Jane was uncharacteristically shaken up by his findings, but the lack of things he could do about it forced him to calm down. At least, he now knew his original name.
There was also the matter of the rabbit he killed, all that time ago. Since it was in a similar state to him, he could conclude that the abnormalities had only began after he killed it. The question, then, was what exactly those abnormalities meant for him.
The rabbit began behaving strangely after killing a cricket. Jane had his own case after killing the rabbit. In that case, there was a definite possibility that it transferred once one died.
'Aren't I basically immortal, then?'
It was half-true. As Jane was not currently a rabbit, there was no guarantee that the original owner would stay in control. For all he knew, he might become another set of memories in someone's head. The thought scared him a little. But it was not nearly as scary as the prospect of a normal death.
---
Already, there were only three months remaining until Jane and his teacher had to depart. With only so much time left, Jane had to start thinking seriously about his preparations. Specifically...
'How am I going to explain this to him?'
Jane already knew it. If he insisted that his brother go with him, then the quiet man would follow him without any objections. But that was not the whole story. What about his own personal feelings? There was no way that his brother would be completely okay, or that he wouldn't have any questions. Jane did not want to take advantage of his brother's inability to speak. Thus, he had to think of all of the questions his brother would ask, and answer them directly. This was proving to be much more challenging than he initally thought.
If it was before, he would have been fine. There was no need to answer questions that he didn't have answer to. However, knowing what he knew now, he was seriously afraid of what kind of reaction his brother would have.
'I can't really change anything about it, though. Am I just going to have to lie to him?'
"What are you on about?"
Jane had kept many things from his brother, but he had never once lied. He was not going to change that, either.
---
"My disciple, what are you thinking—"
Without any warning, his teacher launched a mass of metal towards Jane, who quickly blocked it with negated 'Force' runes.
"—so hard about lately?"
As he waited for a response, he conjured rain above Jane's head. He then filled that rain with dozens of 'Lightning' runes.
"Teacher, do you have any siblings? Or maybe a parent that you're close to?"
Jane quickly insulated the area above him with densely packed 'Air' runes. He then quickly wrapped those runes into an 'Include', forming them into a razor-sharp blade. Once he added an auxiliary 'Project', it formed a slash heading in the direction of his teacher.
"I come from a noble family, so of course I have siblings. I'm not too close to any of them, though, let alone to my parents."
Calex wrapped negated 'Air' runes into an 'Include' directly countering Jane's slash. Since his alignment wasn't entirely perfect, the tiniest scratch developed across his face. He smiled slightly.
"No two families are the same, after all. But general advice for communication will always work. For example—"
His teacher unleashed spells with the base of 'Lightning', 'Metal', and 'Fire' towards Janes location. In response, Jane formed walls of 'Soil' and 'Rock'.
"No matter the spell, you will most definitely form a back-and-forth between offense and defense. Within that rhythm, you can find the best rune for every situation."
"Like how 'Soil' is the best insulator, 'Metal' blocks physical attacks the best, and 'Rock' is an inbetween?"
Jane activated his locket, and began running in a wide circle around his teacher.
"You've finally gotten over your habit of naming runes, have you?"
Calex manifested a 'Diffuse' around a 'Rock' above his head, then wrapped it in several auxiliary 'Amplify' effects. All around him, tiny bits of stone pelted the forest.
"Well, what's the best way I can explain to my brother that we have to leave?"
Jane's voice echoed from behind his teacher. Calex, however, just smiled and kept up his attack.
"Explain to him that an enigmatic mage has decided to take you in, and that you're going to be accompanying him."
All around them, his teacher began forming 'Water' runes, causing heavy rainfall to drown the area. Jane's voice started to become a little unnatural.
"Don't I have to mention the abnormalities? It seems a little improbable that a mage would take some random village boy in."
Calex started laughing. Then, in the air, he manifested another rune. This time, it was complex and three-dimensional, yet he began constructing dozens of them. He once again wrapped the runes in 'Diffuse' and 'Amplify' auxiliaries. Thousands of bits of bloody flesh began flying out in all directions. In several places around him, the clouds of projectiles began to distort. In one place in particular, he could see them bouncing off of something.
"What the hell is wrong with you?"
Jane began running away, hoping to reach an area where the magic was less concentrated. In response, his teacher abandoned all other magics he was currently maintaining, and instead focused the entire bloody barrage onto where the earlier distortion was located.
"It may be hard for you to realize, since you've been compared to me all this time. But, your talent is not too bad, my disciple."
His teacher added 'Grow' runes to the inside of the circle, causing the beam of flesh to become much more heterogeneous. With this, the distortion of Janes body became much clearer.
"How long has it been since you learned this magic? One month? I seriously doubt any other young magician could reach this level of proficiency in that time."
Seeing as his location was exposed, Jane spoke with his own mouth.
"So, you're saying that I should use my intelligence as an excuse? While hiding the fact that my Manaheart is all weird?"
The distortion in the hail of flesh stayed still while asking a question. Calex, meanwhile, manifested a concealed 'Air' rune in a similar shape to what Jane had cast before, and aimed it outside the range of his flesh beam. Soon enough, his student appeared again. He was lying down in the grass, while clutching his abdomen. His entrails were being held back by his fingers.
"No, I'm saying you should use that as the justification for you leaving. Instead of the threat to your life."
'Threat to my life? Isn't that you?'
Jane didn't respond, since he was busy trying to push his intestines back into his body. The texture was slippery, and the wound in his abdomen hurt every time his hands brushed against it. Only once he sealed the wound with a run-through of 'Grow' runes could he breathe properly again.
"Ow... Did you really have to go for the stomach?"
"Do you remember the time I aimed for your neck, instead? Besides, you should have properly reinforced yourself."
Jane had foregone reinforcement, since all of his focus was on concealing himself. Although, it seemed his teacher had planned exactly for that situation. Because of his recent attempts to incorporate those new runes into his learning, their spars often ended with him being severely wounded. One time, his head was almost sliced clean off.
However, his efforts were bearing fruit. His control of mana had gotten far better, and his focus could be split across many more things at once. This was especially important for the runes he learnt a month ago, that his teacher had complimented him for.
They were 'Illusion' and 'Sound'.