Another World Story

Day Eighteen: The Gaze

Just as they'd discussed, the next day after their talk. The rabbit had already begun its duty to teach John everything it knew about magic. Although they had yet to begin conjuring magic, John had learned plenty of general information that could help him. He was also able to see some differences from what he'd read before about mana and how to conjure it.

For example, according to what he read before. Just by making the mana flow and exerting it outside his body as he imagined the desired magic he wanted to cast, John should be able to conjure magic that way. But, according to the rabbit, conjuring magic not only requires focus and imagination, it also need the caster to calculate the necessary formation of the magic. It reminded him of that one novel he read before about magic casting requiring computation and things related to math that John had really had a hard time following.

It was also then that John realized that the unintelligible words the rabbit made him use to cast magic were the calculation itself.

It was the simplified form of the computation and calculations made by countless scholars throughout time in the world of Ashura. It was the best way to cast magic without exerting oneself to think about the troublesome computation and calculations needed for the magic casting. One just needed to chant the words and the mana inside one's body would automatically follow the rhythm and flow of the magic one wanted to cast according to the computation and calculations inside those words.

But of course, different types of magic require different types of chants. There were no same words when it comes to chanting and casting magic. It would occur if the magic was a modified version of a said magic chant.

For example, if one wanted to cast a water ball using the same chant the rabbit gave John, the caster would not be able to make the mana in his body flow, instead it could cause a backlash and damage him. If one used addition to get the difference between two numbers, not only one would not be able to get the answer, it could also result in his failure in the exam. Thus, it was imperative that one would use the right chant for the right magic.

But then again, the rabbit was someone that does not use any chant when using magic.

When John had asked again why it does not need to chant, the rabbit replied that the simplified version of magic casting had also weakened the magic.

Just like how a summary of a thesis shows the main points that the readers needed to see, but it could not really explain most of the points unless one really read through the whole thesis and what procedures they had gone through to come to that certain conclusion. Only after reading the whole thesis would the readers be able to properly understand it and gain knowledge about that topic. In simple terms, if one used the simplified version of the magic casting, the caster would be able to conjure the magic, that is proven and tested, but the caster would not be able to understand the essence of the magic itself. Of the reason why it was like that and why it could be use like that, resulting in the magic to weaken. On the other hand, if one used the proper way of computing and calculating and imagination needed to conjure magic, the caster would understand the magic's properties, enabling him to make changes and empower the magic itself.

That is the difference between the regular chanting to cast magic and the ancient and profound way of casting magic.

It was a type of trap, that the scholars had left in order to differentiate the true mages and the regular users of magic. It also ensures that the regular users of magic does not surpassed the true mages when it comes to magic.

Thus, the rabbit did not really like using chants in conjuring magic, unless, when there's hardly any time to compute and calculate the magic formula. Though it was much weaker than true magic, it was still faster than calculating the magic formula.

"I see, then which one should I consider using? The magic formula or the chanting?" John asked. He was truly perplexed.

The rabbit only looked coldly at John as it shook its small head thinking to itself, 'you can't even cast using the chant magic, why would you even consider which one of the two you're going to use? Unless you have the same brain capacity like mine, only then could you consider using the magic formula'.

"There's no need to think about it for now. We should continue our preparation. We only have an approximate of two weeks now." The rabbit said. Its cute rabbit face scrunching up into a frown.

"Two weeks, I remember you said that we have a month more? What happened?" John asked, surprised by the rabbit's sudden words.

"The beasts are getting restless, I think *that* is starting to awaken." The rabbit replied, it then looked up at John raising its front paw it pointed at him and said, "It's coming for you, no, to precise..." then it shifted its paw towards the direction of John's heart.

"...coming for the mana inside of me?" John said in disbelief. He remembered that the mana inside of him was strange, it was active, like it had a life of its own, but on the other hand, it would calm down when it consumed some mana from the outside. The rabbit was clueless about the thing inside him, but they had a vague idea.

"Is it really that desirable? The mana of the first phase of the Great Cataclysm?" John asked.

"I don't know. All I know is that, it was the most pure and destructive energy of that time. And perhaps even now. That being might have sense its awakening, but since it had yet to really exit your body, its presence isn't that pronounce. But..." The rabbit could only trail its words. There was really no need to say more. It could only look at John it's big blue eyes, turning even more solemn.

"I know." John said. "But, if I don't use it, our chances of escaping this place would diminish. On the other hand, the threat of *that* being is too much for us. I think... we should leave as soon as possible."

Nodding its small head, the rabbit was about to enter its tree house when it suddenly felt something, it then quickly shifted its gaze towards the forest. It was eerily quiet. There were no sounds of beasts, not even that of the insects and birds. Then the rabbit looked at the lake. It was tranquil. So calm that not even a ripple could be seen on the lake. The fishes that would jump from time to time out of the water, was nowhere to be seen. The once noisy forest was now enveloped in silence. The once lively lake, had now turned into something that seemed to contain no life at all.

The rabbit's gaze deepened, it could feel it. The same presence it had felt before. It was near, yet far. It was there, yet not. Heavy, yet no presence could be felt. It was suffocating. The rabbit, still vividly remember it. The most terrifying existence of the forest. It had awakened. And now it's... observing them.

When that thought came to it, the rabbit couldn't help but shiver, its furs stood up like it was electrocuted. But the heavy expression on its face didn't change at all.

"..." John silently watched the rabbit. At first John wanted to ask it if there was something wrong, when he felt that something was amiss, he then observed the rabbit from the way it suddenly stop from moving towards its tree house, to how it observed the silent forest, the tranquil lake, and how its expression turned graver and graver. John could see that the situation had turned for the worst but he couldn't do anything. That being, isn't something the likes of him is capable of fighting. Not even the monsters of the forest dared to act up in its presence. Who was he to dare to fight such being?

John didn't know what the rabbit was actually feeling, but he could somewhat felt a gaze. A deep gaze that seemed to see through his entire being. It was uncomfortable, almost unbearable. But, strangely, John felt no malicious intention from the gaze. Perhaps it was just like how a human look at an ant? To its eyes he was but an insignificant being. To contain any malicious intentions towards an ant would degrade itself.

John felt suffocated from the gaze, he felt like there was someone behind him, watching him, observing his every move. But John knew there was no one behind him. He felt the gaze from the front, but the presence was behind him. It was truly strange. And terrifying. His body felt stiff, as if it was casted with lead, it was heavy. John didn't dare to move, he knew, moving was the most idiotic thing he would do in this kind of situation. And John didn't want to be an i***t. He could only stare at the rabbit, hoping for it to change the situation. But John was hoping for something that not even the Kingdoms and Empires of the central continent combined are capable of doing.

Time flowed, seconds felt like hours as the gaze continued to persist. The rabbit and John's expression worsened as time passed. They could neither move, nor make any sounds. Just like the beasts inside the lake and the forest, none of them made any moves. The presence that exist in the water was just that terrifying.

It was only after more than an hour had passed did the presence slowly disappeared. But even then, none of the beasts, the rabbit, and John, made their moves or made any sound. Although the presence had disappeared allowing them to feel at ease somewhat, the gaze... it was still there. Looking at them, yet not.

"Hoo..." *Plop!*

*Smack!*

After a gruesome 30 more minutes of the gaze lingering in the area, only then were they able to breathe a sigh of relief. As the rabbit fell towards the ground, back first. It's body stiff as stone.

John on the other hand, had already plop to the ground. His knees were like jelly, unable to support him as he fell on his knees, then he faced the ground with a resounding Smack!

"Huff... Huff..." John desperate for air, clung towards the ground with his jelly like hands. He was spent, tired, and he didn't even do anything. The mental pressure that *that* being made him go through was truly something John would remember.

For a moment, the rabbit and John didn't talk. They were only focus on catching their breathe. Even the forest was still quiet, and even the lake was as tranquil as before.

After catching his breathe, John looked at the rabbit lying on its back, his gaze grave as he said, "We need.... to get out.... of here... now!"

Hearing John's words, the rabbit tilted its head towards him, and nodded. That being had already awaken. It was thankful that it had not really felt the presence of the mana inside of John, otherwise, things would have become much more dangerous, not only for John, but for itself as well.

"Let's rest for a bit. There's not enough time for you to learn magic, the moment you cast magic, that being would immediately noticed. It's better for you to hold on learning magic. We need to prepare enough medicinal herbs. Food would be available everywhere, and so is water. But herbs are hard to find at the periphery of the forest." The rabbit said. They don't need to take more items than necessary as it would only hinder them. Bringing John underground would already make it hard for it, if they took more, the chances of them being discovered would increase.

John nodded. He would still bring his first creation, the dagger, as well as the fire-stone-starter. Those two are necessary for them to survive. Especially the fire-stone-starter.

But still, unless they leave the forest entirely, that being would still be able to see them and even kill them as long as there are water. It doesn't matter whether it was a small drop of water, a lake, a pond, a river, or even the water in one's blood. It could exist there.

They could only try to blend in with the lower category monsters at the periphery in order to avoid its senses. Only then would they be able to live.

.....

Deep underground, a pair of deep blue eyes opened. The pupils were dark blue, while the surroundings part of it were traced with golden lines. Just gazing on them could make one kneel, the pressure from them was so terrifying that the area around it was fluctuating. Its body was submerged under the water, and the underground area didn't help either as there was no light, preventing one from seeing the true appearance of the owner of the deep blue eyes.

"...Finally." It said, its voice was so ethereal that one who heard it would fell into a daze, unable to extract themselves from the voice. "You've finally appeared, Kaiser."