Reincarnated As A Peasant

Chapter 8: The Color of Magic

Genji - aka: Sakura

The process for mana control is difficult to begin. But once you have the feel of your mana pool, and have learned how to express it outside of yourself, it will prove remarkably familiar to you. In many ways, expressing mana and chie are very similar. The initial stages are vastly different, however. My mothers lecture had already covered this information three times now.

She was rambling. But I was a careful listener and had picked up much of what she meant through her lack of clarity.

Truly, teaching and doing were very different skill sets.

It boiled down to this. First, I had to learn to touch or awaken my mana pool. Once I could control the mana inside, and make it swirl inside my pool like I did my Chie inside my Core, I had to then forge mana channels.

Forging the mana channels was the second step, and from what mother had said it could be remarkably painful. If you didnt know what you were doing.

Many cultivators simply ran the channels along the same lines as their chie flowed. Following the blood vessels and veins through the body, but instead of connecting to your Core, they would connect to ones Mana Pool. The problem with that was mixing chie and mana while not deadly or even destructive was painful.

Your Chie Core would push the mana out of its stream, forming separate lines for the mana. However, if you were careful, you could forge those same lines down the same pathways. You would avoid the pain by simply not allowing the lines to directly touch. Your chie lines would run along one edge of your blood vessels and veins. Veins and blood vessels couldnt directly overlap with either the chie lines or mana channels, as that could limit users ability to shift the energy into the muscles and bones.

So, the chie lines ran along one side of the blood vessels, while the mana channels ran along the other. The best version of this was some sort of spiral, like a spring. Though mother hadnt yet elaborated as to why.

In the west, they simply call Chie Life Attuned Mana. But they are fools. Chie is pure energy, produced by the body. It can be split into its two forms, Yin and Yang Chie. Something that westerners have never been able to learn to do, mainly because they treat Chie as mana. Their ignorance is not their fault of course, as most of them are not born with Chie Cores like we are, thanks to our bond with our spirit animals.

I knew that wasnt entirely true. Most nobility were born with a chie core, but some few started life without them and had to go through the arduous task of the Foundation stage of cultivation before they could create it. Among the peasantry, who rarely had spirit animal bonds, that fact was reversed. Few were born with a core at birth, but many could learn through hard work and careful cultivation to attain at least the first few stages in their lives.

My mind wandered for a moment, but my mother had kept rambling.

You can convert chie into mana easily enough, of course. But forging the connections between your Core and your Pool is a careful process that you will not have to worry about for some time. What we need to focus on now is awakening your pool and starting the process of forging your mana channels. Now. Your father was careful to teach you to wrap your chie lines around your blood vessels and veins, not simply run them along with them, yes?

I nodded. Good. You will do the same with your mana channels. That means you will be able to reinforce your body with mana along with chie at the same time. Normally, the two energies would repulse or reject each other. Your pure Chie pushing away the simply attuned and not pure energy that is Mana.

But, once it is infused into your muscles and blood, the mana expresses its impure attunement and is refined into chie for a very short time. Allowing you to express elemental abilities, along with your chie enhanced strength, speed, endurance, insight, and awareness. If you get very good at mana control, some types of mana will allow you to express clones of yourself with portions of your chie embedded inside them. Granting them a semblance of your power.

My eyes widened slightly as suddenly there were two of my mother sitting in front of me. I blinked, and she couldnt hold back a slight laugh. Both copies covered their mouths with their long-sleeved robes as they chuckled.

Such abilities are called Mixed Energy Techniques and are one of the greatest achievements of our empire. Of course, we could not hold on to this gift for ourselves, and the dragon emperors of the past shared that knowledge with the wider world.

Uhmother?

Yes, dear? the two said in unison.

Your clone is smoking.

The two Yus looked at each other, eyebrows raised. Then, as quick as lightning, the real Yu lashed out with a hand, and the clone puffed into smoke. Swirling black and golden energy ran around Yus arm in small wisps. She guided the energy to her face and inhaled it, reabsorbing the chie and mana.

That is an extremely advanced technique. One I am still learning. Now, let's awaken your mana pool.

***

Over the next three days we traveled, only stopping to bathe and pay respects to local lords my father knew. My mother and I worked to awaken my Mana Pool. On the third day, I finally had some success.

My hands grew warm, and a glow as bright as a flashlight came off them.

Well done! Yu pulled me into a crushing hug. After my initial moment of panic, I let her. It was nice. Something Genji had seldom experienced in her life before her own mother had passed. Ren, look!

The air behind my mother blurred, and my father appeared there, smiling as bright as the sun. Well done. In only three days! It took me nearly a month of constant effort to even feel my Mana Pool, let alone fully awaken it.

And it took me only a week. You are very impressive, my daughter. Yu tried to pull me into another hug, but Ren beat her to it, burring at a speed I had seldom seen him move at and appearing next to me, wrapping his rock-strong arms around me in a loving gesture. Yu scowled as she had to wait, but when I was her turn she pulled me into another hug.

Okay, okay, thats good. I said, trying to extract myself from them. My mothers arms, despite my supposedly high cultivation level for my age, were just as immovable as my fathers. When she finally let me go I kneeled in front of them and bowed. It was one of the few formal things my Earthly father had taught me before he had me sent back to China.

My forehead didnt quite touch the woven mat under me, but it came close. Thank you for your guidance, mother. And your support, father.

Uh Rens voice was a mix of confusion and concern. Sakura? Why are you kowtowing? There is no need. You are our daughter, and it is our duty.

Exactly. And even if it were not, our love for you would compel us to help guide you along your path. My mothers expression changed in an instant from proud mother to iron fisted taskmaster. Now is a time for you to begin forging your mana channels.

I nearly groaned, but through an effort of will, I simply sighed.

***

I had only finished forging a single mana channel, down my right arm, by the time we reached the border of my parents land. Small streams dotted small outcroppings of rolling hills and craggy ground. Between these small groups of mounds.

Six lumbering shelled spirit beasts, each slightly smaller than Crash, emerged from a set of tall trees in the distance. The border guard. Glad to see your uncle hasnt lost his touch. Ren said in front of the basket. He was standing, and holding the reins with one hand while waving with the other at the set of six cultivators riding their powerful looking Gamera.

Gamera were turtles. They grew large, but not nearly as large as the Kame or tortoises like Crash. Few Kame were born each ten year birthing cycle. Of those fewer still chose to bond with a cultivator. Gamera on the other hand were more common. While Kame were my familys stated spirit patrons, the Gamera were our allies.

Both of the spirit animals could become intelligent with age, but the Gamera grew much faster, and learned to use various elemental abilities much faster.

On the opposite side of the coin, Kame lived, well, now one knew exactly how long they lived. The oldest one literally carried my familys regional capital on its back and had since the settling of our region thousands of years ago. And while the Gamera had a much easier time using elemental Mana, and advanced faster, the effect of a single advancement for a Kame was much more dramatic. Their chie reserves at the highest stages were rumored to be literally endless.

In the wild, Kame came in only one form. Those that lived over a hundred years had no natural predators other than the most ancient of dragons, and the most evil and powerful cultivators. Wild Gamera, on the other hand, lived in small families. Each member of the family had unique abilities and variations. Such as the Twin Headed Gamera, River Gamera, King Gamera, or the Serpent Tail Gamera, to name just a few.

Sakura apparently had made a careful study of the creatures in order to understand where her familys wealth and power came from. Something I was finding particularly useful as I watched the lumbering behemoths quickly eat up the ground between them and Crash.

When they got close, Crash lowered his head and retracted part of its neck into his shell. Graaaaaah! Crashs warning growl made my teeth rattle. The front two Gamera hissed their discomfort.

Woh there Crash. Calm yourself. I felt a push of chie and magic into the air, and I found myself calming. This was one of Rens techniques, an aura of calm and control that radiated out of him. Its one of the things that made him a deadly commander. His troops, no matter how outnumbered, would never break.

Crash gave a soft humph before extending his neck and lowering it down to take a massive bite out of a fallen tree next to one of his thick front legs. The Gamera from the patrol seemed to take that as a sign things were okay again, and settled.

One of the cultivators from the patrol lept from the lead Gemera, a specimen that was nearly Crashs size with a spiked and deadly looking shell, and a face covered in sharp-edged armor. Its beak looked like it could cut through an old oak in a single snap of its serrated jaws. Its rider leapt off the giant snapping turtle and towards Crash.

The giant tortoise didnt so much as move as the jumping cultivator landed gently down on his shell.

Brother! Ren embraced the newcomer, and my memories of my Uncle Raif came to the front of my mind.

He was in charge of the border patrol. He hadnt been chosen by a Kame. So even though he was technically older and at the same cultivation stage as father, he had not been selected as heir to the Gamra family. Though he showed not even an ounce of bitterness about it. Accepting his place as protector of the outer family with not so much as a complaint.

It is good to see you Ren. Raifs eyes fell on me and something dark passed over his expression. Sakura. Youre alive. My uncle turned back to my father and pulled him into another embrace. We will sacrifice to the Gods for this even in the outer family.

His declaration was met by my father squeezing his older brother even harder. When they broke the embrace, I could see unshed tears in my uncles eyes. He fought to keep a smile on his face, whether from relief at my health, or something else I couldnt understand, I didnt know.

From his reputation, Raif was a bit of a rogue. Not unkind, but also prone to overreaction to slights against him and those he loved. Much like my father, he was a rather emotional man, something both men were quietly mocked over in some social circles.

The fact both were Duke level cultivators protected them from open mockery. But chickens will cluck, no matter how dangerous the fox. At least, that was what my mother had told me.

Where my father was prone to bouts of over generosity, Raif had a propensity to resort to violence, even when not strictly necessary, to resolve issues. It was why he typically patrolled our western border, where wild beasts and barbarians sometimes caused trouble for peasant farmers and woodcutters. As far as I could tell, the post suited him.

Why, though, was he here on the eastern border? The thought bothered me. The part of me that was Sakura didnt know. It was odd as our family and the lesser nobility that occupied this portion of my familys lands regularly traded with our eastern neighbors. It was by far our most peaceful border. Unless something has happened?

We need to speak, brother. Raif said, his voice severe. We haveguests. Once you are better equipped to handle than I.

***

The guests turned out to be a pair of competing diplomatic delegations. One from the Northern Kingdom, and one from the Imperial Seat itself. I didnt know the specifics, but what Sakura knew ran through my mind as I waited outside the tent while my mother and father went in to treat with the diplomats.

Meanwhile, I was left outside. Looking up at the massive Gamera and enjoying their impressive sight from the ground.

Their shells are different colors based on the type of mana they absorbed most while a soft shell infant. I said to no one in particular.

But Raif, who was standing watch outside the tent with me, smiled. Exactly. What mana do you think that one was raised on? He asked, pointing towards the ruddy shelled Gamera near the back of the pack, whose tail was a thick viper that tried to snag passing birds that drew too close.

Easy. A mix of fire and venom mana. It probably ate a pit viper that snuck into the nest as a baby.

Very good. How about that one?

Green shell, thick beak with serrated edges? Im guessing here, but either Wood or Life mana. Life mana was very similar to pure chie, but it wasnt the same. A mistake common among westerners, whose concept of mana was universalist and whose grasp of the unique properties of chie and its cultivation was limited.

Nature actually. But close. How about old Snapper?

I grinned as the knowledge came easier and easier along with Sakuras memories. Trick question Uncle. Snapper is a King Gamera. One raised by hand by a Royal level cultivator or higher, who fed him on pure chie, until his first growth spurt was finished at least.

Raif smirked. Glad to see you still have those brains of yours. Was worried your fever would burn them out of you.

I smiled, not wanting to approach that subject until I knew exactly how I felt about all of it.

Well. of all of my nieces and nephews through all the years I have lived, it is a rare one who decides to stay quiet rather than talk my ear off. Raif smiled. It was then I remembered my brother, and I were only the latest batch of children reared by my mother and father. There were dozens of siblings before me. Most had died trying to raise their cultivator level by fighting along the border with Raif. Others were still alive, but married off into other families. Of those older siblings, I had memories of only meeting one of them.

Kajin. My eldest brother. He was not a particularly good cultivator. Or magic users. So he had been relegated to the outer family. He had been visibly aging at one hundred and eighty-two years old when I last saw him. His body was frail, and he walked with a cane and suffered age spots all across his wrinkled face.

With each stage of cultivation, you gained longer and longer life spans. Kajin had only ever gotten to the high Iron stage, where I was. He was well over two hundred years old now, and in the twilight of his life. Where mother and father were much, much older. And still physically in their prime.

Do you think youll get a Gamera, or a Kame?

I startled out of my stewing thoughts of Kajin and the benefits of cultivation. Uh, I do not know, honored uncle. I was being extremely formal, and Raif frowned.

You do know that you will still be able to get tested for a Kame, right? Of your siblings, you are one of the few who showed real promise in all areas of study. Except magic, of course, but He stopped and stared at me, and I felt his aura wash over mine. Enveloping me and examining me as a whole. Well, I thought Yu would have started you on the path. But youre nearly finished with your mana channels. That is very impressive.

Raif smiled, then ruffled my hair. I had to suppress the instinct to bite his fingers off. I was a grown woman, damn it, or, at least, I used to be. Im proud of you, little niece! Ill have to make your welcome home present especially nice at Rens feast. He released me, and it took an effort of will not to say something mean spirited.

Instead, I settled for straightening my hair and glaring daggers at him. The bastard just smirked back at me.

I like you Sakura. Hey, at least we know if you do get a Kame to bond with you at the testing, youll be one hell of a founder.

Founder, that was a term I had heard before. But Sakura was still a kid. I just didnt have the full context of what it meant. I was about to ask about it, when my father stormed out of the tent. His aura was roiling, filled with rage and unease.

For just a moment, it felt like a mountain was about to crush me. Until Raif expanded his aura to protect me from the worst of it. Raif wasnt as strong as father was, but it was a close thing. The mountain shifted to feel more like a heavy bag on my back. Manageable, if not particularly light.

A heart beat later, and my father had control of his aura again. It had only slipped for a second, but that slip could have killed me. The Gamera stirred agitatedly behind me, and Crash gave out an angry challenge to the sky that shook the trees all around us.

It didnt take long for Raif to have his two curved swords out of their sheaths, glowing menacingly with mana in a riot of colors. He looked side to side for the threat. When one didnt immediately appear, he moved so fast to Rens side that he blurred in my vision.

What is it, brother? Who needs to die?

Ren met his brothers eyes, and I could see my father was taken aback by the intensity he found there. Hold Raif. No one needs to die. II simply lost control of myself for a moment. That is all. He saw me, and a look of shame flashed across his face. Thank you for looking after Sakura.

Raif put his swords back in their sheaths, and his demeanor changed from one of pure blood lust to confusion and concern. You never lose control. What has happened?