Simo

Special thank you to all my patreons, thanks to who we have reached 13 chapters in advance!

'Before the invaders arrived in their ships, each warrior had time to steal their resolutions, and bid farewell to faraway lovers and children while trying to wipe all emotion clean away. Their minds as much of a battlefield as the beach at their feet. They had to in order for them to focus on the upcoming battle. Every stare lay firmly ahead, none able to take in the emotion of their comrades as well as their own. They heard the cry as the enemy came, and launched forwards without delay, the sand shifting under their boots was their homeland and to see the foreign soldiers set foot upon it was all the motivation their hearts required.'— The beginning of the continental war.

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It has been about a week and a half since we have arrived at home, as my parents called it. The floating mountain stayed high in the air, hidden behind the clouds. A faint transparent magical barrier surrounded it. 

The peak had an ancient dragon statue situated on top. The sculpture was made out of some strange material that looked like stone but was not quite it. Its distinct features were already long lost to time. 

Our 'home' home was situated in a cave inside the mountain. It was surprisingly well lit with various openings which effectively allowed sunlight to come through during the day, while also giving us a perfect view of the stary sky during the night.

Father was in charge of providing our food for us. The first actual meal I had ever since coming into this strange new world was an abnormally large boar that my father had hunted. 

It was shared amongst us siblings and as the eldest, I took the biggest share. At first, I had my qualms over eating the meat raw and thought that I would have problems with it. My stomach, however, disagreed. 

As soon as the boar landed, my instincts immediately took over as I dug in, any previous thoughts or misgivings I had before were long gone by the time the meal was finished.  

My face was bloody, all of our faces were. Our parents did not join us and I could see why. Even though the boar was way more than twice our size, it would have probably not been enough to fill the gaps between their teeth. 

The taste was delicious oddly enough. Though, for the first bites in every meal, my mind would always have its qualms about devouring everything raw, expecting that I would be repulsed by the taste. My worries were always proved needless after I dug in.     

It took the first few days for me to get compile used to it, and that's taking into consideration some of the crazy games my father brought back. We ate everything, from boars to bears, giant wolves to some monsters I had never seen before. 

Strangely enough, everything he caught tasted great. My favorite was a large blue lizard monster with two horns sprouting from its forehead. I think the main reason why I enjoyed it the most was due to its mana remains. 

Yes, although it was already dead the monster's body still had some water-type mana left hence it was very beneficial for me. I didn't think it would turn out this way, but mealtime became something that I quite looked forward to every day as I was curious to see what my father would bring to the table. 

The strangest part was the fact that I had never seen him nor mother eat anything. 'Something to think about I guess,' I didn't pay it too much heed though. 

The other noteworthy thing that had occurred in the past week and so was that Golden boy and Green had both managed to master their dragon breath for the first time.

Green's breath attack was a grey swirling orb, while Golden boy was a yellow colored one. Ever since he made it, Golden boy had gone on to challenge father for a fight every day without fail. 

Needless to say, he was sent flying each time. Still, I had to respect his determination. Green, on the other hand, was uninterested in fighting as she found joy in flying through the sky. 

As soon as the first rays of the sun would shine into the cave, our youngest would scramble to the mountain peak and jump down, she would then spend the entire day in the air, and only come down when it was time to eat. Her stamina was crazy despite her seemingly small body.

White spent most of the day sleeping. If she was not snuggling by my side, I would find her laid down next to mother. She only moves when father comes back from his hunts. The true definition of a sloth. 

Blacky, was the only one active during the night. He disliked going out when it was still day and preferred to sleep in the deeper part of the cave away from the light. When the sun would set, his day would then start as he left the cave, off to do whatever. I honestly did not know what he was up to nor did I care, my sleeping schedule was not as messed up as his. 

As for me, for the first couple of days, I joined Green in her flight adventures trying to master the art of landing without kissing the ground each time. It was gradual progress, slowly but steadily I got the hang of it. Flying also became slightly easier than before. 

The past days, however, were spent dabbling into magic. I was growing more fascinated by mana with each passing day. It felt like it was sentient like I was in the presence of an old friend at all times. 

What I did figure out is that if you can imagine it, you could make it happen. Well, that's if the mana wants to help you make it happen of course. Water mana for example never refused to accept any of my requests.

While wind would occasionally lend a hand, but most of the time I had to force it to comply. I had tried to communicate and use other types of mana, though I was unsuccessful. 

Earth-type mana flat-out ignored me. I was unable to even force it to help. Two other types of mana that I had difficulty sensing were the one's White and Blacky used. Light and Darkness. And let's just not talk about the fire type. 

But I was not disappointed, water mana was an elusive yet mighty power that controlled the very substance that was present everywhere. I was able to manipulate it in both liquid and solid form and even managed to turn it into ice, which I concluded would be extremely beneficial in any upcoming fights I may face, though I still needed a bit more practice to hone my skills with it. 

While training with my water manipulation, a sudden idea sparked in my mind. Most living creatures consist of mostly water, no? Could I not try to manipulate that? Am I able to manipulate blood? 

'Now that's something I have to try!'