Under The Moonlight

Chapter VII

Ann's POV

I WOKE up feeling groggy. May itinuro na Mana arts kasi sa akin si Kenneally kagabi. That is why I still feel sleepy.

"Magandang umaga, Princess Ann. Gusto mo po ba munang maligo o baka naman kumain?"

Bati sa akin ni Sammy. Feeling ko ay nag-pa-puff ang mukha ko. Medyo blurry kasi ang paningin ko, o di kaya'y muta lang ito. Bumaba ako mula sa kama at umupo sa harap ng isang vanity mirror. 

"I want to take a bath first."

Agad naman na sinunod iyon ni Sammy. Nilisan niya ang silid at pumasok sa kabila.

"What do you think about the Mana Arts you learned last night?" asked Kenneally who just jumped out of nowhere. 

This might be shocking to some but with time I got used to her suddenly appearing everywhere. I stared at her blankly. Kasalanan niya 'to eh. Wala naman talaga sa schedule namin ang ginawa namin kagabi pero tinuloy niya prin.

"What? Your fifth birthday is two years away. Base on your pace of learning, you are only halfway through." she sat in the table in front of me, "We need to speed things up. Might as well be able to train in the day so that you amass as much knowledge as possible."

Sa narinig ko na iyon ay halos mahimatay ako. 

Ano? Nasa kalahati pa lang ang naka-cover ko? Sa loob ng dalawang taon kong ginugol sa training, nasa kalahati pa lang ako?

"Paano ako makaka-pagensayo sa umaga? Eh diba three years old palang ako?"

She hissed at my answer. "Your language! How many times do I have to remine you of your language? Your life will be ruined if somebody hears you talking like that."

Na-iinis na ako. Alam ko naman ang ibig sabihin niya. Kaso pabalik-balik na eh. Wala namang nakikinig sa amin. I sighed. This is frustrating.

"Fine, fine. I will mind my words. Stop nagging already, its early in the morning." sumandal ako. Wala parin si Sammy. "The Mana Arts is amazing, as always. Everything is fine but the one thing I'm worried about is how fast it consumes mana."

She gave me a dead pan look. 

"I mean, The Mana Arts is flashy and useful but, if it consumes half my mana in one go. I would end up dead in a real fight."

I said to make a point. Si Kenneally ay proud sa mga Mana Arts niya. Ayaw niyang kinukwesyon ang mga tinuturo niya na walang basihan. I tried once but, it ended up not good. And I will not do it ever again. I looked at her immediately, maybe she took it in a bad way.

"You're right."

"Look, I know it-- What?"

"I said you are right."

Sa sinabi niyang iyon nahulog sa lapag ang bibig ko. She never admitted she is wrong in the duration of two years. Ewan ko. Parang sa maliit na panahon naming magkakilala, ay alam ko na ang mga ugali niya.

"You are saying strange things." sabi ko. 

Bumaba ako na kina-uupuan ko at lumapit sa closet ko. Sa likod kasi ng noon ay may isang secret compartnet na ginawa ko. Because I learned Mana Technique and Mana Arts from Kenneally, hindi lang mga Mana Arts na para sa Lady of the Night ang tinuro niya sa akin.

I also learned different types of Mana Arts from her and one of them is manipulating space. Of course I only learned the basic. But it is useful.

Kinuha ko ang isang libro doon. I also made it out of mana. It is a creation Mana Arts. As its name describes, you create things if you have the main ingredients. I turned to a blank page and started writing. Tapos ay ipinakita ko ito kay Kenneally.

"See here, the structure of the Mana Art has a flaw. Considerably, it is a small flaw, but if you perform it, the side effect will be you consume a lot of mana." sabi ko habang itinuturo ang isang part ng Mana Arts.

The creation of the Mana Arts is all in the mental power. It is created like a magic circle but, you need to memorize it, and memorizing a Mana Arts is difficult. According to Kenneally, it'd take from a day to a month, sometimes a year, to memorize a Mana Arts. You Just need to stare at it and picture it out to your mind, and you should be able to completely control the image of the Mana Arts in you mind to completely memorize it.

"The runes on the third circle is what making the Mana Arts consume more mana. If we could just adjust it, maybe we can have the same Mana Arts but with less mana being consumed." I watched her reaction.

Her little wolf appearance made her expressions cute but it is really serious right now.

"Hmm..."

Pero bago pa man siya makasagot ay biglang dumating si Sammy. Agad kong itinago ang libro sa nilalagyan nito.

"Princess Ann, handa na po ang liliguan mo." nakangiting sabi niya.

Tumango ako sa kanya at naglakad papalapit dito. Nagpunta agad kami sa bathroom.

Lumipas ang halos dalawang oras na pagliligo, pagpipili ng damit, at pagkain na din, ay sa wakas, dumating na din si Irisia. Nasa living room kami  ngayon at tinatry kong maghanap ng librong hindi ko pa nababasa. Bakas sa mukha niya na para bang hindi siya mapakali. Hawak niya ay mga libro.

We made a deal. Na kapag natapos ko nang basahin lahat ng mga pambatang libro na dinala niya, ay dadalhin niy ako sa library sa main house. O kung hindi pa ako pwede doon ay dadalhan niya ako ng limang libro mula din sa library. Tumakbo ako at lumapit sa kanya.

"You brought books. Am I not allowed in the main house?" medyo malungkot ko sa sabi, of course acting lang ito. 

Alam ko naman na hindi ako pwede sa main house. Sinabi ko lang gusto kong magpuntang library para hindi ako tanggihan na gusto ko ng libro.

It looked like she snapped from her toughts. "No! No. It is not like that. It is just that, the library is dusty and babies are not yet allowed to go there." she gently explained.

I dramatically nodded. Naawa ako sa mga tao na nasa paligid ko. Palagi kasi akong nagsisinungaling o di kaya'y nagda-drama sa harap nila. At isa na din iyon sa mga dahilan kung bakit gusto ko ng lumaki ka agad.

Irisia sighed. I guess she felt relieved that she don't have to explain it to me.

"Anyway," ngumiti siya sa akin at ipinakita ang libro. "I brought books that is only suitable for seven years old. And since our little princess is very brilliant and had read all that children books in the library, I will give you two books for history, one book for philosophy and two books about basic knowledge in mana. Sounds good?"

Nanlaki ang mga ko. Hindi dahil sa masaya ko sa  naririnig ko kung hindi dahil sa mga topic ng librong dala niya. History? Philosophy? On seven year old children? What is with this world?!

"Great right? Now we will be reading these books at the Lake Pavilion. I will just get Helen to make tea and hot chocolate so go a head with Sammy to the pavilion first." she handed the books to Sammy who was in the room also. 

"We can read the books here. Why go somewhere far?" tanong ko.

Nakapagtataka lang. Pwede namang dito na lang sa sala.

"Tama naman po ang sinabi ng prinsesa." pagsasang-ayon ni Sammy sa akin.

"NO! I insist. It is just for today, okay? Ann?" medyo nataranta siya sa part na iyon.

"Ohh-kay." sabi ko na lang.

Lumabas din siya tapos noon. Paglabas niya, nagkatinginan kami ni Sammy.

"Is she alright?" I asked. But Sammy just shrugged her shoulder, indicating she also don't know.

Ipinagsawalang bahala ko nalang iyon. Naglakad ako papalabasng sala. Nakasunod naman si Sammy dala ang mga libro. Habang si Kenneally hindi ko alam kung saang lupalop siya ng mundo.

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P.S. 

Sana nagustuhan niyo :)