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Yawning at the dining table after a long restless night, Nariko begrudgingly returned to sipping down the human blood that filled her bowl before her. Due to sleeping in the same bed as Mana completely naked she couldn’t help but stay awake with such thoughts crossing her mind.

She turned to see Mana once again happily eating a small buffet to herself. I’d kill to have some of that, Nariko thought to herself. The thing she hated most about drinking human blood wasn’t the taste but, the tingling sensation that went through her body and the gentle warmth filling her from within.

At the end of the dining table, Lord Lucifer sat examining new documents that arrived today paying no mind to the two girls.

After a few minutes Lord Lucifer finished his current task, he then directed his attention to both Nariko and Mana.

“I’m sure the two of you are wondering why I got you up so early in the day?” he asked bluntly. Their perplexed silent looks gave him the answer he needed.

“To put it simply, we’re going to see if we can manifest Nariko’s aura for mana”

Nariko’s eyes lit up for a moment lifting herself out of the chair with joy, “You’re talking about magic right?!”. Looking she could see the surprised looks on both Mana and Lord Lucifer’s faces at her excitement.

Embarrassed she timidly sat back down, well that was awkward Yuuma thought to himself.

“Well to answer your question Nariko, yes, I’m talking about magic”
Mana suddenly saw Nariko’s gloomy demeanour change to a more cheerful and giddy persona. Surprised that Nariko was so excited about the idea of learning magic.

“Change into your practical clothing, I had the maids get them ready for you in your quarters…” Lord Lucifer stood up readying himself to leave “…once you’re done meet me out back” he leaves the dining hall through the double doors. As for the girls, they both quickly finished their breakfast in order to head back to their quarters.

When they returned to the quarters Nariko was surprised by the simple clothing that had been laid out for them. There were three parts to the suit the one piece over the torso and pelvis that also had a hole for their tail to go through, gloves that reached over the elbow and tights up just above the knee.

All of it made out of a black elastic material that was skin-tight luckily Nariko and Mana were slim enough to fit into their suits. Even though the suits seemed normal to the naked eye, in fact, the material’s magical properties allowed the wearer to properly harness their powers.

Without delay, both Nariko and Mana rushed out of their quarters to meet Lord Lucifer in the back courtyard of House Helel ben Shachar. As the duo went through the double glass panned doors they were greeted by an extraordinary sight.

The back courtyard was filled with exotic flowers and plants ranging in various colours and shapes. Nariko noticed that some of the plants looked similar to the ones from Japan in particular camellia’s and hydrangea’s, yet she could tell that they not quite the same as if they had evolved.

In the distance, they could see a large oak tree that had red flowers blossoming on its branches. Underneath that tree stood Lord Lucifer patiently waiting for the two of them to arrive.

“What took you two so long?” he asked bluntly.

“Well these clothes weren’t exactly easy to fit into, we were only just able to get here on time” Nariko replied.

Lord Lucifer waved his hand dismissively in response to Nariko’s comment.

“Anyway, let’s get started…” Lord Lucifer directed his attention at Mana “…Mana please take this knife into your hands”

Mana complied with Lord Lucifer’s demands taking the plain old knife into her hands. She stood there awaiting further orders from Lord Lucifer.

“Now manifest your mana” he ordered.

Nodding Mana closed her eyes as her body tensed up suddenly the blade in her hands to started to vibrate by itself. A few moments went by when the knife started to emit a white light where the blade is positioned.

“What Mana is currently doing is using the mana her body creates to power up that knife, because the mana coursing through the blade it allows for more pressure to be placed upon it” Lord Lucifer explained.

Nariko interest was unrivalled she had been taking in everything that Lucifer had been saying up to that point. She couldn’t help but ask one question that had been weighing on her mind.

“If we can produce mana, why can’t we use magic?” she asked.

Lord Lucifer stayed quiet for a moment wondering if he should her the reason behind it, he eventually decided that he’d tell her a small part of the reason behind it. “It was a punishment from the Prometheans” he stated.

“Prometheans?” Nariko asked clearly confused.

Mana interjected, “From what Lady Leviathan told me, they’re the deities that govern our universe and maintain a balance that keeps our way of life moving forward”

“The Promethean God of Creation, Chronarus, punished all beings in our universe for attempting to reach the sacred plain of Prothean…” Lord Lucifer paused for a moment “…he decided to split us into various races that fulfilled certain purposes in the natural order of the universe, on top of that he removed our capability to produce magic”

Nariko stood there wondering why such deities would punish everyone just for trying to reach them. Was it really because of that? Or did something else happen to make do such a thing? Nariko thought to herself as she racked her brain for an answer, however, another question crossed her mind

“Then why do we still mana then, if we can’t use magic?” Nariko asked.

“All living beings in this universe require mana to survive without we would all die” Lord Lucifer answered bluntly. Nariko was surprised to think that this Promethean God called Chronarus would go to such lengths to punish all beings in the universe, she couldn’t deny the fact that she felt somewhat terrified of these deities.

Lord Lucifer could tell that Nariko had started to become fixated on the tale by just seeing the pale look on her face. “Anyway, now it’s your turn Nariko” he announced.

Coming out of her train of thought Nariko blinked a few times her eyes widen, “My turn?”

“It’s your turn to try and manifest your mana” Lord Lucifer clarified.

Nariko started to stress out this would be her first time both in this new life and her previous life. When she lived as Yuuma Akiyama it had always been her dream to be able to do anything remotely fantastical.

I’m not going to lie even though I’ve read manga and watched anime set in a fantasy world I could never have prepared myself for such an experience like this! Yuuma’s subconscious panicked.

Nariko felt a gentle hand on her shoulder looking up she saw Lucifer giving her a look of gentle comfort.

“Don’t worry Nariko, just relax and let the rest do it for you, okay?” Lord Lucifer said consoling his daughter.

Feeling a lot better Nariko took in a deep breath in order to steady her breathing. As her heartbeat started to slow down she opened her eyes a look of newfound determination could be seen across her face as she ready herself to manifest her mana for the first time.

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