Kael froze for a bit. He didn't move; he just sat there, continuing to observe the black feather. His heartbeat steadily rose, and he started breathing heavily. The silence in the room was almost tangible as Kael went through yesterday's events while staring at the feather.
Then the sound of his bedside alarm clock brought him from his reverie; he turned it off after about a minute. Kael was still scared of the feather, but at the same time, he was also slightly interested in it and vaguely felt drawn to it.
He came out of his blanket and sat on the side of his bed, still watching the feather; he didn't take his eyes off it. Kael's hair was messy and covered his vision slightly, but he pulled it away. It was getting longer; he made a mental note to remind his mom to shave it for him.
Kael sat, trying to muster the courage to touch the feather, though he was still slightly hesitant. "I mean, what could it do? It's just a feather; it's not like it'll hurt me or anything," Kael thought to himself, willing himself forward.
He stood and walked to where the feather was. The feather didn't really look normal; it was black but had some sort of glow to it. The more Kael got close, the more drawn he felt toward it. Kael extended his hand toward it. As he got closer, he felt… he didn't even know how he felt, but it wasn't hurting him; in fact, it did the opposite.
He finally touched it and put it in the palm of his hand. It felt soft to the touch. When he picked it up, the glow around it seemed to increase, only slightly, but Kael did notice it. When Kael brought it closer to his eye to get a better look, it just looked like a normal feather to him; the only difference was the glow and how he felt after touching it.
"This feather looks weird," he said to himself. "Why is it glowing though?" he added curiously. Kael had lots of questions about the sudden appearance of the feather. "Could it be linked to the voice I heard yesterday?" he questioned himself. "Maybe it does," Kael said, but he really didn't want to remember it because he was afraid of the unknown.
He held it for a few more minutes before placing it back on his desk. He felt slightly different after placing it back. "Huh?" Kael exclaimed. "What just happened?" he thought again. Kael was visibly confused about what had just happened. But a lot of weird things had been happening to him of late, so he was concerned. He just brushed off the feeling he had now.
He then proceeded to open the curtains of his room and make his bed. He then proceeded to brush his teeth. Kael wasn't really sure what he was going to do for the day. He did not really want to go back to the forest.
He was really tired of everything, so he decided that today he was going to rest. Maybe help his mother with chores around the house and other things, but he wasn't going to do anything too tiresome; he wanted to give his small body a break. His stomach growled; he was hungry because he had skipped dinner the previous night, and now he was regretting it.
He then proceeded to go downstairs for breakfast, sure that his mother would be surprised because he woke up early.
***
The soft glow of the holographic screen reflected in Clare's eyes as lines of text scrolled endlessly before her. She hadn't realized how quiet her room had become until the sound of her own breathing felt too loud. Her fingers hovered over the interface; what she was reading was really captivating to her. The words she had just read refused to leave her mind. Something about them felt strangely familiar to what she had gone through during the day when she was with Kael.
"Mana corruption, huh," she paused a bit to contemplate what she had read. She looked back at the article. She then read it again.
The article stated:
---
Mana corruption is generally described as a destabilization of a person's mana core, caused by exposure to unstable mana fields, or internal imbalance between one's core and one's soul. Many world-famous scholars and scientists believe it to be a "resonance failure between the soul and one's mana field." Scientist Dr. Ratlyn Noir, who has greatly studied the topic of mana corruption, has found that the most common causes are: overuse of high-capacity spells, exposure to corrupt zones, genetic lineage defects, and experimental mana enhancements. Most symptoms are mostly...
---
Clare paused a bit because the part that was supposed to show the symptoms was blurred out. Clare was surprised because she wanted to know more. But she then continued with the part that wasn't blurred out.
---
Recent unpublished data from many [blue smudge] research institutes across the world have suggested that certain individuals are not corrupted, but they are incompatible with standard mana flow.
---
She paused again. "Hmmm… Kael couldn't make a mana ball, which is the most basic thing. Could it be that he isn't compatible with standard mana flow like others?"
This was the part that had Clare thinking a lot. Clare wanted to scroll down again, but most of the text was blurred. She tried to scroll all the way to the bottom, but not a single piece of information could be seen. Then something caught her eye. It was the only line of text that wasn't blurred out, and it was at the very bottom.
What Clare read made her really suspicious:
'Public knowledge on mana corruption and its case is limited and managed by the Academy.'
That was the only sentence that wasn't blurred out. "Is limited, huh?" Clare leaned back in her chair, thinking about what she had read again. "Why though? What is so special about mana corruption that makes it such a special matter?" she asked herself, trying to think about—
It had already gotten late, and Clare had started getting tired. Although she was eager to know more about mana corruption, she was going to do that tomorrow. But before she closed her computer, one link to an article caught her attention. It read: 'Symptoms of mana corruption.'
Though tired, Clare clicked on it hurriedly. Her eyes widened in surprise. "No… no way," she blurted out.
***
Somewhere in the forest, in a deep, dark cave, a creature stirred, making the ground shake as it stood. Things were happening in its forest that didn't usually happen. The creature had a consciousness and was highly intelligent.
Two humans, young humans, had been coming to its territory lately, but it didn't worry about them since they didn't pose any threat. One of the young humans, however, was unique to the creature's eye. The young human had something that the creature wasn't even sure of, but it was ancient—more ancient than the creature itself.
But that only increased its interest toward the young human.
"I hope it helps you with your magic, child," a voice said in the darkness.