had learned, mostly from trial and error, that following my guts is always the right thing to do.

Having finished my preparation, I open my eyes to the sight of the stone being slightly dimmed and a feeling of a relatively full bladder.

Shit, how long have I been here?

Turning around, I find the guards looking towards me, apparently surprised that I am moving. The children, which had been present before, are completely gone, probably having become bored with the human.

“Um.. how long was I here?” I ask, not at all able to read the time.

“Long.” one of the guards replies, his gaze staring at me strongly.

“Right.. I'll just be going back now, ” I say, heading towards the direction of Anathema's home.

The guards merely stay silent, unmoving as I pass them by.

____

Shortly after, I am noticed by a group of children, their eyes widening at my presence.

“He's alive!” One of the kids yells, his gaze only slightly lingering on me before he disappears around the corner, all but a rather young little girl following the boy behind.

She instead runs up to me, almost falling over herself several times before getting rather close to me.

Her eyes, reminiscent of dark grey clouds, look up to me, gazing at my figure.. but not quite.

She's blind.. but she's looking directly at me.

“You're weird, ” she says, ignoring the fact that she can see me.

Frowning, I answer back.

“How so?”

Her tail swishes, head tilting sideways, ”I can see you very very well. Everyone else is.. blurry.. but you are super clear.”

Interesting, I wonder if it's my aura.. Or maybe my mana.. I should ask.

My hand moves away from my side and settles on my chin, her eyes following perfectly the movement.

She just continues to stare at me, her eyes gazing at my body, seeing something I do not.

I take a step towards her and bend down to a knee, leveling my face to hers, ”So, my name's Quasi, what's yours?” I ask, knowing how to deal with young children considering I had fostered an army’s worth.

Her tail swishes, dusting the stone floor, making her leather pants move with the movement, ”My name is Aisha,” she answers, a smile forming on her lips.

“So Aisha, I find it amazing how you can see me. You must have a pretty impressive class to do so.”

Aisha smiles, her tail swishes quickly as a giggle escapes her mouth, ”Nooo, I'm too young to have a class.” she says, shaking her head.” It's a skill,” she exclaims with confidence.

Interesting, so classes have an age limit? Good to know.

“Oh, what skill is it? I'm very curious.”

She nods, her clawed feet tapping the ground, her smile revealing her sharp white teeth, ”It's.. gand, gwand, grand, [Grand Mana Sense],” she says finally remembering the name.

So it’s mana sensing, similar to my skill [Greater Mana Sense], except that she's using the skill constantly.. impressive.

At this moment, the sound of other children enter my location, watching me interact with Aisha, but keeping their distance.

Smiling, I move my hand into my robe pocket and pull out several bone knives, ”So Aisha, since you told me about your skill, I'll tell you about one of mine. The skill is called [Bone Levitation],”

My skill activates, Mana releasing and swarming the six knives in my hand, allowing them to float in the air.

Gasps resound around me as the children watch the knives float into the air. Aisha, head swiveling quickly, is able to see the connection of Mana between me and the knives.

With a smile, I stand up and twirl my hands, the knives floating and dancing to my will. They spin and glide around me, fast enough to seem impressive, slow enough that a child can see.

And then, as I increase the tempo, I slowly start to dance, my knives of bone spinning, moving around me, matching my speed as my body flows in movement.

The children quickly converge closer, entranced by my movement, by my impressive usage of Mana and skill.

Unfortunately, all things must come to an end.

“Quasi!”

Hearing my name, I quickly stop my movements, turning towards the sound, finding Tessa with a panicked expression on her face.

“Mom needs you now!” she says, finally noticing the kids surrounding me.