"Mana is everywhere, it is the ambient energy all creatures thrive from. Mana is somewhat like the air we breathe, the laws governing it are almost similar. All humans possess what we call a mana core, and it is this core that purifies the mana we take in. Mana in its neutral form is toxic, and if ingested directly would cause a mana pool combustion, that's why the mana core exists, though that's not its only function. For now we'll focus on the most fundamental one. After it purifies the mana, the mana is then transferred to the mana pool, but mind you, at this point the mana bears the signature of the person, that's why we can't directly absorb another person's mana. When a spell is used, the mana is released back into the air, and just like carbon dioxide with trees, the now unstable mana possessing a signature gets absorbed by them and let back out into the atmosphere, then the cycle continues of absorbing it back into your body through the mana core—"
The teacher rambled on, but I had other things on my mind, so I was barely paying attention.
I don't know what's wrong with me, I really don't. I just can't explain it. The obsession I felt towards Renay has completely vanished. I mean, I still love her, but for some reason it's not as desperate as before. Not just that, Zel is gone too.
Wait.
Could all this be connected? Zel's disappearance, the return of my long lost mana, and my feelings.
"What's wrong?" I heard, as a slender hand was placed on my cheek.
I looked to the side, sure enough, it was Selena.
"Nothing, just some idle thoughts," I responded, returning my gaze to the busty milf of a teacher going on about mana.
That's another problem. Selena.
I feel more conscious of her now, I can't explain it. It's as though after my unhealthy obsession with Renay was reduced to just the feeling of losing someone I once loved, I became aware of the people around me.
Selena, for example. She has blue hair and peach eyes. Yesterday while looking at her, yes, I admitted she was beautiful, but I felt nothing, not even a tiny bit of infatuation. I just stared at her like she was the same gender as me.
That's how it was with almost every girl I saw back then, they all felt like another male to me. The only person who ever felt like a girl was Renay.
Damn. Just why did I fall so hopelessly in love with her?
Anyway, just like yesterday, I was seated at the back, but this time Renay sat right beside me, her smile wide and content as she linked our arms together. Now that I'm more conscious of her, with these raging hormones, I can't concentrate on anything.
"I wanted to ask you something," I said, and she looked at me.
'Isn't she too close, we are literally a finger away from kissing.'
"When you said you just asked nicely, how exactly did you do it?" The question had been bugging me for a while now.
This morning, while heading to class, I ran into those guys from the first day of school, the ones who beat the shit out of me and robbed me clean. I was about to avoid them when they caught sight of me. Things went weird fast. They literally turned pale like sheets of paper and started running, but not running normally. They were running weirdly, like someone with a boner in a public place trying not to get seen, walking in a way to hide it. That's exactly how those guys ran.
"Oh, that," she smirked, somehow looking devious with such a beautiful face. "I asked them for it, they said they'd give it to me if I showed them a good time," she said, I frowned.
"And that I did," she added.
I just gazed at her silently.
"Wait, don't tell me you're getting jealous thinking I did something with them," she said, eyes widening as she covered her mouth with her hand.
"Fuck off," I looked back at the teacher.
'Why am I acting like some weird-ass teenager talking to his crush? I need to regain my cool.'
"You didn't ask about Silver though, I thought he was your friend," she said, instinctively my eyes went to the seat he occupied yesterday, which was now empty.
"Did something happen?" I asked, not really caring. I don't like the bastard being close to me in the first place, I don't know why, he just makes me uncomfortable.
"He was found half dead in one of the school's private training rooms," she said, I turned to face her, eyes wide open.
"What?"