquired, throwing on his black long coat and making sure he'd not left anything on the couch.
"Yeah," she replied, putting on her own coat.
"You might as well walk with us then," Alex told her.
Now that they were standing you could see how Alex and Eric towered over everyone, standing well above 6 feet. The three of them exited the room, soon followed by Becka who had to leave for work, leaving Lewis alone on the couch.
Time passed and eventually every other kid got on with their day, leaving Lewis completely alone, before Eri came bouncing back, a happy expression shinning from her face. She dived into Lewis, pulling him into a hug.
"Thank you!" she said thrilled, her voice muffled due to her face being planted in his chest. "I just looked in the mirror then, it's beautiful!" She took a seat next to him.
"Of course it does," he confirmed. "Why'd I get you something that didn't?"
"Where did everyone go?" she asked confused, only now realising the room was empty.
"They've all got busy days," Lewis explained.
"Have you?" Eri asked, sounding a little disappointed.
"No, I'm free until later tonight," he ruffled her hair, "hey, you've still got another present to open."
Eri's face lit up and she dropped to the floor. The final gift was a book. It was thick and dark brown, with the word Athra engraved, in the gold, on the front and down its spine.
"I made it," Lewis explained to her as she skimmed through its pages. "It pretty much contains everything you've ever wanted to know. All the stories you always ask me about, what I know about magic, it's all in there."
"Whoa." Eri stared down at the book like she was holding the greatest treasure in the world. "Will it help me with my mana training as well?" she asked.
"Yeah, well if you read it properly" he said, jokingly poking her forehead.
Lewis had begun her training 2 years ago, barely a few weeks after she arrived. Teaching her the basics of magic and how to harness her own through mana. However they soon ran into a snag. He discovered Eri had been born with incredible amounts of mana. It'd probably break records if made public, even now at only eleven years old, Lewis believed she already possessed ten times the amount of mana as the average mage. This made her training especially difficult. And not to mention also very dangerous, it'd had already cost them a full set of furniture.
"Good, I'm starting to even get the hang of Org- wait no Aug- … erm," Eri stammered as she tried to remember the name.
"Augmentation?"
"Yeah that one."
Augmentation was the simple process of infusing mana into your body, such as the muscles, enhancing their capabilities. People commonly augmented their body for increased strength and durability as well as heightened senses. It was generally the first aspect of magic young mages were taught, as, no matter your talents, it always advanced your ability to manipulate mana and allowed you to develop experience with magic.
"That's good, augmentation is a fundamental skill. Teaches you to easily manipulate mana and control its flow," Lewis explained.
"It's still really hard to control how much mana I let flow from my core. But I'm getting there," she told him proudly. "I even augmented my nose and was able to identify what food was the kitchen while in my room, and when I infused my ears I could clearly hear conversations on the other side of the orphanage."
"Really?" Lewis asked, slightly taken aback.
Eri nodded.
Lewis paused. If that was true, Eri's body held powerful capabilities for sensory augmentation. He'd even go as far to say incredible. Even when he enhanced himself, only his sight and hearing were truly impacted, and not of the magnitude that Eri was describing. Lewis felt the embers of excitement stoking within him, he wondered if such potential would continue to manifest when she learnt to augment her physicality and when she learnt to channel her affinities. Would she one day be able to rival him?
"That's good, you weren't even able to concentrate mana in your body a few months ago," Lewis said.
"If I infuse more mana into my ears I think I could probably hear people in other buildings."
"Possibly," Lewis said, he couldn't hide the scepticism from his voice. "But remember what I taught you. Augmentation isn't only just dependent on how much mana you use. It also depends on your mana channels," he explained. Eri tilted her head. "Remember? They're also known as mana veins."
"Are they really that important?" Eri muttered.
Lewis sighed. "Extremely so. Even though there are some genetic aspects to it, mana channels are essentially forged over time by repeatedly infusing our body parts with mana. Doing this carves pathways that allows mana to flow and augment the desired parts of the body more efficiently and easily. Eventually it'll become second nature to you," he explained. "Ultimately, you'll create enough mana channels to form a connected system and then you'll be able to take the next step and infuse your entire body with mana."
"What do you mean genetic aspects?" she asked confused after processing what he'd said.
Lewis turned to face her directly as he thought of how to explain it to her in a way she'd understand. "Think of it like muscles," he finally spoke.
"Muscles?"
"Everyone will grow muscle and get stronger if they train. However, some people just naturally grow more muscle and are stronger due to their genetics, they're just born with an advantage. Mana channels are similar in a way. Some people will have a greater number and more efficient channels than others."
"More efficient?"
"It means their mana veins are more efficient at utilising mana." She continued to stare at him baffled. "Think of it this way. Say you have efficient mana channels in your muscles and we're comparing you to someone who doesn't, if you both infuse equal amounts of mana into your muscles, the result of your augmentation would be greater than theirs. This is also why people have limits to how much they can augment their body. Eventually your veins will reach a limit to how much mana they can utilise, and therefore how much you can augment your body."
Eri nodded along with his explanation, processing the information. "So, having lots of mana isn't always good because if your mana veins can't handle it your body won't be able augmented itself any further?" Eri inquired.
Lewis cracked a small smile. "Exactly. If you don't train and forge your mana channels to match your mana levels you'll be limited to how much you can augment your body. You can even damage your body if you try and overload your body and bypass your channel's limits. It's why we always tell you specifically to be careful," Lewis told her.
Eri sat there stunned, a mix of excitement and shock on her face, with a hint of fear. "Will I be able to forge mana veins to support my magic?" she asked.
"Yeah definitely, I'll make sure of it," Lewis reassured her.
"Are you good at augmenting?" Eri asked curiously.
"I'm good at augmenting my body, I'm alright at enhancing my senses," he answered.
"Do you think I'll ever be able to enhance my strength? I keep trying but it never works," she said annoyed. "What if I'm someone who can't?"
"Everyone with magic can augment their body, even if it's just a tiny bit and even if you're not that good at it, there are other ways around it. But you don't have to worry about any of that, you'll be just find at enhancing your strength. I can tell," he answered with a comforting smile.
She matched his smile and leapt off the couch. "Can we train now?" she asked eagerly.
"You want to train magic on your birthday?"
Eri vigorously nodded.
"Fine, but not until later. We've spoke about magic enough this morning. Besides I thought you wanted to go into the city," he reminded her.
Her eyes lit up. "Can I get changed first?"
"Obviously, let's take your presents up to your room," he picked up the heaviest ones, "hey, you should place the book in your pendant, so you always have it on you," Lewis suggested.
"Oh yeah," she said, however then paused. "How do I do that?"
"Hold it in your hand and infuse a little bit of mana into it, you'll feel a weird sensation like a portal has just opened in your mind," Lewis instructed.
"Yeah I feel it," she said, her face creasing as she concentrated.
"Now think about placing the book into that portal," he said. After a few moments the book vanished in a flash of red sparks into the pendant. "There you go," Lewis congratulated. "To withdraw it, just follow the exact same steps but think about taking it out instead."
"So cool," Eri murmured, admiring the pendant. She then gathered the rest of her presents. "Hurry up!" she shouted before running off.
"I'm carrying the heavy stuff you know," he muttered.
"Then just augment yourself, you said you're good at it," she teased him.