“Come, come,” said Jessie. She dragged me upstairs. I struggled behind her while the rest of the room stared after us.

  “I-Is the girl going to be okay?” asked one of the patrons. “Should we stop her?”

  “Didn’t think she’d go after a kid,” muttered another.

  “It’s a devil, not a kid,” scoffed a third.

  What the hell is going to happen to me?!

  We arrived at Jessie’s room rather quickly. She pushed open the door with little concern for noise and pulled me inside.

  “I-I’m not ready,” I uttered pathetically, confused about what was happening.

  “Oh? You’re back.” A naked man stood in the middle of the room. He wore only a shirt. I didn’t recognize him, so he must have been an adventurer who’d stopped into town for work. “What’s with the devil?”

  I stared below his waist. So big…

  Jessie released me, grabbed the man, and tossed him out the room without a word. She quickly picked up the rest of his clothes, balled them, and threw them in his face. “I had fun,” she said roughly before slamming the door on him.

  I watched in bewilderment.

  “You have white eyes. They represent the very pinnacle of mana and are a sign that fate is on your side,” said Jessie as she lifted my bangs to stare into my eyes. “And you dared to show them off in public, you absolute moron.” She then shrugged her shoulders. “At least you were smart enough to wear your hair like this for now.”

  “I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking,” I replied in earnest.

  “Time and place,” said Jessie. “I knew you’d awakened yesterday. I saw the wrist marks under your sleeves, and you wouldn’t look anyone in the eye. But this…this is something else.” She stared blankly past me for a moment, shook her head, and held out her hand. “Hand me the contract. I’m assuming you’re here to make me your teacher.”

  I nodded again, opened my codex, and handed her the contract Quintin created for me to give.

  “Accepted,” said Jessie. She stuffed it into her codex, closed it, and sent it away into a glimmer of white shards flecked with blues, reds, and yellows with the flick of her wrist. She didn’t even look at the price, which was significantly less than what she probably would have charged. Quintin told me to haggle a bit, but I guess I didn’t have to. “Do your parents own any books in the home?”

  “Not really.”

  “Right. They’re expensive, and a codex can’t really be used to make books. Anything they would own would be cheap and mass-produced by the Pantheon’s Temples. They’re full of biased bullshit and outdated phrases.” Jessie brought her codex back and opened the pages. She plucked out three sheets and dropped them onto her bed. As soon as they hit the sheets, books warped out of each page like they were reversing themselves from being sucked into a vacuum. The actual pages melted away into particles of energy. “They’re yours. Take them. I have copies.”

  My eyes widened. Carefully, I looked at the books on the bed and stared at their covers. “Thank you.” I could feel myself brimming with happiness. “Are you sure?”

  “Yes. And try to forget everything you’ve ever learned about mana and history. Hmm, forget is probably the wrong word. Scrutinize what you know. If you know anything. What has Quintin taught you? You know the two ways of using mana, yes?”

  “…no…we don’t talk about mana much since I couldn’t use it. I can shoot a bow really well and can kind of use a sword if I had to. That’s it.”

  “Then you really do need me,” realized Jessie. “He’s slacking. Typical. Quintin probably feels like he’s not adequate enough to teach you correctly. It’s a sense of inferiority I detect in his work, but he’s a good man at heart, so what does it matter?” She licked her lips and looked at me. “Mana is a naturally occurring source of energy floating all around us. The color of your eyes indicates how much you can draw, store, and use at a given time. You can channel it externally and internally to produce different effects by attuning raw mana with different elements. Internal mana is used to enhance the body to make you faster or stronger, and external mana is used to create spells that make fire or water. That seem familiar to you?”

  I nodded.

  “Good. Now, because of your eyes, you’ll be able to draw on and store a lot of mana without much effort, but it won’t make you powerful overnight. A well-trained person with brown eyes could easily kill you in a fight,” continued Jessie, rambling onward. “If I gave you the best sword in the world, it’d cut well and produce remarkable effects with little effort, but you’d still need to practice. In that same analogy, a master swordsman with a stick could kill you even with your superior weapon. That’s where you are right now. You’re a novice holding a power sword without any idea of how to use it. Understand?”

  Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

  I nodded.

  “Barcus will teach you internal skills, and I’ll help you with external abilities. You’ll find the power I embed within you to be far superior,” Jessie scoffed.

  “So…do people specialize in one type of mana use over another?” I asked, picking up something in her words. “Most people I’ve seen kind of use both.”

  “It’s better to figure out what you’re best at and lean the most into that,” she replied. “Splitting your time inefficiently between both makes you weaker overall. It’s better to refine what you’re best at and move on.” She smiled. “Otherwise, you’ll end up like Tart—stubborn with wasted potential.”

  Ah. Just picked up on some Trailblazers lore right there. I realized. “I kind of see the benefits of that approach, though. It creates more options in a fight.”

  “Absolutely. But what if someone at the same level as you focused entirely on external mana while you decided to dip into internal skills for half your time? They’d be practicing twice as much as you on one ability while you split your knowledge between two. Wouldn’t they be stronger if they continued that path? Wouldn’t it be a mistake to halt or lessen something you were good at just to learn something new for the sake of it? It’s not a terrible idea to learn many things, but your ability with mana could be the difference between life and death. Consider that as you grow up.” She whirled around the room and organized it while we spoke. “You’re young, and as your teacher, I’ll set you straight and give you a firm foundation for success.” Jessie pointed at the books on her bed again. “Read them. I stole them from the Imperial College of Magic in Camden. Well, copied, but they’d probably consider it stealing regardless,” she said with a shy grin. “They’re mostly unbiased and will give you a more in-depth view of the world and mana.”

  I glanced at the titles again. The one that caught my eye first was called “The Holy Wars,” and the second was “A History of Mana.”

  “An adventurer wrote ‘The Holy Wars’ during the last war between humans and devils,” explained Jessie. “He interviewed beings on both sides of the war. It’s a pretty fair accounting. Given what you are and where you’ve lived your entire life, it’ll help you understand your place and perspective in this world.”

  “My place in this world is to be liked by a few, ignored by most, and hated by some,” I said, synthesizing my perspective on the world given my last ten years of life.

  “Depressing. And untrue. There are many kinds of people in this world,” stressed Jessie. “Besides, power is the equalizer, and your white eyes are a sign of that. But first, read ‘A History of Mana’ before our next meeting. It’ll give you an unbiased, fairly comprehensive education on mana, magic, spells, monsters, demons, mana crystals, miasma, magical items, mana circles, the mark, theories on the mark, the differences between internal and external mana, and more. It’s a great guide. And thick. Write in it, save your favorite pages, and keep it as a reference. It’s very, very helpful.” She smiled. “And it’ll save me some time.”

  I glanced at the third book. “The Bard and the Princess?” I read.

  “That’s for me,” admitted Jessie. “Your situation’s stressing me out, and I had to kick out my toy, so I’ll need something to help me unwind.”

  “Gross,” I muttered.

  “It’s gross now, but in five or ten years, you’ll be just like me,” she said with a sad smile. “Powerful people are much more susceptible to vices. With power comes burdens, and they’ll be even worse for you, considering your eyes and who you are. Good luck with that.”

  “Whatever you say, but I doubt it.”

  “Saying things like that reminds me how young you are,” chirped Jessie. “Why am I even talking about this with you?” She shook her head. “Anyways, questions?”

  “You’re not a religious person, I take it. Why?”

  “My father was a priest. I lived in a temple my entire childhood.”

  Well, that explains the sarcasm, debauchery, and general attitude.

  “I lived in Camden. You know Camden, yes? It’s the capital. The King lives there.” Jessie stared at me for a moment. Her gaze flicked to the books and back to me. “I forgot to ask, but can you read?”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  “Gross. Don’t use ma’am with me ever again.” Jessie made a face. “Do you not understand how astounding it is that your eyes are white?”

  “Quintin and Amalia seemed excited about it and thanked the Gods, but I didn’t sense that it meant anything world-changing or catastrophic,” I said. “I mean, I hid them on purpose, but mostly out of caution. I didn’t know how others would react. Nothing negative has happened so far, though.”

  “Don’t go by your stupid parents.”

  My voice dripped with ice. “My what?”

  “Sorry, they’re not stupid. They’re uninformed, as are most people,” corrected Jessie. “How many people do you think have white eyes in this world?”

  “A few hundred?”

  “You’re the fourth person I know of.”

  I clenched my jaw.

  “The Empress of Brosnock, Ymir Brosnock, is probably the most well-known. The head of the Holy Knights in Agias, Lyrus Creed is the other. There’s also an adventurer in the Guild who works out of Viorna who goes by the name Peace. He’s well known. There could be others, but I doubt it. That makes you the fourth. You realize what caliber of people that puts you with?”

  I could feel my spine shiver.

  “That’s it from me today. You can go.” Jessie waved me off. “I’m going to make Barcus extend our stay here another two months. That’ll be more than enough time to teach you the basics. What do you say? Okay?”

  “O-Okay?”

  Jessie nodded. “Go read. I’ll send a letter when I’m ready for you. It’ll probably be three days from now. Maybe more. Be patient.”

  Whatever high I felt was immediately blunted by Jessie’s assessment of reality. “Yeah…alright.” I walked to the door, glanced back at Jessie, and dipped my head. “I appreciate your guidance.”

  “Gross. Please don’t speak to me with respect. It’s weird. I don’t like it.”

  Easy enough…